on the broadcast tonight from new orleans, stalling out. the economy isn't growing nor is the american family. tonight, two signs of our times. life under ground. an extraordinary video message has arrived from those trapped miners. can they possibly hold on until christmas to be rescued? and making a difference. new orleans five years after katrina. we'll look at those working so hard here at things like education and health care. and you may know him as brad pitt, but around here in the lower ninth ward he's known as the guy making new homes available for families. the guy making new homes available for families. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. this is it. we are back in the lower ninth ward tonight, the one iconic post katrina new orleans neighborhood people have heard about all over the world. the old neighborhood was all still here in place five years ago tonight. that's because katrina was still offshore in the gulf, bearing down, but still at least two days out. the flood wall behind us is new. when the old one failed, this neighborhood got blown to pieces, washed away. it became, as we said, an icon for the damage and the suffering. we'll see how the lower ninth ward is faring in just a moment. we want to begin tonight instead with the economy. we got more evidence today that it slowed to an absolute crawl this spring. gross domestic product, the broadest measure there is of economic growth, was revised sharply lower for the three

months that ended in june to a very weak 1.6%. and look at this stat just out from the government today. the birthrate in this country fell to its lowest level in 100 years last year as the bad economy kept people from adding to or starting up a family. nbc's john yang starts us off tonight from chicago. john, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it was a day of startling numbers, numbers on the economy and the different ways it's affecting all of our lives. amid the towering peaks of wyoming, at an annual fed conference, a sobering assessment from fed chairman ben bernanke. economic growth is too slow and unemployment too high, but he said the fed is ready to act to keep the nation from slipping back into recession. >> the concern right now for the fed is that the labor market has been disappointing, and that means income is not going to be as high as expected. lower incomes, of course, translate into lower spending. >> reporter: consumer spending

is key for small businessman like chuck schwartz. he owns two party supply stores where sales continue on a downward slope. >> we have been in a downturn since 2008. i don't know how much longer we can go through that. we have cut our expenses so that i think we can survive. >> reporter: so far this year, schwartz has closed one store, laid off five workers and cut both the pay and hours of the 25 employees who remain, including operations manager, jan cook. she said it's made her future feel less secure. >> i try not to worry, but yes, of course it does. i worry. i'm getting older. >> reporter: experts say young families' worries about the future are contributing to a decline in the birthrate. today the government said in 2009 it was the lowest in a century. >> there is a long line of research that economic conditions and birth rates are linked. the great depression had low birth rates. >> reporter: stephanie scott and her husband say they would like to start a family, but just don't think they can do it now

financially. >> we stopped making plans. when the time is right and we feel we have enough cushion and enough savings then we'll take the next step. >> reporter: analysts say another reason for the declining birthrate is low immigration which is also due to the slow economy. brian? >> john yang starting us off in chicago tonight. john, thanks. on wall street, the chairman of the fed, ben bernanke, gave assurances that he stands ready to do more to help the economy. that seemed to echo around new york and cheer investors. the dow was up almost 165 points. while we are here in new orleans, we're keeping a close eye on the atlantic ocean tonight. three systems in all. the new storms, including danielle, may be posing a new threat to some parts of the east coast before they are all done. weather channel meteorologist jim cantore is with us again tonight with more. three of them out there. >> and more to come. you should see what's lined up across africa.

we'll deal with that later, brian. let's talk about these. it's danielle, a strong category four at 135 mis per hour. that continues to pull to the 5 north-northwest. what we think is going to happen is it's going to produce a huge amount of waves. i tried to make this promise last night. those waves are going to arrive on the east coast for the weekend. then it ll hook off to the ist. needless to say, kerry sanders is not going to be able to stay on the "titanic" expedition. earl following behind that. tropical storm watch is posted for parts of the leeward islands. this is forecast to be a hurricane. impacts will be monday. then fiona is the question. some of the computer models now, brian, have this thing sitting off the carolina coast just in time for the labor day weekend. >> all right. so at least beach erosion, rip tides, east coast. we'll keep an eye on all of it. jim cantore, weather channel, thanks. now to our coverage of this region five years after katrina. some people have said katrina was the best thing to happen to education here in new orleans. what they mean by that is this -- it gave them an excuse to come in here and start fresh to

rebuild a crumbled and troubled system. our own thanh truong was a reporter in new orleans during katrina. he is back with us now on this trip for a look at this issue. thanh, good evening. welcome. >> reporter: new orleans public schools underwent huge changes after the storm. enrollment was almost cut in half. the state seized control of the system that was considered failing. those changes have revolutionized education for students here. >> there was a lot of commotion in the hallways. >> reporter: courtney darby is a forward-thinking 5th grader. >> when i grow up, i want to be an ob/gyn. >> reporter: why? >> because i love children. >> reporter: she attends andrew wilson elementary. the school suffered more than eight feet of flooding during hurricane katrina. five years later, it's a different place. >> the test scores before the storm were below the 25th percentile. they now are above the 50th

percentile, headed toward the 70th percentile. >> reporter: before katrina, nearly 65% of the public schools in new orleans were considered academically unacceptable. the school district was bankrupt and the school board president at the time was being investigated for taking bribes. she was later convicted. another distraction for a school system already struggling. >> it was clearly broken pre-katrina. as a matter of fact, i think there was a sense of hopelessness like we would never be able to change the system itself. >> reporter: tulane university president scott cowen designed the major education reforms after katrina. >> the big change was to decentralize authority for the operations to the school down to the school level. >> reporter: connie yayton came out of retirement to join the movement. so what's been the most satisfying coming back? >> being here. being here with the children. >> reporter: a movement to reform and restructure new orleans education. instead of a school board,

principals are the heads of charter schools. they control the budget, set agendas and hire and fire teachers. >> there hasn't been a single year since the storm where student achievement has not increased. the number of failing schools has dramatically decreased by about a third. >> i get homework every night. i do the homework every night with my mom. >> reporter: if you don't? >> there is no don't. >> reporter: the future of new orleans, one lesson at a time. more than 60% of the city's public school students now attend a charter school. brian, just this week new orleans received a $1.8 billion federal grant to build more. >> front page of today's paper. it's a big story. good news out of bad. thanh truong on education in new orleans. then there's health care in this region. like most places, like most big cities it was pretty badly broken before katrina. it fell apart after katrina and now there are big changes in how people are getting basic care for themselves. our own doctor, our chief

medical editor dr. nancy snyderman is here with that. nancy, welcome. >> reporter: before katrina rolled through there were 39 hospitals in the area. only 24 remain today. as the area rebuilds, some people believe less is, in fact, more. >> nice to see you. >> reporter: isaac walter was born at charity hospital 64 years ago and got a lifetime of health care within its walls. >> it was a long wait once you got there. it was crowded, crowded, crowded. >> reporter: already overwhelmed by new orleans' poorest, charity was flooded after hurricane katrina when the levees broke. and overnight, the largest safety net for the uninsured was out of business. >> my family was sick. we had nowhere to go. >> reporter: katrina forced the medical community in new orleans to transform its health care system from the large hospital walk-in care to many smaller neighborhood centers. a network of 87 independent primary care clinics funded with federal, state and private

money. >> about one in five people in our city is using a neighborhood-based health care site for primary care and not using the emergency room. >> reporter: community outreach is critical to the plan. 16 mobile units like this one offer preventative care for anyone who can't get to a doctor. it doesn't mean hospital care is a thing of the past. interim lsu public hospital has 260 beds. doctors here see almost 300 patients a day and the numbers are growing. >> the more we build and the more capacity we make available, we fill it up because there is such a demand for our services. >> reporter: part of the rebuilding process is also learning from lessons of the past. >> it was complete and total darkness. >> reporter: in the days after the storm slammed into the city, dr. anna poe stayed behind to tend to patients. she was later arrested for euthanizing patients but a grand jury refused to indict her. >> i would never, ever, ever abandon a patient -- mine or

anybody else's. i couldn't do it. >> reporter: that ordeal prompted her to work on legislation to protect doctors and nurses as good samaritans during the next crisis. it's a step. >> we have gaps in hospital-based care particularly in parts of town like new orleans east. but really, all things considered, we're moving in the right direction. >> reporter: the state pledged $30 million in funding to keep these community centers open. the hope that this might be a paradigm shift to get access for all new orleansians and all people in louisiana. people don't need a building. they need a doctor. >> doesn't take much to bring the memories back. we'll have much more from me of the day's other news including the heart-wrenching video of those miners trapped deep under ground waiting months to be rescued. and later, brad pitt. around here, a lot of neighbors know him as the guy responsible

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back now from the ninth ward in new orleans. far from here in chile, we are getting a fascinating look at what life is like for those 33 miners trapped way under ground, living together in a small space while waiting to be rescued. a risky process that could take months. crews above ground sent a tiny camera down through the bore hole and as our own tom costello reports, the miners sent it back with images of what life is like for them down there. >> reporter: chanting and singing deep inside the hot, humid mine, the 33 trapped miners appear shirtless, unshaven, dirty, and 20 pounds lighter after three weeks under ground. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> reporter: hello to my family, my daughter, this miner says. another says, even though the conditions aren't good, we're okay, because we know we're going to get out of here.

we now know the area the miners are living in is much larger than a 30-by-20-foot refuge chamber. the men can move through open sections of the mine big enough to hold several trucks, though ventilation is not always good. some areas of the mine have been set aside for exercise, a clinic and because sanitation is critical, a remote section is set aside as the latrine. a table set aside to play cards and dominoes. above ground, rescuers send down clean water, food and oxygen while family members hold vigil. >> i love my dad. >> reporter: telemundo's angie sandoval is there. >> they are very happy but also concerned because some of the men appear very thin. >> translator: if god gave us the patience and strength when we didn't know they were alive, now there is even more reason to be strong. >> reporter: the men are still joking at times about how badly each of them smells. they have established rules and schedules knowing full well their physical and mental health

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a new star of the a new star of the sporting world has gone down to injury. stephen strasburg, the phenomenal new pitcher for the washington nationals was the mott -- hottest new arrival in baseball. along with his 100 mile an hour fastball. he threw smoke. just as some veteran pitchers wondered how he'd keep it up, he went down. an injury in a game last week. he'll now likely require tommy john surgery on his elbow. if he has it, he'll be out for at least a year. another big embarrassing delay for boeing. their 787 dreamliner is facing another setback. they say they can't get the engines fast enough. so first deliveries will have to wait until february of next year. at least one major carrier has had to lease aircraft temporarily because they have been counting on having the new 787 by now.

imagine being on an aircraft and hearing the following message. "this is an emergency. we may shortly need to make an emergency landing on the water." that's what happened this week. it was a british airways 747 from heathrow to hong kong as the plane flew over the north sea. and of course since we didn't report on a plane crash last night, it was a mistake. the cabin crew hopped on the p.a., apologized for undue distress. somebody apparently had hit the wrong button. but who knew they had that kind of prerecorded announcement ready to go on board the aircraft? when we come back tonight from the ninth ward here in new orleans, our special friday night "making a difference" report. the actor brad pitt shows us what he's done in this neighborhood. or brad pitt shows us what he's done in this neighborhood. the one thing about smoking -- is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit.

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or not. a lot of celebrities and big names, as you saw, responded to katrina, and they raised a fortune. for himself, brad pitt came and staked out this neighborhood, and slowly, he is transforming it. he commissioned 21 architects. they have built 50 sustainable, affordable homes and that number is growing. there is someone ready to move in the minute they build the next house. >> a porch. nothing but a concrete porch that my daddy built twice, and a tree. >> reporter: and that is all melba leggett barnes was left with five years ago here in the lower nine ward. >> i said, lord, i'm going to put this in your hands. i said, i don't know what i'm doing. >> reporter: the help she was praying for arrived and it came because brad pitt who had fallen in love with new orleans years ago decided to come in here and put up homes to get the people back here.

>> we just heard a lawn mower a minute ago which was striking because you didn't hear anything like that for years here. >> no, nothing. nothing. just mrs. leblanc in her fema trailer and mr. greene here in his trailer. common ground is over here. that was about it. >> reporter: brad pitt founded make it right, an organization devoted to building low income, eco-friendly homes for people who lost everything here, and because others had decided to give up on the place. >> they told people they could build on a slab here and they set them up for catastrophe. in this place there were over 1,500 deaths. that was unnecessary. that shouldn't have happened. i got angry. i got really angry. now, on the flip side, i have a lot of friends who were involved in architecture, know a lot about it. >> my house is energy efficient. i love when i get my electric bill. honey, i love that. i want to make sure i get all the fun i can get.

>> a lot of people. i was good at bringing smart people in to solve these problems. that's what architecture is. you have the challenge and the challenges of an area. you build to answer those challenges. >> reporter: homes are built to withstand a category four hurricane. solar panels are installed to save on energy bills. and having open roof access is mandatory because of the horrors we all watched during katrina. take us into the future. if we stand here five years from now, what does the neighborhood look like? >> well, this is where you see a third of the homes now, we have half the homes in process. there will be 150 of these homes in that time. i would like to see this spread. i'm hoping we raise more money to expand this idea. i would like to see this expand through the city, expand to

other places in the u.s. -- this idea of making it right, making a home that's fair to the people who live there. >> reporter: the houses cost about $150,000 each. brad pitt says he's in this to stay and because of this effort melba leggett barnes is now back home to stay. >> it didn't dawn on me that he would do anything. he's like an angel. look at him. he's got an angel face. put some wings on him. he'll probably fly away. >> part of our time earlier today with brad pitt. talk about a day in the life. after our conversation, all he wanted to do was duck across the street to talk to a few of the neighbors, friends of his who had waved to him along with their houseguests, some visiting schoolteachers from new jersey. while he's seen here as brad the builder, he builder, he is a movie star, after all.

and the paparazzi have followed him out here and staked him out all the way out here. this is not the french quarter. and when they started asking personal questions and when one of them asked whether or not he was interested in "dancing with the stars," that's when he knew he had to go back inside. because today, after all, was supposed to be about the rebuilding effort here. slow and steady in this neighborhood. a reminder. our special documentary on msnbc airs tonight on what we saw those first few awful days of katrina. on sunday, i will be hosting "meet the press" from here in new orleans. later that day we will sit down with president obama for an exclusive interview. we'll feature that on "nightly news" sunday. another reminder that we have much more including more of our coverage from these past five years. we have put that on our website, nightly.msnbc.com. for now for all of us, that's our broadcast for this friday night as we bring another week to a close. thank you, as always, for being here with us. i'm brian williams in the lower ninth ward of new orleans.

lester holt will be with you tomorrow night. i'll be reporting from here. we both hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. have a good weekend. back here tomorrow evening. have a good weekend. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com breaking news. look at this photo. a felon in a getaway car, a car he allegedly stole at gun point moments after he allegedly shot a police officer. the officer is expected to survive. and this is a picture of the suspect. he's identified as 20-year-old andrew barrientos. >> that shooting happened on