not again? >> jennifer says the paramediced looked like a deer caught in adliheghts when he walked in the house w on the broadcast tonight -- getting ready for the next wave of swine flu. the government issues tough new guidelines. body blow in baghdad -- as new violence raises hard questions, scores are dead and u.s. forces there n only watch. storm watch -- wild summer weather across the country including tornadoes and hurricane bill. now a category 4. where is it headed next? and right off the bat -- finding common ground between immigrant kids and the cops who control their neighborhoods. also tonight, remembering the pioneer behind one of the most popular tv programs ever. the pioneer behind one of the most popular tv programs ever. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. i'm lester holt in tonight for brian williams. as lots of americans enjoy some time off in these final weeks of summer, health officials are worrying tonight about what will greet them when they return in big numbers to classrooms and offices this fall. as scientists race to test and distribute a vaccine for swine flu, it may be a case of too little too late to head off an outbreak of the disease. and so today officials declared the american work place as the next line of defense. our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman is with us to explain. nancy, good evening. good evening, lester. government health officials have been brainstorming for weeks working on guidelines for what is expected to be a rough flu season. and this time their focus is the work place. >> reporter: today, the government issued new guidelines to prepare businesses for what is expected to be a tough swine flu season.

>> send a message loudly and clearly to the employees that if they are sick, go home and stay home. don't come back to work until after 24 hours with no fever. >> reporter: bottom line, plan for the worst, be flexible, and make sure employees get vaccinated. >> it is so important that businesses prepare now to cross train their employees so that others can pick up the slack so you don't have to shut down your operations. >> reporter: swine flu cases are already being reported in schools that have just begun the new academic year. in kentucky one elementary school canceled classes for the second day after 96 ouof 350 called in sick with flu-like symptoms. >> it is scary, i mean, i think. really scary. >> skin problems? >> reporter: swine flu vaccine trials involving children began at five u.s. medical centers today. including nashville's vanderbilt university medical center. 120 kids, ages 6 months to 17 years, lined up for shots.

>> i mean i was a little worried about the risks at first, but the doctors assured me there wasn't going to be nothing wrong with it. >> reporter: but production is slower than anticipated. instead of the 120 million doses the government planned to have ready, it is now expected that only 45 million doses will be ready by october 15th. then, health officials will roll out a supply of 20 million per week and have 195 million doses by mid december. >> well this has been a rather slow growing virus. it has been a little lethargic. so it takes a little bit longer to create the amount of vaccine we need. >> reporter: right now the race is between the virus and the vaccine. and the best thing everybody can do right now is go out and get your regular seasonal flu vaccine and then when the swine flu shot is available get that too. lester. >> nancy, thank you. overseas now this is one of the bloodiest days in a very long time in iraq. and certainly the most violence since u.s. forces withdrew from iraqi cities in june. multiple bombings killed at

least 95 people in baghdad and wounded more than 500. a major test for iraq's security forces and for u.s. policy. we get more now from our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. mik, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. u.s. officials are blaming al qaeda for today's bombings. in an effort to stir up sectarian violence. who ever is responsible today's bloody and blatant bombings raise serious questions about iraq's ability to take over its own defense. >> reporter: six powerful bombs, rocked baghdad in minutes in one of the deadliest days of the entire iraq war. one blast shook of a meeting of tribal leaders. as smoke filled the room the speaker called it terrorism. the carnage began with a suicide car bombing at iraq's finance ministry at 11:00 this morning. only three minutes later a massive truck bomb exploded outside the foreign ministry. then over e next 10 minutes four separate bombs tore through baghdad in a highly coordinated attack. the foreign ministry took the

most devastating hit. two tons of explosives shredded thfront of the building killing at least 59 iraqis. the wounded flocked to baghdad hospitals. this man said, one explosion threw his car into the air. the attacks come less than two months after american combat forces withdrew from baghdad in an agreement with iraq's government. iraqi forces were supposed to take over security operations. but after today's bombings, nbc news producer, gazi balkiz, says the iraqis admit they failed in their mission. >> in a surprising statement, tonight, the iraqi defense ministry admitted the attacks were the result of iraqi forces negligence and said they should take most of the blame for the security breach. >> reporte the prime minister, nori al maliki could ask u.s. forces to return to the city but that would be political suicide. it is unlikely american combat forces would step back into the middle of an iraqi sectarian war. >> the last time we went in to take baghdad we had several thousand killed and wounded we

won't do it again. we shouldn't do it again. >> reporter: despite today's attacks, and a recent spike in overall violence, u.s. military and pentagon officials say, they still intend to withdraw all u.s. combat forces on schedule. according to one senior official, it's time for the iraqis to step up and take over ready or not. lester. >> jim miklaszewski at the pentagon. thank you. now to an act of terrorism that happened 21 years ago and new fallout that is beginning tonight. the only man convicted of the bombing of pan am flight 103 over lockerbie scotland is about to be released from prison. our chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell, has details now from washington. andrea. >> reporter: good evening, lester. the u.s. has been notified tonight the convicted lockerbie bomber will be released from a scottish prison. horrifying victim's families. more than 259 people on board the doomed flight were students returning home to syracuse university. now the scottish justice

minister has informed the families of the victims, former libyan intelligence agent, abdel al megrahi, sentenced to a minimum of 27 years will be released on so-called compassionate grounds because he has advance prostate cancer. the families are outraged. >> what is this compassion, compassion for him? my heart is broken, my daughter's birthday is soon, she would have been 41. it's just been living in hell. >> reporter: after the libyan leader, mow mqaddafi gave up hi nuclear weapons, the bush white house took libya off the list of terrorist nations. the obama white house is furious about the decision. talked with them about what a horror they experienced. and i just think it is absolutely wrong. >> reporter: tonight u.s. officials say there is absolutely nothing they can do to stop the convicted bomber from going free. lester.

>> andrea, thank you. >> what promises to be a crucial election in afghanistan is hours away. violence leading up to the voting has left five u.s. troops dead. meanwhile, in the afghan capital, three heavily armed taliban gunmen seized control of a bank and triggered a shoot-out with police before being killed. the taliban has vowed it will do whatever it can to disrupt tomorrow's elections. in this country, more rowdy town hall meetings with members of congress, sparring with constituents over health care reform. last night it was massachusetts where democrat barney frank decided he had enough and faced off against a woman holding a picture of president obama that was doctored to make him look like hitler. >> why do you continue to support a nazi policy as obama has expressly supported this policy. >> on what planet do you spend most of your time? you stand there with a picture of the president defaced to look

like hitler and compare the effort to increase health care to the nazis -- it would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. i have no interest in doing it. >> that anti-obama image is being disseminated by supporters of perennial presidential candidate lyndon larouche campaigning against health care reform. for more on this and how it is resonating with the obama administration, we turn to nbc news, chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. chuck, moments like that the president has called ruckuses, defining the debate in the airwaves. how does he deal with it? >> i tell you today, white house press secretary robert gibbs was pointed to something from our poll last night, lester. and the fact that -- that there wasn't a majority of folks that believe that somehow his health care plan would decide when care would end for the elderly.

the so-called death panel thing. and robert gibbs pointed to that as progress saying, look the president spent the last ten days trying to debunk that myth. and it's working. and, so, our poll is proof of it. so they see this as a need that they have got to keep doing this. also, though, the white house is acknowledging the fact that they're still having to debunk myths rather than push their own health care plan means they're behind as roberts said today. he said, "look, we haven't pitched a perfect game here when it comes to that. "the other thing we are seeing in health care today. lots of talk about if ever there is going to be a bipartisan deal. the white house noting that despite what "the new york times" reported today, for months they have been hinting that, they'll go down whatever road is necessary to get a deal. even if it means just democrats voting for it. >> all right, chuck todd at the white house. thank you. a clarification to correct the record. the $1 trillion price tag in our story last night about various proposals to pay for health care reform covered all of reform. not just the cost of the so-called public option.

under the house proposal to pay for reform for families earning over $350,000, income exceeding that level would be taxed at 1%. up to $1,500 in additional tax. for families making more than $500,000, the additional tax would be 1.5%, $1,500 to $9,000 in additional tax. and families with income in excess of $1 million, the additional tax would be $9,000 or more. and to be clear, that is not the president's proposal, his would raise taxes on wealthy individuals by limiting charitable deductions. now the latest on cash for clunkers. general motors is ramping out production at two plants and rehiring some workers to meet demand sparked by the program. but many auto dealers around the country are not so happy. they're still waiting for the government to pay them. our report tonight from cnbc's phil lebeau. >> no, we have to send all the documentation.

>> reporter: for maureen joyce the waiting game is getting old. >> i probably have a little over $100,000 i'm waiting for. >> reporter: it's money the chicago ford dealer says the federal government owes her for old cars she took in through cash for clunkers. >> i need it in the bank so i can pay the rest of my bills. >> reporter: since the program started last month there have been more than 410,000 clunker deals, ringing up $1.7 billion in rebates, the federal government owes dealers. most dealers are still waiting to be reimbursed for their clunker trades in part because the department of transportation is overwhelmed with the flood of paperwork required for every clunker deal. some of it filled out incorrectly. if the dealers make clunker trades the government rejects they lose $3,500 to $4,500 per vehicle, a bureaucratic headache for dealers and the secretary of transportation. >> they're going to get their money. we have the money. congress provided the money. they're going to get their money. >> reporter: that guarantee may not be enough. in the new york city area, some dealers are no longer doing clunker trade-ins.

>> a lot of dealers are owed a lot of money. anywhere from fusewho tanhoto $1 million. so i think some dealers that have participated said no more. >> reporter: eight of the top ten cars sold through clunkers are foreign models with the toyota corolla being number one. all brands and dealers have seen sales jump even if clunker rebates have been slow in coming. >> a little bit like you throw a drowning man a life preserver and complain about the color of the life preserver. >> reporter: a speed bump in the rush to jump-start a struggling auto industry. while scrapping thousands of gas guzzlers. phil lebeau, cnbc, chicago. > on wall street today -- stocks erased early losses after a big drop in oil inventories raise hopes about increased demand. the dow finished the day up more than 61 points. when "nightly news" continues this wednesday evening, summer storm season in full swing. where is the giant hurricane bill headed now? later police officers and neighborhood kids finding common ground in the love of the game. headed now?

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they may call these the dog days of august, but there has been nothing lazy about them in big parts of the country. multiple tornadoes, heavy rain across a huge area, and a giant hurricane named bill are making it more like the dangerous days of august. here is nbc's ron mott. >> reporter: the dog days are here and the bites are getting bigger. a menacing funnel cloud near pikes peak in colorado. flash floods and high wind in florida's panhandle. >> when mother nature gets upset you best take note. >> reporter: old-fashioned heat in the northeast and in the skies over new york city a strikingly spectacular light above the hudson river, part of a system that yank some shade out of central park one of the few spots to escape the sun baked concrete jungle. >> as we speak they're issuing a tornado watch in effect to the north of us. >> reporter: today in st. louis, minneapolis, and elsewhere around the country it seems

rough summer weather has gotten a lot of people's attention all of a sudden. >> actually unds like a twirling noise and the trees went boom, boom, boom. boom, boom. >> reporter: in beaumont, texas, it was clean-up day after a tornado ripped through a departnt store, flipped vehicles, sent several people to the hospital though no fatalities. here in the southeast which is usually dodging tropical storms and their remnants and as well as stifling temperatures this time of year it has been relatively nice and calm that is until just recently. now with a major hurricane churning, calm may give way to worry. >> what we have got out there is a 135-mile-per-hour wave machine east of puerto rico and will track off to the west-northwest and turn northbound as we go through the next couple days and that means the waves will propagate westbound. dangerous surf and coast erosion this weekend on the east coast. >> reporter: the lazy days of summer no more. ron mott, nbc news, atlanta. there was eye-opening new information from the government today about women and drunk driving.

the number of women arrested for drunk driving has gone up almost 30% in the last decade. and in the past year alone, the number of women driving under the influence and involved in a fatal accident, went up in ten states. the problem was highlighted by a wrong-way crash in new york last month involving an intoxicated woman that killed eight people. when we return in just a moment, remembering the man behind "60 minutes" television legend don hewitt. my doctor told me something i never knew. as we get older, our bodies become... less able to absorb calcium. he recommended citracal.

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the man who created one of the most popular programs in television history died today. veteran cbs news producer don hewitt lost his battle with cancer at the age of 86. he was a true pioneer in the business. an innovator with a long string of credits including one program above all, "60 minutes." it is one of the most successful programs in television history. and the man behind it was don

hewitt. >> never once did we do anything to attract the rating, ratings sought us. we never sought them. >> "60 minutes," volume one. >> reporter: hewitt created "60 minutes" in 1968 from the beginning a mix of investigative pieces, profiles and big interviews and he ran the show for decades assembling one of the best teams in the business. >> i'm mike wallace. >> everybody who works for me is smarter than i am. everybody that works for me is better read than i am. i think i got pretty good fingertips. so i just, you feel it. >> reporter: he got into journalism early, first in newspapers. then, after world war ii, something new, television. >> nobody that i knew of any importance at cbs radio would dane to be caught in television. television was for "howdy dudey." he helped invent television

news, including "see it now" with edward r. murrow, the "cbs evening news" with walter cronkite and the landmark first televised president debate between richard nixon and john f. kennedy. don hewitt's greatest legacy remains "60 minutes" still going strong in its fifth decade. an unmatched achievement built on a simple premise -- >> i always said "60 minutes" is about four words that every child in the world knows -- "tell me a story." don hewitt was the executive producer and driving force behind "60 minutes" for 36 years. only stepping down in 2004 when he was 82. as another veteran of this business, our colleague tom brokaw said today, "we were all students of his genius." when we come back, building a bridge between kids and cops -- one game at a time. to her dor about overactive bladder. erin wants to get up and go without always worrying about where to "go." if you have overactive bladder symptoms, today is the day to talk to your doctor and ask about prescription toviaz.

one toviaz pill a day significantly reduces sudden urges and accidents over 24 hours, all day and all night. plus, toviaz comes with a simple plan with tips on food and drink choices and training your bladder. if you have certain stomach problems or glaucoma, or cannot empty your bladder, you should not take toviaz. toviaz can cause blurred vision and drowsiness so use caution when driving or doing unsafe tasks. the most common side effects are dry mouth and constipation. joan wants to sit by the window and be closer to the clouds than the bathroom. so today, she's talking to her doctor about overactive bladder. why wait? ask about toviaz today. i see you're flatulent in three languages... graduated top of your gas... (announcer) got gas on your mind? your son rip is on line toot. excuse me (announcer) try gas-x. powerful relief from pressure and bloating in a fast-dissolving strip. gas-x. pressure's off.

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which is good, 'cause there's a lotta paws to shake. with new zyrtec® itchy eye drops i can love the air™. (announcer) find it in the allergy aisle next to other zyrtec® products. and now to our "making a difference" report. in a sport that may leave a lot of americans scratching their heads. but the game of cricket is very popular in many parts of the world. an enduring remnant of the british empire. and now here in new york it is helping make a difference in how some police officers relate to the community they serve. here is nbc's tiki barber.

>> reporter: the whack of the wooden bat, the flight of the leather ball. and a cheer from the crowd. immigrant teens in queens, new york take to the pitch and play their nation's pastime -- cricket. these neighborhoods are home to many emerging south asian and caribbean communities, patrolling these streets, new york city police officers found that they were not always the most popular faces on the block. >> we looked at okay how do we create a relationship, a line of communication, and how to do it in a genuine way. >> reporter: to connect with the community, the nypd proposed a cricket league for local teens. cricket has its start in ancient times. it became popular with aristocrats in 17th century england, but has since found an international popularity. ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪ and now, cricket is slowly making a hit in the u.s. the nypd cricket league play is a modified version of the sport, 20/20, 20 per side and more

popular in the united states. what is more important the league gives the nypd an opportunity to engage through sport, a community of kids that has long been hard to reach. >> i think there is a much closer relationship certainly between the young people playing in this league and the police officers who coach and organize that. >> reporter: and on this steamy day, the likens face-off against the superstars in the summer championship. >> the likens here -- >> reporter: with the final four-run boundary, the likens come from behind to claim the victory. >> amazing. the whole tournament. and we enjoyed it. >>eporter: sports has a way of bridging divides and no matter where you come from or what your field of play may be, out here everyone is on the same team. tiki barber, nbc news, queens, new york. that's our broadcast for this wednesday night. thank you for being with us. i'm lester holt in tonight for brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

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