on this saturday night, the loss of an american hero. >> that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. >> tonight we remember neil armstrong. the first man on the moon. the moment that all the world an inspired a generation. >> state of emergency isaac provesdly tearing towards the caribbean. with the u.s. now in it's sight. at this hour, millions on alert in the keys to the republican convention in from tampa to louisiana. tonight the latest track as a huge storm takes aim at the gulf. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt.

>> good evening it is fair to say no single event of the modern era has held the awe and fascination that we witnessed 43 years ago when neil armstrong became the first man to step foot on the moon. he was an american hero. fitting to his words one giant leap for mankind he would be ultimately be decorated by 17 countries. he inspired a generation to believe that anything was possible. and so there was great sadness today that we learned that neil armstrong watt dead at the age of 82 when complications to a recent heart operation. we begin our look at his legacy with tom costello. >> reporter: they are words forever etched in the memory transmitted from 240,000 miles away. >> that is one small step for

man, one giant leap for mankind. >> with those words neil armstrong gently touched his foot down on the moon. followed soon after by buzz aldron. minutes later, armstrong described to all of us what it was like. >> it has a stark beauty all its own. much like the high desert of the united states. different but very pretty out here. >> these are the astronauts who will orbit in the gemini. >> americans were first introduced to armstrong in 1962. he was the quiet farm kid from ohio who became a test pilot and a rising star at nasa. the first man to orbit the earth john glenn today, he was dedicated to dare greatly. in 1969, the soft spoken

armstrong spoke to nbc about what he expected. >> i hope it will be relatively mild. there is no intension to make a smooth touchdown that you might expect in an airplane or a helicopter. >> in fact the final seconds of apollo 11's landing was anything but smooth. as the spacecraft was headed straight for a boulder field. armstrong grabbed the controls and he flew to a safe landing in the lunar dust. >> lights on forward, forward, 40 feet down two and a half picking up some dust. >> and then the message that meant humans accomplished something truly unbelievable. >> houston, the eagle has landed. >> back home the crew of apollo

11 were hailed as true american heros. but neil armstrong never cashed in on his fame or name recognition. instead returning to ohio to teach. rarely giving interviews. never signing an autograph that could be auctioned to the highest bidder. and always sharing credit with others. he talked to the "today" show in 1984. >> i think it was about 99% dedication of the people who put our spacecraft together and ensured it worked the way it was supposed to work. >> on some level neil armstrong was a reluctant hero, but he was every bit a hero. >> he celebrated the 40th anniversary of the mission. and talked about the next generation of explorers. >> young minds in our own country and around the world now believe they can do great things and they can. >> anyone old enough to remember knows where they were on that day in 1969. i was six years old, lester and

my dad got me out of bed and he shook me and said do not forget this day. i never did. my wife growing up in europe has a very similar experience with her father. the world remembers tonight. >> thank you, nbc's jay barbery has covered every manned space mission in u.s. history. he was the first to break the news today. jay, it was good to have you here. it was a privilege, you introduced me to neil armstrong. a few years ago at a celebration i know you two were close. tell me about the kind of man that he was that he shunned the celebrity that would go with something as monumental as landing on the moon. >> you simply could not use the word "good" too much. >> he was a good man. he would appreciate us remembering his death of course, but he would be most pleased if what he accomplished here on earth was membered by those who come again.

and if they would continue the progress here in space. >> i know you lost a very close friend and we thank you for sharing your thoughts with us on this day. >> we want to turn to another major story tonight. tropical storm isaac picking up steam as it barrels towards the caribbean. now with the u.s. in it's sights. our team is in place and we have the forecast track. right now we want to go to weather channel meteorologist mike seidel in cuba feeling the effects of the storm. good evening. >> reporter: good evening lester. isaac left haiti behind today and hit cuba pretty hard. cuban television reporting wave heights as high as 20 feet. there have been power outages in those eastern provinces. all flights have been suspended at the airport. cubans have been bussed to federal shelters. they are going to stay and ride out the storm they are bussed

because only 5% of cubans have vehicles so that is the only way they can get out. tonight as the storm ride as long the coast, it will dump a lot of rain along the island nation. winds will be gusting upwards of 60 miles-an-hour and tonight the real threat is the water out here in the straights, water temperatures are running above average. i put my foot in here today, the water temperature here is 87 degrees, that is fuel for the fire, we are more than likely to have a hurricane on our hands by this time tomorrow. lester back to you. >> mike seidel in cuba for us tonight thank you. >> we want to bring in brian norcross from the weather channel. what does the tracking look like at this hour? >> this is a threatening storm for the u.s. let's take a look at where it is right now. it is not too far. the center of it, actually from the cuban coast. that little curl there is the center. it is messy but it is moving in

the direction of south florida. 60-mile-an-hour top winds just north of the cuban coast. let's track it with the computer forecast model. there is the center right now and here we are, this evening here we go through the night, through tomorrow into late tomorrow afternoon 4:00 tomorrow afternoon eastern time in the vicinity of key west and there is the spear of influence the strongest winds in the lower keys. moving up into the gulf of mexico. extremely warm fuel there. look at how close it is to the coast of tampa. close enough to be in the spear of influence of significant wind. we have computer models that take it both to the right and to the left in the general direction of new orleans all of the gulf coast threatened on tuesday. now as far as the rising water along the coast 2-4 along the keys and 5-7 along the naples

area. tampa bay up to 3-5 feet if it comes in near high tide. which it looks like it is going to be close on tuesday. this forecast will be refined. so this could certainly be disruptive to everything going in tampa. >> tampa as we know the home of the republican convention. as the storm makes its way across cuba toward our shores it first hit the island of hispaniola knocking out power and killing at least three people in haiti. as people are still living in tents there. mark potter has the report for us. >> reporter: the storm brought heavy rain and in port au prince a river rolls close to a tent camp housing thousands left

homeless by the 2010 earthquake. overnight the storm knocked down the tents here leaving residents again without places to live. charles spent the day picking up pieces and trying to rebuilt his tent in the rain in the mud. the wind he said, is what knocked it down. a man known as little brother lost his tent and carried his son out of the camp hoping to find shelter somewhere else. as the day wore on, everyone here worried about this river hoping it wouldn't swell further and that the levy would hold. a few miles away at an even bigger tent camp, residents made their way through the mud and tried to resume their lives. at a nearby school women and babies sought shelter from the blowing rains in the middle of the night after the tents blew down. >> these families are losing everything very little that they have.

all of their stuff is very wet and they are in the mud. >> with the rain still falling many here were beginning to clean up all of the mess. in a country that has seen so much misery, there is now even more. mark potter, nbc news port-au-prince, haiti. >> tonight florida's governor has declared a state of emergency as isaac zeros in. key west at the southern tip of florida you are seeing here on this live picture will be first to feel the effects. commercial airlines have added extra flights out as residents and tourists try to escape the storm. on florida's gulf coast folks there are taking no chances. tom good evening. >> reporter: lester, in 24 hours conditions here in southwest florida are expected to worsen. hurricane warnings are in place from naples and points south, but because this is a massive storm, an entire region is bracing for isaac.

florida on alert. in key west, businesses are shutting down and boarding up with isaac expected to strengthen to hurricane force and barrelling through this popular vacation spot. further north fort myers residents have a short window to prepare. this woman is hoping 40 sandbags will keep her bed and breakfast dry. they are predicting quite a bit of storm surge. >> we are only two feet above sea level. >> even the storm's projected path runs west of the coast line, the effects will be widespread. tropical storm warnings stretch to the state's eastern coast. even forcing the precautionary closing of the port of miami >> the most important thing is continue to get prepared. this is a state that has dealt with hurricanes forever. we are a state that we know we have to get prepared for hurricanes. >> in tampa where 70,000 are expected for monday's republican

national convention, organizers are preparing but hoping isaac won't flood downtown. the storm could have an impact on the nation's energy supplies. oil companies are suspending drilling in the gulf of mexico. south of tampa near punta gorda, plywood is a hot item. this small community was pounded by hurricane charlie in 2004 and once again another storm is threatening. >> i don't know what i'm going to do. it's me and my dog. >> and many schools here have cancelled classes for monday. emergency shelters are opening up and because southwest florida is so difficult to evacuate officials say if families are going to leave they should do it soon, lester. >> >> still ahead, hurricane or not, republicans are just 48 hours away from kicking off their big party in tampa and today both sides came out swinging before the gop

convention. and later that moment caught on tape at the empire state building.

tonight as a big storm heads toward the gulf. there is a late word of a change at the republican convention in tampa. mitt romney and paul ryan hit the campaign trail today in ohio and it is expected to be his last appearance before the convention. david gregory joins us. i understand there has been late

changes to the schedule david? >> yeah, a cancellation of the first day of the convention. monday will be a curtailed session. they will convene and immediately adjourn until tuesday afternoon. don't let the florida sunshine behind me fool you. they have been busy looking at the security. also the incoming weather that is why they want to cut this thing short. it is an armed camp around the tampa bay forum but also the incoming weather. they hope to get this thing started. the romney camp not all here yet. the real mission for the former governor of massachusetts here and it is all about introducing romney to not only the participants in the hall but to a wider audience on television over a shorter period of time to deal with some of the negatives that have built up in the course of the campaign so far. to dial those back a little bit and focus on his own biography

and his own credentials. one saying he is astoundingly pleased where they are right now. the fact that this is such a close race despite the fact that romney has had some setbacks over the course of the summer. >> program note, jeb bush and arizona senator, john mccain will be among david's guests on a special he edition of "meet the press" tomorrow morning. our coverage of the republican convention starts tuesday night here on nbc. we are back in a moment with some of the day's news. including what apples huge win could mean for the types of smartphones you will be seeing in stores.

we're back now with word of a deadly day in syria civil war opposition forces say at least 330 people were killed in that country today. many of them during intense fighting and more than 100 found after government forces allegedly went house to house executing men, women and children in a damascus suburb. >> officialing here in new york are defending the use of deadly force during that shoot out at the empire state building. jeffrey johnson walking up the street after shooting and killing a co worker. when he walks up the street he pulls out a gun and police shoot the is the in jurying nine bystanders. >> the young man known as victim number one who testified against former penn state coach is suing the university. the lawsuit claims penn state

officials made delibbait decisions not to report sandusky to officials. the university is not commenting on the suit. >> now to that huge billion dollar victory for apple in court over samsung over technology used in the iphone. john ford covers the tech industry for cnbc, john what does this mean for consumers? >> reporter: so if you own a samsung phone or iphone, nothing to worry about. those will keep working the way those always have. after yesterday's historic legal victory, apple's next step will be to get the popular products banned from sale in the u.s. apple will try to get the verdict tossed out. so the biggest potential impact of all of this will be on people

who will thinking of buying a new phone or tablet this fall. samsung's phones and tablets are the biggest threat to apple. if apple gets its way it will be harder to find the rival on store shelves during the holiday season. so we'll see if judge lucy co decide to block the sales of the phones and tablets. we are weeks away from knowing if that is going to happen. >> and we will be tracking developments i suppose on our smartphones. thank you. in venezuela, the blast and a fire that followed killed 26 people and injured more than 80 others. officials said the refinery would be restarted within two days and said the country had plenty of fuel to meet needs at home and export commitments. we are back in a moment with al roker in key west and a final check on tropical storm isaac.

we're back now and want to update you on tropical storm isaac. nbc's al roker joins us from the florida keys. where they are certainly bracing for an impact. >> here in key west folks are taking it somewhat easy but they have a weary eye out there. stores and homes are boarded up as well. here is what we've got. the latest it is about 120 miles east of cuba or 200 miles away from the bahamas. 60 mile per hour winds moving northwest at 21 miles per hour.

we have hurricane warnings and tropical storm warnings up this morning afternoon into tomorrow as this system gets closer. the path of the storm will bring it along the northern coast of cuba, and as it gets into the warmer waters of the atlantic and the caribbean, it is going to start to strengthen. so by late sunday night early monday, it is a category 1 storm coming across and look at these rainfall totals, 5-10 inches from west palm beach to miami. marathon, 3-5 inches here. 2-3 inches through monday evening in tampa. but don't let that fool you because this storm will be a slow-mover. we will still be feeling the effects in tampa into tuesday. the storm surge of three to five feet not good news for downtown tampa. it is a wide storm and as the

day wears on we will we continue to watch this storm. it is a wide storm and disorganized and we look for it to get itself together and by the time it makes land fall some time early wednesday along the gulf coast we are looking at a minimal category 2 storm. we're going to continue to track this storm overnight. get your latest developments on the weather channel and we'll have a complete report starting at 6:00 am on "wake up with al". and on the "today" show with you tomorrow morning, lester. >> we look forward to your reports and the latest tracking. >> that is "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today" and right back here tomorrow evening. as we sign off tonight we again remember space pioneer neil armstrong and his defining moment in human history. good night. >> that is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. >> that looks beautiful. >> it has a stark beauty all its own, it is like much of the high desert of the united states but

it is different, but very pretty out here. ♪ good evening. i'm diane dwyer. the little league team had quite a comeback today. take a look. >> center field and deep. unbelievable