we have two reports on this tonight beginning with anne thompson in melville, louisiana anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. people here in melville are bracing for this manmade flood. the result of a choice to sacrifice this part of louisiana to spare its biggest cities. that choice in turn has people in these rural communities facing some very difficult options. here in st. landry parish, the atchafalaya river swamped the neighborhood even before the morganza spillway opened. now the mississippi river gushes through to save new orleans and baton rouge from flooding. while in the tiny town of port springs 15 miles away, residents have few easy choices. >> gives us trouble every now and then, but you deal with it and keep going. >> reporter: cal evans and his wife karen are staying put at his mom's house despite an evacuation order. >> we don't really have anywhere else to go. >> reporter: they already left their own house five miles south of here. with daughter samantha, a brain cancer survivor, and four dogs, they can't go to a shelter and can't afford a hotel. >> this i

we want to start off our coverage tonight with nbc's anne thompson in butte larose, louisiana. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. louisianians are busy tonight, preparing for this historic flood which has already done so much damage upriver. as the mississippi river barrels south, satellite images reveal its relentless and destructive impact. this was memphis on april 21st before the flood, and this was memphis yesterday. much of the city underwater as the mississippi reclaims its territory. the damage here pegged at $320 million. the swamped casinos in tunica mississippi, could lose up to $87 million just this month. overall, one economist estimates the flood's toll could reach $4 billion. up and down the raging river, people race against the clock, filling sandbags in yazoo city, mississippi. crews built this temporary levee in the shadow of louisiana's i-10e that crosses the atchafalaya river basin. >> it will be the back-up of the water from the mississippi trying to get out from the river into the gulf. it backed up on us. >> reporter: that's if officials open

>> anne thompson, thanks very much. >>> the professional wrestler known as macho man randy savage died today in a car crash in florida near tampa. he was an absolute legend in the showbiz wrestling world known for his sunglasses and bandanna, his gravelly voice, and the young woman named miss elizabeth who was so often by his side. police say he lost control of his jeep wrangler about 9:30 this morning. his wife suffered minor injuries. randy "macho man" savage was 58. >>> when we come back on this friday evening, meet the man who has been tasked with turning around one of the country's biggest public school systems. >>> and later, unlikely friends giving girls with very little hope a chance at a better life and "making a difference." >>> in los angeles last night, brian williams moderated a panel discussion on american competitiveness with corporate and education leaders in a time where public education is under tremendous pressure. among the attendees, los angeles superintendent john dacey. miguel almaguer spent some time with him as part of our "education nation." >> chris, nice to

brian. >> anne thompson starting us off from louisiana, thanks. >>> now we go to the west coast. the fallout from yesterday's bombshell out of california, the revelation that arnold schwarzenegger fathered a child with a member of the household staff. "time" magazine has decided to broaden the topic this week, you might say, very little ambiguity there. that's the first look at their new cover for the week. miguel almaguer reports about what we learned about the situation today from los angeles. >> arnold, any comment? >> reporter: news arnold schwarzenegger fathered a child out of wedlock broke tuesday morning. by late afternoon, it turned to the focus on the family housekeeper for 20 years, mildred baena, the mother of the former governor's now teenage child. in bakersfield, 110 miles north of los angeles, media gathered in an upper middleclass community for any sign of the mother. neighbors say she was last seen here the day before the scandal broke. >> it's saddening because of the family and especially the young boy who is going to be caught up in all this. >> reporter: the

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>> anne thompson in rome tonight. we'll look for your reports tomorrow, anne. thanks. >>> when "nightly news" continues on this saturday, news from london on this day after the royal wedding. the future king and queen get out of town. >>> and later, making a difference. putting aside a famous rivalry to help those in need here in alabama. >>> they were catching their breath today in london, one day after putting on a royal wedding spectacular that was one of the most viewed events in history. as for the prince and his new princess, they emerged again today before taking off for parts unknown. nbc's michelle kosinski has the latest from london tonight. michelle, good evening. >> reporter: hi there, lester. today was a great day for london to recover from the royal wedding. for william and catherine, though, they took this opportunity to duck out of view, if only for a few days. so what does one do the day after the day that was made for history? more pageantry than many dreamed possible. followed by a night to remember for this quite possibly exhausted young cou

>> anne thompson starting us off in louisiana. could not be a sadder story for so many folks down there. anne, thanks. >>> now we turn to the story that so many people in this country woke up to this morning. the shocking revelation that arnold schwarzenegger, the former governor of california, has a child with a former household employee. nbc's miguel almaguer reports tonight from los angeles. >> a shocking public confession. >> reporter: california woke up today to a bombshell. >> i, arnold -- >> reporter: the state's former governor, arnold schwarzenegger, acknowledged he fathered a child with a member of his household staff. it happened more than ten years ago. an apparent reason why wife maria shriver left the couple's brentwood mansion before they announced their separation last week. schwarzenegger says he told his wife after he left the governor's office. "there are no excuses and i take full responsibility for the hurt i have caused. i have apologized to maria, my children, and my family. i am truly sorry." according to t

>> anne thompson starting us off in morgan city, louisiana, tonight. thanks. >>> this flooding is a disaster. some of it historic, epic proportions, but something else is also true. it was predicted. we knew it was coming. we want to show you why, these numbers just came out today. this is snowfall this past winter. that number there on the left hand column is percentage above normal and the number on the right is actual inches of snow. columbia, missouri over 346% more than they usually get. here in new york city, about 5 feet of snow, philly 44 inches, and so on. that was the setup for what we're seeing right now in the south. and what about the future? weather channel meteorologist chris warren in their headquarters with us tonight. hello, chris. >> brian, we're taking a look at the effects of opening the morganza spillway. first i want to show you a look at where we have new orleans and look upstreamthat's where the morganza spillway is located. if they open that this weekend, this is what is expected to happen. the areas shaded in green that's whe

our coverage begins with anne thompson. she's in the port of baton rouge tonight. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. here at the port of baton rouge and throughout southern louisiana, everyone is working so hard because there is no time left to lose with the mississippi river rising and the imminent opening of the morganza spillway, which could send water rushing into an area at a rate of 2 million gallons per second. these are desperate hours in this parish. residents wait in long lines for supplies to defend their homes from the mississippi river water that will flood their neighborhood when the morganza spillway is opened to save baton rouge and new orleans. cold comfortable to leroy, trying to protect his house. >> we're poor people. i'm not agreeable to opening the gate up. no, i'm not in agreement with that. >> reporter: upriver, in vicksburg, mississippi, highway 61, a main thoroughfare is closed so crews can build a levee to keep the water at bay. this farmer is doing the same. using dirt from his corn field to construct a 19-foot wall of mud ar

. >> reporter: this is anne thompson. this spring, the mississippi river refuses to be tamed. some 30 miles northwest of new orleans, a deliberate rush of water at bonnet carre, louisiana, this morning. officials opening 28 of the spillway's 350 gates, sending some of the swollen mississippi on a six-mile journey to lake pontchartrain, to prevent new orleans from being inundated like memphis. part of the plan following the great flood of 1927. >> there's going to be thousands of people who are affected by this very directly by having either their homes or their property flooded, and that's with everything working perfectly. >> reporter: levees, essentially giant walls made by man or nature, try to contain much of the mississippi where towns and cities crowd parts of the river. today, 4 million people are in the flood zone. what were once natural flood plains are now valuable farmland. the nutrient rich soil feeding america and the world. development that's erased 35 million acres of wetlands, nature's flood protection, an area the size of illinois. >> this is history repeating

>> anne thompson, along with janet shamlian, our team covering this flood tonight. both of you, thank you very much. >>> now we turn overseas to pakistan, where there's more to report about osama bin laden's three wives who were living with him at the compound when he was killed. as we reported here last night, the pakistanis have agreed to give the u.s. access to them, and now that we know more about that and about the women. nbc's peter alexander is in islamabad tonight. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. tonight nbc news has learned that u.s. intelligence officials expect pakistan to turn over osama bin laden's three widows for questioning. those women are presently being held in rawalpindi. that's just outside of islamabad. a pakistani military official tells us the u.s. must wait until pakistan has completed its own interrogations first. among the wives, bin laden's youngest, the 29-year-old amal, is said to be his favorite. she's strongly committed to his ideology. she's also still recovering after being shot by navy s.e.a.l.s during

jenna. >> ann thompson, ann, thank you very much. >>> and we'll be right back, but, first, these messages. >>> more to come, lester in tuscaloosa, alabama. the royal treatment. how you bring some regal splendor into your life. ] ♪ hey walgreens, i'm kinda liking matt here. but i'm kinda allergic to bruce. [ sneezes ] got any ideas? [ female announcer ] try 24-hour zyrtec for prescription strength relief from your allergy symptoms. indoors...and out. and right now when you buy a zyrtec 45 count, you can get a 14 count free. at walgreens. ♪ at walgreens. twizzlers. the twist you can't resist. - good night, honey. - and they could fix... - all better? - almost anything. - yes. - thank mom and save on select diamond fashion jewelry from kay, the number one jewelry store in america. - i love you guys. better than any other luxury brand. ♪ intellichoice proclaims that lexus has the best overall value of any brand. ♪ and j.d. power and associates ranks lexus the highest in customer satisfaction. no wonder more people have chosen lexus over any other luxury brand 11 years in a row. see yo

lester. >> ann thompson this morning. ann, thank you very much. as ann mentioned, vicksburg, one of the places fighting rising waters. nbc's tom trung is in vicksburg, mississippi. >> reporter:.river is expected to rise above 58 feet. that's something that hapt been seen since 1957. neighborhoods like these are taking on more water every day, and that's begun to continue until the river cresteds at 57 1/2 feet. all the eyes are on the levees. the army corps of engineers spent the entire week shoring them up. as can you see here, some neighborhoods regardless will be flooded. lester. >> where are they putting, tom, the people who have been evacuated so far? i have to figure it amounts to thousands. are they going to be allowed into their homes soon? >> reporter: well, they do have some emergency shelters open, but most evacuees are either staying with family or friends at this point. as for when they can come home, there's no exact time. officials here expect that some areas in neighborhoods will be flooded until june. >> tom trung in vicksburg, mi

nbc's anne thompson is in rome for us tonight. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. six years after his death, pope john paul ii can still draw a crowd as today the faithful answered the call. under a perfect roman sky, a massive demonstration of faith. 1.5 million catholics crowding every cobblestone in st. peter's square and beyond to hear pope john paul ii declared blessed. the unveiling of a giant tapestry of the late pontiff signaled beatification. and unleashed wave of emotion. many in the crowd slept in the streets to get a spot in the square, including john and natalie of st. paul, minnesota. >> we camped out until 4:00 in the morning. then we got in line for about five hours. but it was worth it. >> absolutely. >> reporter: susan labelle came to honor the man who changed her life. >> world peace day in '93 came to denver. and he turned me around and made me look at christ. >> reporter: at mass, this french nun who says john paul cured her parkinson's disease carried a relic of his blood to the alter. ign

ann thompson, nbc news, vatican city. >> york 11 insta-weather + forecast with chief meteorologist tom tasselmyer. >> in little bit of rain to contend with as we wrap up the weekend on a cool, wet note. reports of the upper part of the day and the eastern shore, this is drying out. back in the ohio river valley and pennsylvania, this will come our way. the total amount of it so far has been fairly light. .003 at bwi. typical high on the first day of name commits a day in baltimore, highs in the 60's. only in the low 60's on the interior shore. just to the southwest, developing and head of a warm front and a pretty close to 70 degrees in central ohio. richmond had 68. the warm front of the getting closer as the day goes on. we will even the sound of 48-55 degrees. the showers should move out earlier tonight followed by mostly cloudy skies with a live southeastern wind. we will see a lot of clouds and the temperature will come up. there are some big storms rumbling right into northeast texas. the same scenario from last week just not with the power or energy associated with last week's s

anne thompson has more on the evacuations. >> these are desperate hours in terrabone parish. residents wait in long lines for supplies to defend their homes from the mississippi river water that will flood their neighborhoods. when the morganza river way is opened to save baton rouge and new orleans. cold comfort to leroy mays trying to protect his house. >> we're poor people. i'm not agreeable on opening that gate up, no. i'm not agreeing with that. >> up river in vicksburg, mississippi, highway 61, a main thoroughfa thoroughfare is closed so they can build a levee to keep the water at bay. farmer everett dear is doing the same using dirt from his corn field to construct a 19-foot wall of mud around his house. >> i don't have flood insurance so i've got to try to save it. >> in baton huge, neon colored tiger dams are helled out to protect louisiana's capital city but 10% of the state's on-shore oil production is in the flood zone. more than 2200 wells that produce 19,000 barrels of oil a day. a drop in the bucket compared to the 19 million barrels america consumes each day,

ann thompson filed this report along the mississippi river. >> these are desperate hours in louisiana. residents waited in long lines for supplies to defend hair hth homes. the mississippi flood water that will flood their neighborhood when the morganza dam is open to save new orleans and baton rouge. >> i'm not agreeable in opening up the gate. no. not agreeing with that. >> upriver in vicksburg, mississippi, highway 61, a main thoroughfare, is closed so crews can build a levee to keep the water at bay. this farmer is doing the same, using dirt from his corn field to construct a 19-foot wall of mud around his house. >> i don't have flood insurance so i have to try to save it, you know? >> in baton rouge, neon colored tiger dams are rolled out to protect louisiana's capital city. but 10% of the state's on shore oil production is in the flood zone. more than 2200 wells that produce 19,000 barrels of oil a day. a drop in the bucket compared to the 19 million barrels america consumes each day but enough to calm a jittery oil market. >> a lot of attention in the oil market. any disruption

ann thomp thompson is a stanford sister and commander in rotc. >> i think a lot of the reasons it wasn't really popular in the vietnam era, aren't really applicable to the debate today. >> reporter: the seven stanford cadets at santa clara get no credit for rotc classes but most get their tuition paid, plus a monthly stipend and transportation between campuses. nationally nearly 500 rotc units have cross-town arrangements with nearby universities but those arrangements disturb. >> it precludes so many from participating. >> you could set up -- >> reporter: one reason stanford kept military training off kam pa was the military ban on gays. then in 1993 don't ask, don't tell, barred openly gay people from military service, including rotc. now with its repeal, although still not implemented, the debate has returned. harvard was the first private university to reverse policies that kept rotc off campus. stanford and other private colleges are debating the issues. public university did not ban rotc, fearful of losing federal funds. at stanford the debate has been intense but unlike the '60s,

nbc's anne thompson explains it all. >> reporter: can you spot the unofficial guest in this official portrait? right there next to prince phillip is 3-year-old bridesmaid eliza lopes and in her hand is a wiggly worm. they're all the rage with kids on youtube. eliza is just the latest bridesmaid to attract attention for not the quite reason. last week was grace covering her ears when they kissed. the story revealed by eliza's grandmother, camilla, dutch el of cornwall. it seems the millions of people who lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the newlyweds scared little eliza until prince harry came to the rescue distracting eliza with a toy he found in his pocket as they road from the kainch in westminster abbey to the palace. >> are we surprised prince harry has a wiggly worm in his pocket on the wed dag? not really. he's a bit of a jokester. >> reporter: harry demonstrated his affection for slithering creatures on a trip with his brother last summer. eliza loved the toy and wouldn't let go. apparently the unofficial guest escaped the photographer's trained eye. >> i hope it looks

nbc's chief environmental correspondent anne thompson is in krotz springs with the details. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. i'm here where the louisiana national guard is staging its high-water vehicles in k rotz springs. this is one of several small rural towns that is ate anticipating a deluge of water after officials opened the morganza spillway this weekend, to protect the big cities of baton rouge and new orleans. this is what's headed to krotz springs. the mississippi river water racing through the morganza spillway. the army corps of engineers opened the first bay on saturday. within hours this former field became a lake. this is its human toll. >> what am i going to do? >> reporter: predictions the water could be as high as 20 feet left michelle birdoff no choice but to leave her home. >> everything i own is here. >> reporter: with the help of family she packed up the last ten years of her life. >> just try to take what i can. it's not easy. >> reporter: michelle locked her house and drove away, joining the exodus of almost 1,500 people in the e

anne thompson has the latest from baton rouge, louisiana. good morning. >> good morning. so far the flood of 2011 has set 21 new records across eight states and the worst may be yet to come. this is something william jefferson never thought he would ever do -- row his way to his home near vicksburg, mississippi. >> i'm about out of prayers. i don't know. we'll just wait. >> reporter: waiting for the water to recede, but the mississippi river in vicksburg hasn't even crested yet, and won't until next week. in morgan city, louisiana, they are waiting for the decision to open a spillway and flood the already swollen echipilaia river. >> we expect it six feet higher than it is today. >> reporter: sandbagging is the basic line of defense in the flood zone. tim defends his home of 20 years. >> can't just sit back and watch, you know -- can't watch everything you have just go away. got to fight. >> reporter: among the more surprising sights, prisoners and homeowners working side by side to fill up the bags. julian blanchard enlisted family and friends to create barriers to prote

>> anne thompson. thank you very much. >>> now let's turn to politics and the 2012 presidential race. newt gingrich made it official on wednesday announcing he's, in fact, running for president. he did that on youtube and twitter. perhaps the best known republican in the field today but gingrich has a message about messy personal life that include s two divorces, three marriages, and a lengthy affair. here is more. >> reporter: everywhere he goes, newt gingrich hears the questions. >> i want to talk about your personal life. i hate doing it. >> you've been married three times, you've had messy divorces. >> i think you've shared your life and you've gone to god to seek forgiveness and reconciliation. >> reporter: gingrich is trying hard to reach out to evangelicals and it's what brought him to reach out to them. that's a voting block that poses a particularly big challenge for newt gingrich. >> the problem with mr. gingrich is not once but twice he has violated that solemn and sacred oath and that's why

they won for their reporting from haiti and anne thompson won for her work on "nightly news with brian williams." a wonderful evening. i'm very proud. meanwhile -- >> congratulations. >> go ahead. >> well done. >> thank you very much. meanwhile, from here in los angeles, what does oprah have in store for her big finale? a preview. >> check this out, meredith. celebrating the 60th anniversary of the ms. usa pageant. the reigning ms. usa and this year's competitors. >> all right. we've got a lot to get to. first, let's head inside. ann curry with headlines. >> congratulations from me to meredith. tornadoes brought more death and misery to the nation's heartland. 13 people killed when tornadoes struck in the evening rush hour in oklahoma, arkansas, and kansas. meantime, the death toll from this week's violent weather in missouri has risen to more than 120. >>> president obama speaking to both houses of the british parliament today and met with prime minister david cameron to discuss the wars in afghanistan and libya last night, president and mrs. obama were guests at a state dinner hosted