i'm lester holt.of us here at nbc news, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com who made an unexpected arrival. [ woman ] he was 4 months early, weighing 1 pound, 12 ounces. [ female announcer ] fortunately, sam was born at sutter health's alta bates summit medical center. [ woman ] the staff was remarkable. they made me feel safe, trusting, cared for. [ giggles ] they saved his life. i owe all of them my son. [ female announcer ] alta bates summit medical center and sutter health --

. >> reporter: good evening, lester. how do you fight a war when your supposed allies are attacking you? these attacks are vicious. they are hard to defend against. today the chairman of the joint chiefs said something has to change. afghan security forces turned their guns on u.s. and nato troops yet again. today it was in zabul near the pakistani border at a remote observation post where u.s. and afghan troops work in close quarters. afghan police killed four american soldiers stationed there to help train and mentor them. five afghanolice then escaped. yesterday afghan police shot two british troops as they were in the midst of treating a wounded man. >> certainly we had two more inside attacks within the last 24 hours. >> reporter: more than 50 nato troops have been killed in these insider attacks this year alone. u.s. policy is for american troops to train afghan forces so that americans could leave this country, but it's hard to train when there's no trust. nato released new information today about a bold assault o

lester? >> thanks. here's jenna. >>> residents along the gulf coast are still cleaning up the damage this morning from hurricane isaac, this as hundreds of thousands remain in the dark. nbc's gabe gutierrez is in new orleans with the latest. gabe, good morning. >> reporter: jenna, good morning. the army corps of engineers now says it will check whether the upgrayed levee system here may have contributed to more flooding outside the city. meanwhile, much of downtown new orleans is back in business with power. not everyone's so fortunate. in parts of louisiana, water levels are dropping. but frustration is mounting. >> everybody's saying there's trucks sitting around in parking lots, hundreds, 50 of them here, 50 there, and all the workers are there but nobody's doing anything. >> reporter: thousands of line crews are on the move as the gulf coast recovers from isaac. the slow-moving hurricane knocked out power to more than a million customers in louisiana, mississippi, and arkansas. today that

lester? >> kristen welker, thank you so much. ed rendell is the former chairman of the democratic national committee, now an nbc news political analyst, and republican strategist alice stewart served as rich santorum's press secretary when he ran for president. good morning to both of you. thanks for coming on. >> good morning. >> great to be here. >> alice, let me pick up with the clint eastwood speech. a lot of folks talking about it. is that a good thing in the light of this, when the candidate needs the bounce that people are talking about clint eastwood? >> well, governor romney's certainly getting a bounce after this convention, but the good thing that we did get out of the eastwood speech was the fact that he called attention to the unemployment rate and he said that while obama's a good man and we were excited about him four years ago, he hasn't done the job, and it's time to replace him. and he said we don't need someone in the white house because they're a nice person, but also poin

i'm lester toelt reporting from afghanistan. >> and i'm jenna wolfe. lester, nice to see you. only two days after joint operations between american and afghan forces were set to be returning to normal, there was another deadly attack yesterday. >> jenna, good to see you as well. yes, the death toll here has climbed steadily in recent months following attacks by afghan army and police against american and coalition troops. we'll have more on this breaking story in just a moment. also a bit later i'll sit down with u.s. service people, both men and women to talk about what life is really like here in the danger zone. >>> and then, lester, arnold schwarzenegger is talking about the affair that ended his marriage. he is spilling it all in an autobiography and has admitted to a fling with a co-star. >>> plus, an unusual kind of discipline, a father posts a photo of his 3-year-old daughter wearing a sign where she confesses to having a kind of accident that toddlers have. is it wrong to share these kinds of images online? hear what some parents are saying. >>> getting back to policy

i'm lester toelt reporting from afghanistan. >> and i'm jenna wolfe. lester, nice to see you. only two days after joint operations between american and afghan forces were set to be returning to normal, there was another deadly attack yesterday. >> jenna, good to see you as well. yes, the death toll here has climbed steadily in recent months following attacks by afghan army and police against american and coalition troops. we'll have more on this breaking story in just a moment. also a bit later i'll sit down with u.s. service people, both men and women to talk about what life is really like here in the danger zone. >>> and then, lester, arnold schwarzenegger is talking about the affair that ended his marriage. he is spilling it all in an autobiography and has admitted to a fling with a co-star. >>> plus, an unusual kind of discipline, a father posts a photo of his 3-year-old daughter wearing a sign where she confesses to having a kind of accident that toddlers have. is it wrong to share these kinds of images online? hear what some parents are saying. >>> getting back to policy

lester. >> ron mott in florida. a program note, our prime time coverage of the democratic national convention starts tuesday night at 10:00 eastern, 7:00 pacific here on nbc. >>> now to another big story we've been covering this week, what was once hurricane isaac and the damage it did on the coast. tonight as the cleanup continues, hundreds of thousands of people are still without power and patience is beginning to wear thin. nbc's gabe gutierrez joins us once again from new orleans. gabe, good evening. >> reporter: lester, there's late word tonight that st. tammany parish is evacuating 1200 homes because of concerns that a boat lock on a river could fail. all this as crews scramble to restore power to the gulf coast. in parts of louisiana, the waters are receding, but so is the patience. >> this is the first time i've seen trucks in this neighborhood. >> reporter: thousands of line crews are on the move as the gulf coast struggles to recover from isaac, the slow-moving hurricane knocked out power to more than a mi

lester? >> john yang in our chicago bureau. john, thanks. >>> tonight, things are much quieter though the middle east remains a tinder box after several days of anti-american demonstrations, at times turning violent. at this hour the state department and the military are taking efforts to step up security at u.s. embassies across the region. jim maceda joins us from cairo. jim, good evening. >> reporter: hello, lester. the state department is temporarily closing embassies in sudan and yemen, warning u.s. citizens of the travel in those countries, as well as in tunisia where americans are encouraged to leave as worries about more violent protests escalate. a four-day standoff outside the u.s. embassy in cairo ended this morning when riot police charged the protesters and cleared out tahrir square, arresting some 200 along the way. the city began to return to normal as did the country with no reported protests or violence. friday's day of rage spread across more than 20 countries. in tunisia to

>> we're doing great, lester.t out here and taking care of business. >> you have your own family here, right, for the time being? >> absolutely, sir. >> thanks for answering that question. another question we have if i can find it, how long did it take to prep for the trip? well, for us we can pull off these trips in a couple of days if we have to. in this case i started kicking the idea around maybe three, four weeks ago, and we started putting the planning in place, moving in satellite gear, are getting pro-dueducers lined up working with the military to get us credentialed and to help them to help us to get the places where we needed to be to tell the story and they have been very cooperative and we are thrilled, thrilled to be back here. there's a lot more as we continue on "today." what's it really like to serve in afghanistan? soldiers talk about life in a danger zone coming up. >>> so despite the danger, young people continue to answer the call to serve. we'll talk to one young soldier in basic training and

lester, the mustache!ng back. >> that's 1970s. >> nice look. >> we did not need to see that. >> so glad we did that. that's going to do it for us on this saturday morning. tomorrow, celebrating 25 years of "weekend today." >> some of your favorite anchors from the past will drop by. i'll see you back here tonight for "nightly news." coming up on today in the bay, a new wave of clashers that r over the film that sparked deadly riots around the world. a first look at the california man linked to the controversial anti-muslim film and why sheriffs deputies took him into custody overnight. it was supposed to be a retreat. a california teen's trip to peru goes terribly wrong. excuse us, while we change into something more comfortable. cool. introducing, the square sunnyd bottle. i'll have the build your own burger with a...n? sunny-side up egg, jack cheese, jill. and, uh... make it a double. inspiration can come from anywhere. build your own burgers are now at denny's. we hope he is sleeping this merng. >> rest

lester? >> dylan, thanks very much. up next, william and kate keep up a brave front overseas as more topless photos of her are set to hit the newsstands. we'll have a live report. >>> and we're celebrating 25 years of "weekend today" with some of your favorite anchors from the past. but first a message from some special fans of the show. >>> we're the fierce five. happy 25th "weekend today." >> hi, this is missy franklin and happy 25th anniversary "weekend today." " don't hide behind your lipstick. use it to show the world how you feel. and today, i feel daring. [announcer:] revlon super lustrous lipstick. mega moisturizing formula in 82 stay true colors. now all general mills big g kid cereals have more whole grain than any other ingredient in cereals like lucky charms and cinnamon toast crunch, the delicious way to help them grow up strong. [ female announcer ] charmin ultra soft is so soft you'll have to remind your family they can use less. it's made with extra cushions that are soft and more absorbent. plus you can

lester, the mustache!ng back. >> that's 1970s. >> nice look. >> we did not need to see that. >> so glad we did that. that's going to do it for us on this saturday morning. tomorrow, celebrating 25 years of "weekend today." >> some of your favorite anchors from the past will drop by. i'll see you back here tonight for "nightly news." >> this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning and welcome to 11 news saturday morning, i'm jennifer franciotti. here's a look at some of our top stories for you this morning. one person is in the hospital this morning after a fire in southwest baltimore. responded to a home in the 1900 block of breitwert avenue around 9:00 p.m. last night where they found flames coming from the first floor of a two-story house. firefighters located one victim who has suffered injury, possibly smoke inhalation. that victim was transported to the hospital. crews say it took half an hour to bring the fire under control. police have located the grandson of an elderly baltimore coun

lester, the mustache!> that's 1970s. >> nice look. >> we did not need to see that. >> so glad we did that. that's going to do it for us on this saturday morning. tomorrow, celebrating 25 years of "weekend today." >> some of your favorite anchors from the past will drop by. i'll see you back here tonight for "nightly news." >>> good morning everyone. i'm angie goff. >> i'm richard jordan. next a warning for riders on metro this morning after a brutal assault on a woman after she got off the train. who police are looking for right now. >> plus, no end to the unrest anger over an antimuslim film continues to spread and may be to blame for deadly attacks on american troops. >> reporter: celebrating, an historic neighborhood and its heritage. the 8th street festival coming up on news 4. >>> i'm chuck bell. whether you're on h street or headed to skyline drive for a day in the great outdoors the weather is going to be very cooperative. a look at the weekend coming up. >> all that and more when you join us for ne

i'm lester holt. >> i'm jenna wolfe. we'll get to comments about lester's dancing, but i was on the rooftop of my apartment building last night and these black clouds came roaring in. you don't see that here in new york city at all. it looked fierce, really fierce. >> and then i got the text of tornado warning. i thought, not in new york. and then, boom, two of them. it takes a lot to surprise people but residents were shocked when two tornadoes touched down, one in brooklyn, one in queens. luckily, no one was seriously hurt. >> they were a part of the severe storms. we'll have more. >>> the trifle a century. o.j. simpson struggling to try on a glove during the murder trial and now a member of simpson's team fires back at allegations that johnnie cochran tampered with the glove. >>> a little girl is recovering after contracting the deadly disease. we'll hear from her and find out how she got it. >>> this week marks the finale of "america's got talent." i had a chance to go behind the scenes of the show. i will catch up w

i'm lester holt reporting from afghanistan. >> i'm tamron hall. it's almost 11 years since the war there began. it's a time of transition that we're witnessing, lester. >> tamron, indeed it is. the surge troops are gone. 68,000 u.s. soldiers remain. trying to get the afghan troops ready to take control of their country and the fight. how is that effort going? i'll have much more in just a moment. >>> and new details are emerging about actor johnny lewis. police say the "sons of anarchy" star killed his landlord before falling to his death. we'll look at his downward spiral and hear from people who tried to help him as his life was spinning out of control. >>> also, we'll talk with alana stewart. the former model is coming to terms with her past in her new memoir. she talks openly about her famous ex-husbands george hamilton and rod stewart and losing her best friend farrah fawcett. we'll talk with her in our next hour. >>> but first, lester, you've been on the ground now for a week. what is your sense that the troops -- or what are they telling yo

i'm filling in for lester, of course n. a couple moments, a heartbreaking story., maggie rizer, flew cross-country with her beloved golden retriever. when she arrived, she was told her dog had died. what happened is the airline truly to blame? we're going to to get into that controversy in just a moment. truly heartbreaking. >>> then education nation kicked off and we're going to take a different look and a different approach to education, one that might actually work for your children depending on where you live. when it comes to student achievement, cincinnati, ohio, is taking community involvement to a whole new level to help kids succeed. it means tutors, it means mentors, it means on site health care, whatever it takes to have students focus on their academic performance. it's an ingenious concept, they're trying to help it out and seeing if it hits and sticks. >>> andrew mccarthy is here. you remember him from the 1980's associated with the brat pack, "pretty in pink." he's an accomplished travel writer and is out with a na memoir about his life and his care

inside studio 1a, i'm jenna wolfe alongside lester holt.just double-checking, just wanted to make sure. it's early. >> amazing they slip in these alternate anchors at weird times. >> believe me. >>> coming up in this half hour, a maryland state trooper really lucky to be alive. >> we've seen too many things like this. this is tough to watch, this video taken on his dashboard cam. he was hit during a traffic stop and we'll see how he's doing and why he thinks drivers need to be more careful, although i think the picture illustrates why people need to be more careful. >> that was a hubcap. >>> plus, have they have their last laugh as a couple? more on amy poehler and will arnett separating after nine years of marriage. >>> then, take a look at a bunch of high school performers and ask them to put on a musical in five days all while competing to be the best, and what do you get? some pretty high-intensity drama both onstage and off. we'll tell you more about this. lots of tears, too, coming up. >>> then, olympic soccer gold medalist alex morga

i'm lester holt. >> and i'm jenna wolfe. 59 days until election. here we go, the race is on. speeches are over, balloons have dropped. it's now time for barack obama and mitt romney to make their case to the nation as to why they deserve to be president for the next four years. >> each trying to work with the respective bounce in the candidates. both candidates campaigning in key battleground states this weekend with romney in virginia, the president in florida. and big question looming over all this, will friday's dismal jobs report blunt any momentum the president had coming out of the convention? we're going to discuss that and much more coming up in just a moment. >>> then, a new twist in that bomb hoax that forced a passenger plane headed to texas to return to philadelphia. this morning, why investigators are saying a love triangle may be to blame for that. >>> plus, a piece of video we first showed you on friday, and a warning, it's pretty tough to watch. it's a maryland state trooper hit by a semi. good grief! while he was making a traffic stop. amazingly, he survived

lester. >>> there's a growing health alert at one of the most popular tourist des naitinations in the country. health officials say two people have died after being exposed to a mouse born virus there. they are warning thousands more who have overnighted at the park that they may be at risk. >> reporter: they come do see the trees and acre after acre of unmatched natural beauty. an estimated 75,000 people will visit yosemite park but this comes with warning.

lester holt decided to oversleep this morning. so -- fortunately, he made it in on time but a little weary eyed. >> it had to happen. >> had to happen, absolutely, at least once. >> we were going to vacate your chair. a little eastwooding of our own. thanks, jenna. >> enjoy. >>> today a brand new exhibit opened at the zoo called american trails.

our lester holt is in kabul. the last time were you in the region was almost two years ago. does it feel like the situation there has improved in any way? >> reporter: you know, you don't necessarily get the feel but the numbers will tell you that the nato has trained up over 300,000 afghan security forces. what has changed the surge officially ended on friday. that 33,000 number of troops who were brought in late 2009 into

i'm filling in for lester, of course n. a couple moments, a heartbreaking story.maggie rizer, flew cross-country with her beloved golden retriever. when she arrived, she was told her dog had died. what happened is the airline truly to blame? we're going to to get into that controversy in just a moment. truly heartbreaking. >>> then education nation kicked off and we're going to take a different look and a different approach to education, one that might actually work for your children depending on where you live. when it comes to student achievement, cincinnati, ohio, is taking community involvement to a whole new level to help kids succeed. it means tutors, it means mentors, it means on site health care, whatever it takes to have students focus on their academic performance. it's an ingenious concept, they're trying to help it out and seeing if it hits and sticks. >>> andrew mccarthy is here. you remember him from the 1980's associated with the brat pack, "pretty in pink." he's an accomplished travel writer and is out with a na memoir about his life and his career

are you saying something about lester that i should pass along or -- no, just random giggling. you know how that goes on a sunday morning. first, a check of the weather with dylan dreyer, surrounded by pink. hey, dylan. >>> you can't miss this crowd. a group of high school students from virginia. what is pink'd? >> pink'd is a fund-raiser that students host. we host a pink event every year. this is the loudoun breast health network. we raised over $40,000 for breast cancer awareness and local charities. >> $40,000 and they're all in high school and they took a van up here, too. i they're all in high school and they took a van up here as well. thank you for what you're doing. as for the weather, we're talking about the heat out west.

lester holt, nbc news, kabul. >>> you can see lester holt's entire interview with general allen tonight at 7:00. his report live from afghanistan will be on "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >>> police want to know who stole a flag from the virginia war memorial over the weekend. police there say that that happened between 3:00 and 4:00 sunday morning. a memorial spokesperson said they believe it took several people to cut the rope that held the flag on its pole. there is a surveillance camera watching over the memorial, but it was not focused on the flags at the time of the crime. a veteran has already donated a new flag. he helped put it up today. >>> nbc's third annual education nation summit is under way in new york city now. it's a discussion on how to solve some of the biggest problems in our classrooms. today nbc's andrea mitchell talked with former secretary of state condoleezza rice, who said both her parents were educators and that she is concerned about the disparity in education for poor minorities. >> we can't leave kids in failing neighborhood schools. if they have t

back to you in d.c. >> lester, thanks so much. >>> turning to weather now. >> you and lester on the same wardrobe wavelength. >> do you call each other every morning? >> we like to coordinate. we like to have the local folks and the network folks all look like they're on the same team. >> maybe a rain jacket today. >> you better find out where the rain tote is because your saturday may be not as nice as you would like it. anncr: it'll start out as concrete and steel... but it'll become so much more. a new world-class resort casino in prince george's county. two thousand construction jobs to build it. four thousand permanent, good-paying jobs when it's done. hundreds of millions for maryland schools... real oversight to make sure the money goes... where it's supposed to. but none of it will happen unless we vote for... question seven this november. vote for question seven. and help build a better future for maryland. this president can tell us it was someone else's fault. but this president cannot tell us that you're better off today than when he took office. [ female announcer ] here in

i'm lester holt.

first...jon lester 14-and-oh in 20 career starts against the o's....top of the 6th....matt wieters rips it to the corner in left... adam jonns racing around to score from first...orioles lead 3-2...wieters with 3 r-b- i....top 9...4-2 o's...robert andino steps to the plate... roberr andino steps to the plate...the man who ruined the red sox season last year.... mark muh-lanceon drills him in the head...andino not happy... stares down the pitcher...no brainer.... that was intentional.... but just a warning given.dino left the came... conccssionntests underway..bottom 9...jim johnson on to set the orioles with the strikeout.46 saves sets the new o's record... passing randy myers...lester also loses his first game to the orioles...birds win their 5th straight 4-2....johnson is starting to see a changing of the guard in the a-l east... 3 yankees hosting the a's with major playoff implications on the line....top 9...a's down 1-0...brandon moss takes rafael oriano deep for the solo shot...ties the game... they head to extras....bottom 10...russell martin ends it... cranks it

lester holt is in kandahar where he talked one-on-one with the u.s. and coalition forces. >> reporter: brian, good evening, with the war about to enter the 12th year, questions remain about the taliban resistance. but the man in charge of the war says the strategy for america getting out in the year 2014 is on track. it is quickly becoming put-up time for afghan forces and crunch time for the american commander overseeing the transition. >> reporter: what keeps you up at night on this job? >> the time, the amount of time remaining. >> reporter: time between now and 2014? >> that is correct, we have a lot of work to do. >> reporter: the u.s. and nato forces have trained more than 300,000 troops, taking the lead in combat operations. but threatening that, a deadly spike in insider attacks, afghan forces turning on their nato partners, 51 allied troops including 31 americans have been killed in such attacks so far this year. in a meeting today, the colonel acknowledged the existence of a training campaign. >> the taliban recognizes this is an opportunity

i'm lester holt. >> that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> this morning on "early today." road to charlotte. president obama stops off in ohio and new orleans before tomorrow's dnc kickoff. >>> mystery ship. isaac's pounding surf washes up what could be a civil war-era vessel. >>> and, royal seat. england's prince andrew goes to great heights for a good cause. >> this is "early today" for monday, september 3rd, 2012. >> hello and very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. we begin with labor day on the campaign trail. while much of the country has the day off, president obama will be hard at work before heading to the democratic national convention tomorrow. nbc's tracie potts joins us live from charlotte with the details. traci, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. i'm standing in front of the stadium where we will see president obama speak here in charlotte later in the week. but first he is on a campaign trip that he calls road to charlotte. today he'll

the commanding general here spoke with lester about it. >> we're going to work as hard as we possiblyround the clock to understand the problem and i think we have a good grip on it now and to work closely with our afghan partners to eliminate this threat. >> reporter: but it's hard to defend against an attack from within. the u.s. mission now is to closely partner with afghan forces. lieutenant phillips is in close contact with afghans every day, training them and providing weapons on air support. >> how do you know you can trust the afghans you're working with? >> you don't know. that's why we make friends with them as best as we can, with all the other afghan units that we go to. but you don't know whether they're with us or they've got an ulterior mottive. >> reporter: when he meets with his counterparts, it's without his flack jacket and helmet, to show trust. but trust with backup, isn't real trust. there's supposed to be two more years of this, but if the insider attacks continue, it's hard to see how that's possible. u.s. troops say they understand the risks of war and that the

lester? >> gave gutierrez, thanks. >>> now to a growing health alert. the spread of west nile virus cases in every one of the lower 48 states, what could be the worst west nile outbreak ever recorded. the spraying continued from texas to georgia to new york. the cdc is worried about what is lingering in all that standing water down in the gulf after isaac. our report from chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: the cdc's latest numbers indicated it could be the worst year for the west nile virus since it was detected in the united states. >> it was introduced in 1999 and spread over a series of years through the bird population and got into the mosquitoes and the mosquitos bit people. >> reporter: the number of cases this year is sky rocketing. nearly 1,600 infections reported and 66 deaths, up 40% in one week. >> it is a late summer disease. the fact that we have so many cases this early and so widespread does not bode well. >> reporter: every state except alaska and hawaii has seen outbreaks and nearly 70% of the cases come from six sta

i'm savannah guthrie alongside al roker, tamron hall, jenna wolfe and lester, more about them later.t's chemistry. >> i call it a dis. >> i can't ignore that they are here. >> i appreciate the fact she mentioned us. >> how humble he is. >>> coming up, the hottest homes across the country for $250,000 or less. >> all right. how about this. how to do everything better. everything. from making the bed to cocktail parties to even how you eat fried chicken politely. everything. >> like your pinky is up. >> that's how we do it in the south. giada de laurentiis is here with simple dinners you can make now and toss in the oven tonight. >> did i mention jenna wolfe and lester holt are here and coming up this weekend. >> great buildup. >> so exciting. >> amazing. with the conventions behind us, much more on where the presidential race goes from here. then with "america's got talent" finale days away, i sit down with howie mandel and howard stern. howard made a pretty big announcement about his future on the show. we'll tell you what that's about. >> recently lester and i took a very special tr

i'm lester holt reporting from new york. us here at nbc news, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com this president can tell us it was someone else's fault. but this president cannot tell us that you're better off today than when he took office. [ female announcer ] here in virginia, we're not better off under president obama. his defense cuts threaten over one hundred thirty thousand jobs, lowering home values, putting families at risk. the romney plan?

i'm lester holt reporting from new york. us here at nbc news, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

so judge lester felt that george and his wife had per injured themselves.tainly that is not the judge that this defense team wanted at the stand your ground kram in front of. the new judge has only heard one previous case and she did reject the stand your ground claim, but i think they're on much firmer ground with this judge than they were with judge lester. >> and there will have to be a stand your ground hearing. but i imagine that is going to seem almost like a full-on trial at least from the defense point of view. >> no question about it. this will be a mini tal. the defense has indicated that they will ask for the trial, probably the stand your ground hearing probably after the first of the year. it is a hearing in a george zimmerman will testify at. and so i suspect that we will be covering that, both of us, and no question about it, we will hear what happened on that night from the very mouth of george zimmerman. >> and once that hearing is down, if it rules in favor of george zimmerman, there is no trial, right? >> that's right, it's over. he gets