on our broadcast tonight from london the epic drought across the u.s. has gotten so bad the government says half of the counties in america are now disaster areas. inside syria in the midst of the fighting with the rebels as they come under attack by the regime. also the fight over women's health and religious freedom as more of the health care law kicks in. and here at the olympics a new scandal as athletes get caught and called out for playing to move. the mayor of london gets stuck over the crowd. nightly news from london begins

now. this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams reporting tonight from the olympic summer games in london. good evening from this global gathering here in london where tonight as quickly we turn our sights back to the united states specifically the tripling and historic drought we are in the midst of and the news that came out just today a new and official u.s. government measure of just how bad it is and how much it is going to impact us. we begin with our chief environmentalta affairs correspondent, an thompson. >> reporter: this is america land of the dry. rivers barely moving, farmland cracked and parched by a persistent stubborn drought. today the u.s. department of agriculture reports nearly half of the counties have been declared a disaster because of the drought. much of the west, midwest and

southeast bathed in red having endured a severe drought for eight or more weeks. the fear in colorado county, texas is potential wildfires fuelled by the trees killed in last year's drought. >> we may have lost between 100 and 500 million trees. in minnesota even famous lakes provide little relief. >> temperatures of 95 degrees. >> reporter: causing fish kills in at least 25 lakes. withering in fields the price of corn hit a new high. 37% of the soybean crop is rated very poor to poor. 66% of the hay fields are in drought. >> this could be the new normal in the united states. we need to plan ahead because we know and science tells us that under a changing climate droughts will be more frequent and more intense. >> reporter: 60% of the states

have no plan. tomorrow the government will issue its weekly drought monitor detailing the extent of a crisis that could stretch into fall, a crisis that is expected to impact food prices as much of the nation remains stuck in a very dry place. overseas we continue to follow this fighting in syria. the rebels way outgunned and up against seemingly impossible odds as they fight the regime and fight their way across the country side. our richard engel is reporting and today encountered the fighting up close. he reports from ariha. >> reporter: 11:00 a.m. attack helicopters circle the sky. from a roof top we hear the assault begin. it sounds like artillery and

tracings from the helicopters. we move down to the alley to try to find out why syrian forces are attacking this city of 70,000 south of aleppo. we see civilians fleeing from open areas searching for cover and rebels on motor cycles on the main square. it appears a large military con voy was passing through and as the troops were moving past here the rebels in this town opened fire on them. in a make shift rebel media center activists try to upload videos of the attack they have taken with small cameras. they show me syrian tanks are now firing. the rebels attack the convoy to prevent reinforcements from reaching aleppo but now this city is paying for it. back on the alleys men on motor cycles tell us there are bodies up the street, many. in a mosque, we find them along with their distraught relatives.

witnesses say the victims were civilians standing outside a mosque and attacked by a helicopter. there seem to be many casualties. here eight bodies have been brought. they can't get them to the hospital so they are putting ice on top of the bodies. they can't move them because there is too much helicopter and mortar fire coming in. men embrace the deceased. oh, uncle, oh uncle this man cries. the rebels seem desperately outgunned and may have taken on a battle thap can't win. each fighter says he only has about six bullets and home made grenades. how are you going to defend yourself against a tank assault? god is with us he says. back in the media center bad news has just arrived. one of the rebels media activists has just been killed, one of more than a dozen killed

today. and the rebels never stop the convoy headed to aleppo. nbc news in northern syria. >> two things here. we are happy to be able to report that after filing his report richard and and his teame able to safely get out of ariha and are now safe and in northern syria. one more note here we learned prior to going on the air tonight nbc news has been able to confirm that president obama has signed an order calling for mostly clandestine u.s. forces to support the rebels in syria. domestically another piece of president obama's signature health care law went into effect today and includes preventative care for 47 million women including access to contraceptives at no charge and by going into effect started the health care fight all over

again. >> reporter: from free birth control to annual check ups millions of american women with private health insurance could begin to save money and that means no out of pocket co pays for many preventive services. dr. paula johnson says this gives women an incentive to get care. >> this is a cost saving measure for women and for their families and will make preventive care far more accessible. >> reporter: now policies would cover at no out of pocket costs yearly preventive checkups including prenatal, breast exams, cancer and diabetes screening, contraception, domestic violence screening. >> no woman should have to choose between seeing her doctor and putting food on her table for her family. >> reporter: a fight was

spawned. while religious employers have been given a waver rr so they don't have to offer birth control coverage now today house republicans argue the federal government has gone too far. >> this is not about women's rights. this is about the largest assault. >> religious freedom is one of the bed rock principles of our democracy and that freedom is under attack. >> reporter: the new rules take effect. many women will wait a while longer. kelly o'donnell nbc news, the capital. he turn to the olympic games underway here in london. there was more action in the pool, the u.s. still basking in the glow of the women's gymnastics team win. the shocker today was in badminton. at olympic park with the latest on this. good evening. >> reporter: tonight our first bizarre scandal of these games.

it is not doping. but it may be a new twist on cheating. trying to determine who your next opponent is by losing on purpose. it may be an olympic sport but sportsmanship was decidedly lacking. women's badminton teams from china, south korea and indonesia played like beginners trying to obtain a better draw on the competition by losing. >> we couldn't believe, we had never seen anything like this before. >> reporter: point after point was missed. the crowd booed, judges chastised and players threw temper tantrums. some were shown black cards disqualifying them from the match. all eight players involved were sent packing from the games. big time congratulations for the fabulous five as the u.s.

women's gymnastics team received a gold medal call from the president. president obama also called the most decorated athlete in american history and michael phelps was included in a tweet. congrats to michael phelps for breaking the all-time olympic medal record. you've made your country proud. and a huge roar and sigh of relief for host great britain winning not one but two gold medals in women's rowing and the second to cycling sensation bradley wigans. >> absolutely fantastic. we are just loving it. >> not so golden for mayor johnson famous for his lack of hair while zip lining in a london park he got hung up literally, stuck. dangling until someone pulled him back down to earth.

with two gold medals and two silvers today britons are still flying high and tonight tower bridge turned gold. and once back the lord mayor of london said while he was worried about being suspended in the air all afternoon he highly recommended the zip line experience. there is never a dull moment with boris. >> a big day for our host nation today. as these games progress the medal counts are climbing. if for you just seeing the overall medal count would be a spoiler of any kind look away for just a moment. we will show you the tally so far. for the top five nations here is where we stand going into tomorrow's competition. and as we wrap up tonight it is now safe to rejoin us. still ahead as we continue along the way this wednesday night

across america today crowds swarm a chain of chicken restaurants over the issue of family values. later an american gymnast who competed hard from an early age and tough circumstances just to get here. [ male announcer ] this is anna, her long day teaching the perfect swing

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chicago people lined up in big numbers to support a fast food chain under fire. >> support people's rights to boycott but a company whose values are similar to our own. >> we want to show our support for the founding family and his right to free speech. >> reporter: the crowds were responding to calls from conservative and christian leaders to support the chain in the fire storm over the president's public opposition to gay marriage. a chicken sandwich has become a symbol. it began in june when chick-fil-a president dan kathy appeared on a radio show. >> god's judgment on our nation when we say better than you as to what constitutes a marriage. >> reporter: some mayors said chick-fil-a would not be welcome in their cities. >> there is just no place for them in the city.

>> reporter: even the muppets have joined the opposition, the jim henson company dropping out of a deal to join the chain and donating the money they already received from the chain to a gay rights group. other city leaders say a businessman's personal views are irrelevant. >> you don't want to ask political believes before you issue a permit. >> reporter: experts say this shows the risk of speaking out. >> it is difficult enough to attract customers that the last thing a brand wants to do is get on one side or the other of a controversial topic like this. >> reporter: as a fast food chain becomes a battle ground in the culture wars. coming up tonight the loss of an american who had lived a larger than average american life. i stepped on the machine, and it showed me the pressure points on my feet and exactly where i needed more support. then, i got my number. my tired, achy feet affected my whole life.

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even though we are having

one of them london showers there is the moon over london and tonight's full moon is special because it is the first of two in the month of august. the second one comes on the 31st and as such makes it a blue moon. this two moons in a month event won't happen again until 2015. gore vidal has died. it is difficult to pin town and define all he was. he described himself as the last of a breed and was probably right. his family was steeped in u.s. history, a senator on his mother's side. his father worked for fdr and vidal hobnobbed with everybody. al gore was a distant relative. gore vidal believed humans were

inherrantly bisexual. he was a public figure on tv a lot and a prolific writer, the author of 25 novels. he also wrote for tv and films including "ben hur." he was unquestionbly brilliant and could be a terrible bully and fought sometimes physically with capote and famously with buckley on live television in 1968. >> the only thing i can think of is yourself. >> listen. >> let's stop calling names. >> he was born at west point because his dad worked there. after prep school he joined the army. he died believing america was in deep decline that started long

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after yesterday's women's gymnastics gold medal tonight it is the men's turn. one of tonight's contenders was a man who started at the bronx which made it tough to get here in the first place. >> reporter: you can see it from his earliest competition. john orosco was a natural. he was seven when his dad saw a flyer because when he was born he was fearless. >> we would put him in his crib

and the lights were out and we would here a bump and there was john. >> reporter: soon john was competing and winning. in his small bedroom filled with the memorabilia of a champion a dream took shape. >> i used to stay up all hours of the night and think of how it would feel to go to the olympic trials. >> reporter: john grew up here in the puerto rico neighborhood of the bronx where he was teased relentlessly. once on his way home from church he and his brother were jumped by local thugs with knives and injured. >> people were attacking my brothers. >> reporter: he worried about his parents, too, when his dad had a stroke and was forced to retire from the sanitation department john got a job to help out. >> his first check he handed to

his father and said here for the mortgage. >> reporter: then he blew out his achilles tendon potentially injuring his career. >> i thought it was the biggest tragedy in our lives. he came back with a bang. >> reporter: john got better in every eevent training far from home in colorado and focusing on skills that didn't pound his ankle learning tricks on the high bar and performing effortless flare work on the floor and maintaining his unmatched ability -- >> he is a natural. >> reporter: stick landing. he helped hang the olympic ring with his proud dad. and it was mom and dad he tearfully thanked when he made the olympic team. >> when i am out on the floor it is a lonely feeling out there. and then i think about my family and the reason i have taken this so far is because i wanted to

create a better life for myself and my family. >> reporter: that little boy who loved to perform is now starring in a popular music video appropriately titled "the fighter." and ready to take center stage in london. not bad for a kid from the bronx, huh? >> not bad at all. >> reporter: john's nickname in the gym is the silent ninja because he has all of these amazing moves and is so quiet. all of t >> thank you for telling his story tonight. you can see john orosco and the u.s. men gymnastic's team along with today's action in the pool all on prime time tonight.

thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams reporting again tonight from london. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.