and star search, the nationwide casting call to fill the paws of a movie legend. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. what is traditionally a summer lull in a race for president is suddenly producing a lot of fireworks, all over president obama's attacks with romney's days with bain capital and romney's sharp counterattacks. the president said he won't be apologizing for questioning the record at the firm. again romney's camp pushed back hard labeling the obama attacks lies. but at the same time keeping a controversy they would like to go away very much alive. nbc's mike va care leads off our reporting from the white house.

>> reporter: this controversy keeps getting hotter. today there were more charges, counter charges and more outrage surrounding mitt romney's record at bain capital. today mitt romney's attended church with his family while on the sunday talk shows his surrogates were on the offensive fighting back about whether the time at bain capital included outsourcing of jobs. >> this notion that while he was at bain capital governor romney shut down american jobs and moved them overseas. it's patently false. it's a lie. >> reporter: for his part this weekend in an interview president obama rejected romney's call for an apology over those same attacks. >> first of all, you're not going to apologize? >> no, we won't be apologizing. >> reporter: instead again questioning romney's claim that he left bain in 1999 to return the salt lake city olympics. >> he is claiming i wasn't there at the time except he files a listing saying he was the

president and ceo of the company. >> reporter: the president is referring to documents listing him as ceo in 2000 and 2001. gillespie had a new explanation for that today. >> he retired retroactively at that point, because he ended up not going back to the firm after his time in salt lake city. >> reporter: and gillespie shot back on another program. >> we know this president will say and do anything to keep the highest office in the land even if it means demeaning the highest office in the land. >> reporter: meanwhile, the obama campaign fought back on its own. today, romney released a new ad. >> by starting negative, going extremely tough. >> reporter: which includes three journalists appearing to criticize obama. including cbs anchor who was caught off guard. >> i have no connection with the romney campaign. this was done without our permission. it comes as a total surprise to me. >> reporter: two of the journalists featured in that campaign had appeared on nbc news and msnbc and both

networks say they had not granted the romney campaign permission to use that material. they ask that the campaign refrain from doing so. lester? >> thank you. there are a lot of moving parts to these attacks on romney. one of questions, it's almost a dare from the obama folks that he release more tax returns than he's clearly comfortable doing. is there going to be a call within his own party to get it out and move on? >> he is already getting pressure like that. i talked to two officials one said we are not taking that bait and pointed toward polling data. another said to my knowledge, we're staying the course. i think that means we are going to watch and see how great the pressure becomes. >> these attacks about bain capital go right to what romney touted as his strength, business experience. why is the question of when he was actually running bain so important, so key here? >> it's important because the longer they can associate mitt

romney with bain capital, the wider the range of activities that the obama campaign can criticize him for like outsourcing and cutting jobs. it goes right to the heart of the experience as you mentioned, just as the republicans went after john kerry on his military experience. lester, when both a candidate and the press get on the trail of a controversy like this, the target can be left out in the political wilderness pretty quickly unless they can either change the subject or have the news agenda change the subject for them. hasn't happened yet. >> that leads to the question, it was friday that romney went on several network tv interviews, trying to stick a fork in this controversy. is it too soon to say that was a miscalculation? >> i don't know if it was a miscalculation but clearly it hasn't worked. they'll come under pressure, as we talked about earlier, to do a lot more. on the other hand mitt romney is getting a lot of air cover on super pac groups. they have ammunition in this fight. the race remains close. even though obama has a narrow

national lead and in the swing states, lester. >> john harwood, good to hear your analysis. thank you. it's been a day of extreme weather across parts of the country. heavy rain in parts of texas and late word tonight of a deadly lightning strike on a soccer field near houston, two people killed while trying to hide from the rain. beneath a tree. in the meantime, a much different story. the nation's heartland, where a severe drought continues crippling a lot of farms. after a brief break from the triple digit temperatures, get ready for round two. meteorologist kim cunningham joins us now from the weather channel headquarters. kim, here we go again, right? >> that's right, lester. you know, a tragic story about this lightning strike in around the houston area. i want to show you real quick. this is a big story with the lightning we have been seeing. that is moving out of houston. you can see the six-hour timeline showing the storms on the way out. this is a big story and the fact a lot of people get killed by lightning each year, the bigger story i think coming up this week will be the heat. i want to show you the dew point, the measure of moisture at the surface.

notice 60s and 70s. it's very high, tropical atmosphere. you add that to temperatures up near 100 degrees coming this up week. this is a different scenario we had the last heat wave we had. we had temperatures 90s in this area. factor in the dew points, the tropical dew points, we're talking heat indices of 105 plus. that's where the danger is going to be this week coming up. this will also move east by the way, into the northeast. if you live here, excessive heat warnings up for this area. humidity levels will be up and dangerous. back to you, lester. >> kim cunningham at weather channel headquarters, thank you. overseas, more extreme weather to talk about. in japan, at least 25 are dead and thousands more remain cut off by severe flooding and mudslides triggered by torrential rains in the southern part of the country. more than 250,000 people were evacuated from their homes. in poland, a string of freak tornadoes killed one and left ten more hurt. the twisters flattened homes and

hundreds of acres of forest land. the power and scope of these tornadoes are unheard of in poland. they come during a summer of wild weather there. now to significant development in the crisis in syria. the international red cross said it considers the conflict there to be a civil war. that announcement comes during one of deadliest weeks since the uprising began. nbc is monitoring developments from cairo tonight. good evening. >> good evening, lester, calling it a civil war is significant and it has real consequences. it means now attacks on detainees and civilians could constitute a war crime. syrian opposition activists are saying that the syrian military has launched a major military operation on suburbs of the capital of damascus, triggering what many are describing the single heaviest day of fighting since the uprising began to reach the capital. amateur footage posted online showed black smoke billowing

above residential buildings. in other developments we're learning this evening that that incident that is being described as a massacre on thursday, today, the united nations says it may not have been a massacre, in fact it was more of a lopsided or one-sided fight between the syrian military and opposition rebels who tried to defend a town. all of these indications that the syrian regime of bashar al assad has begun to lose grip of its power, even in the capital. >> thank you. some tense moments for secretary of state hillary clinton traveling in egypt when she and her motorcade passed by a group of protesters, they threw shoes, tomatoes and water bottles at her convoy. though none of them hit her car. she was on a whirl wind trip to different countries.

imagine you're in the middle of watching a once in a lifetime performance, bruce springsteen and paul mccartney on stage, jamming the e-street band and suddenly, silence, somebody cut the mikes and told everybody to go home. that's what happened last night in london. >> reporter: two music legends, one incredible finale. until, that is, someone cut the microphone. springsteen's good-bye silence of a crowd is met by booing. among the 65,000 fans was nbc's kyra simmons. >> people didn't seem to know what was going on. you have mccartney and springstein. they are playing the beatles numbers. it's amazing. people are dancing. suddenly silence. the band was still playing but you can't hear it. >> reporter: just minutes earlier it had been so different.

springstein is renowned for giving his fans more. he had already played for three hours when sir paul mccartney surprised the crowd by joining him, performing beatles hits like "twist and shout." ♪ residents in the affluent neighborhood surrounding hyde park have demanded a noise curfew and the concert was already over the limits when it was suddenly shut down. angry e street band member steven van zandt tweeted when i'm jamming with mccartney don't bug me. neither local authority nor concert organizers are saying who stopped the music. >> there was a bit of confusion and rubbish, i guess. >> reporter: today london's mayor said the stars should have been allowed to play on. ♪ instead this performance will be remembered as the day the boss

broke curfew and the plugs got pulled. nbc news, london. at the tour de france today it was chaos as dozens of riders were suddenly slowed by flat tires. someone apparently from the crowd threw sharp tacks on the road. the race leader showed good sportsmanship asking the main pack of riders to slow down allowing others to get new tires and catch up. they are asking officials to investigate. up next here as we continue on "nightly news" slowing down as we get older isn't unusual. tonight links between the way you walk and dementia. and later -- a casting call of the four-legged kind.

back now with big health news coming out this weekend's alzheimer's association international conference in vancouver. it is estimated one in every eight americans over 65 has alzheimer's disease and that figure is expected to grow as baby boomers age. and tonight we're learning about potential early warning signs. we get a report from our chief medical editor, dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: it may sound surprising but new research presented today suggests something as simple as the way we walk could be an early warning sign of decline. >> subtle motor changes that you can detect may be a warning

system to kind of let you know there might be some abnormal pathology in the brain that could lead to cognitive decline later on. >> reporter: researchers looked at the relationship between brain function and the gait of a person's walk. measuring things like speed, rhythm and stride. while changes in walking are expected with age and slowing down does not necessarily a cause for concern, people with alzheimer's and those with less advanced cognitive impairment walk slower than people with normal mental function. >> we may be able to catch cognitive decline at an earlier stage by focusing in addition to their thinking abilities to their walking abilities and their motor abilities. >> reporter: it's been generally accepted that regular physical exercise can improve health as we age. now studies are looking at which types of activities are most effective and why. in another study presented today scientists at the university of pittsburgh found evidence that suggests walking could help

decrease known risk factors for alzheimer's more than other types of exercise. a part of the brain responsible for regulating memory, emotion and learning typically shrinks in patients with alzheimer's. but in people who exercised aerobically by walking regularly for a year, it grew, compared to those who simply stretched and toned. something experts say is evidence lifestyle can impact the brain even as we age. >> the best thing to do for your brain all throughout your life and especially as you age is physical exercise. >> reporter: with more research understanding the lationship between exercise, motor skills and mental function could help doctors treat, monitor and diagnose dementia at earlier stages. dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, new york. we're back in a moment with the loss tonight of an oscar-winning actress.

♪ you and you and you ought to be in pictures ♪ ♪ you're wonderful to see

for a black man in the 1960s there was no more dangerous a place to speak out on race and civil rights than the state of mississippi. and to do so on national

television, well, that seemed almost suicidal. for 46 years the courageous and defiant act of a small town waiter named booker wright was sitting on a shelf in the nbc news film archives, now brought to life by his granddaughter and a curious stranger. you will hear an offensive word. one that you and i certainly don't take lightly. one that illustrates the death of booker wright's humiliation and pain. >> reporter: yvette johnson grew up privileged. >> we were not connected to extended family. >> reporter: once she had her own kids she began to explore her roots. >> i have a fantastic aunt vera who loves to tell stories. she shared with me the story of her father. >> reporter: yvette's grandfather was this man, booker wright. >> there was a definite shift in her tone when she talked about

booker wright. i knew i just wanted to know more about him. >> reporter: yvette found an article about booker who was a waiter at a white's only restaurant in greenwood in the '60s. she called the writer. >> he acted like he found some sort of a dignitary. >> he suggested that booker was a bit of a civil rights icon? >> yes. >> at least locally? >> yes. >> reporter: he told her booker wright had once said something controversial about civil rights on tv but knew little about it. >> i thought it was the 5:00 news. i couldn't find anything. i started to think that maybe it was not real. >> this is booker wright. >> reporter: it was. in 2010 out of the blue a filmmaker sent yvette a 1966 nbc documentary about race relations in mississippi. and booker wright had stolen the show. >> we don't have a real menu. i'd be glad to tell you what

we're going to serve tonight. >> reporter: booker's description of life in the jim crow south was perhaps the first time many white americans had heard a black man speak so bluntly. >> some call me bookie. some call me john. some call me jim. some call me nigger. but you have to smile. >> my heart broke for him as i watched it and he talked about that daily humiliation. you know, part of me wanted to reach back and comfort him. >> could you recognize the jeopardy he was putting himself in? >> when i first saw it, no. because i still didn't really understand greenwood. >> reporter: yvette set out for greenwood in the company of the filmmaker, ray defilito. both were about to have a rendezvous with history. see what they uncover on their journey back to mississippi on a special "dateline" tonight called "finding booker's place." we learned today that one of

the greats in stage and screen has died. celeste holm won an oscar for her supporting role in the 1946 classic "gentleman's agreement." she later received two more nominations, one for her role as bette davis' best friend in "all about eve" and soared to fame in the original production of "oklahom" celeste holm passed away in her apartment in new york. she was 95 years old. when we come back the nationwide search for the new benji. ♪ you're wonderful in pictures ♪ you're wonderful to see

finally tonight, if you wait long enough, eventually everything old is new again. nowhere is that more true than at the movies. the latest old favorite headed for the remake machine is the 1974 classic "benji" and that has set off a nationwide search to find a four-legged star. we get the story tonight from nbc's mike taibbi. >> reporter: brendan camp is looking for a friend. >> look at that face. >> reporter: not his best friend but the one movie goers everywhere will fall in love with, the next benji. >> at the end of the day it is like love at first sight. >> reporter: it was there four decades ago when his father joe camp found the original benji, a dog so clever, so

trainable and so expressive that he upstaged human co-stars like chevy chase and omar sharif. the benji character played by several dogs eclipsing earlier canine heroes lassie and rin tin tin as a movie tv star a quarter billion in earnings. and fans worldwide. the last sequel "benji off the leash" in 2004 didn't do much. >> it made only about 3 or $4 million at the box office. >> reporter: when blockbusters in the digital age starring avatars and dragons and mechanical monstrosities earned hundreds of millions. the challenge of course is whether any dog can make a dent in a movie universe dominated by computer generated humans and villains of the human and nonhuman variety.

>> reporter: camp is confident he will find that dog. >> are you benji? >> reporter: if he finds the right benji through shelter visits, a dedicated facebook page or just plain luck, that special movie can light up the screen again, even now. >> i won't take no for an answer. we will find this dog. i know the dog is out there. >> reporter: there are film critics who say they can't wait. >> i want to see this movie. i'm rooting for benji. >> reporter: which is why and how benji became a star. the hunger for happy endings as valid as ever. >> are you a star in the making? >> reporter: with the right actor in the leading role. mike taibbi, nbc news, los angeles. that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. brian williams will be here tomorrow. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. for all of us here on nbc news, good night.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com . good evening. state fire officials say the wildfire burning in placer county has almost doubled in size from yesterday. it has destroyed one home and threatening nearly 200 others. 2,500 firefighters are now battling the fire right now and many of them are from the bay area. nbc bay area's kimberly terry joins with us more on the fire and what it means to bay area resources as well. kimberly? >> reporter: g