lester? >> thanks. >> so, where is it headed after santiago? bill karins has more. >> the biggest headline from isaac through the opening period is that it's taking the path of least resistance. let me explain. it's going right in between cuba and haiti, mostly over the water areas. this means it has a chance to stay stronger, and it's much more likely now that florida's going to have to deal with a hurricane isaac instead of a tropical storm. right now we're watching it about 650 miles southeast of miami, florida, raining hard in the keys in miami this morning. that's not directly related to isaac. the winds are at 60 miles per hour. it should become a hurricane in about 36 hours. that would be some time either sunday afternoon or sunday evening. for that reason, we have hurricane warnings that pretty much go from key west now to extreme south florida, all the way up south of ft. myers. miami, by the way, under a tropical storm warning. this is a huge storm sizewise, so we'll probably see th

>> reporter: lester, good evening. the mayor here just declared state of emergency, and tomorrow there's a mandatory evacuation of the east bank of plaquemines parish. the city known as the big easy is preparing for another big storm. new orleans is on high alert. >> because of the uncertainty of this storm, it is really hard to tell given the speed it's going and the uncertainty of the direction what the course of action is going to be in the next three days. out of the abundance of caution, we are asking everybody to begin to prepare. >> reporter: with hurricane warnings now stretching from east of morgan city, louisiana to the florida panhandle, isaac could become a category 2 hurricane strengthening over the gulf of mexico before it slams the northern gulf coast. >> it's battling dry air that inhibited the development thus far, and once it's out over the gulf of mexico in this region, we think the environment more moist. also the water temperatures are very warm and will allow isaac to strengthen. >> reporter: pote

>> reporter: lester, good evening. the mayor here just declared state of emergency, and tomorrow there's a mandatory evacuation of the east bank of plaquemines parish. the city known as the big easy is preparing for another big storm. new orleans is on high alert. >> because of the uncertainty of this storm, it is really hard to tell given the speed it's going and the uncertainty of the direction what the course of action is going to be in the next three days. out of the abundance of caution, we are asking everybody to begin to prepare. >> reporter: with hurricane warnings now stretching from east of morgan city, louisiapan could become a category 2 hurricane strengthening over the gulf of mexico before it slams the northern gulf coast. >> it's battling dry air that inhibited the development thus far, and once it's out over the gulf of mexico in this region, we think the environment more moist. also the water temperatures are very warm and will allow isaac to strengthen. >> reporter: potentially making landfall along t

>> lester? i think lester has dropped off. he's also trying to get more information and making some calls, talking to people on the scene there. clint, let me ask you a bit more about the type of investigation that gets down here. so the first thing they want to do, obviously, is make sure they have a clear situation, that this is not part of, as you say, a bigger conspiracy or anything like that, and if it was a workplace shying, that would immediately indicate, probably, would it not, that this was a lone shooter, smun disgruntled and who in the hours and days to come, may find out there was a very specific reason he was let go from his job? >> trying to put together why today? that's one of the many things as an fbi profiler, you want to know why did the shooter pick this particular day? >> is it usually pretty quick after they're fired? >> chris, i have seen an individual go back when he's fired, go back, get his lunchpail, open up the pail, take out two guns and shoot immediate immediately, and then have seen a guy 7 year

good evening. >> reporter: good evening lester. isaac left haiti behind today and hit cuba pretty hard. cuban television reporting wave heights as high as 20 feet. there have been power outages in those eastern provinces. all flights have been suspended at the airport. cubans have been bussed to federal shelters. they are going to stay and ride out the storm they are bussed because only 5% of cubans have vehicles so that is the only way they can get out. tonight as the storm ride as long the coast, it will dump a lot of rain along the island nation. winds will be gusting upwards of 60 miles-an-hour and tonight the real threat is the water out here in the straights, water temperatures are running above average. i put my foot in here today, the water temperature here is 87 degrees, that is fuel for the fire, we are more than likely to have a hurricane on our hands by this time tomorrow. lester back to you. >> mike seidel in cuba for us tonight thank you. >> we want to bring in brian norcross from the weather channel. what does the tr

lester? >> reporter: yeah, i'm here. going back to you, the empire state building is in a safe area of new york city, a tourist area, not a lot of violence, but i do remember a shooting in the past there? >> reporter: not sure on that to be honest with you. yeah, i can't verify that. >> we talk about that area is not crime-ridden by any means. >> when i do walk to work, i walk right past this area. this is a vie brandt tourist area, 24-hour neighborhood, as is, the truth is, most of new york city these days. it's an active area, lots of tourists here, they walk between here and the madison square park, a lot of tourists walking back and forth. during a typical summer day, they line up just outside the building, very close to where the shooting occurred to get to the observation deck. it's not a place that anyone would normally fear. essentially a 9:00 friday morning. my goodness. >> lester, just to recap this for folks, there's been a shooting that happened around 9:00 a.m. when the first cal

i'm lester holt. it happened again. american troops shot and killed by those they've been trained to trust. afghan security forces who were supposed to be working alongside the u.s. and nato troops. in fact, there were two so-called insider attacks in afghanistan today, including one that left two u.s. soldiers dead. since last year the number of cases of afghan forces turning their weapons on u.s. and other nato troops has risen steadily and has tonight prompted orders from the pentagon for u.s. service members to keep their guns at the ready even in places they might assume to be safe. we have two reports beginning in kabul with nbc. >> reporter: good evening lester. today's attack was the latest in a series of attacks that have claimed dozens of american lives. the pentagon also today saying u.s. service members here are required to carry fully loaded magazines in their weapons at all times. today's attack occurred in western afghanistan, farah province. according to officials u.s. special forces were there to train

come on, lester. >> you grab a little -- >> that's it. >> come on, lester, grab your leg! okay, i can't bend. okay, that would have been the worst bar mitzvah ever. >> that's a lot of fun, though, a lot of fun. >> thanks. >> thanks so much for coming on. >> you're a great sport! >> thank you. >> and good luck with your new career, an attorney. >> thank you very much. >> and we're going to bust a move. come on, lester. after these messages. ♪ the capital one cash rewards card >> my favorite part, onus. and everyone likes 50% more [ russian accent ] rubles. eh, eheh, eh, eh. [ brooklyn accent ] 50% more simoleons. [ western accent ] 50% more sawbucks. ♪ [ maine accent ] 50% more clams. it's a lobster, either way. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. with a 50% annual cash bonus, it's the card for people who like more cash. [ italian accent ] 50% more dough! what's in your wallet? helps you earn cash for things your school needs. look for 2 box tops on brands like old el paso, and pi

i'm lester holt. >> and good morning. i'm tamron hall. this is, by the way, being called super saturday here in london, with 25 gold medals up for grabs in 11 different sports, and we are counting. i've got my list. >> we are counting. people keep saying, we've done this, we've done this. well, you and i haven't done anything. >> i was pumping iron. that's how i started my day. >> i haven't own any medal here. swimming wraps up tonight. the aquatics centre was the place to be last night. the duke and duchess of cambridge as well as the u.s. men's basketball team on hand and michael phelps in the race. we'll talk to three americans who walked away with medals, danging right there around their necks, including 15-year-old sensation katie ledecky. >> all smiles this morning. also ahead, you mentioned the royals, lester. they've been having a grand time at these games. coming up, we'll hear from princes william and harry about their olympic experience so far, including, of course, the queen's grand entrance at the opening ceremony. >> people

lester? >> ron mott tonight, thanks. >>> the romney campaign said mitt romney made up his mind of paul ryan ten days before the official announcement sunday morning and the word slipped out a little early, the campaign pulled quite a feat, keeping the biggest political secret under wraps for more than a week. some insights in to how they did it now from nbc's peter alexander. >> reporter: to ensure saturday's vice presidential announcement made a dramatic splash, the romney campaign went to extraordinary lengths to avoid any leaks. the four-month vp vetting process involved only a handful of top aides and supervised by romney's close confidant, beth myers. last night, myers described the painstaking process where several years of tax returns were locked in a safe inside romney's boston headquarters each night. myers says romney made the decision august 1st and wanted to offer paul ryan the job in person. but how to get them together? instead of flying directly in to boston sure to raise repor

lester? >> al, thanks. >> al, thank you again. >>> even though it is not set to make a direct strike, it is now forcing republican officials to effectively push back the start of the national convention until tuesday. david gregory is moderator of "meet the press," at the convention site in tampa. david, good morning. thanks for being with us. >> good morning, jenna. >> it would be a tough week for republicans. the mitt romney mentioning the birther situation, then tropical storm isaac forcing the convention to be pushed ahead a day and now we heard an op-ed in the tampa bay times, a former republican governor of florida charlie crist throwing his weight behind president obama. >> there say lot of distractions that mitt romney has to cut his way through here. you mentioned the weather cutting short the convention. but the mission for romney is really about his biography here. he does have image problems. i think the party has image problems. and yet you talk to his top advisers, they say, loo

here is lester. >> savannah, thanks. the remnants of what was once hurricane isaac are dumping heavy rain on arkansas, missouri and illinois this morning, this as the gulf coast deals with the aftermath of the slow-moving storm. nbc's gabe gutierrez is in slidell, louisiana. gabe, good morning. >> good morning, lester. overnight we learned sheriff's deputies in nearby plaquemines parish found two people dead in a home that was under water. officials fear they could find more. >> it won't stop, keeps raining. >> reporter: whether seen by land, boat or in the air, the scene is grim. large parts of the gulf coast under water. hurricane isaac slogged through louisiana, 21 inches of rain spots. >> the most ever. >> reporter: outside slidell, a pumping station overflowed spilling up to 6 feet of water into homes. police officers rescued around 150 people who had been trapped as well as a few shivering pets. >> how is he doing? >> he's scared to death. it will be all right. >> reporter: elsewhere in louisiana, even the cows had

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. >>> nbc's lester holt has also made his way to that city. lester is standing by as well. lester, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. to answer jim's question, authorities here do believe the pump system will hold here. it's been upgraded. the city officials have basically said they will not be caught flat-footed as they were seven years ago by katrina. the hurricane warning center is telling folks that preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion. the big concern, the water, especially in those low-lying parishes to the south of new orleans that are outside the levee protection system. when word came to evacuate the east bank of plaquemines parish, wilma taylor didn't hesitate. she and her grandchildren are getting out. did you think twice? >> no, i didn't think twice. i think one time and i'm gone. >> reporter: in this parish just south of new orleans where katrina first came ashore seven years ago, cars lined up today to make the ferry crossing to the relative safety of the west bank of mississippi, heeding a mandatory evacuation

i'm lester holt. >> and i'm jenna wolf. tropical storm isaac is now taking aim on the florida keys. >> and picking up speed, a storm packing top sustained winds at about 60 miles per hour. expected, as we know, to strengthen as it moves over the warm waters of the florida straits. the wind and waters are starting to pick up in the keys. officials are saying if you haven't gotten out already, you should remain indoors as isaac prepares to arrive. >> isaac dumped torrential rains on highty. in cuba, the storm surge covered the entire seaside. storms have delayed the start of the republican national convention in tampa by a day. >> there's a lot more to get to this morning including a utah doctor behind bars charged with the murder of her wife. why the delay? we'll take a look at the case. >>> plus, with the economy struggling, a lot of adult children are being forced to live at home with their parents these days. forget the empty nest. this is called the full nest syndrome. if you heard of this? >> i have. >> oh, yes, you hav

i'm lester hold. >> i'm natalie morales. good to be here along with you, lester. of course, we have a lot of exciting news about the olympic games. still lots of competition going on with two more days to go. many of the athletes still have a chance to go for gold. >> but almost time for us to wrap things up. i'm going to miss the weather. it's been gorgeous here over the last several days. but we'll talk olympics, but first, a bigger prize up for grabs at the white house. let's begin with the breaking news from overnight with nbc news republican presidential candidate mitt romney apparently poised to pick wisconsin congressman paul ryan to be his running mate. romney will make it official at a rally at 9:00 a.m. eastern. peter alexander is joining us by telephone from norfolk. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, lester. multiple sources tell nbc news that wisconsin congressman paul ryan will be mitt romney's running mate. as you noted that official word expected to come within the next two hours here. it's a dramatic back drop as people are filing are

good evening. >> reporter: good evening lester. isaac left haiti behind today and hit cuba pretty hard. cuban television reporting wave heights as high as 20 feet. all flights have been suspended at the airport. cubans have been bussed to federal shelters. that is about the only way they can get out. tonight as the storm ride as long the coast, it will dump a lot of rain along the island nation. winds will be gusting upwards of 60 miles-an-hour and tonight the real threat is the water out here in the straights, water temperatures are running above average. the water temperature here is 87 degrees, that is fuel for the fire, we are more than likely to have a hurricane on our hands by this tomorrime tomorrow. >> we want to bring in brian norcross from the weather channel. >> this is a threatening storm for the u.s. let's take a look at where it is right now. it is not too far. the center of it, actually from the cuban coast. that curl there is the sen tice. it is moving in the direction of south florida. 60-mile-an-hour top winds jus

gabe. >> reporter: lester, good evening. the winds have died down here a bit but dozens of families are returning to see this, their homes destroyed. and police say that one of these fires appears to have been set on purpose. along miles of scorched earth in oklahoma today victoria was almost speechless. >> just nothing. i can't say nothing. it's just really sad. >> reporter: this rubble used to be the home she shared with her seven children in luther outside oklahoma city. >> everything is there. i didn't take anything. nothing at all. >> reporter: the fires burned some 80,000 acres throughout the state. hundreds had to evacuate. >> i feel like if there's a tornado, at least there would have been a little hope to search around and try to find some of our stuff. but this, you just know that it's gone. it's demolished. >> reporter: the fast-moving flames fueled by hot, dry and windy conditions, in a state already ravaged by historic drought. >> we're very thankful we haven't had any loss of life. >> reporter: today oklahoma's

i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today" and back here tomorrow evening. good night, everyone. >>> good evening, kris sanchez. hundreds of people are paying tribute to a marine who died serving his country.

. >>> nbc's lester holt has also made his way to that city. lester is standing by as well. lester, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. to answer jim's question, authorities here do believe the pump system will hold here. it's been upgraded. the city officials have basically said they will not be caught flat-footed as they were seven years ago by katrina. the hurricane warning center is telling folks that preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion. the big concern, the water, especially in those low-lying parishes to the south of new orleans that are outside the levee protection system. when word came to evacuate the east bank of plaquemine's parish, wilma taylor didn't hesitate. she and her grandchildren are getting out. did you think twice? >> no, i think one time and i'm gone. >> reporter: in this parish just south of new orleans where katrina first came ashore seven years ago, cars lined up today to make the ferry crossing to the relatively safety of the west bank of mississippi, heeding a mandatory evacuation for some 7,000 pari

lester, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. those who were here seven years ago, this is a day that brought a lot of anxiety and a date that is never easy. for the region, it's a day that brought a lot of damage. it was a steady beating all night long. torrential rains and unrelenting winds tearing at the very fabric of this city and humbling those who dared stare it in the face. 80 mile-per-hour wind gusts roared through downtown. >> windows are blowing out of the building. >> daybreak didn't offer a break. >> one-tenth of degree of movement in the last hour. that's it. >> reporter: a barely moving isaac continued dumping heavy sheets of rain throughout the day, testing the city's post katrina flood defenses. those higher levees, new flood gates, and powerful pumps. >> the flood protection system in and around new orleans is holding strong, operating as it was designed. we have no reason to believe that system will be compromised. >> but there has been plenty of local flooding, many roads left impassable, a baseball field turn

lester? >> we are joined by the moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. is medicare the conversation the romney-ryan ticket wanted to be having now? >> they knew they would face the conversation but picking paul ryan meant they would have to deal with it right away and that's the case. what you have seen and you saw it from paul ryan today and mitt romney and the campaign this week, they have done a couple of things. president obama is right. they have gone on offense. they are trying to argue that there are benefits to their approach to this. it doesn't affect current seniors. they have ways to save the program over the long haul even though there hasn't been evidence to prove putting it to the rigor of the private sector would do that. they are trying to contrast what they want to do with medicare with the president's health care law. that's an unpopular law whereas medicare is more popular. they have room to run here giving some republicans hope. >> ryan has taken up attention of the

i'm jenna wolfe alongside lester holt. still to come, a custody battle over a 6-year-old. >> maddy verst is one of the stars of the show called "toddler and tee are aiiaras." she sparked controversy last year. her father says she's being explo exploited. he's asking a court for custody. we'll tell you why it could been ann uphill battle for him. >> we know facebook is a place to post pictures and reconnect with other people. this is a heart warming story. this woman needed a kidney transplant and you'll never how she got help and where she found t we'll tell their story coming up in this half hour as well. >> our weekend buzz. when will brad an angelina get married. when will kim kardashian get divorced. and who is the new man in taylor swift's life. >> these are all questions that you're just dying to know. >> i don't know we'll get the answers to them, but it will be fun trying to get there with our entertainment pros when we tackle it all ahead. >> and then there are all kinds of trendy new fitness routines. i'm going t

stand by, lester. we'll come back. rehemia, now we're learning more. >> we have an nypd radio log of reports that come from police to police. here's indication of just how quickly things were transpiring. it suggests to us that as 9:27, the first call came in, and i'm quoting now, midtown charlie south. they're talking about the area. unconfirmed 10, 10 shots fired, west 33rd and 5i avenue, several shots fired, end quote. just about 30 seconds later, it says adam 1 has advised that a perp is in custody. several seconds, about 30 seconds later, quote, we have multiple people shot in front of the empire state building. 40 seconds after that, we have two civilians shots, the perp is shot. then there are sounds of people yelling, quote, we have ems on scene. we are getting reports we have four people shot. more seconds, only about 50 seconds later, quote, we are -- there are many shots fired by mos, which means man on the street. they took the perp down, that's affirmative. just in a matter of seconds, aga

i'm savannah guthrie alongside lester holt. coming up in the next hour, a serious problem, eating disorder, binge eating, something that affects men and women. we're going to meet a young man who suffered binge eating since he was young. he managed to overcome the disorder. now he's a psychotherapist helping others. >>> shifting to "hit-and-run." a romantic comedy. dax shepherd, bradley cooper, hollywood heart throbs here to tell us all about it. >> find out about the dreadlocks coming up. first we want to get the day's top stories from natalie morales over at the news desk. natalie, good morning again. >> good morning, savannah and lester. good morning, everyone. filmmaker tony scott has died after jumping electric a los angeles bridge sunday. witnesses say the 68-year-old "top gun" director leaped from a bridge. his body pulled from los angeles harbor by police several hours later. scott is the younger brother of fellow movie director ridley scott. he's survived by his wife and two children. >>> the gop is fighting a backlash

lester, thanks. all of this brings us back to weather channel's jim cantore on canal street in new orleans. jim, i'm watching the coverage seeing a lot of streets and neighborhoods, even structures that i'm familiar with there. i'm surprised in some spots how tough this storm was. >> yeah, it's just the longevity of it. brian, it has been raining hard and horizontal for more than 24 hours here in new orleans. as lester mentioned, the pumps handled about everything you can dish out. sure, there are scars, there's going to be with a storm of this magnitude. you can see the radar, a spinning fire hose continues, sits to the west and southwest of new orleans right now. it will continue to slowly move north, eventually accelerating. the rainfall totals expected to be 12 to 20 inches. we've already had over a foot of rain estimated here in the city, which, as you heard, the pumps have done an amazing job. those rainfall amounts, even in the mississippi, will start to get lighter as the storm accelerates. y

lester, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. to answer jim's question, authorities here do believe the pump system will hold here. it's been upgraded. the city officials have basically said they will not be caught flat-footed as they were seven years ago by katrina. the hurricane warning center is telling folks that preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion. the big concern, the water, especially in those low-lying parishes to the south of new orleans that are outside the lev lev levee protection system. wilma taylor and her grandchildren are getting out. did you think twice? >> no, i think one time and i'm gone. >> reporter: in this parish just south of new orleans where katrina first came ashore seven years ago cars lined up today to make the crossing to the relatively safety of the west bank of mississippi, heeding a mandatory evacuation for some 7,000 parish residents. >> they're all coming to us now, right up the river. >> reporter: parish president billy nunguesser has growing concern. >> thi

these adorable containers from target. $9.99. >> we have a note from lester. >> we want lester to know he's totally loved. >> all right. next wheels on the bus? >> yes. all these are round. pinwheel sandwiches, from the cooking class program. this is my pasta. heavy. pesto sauce and broccoli. banana, all these are online, sealed lids, personalize lunch boxes, insulated carrier separately to carry it around. this water bottle. once the water is consumed it folds up and is light to carry home for under $12. >> i like the next one, under the sea. >> i love this from kiwi cratecrate.com. min issue fish sandwiches, cut out the pitas and stuff with tuna, carrot sticks and peanut butter. entice kids reluctant to eat. high in protein, low in fat, tuna. apple slices, to keep it from blo browning, core the apple, put it together. these fun things cut them out, put it on, walking around with these. >> i love it. our next thing. >> breakfast for lunch. make extra waffles. waffles, dhees, ham sandwiches from my recipes.com. >> one of my favorite dinners would be when my mom made pancakes for dinner

i'm lester holt reporting from london. i'm lester holt reporting from london. from all of us, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com