kate snow, nbc news, new york. >> that's our broadcast on a wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening, and we'll look foryou later tonight for our special edition of "rock center." good night.

tonight, be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." >>> here is a look at what is coming up later this morning on "the today show." stephen colbert will size up this year's election. >>> get an inside look at churchill downs, the racetrack behind tomorrow's kentucky derby, which will be carried live at 4:00 p.m. eastern, 1:00 pacific right here on nbc. >>> keep on it this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good weekend!

kristen dahlgren, nbc news, hollywood. >> that's our broadcast on a friday evening. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we will of course look for you right back here on monday. in the meantime, please have a good weekend. good night.

charles hadlock, nbc news, atlanta. >>> that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. i hope you'll join me shortly

kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. >>> that's our broadcast for this friday night. thank you for being with us. i'm lester holt. brian will be back here on monday. i'll see you a bit later for "dateline" friday and tomorrow morning for "today." have a great weekend and good night, everyone. morning for "today." have a great weekend and good night, everyone.

brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> elsewhere, a u.s. drone stroke has killed a top al qaeda leader in yemen. it hit him as he stepped out of his vehicle in southern yemen. one of al qaeda's senior leaders, he was on the fbi most-wanted list for his role in the bombing of the "uss cole" in tw 2000 which killed $17 soldier and wounded 39. >>> after years of delay, a dent tiff trial delay has been set for next year for the defendants in the september 11th attacks. an arraignment hearing was held featuring more delays. nbc national news intercorporate michael izikoff reports from cuba. >> reporter: at guantanamo bay it was a difficult day for a military xruj judge and painful of the families of 9/11 victims. khalid shake mow humid and his co-defendants were brought in to be formally arraigned that they plotted the attacks that killed more than 3,000 people more than a decade ago. but mohammed and his co-defendants were defiant, repeatedly refusing to answer the judge's questions or put on headsets to hear translations of what he had to say.

miguel almaguer, nbc news. billings, montana. >> and that's our broadcast for this monday evening. thank you for being with us. i'm savannah guthrie. brian will be right back here tomorrow evening. and as we leave you on this memorial day, images of how america remembered those who gave everything for the country they loved. have a good evening.

tonight we're with debuting our new nbc news/wall street journal poll. our chief white house correspondent, political director chuck todd with us with that from washington tonight. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well, you know, since our last poll, many things have changed. increased economic uncertainty here and abroad. president obama's gay marriage decision. the battle over bain capital, the official drawdown in afghanistan. how did voters digest it all? the partisans appear to be dig in. it's the latest piece of evidence that the obama/romney battle is shaping up to be one very close election. while mitt romney claimed victory once and for all in the republican primary, and president obama officially kicked off his bid for a second term, our new poll shows a very close race with president obama's lead narrowing from last month from 47 to 43. the president's numbers are boosted by large leads among hispanics and women. and a small lead among voters in the 12 nbc battleground states. romney has important leads with men, suburban

lisa myers, nbc news, greensboro, north carolina. >>> up next here, tonight. the news out today about weight gain. and bringing a plane down intentionally while cameras rolled. the story behind this crash in the desert. when's the show? well, if we don't find an audience, all we'll ever do is rehearse. maybe you should try every door direct mail. just select the zip codes where you want your message to be seen. print it yourself or find a local partner. and you find the customers that matter most. brilliant! clifton, show us overjoyed. no! too much! jennessa? ahh! a round of applause! [ applause ] [ male announcer ] go online to reach every home, every address, every time with every door direct mail. the day starts with arthritis pain... a load of new listings... and two pills. after a morning of walk-ups, it's back to more pain, back to more pills. the evening showings bring more pain and more pills. sealing the deal... when, hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. it can relieve pain all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lois... who chose two aleve

nbc news analyst clint van zandt is a former fbi profiler. clint, good morning to you. >> hi, matt. >> let's just start with, i think, what everyone watching this story right now is either thinking or saying out loud. those two 911 calls. first the father, he calls, he's the first to report his daughter missing, he sounds calm, and at one point, clint, he even chuckles. and then ten minutes later the mother calls, she's frantic. what do you make in the difference in the tone? >> well, number one, i think we always have to be careful. we respond to stress in different ways. some people laugh inappropriately because they don't know how else to handle the situation. but i think you're right, there is just marked ly different response. the father kind of matter of the fact, the mother is crying, is frantic. so right away, you zero in on that. but short of any other evidence, it's interesting, but it's just one more piece of this puzzle. >> certainly something that sergio celis is telling investigators makes them uncomfortable. although police say

the new season of "america's got talent" debuts tonight on nbc. last night, in the uk, the finale of their season edition of "britain's got talent," and it's launched a new star who stole the show and walked away with the grand prize on four paws. our report from london, here is nbc's stephanie gosk. >> "britain's got talent." in fact, britain has so much talent. even the dogs are amazing, or at least pudzy is. in choreographed unison with trainer ashley butler, he danced, walked, twirled, and pulled off that move to win british tv's most popular reality show. >> you, ashley, are a star, and pudzy, i can't cope. >> it's a miracle. congratulations to both of you. >> 17-year-old butler, clearly a performer in her own right, is ready for big things. >> it would be an absolute dream come true to go to hollywood. >> pudzy, calm and self effacing at her side, probably wondering when he might get his next steak. he's no purebred, just a mutt. border collie and bichon with a touch of chinese crusted powder puff for attitude. in the parks of london today,

chris jansing, nbc news, new york. >>> good note to go out on for our thursday night broadcast. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams, and of course, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. as we leave you tonight, one sure and solemn sign that memorial day weekend is upon us. the placing of the flags. it's under way at arlington national cemetery. 220,000 of them, one for each headstone. thanks to the men and women of the old guard, the third infantry regimen. they have been doing it the same way every year since 1948. a juicy johnsonville sausage. made with only premium cuts of pork since 1945.

tonight we're with debuting our new nbc news/wall street journal poll. chuck todd has that this evening. >> reporter: since our last poll, many things have changed. increased economic uncertainty here and abroad. the battle over bain capital, the official drawdown in afghanistan. how did voters digest it all? it's the latest piece of evidence that the obama/romney battle is shaping up to be one very close election. mitt romney claimed victory once and for all in the republican primary. and president obama officially kicked off his bid for a second term. our new poll shows a very close race with president obama's lead narrowing from last month much the president's numbers are boosted by large leads among hispanics and women. romney has important leads with men, suburban voters and those folks paying the closest attention to the campaign. the president's lead over romney almost mirrors his job approval rating of 48%. that's almost identical to president bush's job approval rating at this same point in 2004. mr. obama continues to rate higher on foreign pol

kate snow, nbc news, new york. >> that's our broadcast on a wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening, and we'll look for you later tonight for our special edition of "rock center." good night.

anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >>> and still ahead as we continue, a bottleneck. a long line in what could be a dangerous waiting game. question is why are so many people trying to get to the top of the world? >>> and later, stars of a certain age still the ones shining the brightest on the great white way these days. >>> wait until you see these pictures we have to show you. it might be the last place on earth you would expect to see a traffic jam, the top of the world, mt. everest, but a combination of bad weather and really too many people looking for that peak experience all at the same time, has turned tragic. our report tonight from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> it is the holy grail for mountaineers, the irresistible but deadly everest. in growing numbers, they're lining up to get to the top. this is what it looked like last week. climbers by the hundreds, each hoping to conquer the world's tallest peak. on saturday, there was a short break in the weather and a race to the summit. above 26,000 feet in a place ominously called the death zone, they hit a traffic ja

rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. >> how about that? that's our broadcast on a wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. don't forget 250 join us for "rock center" at 9:00, 8:00 central. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. good night.

stephanie gosk, nbc news london. >>> an airport security supervisor used a dead man's identity and he pleaded not guilty in court. that airport worker is from nigeria. police arrested him. he worked as an airport security supervisor at newark airport for the past 20 years. authorities say he's been using the name jerry thomas, who was the victim of a homicide in new york city back in 1992. prosecutors say the man may have four or five other aliases. he's currently being held on $250,000 bail. >>> the miracle on the hudson pilot is at odds with new york city's mayor over garbage. the city wants to build a new garbage transfer facility near a runway at laguardia airport. pilot sullenberger said it will attract birds that can cripple airplanes like the one he was forced to land on the hudson three years ago. sullenberger appears in a new radio ad criticizing the plan. >> strongly opposed to the city's construction of a garbage transfer facility next to laguardia's runway. it will attract birds into the path of on coming flights. >> mayor bloomberg says another station was in that same lo

which brings us to a new campaign we here at nbc universal are very proud to be a part of. it takes its name from a military phrase. i've got your 6. >> "your 6" is a military term that means, i've got your back. the 12:00 is your front, your direction of travel. 3:00 and 9:00 are right and left, and 6:00 is to the rear. >> keep doing what you're doing. i have your back. i'm able to watch the dark spots, the places you can't see. >> through jobs, education, housing, and more, we can support returning military veterans and their families. >> the first step in bridging the civilian/military divide is having each other's 6. changing the conversation in america so the veterans and military families are seen as civic assets and leaders and not as charity cases or problems. >> my daughter is 11 years old. i went to a meeting of parents a few months back. and in walked a couple who were both in fatigues, and this couple went and sat down. no one talked to them. it wasn't that people were rude or mean, but it was as if there was a discomfort, they didn't know what to do. we haven't

in an emotional interview with nbc news, he said he left the embassy because of threats to his family and asked the u.s. to take concrete steps to guarantee his safety and said he now wanted to leave china. hillary clinton, in china, said the deal reflected clean's choices and americans values. she hoped to prevent the issue from overshadowing high level talks thursday, which it now surely will. u.s. officials promised to closely monitor chen's treatment for years, if necessary. but he's no longer under diplomatic protection. china's angry and embarrassed, demanding an apology and for chen, leaving the country now may no longer be an option. ian williams, nbc news, beijing. >>> secretary of state hillary clinton pointedly called on nato to protect human rights. in her speech today, opening talks with officials in beijing. she said the u.s. believes that "no state can legitimately deny the universal rights that belong to every human being or punish those who exercise them." quoting president obama, clinton promised to protect the citizens rights will be a stronger partner for the u.s.

kristen dahlgren, nbc news, san francisco. >>> how about that? that's our broadcast on a friday night. for this week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. have a wonderful memorial day weekend and please pause to remember our veterans. good night.

. >> i have big election news from arizona. [ nbc "nightly news" theme ] >> jeff kelly that almost beat gabby gifford, he is running against ron barber who is gabby's aid and an incredible guy -- >> we have had him on, he is awesome. >> he is wonderful. i want to make sure all arizona voters get out there and vote, because he is an absolute right-wing tool. and also i had a request for jim. jim, today is my wife's amy, and my 15th anniversary. >> thank you. >> i was wondering if tom brokaw could say something angry. >> congratulations on the 15th anniversary of your nuptials. [ laughter ] >> nicely done. nuptials. >> angry mini kiss guy? >> because somebody -- because the camera angle -- >> hi -- >> tiny jim. >> the camera angle and the chair which is about three inches off of the floor. we have since fixed that by the way. >> yes, he is of normal size now. 29 minutes after the hour, right back on the "stephanie miller show." ♪ >>scores of the most talented filmmakers in the world gather in new york city every year for the tribeca film festival. the eclectic slate of films draws an es

attorney and nbc news legal consultant, kendall coffey. great to see you. >> good morning, lester. >> the court of public opinion weighed on this case weeks ago, absent this kind of evidence. hearing stories, seeing pictures of injuries on zimmerman's head. the witness accounts, proximity of gunshots, does that bolster zimmerman's claim of self-defense? >> don't expect a seismic shift in public reaction. this does more good for zimmerman than it does for the prosecution. because it tells us there are very important unanswered questions. questions about who started the fight and whose voice it was on the 911 tape crying for help. enough unanswered questions mean unproven facts and we have a long way to go. those are the tools of a defense lawyer, trying to establish a reasonable doubt. >> the national d.a. was criticized for not filing charges against zimmerman. seeing evidence, do you see that in a different light now? does it seem perhaps not unreasonable that the d.a. didn't move forward immediately with charges? >> i think it tells you

tonight we're with debuting our new nbc news/wall street journal poll. our chief white house correspondent, political director chuck todd with us with that from washington tonight. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. you know, since our last poll, many things have changed. increased economic uncertainty here and abroad. the battle over bain capital, the official drawdown in afghanistan. how did voters digest it all? the partisans appear to be dig in. it's the latest piece of evidence that the obama/romney battle is shaping up to be one very close election. mitt romney claimed victory once and for all in the republican primary. and president obama officially kicked off his bid for a second term. our new poll shows a very close race with president obama's lead narrowing from last month from 47 to 43. the president's numbers are boosted by large leads among hispanics and women. and a small lead in the voters in the 12 nbc battle grounds states. romney has important leads with men, suburban voters and those folks paying the closest attenti

captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> we begin today with a glimmer of hope, news of a new clinical trial that could lead to a treatment to prevent alzheimer's disease. millions of americans live in constant daily fire of it, millions more are living with it. millions more are caring for them. the numbers in fact are bad, almost five and a half million americans are currently living with the disease. that makes it an epidemic by any measure. by 2050, that will go to 16 million americans, at a cost of over a trillion dollars to treat it. it's why the government has launched a war on this disease. and all hopes are now riding on this research and treatment that could prevent it. it's where we begin here tonight with robert bazell. >> roughly every hour another american develops alzheimer's disease. glen campbell is one of them. today his daughter spoke about it. >> it's really hard to come to the realization that eventually he's going to look at me and i'm going to be nothing to him. >> reporter: today the government announced the details of a national plan to confront the af

lisa myers, nbc news, greensboro, north carolina. >>> on the endless campaign trail today, the topic turned back toward the issue so many americans consistently say they care about the most. that's the economy. our political director chief white house correspondent chuck todd with us from the white house tonight. chuck, good evening. >> good evening, brian. no matter who the president sits down with for interviews or where he does them, the subject always goes back to the one that will make or break his chances at re-election, the economy. even if a softer setting like "the view," it was a economy on the economy that seemed to strike a cord. >> how do you grade yourself honestly in terms of how you've done in terms of economics? >> i won't give us a letter grade. it's incomplete, we have work to do, and we still have some head winds out there. >> reporter: those head winds, he said are greece, gas prices and housing. the president is pinning his hopes on the election not being a referendum. >> we were talking about joe biden, joe has a favorite expression, don't compare me to the all

for "today," ron allen, nbc new york. >> clint van zandt is a former fbi profiler and nbc news correspondent. good morning, clint. >> good morning, lester. >> that's all they had. no physical evidence, no witnesses. could this prove to be a more difficult case to get a convention than it first seems? >> i think it will be, lester. number one, in new york state, the law says you have to have something nr than a conviction. you have to have some other evidence. now the criminal justice system is going to say, well, he talked about killing somebody as late as two years after etan disappeared, he's made other statements. but, again, as ron allen suggested, this is somebody who supposedly has mental health issues, has cancer, has hiv. so all of this is going to play in. the bottom line is does he have unique information that anyone else in the public wouldn't have from a very detailing search of the media the last 33 years. >> we're still learning about pedro hernandez. he was 18 at the time. clint, you have studied the minds of a killer. how is it that someone who would kill a child would not ha

senior officials tell nbc news that killed the head of al qaeda on sunday. administration officials are feeling good. >> since 9/11 and not one plane has been brought down by a terrorist. [ applause ] >> reporter: i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> a look at other stories making news early today in america, in colorado amazing video of a motorcyclist who survived after a car slammed right into him. police say the car ran a red light. other views show the motorcycle rider upside down right in midair just from the force of the impact. he's had to undergo a number of surgeries in the days following the crash, but he did survive. >>> in new york, another car plowed into a group of people in buffalo including a teenager who was sent flying. police say the driver didn't even stop. the victim is out of the hospital, and a 19-year-old accused of being behind the wheel is under arrest. >>> in oregon, a life saved with only seconds to spare. a sheriff's deputy grabbed a suicidal man just as he was about to jump off the bridge. the deputy and his partner q

ron mott, nbc news, new orleans. >>> bet that's a good tour. there's a lot more on this for everybody from our friends and experts at aarp. it's on our website tonight, nbcnightlynews.com. >>> up next, an american icon remembered tonight for fast liveling and fast cars. and the little boy who gave his marine dad the surprise of his life. >and the little boy who gas marine dad the surprise of his life. >and the little boy who ga his marine dad the surprise of his life. > and the little boy w his marine dad the surprise of his life. ing and fast cars. >>> and the little boy who gave his marine dad the surprise of his life. ing and fast cars. >>> and the little boy who gave his marine dad the surprise of his life. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better, and that means... game on! symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken mor

officials tell nbc news, that killed the head of al qaeda on sunday. administration officials are feeling good. >> since 9-11, and not one plane has been brought down. by a terrorist. >> reporter: steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> a look at other stories making news, in colorado amazing video of a motorcyclist who survived after a car slammed into him, just unreal there, police say the car ran a red light, other views show the motorcycle rider upside down in mid-air, just from the force of the impact. he had to undergo a number of surgeries in the days following the crash. >>> in new york, another car plowed in people in buffalo including a teenager sent flying. police say the driver didn't even stop, the victim is now out of the hospital and 19-year-old accused of being behind the wheel is under arrest. >>> in oregon, a life saved with only seconds to spare. a sheriff's deputy grabbed a suicidal man as he was about to jump off the bridge. the deputy and his partner quickly restrained the man, they had caught up to him moments earlier after g

nbc news. >>> this looks like a scene from a super hero movie, but it's real, folks. take a good look. a man wearing an engine powered jet pack jumped out of a helicopter then soared through the skies of rio de janeiro. the flight lasted 11 minutes and reached speeds of nearly 200 miles an hour. he flew over and around the city's landmarks including, you saw there, the famous christ the redeemer statue. he then pulled the parachute and landed safely on the beach. the daredevil is a former fighter pilot named evay rossi. in '08 he used the jet wing to cross the english channel and last year he flew over the grand canyon. >> big adventures. >>> an iconic painting sold for a record $120 million last night. it is "the scream" by the norwegian painter edvark monk. the expressionist painting was sold by a patron of monk. it dates back to 1895 and is one of four versions now in existence but is the only one still in private hands. the rest are in museums. the previous record for the most expensive work of art sold at auction was set two years ago when a picasso painting sold

mark barger, nbc news. >> that is so true. >>> and we've already got another tropical storm forming on this side of the -- >> right. in the atlantic. we already had one form this weekend. now we could have another one form just off the southeast coast, which is really rare before hurricane season even starts here. before june 1st. well, that would be beryl if it formed. we'll take a look at that in just a moment. right now we'll take a look around the area because there are some breaks in that cloud cover. you'll see a little bit of those puffy clouds there and some stars. just a few. so getting some breaks looking at a partly cloudy to mostly cloudy start to the morning. but those breaks in the clouds also means that we're going to be looking at some fog across the area. 73 the temperature with a wind out of the south at six miles per hour. so that wind also skritical helping with the nfog. the wind pretty light across the area. here's where the rain was earlier. the dry conditions just to the east of that area, and now just some showers left north. leesburg, frederick, that's about i

for "today," kerry sanders, nbc news, miami. >>> as subtropical storm beryl heads towards the southeast coast, the weather channel's jim cantore is in its path. he's on st. simons island. jim, what's happening there? >> reporter: good morning. it's a packed st. simons island too. it's hard to get a place to walk around, especially during the afternoon. this morning not too bad. people are out taking a jog at low tide. the wave action isn't too bad but kerry mentioned how many people had to be rescued yesterday. if you add up georgia, florida and south carolina, over 100 people had to be pulled from the waters. south carolina beaches remain closed. we expect the weather to change from where it is right through here, the center about 180 miles offshore. being the fact that it's subtropical means we will have an extended period of rain and wind beginning around midnight tonight and lasting all day memorial day, unfortunately keeping a lot of these beachgoers inside. back to you. >> all right, jim cantore. jim, thank you very much. >>> let's turn now to the weather channel's crystal egger w

mark potter, nbc news, miami. >>> now to the diplomatic drama in china playing out on the world stage. today, marathon negotiations led by secretary of state hillary clinton may have ended with a way out of this tense crisis for the white house. a blind chinese dissident may soon be on his way out of the country, obhis way to study at a university here in new york. we get the story tonight from our chief fourn affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. >> for 24 hours, chinese police at chen gaungcheng's hospital, blocked officials from even seeing the blind dissident. finally, just as the u.s./china summit was ending, an apparent break through. both sides eager to avoid a crisis. >> our staff and our doctor had a chance to meet with him, and he's concerned that he and his family now want to go to the united states so he can pursue his studies. >> a ct scan showed chen had three broken bones in one foot. injured while scaling a wall to escape house arrest. but doctors say no other serious medical problems. some republicans say the u.s. was too quick to leave him leave the safety of the em

the new season of "america's got talent" debrises tonight on nbc. last night in the uk, there finale of britain's got talent, and it launched a new star who stole the show and walked away with the grand prize on four paws. our report from london, here is nbc's stephanie gosk. >> britain has talent, in fact, britain has so much talent, even the dogs are amazing, or at least pudzy is. in choreographed unison with trainer ashley butler, he danced, walked, twirled, and pulled off that move to win british tv's most popular reality show. >> you, ashley, are a star, and pudzy, i can't cope. >> it's a miracle. congratulations to both of you. >> 17-year-old butler, clearly a performer in her own right, is ready for big things. >> it's a dream come true. >> pudzy, calm and self effacing at her side, probably wondering when he might get his next steak. he's no purebread, just a mutt. in the parks of london today, dogs ran and played like they always do, but the mood was grim. >> he's got no talent. >> the country loves pudzy. >> my heart goes out to the averag

the new season of "america's got talent" debuts tonight on nbc. last night in the uk, their finale of "britain's got talent," and it launched a new star who stole the show and walked away with the grand prize on four paws. our report from london, here is nbc's stephanie gosk. >> "britain's got talent." in fact, britain has so much talent. even the dogs are amazing, or at least pudzy is. in choreographed unison with trainer ashley butler, he danced, walked, twirled, and pulled off that move to win british tv's most popular reality show. >> you, ashley, are a star, and pudzy, i can't cope. >> it's a miracle. congratulations to both of you. >> 17-year-old butler, clearly a performer in her own right, is ready for big things. >> it would be an absolute dream come true to go to hollywood. >> pudzy, calm and self effacing at her side, probably wondering when he might get his next steak. he's no purebred, just a mutt. border collie and beshaun freza with a tunch of chinese crested powder puff for attitude. in the parks of london today, dogs ran and playe

richard engel, nbc news, cairo. >>> and back here in the states, the sisters of the man charged in the 1979 disappearance of etan patz now acknowledge their brother had said things years ago about hurting a child in new york. pedro hernandez has confessed to luring the 6-year-old into the basement of a convenience store where he worked and strangling m. neighbors in manhattan's soho district are putting up a memorial in front of the building where hernandez says he killed patz. >>> vice president joe biden says the united states can now focus on a new global challenge after a long decade of war. speaking saturday at west point, biden said ending the long wars in iraq and afghanistan will allow the u.s. to replace and rebalance its foreign policy. biden delivered the commencement address to 972 jubilant graduates. >>> and finally, michelle obama was with the single ladies this weekend, joining 5,000 fans at a beyonce concert in atlantic city. the first lady was with daughters sasha and maliyah saturday night at the brand-new rebel resort where beyonce's performing her first concert sinc

richard engel, nbc news, cairo. >>> and back here in the states, the sisters of the man charged in the 1979 disappearance of etan patz now acknowledge their brother had said things years ago about hurting a child in new york. pedro hernandez has confessed to luring the 6-year-old into the basement of a convenience store where he worked and strangling him. neighbors in manhattan's soho district are putting up a memorial in front of the building where hernandez says he killed patz. >>> vice president joe biden says the united states can now focus on a new global challenge after a long decade of war. speaking saturday at west point, biden said ending the long wars in iraq and afghanistan will allow the u.s. to replace and rebalance its foreign policy. biden delivered the commencement address to 972 jubilant graduates. >>> and finally, michelle obama was with the single ladies this weekend, joining 5,000 fans at a beyonce concert in atlantic city. the first lady was with daughters sasha and maliyah saturday night at the brand-new rebel resort where beyonce's performing her first concert si

john yang, nbc news, phoenix. >>> and up next here tonight, an early warning about something big and bright coming our way in the night sky. what's the matter? uh, trouble with a car insurance claim. ah, claim trouble. [ dennis ] you should just switch to allstate, and get their new claim satisfaction guarantee. hey, he's right man. [ dennis ] only allstate puts their money where their mouth is. yup. [ dennis ] claim service so good, it's guaranteed. [ foreman ] so i can always count on them. unlike randy over there. that's one dumb dude. ♪ the new claim satisfaction guarantee. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. put me at 5 timesd out my greater risk of a stroke,antee. my first thoughts were about my wife, and my family. i have the most common type of atrial fibrillation, or afib. it's not caused by a heart valve problem. i was taking warfarin, but my doctor put me on pradaxa instead to reduce my risk of stroke. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate) reduced stroke risk 35% better than warfarin. and unlike warfarin, with pradaxa, there's n

in an emotional interview with nbc news, he left the beam see because of threat to his family and asked the u.s. to take concrete steps to guarantee his safety and said he now wanted to leave china. hillary clinton, in china, said the deal reflected clean's choices and americans values. she hoped to prevent the issue from overshadowing high level talks thursday, which it now surely will. u.s. officials promised to closely monitor chen's treatment for years, if necessary. but he's no longer under diplomatic protection. china's angry and embarrassed, demanding an apology and for chen, leaving the country now may no longer be an option. ian williams, nbc news, beijing. >>> secretary of state hillary clinton pointedly called on dma to protect human rights. in her speech today, opening talks with officials in beijing. she said the u.s. believes that "no state can legitimately deny the universal rights that belong to every human being or punish those who exercise them." quoting president obama, clinton promised to protect the citizens rights will be a stronger partner for the u.s. >>> in poli

let's bring in nbc news senior political editor mark murray. i put my little quotes up like that because, mark, you know there were dire predictions, many people felt this would certainly hurt the president with independents. there was even speculation that it would hurt him with african-american voters who are a solid supporter of this president. so now we have some numbers to discuss. >> we do, tamron. it comes two weeks after president obama's announcement that he was supporting same-sex marriage. and it does, as our pollsters point out, look to be a political draw. according to the poll, 17% said that president obama's announcement would make them more likely to vote for him. 20% said that the announcement would make them more likely to vote for mitt romney who opposes gay marriage, and then this is probably the big headline here, 62% say that it doesn't make a difference at all, and while i can't give away any other numbers, tamron, it does show you that -- and you have probably seen in other surveys -- the economy matters a whole not more

according to nbc news maris poll. president obama and mitt romney in a tie in colorado, iowa and nevada. the economy remains most important issue with 70% saying it will decide their vote for president. when asked which candidate would do a better job at handling the economy, iowans give mitt romney a slight edge. in colorado and nevada, it's a tie. despite the country's financial struggles, there are encouraging numbers for the president. the majority of voters believe the worst of the tough economy is behind us according to the nbc poll. while roughly four in ten think there are bigger problems ahead. more than half of the voters polled say inherited conditions are to blame rather than the president's own policies. >>> meanwhile, mitt romney is out in california today, continuing his west coast fundraising push. in an interview yesterday, the republican nominee said just because he's rich, doesn't mean he cannot connect with americans. >> there will be people, and you know this already, who will look at you as just

miguel almaguer, nbc news, san juan capistrano. >> and that's our broadcast on a wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. and of course, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

nbc "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. as one middle east expert put it, there's two ways the u.s. and the rest of the world can look at this situation in syria. boots on the ground or head in the sand. but what's happening in syria right now is making it harder for anyone to look away. it's been going on for 14 months now. it's close to dissolving into all out civil war. a dictator finds himself under attack from an uprising, and he shows every willingness to try to crush it. the latest massacre has led a prominent diplomat, a former secretary-general of the u.n. to say, we are right now at a tipping point. and he means the rest of the world. it's where we begin tonight with our chief foreign correspondent richard engel. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. even people here in the middle east were growing numb to the violence in syria. but the horror of last friday's massacre has shocked people around the world into action. action that many syrians say is long overdue. a rare demonstration in bashar al

brian mooar, nbc news washington. >>> four american soldiers who survived combat, a staggering 45% of veterans are filing for disability benefits. that's a historic rate. more than 700,000 former soldiers have applied to the department of veterans affairs for compensation for injuries they say are service related. many of america's newest veterans, mostly from the afghanistan and iraq wars, say they have multiple injuries from bomb blasts. the 45% filing disability claims is more than double the number who did so after the first gulf war in the early '90s. j memorial day festivities could be a washout for some folks in the southeast after tropical storm beryl made landfall in northern florida this morning. beryl was bringing heavy rains and winds of up to 50 miles per hour to coastal areas of the southeast. knocking out power to more than 20,000 customers in the jacksonville area alone. nbc's curt gregory has more on holiday hazards around the nation. >> reporter: on this memorial day weekend, wild weather is turning the holiday into not quite a great day at the beach. >> we're really

brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> well, elsewhere lawyers for former presidential candidate john edwards will begin his defense today at his trial in north carolina. he's accused of campaign finance violations to cover up an affair and a conviction could send him to prison. nbc's frances kuo has more. >> reporter: after three weeks of at times gut-wrenching emotional testimony, today the john edwards' defense team will get their first chance to present their case to the jury. last thursday the prosecution rested after bringing dozens of witnesses to the stand. they tried to shred the credibility of the former presidential candidate, including presenting edwards' 2008 interview in which he denied fathering a child with mistress rielle hunter. analysts say that video puts pressure on edwards to testify. >> i think the heat is really on john edwards to take the stand. >> reporter: the government alleges that funds used to cover up his affair with hunter were actually illegal campaign contributions, a charge edwards denies. >> it's going to be up to him to be able to look this jury i