on the broadcast tonight, labor day. a fired up president obama talks about ways to jump start the economy as the midterm campaign season kicks off. out of nowhere. a big storm heads for texas and the watch is on again. back to school for teachers who had been laid off. but will there be enough money to keethem there? in living color. never before seen film of england during the blitz. a new look at history made 70 years ago this week. and making a difference, bringing babies safely into the world in one of the world's most dangerous places. world in one of the world's most dangerous places. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. i'm kate snow in for brian williams on this labor day. president obama spent the holiday in milwaukee talking to union members about the economy and topic number one for so many families right now -- creating more jobs. according to the august unemployment report which came out on friday, nearly 15 million people are without jobs on this labor day and another 9 million are working part time, not because they choose to, but because they cannot find a full-time job. the obama administration is unveiling new plans this week to try to boost job growth, but today's speech was as much about politics as it was about new programs with the midterm elections just eight weeks from tomorrow. joining me now from the white house, nbc's mike viqueira. mike, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, kate. the president told supporters today there is no silver bullet for what ails the economy, but in a speech that quickly became a political stemwinder, that didn't stop him from firing away at republican opponents.

[ cheers and applause ] >> hello, milwaukee! >> reporter: the president today in wisconsin speaking to a friendly union audience and vowing to keep his focus on jobs and the economy. >> i am going to keep fighting every single day, every single hour, every single minute to turn this economy around and put people back to work. >> reporter: mr. obama unveiled his latest plans to jump start growth -- immediate spending on highways, airports and rail lines toe talg -- totaling $50 billion. but the plan would have to get through congress. today, gop leaders dismissed it out of hand. "americans are rightly skeptical about washington democrats asking for more of their money and their patience," said top senate republican mitch mcconnell. "after all, they are still looking for the shovel-ready jobs they were promised more than a year ago." today's speech was more about politics than economics and mr. obama launched a spirited attack against republicans by invoking his own successful run. [ chanting "yes, we can" ]

>> i mean, i personally think "yes, we can" is more inspiring than "no, we can't." >> reporter: much has changed in two years. with the economy still sluggish and the jobless rate high, mr. obama's standing in the polls has dropped. now, even as he prepares to release more of his plans later this week, experts say a strong job market isn't likely soon. >> the economy is simply not going to improve before the election. there is nothing barack obama can do about that. >> they talk about me like a dog. >> reporter: part of the president's job today, to fire up the party faithful. with polls showing high enthusiasm among conservatives and independents leaning republican, today mr. obama served his base plenty of red meat. >> if i said the sky was blue they would say no. >> reporter: but experts say it all may come too late for democrats this fall. >> people are focused on the numbers, unemployment, jobs and the president getting on tv, appearing in your town and

telling you he's got ideas for the future. that just doesn't cut it for most voters. >> reporter: and, kate, even with the renewed emphasis on the economy and all the president is doing to help democrats in the fall, experts are now saying republicans have a better than even chance of taking control of the house of representatives in november. kate? >> mike viqueira at the white house tonight. thank you. i'm joined now by nbc's david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." good evening, david. >> good evening. >> david, the president was in full campaign mode today. what does that tell us about the political landscape facing the democrats this fall? >> it's still very, very tough. i think that's why you see the president both ramping up his campaigning personally and ramping up the rhetoric against republicans. he's trying to frame the debate for the fall campaign. it's all about the economy. 9.6% unemployment, a housing crisis that continues to affect americans across the country and here you see the president really sharpening his knives, sharpening his message for republicans saying, things are

tough, but these guys opposing me don't have better ideas. >> is there a national democratic strategy though or is it more race by race, district by district out there? >> well, it's really both. the president at the top of the ticket, if you will, though he's not on the ballot, is trying to frame this as a choice election. the president knows if it's just about him, a referendum on his leadership, democrats could be hurt around the country. he and fellow democrats want to make it a choice to say, things may be tough, you may be unhappy with how things are going in washington, but republicans don't have better ideas. that's the argument. you also see that being copied in certain districts around the country. other districts, you see democrats localizing the races, trying to run away from the president and the democratic leadership. this is what is consistently true. the terrain is difficult. the environment is very tough. four years ago there were 50-plus seats that democrats are now defending that were in republican hands. these are tough districts for democrats to now have to defend under these circumstances. >> on the republican side, how confident are republicans that

they could really win big this november, that they could take back perhaps the house or the senate? >> well, all the betting right now is on the house. that seems to be fertile ground for a takeover by republicans. publically, they remain cautious. they caution against irrational exuberance. they know democrats have a lot to spend in these races. they know the tea party may be fielding candidates to make it difficult for the republican party. the strategy here is to stay the course on opposing the president on tax policy, on spending. you saw the reference to that by mike viqueira. their feeling is in this political environment, opposition is the best way to go because americans are simply so unhappy with the way washington is being run. >> and the campaign begins. david gregory, thank you so much tonight. >> okay. now to yet another big storm making news, one that seemed to come out of nowhere in the last 24 hours. hermine is headed for the texas coast, the third tropical storm to impact that area so far this year.

the weather channel's mike seidel joins me now from south padre island. good evening, mike. >> reporter: good evening, kate. this time yesterday all it was was a cluster of thunderstorms in the southern gulf of mexico in the bay of campeche. tonight we're dealing with the season's eighth tropical storm bearing down on the coast with 60 mile per hour winds. take a look at the radar, lit up like a christmas tree. the center is swirling just under 100 miles southeast from where we are in south padre just off the mexican coast. it's headed north-northwest which will bring the red bands to the coast this evening. those bands in red contain the strongest winds and blinding rains. before landfall, hermine has a small chance of becoming a hurricane. hurricane watches are up for this area, but after landfall, the winds weaken. then it's all about the rain. inland, flash flood watches up to dallas including san antonio. five inches plus, maybe ten inches in spots over the same areas affected by hurricane alex and tropical depression number two. strongest winds near the coast could gust to 60 miles per hour. that could mean minor power

outages and coastal flooding. the weather channel will have more from the coast tomorrow morning on the "today" show. and one final note, kate. we don't expect any interruption or damage to oil and gas operations in the gulf of mexico. kate? >> that's good news. mike seidel, thank you so much. we'll keep an eye on it. to the other big story in the gulf, of course, what has become a detective story as bp has raised the critical piece of equipment called the blowout preventer from the sea floor. investigators are trying to figure out how what is supposed to be a fail-safe piece of equipment failed so badly. nbc's anne thompson joins us from new orleans this evening. good evening, anne. >> reporter: good evening, kate. i am standing outside nasa's

missou assembly area in new orleans and this is where the blowout preventer is going to be brought. it's where federal investigators will go over that 50-foot-tall piece of hardware to try and figure out why it didn't do its job. this 1 million pound, five-story mass of metal pulled from the gulf of mexico may hold the answer to what caused the worst environmental disaster in this nation's history. when it sat on the ocean floor april 20th, the blowout preventer failed to stop a giant surge of oil and gas that ignited the "deepwater horizon" rig and coated parts of the gulf with crude for months. >> the first thing that i would look for if i were investigating this was a system failure in the hydraulic control system. >> reporter: bob cavnar, an industry veteran, says giant pinchers called rams should have cut off the pipe and sealed the well. that didn't happen. there are three ways the blowout preventer can be activated -- manually, by pressing a button, through an emergency disconnect system -- a different button -- and if there were no signals

from the rig, a battery powered trigger called the dead man should take over. at a congressional hearing in may, an embarrassing revelation. >> when one of the control pods was removed and inspected after the spill began, the battery was found to be dead. >> reporter: but cavnar expects them to focus on alterations to the hydraulic system that move the rams. >> the hydraulic systems that control the valves in the blowout preventer should be piped a certain way. if they are not or if there is a leak it should be pretty obvious to the investigators what went wrong. >> reporter: answers sought by the justice department and the men and women who make their living working these rigs. >> everybody's going to understand what has taken place and will be able to better get the oil industry back up and moving again. >> reporter: at this point the justice department is looking at potential criminal and civil violations and what investigators find here when

they go over the blowout preventer could well determine what, if any, charges are brought. kate? >> anne thompson, thank you so much. overseas, this was another deadly day in pakistan. a suicide bomber struck in the northwest, detonating a car bomb behind a police station. it killed 19 people, including 11 police officers and four passing school children. at least 40 others were injured. the taliban in pakistan claimed responsibility saying they targeted the police because police are encouraging residents to fight taliban militants. in britain today, former prime minister tony blair cancelled a book-signing event planned for later this week in london because of potential protests. this weekend in ireland, blair was met by an angry crowd as he arrived at a bookstore in dublin to promote his newly published memoirs. among the protesters were people who object to blair's support of the war in iraq. it was known as the blitz, the intense bombing of britain by nazi germany during world war ii.

it began 70 years ago tomorrow and went on for more than eight months. most americans have only seen that part of history in grainy black and white. but today, a local london government agency released previously unseen color film. >> a city in ruins. >> it's one of the heaviest raids for many nights. >> reporter: the scenes of devastation are familiar, but seeing them in color somehow makes them more vivid, more real. color footage was rare in september 1940, but here medics were filmed training for casualties and treating them in makeshift medical centers. the wartime leader, winston churchill, reviewing civil defense workers in london's hyde park as thousands of people cheer him on. through it all, the city going about its business. bombed-out stores are open. double-decker buses still running. commuters heading to work,

keeping their chins up. the film was made by a local air raid warden who was also an amateur filmmaker and was recently uncovered in an attic by his family, giving us a glimpse back in time with a modern twist, changing the way we see an important piece of history after all these years. the london blitz began with 76 consecutive nights of bombing by nazi planes. thousands of civilians were killed, but the spirit of that city was never broken. when "nightly news" continues in just a moment on this labor day, teachers who had been laid off, happy to be heading back to the classroom. but will they be able to stay? and later, making a difference for babies being born into a dangerous world.

as this labor day weekend winds down, a lot of families --

including my own -- are planning for their kids to go back to school and some teachers are very happy to be heading back there as well. $10 billion in federal funding aimed at reversing teacher layoffs has allowed many who had been laid off to go back to work. but state budgets across the country are a mess and that's giving everything a painful lesson in basic math. here's nbc's michelle kosinski. ♪ >> reporter: in broward county, florida, music teacher marcos rodriguez, an army veteran who loves this job -- >> to me, it's unlimited creativity. >> reporter: -- found himself laid off in june. just before classes started this year he was told he could come back at a different school. he's been laid off twice now in two years. >> it's emotional. >> reporter: more than 500 teachers here were on the same rollercoaster -- fired and then rehired. >> it was a weight off my shoulders. >> reporter: they and an

estimated 160,000 teachers around the country may be working at all this year is thanks in large part to a sudden $10 billion rescue from congress that schools have until next september to spend. >> this latest federal aid definitely gives states some breathing room, but it's hardly a magic bullet for states' long-term budgeting problems. >> reporter: in california alone it is expected to save more than 16,000 jobs. though many districts like l.a. feel they ought to save it for huge shortfalls next year. chicago wants to hire back teachers but will likely have to lay them off again in nine months. texas might refuse the money all together. still, broward county will take it. >> it is one more year, but it's better than no more years. >> reporter: looming fear for many, even bigger cuts. e lick tifs -- electives have been slashed which is why beth

aronson, voted best teacher in town, won't get her job back. >> you put your heart and soul into this, into loving these kids, into doing what you know best and it's like somebody pulls the rug under you with no warning. >> reporter: marco got another chance but may be laid off again. >> i'm terrified, enough to make me want to quit doing this job. >> reporter: he'll give his students and passion another year. michelle kosinski, nbc news, broward county, florida. >> and a program note, nbc news will host a major education summit on the plaza here in rockefeller center in new york. education nation, a nationally broadcast in-depth conversation about improving education in america. it all starts september 26th on the networks of nbc. here's something to inspire everyone going back to work after this long weekend. researchers at princeton have taken on the age old question, does money really buy happiness? they found that, yes, it does, but only up to a point. how much money does it take to be happy? according to this study, $75,000 a year. if you make more than that,

researchers say it probably won't add to your day-to-day feelings of happiness. when we come back, how in some ways the work week never really ends for a whole lot of us.

on this labor day, vice president joe biden marched in the parade in toledo, ohio campaigning with governor ted stick land, who faces a tough re-election fight. it was one of many labor day celebrations held across the country. if you checked your work e-mail on this labor day, you're hardly alone. a survey by harris interactive reported in "pc world" found that 72% of americans now check their business e-mails outside of regular business hours. so much for the concept of the weekend off, much less the long weekend away from the office. a member of the little rock nine has died. jefferson thomas, one of nine students at the center of one of this country's landmark battles over civil rights, 53 years ago this month, as the nation watched on television, thomas and the others were escorted into little rock central high school by the army's 101st airborne division. troops ordered to arkansas by president eisenhower to enforce the law. president clinton, himself a former governor of arkansas, of

course, awarded thomas and other members of the little rock nine the congressional gold medal. thomas died of cancer. he was 67. one of this country's great political cartoonists died over the weekend. paul conrad won three pulitzer prizes for his sharp observations, many aimed at presidents nixon and reagan, both from california, which was conrad's adopted home. he worked for the l.a. times for 30 years. his skewering of richard nixon during watergate landed him on nixon's enemies list which he called one of his proudest achievements. paul conrad was 86. when we come back, bringing new life into the world under very difficult conditions and making a difference.

finally tonight, our making a difference report. the story of an extraordinary woman in a part of the world that has seen so much conflict, gaza. for years a battleground between palestinians and israelis. nbc's martin fletcher reports on one woman helping many others realize their biggest dreams. >> reporter: it's the happiest moment -- life. for the mother, for the baby in

safe hands, for fiza, head midwife in gaza, where happiness, life and safety are not guaranteed. when israel fought hamas in gaza two years ago, it was too dangerous for many women about to give birth to get to the hospital. so fiza took the hospital to the mothers, built a makeshift clinic like this one and delivered 53 babies in 21 days. shells were falling when she delivered this baby. iman says she'll never forget those days or fiza. >> we were exposed to shells. she stayed with me for three hurs. no one would do that. >> reporter: today, baby myriam is 2 1/2 years old. her town honored fiza for her bravery. in october, the nonprofit americans for unfpa will honor

her for her contribution to women's health. her husband calls her his wonder woman and for good reason. she supports the family. 13 children to feed and put through school. they live on fiza's $1,000 a month. she found her vocation early. fiza was just telling me the first baby she delivered was from her own mother. your sister actually, when you were 12 years old? >> she told me, the head -- catch. >> if you see the head, catch it. wow. it was a healthy delivery and right away she knew, i want to be a midwife. she delivered hundreds but now says none mean as much to her as gaza's war babies like myriam, joseph, aya. she says that's her mission, to bring more babies into the world. martin fletcher, nbc news, gaza. and that is our broadcast for this monday night. thank you for being with us.

brian will be back tomorrow. i'm kate snow. hope you had a wonderful holiday. for all of us here at nbc news, holiday. for all of us here at nbc news, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now at 6:00, a high altitude drama is over after a man scales a san francisco skyscraper. good evening, everyone. i'm tim sing covich. >> i'm jessica aguirre. a daredevil stuntman by the name of dan good win arrested by cops within the last half hour after he scaled the millennium tower in the financial district this afternoon. we brought ito