we begin with nbc's kristen dahlgren in woodrow, colorado. kristen, good evening. >> good evening, brian. we're at a ranch here that lost hundreds of acres to a wildfire earlier this year. things could have been much worse. take a look. you see just how dry this grass is here. that also gives you some idea of how hard it is to feed these cattle. at the ranch, scars from the fire still slice across the grassland. blazes have now destroyed more than 5 million acres out west, just one more blow to ranches already struggling to stay alive. >> short on grass anyways. then a fire comes and takes what you have. kind of a double whammy. >> reporter: like many ranches, they have had to reduce their herd. >> there's about 40% less cattle there than what we had before. >> reporter: since so many other ranchers have had to send livestock to market early, prices have plummeted. they are getting 150 less for every animal they sell. >> they have had other setbacks. certainly it can be the last straw for farmers, yeah. >> reporter: this year the total number

and as kristen dahlgren reports, it's just one of many in the west that's burning out of control. >> reporter: this was terry and virginia's home. >> that was our kitchen and this is our living room. >> reporter: forced to evacuate on their wedding anniversary, by the time they got back, their marriage was one of the few things they had left. is it daunting to think about starting over? >> well, we didn't have insurance. so that was not a good they think. >> reporter: down the road, their neighbor, mary, is sifting through her broken memories. >> there's mom's and those are grandma's bowls. >> reporter: her house was saved in the nick of time and somehow the horses she was forced to leave behind in the rush to evacuate survived. >> my pony was right here and you can see the fire just a it te into his pen. >> reporter: there are miracles here. this house surrounded pby flame tuesday, still standing about but 70 homeowners were not as lucky. in idaho, the battle is just as desperate. >> we have 18 fires. we lost a firefighter up in northern idaho this last week. and so every one of tho

nbc's kristen dahlgren is in central washington, ellensburg, where some people have lost everything. >> reporter: this was terry and virginia's home. >> that was our kitchen and this is our living room. >> reporter: forced to evacuate on their wedding anniversary, by the time they got back their marriage was one of the few things they had left. >> daunting to think about starting over? >> well, we didn't have insurance, so that was not a good thing. >> reporter: down the road their neighbor mary schultz is sifting through her broken memories. >> those are mom's and those are grandma's bowls. >> reporter: her house was saved in the nick of time and somehow the horses she was forced to leave behind in the rush to evacuate survived. >> my pony was right here. you can see the fire just ate into his pen. >> reporter: there are miracles here. this house surrounded by flames tuesday still standing today. but some 70 homeowners were not as lucky. today as temperatures soared to near record levels, the fire moved farther in to dense, dry forest. >> i think we'll probably see temperatures in t

analysts say it could go up another $0.25 or more by labor day. >> kristen dahlgren in l.a. for us tonight. kristen, thanks. >>> some news out of suburban milwaukee where that gunman opened fire sunday in the sikh temple. today fbi investigators said wade page killed himself, took his own life with his own weapon at the scene after being first taken down by a shot to the stomach from police. this contradicts an earlier report about how he died. >>> in syria tonight things are looking dire for the rebels trying to hang onto that key city under siege. the city of aleppo, the largest in the country. civilians are now being warned to evacuate as the army advances. again tonight our report from chief foreign correspondent richard engel along the syria/turkey border. >> reporter: good evening, brian. syrian rebels appear to be losing the city of aleppo. that comes as no surprise. for days rebel leaders have been telling us without an immediate influx of ammunition, in particular, the rebels could not continue to fight in the city and would have to withdraw. now that seems to be ha

that is headed you are o -- and dahlgren. that's headed up to you in the next hour or so. temperatures this morning, big range. 60s in hay market and also lovettsville where the rains have been falling there for the last hour or so. it's also 70 in gaithersburg with the rain and 75 springfield and heavy rain near you. outside on the michael & son weather camera, you know what? we're still about a half hour until we get to -- the sunrise. and you can see the rains here in tysons corner turning wet rather quickly. got a temperature of 79 with the light rain at national. winds south at 11 and the humidity way up a muggy muggy morning. one cluster of showers and storms here and another line there and with the daytime heating the energy around, you're likely to see a couple of rounds of showers and storms. if we get all the sunshine at 2:45, 3:00 that this models are showing up, this line could be severe with damaging wind gusts and maybe somewhile. have to watch that for the -- some hail. have to watch that. right now we have a yellow alert for today. certainly the rain and sh

kristen dahlgren, nbc news, denver. >>> now at 5:00, a shooting at a conservative group's head cars in d.c. >>> a gunman opens fire inside the family research council. a security guard is hailed a hero. >>> was it worth the gamble? a major hurdle cleared to bring table games to casinos in maryland. >> the most terrifying thing. >> plus hear from this good samaritan who helped save a police officer trapped after a fiery crash. good evening. i'm in for wendy. >> and i'm jim handly. we begin with new details about the virginia man suspected of shooting a security guard at the family research council. der echas the latest. >> reporter: first of all, the man who police have taken into custody has been i filled 28-year-old floyd corkens from northern virginia. sources tell us that he was carrying a nine-millimeter handgun that he purchased legall

for "today," kristen dahlgren, nbc news, sausalito, california. >> clinical psychologist and educatoradeleine levine, author of "teach your children well, parenting for success." good to have you here. >> thank you. >> i think we're all guilty of overparenting. how do you define overparenting, the helicopter overparent. >> there's three components to overparenting. one is doing for your child what they can already do. if you're hovering over their math and they know how to do math. that's overparenting. the tougher one is doing for your child what they can almost do. what's interesting about that, we think we should be helping, right, but i call it a successful failure. your toddler takes a few steps. have you a young child. >> a 3-year-old. >> remember he took -- >> boys. >> took a few steps, fell down. took a few steps, fell down. come on, get up. you would never think of saying, you're going to be flipping burgers for the rest of your life right as they are falling down. we understood they have to fall down thousands of times. >> pick themselves back up and learn electric that. >>

kristen dahlgren is joining me live from washington. do officials think that they will get ahold of this very soon? >> reporter: richard, they are hopeful. we're here at the command center and we've seen dozens of crews to try to fight this for one more day. they hope to have it fully contained by sunday but a couple of things working against them. one, the fire has moved into the dense, dry forest here and so that's a big concern for them. and also the weather. they are not really getting much help from mother nature again today expected to be in the 90s. these are near record temperatures for this area. that is going to make fighting this fire very tough as well. the winds, though, expected to stay low and so that's one thing that has them pretty hopeful. you mentioned all of the structures burned at least 70 of those have been homes. and so we were out yesterday with some people who were evacuated and went back and found nothing left of their homes. another area today expected to let residents back in. so a lot of disappointment for

kristen dahlgren live in washington just east of seattle.morning to you what are conditions like right now? >> reporter: good morning, craig. overnight things tend to die down a bit. but it's still burning. they did get more of a handle on the fire yesterday. 40% contained. but far from out. late yesterday, we were watching huge flareups. still 100 homes here in the danger zone. for the fifth day, the flames raced through the dense, dry pine forests, little to stop them but the hurricaclean effor from firefighters. >> oh, in i goodness. >> reporter: those with homes nearby keeping a close eye. >> what do i do? i mean, to continue on, oh, my god. >> reporter: making the decision on when it's time to flee, and what to bring. >> the neighbor said the first day, we have 20 minutes to evacuate. what would you do in 20 minutes? >> reporter: the awful reality and fear over what will be left isn't just playing out here. 52 out of control while fires are burning across the country. in idaho, featherville, population 500 in the summer, bracing for a b

as nbc's kristen dahlgren reports, it was the couple's children who demanded the case be reopened. >>urdered that day too. my whole life changed. this was -- she was my whole life. >> reporter: five years after her mother's death, alexis summers is still grieving. and still convinced it is her father to blame. >> it was horrifying. i mean, he killed my mother. he killed my mother who was my best friend. most wonderful, incredible person. and she was murdered by him and he was released waurking the streets. >> reporter: on april 11, 2007, 50-year-old michelle mack neil was found dead in the bathtub of the utah home she shared with her husband martin, a prominent doctor. at the time, an autopsy ruled the death was from natural causes. but authorities now believe martin urged his wife to get cosmetic surgery and drugged her while she was in his care. mcneil served time in federal prison for fraud. it wasn't until friday that he was arrested for his wife's death after some of his children pushed to reopen the investigation. in a statement to nbc news, an attorney for martin mcneil writes,

we've got you some rain which also is going down here to 301 south of dahlgren.his is all building slowly toward the east. wouldn't surprise me if in charles county you have more in the way of thunderstorm development as we head into the afternoon and even south of fredricksburg we're seeing some of this. with the showers around, temperatures all over the place. it's been dry at national. hazy sun at times, 88. but north of town we've got 77 in gaithersburg. 79 in ma manassas. that's where we've been dealing with some of the heavier showers. cambridge 86. also a very muggy afternoon. dew points are way up. cloudy conditions in tysons corner and on our michael & son weather camera. 88 degrees with calm wind. we can't even get help from the breeze today. the humidity 51% but feels like 92. big range along the carolina outer banks. around here we're still dealing with these occasional showers, some heavy downpours. that will be the case this afternoon. looks like tomorrow more in the way of scattered showers and storms. then a front coming late friday will give us s

nbc's kristen dahlgren is just outside ellensburg, washington. >> reporter: for the fifth day flames raced through the dense pine forest. little to stop them but the efforts of firefighters and nonstop assaults on the blaze from all sides. those with homes nearby are keeping a close eye. >> what do i do? i mean, continue on? oh, my god. >> reporter: making the decision on when it's time to flee and what to bring. >> the neighbor said the first day we had 20 minutes to evacuate. what would you do in 20 minutes? >> reporter: the awful reality and fear over what will be left isn't just playing out here. 52 out of control wild fires are still burning across the country. in idaho the vacation community of featherville, population 500 in the summer, is bracing for a blaze. the trinity ridge fire just 4% contained. >> contact is still inevitable. it is going to get here. >> reporter: residents could only listen as officials tried to prepare them. >> it makes you absolutely want to cry. >> reporter: even idaho's governor is preparing to evacuate his vacation home. >> i'm going to leave when

over southern maryland, the knights bridge from king george through dahlgren, that's where we have heavy rainfall. light rain in the plate and waldorf and southern prince george's county. 79 right now on the district, 70 a dulles airport 68 in manchester. wide-ranging temperatures on this friday morning. highs will be in the mid to upper 80s. showers and storms in two rounds. the first being this morning. a break in the action by lunchtime with some sunshine. the more sunshine you get today, your likelihood of strong storms in the afternoon. the son sunday stabilizes our atmosphere. strong storms for the drive home and into the night some could be severe with gusty wind. morning rain on saturday. less humid and comfortable with sunny skies on sunday. >> in montgomery county, dealing with wet pavement and road spray. this is near 355 and pooks hill road just inside the beltway. in virginia, and headlights are northbound on 95 words and rainy. out of newington to the pentagon, lanes are open. in the district, there's wet pavement, so be careful coming across the potomac river, the anacosti

nbc's kristen dahlgren in hard hit washington. >> reporter: we're at the command center for the taylor bridge fire. this fire has burned 22,000 acres, hundreds evacuated smchlt have been allowed to go back but to answer the question is there anything left. as thick smoke lingers over the skies of central washington, charred remains are all that's left for property owners. mary schultz lost valuables she left in her trailer but firefighters saved her home an her horses. >> my pony was right here. can you see the fire just ate into his pen. >> this was your bedroom. >> terry and virginia evacuated monday on their wedding anniversary. this home video shows how fast the fire was moving when flames incinerated their home. >> i can't imagine the heat, the firefighters having to deal with that. has to be so immense. >> reporter: in southern california, marine choppers are joining the fight against six different fires that have charred more than 15,000 acres east of san diego. near boise idaho fire crews are digging in to save a small town sitting in the path of destruction. residents of feath

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nbc's kristen dahlgren has more now from los angeles.morning, natalie. to say neil armstrong is an american icon really is an understatement. it was the world watching in 1969 as he took the first steps on the moon. in doing so he gave us one of those rare moments where anyone who was watching or listening remembers exactly where they were. >> it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. >> reporter: it is the phrase that will forever define neil armstrong's storied spot in history. after a hair-raising final descent, millions held their collective breath as armstrong set foot on the surface of the moon, sealing his role as a pioneer of spaceflight and a true american hero. buzz buzz al drone was with him that day. >> a great responsibility was put on him and he filled it to the maximum. he did the right things. you could count on him. >> reporter: over the next years armstrong didn't seek out the spotlight. in 1984 he gave credit to the entire nasa team. >> i think it was about 99% dedication of the people who put our spacec

for "today," kristen dahlgren, nbc news, denver. >>> allie young and stephanie davies are with us now exclusively. ladies, good morning. it's great to see you. >> good morning. >> how are you doing? >> good. better. >> you say you're tired. is that a little bit because of the travel or is that a residual effect of your injuries. >> probably a little bit of both. still having some heart problems. i have a high heart rate now, resting is like 90 so i get exhausted faster pref i don't want to get into detail but i want people to understand what you went through. you were hit with a blast from a shotgun. it fractured your lung, there were pellets or fragments in your heart and you bled profusely. >> yeah. >> what's recovery been like? >> after the surgery -- i had one surgery, wasn't too extensive. mostly it's been nerve damage, things that are going to take time. a lot the swelling, bruised ribs. a lot of time. >> as you're sitting here, you still have lots of fragments in your body. where are they mostly? >> in my back. i don't think they moved any in the initial surgery. we believe i h

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west of dahlgren, this is 301 on the virginia side, approaching colonial beach. this will eventually cross into charles and i think parts of st. mary's county as well. temperatures are sticky this morning. 79 easton. still 80 at the pax river naval air station. low to mid-70s north and west. as we look out on the michael & son weather camera in tysons corner, lots of clouds but it is a dry morning there. 79 degrees with a heat index of 82 and winds currently west, southwest at 8 miles an hour. that frontal boundary stretched -- stretches out from nashville to areas south of new england. with it the threat for showers and a couple of storms will be with us. here we are at lunch time. isolated showers here. better chance toward roanoke. even this afternoon some spotty showers can't be ruled out. so the forecast today we're looking at highs in the upper 80s. spotty shower or thunderstorm. tomorrow looks fine after being in the 60s and 70s tonight. any stray thunderstorms will be well south of us. fredricksburg, richmond, points south of there, southern maryland you

it may head into king george county and dahlgren may be in the path of. that over to sentinel radar. we also -- of that. over to sentinel radar, we also have a little small hail with it. we'll keep an eye on it. it's not warned or severe at this point. we also want to show you as we put everything in motion the last few hours, there has not been very much activity and that's how we think things will be tomorrow. i bet we're storm-free tomorrow, but there's a bigger storm to keep an eye on. we have not talked about the tropics very much recently. there were no named storms in the month of july. there is a new depression now no. 5 and the national hurricane center says this thing could be tropical storm ernesto by tomorrow. right now it's moving to the west, northwest at about 18 miles an hour, but you can see on that path it looks like it's going to become a tropical storm according to the national hurricane center forecast track and the caribbean may have to watch. could it possibly become a hurricane? that remains to be seen. if it happens, that is what

as kristen dahlgren reports now, officials aren't sure her drowning was accidental. >> reporter: when natalie wood drowned off the coast of catalina island in november of 1981, the death of one of hollywood's most famous actresses was shocking, to fans who couldn't believe the star was gone at just 43. to friends, who knew the three-time academy award winner was scared of the water. >> i've always been terrified, still am, of water, dark water, sea water. >> reporter: and to investigators, who for years heard conflicting stories about what happened on the yacht that night with her husband, robert wagner, and fellow actor, chris fer walken. here's wagner in an interview several years ago. >> we came to the conclusion that she had stepped on the swim step on the aft end of the boat, had hit her head and rolled into the water, a tragic, tragic night. >> reporter: but a change to the death certificate reflects those lingers questions. where the cause of death once read accidental drowning, the death certificate first obtained by the associated press now says drowning and other undetermine

nbc's kristen dahlgren. thank you, kristen. >>> let's get a check now of the morning's other top stories from cnbc's courtney reagan, who's at the news desk. good morning. >> good morning to you, lester. good morning, everyone. >>> well, the u.s. military is taking steps to clamp down on betrayals in afghanistan. there have been seven attacks in the past two weeks where afghan security forces killed 32 allied troops. atia abali has more in this report from kabul. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, courtney. well, the pentagon has issued new guidelines. among those is the fact that u.s. service members here must carry fully-loaded magazines in their weapons at all times. this follows two more american deaths yesterday. it happened when u.s. special forces went to farah province in western afghanistan to train the afghan local police, villagers trained to protect their home towns. as they were handing out weapons, one of the afghans turned his on the americans, killing two in cold blood. so far this year

but first, here's kristen dahlgren. >> reporter: for katie, it started as a challenge. >> i decided tofive years ago. she now writes a blog on what she calls her nonconsumer lifestyle. >> a friend of my mother's got divorced, didn't want it anymore. >> reporter: to her closet. >> these sell for 750 new. dale montgomery never thought his wife's experiment would last. >> i think we'll be doing this then years from now, especially if i want to stay married. >> reporter: he's noticed benefits beyond a happy wife, like 20,000 less in credit card debt. >> you have more time to enjoy the people around you. >> reporter: he also doesn't have to take away the trash as often. less packaging means less stuff. 14-year-old emmitt beaming over his recent sneaker score. >> how much would they have cost new? >> $100. >> how much did you get them for? >> $6. >> reporter: the kids do still occasionally spend their own money on something new and even stanley has her standard. >> nobody wants to sign up for used underwear so i don't. so i buy new underwear, socks and bras and personal care items. >> report

nbc's kristin dahlgren is in washington. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. we are here at the command center for the taylor bridge fire. this fire burned more than 22,000 acres, hundreds were evacuated. some have been allowed back home, but they're answering the question is there anything left. as thick smoke lingers over the skies of central washington, charred remained are all that's left for property owners in ellens berg. >> those are grandma's bones there. >> she lost some valuables in the trailer. they saved her home and her horses. >> my pony was here. you can see the fire in his pen. >> reporter: they evacuated monday on their wedding anniversary. this home video shows how fast the fire was moving when flames incinerated their home. >> i can't imagine the heat. and the firefighters having to deal with that. has to be so immense. >> reporter: in southern california, marine choppers are joining the fight against six fires that charred more than 15,000 acres east of san diego. and near boise, idaho, crews are digging in to save a small town, sitting in

kristen dahlgren takes a look back at a friendship that even inspired the president.a back at a friendship that even enspider the president. >> reporter: in the face of unspeakable terror. >> there's smoke, there's explosions, there's blood, there's death, there's guns being fired. >> reporter: emerged a story of enduring friendship. >> you never really know how close you are to somebody and how important they are to you until you can test your friendship and literally say you were both willing to lay down your lives for each other. >> allie young and stephanie davies answer thad question in a colorado movie theater as bullets began to fly. >> boom, boom, boom, boom. >> allie was hit. >> i was like, i can't move. i can't get up. >> reporr: in all that chaos, with all that shooting. >> i'm seeing him up there and hearing him yell at people. >> reporter: steph never left her side putting her own hand over allie's wound to stem the bleeding. >> i said, you have to go, you have to go. she said, i'm not leaving. >> reporter: they carried her out of the theater across the p

kristen dahlgren with details. >> reporter: one of the enduring mysteries in hollywood, how did natalietive answers, it does reflect authorities aren't sure this was an accidental drowning. when natalie wood died off catalina island, the death of one of hollywood's famous actresses was shocking, to fans who couldn't believe the star was gone at 43. to friends who knew the three-time academy award winner was scared of the water. >> always been terrified, still am, of water, dark water, seawater. >> reporter: and to investigators who for years heard conflicting stories about what happened on the yacht that night with her husband robert wagner and fellow actor christopher walken. now a change in the death certificates reflects those lingers questions, the cause of death for an accidental drowning. the death certificate first obtained by the associated press now says drowning and other undetermined factors stating the circumstances that put wood in the water are not clearly established. the change in wording comes some nine months after homicide detectives renewed their inquiry into the sta