on our broadcast here tonight -- new math. what would happen if a young internet billionaire gave a fortune to a city school system that's in shambles? well, we're about to find out. hit hard. a new warning tonight about a danger for student athletes and some surprising news about girls on the athletic field. women's health. the results of a new national checkup. tonight, what's getting better and what's not. and it's lights out for american workers who have been making a basic household product most of us thought would never die. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

same question we posed at the top of the broadcast, what if an internet billionaire known for his iconic hoody gave a fortune to an inner city school system that's in shambles? we are about to find out. the billionaire, mark zuckerberg of facebook fame and fortune. he's 26. he went to harvard. he's about to be the subject of a big new hollywood movie. tomorrow, he's announcing he's giving $100 million to the school system in newark, new jersey. by the way, the teachers there are the highest paid in the state of new jersey. the results there are awful, unacceptable in any society. and here's another example of private money at least trying to fix public schools. rehema ellis is at newark city hall tonight. >> reporter: good evening, brian. deep rooted problems need dramatic solutions. that usually requires lots of money, which the city is about to get.

newark, it's the largest city in new jersey, with the biggest school problems. now getting help from a big name. 26-year-old billionaire mark zuckerberg, founder and ceo of facebook, is expected to give $100 million to newark schools. cory booker and the republican governor chris christie will join forces on the oprah winfrey show for the announcement tomorrow. education experts welcome the bipartisan effort. >> i think it's a great opportunity. first to launch a real dialogue in the city of newark about what's best for our kids and how to give everyone an excellent education. and second, because we need money to drive resources to the programs that will get us those results. >> reporter: newark schools need help. under state control since 1995, newark spends about $22,000 per pupil each year. 47% above the state average. the results are dismal. 45% of students do not graduate from high school.

only 20% of newark grads attend college. zuckerberg is part of a growing trend of venture philanthropists, investing huge sums in education reform. others are bill and melinda gates, t. boone pickens, and the andrew w. melon foundation. but some skeptics wonder if the $100 million gift to newark schools is just about generosity or if it's an effort to cast a more favorable light on a young billionaire who currently has an image problem. >> they're saying we stole the facebook page. did we? >> reporter: the hollywood movie opening next week raises questions about whether facebook, with its 500 million users, was in fact zuckerberg's idea. while new jersey officials await the specifics of the zuckerberg deal, most agree the devil will be in the details. >> we have existing statutes which governs the operation of school systems in this state, and it doesn't matter who

donates what amount of money. those laws must be upheld. they must be followed and complied with. >> reporter: there is a buzz in the city tonight about the gift, as people hold their breath, waiting to hear the details. brian? >> rehema ellis in newark tonight starting us off. and another reminder about our upcoming series "education nation." it's a nationally broadcast summit, an indepth conversation about approving education in this country. everything you just heard discussed over several days and across all the networks of nbc. it all starts this coming sunday. health in the news tonight. first, the government took rare action against what was a blockbuster diabetes drug, avandia. after a long running controversy about avandia's heart attack risks, the fda today put such tight restrictions on it that sales in this country are expected to plunge to almost zero. meanwhile, regulators in europe today said avandia would no

longer be available at all. and there are serious new warnings tonight about the dangers on the athletic field for young athletes. on capitol hill in washington, the conversation today was about concussions. too often associated just with football. doctors now say crippling concussions are showing up among a wide variety of athletes and girls can be at the same risk as boys. we get more tonight from nbc's tom costello. >> go, go, go. up, up, up. >> reporter: it's been four years of struggles since zachary collapsed and nearly died at his junior high school football game in seattle. he had gone back into the game after suffering a concussion. >> you know, i always knew that zachary was going to pull through and zachary just needed -- you have to look at it, he's here still. >> reporter: each year, e.r.s treat 135,000 sports related concussion among kids 18 and under, though the unreported number is thought to be higher. concussions on the soccer field are evenly split between boys

and girls. one high school soccer player told congress today she still struggles with a concussion she suffered last month. >> the headaches lingered and i began to forget things, not just day-to-day, but mornings, evening or even moment to moment. >> reporter: at the brain injury research center, dr. julian bales says concussions can change forever the way the brain works. >> i'm of the opinion more and more that a concussion is not necessarily hitting your head, it's the movement of the brain inside the skull, which causes the tearing of the fibers. >> reporter: a hard hit can cause the rough edges inside the front of the skull to tear at the brain's fibers. and doctors believe that can lead to headaches, difficulty concentrating, balance and vision problems and even depression and suicide. dr. stanley hering heads the nfl's head, neck and spine committee. >> if there is a suspicion of a concussion, stop player practice

and don't return until you have medical clearance. >> reporter: that's the law in ten states already. now congress is considering a national law to protect players from the dangers of concussions. tom costello, nbc news, washington. here in new york city today at a meeting of world leaders at the u.n., the united states, along with britain, france and five other countries, got up and walked out of the general assembly chamber over remarks made by the president of iran, mahmoud ahmadinejad. he said the majority of americans believe the u.s. orchestrated the september 11th attacks as part of a propaganda campaign to fix the declining american economy and to help save israel. earlier in the day, president obama had his turn at the podium and he had a lot to say about the global economy, u.s. relations with china, the middle east peace process, but it wasn't just a day for diplomacy. there were some domestic issues to deal with as well. our white house correspondent

savannah guthrie here in new york covering the president tonight. savannah, good evening. >> as you say, on foreign policy today was the main event. the president addressed the full u.n. assembly, a speech that covered the terrain of u.s. foreign policy, but it was striking how much time he devoted to the issue of middle east peace. making clear he's willing to put it on the line for an issue that's bedeviled so many of his predecessors. at the u.n. today, the president leaned hard on world leaders to finally achieve a long elusive goal in the middle east. >> we all have a choice to make. each of us must choose the path of peace. >> reporter: but at the very moment the president was laying out his foreign policy goals, his political opponents were rolling out their domestic agenda. >> americans across this country are outraged and so are we. >> reporter: at a hardware store in sterling, virginia, outside of washington, house republicans unveiled their plan to change washington. >> stop, stop out of control

spending and actually reduce the size of our government. >> reporter: borrowing the concept from the 1994 contract with america that helped sweep them to power, the republicans pledge to america promises to repeal the new health care law, and replace it with a smaller plan. make the bush tax cuts permanent for all taxpayers, cut congress' operating budget and freeze spending at 2008 levels, cutting $100 billion per year. but republicans were forced to acknowledge today when they actually had power they didn't always live up to their own ideals. >> listen, when republicans were in charge of congress, we made our fair share of mistakes. i think we've demonstrated that republicans have heard the american people. >> reporter: democrats ripped the pledge to america as nothing more than barely warmed over ideas from the bush years. >> if this is implemented, what we are going to see is the infliction of a plague on america.

>> reporter: back in new york, even in front of democratic supporters wednesday night, the president encountered an audience not all together friendly. interrupted multiple times by aids protestors. >> we've increased aids funding. i don't know why you're putting the sign up. >> reporter: today the drama unfolded behind the scenes as the president pressed china's premier to do more to reform its currency. the u.s. believes china keeps its currency artificially low. so its goods are cheaper, hurting u.s. business. tomorrow, there will be a key vote in a congressional committee to crack down on china. one other note here, the president introduced his wife, first lady michelle obama at an event at the clinton global initiative. her pitch today, urging american businesses to hire military veterans and their spouses. >> which has been her cause for so long. savannah guthrie, thanks, while covering the president here in new york. now we turn to the gulf oil spill.

let's not forget, 87 days worth of oil in that water, and about that $20 billion compensation fund, it's been a month since ken feinberg took over the claims process from bp. he's a lawyer with a track record of handling other difficult situations like the fund for the 9/11 victims families. gulf residents welcomed him as a plain spoken new englander and a hero. we went back to orange beach, alabama to see how he's doing. our report from lisa myers. >> reporter: since the spill, bp has pounded home this message -- >> bp has got to make things right. >> they're spending $100 million on a pr blitz to tell the rest of the country they're making us whole. guys, it's not true, it's not true. >> reporter: and the mayor of orange beach, alabama, devastated when tourists stayed away, says the new independent claims administrator, ken feinberg, has not made things better.

>> so we're very upset with the overall performance of ken feinberg. >> reporter: in an interview, feinberg acknowledges problems. >> we haven't processed all of the claims as quickly as we should have. i oversold this program at the beginning and i'm paying the price for it. i do not work for bp. >> reporter: he's been the target of anger and frustration at recent town hall meetings. we went back to two businesses we've kept up with. jeff hardy owns a shoe and apparel business and says his losses are now more than a million dollars. he's received one check for $5,000. these twin sisters who plan weddings on the beach have received $29,000 on a claim of $240,000. >> we feel like we deserve what we lost and that's what we're asking for, give us what we lost. >> reporter: do you understand how angry and desperate some of these people are when you send them these tiny checks? >> i understand the frustration. i understand the concern.

remember, though, that there are thousands of citizens in the gulf who received very very generous checks. >> reporter: his office has paid out almost $350 million for 26,000 claims in only a month. he showed us several e-mails from grateful claimants. and overall, gives himself a pretty good grade. feinberg says most still waiting for money simply haven't provided enough documentation. >> they just don't have the backup to justify it. >> reporter: but hardy says he's provided 1,700 pages to back up his claim. >> now i'm being told since i've got so much information on the table that it cannot be processed. >> that's ridiculous. >> reporter: feinberg says he's sticking to his promise. anyone who can prove lost income will be fully compensated. >> if i don't do that, i've failed. i've failed. >> reporter: lisa myers, nbc news, washington.

when "nightly news" continues in just a moment, a new look at the state of women's health in this country, where we are and where we need to be. it started with thomas alva edison more than 100 years ago. it pretty much ends tonight.

as of tonight, the results are in from a kind of national checkup for american women. that's because of a new report that came out just today from the prestigious institute of medicine. it looks at where things are improving for women and where they are not. we have a look at all of it tonight from our chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> reporter: like so much of health moves, the status report on women's health is a mixture of good and bad. >> there's some conditions where we've had really game changers, but there are a whole lot of others where we've had little progress and where we think the kinds of recommendations we make will increase the progress in the future. >> reporter: the most progress the report said has been made

against heart disease, breast cancer and cervical cancer. there's been intermediate success against osteoporosis, hiv-aids, and depression in women. but the report said there was little progress when it comes to preventing unattended pregnancies, diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, lung cancer in women, and dementia. dr. ethyl cyrus is one of the leading authoritying on osteoporosis. the bone thinning condition affecting mostly women that leaves them vulnerable to fractures. she specializes in that disease after she saw its terrible effects on her mother. who suffered two fractures in her vertebrae. >> in those days you were told you had osteoporosis when you broke something. she was left with a curve of her back that chronically caused pain and messed up her quality of life. >> reporter: today, bone density tests can tell if a woman is developing osteoporosis.

several medications can reduce the risk of fractures. it is one of the areas that shows how progress can be made in women's health. everyone wants that kind of progress in all these areas that effect health of women. and the report urges that scientists keep in mind for biological and social reasons, women can respond differently to treatments for all kinds of diseases. >> robert bazell, thanks for visiting us tonight. when we come back, the outfit that was deemed too racy for the street, "sesame street" that is.

the pop singer katy perry has been called out for wearing too little clothing, at least for a young audience. there it is, she shot a video for "sesame street." while it hasn't aired anywhere near "sesame street" yet, it was

posted in advance on youtube where some parents discovered it, said it was too much. or in this case she was wearing too little and now it will not air on "sesame street." u.s. army gear for soldiers now includes smartphones and at least at two big u.s. army bases, ft. sill and ft. leonard wood, they're being given them, at least on a trial basis. the government pays the bill, you keep the phone until training is over. it's a pilot program. there's an apps for the army library. containing all the basic soldiering manuals you need. the army says the device eases the transition from civilian life into the army. it was on this broadcast earlier this week, former president jimmy carter said, in our interview with him, "i feel that my role as a former president is probably superior to that of other presidents." he amended those remarks later that day, but everybody wondered how that would go over with his

fellow ex-presidents. this morning on "morning joe" on msnbc, they asked former president bill clinton what he thought. >> i don't know that i ever met anybody who did more to develop himself and the abilities that god gave him and at 86 he's still out there hitting it every day. as far as i'm concerned, he's entitled to whatever opinion he wants. it's not going to affect me. i still admire him very much. >> president clinton from this morning. joe scarborough having a chuckle in the background. by the way, if you noticed, a noticeably thinner former president, he's down 24 pounds, he says he switched to a plant-based meatless non-dairy diet to keep his heart healthy. when we come back after another break, the end of an era for the place and the people who make an american classic. +

our final story here tonight has to do with the lightbulb. if you're anything like me, you're going to hang onto at least a few of those old school round lightbulbs as long as you possibly can, even though the government has ordered we all switch over to more efficient energy-saving lightbulbs by 2014. those bulbs called cfls give off a different light and they're

tougher to dispose of. tonight, just before midnight, ge will shut down the last incandescent lightbulb factory in the u.s. 200 jobs gone just like that. and they're not happy about it. it means what thomas edison started in 1879 is coming to an end. the story tonight from mike taibbi. >> reporter: at the winchester, virginia lamp plant, they went from a billion lightbulbs a year to 300,000. the handwriting on the wall. for employees like 35-year veteran roy kirby -- >> you know that the end is going to come. but when it does come, it's a bitter pill to swallow. >> reporter: the end came faster for two reasons -- the 2007 law phasing out all u.s. production of incandescent bulbs except for specialty bulbs. like those used in some appliances. and the fact that consumers were changing their buying habits on their own, shifting to more energy efficient halogens. and those squiggly compact fluorescents.

so out with the old and in with the new. >> if we're not responding to what our customers want, you know, there's no business here. >> reporter: and gone are the $30 an hour jobs employees like the madigan brothers are finding impossible to replace. >> i'm taking a job paying half of what i was making. if i've got to have a job at least $20 to $22 an hour in order to pay our bills, you know, and to keep our home. >> reporter: this was a career for tens of thousands from the dawn of the 20th century, making the lightbulbs that changed the way we lived, lighting america's homes and businesses in the entire modern industrial age. now edison's invention is going the way of the vcr. one employee said can you think of any other technology which has lasted more than a century and remained viable? it was a great run and i was part of it. roy kirby can't quite let go. >> you know, i'm going to have incandescent lights in my house unless there's a light policeman

that comes along and says i'm going to pull them out of your house. >> reporter: but the end quietly is at hand. mike taibbi, nbc news, winchester, virginia. >> i'm with roy. that's our broadcast for this thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. as always, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening, everyone. >> first, physical freedom tonight, emotional freedom as sarah shourd opens up about year long ordeal in an iranian prison. >> it had come political and at this point, this is bier