and at our first stop, we heard

cc1: concern about the president. >> so i am very pleased to be out of washington. >> reporter: taking his message to the heartland, president obama began predictably. by trying to channel american frustration with washington. >> some in congress would rather see their opponents lose than america win. we can't have patience with that kind of behavior anymore. i know you're frustrated. and i'm frustrated too. >> reporter: while many here at the town hall say they support the president, some expressed concern over his ability to lead the nation out of the current economic crisis. >> they say we're recovering, i have yet to see it, at least in this area around here. so, yeah, i might be a little frustrated as well at this point. >> i want him to reassure me that my investments are safe. >> reporter: and some are simply frustrated with him. >> show a little bit more leadership and less compromising. >> reporter: the white house took pains today to claim this trip was not about the campaign, but that didn't stop the rnc chairman from following the president to minnesota and leveling this attack.

>> we're ready to fight and we're here to take back our country. are you with me this morning? >> reporter: but the president did dabble in presidential politics, attacking the entire gop field from last week's debate. >> are you saying none of you would take it? and everybody raised their hand. none of them would take it. think about that. i mean that's just not common sense. >> reporter: and the president is using these town halls to test out new campaign lines, turning one favorite presidential attack into a punch line. >> health care reform, also known as obama care. let me tell you i have no problem with folks saying obama cares. i do care. >> reporter: and during the q&a portion of this second town hall, the president promised to unveil a plan in september that he says will create jobs and

control the deficit. >> chuck todd in iowa tonight. we also want to point out this bus trip by the president marks the debut of two new identical black busses meant for presidential travel and maintained by the secret service. prior to this, presidents have often traveled in plain old leased busses with minor modifications and security concerns about that have been raised going back to the clinton administration and through the bush 43 years, that the president is somehow vulnerable in a rented bus. these new busses cost $1.1 million apiece. and notably, the gop nominee will travel in one as well this campaign season when they receive secret service protection. one other note from today, president obama today made mention of an op-ed article getting a lot of attention. the billionaire warren buffett made the case in today's "new york times," the same case he's made to us here in the past, saying in effect that he's not

being asked to pay enough in taxes. buffet wrote in part, my friends and i have been coddled long enough by a billionaire friendly congress. it's time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice. we have linked by the way the entire article on our website tonight. the smart phone wars just got more interesting. google's now going to become a manufacturer, they have made a dale deal to acquire motorola's mobile hand set business for about $12.5 billion. if this gets approved it turns google, the maker of the android platform into a full blown cell phone maker in direct competition with apple. the news from google helped lift the financial markets today after last week's incredible volatility. all three major indexes were up today. that means that it's now back to even, after all those losses we went through last week. as of today, we say, who knows what tomorrow's trading will bring. a lot of news overseas tonight, including a wave of

coordinated attacks across iraq, at least 86 are dead in iraq's deadliest day of the year, at least 300 people were wounded. from norway, chilling pictures of that confessed mass murderer murder being walked around by tethers so he wouldn't escape, back at the youth camp where he murdered 69 people, re-enacting all of it for police on videotape shot by shot. and in great britain after last week's riots, prime minister david cameron said today it wasn't the economy or cut backs or anything but what he called a slow motion moral collapse that triggered the crisis across the uk. now we turn to the crisis in the horn of africa, the famine, the drought, now an epidemic of cholera raging through somalia. ann curry has more on the millions of people who are fighting for their lives and against the forces to keep the

most basic help, food, away from women and children who need it so desperately. >> reporter: for millions of people mogadishu's front line separates hope from despair. in recent days, african peacekeepers say they are winning this battle for the city, seizing territory from the al qaeda supported forces from of al-shabaab. some of the fiercest battles were fought from this high ground from which african soldiers can see over a wide area to keep al-shabaab pushed back. just yesterday the peacekeepers also scored another critical victory taking an al-shabaab bomb factory. as our cameras were given the first glimpse inside, munitions experts were still making the facility safe, collecting evidence to be processed by the fbi. all for improvised bombs, potentially deadly to peacekeepers and civilians. as the peacekeepers gain new territory, they are making it possible for aid workers to reach more people in need.

mogadishu's central hospital is overwhelmed with victims of the famine. 1-year-old fatima's life hangs in the balance. her mother says she and her husband walked eight days with their five children to flee al-shabaab terror. millions of children like fatima are at risk of dying from younger in the region, many of them unreachable in al-shabaab strongholds. this little boy covered with a blanket died sunday of malnutrition and disease. over the weekend, a cholera epidemic was declared too. this couple lost their 8-year-old son to cholera and hunger. my son is my world, she told us. i am destroyed. after walking nine days to mogadishu, another son, a 2-year-old weighed just six pounds, but doctors now say he will live. for this family, a future in a country where so many have none.

anne curry, nbc news, mogadishu. up next here tonight as our broadcast continues on a monday evening, important news about children and autism and the odds it could run in the family. and later, it's been over a year since the bp spill, remember all of those promises about the wildlife? well tonight, we take our cameras back to check on the health of the dolphins. desperate for nighttime heartburn relief? for many, nexium helps relieve heartburn symptoms caused by acid reflux disease. talk to your doctor about your risk for osteoporosis-related bone fractures if you take multiple daily doses of nexium for a long time. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. talk to your doctor about nexium. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. so i take one a day men's 50+ advantage. as a manager, my team counts on me to stay focused.

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suspected she had autism too and was later confirmed by doctors. >> it gave us a level of comfort to know that we knew the direction we needed to take with her. >> reporter: until now researchers estimated the risk of a child having autism was between 3% and 10%, if an older sibling had the disorder, but this latest studies shows the risk is almost 19%. for boys it is close to 26% and for an infant that has two older siblings with autism the risk is 32%. >> we were surprised by how much higher these estimates were than previous estimates and speaking personally, very saddened for family members and what they're facing in their own family planning decisions. >> reporter: scientists say the research sponsored by the charity autism speaks found higher numbers because it was larger and more thorough than

previous studies and the definition of autism has expanded. >> the previous studies were largely done in the 1980s and 1990s. and at that time the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorders were different and were therefore narrower. >> reporter: so researchers are not surprised by the results and hope it will make parents even more vigilant. statistics show that the earlier children get help, the better their prospects. up next here tonight, an impossible hockey shot and the kid who made it and what his dad was forced to admit.

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persieds meteor shower made for a spectacular show this weekend, even though i got my facts wrong on friday night. about the full moon which actually ended up hampering viewing for all of us who tried to take in the night sky.

meteors averaged about one per minute at the height there, and what's it like to be above the show looking down? one of the space station astronauts took this photo from up there. and here's the shot of the night the goal was to get a hockey puck through a tiny slot from center ice. 89 feet through a 3 1/2-inch opening. that's nate smith with his hockey stick. his twin brother knick was supposed to take the shot but couldn't get there. nick entered the raffle, nick entered the raffle. his twin brother nate didn't have time to overthink it, he just stepped up, took the shot and scored, winning $50,000. because they're twins, everybody thought it was his brother's nick until the boy's dad came forward for the sake of a lesson in truth. organizers are now debating if he should still get the money even though he was a stand in for his brother. when we come back here tonight, the innocent victims of the bp spill, how are they doing after all those promises to clean up the water for the animals? an everyday momenter ]

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na finally tonight, it's been over a year since the awful slow motion sadness we all watched on that live underwater camera, the bp oil spill, there were a lot of promises about cleaning up that water and making life better for the marine life there, but what has the progress been like? the creatures that will help

answer that question are the dolphins in the gulf. we went back to check on them in the water of barataria bay in louisiana. our report tonight from our chief environmental affairs corporate anne thompson. >> reporter: today the gleaming bay is a living laboratory to study the effects of the bp oil spill on dolphins and the gulf. >> this is one of the places which was heavily oiled and does have residual oil. >> reporter: more than 400 dolphins have died since the spill, including one found in barataria soaked in bp oil. but today the focus is on those that survived. scientists corralled a dolphin with a net, lifting it on to the

research vessel. the dolphin is weighed and measured. electrodes monitor heart and lung function. under a hood, one scientist checks internal organs with ultrasound, while others take blood and blubber samples, while others look for signs of trouble brought on by oil. >> respiratory problems, and skin legions in some of those animals. >> reporter: but the answers won't be known for months. >> it's just like when you go to the doctor, he can't tell you oh, yeah you're healthy or you're not, they need to do diagnostics. >> reporter: this dolphin is pregnant and so the examination has to take place in the water. one of the things scientists are looking for is an answer to why so many baby dolphins have died since the oil spill and they're hoping this dolphin may help them find the answer. branded and tagged with satellite and radio tracking devices, the dolphins return to the wild. now partners in the quest to restore the gulf. anne thompson, nbc news, barataria bay, louisiana. and that's our broadcast for this monday night, as we start off a new week.

thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening everyone. thanks for joining us. i'm janelle wang in for jessica. we're looking at shots, live pictures in san francisco. this is the bart protest. you might have heard a lot about this in the last few days. it was an organized protest after yesterday's cyber attacks to the bart website. the group anonymous planned the protest at 5:00. at 5:10 it started in ernest.