nbc's kristen dahlgren joins us now live from new orleans. good morning, kristen. >> reporter: good morning, veronica. well, officials made that decision late yesterday to evacuate the well site. so over the next day or so, all of the ships and personnel will be leaving. that cap will stay after holding back for a week. officials say they are confident in its ability. it will remain unmonitored for a time, robots and cameras watching it will go off site. the last to go and first to come back to check things out once the storm passes by. either way it could be some time beof this start work onon the relief wells. it's believed the delay could be between one and two weeks. meantime closer to show officials are working to remove that boom they had laid out to protect the shore. they are afraid it could push into the wetlands and do more damage. they are pulling that boom in, trying to secure it as we continue to watch to see where exactly bonnie will go. veronica. >> nbc's kristen dahlgren live in louisiana. thank you so much. >>> we're going to

nbc bay area's kristen dahlgren continues with this.oks good for now but we're not out of the woods just yet. what's next? >> reporter: hey, there, laura. at beautiful thing to see. and we just got an update from bp. and the senior vice president says that they don't have any evidence in their testing yet of any breaches to the well. so that's really a huge development as they continue to try and catch this. of course, it all comes with a healthy dose of caution. reminding everybody that this is just a temporary solution and that this is just a test. so what they do from here is they continue to monitor the pressure that's expected to go if they don't see any issues until saturday afternoon. at that point they want to do another seismic study to make sure that closing in this well hasn't done any damage to the well bore or to the sea bed floor around it. and then they need to make a decision on what to do next, whether they leave it like this and have the cap continue to hold down the oil or whether they use that cap as a siphoning devi

joining us live now with the very latest from washington is nbc's kristen dahlgren. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning, lynn. this has been a lightning rod and could all come to a head today. the arizona immigration law has it gives the right to check immigration status during traffic stop if there is reasonable cause to believe they are undocumented. opponents say that will read to racial profiling while supporters say it's the only way to shore up a secure border. now the fate of this law appears to rest for now at least in the hands of a federal judge. we could hear her decision today. the aclu and other civil rights group filed in court to say it's unconstitutional to have a state law superseding federal law. meanwhile mass protests planned tomorrow if the law does go into effect. legal experts say whatever the judge does decide, it's likely this will eventually end up in the supreme court. >> kristin dahlgren there for us in washington, d.c. kristen, thanks. >>> and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. off

nbc's kristen dahlgren joins us live now from venice, louisiana. kristen, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. yeah, bubbles have been the focus for the past few days. officials say that tiny bubbles of oil and gas did begin seeping out of the well sometime on sunday, but admiral thad allen, the incident commander saying he doesn't think it's consequential. meantime the seepage we talked about yesterday two miles from the well site, they also say that is not related to this well. for now, as you mentioned, they are going to keep the cap on, keep it closed and continue to monitor, the testing process. there is some thought, perhaps, they will be able to keep the cap on until this well is finally killed. bp yesterday talking about a new method to do that. they called it a static call, kind of like the top kill pumping med and cement. they think they may have more success because the cap is on, the pressure is low. it's still in the infancy, but admiralalen still insists relief wells are the answer to the problem. >> thank you. >>> wel

nbc's kristen dahlgren joins us live now from venice, louisiana. good morning, kristen. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. you know, this may not be the last time we ever see oil leaking from the well. but so far this morning we see no evidence of any oil leaking out of the well. it is the sight so many had waited for, a stop to the geyser of oil that has been shooting into the gulf for almost three months. >> i am incredibly ecstatic about it. >> reporter: it was yesterday afternoon when engineers shut down the new capping system, closing off the flow. but though the pictures appear to show a cap that is holding back the crude, bp was quick to warn it is still just a test and still may be temporary. >> but i have to stress we have to manage our expectations because depending on what the results are could depend on what happens next. it's possible if the pressures are low that we'll have to reinitiate the flow. >> reporter: engineers will monitor those pressures for up to 48 hours, watching to see how the well holds. >> i think it's important to know

in new orleans kristen dahlgren. >>> in afghanistan a search is under way for two army service mbers. the two ere spottedt a bazaar two hours south of kabul a yesterday. he fears the two may have been killed or captured by the taliban. elsewhere in that country, five u.s. troops were killed in separate bombings. july is on course to become the deadliest month for troops in afghanistan since the war began nearly nine years ago. >>> starting today valejo police officers are doubling up saying it is too dangerous for officers to ride alone. half as many patrol cars are on the streets. it isn't expected to save the bankrupt city any money but will speed up response times because officers won't have to wait for backup. a week after the police department suspended canine and s.w.a.t. programs due to budget cuts. >>> in san francisco a scheme was broken up to sell illegally muni transfer tickets. last week two men were arrested teaming up to sell transfer tickets on their own. one of the men is a san francisco municipal employee. >>> we have breaking news out of vacaville. homes are threaten

kristen dahlgren, nbc news, venice larks la. >>> here's a side-by-side comparison of the oil leak before and after. look at that. you remember the pictures on the left there. but now on the right looking much better. the images are dramatic. the real test will be in the next few hours. we're keeping an eye on the situation. of course, we will update you have another report. >>> you now have a chance to respond to looters who tore three the streets following the mehserle verdict. they report police are unmassing the looters and people have very strong feelings about the vandal's actions. >> they're going to do what they want to do. >> can you help police identify any of these people in these photos on the oakland police website? there are 15 in all. take a good look. we learned good samaritans bravely snapped some of these photos and sent them into police so looters and vandals could get caught. >> i'm very glad of these photos and i'm glad they're offering a reward. >> reporter: how about this guy leaving foot lockers of boxes of what looks like stolen goods or this guy smiling as he run

they're here is kristen dahlgren. >> reporter: hours after bonnie fizzl fizzled, a flurry of activity. robotic subs surveyed the situation, while above, the drilling rig rehooked to resume work on the relief well. >> this is good news, because we left the cap in place and were able to contain any oil going into the environment. >> reporter: workers were days away from a static cool and had a week or so left on the relief well when the threat of bonnie chased them away. that time line could resume this week, and in spite of the delay, some officials say the remnants of bonnie may actually be a blessing. >> it's expected to break tar patches and tar mats into smaller tar balls, which means faster weatherering and faster natural bio degradation. >> reporter: and so in this storm-ravaged region, there was understanding. >> i think they were smart to pull those guys out of there, because you never can tell what's going to happen with one of those things. >> reporter: a sense that things could have been much worse, and that this time, bonnie's demise may have brought a rare break. kristin d

craig herrera has a look at where the storm is headed now, but first we start with nbc bay area kristen dahlgrenho is watching things. she's in new orleans now and has the very latest. kristen? >> reporter: hey there, brent and laura. this was supposed to be the weekend that they were finishing work on the relief wells, doing that static kill in the hopes of getting a permanent fix to this leaking well, and instead now they are having to evacuate the well site, move all of the ships, all the personnel off the site. they'll leave the cap in place, saying that it has contained the oil for the past week or so, and they think that the well has enough integrity and the cap won't do any damage. but it will be unmonitored for a while. they're also having to remove the robotic subs and the cameras watching everything off of the site. those will be the last to go and the first to get back once the storm passes. they'll check things out, make sure there wasn't any damage while nobody was watching the well. but this is also now causing a delay, because by the time they get everything offsite and then back

nbc bay area's kristen dahlgren leads our continuing coverage of this for controversial story. risten, any idea when we might get a ruling? >> reporter: hey, laura. the last vote is expected tomorrow, so it's possible we might hear from the judge as early as this morning. this law has been a lightning rod since it was first proposed. opponents say it could create racial profiling. supporters of the law say it is the only way to shore up what has been a porous border. then you have the legal issues. and that's really what is at stake today before a federal judge. the aclu and other civil rights groups have sued in federal court. one of the issues that they are claiming is that you can't have state laws superseding federal law. that's one of the things the judge is looking at. she could issue an injunction as early as today. and groups on both sides are gearing up for mass protests and marches if the law does go into effect tomorrow. >> the president also got some help. want to talk about the republicans he got some help from in the house to pass a war funding bill. but we underst

nbc bay area's kristen dahlgren leaves our continuing coverage of this controversial story. kristen, what's at the center of the judge's choice? >> reporter: hey, there, laura. definitely an interesting 24 hours coming up here. the judge looking at a few things. one is whether or not the state law can supersede federal law, the aclu, and other civil rights organizations have sued in federal court, asking for this injunction. we should hear from the judge at some point before the law goes into effect. it's expected to go into effect at midnight tonight. meantime, there are mass protests and demonstrations planned in arizona tomorrow. some protesters plan to block federal buildings. they are going to force officials to ask for their immigration status, and then the sheriff in the largest county in arizona says that he has cleared space in his jail. he is going to send 200 deputies out. he says he will be arresting not just protesters, but he has also given them authorization to look for any undocumented immigrants. so we are waiting to hear from the judge and we'll see what hap

nbc bay area's kristen dahlgren continues to lead our team coverage of the crisis. n, is the new -- is this the new normal oil leaking but not really gushing? >> reporter: well, it may be, laura. you know, i was hoping again to have more information for you. bp holds these technical briefings every day at this time we were on the call waiting for someone to come in and check in with the operators and then we got word they had canceled it again. they're not giving us the latest information this morning. what we do know is that they've been watching for these bubbles of gas and oil around the leaking well since sunday when they first noticed them. admiral allen, the incident commander, says that he doesn't think they are consequential and so it doesn't appear like it's enough, that it's a big enough problem for them to try to do something about it to open up the caps. the testing continues, the cap remains on. the seepage we talked about yesterday that was two miles away from the well site, they say they don't think that is related to this well so that's a little bit o

kristen dahlgren is watching things from new orleans with us. she joins us now with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: they made the decision to evacuate late yesterday, and a couple of concerns with that. first of all, that means that the ships and the personnel moving off site now, they are leaving the cap on, though. they think that that will continue to hold back the oil, but it's going to now be unmonitored for a time. this morning the live feeds are still up from some of the robotic subs. officials say those will be the last to leave, also the first to return. they'll come back after the storm passes to make sure that there weren't any breaches, weren't any leaks while nobody was watching that. it's also pushed back the timeline on getting this permanent leak killed. they were very close to getting the casing complete in that first relief well, and now they've had to obviously stop work on that, and it could be between a week and two weeks before they're able to get everything back onto the site, make sure that the wellbore and everything is still stable, and then once

kristen dahlgren leads our continuing coverage of the crisis. it looks good for now. it doesn't mean it's over. what's next? >> reporter: yeah, hey, laura. what a difference a day makes. we just got the latest update from bp. and the headline out of that is that they don't see any breaches in the well. so that is really good news. the pressure holding where they expected it to be at this point. so the test does continue. they are hoping to do a seismic study later on today, to make sure there are no leaks beneath the ground, that they aren't able to detect. they will continue to watch those pressures and continue this test. if they don't see anything until saturday. at some point after that they will have to make a decision whether or not they are going to leave this cap as it is and have it hold back the oil or whether they will use a cap as a siphoning device, capture most if not all of the oil at the surface with the higher containment capacity that it does have. but again, this is just a temporary solution. the ultimate solution, those relief well, another headlin