done deal for now. the senate passes and the president signs a bill after one of the worst fights in washington but it may be far from over. the moment of pure joy after a toxic fight. the one thing everybody could rally around. congresswoman gabby giffords walks into congress with much of arizona cheering her on. extreme heat. how long can anyone be expected to take temperatures in triple digits? >> and tonight, a surprising "take that" for all those that think life goes downhill after 40, 50 or 60 for that matter. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening, the most divisive and potentially dangerous moment in history in washington is now history. it was so ugly even now that it's technically solved it left otherwise sensible people worried about the future of our country. here's what it sounded like when it ended. >> the yays are 74. the nays are 26. the motion to concur in the house amendment to senate bill 365 is agreed to. >> the bill passed the senate with ease and then over to the white house where the president signed it. the debt limit's been fixed. but big steps remain. they'll now go back at it. cuts are coming if the president gets his way the rich will pay more. just the fight over it is already affecting the u.s. economy. then at the height of it, during the house vote, a moment of pure joy arrived.

it started with slow applause, and then erupted as house members realized that gabby giffords had come back to cast a vote. something no one thought possible back in january when they didn't know if she would make it through that first night. nancy pelosi called if i have fords entrance a great moment for our country which, of course, the debate was not. but it's where we begin with nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: at first, the unexpected sound of applause turned heads on the house floor. then the stunned recognition that really was her. congresswoman gabby giffords had come back, steadied by her husband, mark kelly and chief of staff. >> it was incredible. a moment that we had been hoping for, praying for, thinking about since january 8th. >> reporter: a few snapshots had been the only glimpse until now. colleagues could not wait to

greet her, touch her. new jersey democrat bill pascrell is still choked up about it. >> it was heart felt. she smiled, i hugged her and then i raised her hand because she's a champion. when you just think about all that she's been through, how the hell can we complain about our late nights over the last month? >> reporter: debbie wasserman schultz was by her side. >> we knew she would make a triumphant return. we knew her and predicted that it would happen. >> reporter: it had been six months, three weeks and four days since those shots were fired in tucson. giffords life was nearly taken then. giffords life was nearly taken. she returned to take some of that life back. she tweeted, the capitol looks beautiful and i'm honored to be at work tonight. her desk has been empty while her staff keeps going in her place.

she had a private meeting with staffers today. >> she's heading back to houston today to get back to therapy first thing tomorrow morning. >> reporter: giffords did not cast the deciding vote needed to pass the debt limit deal. but her vote made a difference. all that bitter fighting seemed to melt in the moment. >> i don't think she had any sense that it would be as overwhelming and as emotional as it was. i mean, she had members from both parties coming up to her, hugging her, kissing her. >> reporter: close friend senator gillibrand had lunch with giffords today. >> she understands everything. she has opinions on everything. to be able to fully articulate her thoughts the way she did before this awful crime, i think, will be her challenge. >> reporter: friends say they expect congresswoman giffords will ultimately decide to run for re-election next year and senator gillibrand said she would help her raise money and campaign. aides say it's too soon for that. for now she's focused solely on her recovery. >> a moment everybody needed. kelly o'donnell on the hill. back to the cold reality of business.

more on this debt ceiling deal which is now the debt ceiling law. chuck todd with us from there. chuck, take it away. >> reporter: a detante, no more than that. and it capped off a really contentious debate and despite the bipartisan support for the deal, it's a deal nobody wants to take credit for. president obama didn't praise the deal, only express relief. >> our economy didn't need washington to come along with a manufactured crisis to make things worse. >> reporter: he called the $2.5 trillion deficit reduction package simply "a first step" and argued more must be done. >> yes, that means making some adjustments to protect health care programs like medicare so they're there for future generations. it also means reforming our tax codes so that the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations pay their fair share. >> reporter: the bill he signed in private passed the senate with a large bipartisan majority but few expressed enthusiasm.

>> to say that the legislation before us is not ideal is truly an understatement. >> this bill does not solve the problem. but it, at least, forces washington to admit that it has one. >> reporter: it remains unclear which government programs will be the biggest losers since it falls to a bipartisan super committee to identify $1.5 trillion of the cuts later this year. familiar political posturing for that committee task is already begun. with republicans saying tax hikes and democrats worrying about medicare and social security being targeted. >> reporter: this brought washington to a halt including . extending long-term employment benefits, approving trade agreements with south korea, panama and colombia.

and streamlining the patent process, a potential shot in the arm for both businesses. >> both parties need to take responsibility for improving this economy. >> reporter: and, boy, did the white house send a signal they are ready to on confirming the president heads to chicago, a fundraiser. his first one in a month. a birthday fundraiser. they also used today to announce the president's 9/11 plan. it's the tenth anniversary on that day, brian, he plans to travel from the pentagon to shanksville, pennsylvania, and to ground zero. >> it was clear he's trying to turn the page. after all those dire warnings that the stock market might tank if congress didn't pass the debt ceiling increase and today the stock market tanked. big concerns about the state of the economy drove the dow down nearly 266 points. nasdaq fell 75. s&p, way down, almost 34 -- 33

points. giving up its gains for the whole year. with us tonight from chicago with more on what we should make of all this, diane swank, chief economist. diane, so much to ask you about. first of all, gold is up $40. what does that mean? moody's, the organization that gives the kind of financial rating for things like the united states, has given the u.s. a negative outlook, though that's not a downgrade. i guess there's no question why the markets are reacting? >> absolutely. what we saw today was everything from people still worrying about the economy and the dollar and what's going to happen to our credit rating despite the good news that the debt ceiling has been passed and people will get paychecks and social security checks sent out tomorrow. that's very important but that's only one piece of the uncertainty we face. the u.s. economy has clearly been in a stalled status recently. we had a little bit more income in the month of june but only a little bit, and held on to more of it.

consumers saved a little more as they cut back on spending even with decline in energy prices the only silver lining is much of that was in auto sales and we found out today that july auto sales picked up as the automakers started to restock and offer discounts again. consumers won't buy unless they have discounts but what's really important on the debt ceiling is the ongoing uncertainty we have about the debt rating of the u.s. economy. even though moody's confirmed that we don't know what our credit rating will be as a country going forward. very embarrassing as a country and it will be very important going forward. uncertainty is really hard as a headwind in an economy where we're only treading water it acts as -- you don't know if the next wave will put you under. >> tough note to end on, diane, thanks for being with us as always. and we should note, cnbc will be airing a special report on the markets coming up tonight at 8:00 eastern time. this doesn't solve everything. there's still enough congressional gridlock to go around, even though they acted

on the debt ceiling. one thing that did not get resolved today, a stalemate over the federal aviation budget and partisan bickering on this is costing real americans tens of thousands of workers, costing them their paychecks. our report from nbc's lisa myers. >> reporter: in the last ten days, 241 airport modernization projects around the country have been shut down. laying off 70,000 construction workers. also sent home without paychecks, 4,000 faa employees. >> we feel like we're pawns in a political game. >> dan, an faa engineer in pittsburgh says the loss of pay hurts everyone. >> i'm concerned with whether or not i'm going to be able to pay my mortgage. >> reporter: now the house has left town for the rest of the summer without ending the stalemate meaning these workers could be laid off for five more weeks.

>> this is not the way to treat people. this is not -- the money is there for these construction projects to go on. all congress has to do is pass a bill. >> the partisan bickering centers on the assistance of house republicans that any bill that keeps the faa operating also curb costly subsidies from flights to and from 13 rural airports, some in the states of powerful democrats. >> all we're trying to do is end these wasteful subsidies. some as high as $3,700. >> reporter: democrats accused republicans of a stunning display of politics over people. >> they passed a bill and said to the united states senate, either you take it our way or it will be no runway and no highway and no way. >> reporter: meanwhile, the federal government is losing $200 million a week in airline ticket taxes. in most cases that savings isn't being passed on to the public but, instead, being pocketed by the airlines. tonight, the administration is pressing the democratic senate to give in to the house. but at this hour there's no deal

and that means 74,000 workers could be without paychecks for weeks. lisa myers, nbc news, washington. at least one person has died from a national outbreak of salmonella poisoning linked to ground turkey. the cdc says 26 states have been affected, a total of 77 people sick. and as we said, one dead. the victim in california. there's been no recall yet. officials are still trying to pinpoint the source of the contamination but it appears that only one plant may be involved, we're told. everyone's being urged to thoroughly cook ground turkey meat. still to come here on a tuesday night, a summertime threat, triple-digit heat that's turned deadly. is there any end in sight? and wait until you hear what turned up in a disappearing lake. a recent piece of american history. and back in arizona, the surprise everyone's talking about. gabby giffords stunning and happy return.

this is the map and the projected path of tropical storm emily, pushing westward now across the caribbean. big cone of a possible path that includes florida right now. first time this season florida's been inside the cone. southern tip of the state could feel the first strong winds from emily friday night. but, again, it's early yet in the forecasting business. august is picking up where july left off across much of the

country. extreme heat. temperatures far above normal even for mid summer. 15 states had temperatures of 100 degrees or more this afternoon! 15 states! and nowhere is getting hit harder than texas where relentless heat and drought have made it dangerous to be outside. nbc's janet shamlian is with us from hockley, texas. good evening, janet. >> reporter: brian, good evening. the corn is burning up and this heatwave is getting worse just as high schoolers are suiting up and spending more time outdoors for band and football practice. at a high school outside dallas, the football field was empty, on what should have been the second day of practice. after a coach collapsed and died monday. the team had just finished its second practice of the day in triple-digit heat. when wade mcclain fell over as he was walking from the field. >> he just became ill and lost consciousness and the doctors are still trying to determine

exactly what happened. >> reporter: near atlanta, 16-year-old forest jones is fighting for his life after fainting and hitting his head after a football practice last week. doctors say it was heat stroke. with school just weeks away in many parts of the country, band members and other students are playing and practicing in searing heat. >> the majority of cases who get into trouble with heat illness really are the young and healthy. they think they can go out and tolerate it. >> reporter: there have been heat deaths all over. at least 40 confirmed in the south and midwest since the heatwave started and excessive heat warning for 12 states. >> it's so hot it's unbearable. you don't even want your kids to go outside. >> reporter: on monday, it was 110 in tulsa. dallas is on its 32nd day of 100 degrees or higher. the state's power grid pushed to the max. so steamy, people are seeking refuge in the cool underground tunnels that connect downtown buildings.

even though accustomed to the dog days of august say they can't remember it being this hot for this long. and yesterday at this hour, an all-time electricity record was set here in texas. and, brian, as the heatwave rolls on they hope it won't result in emergency outages. >> everyone is hoping for relief. janet shamlian, thanks. and look what else the drought in texas has done. officials in the area have located a piece of the shuttle colombia in nacodoches which remember, blew up on re-entry over texas back in 2003. this was found caked with mud in a lakebed where the water dried up around it. it's about four feet in diameter. someone guessed it could be a part of the shuttle and only thatth and they were correct. they sent photographto nasa for confirmation and retrieval. >> when we come back. a new reason for women of a

certain age, as they say, to rejoice. cc1:cc1: cc1:cc1:ra

this next item is hard to take if you're an old-school believer in american architectural dominance over the skies. a group of saudi investors has decided that saudi arabia is missing is the world's tallest building. that title currently resides in the same region of the world in dubai but this one will go higher. the kick is they hired a chicago architectural firm from the city

that gave us sears tower. the nation that gave us the empire state building. in a few years and $1.2 billion down the road, american design will be the tallest building in the world but it won't be anywhere near america. here in new york tonight, the city of concrete canyons is abuzz over a peacock that escaped from the central park zoo this afternoon, perched on a window sill at a swank fifth avenue apartment building and yes, that's our logo. we'll get to that in a moment. a crowd has gathered below the perch and zoo officials are urging everybody to leave the bird alone and hoping somehow he'll get back to the bronx on his own. this being 2011, of course, the peacock already has a twitter feed including a request to get in touch here with us at nbc and this alleged complaint from the bird, quote, they've been using my image without permission for too long now. mr. peacock we've had our fun just get down from there and get home safely.

and a lot of people consider this next story to say "take that" to all the waif thin models that are usually celebrated in womens' magazines and fashion publications. in a poll of 2,000 men and women asked to name the best body, helen mirren came in first and for good reason. and keep in mind here, she's 66 years old and she finished on the list above el macpherson, j.lo and mirren won an academy award for playing the queen but the similarities ends there. she posed nude in a bathtub as recently as a year ago. her husband says his wife is bold and beautiful. when we come back, nobody was more surprised than the folks back home at what happened last night and it came at a critical time.

finally tonight, back on january 8th we arrived in tucson, arizona, to find a community in shock after a shooting, mourning the dead caring for the wounded and many didn't think their congresswoman was going to make it. boy, did she ever make it. gabby giffords has fought to come back and that fight brought

her to the house floor last night to thunderous applause and all we could think of is the resilient community of tucson, arizona, where as lee cowan reports, they were cheering her on every step of the way. >> reporter: it was once considered wishful thinking, that the day would come but that it came so early was miraculous. that's a word that's become synonymous with gabby giffords. >> thank you, gabby. >> reporter: it's been seven short months since an assassin's bullet tore through her head and her district hadn't had a voice since. and for her staff, like ron barber, who was shot twice that day, last night was astounding for a whole other reason. >> she's inspiration to the country and at at least for a second we can come together as a country. >> at the scene of the shooting most agreed that her quiet determination said more about the good politics than all the debt ceiling speeches combined.

>> yeah, i cried, sure. because she's rock, you know? >> i think she epitomizes getting along in the political world. and so it was a perfect environment for her to do that. >> reporter: at the tucson hospital, once buried in a sea of candles and flowers, doctors never doubted her resolve but they, too, were shocked. >> in the end there's light at the end of the tunnel and yesterday we saw the light. >> even her high school history teacher watched her return, looking so different but to him, so very much the same. >> that was so emotional. just standing there thinking, good for you, gabby. >> reporter: no one here has forgotten the six people killed or the 12 other people wounded but it's what gabby giffords inspires in those people that tucson wants to be remembered for, not the crime itself. sometimes a wave is just a wave, but on the night, it was a gesture that moved the world.

lee cowan, nbc news, tucson. and that's our broadcast for this tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams and we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com an innocent bystander. new details about garrido's history of luring young girls even after they kidnapped jaycee dugard. i'm jodi hernandez in west oakland where neighbors are firing up the grill in the name. we'll take to you the national night out festivities coming up.