the roof. all to raise money for the special olympics. they had a nice day to do it. "nightly news" is next. back to work. the gulf dodges a bullet as the storm fades. now the scramble to make up for lost time. extreme weather. oppressive heat. dangerous humidity, torrential rains and flash floods in a summer that has something unpleasant for everybody. stampede. a rock concert packed with hundreds of thousands of fans tur deadly. how did it happen? down on the farm. guess where they're growing pot in california these days? the police crack down, but for how long? and puppy love. after losing his gulf home bennie the dog finds a new after losing his gulf home bennie the dog finds a new family to call his own.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. there are few parts of this country tonight where people are not talking about the weather. from oppressive, even crippling heat to severe flooding to the dud of a tropical storm that still managed to set back oil operations in the gulf of mexico. tonight, shifts and work crews that were forced to evacuate just a few days ago are returning to the site of the oil disaster now that that storm bonnie has run out of steam. the disruption cost them an estimated seven to nine critical days in the race to kill the oil well. we are covering all the weather fronts tonight and their impacts starting along the gulf of mexico with nbc's charles hadlock in venice, louisiana. charles, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. what's left of tropical storm bonnie is having little impact

on the gulf coast tonight. just a few passing showers. the threat that bonnie could have been a larger storm has been the biggest obstacle and postponement so far in the 96-day effort to end the crisis. as bonnie washed out over south louisiana, the coast guard ordered bp ships to return to its idled ships as quickly as possible. this was welcomed news for workers stuck in port. >> this tropical storm is not a big factor. i think we should go and work as hard as we can. and try to get this resolved as soon as possible. >> reporter: bonnie was making a beeline for the oil leak when the storm fell apart. >> the tropical storm never had a fighting chance. it was dealing with a lot of wind aloft. tropical systems. storms and hurricanes do not like strong winds aloft, what we call wind shear. >> reporter: almost all the ships evacuated the rig site ahead of the storm except for ones providing live pictures of bp's new containment cap which has been holding back the flow of oil now for nine days. >> this is very good news

because we left the cap in place and were able to contain the oil going into the environment. >> reporter: before bonnie chased them away, workers were about to perform a static kill, the first step in a ten-day process to permanently seal the well. the frustration is felt by everybody, even those onshore. >> they finally got things rolling where they could get things accomplished out there and this is going to delay it. >> reporter: gulf coast residents are trying to avoid another delay in protecting the beaches. nbc's mark potter is in mississippi. >> reporter: along the beaches of mississippi, alabama and florida, residents are breathing a sigh of relief. they, too, avoided a major storm. officials here urging bp and the federal government to quickly put back all the equipment and boom they removed from these beaches fearing a storm. >> reporter: given the region's sad history of storms like katrina and camille, few are complaining about the decision to play it safe. >> i think they were smart to pull those guys out of there. you never can tell what's going

to happen with one of those things. >> reporter: most vessels will be back on site by monday. the coast guard says the process to permanently seal the well could begin as early as friday. lester? >> charles hadlock, thank you. as the gulf coast awaits the leftovers of bonnie, much of the mid-atlantic and northeast parts of the country are doing a slow roast. brutal heat and humidity with triple-digit heat indices are creating dangerous conditions. the midwest is trying to recover after violent storms and floods. rehema ellis picks up our coverage from manhattan central park. >> reporter: hi, lester. today there are excessive heat warnings in effect in 11 states. besides the oppressive temperatures some places are dealing with the effects of torrential downpours that caused major flooding. in some parts of the country, the summer continues to sizzle. >> it's humid and hot, sticky and even the breeze is warm. >> even hot in the park. >> reporter: another heat

advisory was issued in new york when temperatures climbed to the mid 90s. that combined with smothering humidity made it feel like it was over 100 degrees. the hot, steamy weather triggered a flurry of thunderstorms. lightning bolted above yankee stadium friday. a rain delay even affected the concession stands. >> this is shaping up to be the warmest july on record. we've had the jet stream well to the north. that's been reenforcing the warm air. so far this month we had two days where temperatures were either at 100 degrees or better. that's not something we typically see around here. >> reporter: in the nation's capital, more scorching temperatures. tourists from oregon are not accustomed to. >> not this hot and not this much humidity. >> reporter: there was more misery in the country's midsection. wmaq's sharon wright reports from chicago. >> here in the western suburbs of chicago, streets are waterlogged.

evacuations are ongoing after nearly 7 inches of rain overnight. westchester among the hardest hit, declaring a state of emergency. residents here are left to deal with the floodwaters. >> cars are flooded out. it's up to the door handles and coming in my side door. it's cascading like a waterfall into the basement. >> reporter: in a small recreation town in the eastern part of iowa, a dam broke causing severe flooding. hundreds of people forced to evacuate their homes. back in new york, blistering temperatures seemed appropriate for a sand sculpting contest at coney island. but some say there's nothing right about this heat. sally has an idea about why it's so hot. >> this summer is the worst i can remember. so i do believe in global warming. >> reporter: the most some can do is wait it out. and take advantage of anything that's cool. as hot as it is out here today, lester, no surprise officials are saying we are experiencing record heat.

back to you. >> rehema ellis, thank you. just how long is this weather going to last? for answers we turn to weather channel meteorologist samantha mohr. samantha, what's the story? >> too long for comfort, lester. that's for sure. we have the heat and over the top of the heat we have heavy rain. we did want to mention in iowa in delaware county we have a foot of rain in about 24 hours. now look at all our severe thunderstorm watch boxes lined up right along the top of that ridge. where we are seeing that heat as we head into the next two days. we are going to see at least one more day of solid heat and a little easing as we head into monday across the mid-atlantic. it's going to take this front and hitting up against that very strong ridge of high pressure. in the meantime we are going to have to deal with more flooding rain potentially tonight along that frontal boundary into tomorrow, too. we'll be continuing to watch the rain gauges fill up. hopefully by monday we'll start to see those temperatures back off by at least a few degrees. lester?

>> we will look for that. samantha mohr, thanks. turning overseas today was a deadly day in what's been a very deadly month for americans in afghanistan with more killed and missing today. mike viqueira is monitoring the situation from the white house. mike, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. you're right. there is a massive air and ground search under way this evening outside kabul by allied forces looking for two missing u.s. navy personnel feared either captured or killed by taliban forces. the two apparently wandered off base. they drove off base on friday. they have not been heard from since. there are sketchy reports of a firefight that they went the wrong way down a particular seat. the u.s. military are saying the two are enlisted personnel there training afghan forces. meanwhile, yet more bad news from the south of afghanistan near kandahar city. five americans killed today, earlier today in afghanistan. during that offensive as american forces try to push taliban forces out of kandahar.

that is a traditional stronghold of the taliban. all five were killed by roadside blasts including four in one blast. lester, this comes as the president ordered plus-up of 30,000 extra american troops that he ordered back in december. that is still under way. yet more challenges for the president's afghan policy here in washington as the house and senate have so far been unable to agree on a $60 billion war funding bill. there is fear they won't get that done before they leave for an august recess at the end of next week. lester? >> mike viqueira at the white house for us, thanks. a scene of horror today at a music festival in germany. thousands of people tried to get into the concert. the surging crowd turned into a stampede, leaving at least 17 people trampled to death even as the concert continued. our reporter has details. >> reporter: this is the moment the summer music festival went terribly wrong. thousands have been trying to get into the huge outdoor event

in the city of duisburg in northern germany. police closed off the area due to overcrowding. asking revelers to go in the other direction. in the chaos and confusion, people started pushing and then falling over. >> translator: there were more and more people coming in. then there was a blockade frenzy. all the time more people from behind. then people started to tumble. people were dying in front there, people were trampling over others. >> reporter: at least 17 people were crushed to death and 80 injured. emergency workers on the scene struggled to get to the injured, many of whom were still stuck in the large tunnel. meanwhile, inside the festival, revelers continued to party, unaware of the stampede. the open air techno music festival is an annual event and 1 million people were expected today. city officials said tonight they allowed the festival to go on fearing it would spark more panic. police are still trying to make

sense of events and described the situation as very chaotic. it's the worst incident of its kind in over ten years. nbc news, london. back in washington now, the president hopes to refocus attention on the economy after a week of headlines lost in the controversy over shirley sherrod's firing and her naacp speech and democratic congressman charlie rangel's ethics charges. david gregory is preparing for tomorrow's "meet the press." he joins us now for some insight. i know the president would have liked us to be talking about the passage of financial reform. how much did the sherrod story knock him off his economy and jobs message? >> quite a bit. this was major piece of legislation the president achieved. it's part of what they are calling recovery summer. yet they are still deluged with headlines and not quite a distraction. it's more substantive than that, the fact jobs are still not being created in this economy, it's much more sluggish than anyone thought it would be even if there is an economic recovery going on.

all that concentration wiped away because of the sherrod story. it's something they very much want to get back to. the president will do that. he and other democrats want to try to campaign on the message of financial reform being the beginning of a real turnaround for the economy. >> got to ask you about the charley rangel story. the charges haven't been laid out but obviously they're serious enough for talk of a trial. that would probably happen in the fall november elections. could be a perfect storm for democrats. will they try to avoid this? >> by all indications they are trying to avoid this. there are talks ongoing with congressman rangel to try to avoid that full airing of the charges. that's not the kind of spectacle they want. republicans will pounce on that. remember back in 2006, it was nancy pelosi who said they were going to drain the swamp from all the corruption from the republican side. if congress is head in lower esteem it will be difficult for democrats in an already very difficult cycle. it keeps coming back to jobs, lester. why aren't they being produced?

timothy geithner who will be my guest on sunday, the treasury secretary, is confident there will not be a double-dip recession, but he is waiting for the jobs. >> nbc's david gregory. david, thanks. program note, you can watch "meet the press" including david's conversation with secretary geithner and a special roundtable discussion of the shirley sherrod debate here on nbc. when "nightly news" continues this saturday, cracking down on pot in california. guess where they are growing now? and you met him here last week. remember benny the dog left in the disaster of the gulf.

when it comes to marijuana and california, many people think of san francisco and the northern part of the state, perhaps harking back to the days of the counterculture. but today, southern california has become a hub for marijuana growth and distribution. nbc's kristin welker has our story. >> reporter: less than a half hour drive from downtown los angeles, the 650,000 acre ang las angeles national forest is as beautiful as it is dense. but hidden among the trees, elaborate and illegal marijuana farms, the work, authorities say, of mexican drug cartels. we hiked up the face of the mountain with the l.a. county sheriff's narcotics bureau to get a firsthand look. >> this is what we have to do.

not only take the plant, but all the garbage they bring in here. all the things these criminals bring into our national parks. >> reporter: last year the county seized $1.4 billion worth of illegally grown pot on public land, more than anywhere else in the country. the work is tough and dangerous. >> we found ammunition. we found bear traps. we found holes dug in the ground with spikes in them. >> reporter: one of the biggest surprises, in the middle of these marijuana plants there is a campground. people tending the plants actually live here and have enough supplies for a few months including food and water. but marijuana is a complicated issue in california. the state approved use of the drug for medicinal purposes in 1996. this fall voters will decide whether to legalize it for recreational use. what's being proposed in california really is unique. no country in the world has the production and distribution of marijuana legal for general use. >> reporter: just this week the city of oakland approved four

industrial-sized factory farms hoping to cash in on a burgeoning industry. but even if california voters legalize the drug, it will remain a crime under federal law. if california does legalize recreational use of marijuana, your job still continues? >> still continues. because it's still in our national forests, it's illegal. >> reporter: until voters have their say, the drug's future remains up in the air. kristin welker, nbc news, angeles national forest. when "nightly news" continues in a moment, a spot like this would make a great place to get married, wouldn't it?

it's being called the social event of the year, but it's not

taking place in one of the traditional tony summer playgrounds of the rich. instead, the tiny town of rhinebeck in upstate new york is widely thought to be the setting of the wedding next weekend of chelsea clinton. as ron allen reports, rhinebeck is getting ready for its close-up. >> reporter: yes, they are twins. they are each planning weddings in rhinebeck, an idyllic village known for its stately mansions along the hudson river. they understand why chelsea clinton and her fiance mark mezvinsky may want to tie the knot here, too. were you invited to the wedding? >> no. >> reporter: are you okay with that? >> yeah. it's beautiful in rhinebeck. the place we are getting married is absolutely beautiful. it's on the hudson river. >> reporter: looking forward to an event so many people expect to happen here. rumor and speculation substitute

for fact and real information. joan howe is a wedding planner, but not the wedding planner. everybody talks about this wedding with an if, maybe. >> yes. i know. >> reporter: it's weird. >> it is very weird. >> reporter: a local photographer snapped this picture of a tent going up at the 50-acre astor courts estate where rumor has it 400 guests will celebrate a wedding the clintons have guarded like a state secret. some guests are supposedly staying at the exclusive belvedere mansion. quite and peaceful this weekend -- anything special going on next weekend? >> no comment. >> reporter: so what information has been officially confirmed on the record? next to nothing. in fact, the guests reportedly have only been told the event will happen somewhere within driving distance of new york city, about 130 miles from here. details to come. rhinebeck's mayor said for certain the police force was just 14 part-time officers and three patrol cars is going to need help next weekend. >> biggest concern is crush of media, paparazzi and curious

onlookers. >> reporter: at this spirits shop, charles stock as wine named for a nearby town he hears every guest will receive. >> sales haven't taken off yet. >> reporter: but you're hoping. >> i'm hoping wine takes off. >> reporter: the celebration has begun, even though so much is still a secret. ron allen, nbc news, rhinebeck, new york. to alberta, canada, now. and a very close call after a spectacular crash. it happened as a canadian air force jet was training yesterday for an air show. the pilot was practicing a low-altitude, low-speed maneuver when the plane suddenly dove to the ground and exploded into a fireball. the pilot managed to eject seconds before impact. he suffered only scrapes and a sore back after being dragged several hundred feet. up next, a happy ending. to a sad tale from the gulf with a little help from our friends.

finally tonight, we return to the disaster in the gulf and to a story we first told you about here last week about hundreds of families facing hardship in the gulf region forced to give up their pets. so many good and faithful animals suddenly without homes. not anymore. here is nbc's michelle kosinski. >> reporter: they are the victims that can't explain how it feels, that don't know what suddenly happened to their families or their favorite pillows. but marley and lesley and unstoppable georgia have just as unexpectedly found fast friends,

you. one week ago, meadow trembled in her cage. now she, too, heads home with a new best friend. >> she looked sad, like she needed a home and someone to love her. >> reporter: irresistible lexis? everyone wants her. she'll fly to a family in maine first class. if you don't want a dog, you don't want to look in those eyes. just seeing these wonderful pets even on video sparked thousands of people in every state of the country to call the shelter. lucky is wanted in kentucky. max, squirming murphy and momo, all left for houston this week to a shelter where they are certain not to stay long. >> they are now going to get a second chance at a home. it really has to give them hope. >> who is this? >> wiggles. >> reporter: for this gang, it's florida. thanks to a volunteer pilot.

>> this flight is a happy flight. >> reporter: they are shy at first now. this pup just gained pals to grow up with. remember bennie? >> that's okay, bennie. there's somebody out there who wants you. >> reporter: dogs this big are often the last to go. but once you saw that face, he was one of the first. a waiting list grew from minnesota to maryland. lisa drove four hours for the gentle giant who was downsized out of his apartment. bennie will now have acres to explore. >> we are very excited to take him on and give him a life, a care-free life. he'll be happy. >> reporter: there is a lot more wagging around here. no longer homeless, voiceless victims, but treasured friends one more time. michelle kosinski, nbc news. violet, louisiana. >> nice job, everybody. love a happy ending. that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. i'm lester holt from new york.

see you tomorrow morning on "today" and back tomorrow evening. "today" and back tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening. i'm diane dwyer. cities across the bay area are trying to balance budgets a