. >>> and ann curry's making a giving hope to some of the poorest people in america. giving hope to some of the poorest people in america. nightly news begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening, i'm lester holt in tonight for brian williams. >>> the pace of evacuation that site of the oil blow-out is picking up this evening. tropical storm bonnie made landfall this morning south of miami before heading to open water. it was later downgraded to a tropical depression, but is expected to regain tropical storm strength over the weekend. and while right now it poses minimal danger to coastal communities along the gulf, officials are worried it poses a significant threat to the armada of containment vessels at sea, as well as the floating tide of oil spread across the gulf. nbc's anne thompson is watching developments for us in venice, louisiana. anne? >> reporter: good evening, lester. officials here think they can handle whatever bonnie would bring, in part because they had a dress rehearsal, of sorts, with hurricane alex, but they are tak

ann curry reports how

the vice president gets candid with ann curry. >>> and tragic mix-up. hear from the parents who were told their daughter had died in a car crash when, in fact, she was still alive. >>> and now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

ann curry, thanks very much. it's now ten minutes after the hour. here's meredith. >> matt, thank you. now to those vicious bear attacks near yellowstone. one man is dead, two others injured, after a bear or bears went on a rampage at a camp site. ron alsaum is a montana fish wildlife and parks spokesman is with us on the phone. ron, good morning to you. >> good morning, meredith. >> we know about those bear attacks that one man was killed, two others injured, a man and a woman. what about their conditions this morning? what can you tell us? >> not sure how they're doing. i think they're going to be fine, though, meredith. injuries to the man, i think, to a leg, and from what we heard from the sheriff's dispatch and our crew, injuries to the arm of the woman, but it looks like they're going to recover completely. >> ron, i understand you got a call early wednesday morning that there had been a bear attack at soda butte campground, and then about a half hour later you got another call. what do you believe happened there? >> well, we're not sure, mere

. >> i'm ann curry. those documents on the website called wikileaks could be the largest unauthorized disclosure in u.s. history. they are painting a blaeak picture. >> 92,000 documents. they span six years. the u.s. is saying the leak jeopardizes those serving in the region. who leaked the reports and why? what does it mean for our future there. the latest on that developing story ahead. >>> and bp may be closer to showing ceo tony hayward the door but you will speak to another ceo doing things right. >> ford is on track to post one of its largest annual profits ever. just a few short years ago it was teetering on the brink of disaster. and a lot of people credit the guy in charge -- alan mulally. what does his company's success say about the economic recovery? we'll talk to him and unvail ford's new explorer suv. suv at a time when people are moving away from them. >> that's under the sheet there. >>> plus, former first daughter chelsea clinton will be tying the knot in about five days. we'll look at t

curry. he talks about criticism the obama administration faces over the economy. >> and that is -- meantime, this administration is being criticized fornot doing enough to grow jobs. there in some pockets of this country a 20% unemployment rate. >> sure. >> has this administration done enough? >> yes. let me put it this way. there's never enough until we restore the 8 million jobs lost in the bush recession. until that happens, it doesn't matter. i mean, it matters but it's not enough. >> you can see the full exclusive interview with vice president biden later this morning on "today". >>> man's best friend may also be man's best mimic. new research shows pets may not only look like their owners but act like them. in britain people with pets and animal behavior specialists are not surprised by this new research. researchers out of vienna and oxford say just like children pets adopt a look and learn approach, which means they can't help but mimic the humans that they're around. >> as long as y

i'm matt lauer along with ann curry and the aforementioned al roker. and coming up just a half an hour from now, we've got carrie underwood, the reigning country music association queen right now. >> i know. it's pretty amazing. everybody's got their hats on. also on that side, as well. >> it's huge. >> also on that side as well. a nice turnout for carrie. >> looking forward to that in a half hour. >>> coming up, we start with a serious story. >> we do. you know the story about phoebe prince, that 15-year-old, there were accusations of teenagers at her high school had been accused of bullying her and she subsequently committed suicide. well now, one woman has been able to interview phoebe's father. >> for the first time. >> and you would be amazed at his graciousness, how forgiving in many ways he is. and we're going to find out what he had to say coming up this morning. >> that's right. then we've got a little bit of a mystery. a woman who owns a $100 million mansion, one of the largest apartments in new york city on fifth avenue. >> yes. >> has only

ann curry at the news desk. good morning. >> good morning, matt. we begin with breaking news that lufthansa airline has crashed in saudi arabia. it was confirmed it was from international airport in the saudi captain of riyadh. it crashed, broke if half, injuring both pilots. no other immediate word of other casualties. >>> a dramatic show of force today as the united states and south korean war ships conducted live fire maneuvers off the north korean peninsula. no sign so far that north korea is preparing the military response it threatened. today both koreas mark the 57th anniversary of the troops that ended the fighting in the korean war. 57 a tornado struck a ranch monday night in the far east northern corner of montana and officials say two people were killed and a third is in the ayspital. it also brought golf ball-sized heil that destroyed crops. spital now appears alcohol bayed a role in the crash in fresno, california. it silled six people. nhe california highway patrol says an autopsy has revealed n shean 18-year-old driver was under the

i'm matt lauer along with meredith vieira and ann curry who is kissing babies and running for office over here. and coming up in this half hour you're saying cabbage, move over. >> that's what you think of when you think of irish foods. the most popular is dish. today we're cooking up crabs and a seafood coleslaw on the menu. delicious recipes just ahead. >> we love him. >> the coleslaw includes sea weed. >> a lot of people love it. >> what about your people? >> my people eat mcdonald's and -- daniel silva is here, out with his tept novel featuring the spy/art in "the rembrandt affair." he has done something outrageous. >> take him to task. >>> also coming up, we have some diet questions people have. and now another check of the weather from stephanie abrams. >> down there. >> hey there, guys. we have a birthday. never too old for a crown, huh? >> never. >> do you think we should give this crown to jim bell? >> sure. why not? we'll pass it along to him. >> let's have a look at e weather and seeing the nicest of weather in the northeast. you're from indiana. unfortunately, severe weat

curry today. they talked about criticism the obama administration is facing over the economy. >> and that is meantime this administration is being criticized for not doing enough to grow jobs. >> yeah. >> there is, in some pockets of this country, a 20% unemployment rate. >> sure. >> has this administration done enough? >> yes. there's never enough until we restore the 8 million jobs lost in the bush recession. until that happens, it doesn't matter. i mean, it matters but it's not enough. >> you can see the full exclusive interview with vice president joe biden later on this morning on the "today" show. >>> the long-term unemployment mr. biden was referring to is a growing problem. >> it is. 8 million of them. to be totally fair and balanced on that, there were were a lot more added as the obama administration come in. million more. but it is the long term that the economists are most worried about. economists make the assumption that people who lose their jobs generally get new ones fairly quickl

ann curry is over at the news desk. ann, good morning to you. >> good morning, meredith. hello, everybody. also in the news this morning there's a dramatic rescue operation still under way this morning in wyoming's grand teton national park. last night park rangers and a helicopter team removed 16 injured climbers from a mountainside after lightning struck the area. one climber was still missing, rescuers said that all of the victims suffered injuries related to the lightning strike, including burns and trauma. we've got now on the telephone jackie skaggs, public affairs officer for grand teton national park. jackie, good morning. what can you tell us about how hopeful the rescuers might be about finding the climber who is still missing? >> good morning, ann. we are hopeful, but given the darkness and the long hours overnight that this person was out on the mountain, we are uncertain as to his condition this morning. at first light, which will be about 6:30 our time, it's now just about 5:15, we'll start looking for this individual again. we have rangers who spent the nig

eastern for the "dateline" special with ann curry. "america now friends and neighbors" it will study the impact of the recession on the poor. we'll be back next week. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." ♪ [ man ] if it was simply about money, every bank loan would be a guarantee of success. at ge capital, loaning money the start of the relationship, not the end. i work with polaris every day. at ge capital, we succeed only when they do. whoo! awesome! yes! we've got to get you out of the office more often. ♪ my turn to drive. ♪ - nearly 60 million amer my turn to drive. let's all eat healthy, get some exercise, and start making smart choices. don't become part of an uncomfortably growing statistic. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

more now from ann curry. >> reporter: when we met sonny and the family in nelsonville, ohio, earlier this year, there were 14 family members living in a four-bedroom house. >> i slept in the bedroom on the floor with my husband. and three of our kids slept on the bed. >> reporter: the home belongs to sonny's parents. sonny, her husband and four children moved in when her father got sick. you tried to be a good daughter and that created a situation that you were stuck. >> right. >> reporter: stuck because she quit a good job in another town packing produce to take care of her sick father and couldn't find other work. then her brother, todd, lost his home and moved his family in, too. but there just wasn't room for everyone inside. >> todd, he wouldn't go in for a while until he got really sick, he was coughing up blood, and that's what finally got him to move into the house. >> reporter: people were sleeping in the tents during the winter? >> yes. >> reporter: inside the house small children live in the same space as grandparents, aunts and uncles. for the most part this family of 14

ann curry is standing by at the news desk with the headlines. >> i do. good morning once again everybody. for the first time in nearly three months no oil is spilling from that ruptured well in the gulf. bp is monitoring the pressure after closing the valves on thursday on the containment cap which at least temporarily is stopping the leak. >> we won't be done until we actually know that we've killed the well and that we have a permanent solution in place. >> a rare earthquake jarred many awake before dawn this morning in washington, d.c. the 3.6 quake at about 5:00 a.m. was centered in germantown, maryland, while it was still a relatively small quake the u.s. geological survey said it was the strongest one in the region in at least 36 years. >>> an overnight hotel fire in iraq claimed at least 29 lives. officials say some of the victims may have been foreigners who worked in iraq's oil industry. they say the fire appeared to be accidental >>> banking giant goldman sachs agreed on thursday to pay a record $550 million fine to settle civil fraud charges t

. >>> now a check of the top stories from ann curry at the news desk. >>> meredith and matt, good morning. good morning, everybody. >>> also in the news the u.s. announced new sanctions against north korea announcing the sanctions in south korea. secretary of state hillary clinton said they are aimed at funding the nuclear weapons program. she and secretary gates visited the demilitarized zone. >>> the cap on the oil well in the gulf is still holding. but now what? nbc news chief environmental correspondent anne thompson tells us what is coming up. anne, good morning. >> good morning, ann. this seems like the test that will never end. that is fine with the people here, as long as it keeps the oil from flowing into the gulf. but a potential problem moves just on the horizon. >> reporter: for six days now, the ceiling cap has held back the oil, but there is trouble brewing in the caribbean. a tropical wave near puerto rico could become a tropical depression or storm by thursday closing the weather window at the leak site that has allowed crews to make so much progress. >> the probability is