character, vision for the country that adds something to the political discourse about the direction of the country. i mean, i happen to believe this is a defining election for america. >> reporter: romney's promise of a visionary v.p. only increased the buzz surrounding wisconsin congressman paul ryan, who is a favorite of washington economic conservatives. last night, ryan almost used the exact same language as romney to describe the stakes of this election. >> it's not a very good political climate right now, but that's because we have an enormously high stakes election. >> reporter: other members of the romney short list include ohio senator rob portman and former men michb minnesota governor tim pawlenty, want the suspense ended. are you ready for this decision to be made? are you tired of the questions? >> i'm ready for it to be made, i am. >> reporter: this week of the campaign has been marked by an ugly tone. >> and she passed away in 22 days. i do not think mitt romney realizes what he's done to anyone.

>> what does it say about a president's character, when his campaign tries to use the tragedy of a woman's death for political gain? >> reporter: with three new polls out today showing the president leading by seven points or more, even romney seems to acknowledge the negative turn is hurting him. >> our campaign would be helped immensely, if we had an agreement between both campaigns that we were only going to talk about issues. and that attacks based upon business or family or taxes or things of that nature, that this is just -- this is -- >> the diversion? are you going to put out a pledge or something? >> i would love to -- we only talk about issues, and we can talk about the differences between our positions. >> reporter: now, romney starts a four-state bus tour, begins tomorrow in norfolk, virginia. and every day, brian, it seems the romney campaign has something planned that is designed to make us think that that day will be the day they pick the v.p. we think they're just trying to have a little fun.

we think they're aiming for a rollout later next week. brian? >> and the guessing game continues. chuck todd starting us off from washington tonight. chuck, thanks. there was a big, bad wave of unsettled weather over the eastern third of the country today. could make for a stormy and even dangerous night still in some places. we want to check in with weather channel meteorologist mike seidel at headquarters in atlanta. mike, good evening. >> good eveng, brian. a rough day. we had a minor tornado touch down on long island, 85 mile an hour winds. ef-0, so minor damage. show you what's going on right now, we have a tornado watch until 9:00 covering parts of southeast massachusetts and rhode island. big storms rolling through the area northeast at about 35 to 40 miles an hour. and one coming into the south side of boston, right over brockton and right over logan airport. we'll have the risk of wind damage and heavy rains, these storms have moved north, they have weakened, the threat of severe weather and lightning has decreased. the payoff comes, already in the midwest. look at these high temperatures on saturday. we haven't seen weather like this in two months, in the

midwest where they've had triple digit heat. 72 pittsburgh, 81 new york. and brian, bluefield, west virginia 76, the same as london on saturday. >> mike seidel, weather channel headquarters tonight, thanks. we've been reporting on the drought that's devastated the corn belt of the u.s., the worst in more than half a century. and just today a dire new assessment from the u.s. department of agriculture, the nation is on track to have its worst corn crop in almost two decades. we get more from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: from the government today, a sober assessment of the toll this year's drought is taking on the nation's food supply. average corn yields now forecast to be the lowest in 17 years, with corn prices expected to hit record highs. and soybean production down 12% from last year. in chase county, kansas. guy picker's 11,000 acre cattle ranch hasn't had a drop rain since mid june. >> we rely on pond water. to get pond water we rely on the man upstairs. >> reporter: already, grain prices have soared for ranchers.

>> it looks like to me, purchased feed expenses in this country are going to triple relative to where we were a decade ago. >> reporter: with some states breaking all time heat records, the u.s. drought map is the reddest it's been all year, with 38% of the country experiencing severe drought conditions or worse. >> this drought is by far the worst and most extreme drought we've had since 1956. >> reporter: the good news? the agriculture department predicts that food prices will rise only modestly this year, in line with previous years. but at this farmer's market in washington, sellers say they're already paying more. >> we've definitely noticed an increase in prices on fruit. but we've tried to keep our prices the same. >> reporter: a long, hot summer with no relief in sight. tom costello, nbc news, washington. now, to america's decade-long war in afghanistan, where today three u.s. marines were killed when an afghan

police officer believed to be a taliban infiltrator opened fire on them. it was the third such attack on coalition forces in just the past week alone. our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski with us for more tonight. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. those marines working side by side with afghan security forces in southern afghanistan walked straight into a deadly ambush. they had just wrapped up a security meeting with local police, when one police officer opened fire. three marines were killed instantly, a fourth seriously wounded. the gunman escaped. it's an alarming trend. so far this year, 34 americans have been killed in 25 attacks by afghan forces, way ahead of last year's phase. and for the first time, military officials tell us that u.s. forces there are edgy, really on edge, that there's a growing fear the armed afghan soldier standing next to them may very well be the enemy.

there's also concern that that loss of trust, where it counts the most on the battlefield could very well undermine the entire u.s. mission, brian? >> jim miklaszewski on duty at the pentagon for us, tonight. jim, thanks. we turn now to syria, where tonight the fierce battle for that nation's largest city continues. government forces creating a choke hold around aleppo, hoping to hold off the rebels still holding out inside. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel reports for us again tonight from inside syria. >> reporter: it has now become a war of attrition in aleppo. at a few checkpoint notice city, the rebels are still fighting. just blocks away, government troops sweep house to house, shown on state tv, which called it a decisive operation against terrorists. today we travelled with a group of rebels to the outskirts of aleppo. they hoped to reinforce the fighters inside the city.

they passed refugees on their way out. even the rebels were surprised by what they saw when we reached the town of anodon, just a few miles from aleppo. entire rows of houses burned. shop gates twisted from bombs even the town mosque was shelled. who did all this was clear from the fresh tank tracks in the pavement. and it wasn't just anodon that was attacked. the villages immediately around aleppo are now like this, lots of damage and empty. just one ghost town after another. there's now an abandoned zone radiating all around the city. a few rebels still remain in anodon. one commander says the town's residents fled after hundreds were killed in the last six weeks. everyone is gone. not a single person left. none. the only ones who stayed had no money to leave, and they were killed. we buried them, he says. the government seems to be creating a no man's land around

aleppo, so rebels can't resupply the fighters inside. exactly what the unit we were with wanted to do today, but could not. they could only watch from a distance. a war zone surrounded by emptiness. richard engel, nbc news, northern syria. in the milwaukee suburb of oak creek, there was a outpouring of support and unity there today at a public memorial service for the victims of a shooting rampage in a sikh temple last weekend. thousands of people of all faiths came together today. and nbc's john yang was there. ♪ >> reporter: they came to a high school gymnasium to mourn. sikhs and non-sikhs, family and friends, police and first responders. joined by hundreds and hundreds of total strangers. the children and grandchildren of the victims spoke on behalf of their families. kamal saini's mother, was the

only woman killed in the attack. >> as i look around, i don't see sikhs or jews or christians, i see everybody. >> reporter: the six died when a gunman, identified as wade michael page, burst into the temple sunday morning. page was shot by police, then took his own life. one woman recalled her grandfather and his devotion to the temple. >> they died a painful death and in wrong conditions, but they died at a place where god could take them. >> reporter: attorney general eric holder represented president obama. >> you have inspired the very best in who we are. >> reporter: investigators have returned the temple to the congregation who tore out the bloody carpet and repaired damages. but they're keeping a single bullet hole in a door frame as a lasting memorial. the temple president's son found another memorial this week in his late father's journal. a list of children's needs. number five, don't become

prejudiced. >> one day he was going to give it to us, my brother and me. and that day came far too early. >> reporter: a day that came too early for an entire community. john yang, nbc news, oak creek, wisconsin. still ahead tonight, as we continue along the way from london, the art of the handoff. the stick that may hold the key to who wins here on the track. and the big challenge for the americans here tonight. later, the shining star of some of the women who have busted through and busted out during these games for team usa.

back now from london, with a big night on the track for the team usa relay teams. the u.s. team entered these games with a bit of a chip on its shoulder about these relays, trying to shake off some serious demons of olympic games past. specifically, don't drop the baton. we get our report on this tonight from nbc's jim maceda. >> reporter: it's a relay

sprinter's nightmare. >> the stick is on the ground and the u.s.a. is out. >> reporter: dropping the baton or stick spells disaster on the track. >> and that's it. tyson gay didn't get it. >> reporter: since the athens games in 2004, no one suffered more from butterfingers than the u.s. men and women's 400x100 meter runners. >> it's amazing that forage heats with the greatest speed in the world struggled to get a 12-ounce baton through a 20 meter exchange zone. >> reporter: but struggle they have. >> if you make a mistake, it's over. >> reporter: both the men and women were disqualified in beijing. an olympic first. and in world championships, only one finish since 2007. leaving some veteran sprinters like lauren williams mystified. >> somebody somewhere has a voodoo doll on the united states. >> reporter: but former sprinter and olympic medalist boldon says u.s. relay woes are partly

supernatural. >> there are some high school mistakes that have been made in the past couple years. >> reporter: at this track outside london, alfredo who ran for portugal and angola teaches stick passing 101 to high schoolkids. >> it needs to be done very quick and very steady. >> reporter: in three simple steps, the receiver runs when the passer approaches the exchange zone. >> stick. >> reporter: extends an arm backwards after hearing a command and accelerates when the stick is secure. even a middle aged reporter can do it. piece of cake, what's the problem? but try it at 25 miles an hour as in an olympic relay with less than two seconds to make it happen. >> practice with the guy who's delivering time after time after time after time. it's second nature for you. >> reporter: instead, the very best relay teams got complacent. >> got by with having the fastest men and women on the track. and, therefore, it didn't matter how well they passed the stick.

>> reporter: it does matter now. the whole u.s. relay team travelled to monaco and for days finetuned their passing. but after eight years of costly mistakes, will going back to the basics lift the curse of the stick? jim maceda, nbc news, london. >> jim maceda, who remains available for the u.s. team. up next here tonight, the latest mishap at a busy american airport tonight.

it can be a delicate dance on the ground when airports get busy on a friday in the summer. and tonight things didn't go well at dulles outside d.c. a luftansa airbus and united express commuter twin prop clipped wingtip to tail. passengers posted photos of the damage to the luftansa jet. no injuries or fire. all on board were okay. a rare sight in the skies over the jersey shore. a blimp bigger than good year. it's an army air ship made by northrup grumman.

it's in the testing phase prior to deployment. it was designed as a high altitude intelligence gathering platform on its shakedown crews. the armed forces have used a number of smaller ones over iraq and afghanistan. it was seen, and what's believed to be amateur video was visible in the skies over new jersey for about 90 minutes earlier this week. holly holy, it's neil diamond getting his star on the walk of fame. saluting a career that includes 37 top ten singles, dates back to his days as a struggling songwriter in the brill building in new york, just blocks from 30 rock. congratulations. up next here tonight, the answer to some of the things you may have wondered about watching the olympics for the past two weeks. for example, why do they always bite their metals?

finally tonight from london, hard to believe we've clocked over two weeks here. first of all, as the british say, well done. well done london. well done great britain. the city is putting on a superb summer games. everyone here has been so nice to us. and let's talk about all the

action we have witnessed. so many events, so many sports, so many details that went flying by that we hope to address here tonight. first of all, let's get some frequently asked questions out of the way. for starters, why doesn't the sand seem to stick to the beach volleyball players? goodness knows we watched them closely enough, and sure enough, it doesn't. turns out, it's designed not to. it's a special type selected for its large even granules. next, why do the medal winners kiss them and bite them? because the still photographers yell out give it a kiss, give it a bite, so these pictures will result. and if you must know, 16% of gold medal winners cry during the ceremony. though that number seems low. and yes more women than men. though some men look like they just came out of a screening of "terms of endearment." the chinese cry the least, the british the most. 44% of gold medalists sing along with their anthem. for those who don't win gold, of

course, there's silver and bronze. and npr recently reported on a study that seems to conclude for your own mental health, you may be better off with bronze. that's because they seem happy to have won a medal and reach the medal stand, when the alternative is going home. the problem with silver, or so the argument goes, is that however unfairly, it means not winning, but coming in second. >> gold medal! the olympic champion. >> back to those gold medals, ireland has a new national hero and her name is katie taylor, gold medalist lightweight boxer. ireland's first gold since atlanta in '96. her dad, who's her coach gave her boxing gloves when she was 11. and since she couldn't find another girl willing to fight, she boxed with boys growing up. all of ireland stopped yesterday to watch the fight. and it seemed like they were all there in the arena.

all the women boxing champions were brilliant, as the brits like to say, including their own nicola adams. a tough fighter, with a smile as sweet as her demeanor. and our own claressa shields. up from nothing in flint, michigan. a life's dream accomplished at just 17. they all made history because it's the first year for their sport in the olympics. the games aren't just for the young, however. at 52, canadian rower and silver medalist leslie thompson willie is like an ad for centrum silver. then there's the member of the japanese dressage team who's 71. and the driver of the pace bike at the velodrome, who looks like an old timey mailman, he's 65. but when he exits the track, the velodrome earns its reputation, as the daytona of the olympics. it's fast and it's loud. 140 decibels inside, roughly the equivalent of standing near a jet engine.

there were a slew of sad and strange stories, some hard to watch. the face plant in bmx bike racing, though she survived it. the german diver who slipped and hit a back flop and later withdrew from competition. the pole vaulter's pole that burst into three pieces. the weightlifter who dropped his weights on his neck, though he seemed fine afterwards. the turkish runner who finished despite a bad injury, while dissolving in tears. and remember aly raisman's parents who insist on acting out their daughter's gymnastics routine while in their seats? let's think for a moment about the guy forced to sit behind them. there is one moment you didn't see, right before air time last night, when gabby douglas and her family came to visit us. she's tiny in person, but big enough to leave us all mighty starstruck. and that is our broadcast on a friday night and for this week. thank you for being here with us from all of us. a reminder, prime time olympic

coverage starts again tonight 8:00 p.m., 7:00 central. we're reporting tonight from london. lester holt will be with you all weekend. and after closing ceremonies sunday night, we'll see you back in new york monday night. have a good weekend. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now a another sweltering day in the bay area. >> plus anger and frustration as people begin filing claims in the wake of the richmond refinery fire. and an early morning

>> an early morning break in at a marin county juvenile detention center. investigators believe the suspects were trying to bust out an inmate accused of murder and stealing a lamborghini. >> reporter: it was a caper that surprised even seasoned marin county investigators. around 4: 30 this morning, someone tried to break into the county's juvenile detention facility. >> the examination of the scene revealed that unknown suspects had breached two security fences at the juvenile hall facility using bolt cutters. >> my staff responded after the second or third one to go and investigate and they were pulling kids out of that unit while continuous thumping was going on. >> the break in was unsuccessful

and the suspects fled. >> the inmate in that cell was max wade, charged with two counts of attempted murder and the theft of a lamborghini. wade turned 18 years old today which meant he was set to be transferred to the adult jail. >> i don't have anything that would directly implicate mr. wade in this, however, he knew he was turning 18 today and you can't keep adult prisoners in the juvenile center. >> he stole a lamborghini in a san francisco police officer's uniform. >> he used lamborghi