on the broadcast tonight, to the rescue. she's the woman in the hotseat, hired to help protect american consumers. but does she have the power and should she? rebuilding a great american city. the frustrated folks who live there get their say on a plan that a lot of people fear. against all odds. a toddler's heart stops for almost an hour, so how to explaihow he came back to life. and making a difference. a man who is helping kids get fit stay off the street and stay out of trouble. "nightly news" on this friday night begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. a funny thing happened to the president's plan to appoint a woman to run a new consumer agency to help americans through this bad economy. she is such an enemy of the banks and wall street, it was feared they would put up such a fight against her that in the end, she didn't end up getting that job. today instead, the president appointed her to a different job to build but not run this new agency. the questions tonight -- did he back down from a fight or did he cut through the politics and finally what will she, former harvard professor elizabeth warren, do for you and every other american? we'll hear from her in just a moment. first our own tom costello in washington. tom, good evening. >> reporter: the white house felt this contentious senate confirmation process could drag on for months and wanted to start building this new agency now. so rather than nominate her to be director, she was nominated to be a white house assistant.

what she decides could affect everything from credit card practices to wall street profits. in the rose garden today, elizabeth warren, the woman whose very idea was to create a new consumer protection agency was given the job of building it from scratch. >> elizabeth understands what i strongly believe. that a strong growing economy begins with a strong and thriving middle class. >> reporter: the new consumer financial protection bureau will have broad authority to write and enforce standards for credit cards and home mortgages and be empowered to go after the deceptive practices that helped fuel the subprime lending crisis and the explosion of debt. a hero to liberals -- >> what's going to be different now, mr. secretary? >> reporter: warren has also been critical of the government's handling of aig, general motors, and the 2008 bank bailout. >> they didn't ask the banks what they were going to do with the money, and not having to ask them, the banks are not required to tell.

>> reporter: she's made it clear she's no fan of the banking industry. >> i want to turn to these guys sometimes and i want to say, what part of we bailed you out do you not get? >> reporter: now the banking industry fears one of its biggest adversaries will have tremendous influence over its business. >> so she can dictate what the banks can and cannot deliver at prices she determines as well. >> reporter: what no one knows is how effective the bureau will prove to be. >> there's a danger that the reg rations will be so onerous, it will raise the cost for borrowing and make it more difficult to get loans because the interests rate also be too high. >> reporter: the president insisted the protection bureau's time has come. >> from now on consumers will also have a powerful watch dog. a tough independent watch dog whose job it is to stand up for their financial interests, for their family's future. >> reporter: the president today said ms. warren will not only help get the bureau up and

running but identify who the first senate confirmed director should be. what's not clear is whether she herself might be a candidate for that job. brian? >> tom costello starting us off in washington tonight. tom, thanks. with that as the setup, shortly after she appeared with the president in the rose garden this afternoon, she joined us from washington. professor warren, it is said that you're not being appointed to the job we all expected you to be appointed to because of the opposition that the banks and the wall streeters would have pitched threatening senate confirmation. the first question is, why not take that fight to the floor of the senate? why not have that conversation so people can see it and hear it? >> well, you know, i have to say i've never walked away from a fight in my life, so you can ask my three older brothers about that. but the point is, the time spent fighting is the time not spent

doing the actual work of this agency. right now, millions of american families across this country are hemorrhaging money on credit card tricks and traps, on mortgages that are deceptive, on check overdrafts, on car loans. this list? and at some point, we have to get this agency stood up. the law that congress passed is very clear. it says get to work standing the agency up. the president asked me to do that. and that's what i'm here to do. >> can you give me anything concrete that people can hold onto areas which their lives will become better because of your service? >> one of the things i want to work on, i hope, right away is i want to work on credit cards that people can actually read. my dream is the two-page credit card agreement where you can see the terms, compare one with another, with another and know how much they cost and make real comparisons. you know, i think most people

are smart, but the way that some of these credit products have been designed like credit cards, it's to trick people, trap them. we've got to take that out of the system. we've got to make it so that families can see what they've got. they can see what it costs. a lot of personal responsibility. >> if the job you were being appointed to today was either president or monarch and it were truly up to you to go about fixing this economy, what would you do? >> you know, i would move toward products that are much simpler and just make the costs clear up front. i'm tired of this game that says oh, we're going to lend you something at 3.9% financing, zero percent financing. we're going to give you cash, when the reality is, what we're really doing here is trying to buy a lottery ticket, hoping you'll mess something up and boy, we're going to hit it big on the money. that's not a real market. and people know that. people expect to have to pay for what they get.

they expect to have to be responsible. but they don't expect that they're carrying around a loaded weapon in their pockets that may fire and shoot them at any point. so if somebody left me in charge, it would just be to kind of level the playing field so that both sides, the lender and the borrower, can see what the terms are, evaluate them and go from there. >> part of our conversation earlier with elizabeth warren, the newly minted assistant to the president. there is a lot of weather in the news tonight, beginning with what happened right here in new york last night. unusually wild and violent weather in the big city, as the national weather service spent the day going about verifying what witnesses say and what the damage sure indicated was indeed at least one tornado in places like brooklyn, queens and staten island, though it's tricky explaining it. one fatality, dozens of trees

down, buildings damaged, power knocked out. then there are the hurricanes. three of them we're watching tonight in the atlantic.ns hurricane igor with hurricane julia right behind it, could threaten bermuda before this weekend. and in the gulf, hurricane karl smashed into mexico's coastline earlier today. the city of veracruz, a city of about 700,000 people, felt the impact. karl is weakening as it moves further inland. almost five months after it blew out and started fouling the gulf of mexico, that bp oil well is about to be sealed off permanently. officially, finally from the bottom. our own chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson has been covering this story from the start and is with us from venice, louisiana. and with all that regions has come to mean to us, all that oil, it's hard to believe the moment has apparently arrived. >> reporter: and it really is here, this final act, brian, of

this well is rapidly coming to a close. this afternoon, bp began pumping cement into the bottom of the well. once that is done, it will conduct pressure tests and it says the well could be declared dead as early as tomorrow. now, you would think that would be reason to rejoice here in the gulf. but here in venice, i walked around the marina today and talked to a lot of people and i was struck by the worry and uncertainty that remains. bp's vessels of opportunity program is coming to a close, and that means for a lot of shrimpers and charter boat captains who had jobs during the cleanup, they're once again out of work. and there's no place to go. the offshore fishing here, deep water fishing is still closed, and that means charter boat captains have nothing to do. shrimpers tell me the price of shrimp has plummeted with demand. in fact, the price for certain types of shrimp is off by 66%. as one boat captain said to me, what do we do to get our

reputation back? how do we get america to want to buy louisiana shrimp again? it's a problem they didn't create, brian, but they're going to live with for a long time to come. >> we'll keep following their story. anne thompson, thanks. more on the u.s. economy tonight, and one of the hardest hit cities because of what has happened to american industry. in the city of detroit, the mayor is trying to remake the place like mayors before him, and a lot of people are having their say about his plan to start from the ground up. our own kevin tibbles is there. >> reporter: it's been a boisterous week in the motor city. >> i love my city, and i'm here. >> reporter: thousands packed town hall meetings to tell the mayor, dave bing, how to save their city. >> this is about every citizen. >> i see things that are absolutely unbearable. i don't know how people live or are expected to live like some people are living right now. >> reporter: he inherited

detroit nine months ago. he calls it a hell hole. 40,000 abandoned buildings, unemployment and crime. just last week, dozens of structures burned in fires that engulfed entire blocks. bing wants to demolish derelict buildings, redesign neighborhoods, even create inner city farms. >> our city is living like we did 50 years ago. that doesn't work anymore. >> reporter: they are vehement they're not trying to shrink this city, but detroit has been shrinking on its own. in the last 50 years, the population has dropped from 2 million to just over 700,000. today, neighborhoods lie abandoned. many fear a new detroit will mean gentrification and no place for them. >> the man said that, you know, the city will be 139 square miles but what does that look like and who will own that? will it still be detroit? >> where is the money going to come from? >> reporter: so detroiters come with questions and suggestions, some even record their concerns for city officials.

>> taxes for what? you don't deliver my mail, pick up my garbage. >> we've got to get back to our roots, we've got to get back to our foundation and make hard decisions. we've got to build from the ground up again. >> reporter: on one desolate street, 80-year-old james key sits alone. he's lived here 51 years. his neighbors all gone. >> hopelessness, that's what i have. >> reporter: the new plan likely won't come in time for him, but the hope is it will bring the city back to life, for future generations. kevin tibbles, nbc news, detroit. the vatican says tonight the pope's historic state visit to the uk will continue as planned despite a security scare earlier in the day. police arrested six men who were preparing an attack against the pope. at least five of the men worked as street cleaners in the area near parliament where the pope spoke today. when our broadcast continues, a child's heart comes to a complete halt.

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you and me both. if copd is still making it hard to breathe, ask your doctor if including advair will help improve your lung function for better breathing. get your first full prescription free and save on refills. on important breakthrough to report tonight at the minen an important breakthrough to report tonight at the mine in chile where 33 trapped men have been waiting for almost six weeks so far to be rescued. workers have succeeded in drilling that potential escape shaft through to the chamber where the men are waiting. but the best guess is still it will be at least november before they can be freed and reemerge on the surface. there's a remarkable survival story to tell you about tonight. perhaps you saw it this morning on "today." it's about a toddler who came back to life after his heart stopped for nearly an hour. our own lee cowan has the story of the child who beat the odds. >> reporter: it was supposed to be a fun fourth of july vacation, way up in the colorado

mountains. but when their 2-year-old son, gore, wandered away, everything changed. >> absolute panic. i was -- i was crying so hard i couldn't even run anymore. >> reporter: just a few hundred yards from the cabin was an irrigation ditch and inside they found little girl. >> 911, what is your emergency? >> i have a little boy that's drowned. >> reporter: gore had been under water for almost half an hour. his grandfather, a refired orthopedic surgeon, started cpr. ten more minutes passed and still nothing. >> he was just pale, like somebody -- frankly somebody that's dead and that's what he was. >> reporter: after nearly an hour, doctors got gore's heart going again. but that was it. that water was unrelenting. but there is one element that the colorado rockies give to almost every drop of water that rolls out of them that in this case was potentially life saving. the water was cold. gore's temperature had dropped to just 87 degrees. in a last-ditch effort, doctors

decided to keep him that way, stone cold. in hopes of protecting his brain. >> they pumped ice cold fluids into him. they put him on a cooling blanket. >> reporter: for two days, they sat huddled by his chilly bedside, frozen themselves in fear. then doctors slowly started to raise his body's temperature. >> all i hoped for was to be able to hold him again, and here he is waking up. >> reporter: he was rushed in for an mri and the results shocked everyone. >> it came back no abnormalities. not one single thing in his brain that was wrong. >> reporter: doctors aren't sure if the cold therapy is what saved him or not. no matter. for gore, it was the end of a big adventure. for his family, faith renewed. lee cowan, nbc news, denver. when we come back, remembering some people who left their mark on what we watched. what we watched. thank you for calling usa prime credit. my name

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a municipal bus driver in portland, oregon, is in trouble and on administrative leave after a bus passenger recorded this video, which he says shows the driver reading his kindle e-reader and at one point turning to the next page electronically right there on the dash board while driving on the i-5 heading into downtown portland. the driver noticed the camera after the damage was done and tried to tell the passenger no pictures were allowed on a moving bus.

there's also a policy against drivers using electronic devices on a moving bus. not to be outdone by other television personalities, jon stewart and steven colbert have unveiled their own plans for rallies in washington. stewart calls his the rally to restore sanity. colbert, more archly calls his "the march to keep fear alive." it all happens october 30 thd, which happens to be the weekend before the election. we want to take a moment to mark two departuring we read about earlier this week. both lives contributed in a way to our popular culture. one of them in the prevention of auto theft. james winner has died. he was the man who marketed the club. more than 25 million of them were sold, thanks in large part to those tv commercials. winner died in an auto accident that took two other lives as well. he was 81 years old. and billie mae richards has died.

she is best known for her voice, the voice of a beloved character from our childhood, a character who just happened to be a boy. >> i think you're cute. i do, i do! >> billie mae richards played rudolph in the 1964 animation special, a staple on tv to this day during the holidays. her trademark was being able to sound like a young boy. .

. . . get in . . . and drive one. [ but aleve can last 12 hours. tylenol 8 hour lasts 8 hours. and aleve was proven to work better on pain than tylenol 8 hour. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you? good, how are you? [ male announcer ] aleve. proven better on pain. words alone aren't enough. our job is to listen and find ways to help workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. we'll keep restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund. i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here.

i'm gonna be here until we make this right. [ water runs ] [ female announcer ] new chef boyardee whole grain beefaroni. [ whispering ] now with whole grain pasta. shh. [ susan ] i hate that the reason we're always stopping is because i have to go to the bathroom. and when we're sitting in traffic, i worry i'll have an accident. be right back. so today i'm finally going to talk to my doctor about overactive bladder. [ female announcer ] if you're suffering, today is the day to talk to your doctor and ask about prescription toviaz. one toviaz pill a day significantly reduces sudden urges and accidents all day and all night. and toviaz comes with a simple, 12-week plan with tips on training your bladder. if you have certain stomach problems or glaucoma

or cannot empty your bladder, you should not take toviaz. toviaz can cause blurred vision and drowsiness, so use caution when driving or doing unsafe tasks. the most common side effects are dry mouth and constipation. [ susan ] today, i'm visiting my son without visiting every single bathroom. [ female announcer ] why wait? ask about toviaz today. [ female announcer ] why wait? finally tonight, our making a difference report comes to us from upstate new york. it's about a mon who took it upon himself to keep as many kids as he could off the street, out of trouble and in a place where there are few other good options. and a lot of parents aren't home yet. our report from nbc's jeff rolison.

>> it's to make myself become a better person. >> i find the gym is my perspective of staying out of trouble. >> reporter: for some of these kids the only lessons they've learned are on the streets of rochester's inner city. that is, until they met phil green. >> this program is not just about about boxing, it's about strengthening the body, strengthening their mind. one, two, hook. that goes together. when you've got a strong body, you got a strong mind. >> reporter: and you have a successful kid. >> yeah, you definitely have a successful kid then. >> reporter: phil runs a program called future boxing, an after school escape for kids on the brink. he's a construction worker. green grew up in one of rochester's most dangerous projects, supporting his two sisters and his out-of-work single mother. >> that's why i think the kids really relate to me, and the staff, because we basically grew up in the same area as you,

we've been where you at. we know what you're going through. so come here, talk to us is easy. >> reporter: it's a way out. >> yeah, it's a way out. >> reporter: it's not about boxing, it's about discipline, respect. phil's theory, the more self-confidence a child has, the more likely they are to succeed. what has this program done for you? >> it got me off the streets. if i didn't have this program, i would probably be on the streets right now, selling -- doing the usual. >> reporter: instead now you're training to be? >> a world champion. >> it's definitely worth it. >> reporter: that feeling you get. >> the feeling you get, yes, from these kids giving back to you. >> reporter: the ultimate payoff for phil and the kids, who now have a fighting chance. >> that is our broadcast for this friday night. and for this week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. lester holt will be here with you this weekend.

we hope to see you right back here on monday night. in the meantime, have a good weekend. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com developing news right now from sfo, where a boeing 757 with 175 passengers and crew of six made an emergency landing. this happened an hour ago. u.s. airways flight 432 heading to maui from phoenix when smoke was reported in the cockpit. the pilots declared the emergency. smoke has dissipated. nobody was hurt. the passengers are being put on separate flights. we're frying