jim maceda, nbc news, london. >> jim maceda, who remains available for the u.s. team. >>> up next here tonight, the latest mishap at a busy american airport tonight. >>> it can be a delicate dance on the ground when airports get busy on a friday in the summer. and tonight things didn't go well at dulles outside d.c. a luftansa airbus and united express commuter twin prop clipped wingtip to tail. passengers posted photos of the damage to the luftansa jet. no injuries or fire. all on board were okay. >>> a rare sight in the skies over the jersey shore. a blimp bigger than good year. it's an army air ship made by northrup grumman. it's in the testing phase prior to deployment. it was designed as a high altitude intelligence gathering platform on its shakedown crews. the armed forces have used a number of smaller ones over iraq and afghanistan. it was seen, and what's believed to be amateur video was visible in the skies over new jersey for about 90 minutes earlier this week. >>> holly holy, it's neil diamond getting his star on the walk of fame. saluting a career th

jim maceda, nbc news, london. >> jim maceda who remains available for the u.s. team. >>> up next here tonight, the latest mishap at a busy american airport tonight. busy american airport tonight 37 the blissful pause just before that rich sweetness touches your lips. the delightful discovery, the mid-sweetening realization that you have the house all to yourself. well, almost. the sweet reward, making a delicious choice that's also a smart choice. splenda no-calorie sweetener. with the original sugar-like taste you love and trust. splenda makes the moment yours. [ femala $100 cream. we were tflattered when regenerist beat flabbergasted when we creamed a $500 cream. for about $30 regenerist micro-sculpting cream hydrates better than over 20 of america's most expensive luxury creams. fantastic. phenomenal. regenerist. chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance. geico, see how much you could save. [ man ] "the odyssey," by homer. book one. tell me, o muse... famous town of troy... book three. book 12. poseidon... book 17. book

we get more now from nbc's jim maceda. >> reporter: sochi, the russians call it their black sea pearl. where josef stalin kept a summer home. a soviet style resort and only 30 miles from high mountain slopes and deep winter snow. >> sochi. >> reporter: winning the bid to host the 2014 winter olympics was a personal victory of russian president vladimir putin. he's betting the farm, some $50 billion to showcase sochi as a symbol of his vision of a new russia, modern and open. but as the mayor recalls, in 2007 when sochi won the bid, there was no supermarket in sochi much less olympic venues. no ski resorts, no ice rinks, no roads to connect these places. we started everything from scratch, he said. today, there are five-star hotels, a new international airport, power station, all designed to turn sochi in to a year around mecca of business and tourism. some 60,000 are working around the clock on this europe's largest construction site. and no one believes that sochi won't be ready to offer the world a knockout winter games. as one olympic official put it, it's a no-fail mission. but th

jim maceda, nbc news, london. >>> now to the conflict in syria. it's been going on, as you know, for 17 months. and this all out battle for the northern city of aleppo is now in its 12th day. and tonight, our chief foreign correspondent richard engel has learned of a development in that battle that may be a turning point for the rebels. richard is with us again tonight from inside syria. >> reporter: good evening, brian. rebel sources tell nbc news that for the first time in this conflict the free syrian army has been armed with nearly two dozen shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles. that they came in from turkey. rebels hope this is the first batch, and say their effects will be felt soon. for days in aleppo, and throughout this war, syrian troops have had total air superiority. that is now changing. and the new anti-aircraft weapons could help their battle for aleppo. the syrian government promised to make quick work of what it called the terrorists in aleppo. but the rebels are holding on. the rebels today battled to defend every corner of thei

we get more now from jim maceda. >> reporter: winning the bids to host the 2014 winter olympics was a victory for vladimir putin. he is showing it as modern. as mayor recalls in 2007 when they won the bid there was no supermarket much less olympic venues. no ski resorts, no ice rinks or roads. we started everything from scratch. today there are five star hotels, a new international airport, power stations all designed to turn it into a year round mecca. some 60,000 are working around the clock on this largest construction site and no one believes that it won't be ready to offer the world a knockout winter games. as one olympic official put it, it is a no-fail mission. there are real concerns. it is just 300 miles from unstable pockets of islamest militants. the brains behind deadly suicide attacks is still on the loose and has promised more attacks. >> russians security service of course will be their absolute priority. >> reporter: still a world-class ski resort is on track. u.s. olympic champion lindsy von gave the down hill a grade. jim maceda, nbc news. >>> we are back with a coup