. lochte versus phelps and it wasn't even close. tonight michael phelps opens up matt lauer about his deeply private struggle after that record shattering run in beijing. and why after a spectacular opening ceremony they're referring to the queen of england as the new bond girl? plus all the news from colorado to syria tonight. "nightly news" from london colorado to syria tonight. "nightly news" from london begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

>> good evening from london. while we try to be sensitive about spoiler alerts for our viewers who like to watch the olympic games in prime time here on nbc and let the story play out, the news we begin with here tonight has already rocketed all the way around the world. it has to do with the biggest name on team usa and what may end up being the most eventful moment of at least the early going here in london. michael phelps got crushed in the pool today by ryan lochte, and while lochte has been considered the best swimmer in the world for some time now, and tonight has a gold medal around his neck to show for it, it was something else entirely to watch michael phelps finish fourth out of medal contention in the 400 meter individual medley. what a dramatic start to these

games following last night's dramatic opening ceremony, chit turns out was seen by 40 plus million americans, making it the most watched of any of the summer olympics' opening ceremonies. nbc's kevin tibbles is here with us covering all of it. good evening. >> brian, talk about the highest of drama on the opening day. the greatest swimmer of all time at these games against the challenger who says he wants to be king. well, tonight, ryan lochte dethroned michael phelps. >> phelps in lane four -- >> it was a showdown like no other on the olympic stage. 14-time gold medalist michael phelps taking on the challenger, ryan lochte. >> there are two major duel that's we would have between lochte and phelps. this is the first one. and i think, my opinion, is the most important one because it sets up the momentum for the rest of the olympic games. >> reporter: they call the men's 400 individual medley the toughest race of all and phelps has owned it.

winning gold in athens and beijing. eight grueling laps. but at this morning's preliminaries, phelps was sluggish, barely making the cut by the narrowest of margins, .07 of a second. and he wasn't happy. phelps was trying to save energy for the final, to the point where he almost missed it. >> he has to be able to manage his energy as much as possible. it is a huge risk that he took. but once again, he is michael phelps. >> reporter: lochte finished a comfortable third in the prelims. >> my first race is always the worst one. i'm glad i was able to get a lane for tonight. that's all that really matters. >> reporter: the stage was set. phelps, the greatest swimmer of all time, lined up against the 27-year-old lochte who has beaten him several times, but never in the olympic games. this is the moment lochte has been working toward the last four years. never taking breaks, adding

extraordinarily demanding workouts like flipping 650-pound tires. he has attained cover boy status and tonight he took the crown. phelps was fourth, and for the first time since 2000, finished a race without a medal at the olympics. >> ryan lochte delivered a beating to michael phelps. it's not so surprising that ryan won but it was super surprising that michael phelps didn't win a medal. >> reporter: a fitting first night of competition after london welcomed the world with an opening ceremony filled with fireworks, pageantry and royalty. and one of the first visitors through the gates this morning, queen elizabeth who toured the venues, including the view from the orbit, a massive structure that juts into the london sky. near the queen's buckingham palace, the men's 250 kilometer cycling road race took off. it was a rough and tumble affair

marred with spectacular crashes and a sprint to the finish with the gold medal going to kazakhstan. america's first medal was a silver in archery. but after the extravagant lighting of the olympic flame at the opening ceremony, many today were shocked it can't be seen from outside the stadium. >> we all saw it on the tv last night. i haven't seen it today. >> where is it? >> i don't know. >> it just might be another mystery. >> reporter: flame or no flame, tonight the fireworks were in the pool. that 400 individual medley is so grueling, phelps said he was not even going to compete after beijing. and he has only been training for about a year, but brian, we can't take anything away from ryan lochte in this race. he dominated from start to finish and tonight he actually congratulated his fans in a tweet saying that this was a gold for the lochte nation and to his credit, phelps actually tweeted back, congratulating him. >> what a moment. what a news event.

it is hard to believe. not even 24 hours yet. kevin tibbles following all of it. thank you. and you can see the phelps/lochte showdown. all the other action tonight on nbc beginning at 8:00 p.m., 7:00 central. when you watch the race tonight here on nbc, you'll be hearing the call of dan hicks of nbc sports. he is with us tonight. dan, this has a mighty casey aspect about it, though you and the trade, the guys who follow swimming year round knew lochte to be presumably number one in the sport. it is still going to come as quite a drama to the folks joining us and watching this tonight. >> absolutely, brian. this is one race, the 400 i.m. the most grilling of all the swimming races. you have to put the training in for it and essentially michael phelps didn't begin training for it really seriously until only about nine months ago.

so ryan lochte really has been considered the best swimmer in the world for quite some time now. so for michael phelps to finish as far back and not get the job done, everybody is used to him winning gold medals, let alone off the podium. it was pretty surreal. >> and dan, the two will meet again, i understand, thursday, though both of them have individual races and a lot of them in the days to come. >> they will. they have three more individual events to go. it will be very interesting to see how michael phelps bounces back. they are going to meet head to head, we expect, in the finals of the 200 i.m. but again, michael phelps barely made it into the finals of the 400 i.m. by .07 of a second. i look for him to bounce back in the 200 i.m. even though the same night, lochte has a final in the 200 back. >> dan hicks, nbc sports across town at our nbc studios. thanks very much for being with us. >> you're welcome.

we want to turn our attention now to syria, the fighting intensified there today and the death toll mounted as government forces try to regain control of that country's largest city, aleppo. while americans may not know a lot about it, aleppo is a city larger than chicago. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel was able to file a report for us tonight from inside syria. >> reporter: witnesses have described to us a horrible scene today in the city of aleppo which is now come under attack by syrian government forces. by tanks, artillery, and helicopters. much of the fighting is in the south and southwest of aleppo where rebels are holed up, fighting against what appears to be a full-on government onslaught. families are trying to leave aleppo any way they can. in taxis, on motorcycles, some families have managed to come to villages like this one, which are now under rebel control. one man who left aleppo today

said as he was leaving, he saw bodies on his left, bodies on his right. many of them of women and children. but once families do reach villages like this one, the situation is not much better. this village is completely surrounded by syrian forces and often comes under attack. brian? >> richard engel reporting for us tonight from inside syria. mitt romney left london today for tel aviv, where he is hoping for a better reception, a better outing than the one he got here after questioning this city's preparedness to host the games. in his conversation with us. the romney campaign is hoping to win over jewish voters in the u.s. by delivering a message that he would be a better friend to israel than president obama has been. now to colorado and the news that has come out of the aftermath of the massacre in that movie theater over a week ago now. today, the funerals continued for the victims there as we learn new details about the

suspect. his lawyers revealing, james holmes was seeing a psychiatrist, even as police say he was plotting to commit mass murder. our report tonight from nbc's mike taibbi. >> reporter: one after the other, the victims shot dead for the simple reason that they chose to see a movie have been laid to rest. rebecca, a local mother of two in her own home town. >> rebecca was full of life and light. >> reporter: matt mcquinn buried in ohio. john layer more in illinois. >> my heart is breaking and i will miss him. >> reporter: a.j. remembered in aurora. jonathan to be buried. jessica brought home to san antonio. >> you don't know how long you have here. >> reporter: for the 58 victims who were shot but survived, including steven barton now back home in connecticut, these are days spent healing. >> i was holding on to my neck to staunch the bleeding. >> reporter: and reflecting on what brought them to this theater at just the wrong time. a theater whose owners are now

offering to pay funeral expenses for those killed. for barton and boyhood pals, it was a bicycle trip to discover america. 3,000 miles so far east to west, stopping on day 44 for just one day in aurora. movie tickets for themselves and the local pal and then madness. >> what happened kind of is the worst parts of humanity. >> reporter: as for the suspect, james holmes, his lawyer revealed he had been in contact with the university psychiatrist while his academic career fell apart, and while police say he assembled an arsenal. meanwhile, greg, the cross maker after oklahoma city, after columbine, has asked once again to mark an unspeakable tragedy. >> it is a message of hope. >> reporter: while the city's flags will be raised back to full staff tomorrow, rebecca's mother, like the loved ones of all the dead, mostly feels diminished. >> i don't care what anybody ever says to me about why. it doesn't matter.

it is just senseless. >> reporter: holmes will be in court here in centennial on monday to hear the formal charges against him. whether the state will seek the death penalty or holmes will plead insanity might not be known for months. brian? >> mike taibbi, centennial, colorado, for us. thanks. still ahead, as we continue along the way on a saturday night, before that stunning finish here today, we get to listen to what michael phelps said to matt lauer about some rough personal struggles about being on top of the world, possible clues to what happened in the pool here today. and then later, the queen's show-stopping entrance. just the latest big surprise in what has been the re-branding of the royal family. before copd... i took my son fishing every year. we had a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over.

so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and that means...fish on! symbicort is for copd including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. with copd, i thought i'd miss our family tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today, we're ready for whatever swims our way. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. on my feet and exactly where i needed more support. then, i got my number. my tired, achy feet affected my whole life. until i found my number.

i tried the free dr. scholl's foot mapping center. in two minutes, i got my foot map and custom number. i'm a 440. that matched up to the dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic inserts with the right support and cushioning i need. i am a believer. i'm a believer! i'm a believer. go to drscholls.com to find your closest walmart with a foot mapping center. is non-stop to seattle? just carry preparation h totables. discreet, little tubes packed with big relief. from the brand doctors recommend most by name. preparation h totables. the anywhere preparation h.

we are back here from london tonight where folks are still stunned at michael phelps' fourth place finish in today's 400 meter individual medley. we have a chance now to listen for clues in a way that were there ahead of time that this maybe wouldn't be the same michael phelps we saw in beijing. he has dealt with a series of struggles the last four years, both public and private. recently he sat down to talk to matt lauer about them.

>> history in beijing! >> reporter: before he shattered records in beijing -- >> in 19 years of age, this is history in the making. >> reporter: before he captured the world's attention in athens. >> in lane six -- >> reporter: before he debuted at 15 in sydney as the u.s. team's youngest member. michael phelps started his journey at this no frills pool in baltimore. >> just a strange feeling. everything is coming to an end. >> what you've done didn't come without a lot of blood, sweat and tears and a lot of those tears were spilled right here in this pool. >> there was a lot of yelling and a lot of screaming in this pool. >> as a young boy with adhd, the water was an outlet to channel his excess energy. when his long time coach said swim, phelps had one response. how fast? he was a swim machine. life submerged underwater was

easier than out of it and 20 years in the water paid off. out of 36 gold medals the u.s. took home in beijing, phelps won eight of them. after reaching such dizzying heights, phelps fell into a depression. >> it's like you have four years to build up and you're at this peak. and then you just kind of roll down the hill. >> reporter: he gained 25 pounds. made headlines for smoking a bong. and lost interest in swimming. >> i literally didn't do anything for six months. >> reporter: straight talk from a friend helped him get back on course. >> hearing somebody be honest and straightforward with me was all i really needed. >> reporter: in the last year and a half, he has gotten back in shape, adding boxing exercises to his training, sleeping in a high altitude chamber. and using recent defeats as motivation. >> i think if you ask me today, is he prepared to be as good a

swimmer as he was in beijing, i would have to say no. we haven't done the volume of training. but if you asked me, has he prepared to be a better person than he was in beijing, without question. he is just more grown up. >> reporter: growing up and now giving back. phelps has been speaking to kids. >> starts with a dream, a plan on how you're going to get there. >> reporter: and promoting water safety programs at boys and girls clubs across the country. >> have you been keeping a journal? >> i have. >> that's unusual for you, isn't it? >> a little strange. i don't really like to write that much. but you know, being able to look back at all the memories that i've had, i think it is better if i write them down. >> what do you want the last entry in that journal to say? >> if i can look back and say i've done everything i wanted, i don't care what the headlines are. i don't care what anybody else says. if i can say my life has been, or my career has been a success, that's all that matters to me. >> reporter: and perhaps finding

there is life outside the pool. matt lauer, nbc news, london. >> and the story of michael phelps still being written here in london. we're back in a moment with some of the day's other news, including something that hasn't been seen in 70 years until now. s that it's given me time to reflect on some of life's biggest questions. like, if you could save hundreds on car insurance by making one simple call, why wouldn't you make that call? see, the only thing i can think of is that you can't get any... bars. ah, that's better. it's a beautiful view. i wonder if i can see mt. rushmore from here. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. i wish i could keep it this way. [ dentist ] even after a dental cleaning... plaque quickly starts to grow back. but new crest pro-health clinical plaque control toothpaste can help. it not only reduces plaque... it's also clinically proven... to help keep plaque

from coming back. plus, it works in these other areas dentists check most. ♪ new crest pro-health clinical plaque control toothpaste. life opens up when you do. [ male announcer ] buy one crest rinse, get one free. look for our coupon in sunday's paper. [ male announcer ] buy one crest rinse, get one free. those little things for you, life's about her. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain,

as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. a plane crash has taken the life of two-time u.s. olympic distance runner, pat porter. he was killed along with his 15-year-old son and a family friend when his beach craft went down on takeoff in sedona, arizona. he was married to form he u.s. olympic high jumper, trish king. he was a 13-time national distance champion.

pat porter was 53 years old. illinois democratic congressman jesse jackson jr., son of the civil rights leader, is extending his two-month long leave of absence from congress. he has been transferred to the mayo clinic in minnesota. he is undergoing diagnosis and treatment for both depression and gastrointestinal issues. jackson's office admitted only to a mood disorder as they put it, when his disappearance from congress was first publicized. it's a small bit of world war ii history and it is always been a big new england mystery until now. it was a day world war ii came very close to the continental u.s. the german submarine named u-550 was part of a pitched naval battle just 70 miles south of nantucket in 1944. after it blew up an american ship that was full of gasoline en route here to the u.k. at 252 feet in length, that

submarine sat deep on the ocean floor until it was discovered, found by an expedition just this past monday. when we come back here tonight, an extreme makeover for the royal family, including these olympic games. [ birds chirping ] [ engine revving ] ♪ hey, hey, hey ♪ [ tires screech ] [ male announcer ] with fuel economy that's best in class and better acceleration than camry and accord, you'll wish you had the road to yourself. [ tires screech ] it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ so how much do we owe you? that'll be $973.42. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive.

who do you think i am, quicken loans? [ spokesman ] when you refinance your mortgage with quicken loans, you'll find that our rates and fees are extremely competitive. because the last thing you want is to spend too much on your mortgage. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. ♪ they claim to be complete. only centrum goes beyond. providing more than just the essential nutrients, so i'm at my best. centrum. always your most complete. my feet and exactly where i needed more support. i had tired, achy feet. until i got my number. my dr. scholl's custom fit orthotics number. now i'm a believer. you'll be a believer, too. learn where to find your number at drscholls.com. ther e's the sign to the bullpen. learn where to find your number ahere he comes.m. you wouldn't want your doctor doing your job, the pitch! whoa! so why are you doing his?

only your doctor can determine if your persistent heartburn is actually something more serious like acid reflux disease. over time, stomach acid can damage the lining of your esophagus. for many, prescription nexium not only provides 24-hour heartburn relief, but can also help heal acid-related erosions in the lining of your esophagus. talk to your doctor about the risk for osteoporosis-related bone fractures and low magnesium levels with long-term use of nexium. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. let your doctor do his job. and you do yours. ask if nexium is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

saturday night in london. and finally here tonight, okay, there was a little bit of sniping that they were awfully stone-faced in that royal box at the stadium last night. and the queen, as usual, pretty much refused to crack a smile even in the face of really cute kids. but there's no way you can argue, this isn't a vastly different royal family as compared to just a few years ago, beginning with the queen's entrance into the stadium by parachute last night, or so we were led to believe. chris jansing is here tonight. just kate alone has changed the look of there bunch fore. >> she's amazing. beautiful, charming, she has been a game changer for this royal family that is trying to get away from the stodgy image. and she was in the royal box last night. the surprise star at the opening ceremony was the queen herself who came off as, dare i say it, cool as james bond. >> reporter: meet the new bond

girl who stole the show at the opening ceremony. in a cheeky bit of british humor -- her majesty set up a high-flying entrance that left brits gob-smacked. >> i didn't realize she parachuted. >> good fun. >> a bit of a rebranding of britain. no longer the stiff upper lip and the bowler hats. a little cooler. more fun. >> reporter: out having more fun today, she was swaching swimming. visiting athletes and touring the olympic orbit with london's mayor who weighed in with his own review in an off-mike moment. >> you were brilliant. you got international press. >> reporter: after the high-powered glamour of the wedding, the pomp and passage he saidry of the jubilee, the royals are having their own olympic moment. wills, kate and harry seemed to be everywhere. just this week at a charity event showing off their athletic

prowess, or not. and there's a lot more to come for the royal olympic ambassadors. 30 official appearances during the games. harry has tickets to the gold medal beach volleyball game. he has shown an appreciate for their skills in the past. and they'll be watching their cousin compete at the equestrian stadium tomorrow. we caught up with zara coming and going today and asked the hard-hitting question on everyone's mind. >> what did you think of your grandmother last night? >> reporter: she was not but director danny boyle was. telling meredith viera, he was impressed with the queen who nailed the part of herself in just one take. >> her and james bond got on very well. the corgis were fine as well. >> reporter: it all sounds bloody fantastic. in addition to the parachuting,

we're told the queen was offered body doubles for her beloved corgis. she refused. they played themselves. >> who doesn't love a corgi? thanks. that's our broadcast on a saturday night. i'm brian williams reporting again tonight from london. we'll look for you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com [romney singing]: oh beautiful, for spacious skies, i'm barack obama and i approve this message. for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain, america, america, god shed his grace on thee,