>> haggling over haggis. >> you had to do that. that's our broadcast for now. "nightly news" up next. fasten your seat belt. on our broadcast tonight -- fasten your seat belt. this is why pilots say it all the time. what happened at 36,000 feet to cause so many injuries. why it could happen to just about any flight in the sky. raking it in and paying it out. cash for clunkeris going over big, but will itave enough funding to keep going? closing time for post offices across this country. it's a big change. could yours be on the list? and your children's health in the news tonight. what kids aren't getting enough of and the risk that schools are already preparing for. also tonight, is it summer yet? can you blame any folks for asking? "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. it is called clear air turbulence for a good reason. it is why the captain always says that we ask that you keep your seat belts fastened at all times and in the early morning hours, it struck a continental flight from brazil to texas. at least 26 people were injured, four of people seriously, and it's se to say that for a while there, as the plane fell thousands of feet vertically, pinning some passengers against the roof of the aircraft, everyone on that aircraft thought it was the end. we begin tonight with this phenomenon that can strike virtually any time, any flight. nbc's kerry sanders in miami for us tonight. kerry, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. passengers on board say most were asleep or just beginning to wake up when without warning the plane jerked up and then fell, throwing the passengers from

their seats. it's now believed this was likely a case of the jet hitting a huge pocket of what's known as clear air turbulence. the boeing 767 was on route to houston when it diverted and made an emergency landing in miami this morning. on board the continental flight, 168 passengers, 11 crew. at least 14 travelers were thrown so forcefully they had to be hospitalized. >> i really thought we wouldn't make it. >> reporter: witnesses say some passengers shot out of their seats like missiles. paramedics say it appears they weren't wearing their seat belts. >> i didn't have my seatbelt on and i hit my head on the roof of the ceiling and then i fell down and i hit it on the monitor in front of me. >> reporter: continental flight 128 was more than 6 hours into its flight from rio de janeiro, about 60 miles north of the dominican republic, at 36,000 feet and climbing when passengers say without warning the plane violently jolt up and then dropped.

and then another violent jolt and another drop. >> it was bad. >> she thought she was going to die. >> reporter: photos taken on board by one passenger showed how in some cases heads smashed into the ceiling, breaking the plastic. the most seriously injured was seated in the aisle seats towards the back of the street. larent is a regular flyer who said he's been through turbulence before but nothing like this. >> most of the time it's a long and soft and then you're very afraid. and here it was very short and very strong. >> reporter: investigators believe the jet may have hit what's called clear air turbulence. clear air because it's unlike a cloud, which can tip off a pilot there are bumps ahead. >> what it is essentially are very strong wind shifts within a very small area and those wind shifts are either vertically or

h horozontally but you certainly feel them. >> reporter: on the natural center on atmospheric research, scientists are working on a system to predict clear air turbulence. >> it is very difficult to ere's very little data in the y regions where these aircraft are flying out over the oceans. >> reporter: the ntsb is now looking into this incident. they have pulled the plane's boxes, the black boxes, and they're going to be sent to washington for further analysis. brian? >> kerry sanders, starting us off om miami tonight. kerry, thanks. across the country these past few days, there is something new in a whole lot of car dealerships, a lot of people coming in to buy new cars as part of the government's cash for clunkers program. and good news/bad news, it is helping the automakers' bottom line but the funds may be about to run out. cnbc's phil lebeau is with us from a ford dealership in countryside, illinois. phil, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. today the auto industry posted its best sales since last september, and that's largely due to the cash for clunkers program.

so far more than 120,000 people have traded in old gas guzzlers like this for smaller, new fuel-efficient models, often small cars. but tonight there's a question in washington about whether or not the cash for clunkers program is running out of gas. at dealerships around the country, they are rushing to make a deal. >> oh, it's beautiful! >> reporter: for marilyn -- >> your cruise control is right here. >> reporter: -- a $4,500 rebate from the government helped her buy a ford escape that gets 25 miles per gallon and replace her worn-out '86 van that got 10 miles per gallon. >> everybody was going so fast buying the cars, so i said we better go over and we did. we came last friday, and luckily, we got in under the gun. >> reporter: the popularity of cash for clunkers helped gm and chrysler post smaller-than-expected sales declines in july. while ford increased monthly safes for the first time in nearly two years. >> we were off to a pretty good

start this month, but sales really elevated as soon as the program became official a week ago friday. that's what put us over the top. >> reporter: with cash for clunkers just a few days from running out of its $1 billion in federal funding, the obama administration and house of representatives have earmarked another $2 billion to keep the program going. >> we're encouraging senators to listen to their car dealers and the people they represent. if they do that, we believe this will pass the senate. >> reporter: but senate republicans are questioning if handing out more rebates for car buyers is a smart move. >> it ran out of money in a week, prompting the house to rush a $2 billion extension before anybody even had time to figure out what happened with the first billion. >> reporter: those fighting an extension of the clunker program could face backlash from automakers planning to ramp up production to keep up with sales. and from dealers who finally have busy showrooms after a long and painful slump. >> the momentum is there. if they stop it, it's not going to be the same when it comes back out.

>> reporter: people thinking about trading in their clunker better hurry up. as long as they have the new contract for bing a new vehicle written before the money runs out, the deal will go through with the federal rebate. brian? >> phil lebeau on the lot for us tonight in illinois. phil, thanks. a story tonight that will hit home across this country. the u.s. postal service struggling, as you may know, in this era of fedex and e-mail said today it's preparing to take some drastic measures, including closinas many as a thousand post offices across the country and possibly cutting back on home delivery. more on the story tonight from nbc's lisa myers in washington. >> reporter: facing massive red ink, the postal service is looking at closing almost 1,000 post offices in 43 states in the nation's capital. in a dramatic move to cut costs. the list of possible closings includes this office in new york city and this one in los angeles. >> where are we going to go now? >> i would think that would be very unfortunate.

>> reporter: the postal service is facing a $7 billion loss this year even though it has cut service, removed collection boxes and raised the price of stamps by 2 cents. just last week the governmental accountability office added the postal service to its high-risk list of troubled ancies, saying it faced serious and significant financial problems. >> they have large fixed costs in terms of wh they have to do six days a week in terms of their facilities, and we think this is a good opportunity to take a hard look at that model and how sustainable it is going forward. >> reporter: the basic problem is that the internet, competition from private carriers, and the recession have combined to cause a steep decline in the volume of mail. and some experts predict that volume will not come back as the economy recovers. >> as long as they do it with an eye toward not inconveniencing the public t much, providing real access to alternative

facilities, easy access, then it's something that's important for them to do. >> reporter: but at least one senator has reservations. >> it strikes me as shortsighted for the postal service's first response to be to cut back service to its customers. >> reporter: postal service officials say they have no choice but to consolidate their operations. they say decisions on which facilities to close will begin this fall and be based on mail volume, proximity to other post offices and potential cost savings. lisa myers, nbc news, washington. and, by the way, we've put the list of potential post office closures on our website so you can look for yours at nightly.msnbc.com. president obama's spokesman had to scramble today to say the president is fully committed to his campaign promise not to raise taxes on the middle class. that's because yesterday two senior economic advisers, larry summers and tim geithner, said

new taxes for the middle class can't be ruled out with a deficit pushing $2 trillion. new figures out tonight show the federal government is takingn 18% less in taxes. that's the biggest dive since the great depression. overseas now. thdeadly toll continues for u.s. forces fighting on the ground in afghanistan. six american soldiers died this past weekend, three on saturday, three on sunday. a bad start for august after a very bad july. 43 americans were killed in afghanistan last month, making it the deadliest since the war started eight years ago. ce fe s orgaupar, in aoustr u.s.ceors are up against, our , n jim maceda spe two weeks embeed witith u.s. marines in helmand province. >> reporter: a cloud of burning sand and you've made it to now zad, or as some call it apocalypse now zad. a hellish mix of 130-degree heat and killer wasps.

here about 300 u.s. marines saw some of the worst fighting in iraq face off with scores of battle-hardened taliban dug in only hundreds of yards away. each side probes and reacts if the other comes too close. the fight has lasted years. the soviets, the british and previous u.s. marine units all failed to take now zad's strategic river bed used by the taliban to smuggle fighters, weapons and drugs. captain zack martin feels the frustration of his mission. he has the firepower but not enough men to hold the gains. >> for us to clear something out and leave and go clear out again six months later is just mowing the weeds. >> reporter: martin has nowhere to turn for help. afghan forces fled the fighting and thousandof other marines are too busy fighting further south, securing populated areas. in remote now zad, where some

20,000 once lived, there are no hearts and minds to win. instead a no man's land. riddled with mines and ieds as primitive as these. >> these run into a machine gun, and then we would step on an ied if we didn't know it was there. >> reporter: every day the marines train hard. >> i want sandbags completed. >> reporter: and drink about three gallons of water, pumping car axles with ammo cans for extra weight. at night they move outside the wire, single file behind an ied sweeper and watch for taliban infiltrators. it's not the traditional roles for the gung-ho can-do u.s. marine corps, and it's left many younger marines here feeling uncomfortable. >> we have to kind of play around and say here's the fight, let's go to it. >> reporter: captain martin believes the surge will eventually make it to now zad. >> our mission is to shape the battlefield at this point for future operations. >> reporter: in the meantime,

his men get through it. >> another day, huh? another day. >> reporter: defending a ghost town in brutal conditions, their next step could well be their less. jim maceda, nbc news, now zad. when our broadcast continues along the way here on a monday night, a new look at why time outdoors is so important for kids. and later, back with a realife health problem in the lesson plan this year. you might as well be. you see, their moisturizer sits on top of skin, almost as if you're wearing it. do only new dove deep moisture hasutisriummoneture, a breakthrough formula with natural moisturizers... that can nourish deep down. it's the most effective natural nourishment ever. new dove deep moisture with nutriummoisture. superior natural nourishment for your sn. thank you so much.

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an important health story tonight. we hear a ton about the dangers of getting too much sun in this country. tonight, though, there's a stern warning about how our kids aren't getting enough. the proof is what researchers are calling shockingly low levels of vitamin d, the one we get from sunshine. our report tonight from nbc news chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: naomi fowler knows that sunshine is important for her 3-month-old son griffin.

>> my pediatrician eressed concern that children and adults don't get enough vitamin d, so she suggested a multivitamin. >> reporter: in a study out today in the journal "pediatrics," researchers report severn out of ten american children have very low levels of vitamin d. levels too low, putting them at potential risk for heart disease, weak bones, rickets. >> we were rather shocked when we saw the numbers. >> reporter: roughly 9% of those ages 1 to 21, about 7.6 million children, adolescents and young adults, have vitamin d levels that could be deficient. another 50.8 million have higher levels of vitamin d but still low enough to be considered insufficient. and one group at particular risk, african-american girls. their dark skin filters the sun automatically lowering vitamin d levels. in the 1930s, vitamin d was added to milk as pediatricians believed weak bones and rickets would become problems in the

past. but children substituting sports drinks for milk and spending hours in front of one screen or another is taking its toll. >> four hours a day of using computers or watching tv or playing video games, they were at 60% higher risk of having vitamin d deficiency. >> reporter: getting enough vitamin d is free. it means getting out in the sunshine about 10 to 15 minutes a day without sunscreen. that amount of time won't hurt you, and it could ward off serious illness. illnesses like osteoporosis, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. diseases pediatricians are seeing early and that can follow people well into adulthood. dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, new york. naomi sims has died. at the height of her career in the 1970s, she was once referred to as the first black supermodel. the designer halston credited her with breaking down social barriers. she overcame a tough childhood to use her great beauty on magazine covers and tv ads.

she was later a cosmetics executive. naomi sims died of cancer. she was 61 years old. when our broadcast continues in just a moment, the worry about going back to school this witarh swine flu. worry about going back to school this year with swine flu. while i was building my life, myigh cholesterol was contributing to plaque buildup in my arteries. that's why my doctor prescribed crestor. she saidlaque buildup in arteries is a real reason to lower cholesterol. and that along with diet, crestor does more than lower bad cholesterol, it raises good. crestor is also proven to slow the buildup of plaque in arteries. crestor isn't for everyone, like people with liver disease, or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. simple blood tests will check for liver problems. you should tell your doctor about other medicines you are taking, or if you have muscle pain or weakness. that could be a sign of serious side effects. while you've been building your life, plaque may have been building in your arteries.

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the rest of the body is a no brainer. doesn't your whole body deserve excedrin strength relief? excedrin back & body. excedrin. what ache? when people say, hey mike, why ford, why now? i say brace yourself. that gas guzzler in your driveway, just might be, a clunker. but don't panic, it could be a good thing. your ford and lincoln mercury dealers are cash for clunkers specialists. they'll recycle your ride, and get you a big fat juicy rebate from uncle sam. you can get all the details, charts, graphs, etc, at ford.com. why ford, why now? why not? visit your ford or lincoln mercury dealer. i'm thinking now would be a great time. hands down, the videotape of the weekend. a big mistake by aemolition

team in turkey. you see the building was supposed to go down and instead the 80-year-old building just rolled. nobody hurt. just the feelings of the demo crew. they will now manually dismantle the building as they make way for a new mall. it's early august but some of the country's kids are already back in school. that means worries about the swine flu. as those predictions of a major outbreak continue. our chief science correspondent, robert bazell reports tonight from chula vista, california. >> reporter: 2,800 students from oak ranch high school, a public high school in san diego county, began their second week of classes today. so far, everyone seems healthy but parents dropping off their kids are concerned. >> i know it's here. it's here. but i'm really worried. >> as a family, we just try to be more cautious. >> reporter: since last spring, officials here have been preparing for a school year with swine flu. of course, it's not a certainty, but there's a very strong ssibility that this and many other schools across the country

will be shut for long periods this school year. >> all right, ladies and gentlemen -- >> reporter: one case or even an outbreak would not close the school. but once the county health department decidool should close, an automatic phone system will notify all students and parents in less than an hour with a recorded message. >> the schools are increasing hygiene efforts -- >> reporter: and all homework would go up online so students can work at home. >> we can make sure that they don't fall behind on their education. >> reporter: with school opened, custodians are taking extra care to wash down surfaces. signs everywhere tell the stents to wash their hands often during the day. the school nurse meets with the district nurse supervisor and with teachers, instructing on the difference between common nonserious problems and possible flu. dr. hastings gondara is the school's superintendent. have you ever had to confront anything like this before? >> no, i have not. but i believe we're well prepared. >> reporter: the students have gotten the repeated messages.

>> me and my friends always have like hand sanitizer and everything. >> reporter: officials warn every school in the country should be similarly prepared. robert bazell, nbc news, chulaa. and when we come back, did it feel like june in july where you live really? why some are complaining that summer hasn't really happened this year. y some are complaining that summer hasn't really happened this year. ive. and the life i want to live. fortunately, there's enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue, and stop joint damage. because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma and nervous system... and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis. also ask your doctor if you live in an area... with a greater risk for certain fungal infections. don't start enbrel if you have an infection, like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections,

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finally tonight, if you live in new york, you have friends here or have visited, then you know out east here we're in the midst of the strangest summer in recent memory. one business owner on coney island says, quote, in plain english, it's a disaster. it's the second wettest summer in history, the fourth coldest july ever, and yet it's really hot in other places. it's been a strange summer in a lot of places, as nbc's mike taibbi reports. >> reporter: up and down the atlantic seaboard, it's mostly been a washout, with an occasional hailstorm thrown in. in the midwest, it's been wet and downright cold. the coldest july in chicago in more than a half century. in texas, it's been a half century since a drought as bad as this one.

and there's never been a heat wave to match the current siege in the pacific northwest. >> i think people are very right to be confused about what's happening with the weather right now. because mother nature is acting like a fak onature, and we're in a very odd pattern for this time of year. >> reporter: the result -- millions of americans have delayed their usual summer diversions, like chicago sailor ian wily, for one reason -- >> the weather's been yucky. >> reporter: to hear the complaints, it's always someone else's yucky weather. boston waterlogged as seattle usually is. seattle torched as texas, texas as dry as phoenix, and phoenix -- well, you get the idea. >> so you know what, i can understand why some people maybe are a little on the crabby side. >> reporter: there is a flip side to the bad weather news. in new york, for example, they've had 16 inches of summer rain so far, twice the average, and not one day in t 90s. only the second time that's happened in 140 years. but power consumption is down 5.5% and the reservoirs are all flush.

and then there's this -- >> it's on about 10 to 15 right now. >> perfect. >> yeah, it's really nice out. >> reporter: things change. for the first time all summer, the chicago five-day forecast is all good. lake michigan once again a summer playground. one way to look at this particular midsummer is in the old glass half empty, glass half full method. a day like today, the air crisp and comfortable, the sun and wind in your face. definitely glass half full. and you know the old saying, it ain't over till it's over. >> lots of summer. our summer really goes until mid-september until first of on october. >> reporter: meaning plenty of chances to replace those sour memories with the ear-to-ear glory of a summer smile. mike taibbi, nbc news, chicago. that's our broadcast for this monday night. thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening, rain or shine. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com