stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. >> as we noted, the pope will arrive tomorrow. and on the heels of the huge reception in cuba, nbc's anne thompson has that story from santiago decuba. >> reporter: under an unforgiving sun, a hero's welcome for pope francis in his limousine. this is the cuba agricultural heart and today it is the spiritual center. >> i'm in love. i'm in love with this person. >> reporter: for many cubans, pope francis is a not just improving their soul but their very lives. this woman came to thank the pope for his role in bringing cuba and the u.s. closer together. >> papal francisco is a great man. >> reporter: at mass, with cuba's president raul castro sitting nearby, the pope acknowledged the church's struggles here. less than 20 years ago, repressed by the government, catholic soup kitchens ran in secret. today they operate freely as change slowly comes to this island nation. though the vatican is often perceived as the institution of no. this pope says yes. emphasizing the positive, embracing people and eager to be among his flock. but some

nbc's stephanie gosk is at the u.s. open. >>> serena and venus both like to point out, a williams sister is going to the u.s. open semifinal. but there is a flip side, of course. a williams sister isn't going to the semifinals as well. and in this tournament there is more on the line than ever before. serena is poised to win a grand slam. four major victories in a calendar year. the last female player to do that was steffi graf in 1988. and venus is playing great tennis. she hasn't won a major tournament in seven years. >> i can't even imagine how they do it. they are the very best of friends. i mean, from the time they first showed up on the tour they were so respectful of each other and so loyal. >> i'm so proud of serena. and i think she's proud of me. and we inspire each other. >> reporter: before becoming tennis greats, they were just sisters. growing up in compton, learning the sport. >> i like tennis a lot, and i think i want to play all the time. >> reporter: playing against each other long before it became so i

our stephanie gosk has the latest details. >> justice for cecil! >> reporter: after being publicly named and shamed for killing cecil the lion minnesota dentist dr. walter palmer dropped out of sight. his dental office was shuttered for weeks because of protests. >> trophy hunters have got to go! >> reporter: now as the big game hunter prepares to return to his minnesota practice, he is speaking out. "if i had known this lion had a name and was important to the country or a study, obviously i wouldn't have taken it." in an interview with the "minneapolis star tribune" and the associated press dr. palmer said the hunt in zimbabwe was perfectly legal and he is heartbroken about the disruption this has caused his staff. the 55-year-old, who has not been charged with a crime, also maintains that he has not been in hiding. "i've been out of the public eye. that doesn't mean i'm in hiding." cecil the lion was killed outside of the park grounds where he lived and was protected. when dr. palmer was named by zimbabwe officials in late july, it triggered an

stephanie gosk has the unique challenge of covering the streets of new york. tephanie flanked by the two cement blocks with nypd stencilled on them. we have seen them in new york city in the past an now ubiquitous, already this week. and, stephanie, we have an unusual circumstance. u.p.s. alerting customers they may not get their packages this week, including the new iphones to ship this week. people are all about what it's in it for me an affect me? this is going to affect a big part of the nation's biggest city. >> reporter: yeah. it is absolutely right, brian. a headache more people in the city and not involved themselves. these block aids are part of tons of cement already prepositioned in the city. it is tuesday. the pope doesn't show up until thursday at 5:00 at night. that gives you an idea of the preparation and i was speaking with the police commissioner bratton this week and he has seen a lot of events in his day and he say this is one is by far the most challenging and part of it is because it is a compound challenge for the nypd. they have the pope,

patrick's cathedral where we find nbc's stephanie gosk. it's got to be getting crowded down there. >> reporter: it is, kate. you know, 4:15 in the afternoon, mid town manhattan on fifth avenue and there is not a car on the street. you see crowds beginning to gather. everyone that's behind these barricades here has gone through a mag knnetometer. behind that an eight-foot chain link fence. stretches 12 city blocks and 3 after blocks wide. completely encircles cathedral. anyone trying to get close to the pope has to go over the fence. kate? >> stephanie gosk, keeping an eye on the scene on the ground, just below us here on fifth avenue in new york, as that crowd starts to build. we'll continue to go back there for now, we're keeping an eye on the plane. the american airline 777 jet that will be carrying pope francis from washington up here to new york city, where he continues the rest of his really large trip to the united states, you know, lots of filled, packed days, in terms of the schedule. ron allen is joining us now. can you hear me? >

. >> stephanie gosk has more on the device that's linked to a couple dozen deaths. >> i broke three ribsemur. everything is broke. >> after a car accident in 2004, dotty was at high risk for blood clots. doctors implanted a blood clot filter called the recovery, made by medical device giant. it's a 1 1/2 inch metal wire trap placed in the largest vein in the body, four months after being released from the hospital, dotty suffered a debilitating headache and passed out. after rounds of testing, doctors discovered a piece from her filter had broken off and pierced her heart. doctors saved her life by removing this sharp one inch piece of metal from her heart. about a quarter million blood clot filters are planted in patients each year, most without incident. 11 companies sell them in the u.s. her filter stood out early as a risky device, it's associated with at least 27 fatalities and 300 reported problems. in a statement to nbc news, all of its filters when used as instructed demonstrate significant benefits to patients. knowing how close she came to death, doaty frohlich considers hersel

we get more now from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: breaking his silence, minnesota dentist walterr who faced worldwide backlash after killing cecil the lion on a hunting expedition in africa now says he did not intentionally kill the beloved lion. telling the associated press and the minneapolis star tribune in an exclusive joint interview, if i had known this lion had a name and was important to the country or a study obviously, i wouldn't have taken it. nobody in our hunting party knew before or after the name of this lion. after palmer's identity was revealed in late july, his dental office and home became protest sites. petitions began circling to have him extradited to zimbabwe. his vacation prop ererty in floa vandalized. it caused him to close his practice and disappear, but he insisted to reporters he was not in hiding. >> i've been out of the public eye. that doesn't mean i'm in hiding, palmer said. i've been among people, family and friends. location is really not that important. palmer now set to return to his minneapolis area dental office on tuesday says he doesn't kn

and stephanie gosk is there with today's events. stephanie, what are you seeing now?f the crowds behind you. >> reporter: yeah, alex, the crowd has certainly been building over the course of the day. it's tough from our vantage point here to tell if it's as many people as they expected or how big it's going to get but, you know, we certainly have been able to get a taste of whether people have been frustrated or not frustrated by the level of security here. and i would say overall the majority of people have had smiles on their faces. at least by the time they get here. now, just beyond where i'm standing is -- is the checkpoint that gets you into that inner circle and there are 21 of those checkpoints set up around the city. and people that come here will really be amazing this is a major u.s. city and the center of town has been entirely shut down. now, for people visiting and walking those streets, that's a pretty incredible thing. for people who live here, it might be another story. and we've certainly talked to some people from philadelphia who has been frustrate

nbc's stephanie gosk has the update. >> reporter: 32 million users promised discrete affairs, were insteadely exposed. their personal info including names, e-mails, and sexual preferences, plastered online by hackers promising to teached a dull churers and ashley madison a lea lesson. and still, parent company says the website is thriving. recent media reports predicting the imminent demise of ashley madison are greatly exaggerated. read a statement released monday. this past week alone, hundreds of thousands of new users signed up including nearly 90,000 women. the company denied a recent media report that many of their female profiles are bogus. but the numbers are difficult to verify. >> i don't know that they have a method for determining when someone signs up for an account, whether they're male or female, unless it's a paid credit card that they've verified as a legitimate card. people can sign up for ashley madison accounts with no verification whatsoever. >> reporter: just a day after news reports appeared claiming josh duggar had opened an account on the website he admitted he was

. >> i want to go to nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk, who is outside st. patrick's cathedral, where a crowd has assembled. stephanie, what's the scene like out there? >> reporter: well, chris, it's really remarkable. we've been hearing a lot this week about the unprecedented levels of security and the fences and the barricades. but what you saw here on fifth avenue when the pope came down today was really a joyous crowd. and despite all of that security they were able to see him, get a sense of him. and now you see the people that are gathered outside the cathedral that are still waiting. this is obviously a special group that got specially invited. you had some high school kids from the area. on the other side workers who actually worked on the $174 million renovation of the cathedral. so it's an interesting group, and i'm sure we'll see throughout the next day and a half while he's here these crowds will grow and number but certainly as joyous. >> we see the pope make his way through start's cathedral at the conclusion of that vespers service. throngs com

nbc's stephanie gosk and msnbc's casey hunt are in philadelphia for us. we'll begin with you casey, good morning, unprecedented security there. what do people have go through just to get a glimpse of the pope? >> reporter: good morning. well, philadelphia is on lockdown this is just at a completely different level. the entire center of the city here in philadelphia is walled off with barriers usually several feet above my head. people are waiting in line just to even access those areas, to get to the hotels they might be staying at. we saw yesterday a nun whose habit was being patted down by the tsa agents who have come in for this occasion. this area where we are now, this is independence hall behind me. this is of course a storied building. that's so much symbolism for the pope. this is the building where the declaration of independence and the constitution was signed and i'm not sure if you can see the podium he'll be speaking from is the one that abraham lincoln gave the gettysburg address. this is a ticketed event. these chairs behind me are all assi

nbc's stephanie gosk is in philadelphia awaiting his arrival. le here awaiting his arrival. we have seen the very early morning hours here families pouring in. what they are finding here in philadelphia is a security operation the tightest no, sir three-city tour for the pope. the secret service has in effect shut down the center of philadelphia. it is ringed with fences and with checkpoints. the checkpoints there have magnatometers and tsa agents. they are checking every bag, warning every person who goes in. once you make it beyond the barrier, it is this massive pedestrian walkway. what a way to see philadelphia. the pope comes in today. he's got a packed schedule. he's going to do an open-air mass -- excuse me, a closed mass at the basilica here. he's then going to go to independence hall where they're expecting a crowd of about 40,000 just steps away from the liberty bell. and then tonight, it will be the festival of families, a kind of celebration and a visual that he will take part in. it's also the end of this week for the gathering of th

stephanie gosk joining us from the u.s. still ahead, the story behind the shocking video of a referee tackled by two high school football players during a game. did he get hit deliberately? >>> plus former secretary of state hillary clinton tries to change the conversation in her run for the white house. can her campaign get past new details about her personal e-mail use? >>> and stephen colbert takes over "late night" tonight as he begins his new gig tonight. there's only one egg that just tastes better. fresher. more flavorful. delicious. only one egg with better nutrition... like more vitamins d, e, and omega 3s. and 25% less saturated fat. only one egg good enough for my family. because why have ordinary when you can have the best. eggland's best. the only egg that gives you so much more: better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. hi mi'm raph. tom. my name is anne. i'm one of the real live attorneys you can talk to through legalzoom. don't let unanswered legal questions hold you up, because we're here, we're here, an

stephanie gosk has a lot more at 6:30 on "nbc nightly news." >> look forward to it. >> see you then. >>> the visit that will make history and is already being immortalized in art. >> a new jersey artist is recreating the official visit. ray villeda went to the studio to get the picture. >> it's not a philadelphia moment. it's a global moment. and it's about peace and the earth. >> reporter: inside a new jersey home, an artist studio. the works of art commemorating an historic moment about to happen. >> the globe is in each piece you see i did. >> reporter: the visit from pope francis to the united states making stops in new york city and philadelphia. >> so my wife angela said, you better take a look at this. you know, you're a pop artist. are you going to paint pope francis. >> reporter: an idea sparked by his wife's suggestion that almost seemed like fate. he painted the first portrait in just over eight hours. in his own life he has found several links, starting with his griff. >> he's basically named after francis of assisi, which pope francis took the name. >> reporter: and endi

stephanie gosk has the first of our two-part report. >> reporter: dodi frolic's first brush with death came after a car accident in 2004. >> i broke three ribs, broke my femur, my leg in spots. everything was broke. >> reporter: the extensive injury put her at high risk for blood clots. as a precaution, doctors implanted a blood clot filter called the recovery made by c.r. bard. it's a 1.5-inch wire trap placed in the vein of the artery to block clots in the heart and lungs where they could be fatal. she suffered a headache and passed out. >> in that two seconds of being in the ambulance i started flatlining. >> reporter: after rounds of testing, doctors discovered a piece from bard's filter had broken off and pierced her heart. >> emergency open heart surgery within minutes. my family was notified, the priest was brought in. >> reporter: doctors saved dodi's life, by removing this sharp one inch piece of metal to her heart is something she keeps to this kay. about a quarter million blood clot filters are implanted in patients each year, most without incident. 11 companies sell them in

nbc's stephanie gosk reports. >> there is anxiety every time i see a hospital. >> reporter: a head-on 70-mile-an-hour collision left this mother of two near death. >> they tried to cut me out with the jaws of life twice and then they finally got me. >> reporter: four months later, she was again rushed to the er as her heart filled up with blood. >> with every breath i swear to you i didn't know if i would take another. i kept saying it over and over it has to be the filter. >> reporter: after her car accident, doctors implanted a blood clot filter called the recovery. it's a 1 1/2-inch wire metal trap placed in the largest vein in the body to block clots from reaching the heart and lungs where they could be fatal. her filter was made by c.r. bard, one of 11 companies that sells blood clot filters in the u.s. but instead of protecting her, her filter broke and pierced her heart. during emergency open-heart surgery, doctors removes this one-inch piece of metal saving her life. gloria adams wasn't so lucky. >> she's always smiling. >> yeah. >> reporter: healthy and out going, she was 55

stephanie gosk is there for us. to get through a couple of security points to move around yesterday and today. what's the mood like? people frustraitted with line or they know what's at the end of that security line and that keeps them happy? >> we've seen people really cheery. all these people walking down here have yet to hit those lines. we talked to a family that last minute had flown in from miami and they seemed all right with it. >> wasn't that bad. my son and i left the perimeter so we had to come back in, and it took a long time. they were definitely being thorough. i thought even more so than an airport. >> we also had an opportunity to walk and go check out one of those lines. we spoke to some of the people in them. all the way up at the front people had waited an hour. in the time they'd been there, the line had doubled. you can only guess the people at the end had a two-hour wait in front of them. officials have been advising people to come as early as possible because those lines just keep getting long

stephanie gosk, thank you so much. >>> let's bring in nbc special anchor maria shriver and greg burke, senior communications adviser to the vatican. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> greg, let me start with you. yesterday we watched and listened as the pope addressed a joint meeting of congress, a very political room. today he heads to the u.n. it's a broader audience, a world audience, seems to be right in his sweet spot. what are you expecting in terms of the difference between the two speeches? >> it will be similar. it just goes global. i think the issues, when you look at pope and what he really cares about, above all wealth and poverty and, well, above all, he cares about a spiritual mission, god loves you, right, but the ramifications of that, share that love, show that love meaning let's fix this wealth and poverty situation in the world. that's got to be a key issue. immigration, migration obviously. people talk a lot about immigration in this country, but if you've seen the news the last week, as i'm sure you have, it's monstrous in europe as well moving from

stephanie gosk report. >> there is anxiety every time i see a hospital. >> reporter: a head on collision left mother of two dotie near death. >> they tried to cut me out with the jaws of life twice and finally got me. >> reporter: she was again rushed to the e.r. as her heart filled up with blood. >> with every breath i swear to you i didn't know if i would take another. i said over and over it has to be the filter. >> reporter: after her accident doctors implanted a metal trap placed in the largest vooen vein in the body. her filter was made by c.r. bard, one of 11 companies that sells blood clot filters in the u.s. but instead of protecting her, it broke and pierced her heart. during emergency open heart surgery, doctors removed this one-inch piece of metal saving her life. gloria adams wasn't so lucky. healthy and out going, she was 55 years old when a brain aneurysm struck. her son kevin says she was recovering quickly. >> for having an aneurysm which someone can die from, she was doing remarkable. >> reporter: gloria was sent home with a clean bill of health but one week later, she

>> reporter: as the manhunt intensified in the area where the dna had been discovered, stephanie gosk found herself in the thick of it. >> and no one said anything to us. so we drove in. and we were stopped by the border patrol. and these guys are armed to the teeth. this is not your average local law enforcement operation. and this was a big deal. and they did not want us there. they knew that they were close to these guys. so there was a level of urgency and intensity. >> the media was both -- a major help, and at -- at times -- potential hindrance for the investigation. major help because they helped and assisted us getting our message out to the public. potential hindrance at times for the investigation, because in this era of social media -- and -- and-- preponderance of -- of information slipping out to the media in am untimely manner -- did -- did at times hinder the investigation. >> reporter: guess worried the inmates were using media reports on the locations of his search teams to evade capture, and once again the trail went cold. it was now 21 days since sweat and matt esca

nbc's stephanie gosk reports. >> reporter: the list is getting longer. these young faces are all soccer players, all goal keepers, all diagnosed with cancer. coach amy griffin keeps taking names. after we interviewed her last year, her list gathered from around the country has nearly doubled from 34 to 63. 15 have died. they and their families are all concerned that the artificial turves they play on made them sick. many contacted amy after our original story. >> this is the stuff everybody's talking about. i got a bazillion e-mails e-mails, phone calls lots of people said i've always wondered about this. >> reporter: those tiny black dots that get into eyes, ears and even mouths, are ground up car and truck tires called crumb rubber, made up of the same chemicals found in most tires including known carcinogens. crumb rubber is used in thousands of fields and playgrounds around the country. austin austin ever ret was one of the first goal keepers on the list. she died three years ago at the age of 25. >> i realized, oh, my god, the thing she loved most p

city, philadelphia, is the statue of william penn atop city hall and not far from there our own stephanie gosk out among the people. hey, stephanie. >> reporter: hey, brian. we've been standing out here basically all day, and people have and up until about two hours ago they have been filing through here, going to some of the checkpoints we heard chris talking about, and then at one point the lines just got so long that they had to stop people, and that's why you see these people lined up here. no one in these lines has been through those magnetometers we've been talking about so much, and right now we believe there's an expectation in this crowd that the pope is going to come through here, but we have our doubts. because there has not been a security sweep of this area. but this gives you a sense of the numbers that we've been talking about today and how difficult it was to get these people closer to the pope which is, of course, where they want to be. brian? >> stephanie gosk, we'll check back in with you. also along the planned parade route today is kasie hunt. kasie? >> reporter: brian, we

nbc's stephanie gosk is there with how the city is prepare ing preparing. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, sheinelle. we are in front of city hall in philadelphia. in front of that once this truck goes by, some of the many checkpoints that people will have to go through if they are expecting to get anywhere close to pope francis. today, his schedule is packed. he will visit the basilica and then independence hall which is steps away from the liberty bell and the festival of families. that festival will be huge with more than 1 million people. this week, pope francis praised american democracy. >> god bless america. >> reporter: today he is coming to the birth place. philadelphia. the third stop on the tour to fulfill a promise of attend the festival of families. >> this will be full of families singing and filled with joy. >> reporter: the biggest event of the week is the sunday public mass. a crowd of over 1 million people. the largest this city has ever seen is expected murrays will be there. john paul met his namesake in philly. >> i will be happ

let's go now to nbc's stephanie gosk on the ground in philadelphia where that is about to happen in at is one of the questions, stephanie, as you know and have been reporting on, the question of stuart. >> reporter: yeah. it's been the big issue here. i think most of the people who have come in to town to see the pope have told us that they have no problem with it, that they understand why it's here. there are some locals here who are pushed out of this city and we've got some excitement here. hang on just a second. bye, guys. welcome. welcome. where are you from? >> canada! >> where in canada? >> toronto. you can see groups are coming in here, they're very excited. no one who's made it to this point, richard, has been through the security checkpoints. what we're hearing is that those lines are growing and it is going to take a while for people to go through the magnetometers. what we saw yesterday is that everything is going to be checked. every bag, every parcel, everything that goes in is going to be checked. there are a number of items that are banned. you can't bring selfie stick

here's nbc's stephanie gosk in new york city. >> reporter: we're out with the nypd harbor unit on one of their brand-new boats as they get ready for what the police commissioner says it going to be the biggest event ever in his career. and he's seen a lot. the pope will be here at the u.n. with the largest group of world leaders gathered in world history. the pope is also hitting dc and philadelphia. we'll take a look at the massive security operation underway to protect him and people who come out to see him. >>> major change is coming to the dc court system with many hoping it can dramatically alter synthetic drug use inside the district. tisha thompson explains how the courts are now closing one of the biggest legal loopholes in the new war on these synthetic drugs. >> reporter: this summer, we told you how dc's police chief and others in law enforcement said the city wouldn't be able to effectively fight synthetic drugs until the court system started testing offenders for these new and ever-changing drugs. tonight we take you inside dc's pretrial services. we're the first televisi

joining me now live from times square is nbc's stephanie gosk. have more cameras than any other place. one of the most secure places in the world. nevertheless, it can be heightened for something of this occasion. >> reporter: sure. i mean there are plenty of eyes in the sky. there will also be helicopters in the air. there really are no shortage of superlatives when it comes to describing this security event. biggest. most complicated. most layered. it is why the department of homeland security took the rare step of declaring it a national special security event which, in effect, allows the federal government to bring its full force to bear on the operation. it means that the secret service is in charge. when we spoke to the director of the secret service, he told us that he personally has been to rome multiple times talking about this trip and negotiating this trip. just looking at just the recent last day with the pope here, i have to believe that one of those compromises for the secret service is that little fiat he's driving around in. tamron

stephanie gosk is right there amongst the crowds. she's been talking security and other things.all correctly, this area you are now was all in lockdown yesterday? getting to where you were yesterday is a lot different than today? >> that's right. there's been a change. they've shrunk that area that was the secure zone. all of these people coming down will have to go through security checks. as we get closer to the mass, we aren't seeing this group let up at all. it's just as crowded as it was before. and those lines at the checkpoints were getting really long. officials made a quick change. each of the checkpoints were designated for people with tickets or without. they've combined that. so anyone coming in here, whether they have a ticket or not can choose any checkpoint. that way it may be a bit more efficient. those lines are rail loeally lo. we were told by people waiting in them they waited for at least an hour. you can imagine these people now facing really long waits. but amazingly, still keeping smiles on their faces. >> stephanie, if they leave that secure area, they ca

a year later, stephanie gosk follows up on the report and learn learned opponents to the crumb river fields and industry that manufactures they'll are in agreement on one thing, the federal government has failed them both. the first part of a two-part follow-up investigation on nbc "nightly news" ahead at 6:30. >>> but first, all new at 6:00, five burglaries in five different philadelphia neighborhoods. crimes that spanned six months but they're all connected. what the thieves are suspected of stealing. >>> russia carrying out air strikes in syria, as you can see in this video. the russian defense ministry says fighter jets started bombing isis targets. u.s. officials say they're not against isis targets and civilians are being killed. u.s. secretary of state john kerry thinks russia is trying to protect president assad, who is struggling for power with isis and rebel factions. russia cautioned the u.s. to declare syrian airspace before the strikes but the u.s. led coalition continues to fly missions in syria. >>> an oklahoma man convicted of murdering his boss in 1997 is being grant

stephanie gosk with this angle of the story for us.lining the streets want to see pope francis, wave, they want to get a selfie. how are police and security able to protect him against the possibility of one person with bad intent in a crowd? >> reporter: well, craig, you know, everyone that is involved in this security effort is well briefed on how unpredictable the pope can be and tried to do is get a better sense of the crowd itself by setting up these parameters. not just anybody to walk up and be along the open processions to see the pope and take pictures of him and a position to potentially even touch him. they have to go through mag no, ma'am tmag mono, ma'am ters ande of the things to make the security challenge so, so large is the ambitious nature of the trip itself. the number of events that the pope trying to pack in, we have seen it in washington. you're going to see it here in new york. on friday, just to give you a sense of it, he starts thedy at the u.n. he goes down to wall street to the 9/11 memorial. and then he goes

. >> stephanie gosk in new york city, pete williams in washington watching it all. >>> pope francis is in washington, as we've said. he'll be the first pope to speak before a joint session of congress. we'll look at the politics of the papal visit plus the big story in presidential politics today. ben carson defending his stance on religion in the white house. we'll look at why carly fiorina says carson is wrong. stay tuned. >> i would like to hear just what he thinks about american politics and what he thinks that the american people can do better and just how we can bring catholicism into our everyday lives. i will be taking selfies if i can, like as close as i can get to him, like selfies all the time. like so excited. so what's your news? i got a job! i'll be programming at ge. oh i got a job too, at zazzies. (friends gasp) the app where you put fruit hats on animals? i love that! guys, i'll be writing code that helps machines communicate. (interrupting) i just zazzied you. (phone vibrates) look at it! (friends giggle) i can do dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs... you name it. i'm going