stephanie gosk joins us from london.is in custody. >>> hey, thomas. well, the other five suspects were arrested earlier this morning around 5:45. late at night, britain's anti-terror command received information they thought was suspicious that pointed to a possible or alleged attack against the hope. they acted on it with an abundance of caution. they are street cleaners. they arrested them, took them to a police station. they are questioning them. they have yet to charge them with any crime at this point. they have been been searching residences for that hazardous material. they continue to detain them. we don't know much more than that. the pope and his entourage were notified that the arrest took place. the vatican says the pope is calm. they've not decided to change any of their itinerary. they're going to go about their busy schedule. also the metropolitan police said they looked at their security plan, and they're satisfied with where it stands. it doesn't seem at this point to be a particularly serious threat. bu

stephanie gosk has our report. >> reporter: with mideast peace talks hanging in the balance, mahmoud abbas said there would be, quote, no quick decision to put out of negotiations. at midnight, israelnded the ten-month eeze onsettlement construction. abbas warned in the past that the freeze was necessary for the recently rekindled peace process to move forward. standing alongside french president nicolas sarkozy in paris, the palestinian leader said he would wait to make his final decision until after a meeting on october 4 of arab leaders. >> we are ready for serious negotiations, but settlement activity should stop immedtely. this is the only way to continue a thoughtful talks. >> reporter: in a statement from the white house, the obama administration reiterated the objection to settlement construction and pledged to continue its diplomatic efforts. israeli prime ministerenjamin netanyahu urged restraint and responsibility moving forward. but several celebrations were held once the end to freeze was announced. toda construction continues. stephanie gosk, nbc news, london. >> here a

nbc's stephanie gosk joins us live from london with the latest. stephanie, what was this plot all about? >> reporter: hey, savannah. we're being told that the threat emerged overnight. obviously with the pope in town they're taking an abundance of caution with anything that they're learning. they moved in early this morning, just after 5:00, 5:30. they went into an area of town in london, westminster, where the pope is actually scheduled to speak later on today. they arrested these five men at a business and took them to a london police station where right now they're being questioned. so far they haven't been charged with anything and they haven't found any hazardous materials or anything at this business. but again, moving on an abundance of caution, they felt that it was necessary to arrest these men. the pope has been told about the threat and so far hasn't changed his busy schedule. we saw a bit of some of the intense security surrounding him this morning at the first location, a university that he went to just outside of london. we were tryin

stephanie gosk joins us from london with more on the arrest. what is the latest on this?lex. this alleged plot surfaced last night and the britains counterterrorism command was not going to take any chances on it. they acted on it early this morning. the spoep pope will speak in westminster later this afternoon and arrest five men who they believe hatched a plot against the pope, a terrorist attack and they brought him to a local police station and they've been questioning him. they haven't made any arrests in the case and they haven't found any hazardous materials in that business, but, you know, this goes to the larger issue of the security concerns around the pope. there's been a lot of talk that he's had a tighter security than normal on this trip and that, you know, we've seen it ourselves. even this morning we went to the event at st. mary's university and we were told after the pope was on the ground on the university grounds that we wouldn't be allowed in because they had stopped all foot traffic after he arrived. obviously, they're not taking any chances. alex? >

>> all right, stephanie gosk reporting. again we're watching for that sensation, susan boyle to sing. when we see it we'll bring that to you live. again we're following breaking news right now. we're watching for a situation in baltimore where they've evacuated johns hopkins hospital because of a shooter who now reportedly is in police custody but not firing off at least one shot hitting a doctor. and again they had evacuated parts of the nelson building at johns hopkins. we are told that the situation now is under control but no word if they're letting people back in. may be the police are still clearing the hospital there. keeping an eye on the situation when we find out more we'll pass it along. now? some in congress are getting squeezed by the special interests again. trying to delay action and give polluters free reign to keep dumping toxic pollution into the air. the air our children breathe. letting big oil lobbyists get their way again, and again, and again. it's a last-minute bill, written by special interests, loo

stephanie gosk reports from london. >> reporter: the pope reached out to young catholics this morning at st. mary university just outside of london, his message, education. the pope conducted the first of three open air masses late thursday afternoon in glasgow, 65,000 worshippers took advantage of a rare break in the scottish clouds to welcome the holy father with fanfare. the pope only stopped twice, rolling down windows so the pope could say hello to the smallest of his flock. john paul ii gave the -- the current pope lacks his predecessor's star power and faces one of the most daunting challenges in the church's history, the priest abuse scandal. a subject the pope avoided in the first eulogy in his four day visit. the mass concluded with a star turned from scotland's sweetheart suzanne boil. there are reports that boil fainted when she found out she would sing for the pope. the scottish crooner sang flawlessly as the entourage left a cheering crowd behind. stephanie gosk, nbc news, london. >>> the census bureau reports that poverty in america increased to 14.3% last year, that is

. >> stephanie gosk, covering a once in 500-year story now. >> once in a civilization. >> we'll move on to the weather, first igor, which we just love the name of that storm, then julia and then karl. julia is expected to make landfall right before the weekend. bill karins joins us, you must be working day and night with all these storms. >> no one's at risk here, but we can't say the same for mexico. hurricane center just gave an update. it's stronger than it was supposed to be and it also looks to be a little further to the south. it's going to be have big implications for the cities there right along the gulf, as this storm makes landfall friday night. it's way to the southern gulf. texas is not going to be affected. but this storm will likely be a category 1 hurricane, there is a chance for it to be a category 2 hurricane as it makes landfall friday night. this is the new forecast actually just in, as the computer automatically updates from the hurricane center. they're not calling for a category 2 landfall, all of a sudden, a weak tropical storm, now a category 2 hurricane. as f

stephanie gosk joins us live from london with the latest. ity is of the utmost concern right now and they're working with an abundance of caution when it comes to the pope. this is a plot that surfaced late last night and they didn't waste any time. upon hearing the information, britain's counterterrorism command went in early this morning in westminster, which is a neighborhood in london, central london where the pope is going to be giving a speech later on today. they arrested five men at a shop there and brought them to a police station where they are currently questioning them. so far they have not been charged with anything. but, you know, this is, this is all part of the security operation surrounding the pope. he's been, everywhere he has been there have been streets blocked off. this morning we had difficulty getting to the university where he was speaking to, we showed up a bit too late. once he was on the grounds, they stopped all foot traffic and no one was allowed in or out. they're not taking any risks. chris? >> i assume the tri

nbc stephanie gosk joins us and how are things going so far for the pope this morning? morning, chris, they seem to be going pretty smoothly. one of the big questions for catholics in this country is whether or not the pope was going to address the priest abuse scandal. he did that over on his flight from rome and he said the catholic church didn't act quickly enough or decisively enough. and that's not the only issue he's going to have to face here. there's a growing liberalization of catholics in this country and they feel the catholic church in many respects is disconnect would the modern world and they feel the celibacy of priests should be limited and they are hoping the pope will address those issues. but, overall, as you mentioned rbs this is the official state visit from a pope in 500 years and the catholics in this country are excited to see him and they came out on the streets here to greet him as his popemobile went by. he will give an open air mass later on in the day in glasgow that should be attended to close to 100,000 people and at that mass, which is th

stephanie gosk is in scotland with that. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. the pope arrived on board a jet with the call sign "shepherd 1." on the flight over, he addressed the abuse scandal with reporters and said the catholic church didn't act fast enough or decisively enough. that's one of many controversial issues he has to deal with in his four-day trip here. it's the first official state visit by a pope to britain in nearly 500 years. greeted by prince philip and scottish clergy, he made his way along the royal mile to be received by the queen. >> they can be transcended and a greater mutual trust established. >> reporter: the pope's meeting with the queen is a rare event, and this exchange of gifts a gesture britons catholics hope will mend a rift when king henry viii wanted a divorce in the 16th century. >> i shall denounce the pope as a heretic and marry whom i please. >> reporter: he wt on to marry five more wives and had an ongoing feud with the vatican that led to a permanent split. >> for hundreds of years, it has been illegal to be a catholic i