apologies. team obama steps up the attacks on mitt romney's business record and tells him to stop whining. the romney campaign says the president will do anything to keep his job. what are voters supposed to make of all of this? here we go again after a brief break from the heat. get ready for round two. warning signs, what does the way we walk have to do with alzheimer's? the new research tonight. who is the boss. outrage as the plug is pulled the sound of silence has a lot of people angry. and the nationwide casting call to fill the paws of a movie

legend. from nbc news world head quarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news with lester holt." a race for president is producing plenty of fireworks all over president obama's attacks with romney's days with bain capital. again romney's camp pushed back hard labelling the obama attacks lies. at the same time keeping a controversy they would like to go away very much alive. nbc mike mckara leads off from the white house. >> this controversy keeps getting hotter. more outrage surrounding mitt

romney's record at bain capital. >> reporter: today mitt romney's attended church with his family while on the sunday talk shows his surrogates were on the defensive fighting back about whether the time at bain capital included outsourcing of jobs. >> this outrage. it is false. it's a lie. >> reporter: for this part this weekend in an interview president obama rejected romney's call for onpology over those same attacks. >> first of all you are not going to apologize. >> no we won't be apologizing. >> reporter: instead again saying he left to run the salt lake city olympics. >> he is claiming i wasn't there at the time except he files a listing saying he was the president and ceo of the company. >> reporter: the president is referring to documents listing

him as ceo. >> he retired and ended up not going back to the firm after his time in salt lake city cht. >> reporter: and shot back on another program. >> we know this president will say and do anything to keep the highest office in the land even if it means denying the highest office in the land. >> reporter: today romney introduced a new ad which has three journalisted appearing to criticize obama. >> i have no connection with the romney campaign. this was done without our permission. it comes as a total surprise to me. two of the journalists featured on the campaign had appeared on nbc news and msnbc and both networks say they had not granted the romney campaign

permission from using that material and ask that the campaign refrain from doing so. >> there are a lot of moving parts to the attacks on romney. it is almost a dare from the obama folks that he release more tax returns than he is comfortable doing. is there going to be a call from his own party to get it out? >> he is already getting pressure like that. i talked to two officials one said we are not taking that bait and pointed to poling data. another said to my knowledge we are staying the course. i think that means we are going to watch and see how great the pressure becomes. >> these attacks go right to what romney touted as strength, business experience. why is the question of when he was running bain so key here? >> because the longer they can associate mitt romney with bain capital the wider the range of activity that the obama campaign

can criticize him for like outsourcing and cutting jobs. it goes right to the heart of experience just as republicans went after john kerry on his military experience. when both the candidate and the press get on the trail of a controversy like this the target can be left out in the political wilderness pretty quickly unless they can change the subject or have the news agenda change the subject for him. >> it was friday that romney went on several network tv interviews trying to stick a fork in this controversy. is it too soon to say that was a miscalculation? >> i don't know if it was a miscalculation but clearly it hasn't worked. they are going to come under pressure to do more. on the other hand mitt romney is getting a lot of air cover on super pac groups. they have ammunition in this fight. the race remains close. >> good to hear your analysis. thank you. nchlts it has been a day of

extreme weather. heavy rain in parts of texas and late word tonight of a deadly lightning strike on a soccer field near houston, two people killed while trying to hide from the rain. the nation's heartland where a severe drought continues cripablicri crippling a lot of farms. get ready for round two. meteorologist kim cunningham joins us now from the weather channel head quarters. here we go again. >> a tragic story about this lightning strike here. this is a big story with the lightning we have been seeing. that is moving out of houston. you can see the six-hour timeline showing the storms on the way out. this is a big story and the fact a lot of people get killed by lightning each year, the bigger story i think coming up this week will be the heat. i want to show you the dew point, the measure of moisture at the surface. notice 60s and 70s.

tropical atmosphere. you add that to temperatures near 100 degrees this is a different scenario than we had. we will have temperatures in the 90s but to factor in the dew points and we are talking heat indexes of 105 plus. that is where the danger is going to be this week coming up. this will also move east, by the way, into the northeast. if you live here excessive heat warnings already up for this area. again humidity levels up and very dangerous. overseas more extreme weather. in japan at least 25 people are dead and thousands more remain cut off by severe flooding and mud slides triggered by torrential rain. at one point more than a quarter million people were evacuated. in poland a string of freak tornadoes killed at least one person and left ten hurt. tornadoes aren't unheard of but

the power and scope of these are and come during a summer of wild weather there. now to a significant development in the crisis of syria. today the international red cross said it considers the conflict there to be a civil war, coming during one of the deadliest weeks since the uprising began. good evening. >> reporter: good evening. calling it a civil war is significant and has real consequences because it means attacks on detainees and civilians could constitute a war crime. saying the syrian military has launched an operation on the suburbs triggering what many are describing the single heaviest day of fighting since the uprising began. amateur footage shows black smoke billowing over government buildings. and in other developments we are

learning that this incident that took place being described as a massacre on thursday today the united nations says it was more of a one-sided fight between the syrian military and opposition rebels. all of these indications that the syrian regime of bashar al-assad has began to lose power. some tense moments for secretary of state hillary clinton traveling in egypt when she and her motorcade passed through a group of protesters. they threw shoes, tomatoes and water bottles. none of that hit mrs. clinton's car. the secretary was in egypt to meet with that president's new president. now to a story getting a ton of attention and has a lot of people angry. imagine you are in the middle of watching bruce springstein and

paul mccartney together on stage jamming the e street band and then suddenly silence. somebody cut the mics and told everybody to go home? that is what happened last night in london. >> reporter: two music legends, one incredible finale. until someone cut the microphones. springstein's good bye silence of a crowd. among the 65,000 fans. >> people didn't seem to know what was going on. you have mccartney and springstein. they are playing the beatles numbers. suddenly silence. the band was still playing but you can't hear it. >> reporter: just minutes earlier it had been so different. springstein is renowned for giving his fans more.

he had already played for three hours when sir paul mccartney surprised the crowd with him. residents in the neighborhood have demanded a noise curfew and the concert was already over the limits when it was suddenly shut down. angry e street band member steven van zandt tweeted when i'm jamming with mccartney don't bug me. no one is saying who stopped the music. >> it is a bit of confusion. >> reporter: today london's mayor said the stars should have been allowed to play on. instead this performance will be remembered as the day the boss broke curfew and the plugs got

pulled. at the tour de france it was chaos on the course as dozens of riders were slowed by flat tires. someone apparently from the crowd threw sharp tacks on the road. some competitors with flat tires had to catch. up next here as we continue on "nightly news" slowing down as we get older isn't unusual. tonight links between the way you walk and dementia. a casting call of the four legged kind. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families

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big health news coming out of this weekend's alzheimer's association international conference in vancouver. it is estimated one in every eight americans over 65 has alzheimer's disease and that figure is expected to grow as baby boomers age. tonight we are learning about potential early warning signs. we get a report from our chief medical editor. >> reporter: it may sound surprising but new research presented today suggests something as simple as the way we walk could be an early warning sign. >> subtle motor changes that you can detect may be a warning system to kind of let you know there might be some abnormal

pathology in the brain that could lead to cognitive decline later on. >> reporter: researchers looked at the relationship between brain function and the gate -- gait of a person's walk. while slowing down is not a cause of concern people with alzheimer's walk slower than people with normal mental function. >> we may be able to catch cognitive decline at an earlier stage by looking at their motor abilities. >> reporter: it has been generally accepted that regular physical exercise can improve health as we age. now we are looking at which types are most effective and why. in another study presented today scientists at the university of pittsburgh suggested evidence that could decrease risk factors for alzheimer's. a part of the brain responsible

for regulating memory, emotion and longing typically shrinks with patients with alzheimer's. those walking regularly for a year it grew. something experts say is evidence lifestyle can impact the brain even as we age. >> the best thing to do for your brain through your life is physical exercise. >> reporter: with more research understanding the relationship between exercise, motor skills and mental function can help doctors treat, monitor and diagnose dementia at earlier stages. we're back in a moment with a loss of an oscar winning actress. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead.

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test. television seems almost suicidal. the act of a small town waiter was sitting on a shelf in the nbc films archives now brought to life by his granddaughter. you will hear an offensive word. one that illustrates the death of booker wright's humiliation and pain. >> reporter: yvette johnson grew up privileged. >> we were not connected to extended family. >> reporter: once she had her own kids she began to explore her roots. >> i have a fantastic aunt who loves to tell stories. she shared with me the story of her father. >> reporter: yvette's grandfather was this man, booker wright. >> there was a definite shift in her tone when she talked about

booker wright. >> reporter: yvette found an article about booker who was a waiter at a white's only restaurant in the 60s. >> he acted like he found some sort of a dignitary. >> suggested that booker was a civil rights icon. >> reporter: he took her booker wright had once said something controversial about civil rights on tv but knew little about it. >> i couldn't find anything. i started to think that maybe it was not real. >> this is booker wright. >> reporter: it was. in 2010 out of the blue a film maker sent yvette a 1966 nbc documentary about race relations in mississippi. and booker wright had stolen the show. >> i will be glad to say what we are going to serve today. >> reporter: booker's description of life in the jim

crow south was perhaps the first time many white americans had heard a black man speak so bluntly. >> some call me jim. >> my heart broke for him as i watched it and he talked about humiliation. part of me wanted to reach back and comfort him. >> could you recognize the jeopardy he was putting himself in? >>. when i first saw it, no. because i didn't really understand greenwood. >> reporter: yvette set out for greenwood in the company of the film maker. both wer wg. to have a rendez vi vous with history. we learned today that one of the greats in stage and screen has died. celeste holm won an oscar for

her supporting role in "gentleman's agreement." she soared to fame in broadway. celeste holm passed away in her apartment in new york. she was 95 years old. the nationwide search for the new benji. continues in washington... ...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? test. test. test. test. test. test. test.

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finally tonight if you wait long enough eventually everything old is new again. the latest old favorite headed to the remake machine is the 1974 classic "benji" and that has set off a search to find the star. >> reporter: brendan is searching the shelters of america looking for a friend. not his best friend but the one movie goers everywhere will fall in love with, the next benji. >> at the end of the day it is like love at first sight. >> reporter: it was there four decades ago when his father found the original "benji" so clever and trainable that he

upstaged human costars like chevy chase. the character played by several dogs eclipsing earlier. a quarter billion in earnings and four times that many fans world wide. the last sequel didn't do much. blockbusters in the digital age the ones starring avatars and dragons earn hundreds of millions. the challenge, of course, is whether any dog can make a dent in the movie universe dominated by computer generated humans and villains of the human and nonhuman variety. he is confident he will find

that dog. and if he finds the right benji that movie magic that only a special dog can provide, think "marly and me" and light up the screen. >> i won't take no for an answer. i know this dog is out there. >> reporter: there are film critic whose say they can't wait. >> absolutely i want to see this movie. >> reporter: the man's best friend thing and the hunger for happy endings as valid as ever. with the right actor in the leading role. that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. brian williams will be here tomorrow. i'm lester holt reporting. we'll see you later on