ron allen tonight. ron, thank you so much for your reporting tonight. >>> national transportation safety board investigators were finally able to retrieve the wreckage of that plane crash that killed former alaska senator ted stevens and four others on monday. now comes the painstaking process of trying to reconstruct all the factors and circumstances that led to the crash. nbc's miguel almaguer is in anchorage tonight with the latest on this investigation. miguel, good evening to you. >> reporter: ann, good evening. federal investigators are said to have tentatively ruled out a le potential mechanical problem as the reason for the crash and now investigators are one step closer to figuring out why the plane went down. late this afternoon, using a heavy lift helicopter, investigators from the ntsb brought back pieces from the crash site 20 miles away in the remote mountains of southwest alaska. the wreckage of the float plane will be examined in detail. one question investigators have, why a state-of-the

the story tonight from nbc's ron allen. ♪ wake up listen here >> hi, there.eteran's all-star play begins. >> reporter: the curtain goes up wednesday afternoons at this new york city veterans' hospital. >> quiet on the set. >> reporter: with pam directing an episode from "m.a.s.h." stephanie lee as hot lips houlihan. ♪ i can't give you anything but love baby ♪ >> reporter: and the vets, patients with spinal cord injuries starring as radar, hawkeye and the rest. >> when i say go, radar comes on with sir. >> sir! >> oh, for pete's sake, radar. >> sounds almost like the real thing. >> what are you doing here in officer's country. >> just delivering the mail, sir. >> reporter: a former stage actor and lee, who still does tv and filmwork are volunteers. stars of stage and screen would visit va hospitals, trying to lift the spirits of america's wounded warriors in the 1940s. >> it's getting people to do something that they never thought they were able to. it's 90 minutes of not what is, but what can be. >> reporter: they're not big named performers here on broadway

ron allen, nbc news, new york. >>> now we turn to politics. it's primary day tomorrow in alaska, florida, vermont and arizona, where john mccain, just two years ago his party's nominee for president, has been fighting hard and spending a lot to hang onto his seat in the u.s. senate. our report from nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: after 28 years in congress and a presidential run, tomorrow's primary comes down to this. who do arizona republicans think john mccain really is? >> listen, i have to prove myself to every voter who will consider voting for me. and i will stand on my record. >> reporter: critics say mccain has run from his record, taking a hard right on key issues. a maverick who once partnered with ted kennedy for comprehensive immigration reform, the mccain of 2010 became all about border security. >> complete the dang fence. >> reporter: mccain looked vulnerable in the spring when former congressman j.d. hayworth accused him of supporting amnesty. >> if people really want amnesty and open borders, they can vote for john mccain

nbc' ron allen is there in ames, iowa, with an update tonight. good evening, ron. >> reporter: good evening to you, kate. the good news is the weather has been good here, no rain. and the floodwaters around town have dropped considerably. there's still a problem here, though, at iowa state university. behind me, they are pumping water out of the bowels of a huge sports arena here on campus. that process is going to go on for sometime. they're also drying out several buildings here on campus. but school officials are confident things will be okay as some 28,000 students begin arriving here next week for the fall semester. now, out in the town of ames, some 55,000 people, volunteers are still giving away free bottled water for people to drink because there are concerns that the municipal town water supply could have been contaminated during all the flooding as this town recovers from the worst flooding here ever. back to you, kate. >> ron allen, thanks so much. >>> severe weather also overseas today. strong winds in portugal are fanning wildfires a

ron allen, nbc news, new york. >>> we've got a lot more to tell you about, when "nightly news" continues in a moment. the high cost of america's love affair with food and too much of it. >>> how the children of the gulf coast are coping as a long, hard summer winds down. copd makes it hard for me to breathe. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now, i can join the fun and games with my grandchildren. great news! for people with copd, including chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both, advair helps significantly improve lung function. while nothing can reverse copd, advair is different from most other copd medications because it contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help you breathe better. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. i had fun to

ron allen is live in ames, iowa with the latest. >> reporter: good morning. the news out here is actually pretty encouraging. the water seems to be dropping everywhere. this area that i'm standing in yesterday was covered with water and as you can see, it's pretty much gone this morning. further in the background there, you can perhaps hear and see a huge truck. it's blowing warm air into that building trying to dry it out. that's happening in a number of places here on campus. beyond the campus in the town of a mc ames, there are tens of thousands of people in this entire community who do not have clean water. city crews worked feverishly to repair flood damage. officials say strict water conservation measures and a boil water alert will lookly remain in place well into next week. >> ames is a town virtually cut off by flood waters. >> reporter: ames had the worst flooding here ever. hundreds of homes evacuated. visits shut down. roads closed by rising water. in some cases with deadly consequences. police released the 911 calls from a group of local teens tr

hospital built over in alameda county, and we recruited him here, so our lead project manager is ron allen need a. i want to acknowledge 10. -- ron alameda. he is leading a great team devoted public servants in the department of public works. they are supported by edgar lopez, our head of project management, and our city engineer and deputy manager. it is with them and me that we are committed to doing as mitch said, which is bringing this project, delivering it to you on time and on budget as we promised when we got the support of the voters back last november. i also just want to mention that we are not only just building a hospital, but we are building a hospital that will meet the seismic requirements, very stringent seismic requirements that state law requires, and that san franciscans desert to make sure that we will be safe in the event of the earthquake that we know is going to come. we are delivering this building to be a lead certified building, which means that over the life of the building, it will perform better, use less energy and water and other resources -- much less than

our own ron allen is at yankee stadium in the bronx with more on today's new criminal charges. ron, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, brian. yes, during his greatest days as a yankee pitcher, roger clemens had a reputation for being a tough, aggressive competitor who never backed down. he took that same defiant attitude in the congressional hearing room in 2008 repeatedly denying ever using performance-enhancing drugs. however, his primary accuser is a former trainer and close friend who claims he has physical evidence that he injected clemens more than 16 times over several seasons. the trainer has been cooperating with investigators in exchange for not being prosecuted himself. late today, clemens in a twitter message said, "i never took hdh human growth hormone or steroids and i did not lie to congress. i'm happy to finally have my day in court." brian? >> at the stadium tonight in new york, ron, thanks. >>> a story out of california tonight that has enraged a lot of people, especially veterans. you would think it would be illegal to walk around claiming you had

nbc's ron allen is in flint, michigan, with more on the story. s are spreading fear here in the flint, michigan, african-american men or men out at night alone. police say the attacker usually approaches someone, strikes up a conversation, and then for no apparent reason starts stabbing with a knife. the first attack was in may, the second a month later. both victims murdered by a knife-wielding killer. >> these stabbings have been taking place during the early morning hour, and the victims have been on foot and approached by the suspect from his vehicle. oftentimes the suspect is asking for directions or assistance. >> reporter: it wasn't until july when a third victim survived an attack that police had a description of the killer. >> this guy just stabbing you, you know. >> reporter: on monday authorities released this sketch showing the suspect, a white male with light hair between 5'11" and 6'2" with an athletic build. police believe the suspect may be responsible for at least 15 stabbings in the flint, michigan, area since may 24th. five the

nbc's ron allen is in kolfax, iowa. ron, good morning. >> good morning, natalie. this is typical of what you see in some towns in this part of the state, all these homes behind me are evacuated. the rest have been gone for several days now. the good news is the water is, in fact, receding. it's still about three or four feet deep in some places in this neighborhood and in others, and of course the forecast does call for more rain. the problem with that, all of that water has no place to go. >> reporter: for three days, heavy rain and thunderstorms have caused widespread flooding across iowa. washing out roads and closing businesses. in ames, record flooding caused water pipes to break thursday. the city had to shut down the water supply, leaving 56,000 people without drinking water. >> thank you. >> yes. >> reporter: residents will have to rely on bottled water until the system is repaired. and that could take days. in altoona, water was moving so fast, it swept three cars right off the road and into a creek. eleven people were trapped under water. a 16-year-old g

i think a number i saw recently with regard -- i will quote and ron allen with the coastguard cutters responding to haiti, and the average age was over 41 years of age. so the deep water plan, because we cannot get traction initially to replace coast guard cutters in aircraft on a piecemeal basis, the coast guard put together a plan to replace the water cutters and most of the aircraft fleet, and they call the plant deepwater. let's see if i can figure out the technology. i brought along some slides. i know some people are visual learners, and i did not want to lose those people. and we're talking capabilities. numbers are an issue. i wanted to be able to show them two this was just a logo in how the coast guard introduced the deepwater program. i will go right to the next slide and point out, give you a sense of where we stand in terms of implementing deepwater. the requirement for national security cutters, there currently four on contract. bear in mind, this contract was signed in june of 2002. eight years later, we a four of eight on contract, zero offshore patrol cutters, and we

. >> and ron allen, are you able to answer the question -- admiral allen, to you yet have an understanding of what happened that caused this and how other drillers can avoid it? >> most of that will be the result of the marine board of investigation being convened in new orleans. that is ongoing and i would refer any questions to that. as we look at controlling the well itself, we will find out where the drill pipe is act and its condition. we do not know exactly where is at. that is some of the discussion on how the cementing should proceed. we will have to take the blow up prevent her off and take a look at it. by the time we finished the bottom killed, we will know mor. >> do you have an idea? i would not want to speculate. >> early on in the spill, government scientists said the effects would linger for around 10 years. as a result of the evaporation and the collection you have to date, has that assessment changed? >> i think the common view of most of the scientists inside and outside government is that the effects will likely win or for decades. the fact that -- will likely to linger

ron scores. 1-0 st. louis. in the fourth, allen craig, the former cal standout, drove one to left. sea.wo-run shot. 5-0 cards. zito lasted just 3-2/3. his counterpart, garcia, was brilliant. the rookie goes the distance, allowing three hits, walking none, striking out six. a's and rays in oakland with a matchup of two pitchers who have thrown no-hitters this season. braden facing garza. a sun-soaked afternoon at the coliseum. braden ran into trouble in the 6th. longoria rips one down the left-field line. the relay homees not in time to get crawford, and tampa bay up 3-1 just like that. a's trying to rally. just inside the first-baseline. gros wouldn't get past second. soriano, gets pennington. the a's are eight back of texas with the loss. >>> will power broke his back in a practice run last year at infin john never made it to the race. on the same track, will power won the grand prix of sonoma. he won an eighth pole here another i. finon. dan welldon, first lap, flips his car, done for the day but okay. as for sausolito nate temperature, j.a. hills brand, he is out. then dixon trying t