on the broadcast tonight, shoot-out at the empire state building. two dead, nine wounded. innocent bystanders who may have been caught in police crossfire. on alert, as isaac barrels through the caribbean, picking up steam, and taking aim at the gulf coast. a tropical storm watch just issued. what now for the big gop convention in tampa? was it a joke? what mt romney said on the campaign trail today that immediately erupted in controversy. banned for life, and stripped of his titles. lance armstrong gives up on the fight over doping and pays a heavy price, but is it fair? "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening, i'm david gregory in washington in for

brian tonight. we begin with the eruption of gunfire and mayhem, just outside one of the world's most famous landmarks, a place that millions visit every year, the empire state building. this morning, right in the middle of rush hour as people were trying to get to work and tourists had already started lining up to visit the building's observatory high above manhattan. a man who had lost his job nearby unleashed a deadly revenge attack on a former co-worker, and that triggered a hail of gunfire that in the end left nine innocent people hurt. it was the latest eruption of gun violence in a summer that has seen far too much of it. we begin tonight with nbc's lester holt at the empire state building. lester? >> reporter: david, i walk by this stretch of fifth avenue on a regular basis and i can tell you at 9:00 in the morning it's about as busy as you see now, lots of tourists, lots of office workers. so the police officers who had to challenge an armed killer on these streets faced every cop's worst nightmare, try to fire at a moving target on a sidewalk

packed with innocents. images taken by passersby and from offices show the dead and wounded, cut down in the shadow of one of the world's most famous buildings. >> midtown south charlie sector, unconfirmed 10-10 shots fired, west 33rd and fifth avenue, shots fired. >> reporter: police say it began when 58-year-old jeffrey johnson, who a year ago had been laid off from his job as a designer at an apparel business, confronted a company executive on a side street, pushed him to the ground, stood over him and shot him. >> johnson produced the pistol and fired at close range, striking his 41-year-old victim in the head. >> reporter: steve ercolino died at the scene. anthony collins worked in the lobby. >> very nice man, comes in, says hello, very respectful. >> reporter: meantime, johnson routed the corner on to busy fifth avenue, alluded by a construction worker who saw the

shooting from this scaffolding, two nypd officers assigned to a roving anti-terror squad tried to stop him. police say johnson then pointed his .45 caliber handgun at the officers who then opened fire on him, 16 shots in all, killing johnson. >> we have two civilians shot, the perp is shot. we have ems on scene, we're getting reports of more people shot. >> i heard five or six shots, i seen people running and then i heard somebody yell saying, "he's shooting,'s got a gun, he's shooting." >> reporter: when the shooting stopped, nine pedestrians, five women and four men, lay wounded on the ground. police say the suspect's gun had only an eight-round clip. police say it's likely all of those wounded were hit by stray police rounds. >> we don't know, there's speculation that that's what happened, but we do know that we have on tape the perpetrator pulled his gun out and tried to shoot at the cops, whether he got off any bullets or not, to

be determined, how many shots earlier to be determined. we do know that the cops fired back, the tape clearly shows the guy has the gun out and is trying to kill the police officers. >> reporter: you heard the mayor mention tape, there were surveillance cameras rolling and they took in a lot of what happened here. those who are wounded we're told none of the injuries are life-threatening. as for the weapon johnson had, police say it was legally purchased in florida in 1991 but it was not legally registered here in the city of new york. back at the scene, fifth avenue, this part of midtown manhattan only reopened just a couple of hours ago after a day, david, of long and tiring disruptions for new yorkers. >> lester holt, you've been on the scene all day, lester, thank you very much. now to that big storm gathering strength tonight and threatening to disrupt the republican national convention in tampa. at this hour, there are new tropical storm watches in parts of florida. weather channel meteorologist jim cantore joins us at weather channel's headquarters. jim, today this finally realized its potential and became a

pretty serious tropical system, right? >> yes, and it's not done yet unfortunately, and this thing is going to be large enough to impact areas that aren't even in what we call the cone or the forecast cone and certainly looks like it's going to impact tampa. let's talk about it. here are the tropical storm watches which by tonight or even tomorrow morning could become tropical storm warnings. we fully anticipate that. i'll tell you why those watches are on the east side in just a minute, but here is the storm, as you mentioned, david, this thing kind of grew into its shoes today so to speak and it's going to continue to travel up off into the northwest as we go through the next 24 to 48 hours before emerging on the north side of cuba. it is going to be kept tropical storm strength we think, the land is going to inhibit that but once it emerges north of cuba, probably passing over havana, eventually key west somewhere west of tampa, no question, there will be impacts in through here and up toward the gulf coast as we head towards tuesday evening. what's interesting about this storm is even outside the cone because it is so large we are going to have lots of wind coming in to biscayne bay, that means a good chance of flooding

those areas that normally flood. watches are out, we expect them to go to warnings, tampa impacts probably on tuesday morning as those winds, david, go from offshore to onshore and potentially push all that water up into the bay. >> nobody knows severe weather better than you. we'll be following your forecasts in the hours and days ahead, jim, thank you. as jim said, isaac is said to make landfall tonight in haiti, an island nation still reeling from that devastating earthquake. hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tent villages. and for this country a tropical storm could be catastrophic. nbc's mark potter joins us now from port-au-prince, where they are bracing for impact. mark, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, david. as the storm moves in, there are widespread concerns about all the people who are so vulnerable in this country, including those who are living in the shantytowns on the mountain behind me and the hundreds of thousands of haitians still living in tents. in a sprawling evacuation camp

in port-au-prince built after the earthquake here two and a half years ago, aide workers spent the day locating the elderly, the sick and pregnant women. with the storm bearing down, those considered most vulnerable were urged to move into a nearby school building where they would at least have water, food and a safe place to sleep, unlike all the others living here. >> i expect to find a lot of people without a place, with everything they had washed away. >> reporter: some 400,000 haitians still live in evacuation tents. residents with relatives willing to take them in were urged to leave the camps until the storm passes but those with nowhere to go will just have to hunker down, barely protected from the elements. some here spent the day digging trenches to divert the rain water. also in the camps this pamphlet is being distributed to teach people how to secure their tents in the storm, and for the many people who can't read, it's illustrated. on the hillsides surrounding

port-au-prince, sprawling shantytowns are also a concern because of the threat of flash floods and mudslides. those living at the bottom of ravines are also in particular danger as are those along haiti's southern coastline, where the storm is expected to hit hardest. >> 80% of the population is living under the poverty line. nobody is really prepared and nobody is living in proper conditions to be safe now. >> reporter: another concern is that heavy rain could spread an already serious cholera epidemic which has killed 7,000 victims. aide workers say as soon as the storm passes they'll go back into those tent camps to see how much damage was done and how many people are once again left with nothing. david? >> mark potter in port-au-prince tonight thanks very much. coming up in just a few minutes a look back at the monster hurricane that changed everything 20 years ago tonight. to politics now, and the campaign trail, mitt romney was

in his boyhood home state of michigan and stirred up a controversy with a remark about birth certificates, the democrats called a low blow. here now, nbc's peter alexander. >> reporter: returning to his native state with his wife and running mate by his side, mitt romney proudly touted his michigan roots. >> what an opportunity for us to be back home. >> reporter: but then in a seemingly off-the-cuff moment, instantaneously revived a highly charged and long settled issue about the president's birth place. >> no one's ever asked to see my birth certificate, they know that this is the place we were born and raised. >> reporter: the obama campaign quickly cried foul insisting romney's decision to directly enlist himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rational voter across america. it's the first time in 14 months of campaigning romney has directly referenced the birther movement, but earlier this year, he enlisted as a surrogate donald trump, one of the president's loudest critics, who has frequently questioned whether president obama was born in the u.s.

>> it's my honor, real honor and privilege to endorse mitt romney. >> reporter: team romney immediately tried to defuse the situation. senior adviser kevin madden told nbc news "the governor has always and repeatedly said he believes the president was born here in the united states." while many in today's rally didn't make much of the remark -- >> i just think it's a little bit political rhetoric right now. it's just a little going back and forth on some small issues. >> reporter: it's an issue that still resonates amongst some on the fringe of the republican party. >> no, that's a phony birth certificate. >> reporter: in recent weeks romney promised to elevate the tone of this bitter campaign, deriding the president and his team for its negative attacks. >> mr. president, take your campaign of division, and anger and hate back to chicago and let us get about rebuilding and reuniting america. >> reporter: now the romney campaign is looking ahead to next week's republican convention with its theme of better future, where it hopes to redirect the political debate back to its central argument,

romney's private sector experience, which they say will help turn around the american economy. late this evening in a network television interview, mitt romney said his birth certificate comment was not a swipe at the president, that there is no question that president obama was born here in the united states, adding, david, that it was intended as a joke, saying we've got to have a little humor in a campaign. also tonight, nbc news has confirmed that ann romney, who is set to deliver a speech next monday at the convention, has now had that speech moved to tuesday night so it can air in prime time. david? >> peter alexander on the campaign trail tonight, it's going to be a busy political weekend as we head into the convention weekend. my exclusive guests on "meet the press" will include former florida governor jeb bush and former republican presidential nominee john mccain, sunday, a special edition of "meet the press" here on this nbc station. and still ahead as "nightly news" continues, lance armstrong stripped of his titles and banned for life, even though

he's never failed a drug test, an incredible fall from grace for an american champion, but is his punishment fair? and later, a big loss tonight on one of its most beloved streets of america.

the long battle over doping allegations aimed at lance armstrong came to a bitter end today, as one of the most famous athletes of the past decade did something very unusual for him. he gave up. here's nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: it was among the greatest accomplishments in the history of sports, seven consecutive victories in the tour de france, one of the most physically gruelling contests in the world. today the u.s. anti-doping agency stripped lance armstrong

of those titles for choosing not to defend himself in arbitration against charges he used performance-enhancing drugs to win. >> usada declared a fatwah against lance armstrong many years ago and after he passed every single test that was administered, didn't fail a one and they couldn't prove him guilty, they've now asked him to prove himself innocent. >> reporter: in his statement last night, armstrong blasted the usada process as an "unconstitutional witch hunt" and he never admitted to doping. in may, armstrong voiced his frustration on current tv. >> these things take a ton of time attention and energy. they suck the life out of you. >> reporter: travis tygart, head of usada, says the case is strong with more than a dozen witnesses. >> we don't make any decision to bring a case lightly. the evidence we've said before in this particular case was overwhelming. >> reporter: yet the sports governing body, the international cycling union, says it's not doing anything until it gets a full explanation from usada. david, is this fair?

>> well, it's the usual process. >> reporter: david epstein is a senior writer at "sports illustrated." >> usada also had blood tests from 2009 that they say were indicative of blood manipulation. so i think they would have contended, had this gone forward, that that is a positive test. >> reporter: it's armstrong's personal battle against cancer and his foundation symbolized by those plastic yellow bands that have made him an icon. live strong officials say online donations today were 30 times greater than yesterday. >> i think our supporters and namely cancer survivors and their family members feel a debt of gratitude to lance, ultimately his legacy is going to be about what we accomplish as a cancer community. that's what we're focused on. >> as for those who might claim armstrong's seven yellow jerseys the symbol of victory on the tour, each rider has been accused of doping in his career, only one was cleared. david? >> anne thompson, thanks very much. on wall street today, stocks finished higher.

the dow ended the day up 100 points, the nasdaq was up 16 points and the s&p 500 rose 9 points on the day. the blue chips did end down for the week, breaking a six-week winning streak. and up next tonight, a big storm heads into the gulf. we look back at the monster hurricane that wiped parts of south florida off the map 20 years ago tonight.

there is late word tonight of a huge victory for apple in a legal battle over patents for its iphone and ipad. a federal court jury in california has found that rival samsung stole some key design features of both products. if upheld on appeal, it could mean samsung would have to redesign some of its products and could have to pull some of its products from american stores. even as forecasters are keeping a close eye on tropical storm isaac tonight, tonight also marks the 20th anniversary of one of the most powerful and destructive hurricanes ever to hit u.s. shores. hurricane andrew slammed into the southeast coast of florida

with terrifying strength and its aftermath taught some valuable lessons in protecting lives and property. here's nbc's kerry sanders. >> reporter: it was a monster storm, the top of the scale, a category 5. wind gusts clocked at 212 miles per hour. andrew hit at night, just south of miami, and left behind a devastating path of destruction. i worked at the local nbc station and was trapped in a car. the winds are gusting outside our car up to 165 miles per hour. daylight revealed the enormity of the damage. >> everything's all over the place. >> reporter: as helicopters flew over, nothing but devastation. 126,000 homes damaged or destroyed, 26 dead, 26 billion in damage. two decades later, for some survivors, emotions are still raw. >> just to see what that kind of a storm can do and how it can

totally displace your life, it's just amazing. >> reporter: andrew exposed shoddy construction from florida's 1980s boom, condominium walls peeled away and roofs shredded. lot has changed since 1992. the storm forced an overhaul of florida's building codes and technology is helping, too. 20 years later here at florida international university, they can simulate a hurricane, the winds right now about 30 miles an hour, but as i step out, they can crank up the wall of wind to more than 150 miles an hour, a category 5, just like andrew. a dozen fans creating a perfect test environment, to see which construction methods work and which ones don't. >> the nation is better off since andrew, a lot of lessons learned. >> reporter: 20 years later, andrew's lessons strengthening the nation and a state which now casts a cautious eye to isaac.

kerry sanders, nbc news, miami. the man who gave voice to the world's friendliest vampire, "sesame street's" math whiz the count, has died. jerry nelson teamed up with muppets creator jim henson back in 1965 and went on to perform several characters, including the lovable lug mr. snuffleupagus and characters from fraggle rock. he helped kids get comfortable with their numbers. ♪ >> seven, seven cookies! >> jerry nelson played the count from his debut in the '70s, right through his retirement in 2004. he was 78. and when we come back here, a blast from the past, making a comeback, what's old is new again at the movies this friday night.

at a time when people are watching movies on the tiny screens of their mobile phones, an old school way of catching a film is making something of a comeback. at one point in the late '50s there were about 4,000 drive-in movie theaters in this country. that number has dwindled to less than 400 these days, but some of

those survivors are really thriving now. here's nbc's janet shamlian. >> reporter: it's not the booming dolby sound you'll get at the local megaplex. in fact nothing at austin's newest theater is state-of-the-art, and that's exactly the point. >> hi, how are you guys doing tonight? >> reporter: from the carhops to vintage speakers found on ebay, a night at the blues starlight is a ticket to the past. rediscover the pleasures of an outdoor movie. >> a drive-in outside in an old car, you can't go wrong with that. >> it's nostalgia at its very best. >> reporter: the first drive-in opened in new jersey in the '30s. by the '50s, there were more than 4,000 and there is much about the car culture as the film being shown. >> okay, let's go find the chicks. >> reporter: teenagers especially found them irresistible. >> take this piece of tin! >> you can't walk out of a drive-in! >> reporter: by the '70s the drive-in was close to extinction. there weren't many survivors

like this one. most were sold by land value or simply closed. the masses discovered the multiplex. now what is old is new again. josh frank thought austin was ready for retro. >> you're in public in private, so people can go and socialize and be around other people but they can go into their little mobile living room and watch a movie. >> reporter: beyond texas the field of dreams theater opened in ohio this summer and in oklahoma the admiral twin reopened to a sellout crowd two years after it burned. >> all right, girls, you all ready? >> reporter: for some parents it's simply the desire to pass on a memory. >> i'm excited to have my girls. i can't remember the last time i was at a drive-in so i'm excited for them to get the experience. >> reporter: at the crossroads, a lost slice of american life and a new generation of fans. janet shamlian, nbc news, houston. >> and a great part of summer as well. that's our broadcast for this friday night. thanks for being with us. i'm david gregory. we hope to see you sunday for "meet the press." brian williams will be back on monday. have a good weekend.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com nbc bay area news starts now. good evening. we begin with some developing news. it's a billion dollar verdict. what happened in san jose late this afternoon will impact the global smartphone market. a local jury was very clear, apple, the big winner, and samsung, the loser. the fight centers around accusations that each company was stealing each other's ideas. nbc bay area scott budman has been tracking this case since day one and he joins us with this verdict. what does this mean for the companies and for the consumers, for all of us? r