colleague. >> announcer: from nbc world headquarters in new york, this is nbc nicely news with lester holt. >> good evening. it is ominous in tone and frustratingly thin on specifics, we are talking about the worldwide travel alert issued to americans overseas after u.s. intelligent caught wind al qaeda may be planning an attack against american interest. the threat is credible, but pinpointing the target or targets, officials are taking no chances. issuing a blanket travel warning and closing american embassies across much of the muslim world tomorrow. we are learning more about where the threats are coming from amid a shifting center of power. covering several angle, we go to kristen welker at the white house. >> officials say the threat could be coming from the arabian peninsula and the affiliate in yemen. in one of the most serious terror warnings in years, the state department alerted americans overseas that al qaeda could be plotting an attack and have their eyes trained on the arabian peninsula. it covers travel for americans, cautioning them to be vigilant at tourist sites and public transportation. in a statement they said terrorists may use a variety of means and weapons and target officials and private interest. it will stay in effect through august. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said the threat is serious and specific. >> it is an affiliated threat of the al qaeda branch to attack western, not just u.s. interest. >> in another rare move, the state department ordered the temporary closure of 22 embassies, mostly in the mideast and the major diplomatic posts in kabul and cairo where they filed this report. >> the last time there was a complex attack on the embassy was september 2011 and insurgents were holed up in the building behind me, firing on to the embassy compound. the embassy will be closed meaning virtually no one will be allowed on or off embassy grounds. >> officials tell us nbc news the threat was identified through increased chatter through terror groups and other sources of informs. the intelligence points to yemen. >> it is probably the most deadly of all the affiliates. >> emmen is where the underwear bomber got his training and the bomb that nearly blew up an airliner over detroit in 2009. where they directed terror attacks before being killed two years ago in a u.s. drone strike. >> given the source and the time frame where this attack or these attacks may be taking place, that's why the government takes this action. >> britain and germany are closing their embassies in yemen. this comes as interpol asks countries to track down terrorism suspect who is escaped over the past month in prison breaks in the middle east. at this point in time, it is not clear whether there is a connection between all of the alerts. president obama continues to get updated regularly. lester? >> kristen welker at the white house. we are joined by counter terrorism analyst michael lighter and richard angle on the ground in egypt. i will begin with you. we are led to believe al qaeda has been severely weakened. what's happening on the arabian peninsula. >> it is true that al questioned is severely weakened in pakistan and afghanistan, but we have seen a rise in their affiliate in yemen. they worked quite hard and made gains against that affiliate, but they are still the most potent al qaeda affiliate out there in the world. very prominent bomb-makers there and people who have proven themselves quite operationally able both within yemen and overseas. >> richard, you have been to yemen and the government is working with the u.s. to defeat al qaeda there. how have they become so strong and has the center of power for al qaeda essentially shifted there? >> the yemeni government doesn't control all of its territory. that's one of the main problems. the yemeni government is very close to the u.s. and wants to work with washington and wants to work with the fbi. like the other people, we have also been told the source of the current threat goes squarely back to yemen. as for the timing, there three main reasons. is the chatter and the information about a specific threat. two, tomorrow. tomorrow is the holiest day of ramadan, the muslim holy month and al qaeda tried to use this specifically very holy day during ramadan to try and increase its inspiration. lastly, there was an attack, a drone attack in yemen mid-last month that didn't get a lot of attention in the western media. one of the top leaders of al qaeda and the arabian peninsula in yemen was killed. we have been told this plot or alert may be al qaeda and the arabian peninsula's attempt at revenge. >> thanks to both of you. more on the threat tomorrow morning on "meet the press." david gregory's guest will be chambliss and dick disturb ib in. >> unrelated to the militants with ties to pakistan, ax tack india's consilate in afghanistan. three suicide bombers armed with assault rifles and a car packed with explosives killed at least nine civilians. back at home with hundreds already sickened in 16 states, the fda made headway in tracking the source of the outbreak. they identified an american-owned salad processing plant in mexico as the source in iowa and nebraska. so far the source of cases in 14 other case remains elusive. here's charles hadlock. >> the fda said packaged salads of lettuce, cabbage and carrots picked in san miguel mexico are the source of sickness in at least two states. the mexico plant is owned by taylor farms of salinas, california and was last inspected by the fda 2 years ago. the contaminated salad mix was served in olive garden in iowa and nebraska. in the first lawsuit related, a texas woman claims she was sickened by psych low spora after eating at an olive garden in texas. both are owned by darden restaurants, the defendant in the suit. the spokesman had no comment on the lawsuit, but said the texas restaurants are served by a different supplier, adding iowa and nebraska health officials said this is not an ongoing outbreak and the product is no longer in the food supply in those states. darden is fully cooperating with the investigation. the last illness in iowa or nebraska was reported july 2nd. they reported cases of illness that cause severe diarrhea that lasts for weeks. what remains a mystery is why hundreds of people outside iowa and nebraska are still reporting the illness. health experts advise using caution when preparing fruits and vegetables. >> you look at the bag and it may say prewashed, but standards may vary across the industry. it is a good rule of thumb and habit to go ahead and wash them again. >> in a statement, taylor farms of mexico said they run a state-of-the-art facility and is cooperating with the fda in their ongoing investigation. the fda said it is stepping up its inspection of all fruits and vegetables from mexico. charles hadlock, nbc news, ft. worth. >> california is investigating what went wrong at the demolition of a decommissioned power plant. hundreds were gathering around the area. miguel has our report. >> at this bakersfield power planned, the implosion went off as scheduled, but not as planned. the blast sent scrap nell flying into spectators and five people injured and one man from serious wounds. >> we have an adult man 44 years who sustained an amputation of one leg and possible amputation of the second. >> with cell phones capturing the implosion from multiple angles, the crowd in the hundreds was gathered behind a police barricade deemed safe. >> we were watching like everybody and i caught a piece of scrap nell below new knee. >> they are used to bring down buildings too expensive to tear down piece by piece. typically safe, this one in orlando's amway arena last year injured a man who was nearly two blocks away. tonight back in california, pg&e who owns the bakersfield facility said a full investigation is under way. nbc news, los angeles. >> tonight baseball superstar alex rodriguez is back in uniform playing in the minor leagues in what could be his last professional game for the foreseeable future. as major league baseball weighs banning him for life. alex is not going away quietly. ron mott is in trenton, new jersey with the latest. >> alex rodriguez got rich hitting home runs like his shot last night in a minor league game for the trenton thunder. but with roughly $100 million of his big league yankees contract hanging in the air as he awaits a possible suspension for lifetime ban for alleged doping, a-rod is striking back. >> when all this stuff is going on in the background and people are finding creative ways to cancel your contract, that's trn concerning me me. >> the yankees declined comment, but the manager shared his thoughts after a game in san diego on friday. >> i'm not involved in that part. i manage the people when they get in the room and that's whey take responsibility for. >> rodriguez never officially failed a drug test al admitted to using performance enhancing drugs earlier in his career. even if they consider this a second violation, its agreement with the player's association calls for a 100 game suspension, an estimated $15 million wal up to his wallet and none banishment. >> i have a lot more play to me. we have a process and it's not here yet. >> many baseball observers see a process headed towards a messy conclusion. >> when you look at his language, there is no love lost between alex rodriguez and the front office of the new york yankees. >> with both sides playing hardball, the final score will be costly no matter the result. >> i will say this. there is more than one party that benefits me not every stepping back on the field. not my teammates and not the yankee fans. >> there supports circulating in new york that earlier today alex rodriguez caught the commissioner's office, but baseball is firming up the offer of a suspension all the way through next season or a lifetime ban. lester? >> thanks. when nightly news continues, the u.s. combat mission in afghanistan winds to a close, the new reality of soldiers returning from the war zone. remembering john palmer, a distinguished southern gentlemen and decades of service to nbc news. . >> after 12 years of war, the nato combat mission in afghanistan is slowly winding down, slated to end by december of next year. for most american troops, the steady drumbeat of steady deployments to the war zone will come to an end. we were in georgia as members we spent time with in afghanistan in september came home. they hope for a very long time. >> for as long as most of these soldiers have been in the army, homecomings meant they will soon be preparing to go back to war. >> i'm used to coming home and hurrying up and getting back in. >> before long it becomes tearful goodbyes. >> it hits you at night when you go to bed alone. >> after five deployments since 2003, four to iraq and one to afghanistan this past year, the army's third infantry division has just returned home to ft. stewart, georgia. with the u.s. planning to largely pull out of afghanistan by the end of next year, it appears this division won't be going back any time soon. >> so now they can take time for themselves. they can take advantage of going to school. they can take the opportunity for their family to settle down and be stabilized. >> we were with elements of a third id in kandahar last fall where i first met captain steve has as he led his troops in search of taliban rocket placements. after two deployments to afghanistan, he like the army as a whole, is in transition. >> before our priorities were being successful at war and being successful in our mission and now it's the same, but we are focused on readiness. >> as the returning troops learn how to reintegrate into state side, so do their spouses. >> being into being a couple again. it takes time. >> i hope it means stability in place so we can put some roots somewhere. >> this last deployment, the third was focused on training afghan forces. major general robert abrams who until this week commanded the division said their mission was successful. >> as i told everyone to include the afghans, they only have to be good enough to beat the taliban and they are. >> success came at a price. >> what's more, he was killed in southern afghanistan. >> at ft. stewart, along rows of trees dedicated to the more than 4060 members lost over the last decade, he reflects on the soldiers who didn't come home. >> when you lose soldiers under your command, it's personal and stays with you forever. >> americans are still dying in afghanistan. 85 so far this year. even as captain steve settles into state side, a part of him will remain over there until the last soldier comes home. >> they are still doing the mission. what's frustrating if are me is it seems like no one back here really understands that that soldier is still trying to complete a mission and he gave his to complete the mission. >> completing that mission in southern afghanistan where the third id was operating was the fourth infantry out of colorado to took over regional responsibilities there last month. when we come back, a polo match fit for a prince. william back in action and weighing in on baby george. >> a dash cam captured it all. the driver of this tractor-trailer was forced off the road when another driver drifted into his lane. the semi went airborne before crashing and exploeding in i-74 in greensburg south of indianapolis. miraculously no one was seriously injured. in western kansas, a giant sinkhole opened in wallace county that measures 200 feet across and 90 feet deep. while officials don't know what's causing the ground to give way, it is surely growing. new dads like to stay on their toes. dads like prince william and his brother harry was at a polo match. he scored the winning goal and received a baby-sized mall et since royal son george was born 12 days ago. from wars to the white house, we remember nbc news man, john palmer. finally tonight, words about a dear colleague and friend who many of you welcomed into your living rooms if are a good many years. john palmer passed away today at the age of 77. been there done that only begins to describe his career as a nbc news correspondent. he wore a lot of hats and covered a lot of ground and a lot of history. there was no one better in the trenches and as a colleague, no one more liked. we asked his long time friend andrea mitchell to reflect on his and remarkable career. >> all the fighting spread from this year in the southeastern suburbs. >> from beirut to washington, john palmer was the rare soul in the rough and tumble news. smart, brave, and always courtly, a southern gentlemen in the trench coat of a dashing foreign correspondent. >> paris without the eiffel tower is like a frenchman without wine. >> he covered wars and politics in the feet and from the anchor desk on "today." >> in the news this morning -- >> the pride of tennessee, he got a break in atlanta in 1960. two years later he joined nbc news where he spent the better part of the next 40 years. >> at times the fighting has been heavy with both sides using finish guns. >> his assignments were dangerous and gritty. covering the arab wars and the civil war in lebanon. >> the subject of that meeting -- >> until 1979 when he was named white house correspondent and covering five presidents. carter, reagan, both bushes and bill clinton. always supportive to the rest of us, including a rising net walk star john palmer brought to the white house his foreign policy experience and a steady reassuring voice. in good times and bad. >> the president returns to washington early next week. the possibility of finally explaining his relationship with monica lewinsky. >> it may have been this moment that defined his career. april 25th, 1980. >> this is a special report. >> john learned that the carter administration was attempting to rescue the american hostages in iran and it failed. the president asked him to hold it until the teams were out of iranian territory. >> the rescue mission has been aborted and eight americans have died. >> john joined the "today" show family where he spent seven years along bryant gumbel and jane pauley guiding us all through triumph and tragedy. >> there was a huge ball of fire. >> john loved sinatra, golf, and fishing. the most treasured role was husband and father. he met his wife in 1979 where she worked for nightly news. now a journalist and writer, they have three daughters, molly, a "today" show producer married to lee cowan. carter who works in the entertainment industry. and hope who is also following in her parents's footsteps in journalism in washington. during the "today" show's anniversary, john was every bit the proud dad. >> she was born on december 10th and now she is with the "today" show. >> passing on dedication and passion to his daughters and leaving a legacy in work and for all of us that lives on. ♪ fly me to the moon >> a week ago he was singing fly me to the moon and after a short sudden illness, he is singing among the stars. andrea mitchell in washington. >> that's nbc nightly news for this saturday. i'm lester holt in new york. i will see you later today and tomorrow evening. good night. >> these are the main sticking points. we're not sure if any progress has been made on any of these fronts today. we have seen some of the head negotiators coming inside and going back into the building. so far they have made no comment today. unions representing workers issued a 72 hour notice. as the clock ticks down to the deadline, just 30 hours away, many are getting anxious. workers went on strike last month for four days and causing major headaches for those who decided to try and drive where they needed to go. >> i tell commuted for a week. some people took the ferry and they said it took two and a half hours. >> it makes a mess of the whole

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