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with select services. at&t. rethink possible. with select services. officials may issue a precautionary alert for americans traveling to europe as early as tomorrow. intelligence agencies are said to be hearing increased talk among terror networks suggesting attack plans are in the works. but absent hard information about the nature, timing and location, american officials have apparently decided to stop short of taking the more serious step of issuing a travel warning. let's get the latest from london. >> reporter: paris was on high alert this week, the instructions to americans, be vigilant overseas which has not

yet been issued, followed two evacuations of the eiffel tower in the past two weeks. bomb threats on trains and at subway stations. german intelligence warnings that al qaeda could be staging mumbai style attacks in europe's major cities. nbc learned this week there's also been a great deal of chatter, e-mail and phone conversations about a possible imminent attack. according to the associated press, the language in the u.s. alert is expected to be vague. it won't address a specific country or specific landmarks. but possible targets are europe's main tourist sites. as well as airports, trains and other public transportation hubs. counter terrorism officials here believe bin laden himself is behind this latest plot. and in the last 24 hours, there have been two new bin laden audio tapes, although he doesn't make any specific threats. the alert is not meant to keep americans at home, officials say, but it could have a real impact on europe's tourism industry.

>> for more on this we're joined from washington by nbc news terrorism expert roger cressey, roger, to be clear, the government is talking about issuing an alert to americans to be vigilant overseas. that is short of an actual warning. what will the language and the timing of this tell you about what counter terrorism folks seem to be seeing here? >> it speaks to the seriousness of the threat. it is important that the state department is not going to issue a warning advising americans not to travel to europe, but just be aware of your surroundings. it speaks to how concerned american and western europe intelligence officials are that this potential al qaeda plot has gotten beyond just the preoperational stage and might be getting further along. >> and as we heard, the plotting may be along the line of the mumbai-style commando attacks of soft targets if you will. is this something western officials have been on the lookout before ever since mumbai? >> i think a lot of people in the counter terrorism community have been watching what the

jihadis have been talking about regarding mumbai. they saw how successful mumbai was. just a group of guys with ak-47s. and they keep waiting for that type of attack to be threatened here in the west. it's not the only one, lester. there are other threats they're concerned with as well. but the fact that this is focused on western europe makes it much different than what we have seen in regards to previous terror threats. >> let's get down to brass tacks here. we've been down the path of suspicious chatter and alerts since 2001. you were in the trenches during much of that. does anything about this feel different to you, roger? >> what's different is that this is an al qaeda central plot. it has direct links back to the safe haven in pakistan. bin laden may have had some role, maybe not direct operational but certainly blessing or providing guidance, the fact that there's any plot that's directly related to al qaeda central is what's making the u.s. government and the european government so concerned and so nervous right now. >> the u.s. has not issued a call for vigilance yet, but if you're someone who's about to

get on a plane for europe, if it was you or your family, would you take that trip? >> lester, i leave thursday night for london and i look forward to that trip. i think we all should travel. we should never engage in self-deterrence in the light of terrorism threats. >> appreciate your candidness and your information. roger cressey, thank you so much. the fight against the taliban and al qaeda has increasingly carried over from afghanistan into neighboring pakistan. the u.s. launched two more drone attacks on targets there today. the attacks capped a week marked by tension with this u.s. critical ally. we're joined by john yang in the afghan capital of kabul. hello, john. >> reporter: there are conflicting reports on the death toll from those drone missile strikes, but local government officials tell nbc news that at least 14 people were killed. this was in north waziristan, a tribal region of northwest pakistan where those safe havens provide a launching pad for insurgents to launch strikes into afghanistan.

and military action there has been on the rise. missile attacks in that area are now at record levels. this appears to reflect the u.s. view that, number one, they've got to drive the insurgents out of those safe havens in order to turn things around in afghanistan and that the pakistani military is either unwilling or unable to do the job. that increased military activity has also inflamed anti-western sentiment in pakistan. a key u.s. supply route remains blocked by pakistani officials. there has also been attacks on at least more than two dozen nato fuel trucks headed for afghanistan. nato officials say this blockage has so far not had any effect on nato troops and coalition trips in afghanistan. and they say they can have it closed for some time before

there is any effect. but officials are also looking for a way to get around that route entirely. lester? >> john yang in kabul for us tonight. thanks. back in this country now we are exactly one month away from the midterm congressional elections and amid signs democrats are facing an uphill battle to hold ground, thousands of party liberals paid borrowed a page from the tea party movement. gathering on the national mall in washington to try to stir up passion and democratic voters. nbc's mike viqueira is there tonight. mike. >> reporter: good evening, lester. before this march, organizers have said it's not about comparing themselves to the tea party or recent marches that have happened here on the national mall. but as the day wore on, it became obvious that these marchers had one thing in common with conservatives and that is a frustration and anger with washington politics. this time it was a show of strength from the left, an attempt to change the story line this campaign season. >> they had their turn. it's our turn now.

>> reporter: one nation working together. today thousands streamed past national monuments to gather at the steps of the lincoln memorial. it was a patch work of progressive causes. >> we're going to do exactly what we did for obama. we're going to unify and continue the struggle for working families. >> reporter: coming little more than a month after conservatives met in the same setting, today liberals said that they too are angry about the direction of the country. >> we've bailed out the banks. we've bailed out the insurance companies. now it's time to bail out the american people. >> reporter: but with election day exactly one month from today speaker after speaker called on democratic voters to go to the polls. >> we marched too long for the vote, bled too much and died too young. don't give up now. stand up and fight back. >> reporter: with voter apathy a continuing concern for democrats, president obama has launched a series of rallies for party faithful, asking for more time to address core concerns while also touting his record on

everything from health care to student loan reform. >> and they have a right to be impatient about the pace of change. i'm impatient. but i also know this, now is not the time to quit. now is not the time to give up. >> reporter: with their party expected to make major gains in congress, today republicans sought to keep the heat on. >> we have seen a governing party basically tune out the american people who elected them and aggressively advance an agenda that most americans vehemently oppose. >> reporter: with the political climate now favoring the party out of power, the republicans, democrats are struggling to come to grips with voter unrest. >> what you have now is an electorate that's angry in many ways and disappointed in the way things are going and candidates are able to tap into that anger by seeming to reflect it. >> reporter: and lester, president obama and the first lady were at camp david today during all this. tomorrow he has invited all of his cabinet secretaries and

their families for day-long retreat. meanwhile on the schedule next week more rallies and more campaigning. across the country, one of the nation's most closely watched political campaigns, the race for california's governor got even more heated today. after spending millions of her own dollars, the former ceo of ebay, republican meg whitman is on the defensive over allegations she had an illegal immigrant working in her home. with the candidates running neck and neck, whitman faced new questions today about what happened and how she handled it. nbc's kristen welker has the story. >> reporter: gubernatorial candidate meg whitman and jerry brown face off before a largely spanish speaking crowd in fresno as immigration takes center stage. they wasted no time addressing this week's allegations that whitman knowingly employed an undocumented worker, nicky diaz santillan, as her housekeeper for nearly a decade. >> you put her out there and you should be ashamed for sacrificing nicky diaz on the altar of your political

ambitions. >> don't run for governor if you can't stand up on your own two feet and say i made a mistake, i'm sorry, let's go on from here. >> reporter: santillan said she asked for help. instead she fired her. her attorney gloria allred says the social security administration wrote a letter in 2003 questioning the housekeeper's citizenship. but whitman insists she didn't know there was a problem. >> one griff and i learned that she was an illegal worker, we had no choice but to let her go and terminate her employment with us. it was one of the hardest thing i have ever had to do. >> reporter: political analysts say the dust-up could cost whitman votes. her conservative base may see her failure to alert authorities as a sign she is soft on voters. latino voters could see it as a slap in the face. with get out the vote efforts like this one underway, latinos are an increasingly powerful voting bloc with california republicans struggling to gain

their support. >> reporter: the former ceo of ebay has spent a record $119 million out of her own pocket, launching campaign ads, many that targeted hispanic voters. [ speaking in spanish ] jerry brown has spent a fraction of that, but he is one of the most recognizable political figures in the state, serving as the current attorney general and governor 30 years ago. it is a race of contrasts. >> many people believe in my vision for a new california. >> we have tried this business of the inexperienced private sector person coming in with a spine of steel and they get flummoxed. >> reporter: with decision day just four weeks away, one question looms large, will the housekeeper's story derail a billionaire candidate in this razor tight race? kristen welker, nbc news, los angeles. most rivers in north carolina are receding today, but some in the eastern part of the state continue to rise after torrential rains earlier this week. authorities say much of the town

of windsor will remain under water for several days. as much as 23 inches of rain fell in that area. more than 250 people have been rescued since last thursday. when nbc "nightly news" continues this saturday, a story that has shocked so many people, a promising young life lost. now some high profile voices are speaking out saying there is hope. later, one hard-hit community finds reward right in its own backyard.

this week's suicide of a rutgers university student, the victim of a cruel and humiliating prank, has captured the attention of the nation, but the incident was not as rare as it might seem and now there are increased calls for action to help young people when they're most vulnerable. nbc's rahema ellis has our story. >> reporter: today a moment of silence at the rutgers university homecoming game to remember tyler clementi. the 18-year-old freshman who was a high school honors graduate and a talented musician killed himself only two days after his classmates, one of them his roommate, allegedly used a webcam to secretly videotape clementi in his dorm room in a sexual encounter with another man and live streamed the images over the internet. in california on friday, the funeral of another student who committed suicide. 13-year-old seth walsh. in the past month, at least five

gay teenagers have taken their own lives. shocking deaths that have led to new calls for action, including this one from talk show host ellen degeneres. >> my heart is breaking for their families, for their friends and for our society that continues to let this happen. these kids needed us, and we have an obligation to change this. >> reporter: garrett widell was bullied the summer before he started high school after classmates learned he was gay. >> he got text messages like -- they were just horrible. like -- it was very depressing. >> reporter: garrett became so distraught he considered taking his own life. >> he called me one day at work and he said i'm in the garage. and i have a knife. and i don't like myself, and i don't like my life. there's no reason to go on. >> reporter: garrett got the help he needed through the trevor project, a national

suicide prevention hot line for teenagers struggling with their sexuality. >> if you're feeling helpless or hopeless, there's always a safe place to turn. >> reporter: back in new jersey, the parents of tyler clementi, who never got help, issued a written plea. our hope is that our family's personal tragedy will serve as a call for compassion, empathy and human dignity. a hope that came too late for their son who was supposed to perform his first performance in an orchestra concert tonight. instead the orchestra is dedicating its performance to tyler's memory and leaving his chair empty. rahema ellis, nbc news.

people want to go on the internet and check out their friends. >> one of the year's most anticipated movies took in $9 million yesterday when it premiered across the country. "the social network" tells the story of the founding of facebook. it now boasts 500 million active users. with so many people spending so much time online with facebook in particular, a college in pennsylvania recently tried a little experiment, life without social media. nbc's maura has the story. >> reporter: at the harrisburg university of science and technology, the curriculum is all about computers. so is it safe to say that when they're here they're connected? >> absolutely all the time. >> reporter: but recently, administrators decided to teach their students a completely new lesson in unplugging. for an entire week, the school's computer network blocked all access to sites like facebook,

twitter and instant messaging programs. >> i thought it was a joke at first. >> reporter: when it comes to social networking, he's a popular guy, spending so much time online he needs a computer program to shut down facebook and twitter at night so he can sleep. for acosta, the school's technology blackout was a dark time. >> i just felt like i lost something. >> you were miserable? >> yeah. >> reporter: while some felt like geo? >> the lack of instant messenger is what really just killed me. >> reporter: others used the opportunity to put the social back in networking. >> introduce yourself. hey, i can't find you on facebook. i'm josh, how are you doing? >> reporter: harrisburg university isn't the first to test web withdrawal on their students. earlier this year, the university of maryland went on a full technology fast, banning all electronics for 24 hours. afterwards, students described the experiment as unbearable. some might even call it addicting.

last year the country's first internet rehab center opened in washington state. >> it can become all encompassing, and it can become so time consuming that people don't actually have an opportunity to go out and live. >> reporter: harrisburg's experiment did teach some that real life can be better than virtual reality. >> surprisingly i actually quit facebook after this week. >> reporter: but others like geo acosta learned a completely different lesson. >> i love technology, i love everything about it. >> reporter: they need to be plugged in to feel connected. nbc news, harrisburg, pennsylvania. next making a difference by digging down deep.

finally tonight making a different. with so many americans out of work, just putting food on the table can be a real challenge. in one ohio community people are helping themselves by going back to the land. nbc's peter alexander with this report. >> reporter: sometimes digging in the dirt. >> great tomatoes. >> reporter: can produce beautiful results. >> this is the same part i had last year. i made sure of that one. because everything grew. >> reporter: amanda is a single mom with two young children. >> my kids have been eating more healthier. >> reporter: while amanda has struggled to find work for most of the last few years, she's found fulfillment honing her

skills in the garden. amanda is responsible for one of 40 dirt plots as part of a unique program at ohio's wilmington college, designed for families going through tough times. a program appropriately called grow food, grow hope. >> the families that were selected had very little food, very little resources. >> reporter: across many parts of the country, many people could use a little hope, but perhaps nowhere more than wilmington, an hour outside cincinnati. in 2008, the shipping company dhl announced it was closing its operations here and in the process putting nearly 10,000 people out of work. but rather than assess the downfall of this tight-knit community, a professor at wilmington college planted a novel idea. >> it's about people coming together to learn how to grow their own food. >> reporter: this season dozens of local families invest their energy into the land, cultivating produce and fresh herbs, everything from squash to sage. >> everything that's in this garden is perfect. >> reporter: it's made a huge

impact for josh and mandy gillis's family. with six mouths to feed on a limited income, a little extra homegrown food gos a long way. >> we have learned more, you know, different tricks of the trade to kind of introduce vegetables into their diet. it's really helped a lot. >> it's a really energizing experience and you realize that after two years of working and planning, the idea's actually grown into something and you're making a difference. >> it's been said he who plants a garden plants happiness. in wilmington, ohio, all you have to do is look around. >> it's not just nourishing your body. it's also nourishing your soul, i think. >> reporter: peter alexander, nbc news, new york. that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. thank you, everyone for watching. a quick program note, sports coverage of the ryder cup begins early tomorrow, 4:00 a.m. eastern here on nbc. i'm lester holt, reporting from

new york. i'll see you again tomorrow evening. good night. test test this is in credible. i don't want to hit you o