on our broadcast tonight from new orleans, here comes earl. it's now a major hurricane, a category four. and the problem for the east coast is we don't yet know exactly where it's going. keeping the faith. in his interview with us, president obama makes a comment about his own background that has already ricocheted around the world. how a mother's touch may have saved a premature baby fighting for life, even after the doctors said it was too late. and survivor stories. some of the unforgettable people we met in this city five years ago and many of you got to know them, too. ago and many of you got to know them, too. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. hurricane earl is suddenly a very strong atlantic storm, declared a category four hurricane a short time ago. tonight from cape hatteras all the way north to cape cod, city emergency managers face the prospect of hurricane evacuations as we approach the labor day weekend. problem is they just don't know where or when. in recent years along the east coast, places like new england, they have watched more hurricanes on television than they have had to deal with themselves thankfully. but they know this storm could change that. earl is just over 100 miles from san juan, puerto rico. winds near 135 miles an hour. it's one of a daisy chain of storms across the atlantic that we have been covering in what is now the hurricane season of 2010.

here with us in, of all places, new orleans, where of course we are marking the fifth anniversary of katrina, weather channel meteorologist jim cantore. jim, how big is this? >> this is a big storm. it's a bigger deal. danielle was a cat four. this is our second one in a week, brian. now we are talking about something that instead of heading north and east is headed toward the united states with much bigger waves and potentially a wind field that will affect the united states whether it landfalls or not. we have to keep an eye on this. it's going to be a very dangerous situation. i think timeline is right as we head into the weekend. a lot of people thinking about that weekend. hopefully fresh in everyone's minds the rip currents that danielle produced as we worked our way last week. >> now as we talk about the timeline, there's thursday, friday, saturday on the graphic. anything that would change that? >> there really isn't. it's pretty much moving in a steady state now. so there's nothing that's going to change that. >> you're talking about a minimum winds, rip tides and -- >> right. >> -- high surf. >> just forget about danielle

though it's a category four. people need to think about the 1944 hurricane, if they live up there, edouard. it came about 90 miles off the new england coast. even though it didn't landfall, we had damage and tremendous damage especially because of the waves and boats around. >> as i reported, meteorologists are having the same lack of specificity problem that city managers now have pretty much from north carolina all the way to the maine coast. >> the problem is when you look at that cone it looks like the center point keeps it offshore and it probably will stay just offshore, but the winds, the tropical storm portion of the hurricane may reach the shore and that's the problem. >> all right. jim cantore from the weather channel with us. he's going to be a busy man. jim, thanks, as always. >> you bet. another story we are following tonight has to do with aviation safety and the potential at this hour that authorities have discovered some sort of dry run for some sort of attack plan. our justice correspondent pete williams following this story as it broke late today. he has late details from our washington newsroom tonight. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening.

two men traveling from the u.s. were picked up after their flight arrived from chicago. one of them has apparently been all but ruled out, but the other man from detroit raised eyebrows when airport screeners in the u.s. found watches and cell phones taped together in his luggage. one phone was taped to a pepto-bismol bottle. all this was discovered before he left the usa. tsa screeners determined it was harmless. no explosives were found and they say that surprisingly people often tape things together in their luggage. in any event, the dutch were informed and apparently decided to pick the men up on their own. official concern in the u.s. about this is described as low, but authorities want to make certain this was not an attempt to test airline security. and so far tonight, there is no indication it was, brian. >> all right, pete. we'll be following this one as well. pete williams in washington, thanks. this was sadly a deadly day in afghanistan. seven u.s. service members killed in two separate bombing incidents.

one attack killed five americans near kandahar city where u.s. forces, as you may know, are pressing an offensive against the taliban there. 14 americans have now been killed in afghanistan since saturday. president obama speaks to the nation tomorrow night on the subject of iraq and the end of the u.s. combat phase there. yesterday when the president met with us here for our exclusive interview, his first in some time, he said it's not necessarily going to be what he called smooth sailing from here on out in iraq and some are going to try to stir things up there which is why he says they will continue joint counterterrorism operations there. the president had just come off vacation hours earlier. i asked him about some of the issues that had arisen in recent weeks, beginning with that controversy in new york. since you waded into the islamic center near ground zero

controversy, it's gotten larger. it's been nationalized, the debate. will you revisit that topic? >> well, look, i think my statement at the iftar dinner in the white house was very clear. and that is if you can build a church on that site, if you can build a synagogue on that site or a hindu temple on that site, then we can't treat people of the islamic faith differently who are americans, who are american citizens. that is central to who we are. that is a core value of our constitution. and my job as president is to make sure, in part, that we are upholding our constitution. >> respectfully, the next day in florida you seemed to walk that back. >> no, i -- actually -- let me be clear, brian. i didn't walk it back at all. what i said was i was not endorsing any particular project. i was endorsing our constitution and what is right. now, the media, i think, anticipating that this was going

to be a firestorm politically seemed to think that somehow there was inconsistency and there wasn't. and i was very specific to my team and will be very specific to you now that the core value and principle that every american is treated the same, that doesn't change. >> mr. president, you're an american-born christian. >> mm-hmm. >> and yet increasing and now significant numbers of americans in polls, upwards of a fifth of respondents are claiming you are neither. a fifth of the people just about believe you're a muslim. >> those two things, american-born and muslim are not the same, but i understand your point. >> either or the latter and the most recent number is the latter. this has to be troubling to you. this is, of course, all new territory for an american president. >> well, look, the facts are the facts.

right? so we went through some of this during the campaign. you know, there is a mechanism, a network of misinformation that in a new media era can get churned out there constantly. we dealt with this when i was first running for the u.s. senate. we dealt with it when we were first running for the presidency. there were those who said i couldn't win as u.s. senator because i had a funny name and people would be too unfamiliar with me. we ended up winning that senate seat in illinois because i trusted in the american people's capacity to get beyond all this nonsense. so i will always put my money on the american people. and i'm not going to be worrying too much about whatever rumors are floating out there. if i spend my time chasing after that then i wouldn't get much done. >> even a number as sizable as this.

what does it say to you? does it say anything about your communications or the effectiveness of your opponents to -- >> well, look, brian. i would say that i can't spend all my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead. the facts are the facts. so it's not something that i can spend all my time worrying about and i don't think the american people want me to spend my time worrying about it. >> part of our conversation with president obama. we have posted the full interview online. a reminder, while back in new york tomorrow night, we will carry the president's address to the nation on the war in iraq. that's tomorrow night at 8:00 eastern, 5:00 pacific on this nbc station. at a time when a lot of americans are raging against big government we also learned today how many americans are relying on its benefits in this bad economy. government anti-poverty programs are now assisting one in every six americans.

more than 50 million americans are on medicaid for one. that's way up since the start of this recession. on wall street today, no sign of friday's optimism. the dow was down just under 141 points at the end of trading. just when it seems as if the out-of-control drug violence in mexico can't get any worse, it has. after the shock of several mass killings over the past two weeks now a new victim, another public official killed and the overwhelming emotion along the border seems to be fear. nbc's kristen welker from los angeles with us with more. kristen, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the violence in mexico is escalating by the day. the mayor of a small town in the state of tamaulipas became the latest victim of suspected drug hitmen. he is the second mayor to be assassinated in the state which borders southeast texas.

the area has been plagued by gang shootings and car bombs. last week gunmen massacred 72 central and south american migrants. segments of the mexican police have even been accused of cooperating with the drug cartels in the killings. today, fighting broke out within the ranks of the national police when 3,200 officers were fired. mexican president felipe calderon vowed to make his country safer. on this side of the border national guard soldiers began deploying along the arizona/mexico border, the first wave of reinforcement sent to bolster security. it is estimated the drug war has claimed 28,000 mexicans since 2006. brian? >> kristen welker in southern california for us tonight. kristen, thanks. when our broadcast continues in just a moment, the astonishing story of the premature baby whose mother's embrace may have saved his life and defied doctors' predictions. and later, the people we met along the way. some of them you got to know as well. how they are doing now having survived the darkest days.

we have a story tonight out of australia specifically about a newborn beating the odds, and the touch and intervention of the mother of this premature infant and how doctors now believe that may have saved the baby's life. the story from our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman. >> i just call him a miracle all the time. they all said they never heard like that happening before. >> reporter: in march after three days of labor kate and david ogg had premature twins -- a girl, emily, and a boy, jamie. born at just 27 weeks, both babies were struggling to breathe, but it looked like jamie wasn't going to make it. >> it is the worst feeling i have ever felt. >> reporter: expecting the worst, the nurse laid jamie on his mother's warm, bare chest, the grief-stricken couple trying to say good-bye. >> i was just devastated. >> reporter: as the couple cuddled the two-pound baby, he started gasping -- a reflex

doctors told them to expect. >> almost as soon as the last person left the room he startled, which is the first movement i felt of his arms and legs. i was like, oh, my god, what's going on? >> reporter: in this video, taken by a midwife, jamie began to slowly move, twisting, turning, even grasping kate's hand. how could a baby in such critical condition suddenly be so responsive? >> what's important, it's the warmth the mother provides and the stimulation the baby may have received from hearing the mother's heartrate. those are things that may have helped the baby in terms of going down the path to living as opposed to the path of death. >> reporter: increasingly in the high-tech environment of the neonatal intensive care unit, doctors and nurses are embracing the power of human touch. in fact, it is now so important to newborns there is a name for it -- kangaroo care. >> the skin touch is really something that is beneficial to the family and beneficial to the

babies. >> reporter: while they may never be able to fully understand what happened to jamie, to the ogg family, it doesn't really matter. he's beaten the odds so far and they just hope for continued good health for their twins. dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, new york. and when we come back here tonight, ask a traveler how american airports stack up. we'll have the best and worst on the list when we continue.

roger clemens pleaded not guilty in washington today to charges that he lied to congress about using performance-enhancing drugs. back in '08, the seven-time cy young award-winning pitcher said under oath he'd never used them. clemens' long-time personal trainer told federal investigators he injected clemens with steroids dozens of times and turned over physical evidence he said could prove it. coming to an auto show room near you, fuel economy stickers that could give every car and truck on the market a letter grade from a-plus to d for both fuel economy and air pollution emissions. automakers are questioning the letter grade approach saying it might hurt sales while feds say it will help car buyers make a more informed choice. a travel and leisure magazine list of the worst and best airports is getting a lot of attention from veteran travelers. among the worst, new york's

three overcrowded, dated and dirty airports along with l.a.x. and los angeles. lambert field in st. louis took it on the chin for a dreary atmosphere, bad food choices and an $8 wifi charge. and now take a bow, houston. kudos to bush international for good food, good lounges and free wireless, according to the magazine. we are back in a moment from new orleans with some people you may remember and how they made it through a nightmare.

we're back now with what brings us here, after all. our one last night coverage from new orleans to mark a terrible chapter in our recent american history. katrina, the damage it did from here to mississippi and beyond and the massive engineering failure that flooded 80% of this great city. five years ago this morning, i rose at 5:00 a.m. and in the dark, eight stories below, i saw water flowing down the street below my hotel room. i knew then the story had changed. the city had flooded. the city was overrun. over the next few days, we were all changed along with it.

during our coverage of the storm, we were struck by those folks we all got to know -- people we have now found again, five years later. [ chanting ] [ baby crying ] >> they told everybody we're all right. they're lying. [ screaming ] >> how can they leave us here? we have nothing. [ crying ] >> can i say something? >> sure. what do you want to say? >> it is just so pitiful. we just need some help out here. it is so pitiful. pitiful and shame. >> reporter: we couldn't stop watching charles evans because he had so much wisdom, so much maturity. he had seen so much and at the age of 9, wearing a spongebob t-shirt he appeared to have more judgment than a lot of the adults in charge.

after he appeared on the air, a wealthy new yorker came forward to help charles. he moved to texas with his grandmother and has returned to new orleans where he lives in the ninth ward with his great aunt. do you think people move on too quick and they are anxious to forget? >> i don't think that no one would ever forget katrina, but a lot of people don't really like to talk about it. >> reporter: he wants to go to columbia university in new york to study journalism, but he doesn't see himself returning to new orleans to live. >> wake up. look how hot he is. he's not waking up very easy. this is not about low income. this is not about rich people or poor people. it's about people. >> reporter: it was torture to watch this young mother worry that her infant son was going to die right then and there in her arms on the street. her name is leeann benboom. she was eventually evacuated to wilmington, north carolina,

after a cousin spotted her on nbc. the last five years have been hard and now this recession has left her out of work. >> the past year has been very rough. but, i mean, for the first three and a half years things were going pretty well. but now it's completely, like, almost back to where it was with katrina. >> reporter: she wants to return to new orleans, but worries about crime. she says her son, now a healthy 5-year-old, has new orleans in his blood. >> the house, the material things, if they're not there, we can always get those back. >> reporter: that's a nice attitude. >> it's the only attitude to have. if you've got life, you've got everything. >> reporter: then there's albert bryan. he was lying on a cooler when i met him on a second deck walkway, section 122 of the superdome. i remember thinking how good-natured he was about being inside that huge shelter. he had his family with him.

he was content, but on that first day, he had no idea what was about to hit him. >> they were shooting drugs in the middle of the superdome. it was just so outrageous. you never thought these things could happen. but it did. >> reporter: life's been tough for albert these past five years. he ended up trapped in the filth of the superdome for six days. he then lived in a fema trailer. he eventually evacuated to texas but got divorced. he has since reunited with his wife and continues his work as a substance abuse counselor. still, that superdome haunts him. >> we stayed in that superdome until friday. and nobody else did anything else to inform us what was going to happen. we were just sitting there. we didn't have no television. nobody giving us information about anything. so my resentments are because of the lack of information that we had. >> this is wrong oh, ray nagin.

this is wrong, man. you're supposed to be responsible for us. >> where is our man the governor at? >> i'm begging the president, the governor, please help us. >> reporter: among those government officials we came to know during katrina, ray nagin got re-elected to a second term as mayor. he left office this year and now gives speeches about his katrina experience. former louisiana governor kathleen blanko is writing her memoirs. army general russell honore, who is credited with restoring order to new orleans, is now retired and he wants the country to remember the lessons of katrina. and michael brown, he will always be connected with that one quote. >> brownie, you're doing a heck of a job. >> reporter: he resigned as head of fema two weeks after katrina. these days he hosts a radio program in denver. just some of the folks we got to know going back five years ago tonight. for now, that's our broadcast for this monday night.

thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams reporting tonight from new orleans. with a big thank you for the warmth and kindness the folks here have shown us and a lot of admiration for their fight. we'll look for you tomorrow night back home in new york. we'll look for you tomorrow night back home in new york. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com jaws? in pacifica? witnesses watched a shark 20 feet wide while he was feasting. >> it happened just south of pacifica state beach,