we go to nbc's steve handelsman in new york city. >> reporter: starting the cleanup. this was central park. new york is draining tonight. rhode island is taking stock. >> it's not as bad as we expected. it's much better. >> reporter: irene was a full fledged cat 1 hurricane. this was long island this morning. >> pandemonium pretty much. kind of crazy. >> reporter: at least 15 people were reported killed from florida to new england, many by falling trees last night and today. flooding extended far inland. this was near philadelphia and some rivers are still reported rising. now, many of the millions who evacuated want to see if there's damage. asa lowe in new york city. >> they said there was limited damage and power outages. i don't know what to believe. >> reporter: charlie jones in north carolina. >> they won't let us back in. you have to have a reentry pass. >> reporter: with power out to 800,000 homes in maryland and more than half a million in north carolina and pennsylvania, many people are not being allowed home. the feds expect second-guessing. >> a lot of peo

steve handelsman joins us with a look from new york city. hello, steve. >> reporter: hello, diane. here on time square, it looks like we are back to normal here. this place is crowded with tourists. hardly thinking of the hurricane, but even though the death toll is reported to be at 20 and could go higher, this could have been far worse. that's the assessment here in new york and up and down the east coast. starting the clean up, this was central park. new york is draining tonight. rhode island is taking stock. >> not as bad as we expected. much better. >> irene was a full-fledged cat one hurricane. this was long island this morning. >> pandemonium pretty much. crazy. >> at least 15 people were reported killed from florida to new england. many by falling trees last night and today. flooding extended far inland near philadelphia. some rivers are still reported rising. now many of the million who is evacuated want to see if there is damage. hazel lowe in new york city. >> there were power outages and i don't know what to believe. >> charlie jones in north carolina. >> pay won't let

i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> china is rejecting reports pakistan gave it access to the stealth helicopter that crashed during the u.s. raid that killed osama bin laden. this weekend the "financial times" reported that pakistan let chinese military engineers photograph and take samples from the radar-evading chopper before giving it back to the u.s. in its first response to the accusations, china's defense ministry said, quote, this report is baseless and preposterous. it comes just ahead of vice president joe biden's five-day trip to china. he arrived in beijing just a short while ago. >>> english media is reporting news corp. boss james murdock is likely to be called to parliament again over his testimony in the phone hacking scandal at "news of the world." documents released by english lawmakers have former murdoch lieutenants poking holes in the testimony delivered by rupert and james murdoch last month. the files suggest reporters and top editors at "news of the world" approved of the interception of voice mails. the revelations contradict claims the murdochs ha

nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: in his first reaction since standard & poor's downgraded u.s. bonds late friday, president obama rejected the double-a plus rating. >> no matter what some agency may say, we've always been and always will be a triple-a country. >> reporter: u.s. stock markets dropped sickeningly. the dow losing 5.55%. the s&p 500, 6.66%. the nasdaq off 6.9%, the biggest drop in years. gold was up to an all-time high, $1,700, a sign investors are scared. by last week's debt ceiling deal, not big or bold enough. >> no one touched entitlement spending or tax reform. until republicans and democrats show an ounce of backbone and actually do what's in the interest of the american people rather than what's in their own immediate political interest, i can't argue with s&p's conclusion. >> reporter: the president said the downgrade could spur on new debt talks. >> our problems are imminently solvable, and we know what we have to do to solve them. >> reporter: that, in turn, pleased the head of standard & poor's. >> it was actually a bit of a new sense of urgency we

nbc's steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: the stock markets were bouncing back the day after the big drop as federal reserve policymakers met in washington and decided against new intervention. the fed will keep interest rates superlow as a stimulus for two more years and not buy more u.s. bonds. >> the fed is out of bullets. anything additional it can do has marginal consequences. >> reporter: hearing a negative economic prediction, the markets dropped. >> thank you for coming out. >> reporter: in iowa tea party republican michele bachmann blamed president obama for the crisis. >> president obama and the politicians have almost doubled the national debt in five years. that's why they're in trouble. >> reporter: democrats slammed the gop solution. much deeper spending cuts. >> you cannot balance the budget of the united states with 9 million to 14 million unemployed people, period. >> reporter: over standard & poor's new york office, a plane flew a banner "thanks for the downgrade. you should all be fired." investors realized the fed move guaranteed two years of easy borrowing co

steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: all eight candidates saved their best shots for president obama. >> our president simply doesn't understand how to lead. >> and the message is this, you are finished in 2012. >> reporter: mitt romney in iowa for the first time got heckled. >> obama care was patterned after mit's plan in massachusetts. >> reporter: fighting to keep his campaign ally, pawlenty vowed no more timidity. he clashed with michele bachmann. >> in congress her record of accomplishments and results is nonexistent. >> people are looking for a champion. they want someone who has been fighting. >> if that's your view of effective leadership with results, please stop because you're killing us. >> reporter: tea party favorite rick perry made clear he's going to run, mocked bay fellow texan. >> i'm very pleased he's coming in because he represent it is status quo. >> reporter: all the debaters did agree to oppose tax hikes, but this had been the most contentious debate. saturday comes the iowa straw poll that's sure to knock some participants out of the race. i'm steve handelsman,

i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, ames, iowa. >>> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in california an unmanned hyper sonic glider was launched on a rocket from vandenberg air force base. it was the military's second try to fly the fastest airplane ever built. part of the plan for technology to reach a threat in any part of the globe in just an hour. the small sphere-shaped craft collected nine minutes of data before its signal was lost. it's believed it crashed into the pacific ocean. >>> elsewhere in california a team of stanford students designed what they hope is the fastest solar panels on wheels. the $500,000 car will compete at the world's solar challenge in australia. amazingly, the space-aged looking roadster is completely gas-free. >>> finally, an annual tradition at the keys county fair in nebraska. the clash of the combines. this year five farmers competed for a few thousand dollars as well as bragging rights for the sturdiest souped-up farm side. despite the beating they take in the derby, some machines survive to compete another year. ve

nbc's steve handelsman has our report. >> reporter: on his campaign style swing through the midwest. >> you look very trust worthy. >> reporter: president obama was in iowa, the state that put him on the path to the white house in 2008. the path rick perry hopes he's on for 2012. the texas governor was in iowa, targeting barack obama. >> now, mr. president, you tried now for 2 1/2 years of government creating jobs. >> reporter: he brags about his jobs record. texas unemployment is a point lower than the u.s. average. oil companies are profitable, tax revenue has not dropped in texas, and in fact almost all of new texas jobs are government jobs. some call perry reckless. he's standing by this charge against the federal reserve. >> printing more money to play politics at this particular time in american history is almost treasonous in my opinion. >> reporter: the president hosted an economic forum. >> we're going to make it easier for people in rural areas looking for work to find out about companies that are hiring. >> reporter: mitt romney was in new hampshire talking jobs. >> i spen

nbc's steve handelsman has the latest from ames. >> reporter: michele bachmann celebrated her iowa win. 29% of the vote in the field of nine. >> you have just sent a message that barack obama will be a one-term president. >> reporter: iowa republicans gathered in ames, ate the candidate's food and voted in the straw poll for their favorite. >> who did you vote for? >> guess who. michele. >> reporter: libertarian ron paul ran a strong second with 28%. tim pawlenty a weak third with 13%. rick santorum, fourth, 10%. mitt romney only dime iowa twice since may. he won just 3% of the vote. texas governor rick perry got 4%. all write-ins. perry in south carolina today stole some thunder from iowa with this. >> i declare to you today as a candidate for president of the united states. >> reporter: a new republican contender and a new republican winner. >> this was a wonderful down payment on taking the country back. >> we still have a very long way to go. there is a potential that michele bachmann will be the front-runner in iowa. you'll have mitt romney as the front-runner in new hampshire and

i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >> we'll have more on all of this coming up in business. but first, england's prime minister, david cameron has rushed home early from his vacation in italy to deal with the riots that have wreaked havoc on london streets for a third straight night. and now it's spread to other areas in the country. police are stretched thin and they're warning residents to stay inside. kerr simmons from our english broadcast partner, itn, has more. >> reporter: despite the condemnation and calls for calm, there are fires burning across london. south of the city, in croyden. and in lewisham. and east in hackney. where so brazen are the rioters, that even before night fell, they attacked police cars and looted shops. >> reporter: attempts to regain control led to further confrontations with police. >> this is going to carry on for days, isn't it. >> reporter: hundreds have been arrested, many injured. for a third night, rioters are on the streets of london, they are attacking the shop just up there and grabbing anything they can. they've set light to cars an

but first, nbc's steve handelsman has a look at all the damage. >> reporter: the danger that remains tonight from irene comes from the hurricane's huge rainfall. rivers like this in vermont are raging there is overflow from north carolina to new england. this was pennsylvania near philadelphia. >> this storm is transitioning into a flooding event. we're going to experience major flooding. >> reporter: in bayhead, new jersey, rising seawater filled the streets near nancy walton. >> we knew at 11:30, 12:00 we made a mistake by staying, but we couldn't go anywhere. we were stuck. >> reporter: new york city firefighters had to rescue more than 60 people, including three babies on staten island. >> when i looked out, my heart sank because all of the sudden the water was up to the level of the cars. >> reporter: despite water in some streets, 300,000 new yorkers were allowed back home. after the city's first ever evacuation of coastal neighborhoods. mayor michael bloomberg also closed the subways, the tunnels, the bridges. >> nobody likes to shut down the economy of the city. nobody likes

from ames, iowa, steve handelsman, nbc bay area news. diane, back to you. >>> and just for a little bit of perspective since its founding, the winner of the ames straw poll has gone on to win the republican presidential nomination two of the five times. >>> police in pakistan are searching for a 60-year-old american man who was kidnapped out of his home in eastern pakistan early this morning. and nbc's jay gray has the latest on that. >> reporter: the state department now confirms the kidnapped american is warren weinstein. reports indicate he's been working for several years in pakistan as the country director for development contractor j.e. austin associates. according to the company's website, he holds a ph.d. in economics, is fluent in six languages and worked in the field of international development for 25 years. pakistani police say the attack was carried out by as many as ten gunmen at 3:30 in the morning. they persuaded squurt guards by opening up the debates gates saying they wanted to share some food. once inside they overpowe