richard engel reports. >> reporter: more than a dozen taliban rockets today exploded near centers in southern afghanistan. as a man was being interviewed more rockets fell. see, another one just landed, he said. the attacks and three small bombings in kabul this morning had a chilling effect. in kabul, voters just trickled in to schools and mosques to cast ballots and dip their fingers in ink. men on one side and women in segregated areas. threats of violence from the taliban seemed to have kept many people away. today the taliban vowed to hunt down those that voted. if we find anyone with ink on their fingers we will cut it off, said this taliban commander. as they cast ballots today the leading presidential candidate, abdullah abdul a a president hamid karzai, called on afghans to defy the threat. >> come out and vote. so that through their vote afghanistan can be a most secure

richard engel is live in kabul with more.ichard, we're just hearing, in fact, that more violence in kandahar. can you give us an update on that? >> yes. we've also learned that the four american soldiers were killed not far from kandahar. no details about their specific unit until their families have been notified about the attack today on a convoy, apparently ied attack. then just this evening, not long ago, a very large explosion in kandahar itself. we've been told it may have been car five car bombs strung together and that it attacked apparently a housing complex, a hotel that was used by foreigners, particularly foreigners working for a security contracting firm. no firm -- no specific details about casualties. one medical official told us that at least 30 people had been taken to a local hospital but there were no exact figures on death tolls. carlos? >> richard, is there a sense there in afghanistan that this uptick in violence is to be expected to some extent, given the i crease in american troops? given the election

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in afghanistan. he is with us tonight from kabul. richard, good evening. >> reporter: security here is tightening nationwide as u.s. and afghan forces are doing everything they can to try and make this country safe enough to vote next week. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: this is what it takes to prepare afghanistan for elections. a marine assault this morning. 400 u.s. marines and 100 afghan soiers, backed by helicopters and fighter jets, in helmand province in southern afghanistan. the mission to drive the taliban from the town, so locals can vote here next thursday. but the taliban stood and fought. in this militant and opium-struggling stronghold. opium-smuggling stronghold. for eight hours, firing from rooftops and courtyard with mortars, heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. for seven weeks, 10,000 u.s. marines have been trying to take back southern afghanistan, a town at a time. >> by liberating the town, we freed the local populus from the influence of the taliban. but nearly half of afghanistan remains at high risk of a

richard engel in afghanistan. up next, he's back, former illinois governor, rod blagojevich is launching a new website, promoting his new gig. that's coming up on a new sideshow, where it belongs. tools are uncomplicated? nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping is easy. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that's not complicated. come on. how about...a handshake. alright. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis, and wherever i go, i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with b

nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in turkey where their journey began. he has the latest for us. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. from downtown istanbul, turkey. behind me is the city's famous blue mosque. it's still unclear if the americans knew that they had actually crossed into iran, but today kurdish officials said they were warned not to stray too close to the sensitive border. it was in these mountains in kurt stan where three americans went hiking last week before according to iranian media they strayed over the border into iran and were arrested. kurdish officials confirm their identifies as shane bauer, sarah shord, and josh fatall. they were apparently on a trip to learn more about the middle east. bauer is a freelance journalist and photographer living in and specializing in the arab world. he's a fluent arabic speaker. he has a degree in arabic and peace and conflict studies. bauer's facebook page says he is in a relationship with share raf shourd, the ohm woman in the group, also an aspiring journalist. on her websit

richard engel has that story. >> reporter: iran remained silent about where they are being held and how long. kurdish officials are giving new details about exactly when the americans were last seen in northern iraq in kurdistan which is the safest part of iraq. kurdish police saw the three americans, two men and a woman, on friday night. they were camping in the area kurdish police saw them walking by the road and offered them a ride. the americans said it was a nice night. they wanted to stay walking and wanted to continue camping. >> this place is a tourist area where everyone visited. >> reporter: saturday morning is when the local police chief told us he believes the americans went hiking near the border with iran and got lost and accidentally crossed the border. now most analysts expect that. iranians will eventually release these americans, but that it could take weeks of delicate negotiations, mostly between u.s. allies and iran. richard engel, nbc news, istanbul. >>> laura ling and euna lee, the two americanouts jisal jrnaliso released from north korea have been keeping a low p

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in afghanistan and reports from kabul on what happened. richard. >> reporter: good evening, ann. there were 135 attacks across afghanistan today. 26 people were killed. and all of the violence and threats from the taliban scared away many voters. >> reporter: at kabul's mosque, voters only trickled in. taliban threats and attacks kept many away. especially in militant stronghold in eastern and southern afghanistan. in helmand, 11 rockets exploded near polling stations and militants attacked a police station outside kabul. nearby, some afghans said they feared the taliban would slit their throats if they voted. low turnout in southern afghanistan and kabul could hurt the front-runner, president hamid karzai. they're his base of support. karzai is relying on voters like nebi, a 35-year-old day laborer. in his one room home in kabul he said he is willing to defy the threats for his children. >> translator: i'm voting for the peace and stability of my country he said. >> reporter: but when nebi arrived at the center he was the only one voting

nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in the afghan capital of kabul, he has got the latest. good evening, richard. >> reporter: good evening, david. an election official today said that the voter turnout was some where between 40% and 50%, but that they was very patchy nationwide. we're told that in southern afghanistan turnout was in the teens. compare that to five years ago, 70% turnout nationwide. david. >> what about the actual victor here? you have got two key contestants here, two primary challengers and that includes hamid karzai, the existing president. >> absolutely. as you know, language is so important. this morning there were reports that both of the candidates, abdullah abdullah and karzai were claiming it was over. that they had each won. i asked abdullah abdullah knocking on his door was this the case did he consider himself the new president. he said, no, that's not what it is. and we spoke in english. he said i think i was misquoted. i am leading and i believe that i will win. and when we contacted karzai's office he said the same thing. that indicati

brian. >> chief foreign correspondent richard engel tonight finds him in kabul, afghanistan. richard, thanks as always. >>> the associated press is reporting tonight and nbc news has confirmed eunice kennedy shriver is in critical condition at a cape cod hospital. her husband, children and grandchildren are at her side. the 88-year-old founder of the special olympics, sister of course of president kennedy, suffered a series of strokes earlier this year. >>> still to come on our broadcast as "nightly news" continues on a friday night. when students come down with swine flu. what is a school supposed to do? there is new guidelines tonight before the bell rings on the school year in the fall. >>> later, how teaching a kid to fish can go a long way towards making a difference in a lot of lives. teaching a kid to fish can go a long way towards making a difference in a lot of lives. seeing the whole picture. not be ask your doctor about trilipix. statin to lower bad cholesterol, along with diet, adding trilipix can lower fatty triglycerides and raise good cholesterol to help improve

they entered kurdistan from turk can where our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is tonight on this developing situation. richard, what do we know? >> good evening, lester, from downtown istanbul, this appears to have been a camping trip gone wrong a senior kurdish official told nbc news that the american ares entered northern iraq into the region of kurdistan which is semiautonomous, relatively stable on tuesday. some tourists do go to kurdistan, it's not exactly a p popular defendant nation, they stayed in kurdistan for a few days, mostly staying in hotels. then on friday, they were camping right along the iranian border. it's a beautiful area full of mount, they were near a waterfall and that when they crossed into iran according to iranian officials and were quickly surrounded by iranian security and remain in detention. the u.s. state department has asked for some clarification and is starting to investigate, asking switzerland, which represents u.s. interests in iran to investigate. >> we note they're being detaineded a and not arrest ed necessarily, are any charges being

richard engel joins us from kabul. good evening. >> we heard and melt felt that message. the bomb explode not far from here this morning and today the taliban said attacks could intensify leading up to elections in just five days. the taliban today carried out their threat to disrupt next week's election. at 8:30 this morning, a toyota packed with 1,000 pounds of explosives rammed into a military checkpoint. the blast broke windows several blocks away. this explosion happened in one of the most secure at the gate of the u.s. military and nato headquarters just a few hundred yards from the american embassy. an attack on kabul's relatively safe diplomatic you quarter. the american embassy wasn't damaged but aft least ten of a gaps were killed. more than 100 injured. many of them were employees at the ministry of transport waiting it go to work. "i don't feel safe here, life has been ruined" said one woman. this man said "i dent foe who i'm going to vote for now" and that's exactly the taliban's strategy. as afghan's today cleaned up glass shattered in the exsploe, it's incr

richard engel, nbc news, kabul. >>> back in this country, we now know the obama administration will be investigating the interrogation techniques used by the bush administration including torture. federal prosecutor has been named and a fight is now under way er it al our own andrea mitchelhas the very latest om our washington newsroom. andrea, good evening. >> good evening, brian. did those controversiacia tactics actually prevent attacks on the homeland? that is the core of an explosive debate tonight between former vice president dick cheney and the obama white house. escalating the feud from a family vacation in alaska, dick cheney challenged president obama's ability to protect the homeland. cheney said the decision to prosecute interrogators was political. and shows "why so many americans have doubts about this administration's ability to be responsible for r nation's serity." fighting words >> and i think in many ways his statents in these day s are kind of pathetic. i think he should know that the obama administration is doing everything to keep america secure. >> reporter: so

richard engel, nbc news, kabul. >>> we told you last night about new federal charges against a man who might have been the most prolific computer hacker ever. stealing credit datfrom stores and restaurant chains. there is a new source of worry when it comes to protecting your personal information. a rich new target for hackers. here is nbc's michelle franzen. >> reporter: brian rutberg at his home in seattle last january when he first learned someone had taken over his facebook account and posted a desperate message for help. his facebook friends were soon calling, they received an e-mail from rutberg in london claiming i got robbed at the hotel i am staying. can you help. >> i got hacked. my friend got scams and a bunch of friends were attempted scammed. >> reporter: a recent report by breach security, shows overall web attacks in the first half of 2009 are up 30% from last year. and social networking sites have surpassed government web sites, emerging as the number one target, accounting for 19% of the attacks on organized web groups. >> oe you have logged in and surrounded by your f

more now from our chief foreign correspondent richard engel in kabul. >> reporter: in cab unanimokabu many women still hide behind the all-covering burqa, maria was touching up her makeup before hitting the campaign trail for office. "people here who look down on women who go out in public," she said. i want to change that. so a 26-year-old pop singer spent her live savings to launch a campaign with posters and ads on television. tirana makes public appearances at parks without body guards, despite repeated death threats. "women don't have any freedom in the country," this woman said. only 10% of afghan girls go to primary school. only 13% of women can read. but the greatest injustice to women may be hidden here. it looks like any school, but the classroom is behind prison bars. and so is the nursery for afghanistan's youngest inmates. the children are locked up with their mothers at kabul's only jail for women. under 24-hour guard, behind rows of razor wire. more than a third of the women here were convicted of the crime of escaping their homes or adultery. each can carry up to a ten

richard engel has more from kabul. >> reporter:. most of the people killed and injured were out in front at a check point near the main nato head courters. according to a u.s. official, all american personnel have been accounted for. a taliban spokesman saidhis attack was carried out by the taliban and more attacks would be coming ahead of elections in this country, scheduled to take place next thursday. the taliban spokesman said it was a suicide car bomb, and the car was packed with 100 pounds of explosive. richard engel, nbc news, kabul. >>> police believe these men might have beenin planng to rob the store that day. the next day they made off with jewels more than $65 million. >>> starting to weekend you will have to provide more personal information before taking to the skies. u.s. airlines are asking more questions, gender and date of birth when you book a flight. it's to better weed out people that pose a risk to airline security. >>> one of india'sla biggest moe stars was detained for two hours at newark's airport after they

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel reports tonight from kabul. >> reporter: it was a day of bombs, bullets and disputed ballots. today the first results of last week's election were announced, and showed the two leading candidates president hamid karzai and his former foreign minister abdullah abdullah almost dead even with 40% of the vote each, a sign a run-off election may have to be held in october. but today at a news conference, abdullah charged that karzai rigged the vote in his favor. abdullah showed reporters ballots premarked for karzai. >> all being stamped. some are not stamped but the same. the same mark out, the same thing. and up to the end. >> reporter: videos allegedly showing karzai supporters systematically checking off ballots and stuffing boxes. today six other presidential candidates claims there was massive fraud last week. >> this is something completely outrageous and no time in history in afghanistan so much corruption. >> reporter: international election observers showed nbc news pictures of children voting with their own voter identity cards. the e

richard engel, nbc news, kabul. >>> when "nightly news" continues on this monday evening, a new report on binge drinking in this country. and it's not just college kids. >>> and later, one of the biggest names in rock. u2 returns to what was a country divided. a fan remembers what the band did then that still means so much. ♪ ♪ doors for your indoor cat. specially formulated to promote hairball control and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses. friskies indoor wet cat food. medication to lower your bad cholesterol but your good cholesterol and triglycerides are still out of line? then you may not be seeing the whole picture. ask your doctor about trilipix. statin to lower bad cholesterol, along with diet, adding trilipix can lower fatty triglycerides and raise good cholesterol to help improve all three cholesterol numbers. trilipix has not been shown to prevent heart attacks or stroke more than a statin alone. trilipix is not for everyone, including people with liver, gallbladder, or severe kidney disease, or nursing women. tell your doctor about all the medicin

foreign correspondent richard engel live in kabul. richard, good to see you. richard, what is the mood. >> reporter: voter turnout was fairly low. >> richard, go ahead. >> reporter: go ahead. we're having a bit of a delay. you speak. >> richard, what is the mood in the city today and is the sense that voting was, indeed, dampened to some extent by the violence. >> reporter: the mood right now is considerably calmer than it was earlier. there is a general sense of relief that this election, although marred by violence, marred by intimidation more than anything, that people here are relieved it's over. the ballots are now being counted. i returned a short while ago from one of the polling stations. the election workers there in front of tribal elders and volunteers were very publicly clipping open these trans lucent plastic boxes, turn over them, the boxes, onto the floor and publicly starting to count by hand all the paper ballots. there certainly was the sense today that violence and the threat of violence did keep many people away from the polls, particularly

. >> richard engel, be safe. , it's so intriguing, the elections around the world are always interesting, but when you have the threat of violence disrupting it and so many crucial things that are essentially relying on this election going through, clearly and cleanly, it's an amazing story to be watching the next couple of days. >> it is. i think the one bit of good news, richard said, it sounded like they were able to keep things moving despite the violence today. >>> coming up, constitutional right or tool of intimidation? whether there's any place for a gun at a political rally. >>> also, scientists now claiming they can fake dna evidence. what it means for the criminal courts and our national obsession with csi. i'm racing cross country in this small sidecar, but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis, and wherever i go, i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the natio

certainly has not been something that either of the candidates have been strongly identified with. >> richard engel, from kabul, we look forward to your reporting tonight on "nightly news." thank you, richard. >>> and now to former defense secretary, william cohn, to follow up on that, the former war lord, people that we are investigating for mass murders, now allied with our allies, hamid karzai, in afghanistan. it makes one wonder, what are we doing there? >> it also makes a number of the afghani people wonder what we're doing there. about 42% of the population of afghanistan is poshtoon, and they have been the supporters of karzai, and they think he's been too tanlgic in terms of the ethnic loyalty and putting in places of power. so there's a declining support within the poshtoon community. i think there's no doubt that we still have a national security interest there to the extent that al qaeda is still operating in parts of afghanistan and also in pakistan. then we obviously have an interest there. but i think we got a limited window to show some success in helping the afghan people to gain co

richard engel. thanks very much. >>> in other news this morning, federal prosecutors say a federal government informant is behind the largest case of cyber crime ever prosecuted in u.s. history. albert gonzalez, along with two russian accomplices allegedly hacked into retail databases. they made off with 330 debit and credit card numbers over two years. gonzalez has been in custody for months awaiting trial on a separate case. >>> federal officials say millions of swine flu vaccines will not be ready by mid october as preditd. the government is blaming the delay on manufacturing issues and is extending the effort to get people at the highest risk vaccinated early. >>> the white house is working to assure allies president obama is not abandoning the fight for public health insurance, the public health insurance option. several democrats suggested without the option, the president could lose their support for the large ereform bill. >> the house of representatives without a strong public plan, even st

thank you very much richard engel in afghanistan. >>> up next, he's back. former illinois governor rod blagojevich is launching a new website promoting his new gigs. that's coming up on the "sideshow" where it belongs. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. this is humiliating. stand still so we can get an accurate reading. okay...um...eighteen pounds and a smidge. a smidge? y'know, there's really no need to weigh packages under 70 pounds. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. cool. you know this scale is off by a good 7, 8 pounds. maybe five. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. is is my verizon small business specialist, tom. now, i know the catering business but when i walked in here i wasn't sure what i needed. i'm not sure what i need. tom showed me how to use mifi to get my whole team working online, on location. i was like, "woah". woah ! only verizon wireless has small business specialists in every store to help yo

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nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in kabul after millions braved violence to vote a day later? >> both sides are not exactly claiming that they have won. what we're hearing is that -- i just came back from speaking with abdullah abdullah, the leading challenger in this. he is not claiming victory. he said that initial indications are that he gained enough votes to secure this election without a runoff. so he believes that he is the winner and he believes that results will ultimately prove him to be the winner, but he has -- is not contesting the system. it is not confrontational at this stage. also we have spoken to karzai's office. he believes the same thing has proved him to be the winner but he is not declaring himself president again for another term and saying that the election was over. they are both, at this stage, still playing within the rules and that is a significant difference. >> governor cuomo, what do you think and what are your questions as you watch this situation in afghanistan where we're committing more troops and some think when stanley mchryst

richard engel is live in kabul and joining me on the set is kimberly martin, professor of internationalnd foreign policy at columbia university and back with me is angela bert-murray, editor and chief of "essence." richard what is latest on this knowing the presidential elections next week and there have been questions how smoothly those will go? >> the afghan government is trying to secure the city of kabul. we saw today extra checkpoints being put up and they are clearing away street vendors from busy intersections and hired as you mentioned thousands of local militia to monitoring the polling station and the u.s. military is also going on the offensive. a major operation today in the south of afghanistan in helmand province. about 400 marines and a hundred afghan troops went in. they were backed up by combat helicopters and jump jets and they were taking over a taliban-held village and there was intense fighting. the u.s. troops think they killed between 7 and 10 taliban fighters but they fought over eight hours and taliban were firing mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and heavy

richard engel has the latest. >> reporter: they were first here in turkey. and this is the bridge that crosses between europe and asia. they began this ill-fated backpacking journey. they crossed from here into northern iraq, and it's a mountainous, relatively peaceful part of iraq. after staying a few days in hotels, thisey decided to head the bordero iraq, and go backpacking, and that's where they crossed in iran, according to iranian officials and were detained by officials. and they have identified the three. all of them are described in their 20s or early 30s. >> that was richard engel reporting. the state department is trying to get access to the individuals through the swiss. >>> the homeless man is responsible for yesterday's bomb scare at laguardia airport. the airport is back in business. policevacuated the main terminal, when a man approached security with a bag full of batteries and wires. a number of flights were delayed or cancelled. the evacuation presented flight crews from getting in and out of laguardia. it's 75 degrees outside. up next, vi

richard engel, nbc news, kabul. >>> meanwhile, a weekend of sports means a busy weekend for metro. >>> maryland's easy pass users stage a protest. >>> protesters were handing out leaflets at the whole foods super mark net silver spring today. they are unhappy wh the anti-government health care op-ed article written by the supermarket's ceo published in "the wall street journal." a spokesperson for whole foods says the company has no official position on the health care reform issue. and that the ceo offered constructive ideas and expressed his own opinion in the journal op-ed as the president invited all americans to do. >>> the washington nationaling introduced their newest player this afternoon. number one draft pick, stephen strasbu strasburg, signed a record $15 million contract with the nats. ryan zimmerman was there to give strasburg his new jerseyy and will be wearing number 37. the nats take on the brewers later this evening. >>> heads-up. metro riders, it is going to be a very busy weekend. football, soccer, and baseball. all taking place at the 7:00 hour this saturday. metro

richard engel, nbc news, kabul. >>> former new york giants football star plaxico burris reached a plea deal in his weapons case and the it includes jail time. he pleaded guilty to one count of criminal possession of a weapon and a lesser charge than he initially faced. and he also agreed to a two-year prison sentence and two years of supervised release. burress face 3d 1/2 years had he gone to trial. . >>> senator edward kennedy has sent massachusetts leaders a letter that acknowledges he may have to surrender hisseat. kennedy has advanced brain cancer. he did not attend the funeral of his sister eunice last week. raising new questions about his health. aides say kennedy's condition hasn't changed but this he is concerned democrats would be denied a crucial vote on health care reform if he has to resign. right now massachusetts law calls for a special election to take place within five months after a seat opens. kennedy wants the law changed so that the governor can appoint a replacement to serve until the election. >>> we have gotten a lot of sunshine on this friday. but what's in sto

richard engel, nbc news, istanbul. >>> that's "news4 at 4." "news4 at 5" starts right now. >>> tonight on "news4 at 5," a good samaritan who says he was punished for trying to help some geese. >>> a vitamin deficiency in children linked to serious health risks. >>> and the half million dollar mistake after a man loses his winning lottery ticket. >>> welcome to "news4 at 5." >> our top story, serio questions are raised after a fire breaks out inside a fire station in prince georges county. but no one is around to put it ap s hit it happenedar

richard engel live in kabul. richard, thanks so much for the live report. >>> a family spokesperson says eunice kennedy shriver is critically ill. as family members gather at her bedside in a massachusetts hospital, the sister of president john f. kennedy suffered a series of strokes in recent years. a soaksman for governor arnold schwarzenegger, the husband of shriver's only daughter maria says the governor of california is there with the family in cape cod, as well. 88-year-old shriver is a longtime champion for the disabled and is best known for her work to establish the special olympics our thoughts and prayers are with her. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models. has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be us

richard engel, nbc news, istanbul. >>> the u.s. army withdrew troops from basra on saturday and handed over responsible for security to the iraqi forces. this is the last military camp in northern basra to be handed over. some u.s. soldiers will remain at the iraqi request. >>> in tel aviv, two people are dead and at least 12 injured after a gunman opened fire at a gay youth club. police say the masked gunman was dressed in all black, pull out a gun and fired in all directions. witnesses described that scene as a blood bath. the manhunt continues for the suspect mo fled the scene on foot. >>> one person is dead, 15 injured after a stage collapsed in canada. thousands of fans in alberta were joan ig the big band jamboree. the four-day festival in western canada started on thursday and was scheduled to wrap up today. no word on whether the concert scheduled to take place today will be canceled. >>> after the energy and commerce committee narrowly passed a health care reform bill, the august recess starts with this directive, sell, se

richard engel, thank you very inch for that.e we get confirmation either way, we'll talk about the story. >>> now to the economy. the national retail federation says more consumers will scale back on their back-to-school spending this year by 8% or so. to help spur sales 15 states are tacking part in a tax-free holiday this weekend. providing savings on school-related merd for customers. legislatorer t can't afford the free weekend. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm fast than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free. what do you say to a spin around the color wheel? to paint with primer already mixed in? test samples instead of can commitments? what do you say we dip into our wallets less and grab a hold of the latest tools out there so we can quit all that messing arou

but that is something the iranian officials will be looking at. >> richard engel, live from istanbul, turkey. thank you, richard. >>> could americans end up being pawn ins the u.s.-iranian conflict? what, if anything, can our government do now? the obama administration has reportedly considered imposing an extreme economic sanction against iran if iran rejects nuclear talks. the obama team may also seek to cut off iran's gasoline imports. iran's supreme leader gave his seal of approval to president back mud ahmadinejad. the formal endorsement came in a ceremony intended to show a unified front after a hotly disputed presidential election. joining us live is former u.s. secretary of defense under clinton bill cohen. thanks for joining us. >> great to be with you. >> the united states is trying to work on behalf of the three american families. howdy is the situation right now, specifically as far as these americans? >> number one, we don't know where they are. number two, we don't know very much about them. number three, it seems to me unlikely that they would be, quote, tied to the cia

richard engel has our report. >> both of the main candidates in this presidential election aren't quite claiming victory but they each believe that they did win this election outright. dr. abdullah abdul a former foreign minister in this country, told us a short while ago that his reporting and his monitors around the country have been collecting information. >> results in my favor. most provinces. yes, these are preliminary results. these are indications. >> reporter: problem is hamid karzai, the president, and generally considered the front-runner in this election, is saying the same thing. that he believes that he is in the lead. the candidates think they will have more of an indication by the end of this weekend. meanwhile, the top u.s. envoy for both afghanistan and pakistan, richard holbrooke, is urging the two sides not to make any statements, not to delegitimize the process and says there will be disputes but hopes that afghan officials can work it out calmly and wait for the final results to come in. richard engel, nbc news, kabul. >>> today president obama called the election

preliminary results are expected on saturday. >> that was richard engel reporting. some experts say the low voter turnout in the southern section of the country significantly hurts president hamid karzai's chances of re-election. >>> and tom joins us now way look at our forecast. steamy day out there. >> oh, it sure is. and it's the kind of weather you just want to dress like tarzan and -- >> you guys can do that. i guess i could do the jane thing. >> instead of drive swing on a vine to work, you know. it is jungle humidity we'veot g th t ouere at this hour, and it continues. and as we take a look at what's been happening over the last few hours, here's the sky in time lapse. there's the national cathedral in the foreground. you can see the humidity. you just thicken the air. the clouds passing from the southwest to the northeast. that's the flow. it's coming in off the gulf of mexico, tapping owl of this tropical humidity that continues to flow on through. and we've had some sunshine breaking out after quite a cloudy start this morning. take a look at the live view

richard engel has our report. t t >> reporter: it was in these mountains in kurdistan wihere three americans strayed over the border into iran and were arrested. kurdish officials confird their identities at shane bauer, sha sarah shord and josh fatal. bauer is a freelance journalist and photographer living in and specializing on the arab world. his website describes him as affluent arabic speaker, a graduate of uc berkeley in 2007 withc abind arabic and peace and conflict studies. bauer's facebook page says he is in a relationship with sarah shord, thenl a oy woman in the group, also an aspiring na ur.jostli o journalist. shord describes herself as a teacher, writer and activist living in the middle east. josh fatal said he was also looking forward to traveling to iraq and kurdistan. the u.s. state department this weekend said we have been in touch with and are assisting family members of the missing three americans. the americans' detention comes at a highly sensitive time in iran following weeks of protests aga

i'm joined live from kabul, afghanistan, by nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel and alson chatzky, my divest guest co-host. richard, let me go to you first. where do things stand right now just some, i guess, 36 hours before the voting starts? >> tension has been raised significantly here in kabul after not only that suicide bombing attack that happened on the outskirts of the city today against the nato convoy, but also a rocket attack that landed not far from here on the presidential compound of president karzai. no injuries there. the taliban is promising more and more attacks. they are trying to keep as many people as they can from going to the polls when they open up on thursday morning. u.s. officials say they are waiting and seeing and they are concerned about widespread allegations of voter fraud that voter registration cards are now available for sale in many markets around the city and can cost for $10 to $30. when you combine the illegal cards, the fraudulent cards on the street and this atmosphere of fear, there are serious questions about this election even b

nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us from istanbul, turkey with the latest. richard, good morning. what do we know so far? >> reporter: good morning, jenna. the americans were actually here first in turkey. and you can see behind me, the bridge that crosses between europe and asia, the bosphorous, they crossed here from turkey, into northern iraq into kyrgyzstan, a mountainous, relatively peaceful part of iraq. then, after staying a few days in kyrgyzstan in hotels they decided to head for the border with iran and go backpacking. that is where they apparently crossed into iran, a according to irani officials, and were quickly detained by iranian security. now, their names have not been released by the u.s. state department, however, an official helping us investigate this case has identified the three as shane bauer, sarah short and joshua fitale, all described in their 20s or early 30s. jenna? >> you have been to the kyrgyzstan border region where the americans were taken, richard. can you tell us a little bit about the area there? >> reporter: i was actually

nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us from kabul, afghanistan.ections went today. >> reporter: contessa, a positive development just in the last hour or so. you're seeing both of the major candidates, president hamid karzai and his main rival, abdullah abdullah accepting the process. today was marred by violence, in the east and kabul. low voter turnout. both karzai and abdullah said it went well enough to be expected, accepted. many people in this country had feared at least one of them would reject the process and that it could cast this country further into turmoil. >> all right. so when we're looking at where things go from here, is the expectation there by the people who would know that the violence continues now that the elections are over? >> the taliban was in a difficult position today. they wanted to intimidate voters and prevent them from going to the polling station but they didn't want to carry out a lot of attacks directly on civilians. the taliban is trying to build its own credibility. for example, here in kabul today there were t

richard engel, nbc news, istanbul. >>> one person is dead and at least 15 injured after a stage collapse in canada. thousands of country music fans in alberto were enjoying the annual big valley jamboree when high winds toppled the concert stage. the four-day festival in canada started on thursday and was scheduled to wrap up today. there's been no word on whether the concert scheduled to take place today will be canceled. >>> coming up, wall street is showing signs of a recovery. the dow has its best july in 20 years. is the recession almost over? >>> plus paul mccartney's special tribute to first lady michelle obama. we'll share that with you here on msnbc sunday. ♪ michelle my belle ♪ these are words that go together well ♪ ♪ my michelle amandai know sandra personally. and she was only able to afford a week's worth of medication at a time. sandrasome of my medication was $100 for one prescription. amandabut now, she's able to get a whole month's generic prescription for $4. amandashe's also able to get a three-month supply for just $10. sandrai just want to say thank you, from the bot