eligible credit or debit card purchase. [beep] chase picks up the tab. it could be you. chase picks up the tab. it's another great reason to bank with chase. chase what matters. sign up at a branch today. on the broadcast tonight, jobs. a new reality check for americans who need them and we'll show you a place where many of the jobs have gone. the question is, can the president bring some back? terrorism at home. it was one year ago today america was stunned by a mass shooting at ft. hood. today was a day to remember. lung cancer. new questions tonight after yesterday's big news about a screening test that could save many more lives. and "making a difference." the overwhelming response we got from our viewers after a recent story about the peace corps and what happened next. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. the first friday of the month means the monthly jobs report, which is watched anxiously by so many americans these days struggling in what's become the most challenging labor market in decades. today's numbers came in better than the experts were expecting. employers added 151,000 jobs to their payrolls in october. but the unemployment rate remains there steady at 9.6%. it's not a gangbusters number to report, but it brought some sense of relief, at least to the president and his team any way at the end of a brutal political week in this country. our chief white house correspondent chuck todd starts us off from washington tonight. good evening. >> reporter: just three days after the president and the democrats faced a drumming at

the polls, where 6 in 10 voters said the economy was the number one issue, the government reported the best jobs growth numbers in six months. minutes before leaving the country for a ten-day trip to asia, the president called the new jobs report in october encouraging news. >> we've now seen private sector job growth for ten straight months. that means that since january, the private sector has added 1.1 million jobs. >> reporter: the october jobs report was the third best month of the year and best report since may, when 432,000 jobs were added. the unemployment rate stayed the same, 9.6%, something the president called unacceptably high. >> the fact is, an encouraging jobs report doesn't make a difference if you're still one of the millions looking for work. >> reporter: while some experts are skeptical about the numbers, others think there's reason to believe things are improving. >> temporary employment continues to rise. that's usually the harbinger of permanent employment going up.

hours worked is going up. hourly wages are going up. >> reporter: the president, mindful of the message voters delivered tuesday about the economy, reframed his trip to asia as being about jobs. >> i'm going to be talking about opening up additional markets in places like india so that american businesses can sell more products abroad in order to create more jobs here at home. >> reporter: hours after the president left, outgoing house speaker nancy pelosi stunned the political world by announcing she wants to stay on as minority leader. many democrats are grumbling privately, that pelosi, the target of 141 different tv ads run by national republicans -- >> do you want government to be the nanny state? >> reporter: isn't accepting blame for what happened on tuesday. >> for the speaker to stay on another couple of years after a life of accomplishment kind of reminds me of willie mays going over to the mets for a couple of years. hanging on just a little too long. >> reporter: for you history political buffs out there, sam

rayburn is the last speaker to remain on as minority leader. he got the gavel back and a building named after him. by the way, one more interesting step in the jobs numbers. while private sector has grown this year, the government has shed 250,000 jobs this year, mostly though in the local level. it's cops, firemen and sanitation workers. brian? >> chuck todd in washington to start us off, thanks. before the president left the united states on his long trip overseas, various reports started surfacing in the media about the cost of the trip and his security along the way. for a while there, the numbers were repeated unchecked until some people did some checking and found out a lot that was wrong. our white house correspondent savannah guthrie has arrived in india ahead of the president and is with us tonight from mumbai to talk about it. savannah, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it started with a report here in the indian press, citing an anonymous official, an indian government official, alleging

that the president's trip cost would be $200 million a day. and another report said that the pentagon was sending 34 warships to the coast here to protect the president. well, the u.s. secret service and the white house won't comment on specific security details but called this wildly inflated, grossly overestimated, not even close to true. just to put it in perspective, it cost about $190 million a day to execute the war in afghanistan. clinton's trip to india back in 2000 was $10 million a day, and the pentagon spokesman, when asked about this claim that the pentagon was sending 34 warships said that it was absolutely absurd and comical that the pentagon would deploy 10% of the navy to protect the president. brian? >> savannah guthrie in mumbai. we'll be checking in with you along the way. one place the president will not be going on this trip is india's high tech and job-rich capital bangalore. it's the place often blamed for the outsourcing that's killed so

many american jobs. our own ian williams shows us what the president will not be seeing during this particular trip. >> reporter: this is the city that gives president obama sleepless nights. >> let me know if you need any help. >> reporter: bangalore, india. >> does this make sense? >> reporter: servicing america. 24-7, with everything from online shooters to personal assistants. >> you have an appointment today at 3:30. >> reporter: india's outsourcing and i.t. capital is booming. a $60 billion industry, employing 4 million people across india. 60% of its work for the u.s. >> people feel we are taking jobs away from the u.s. i think it's unimaginable. in the u.s., the cost would be 10 or 12 times more than what we're providing. >> reporter: bangalore has moved well beyond the outsourcing of back office or call center jobs. and it's not only low costs that now give indian workers a competitive edge.

america's technology giants are now sending top notch work to highly skilled indian workers. for ge, the parent of nbc universal, this is the biggest technology center outside the u.s., employing more than 4,000 people. >> we don't do things because it's cheap, we do it because it's viable here. >> reporter: technology colleges are expanding rapidly to meet a demand for software engineers, who still cost only a fifth of their u.s. counterparts. >> jobs will go wherever there is talent. america will have to find new ways to reinvent itself. >> reporter: some americans do see bangalore as an opportunity, not a threat. >> every day 400 cars, new cars are added to the streets. >> reporter: riding the bangalore boom, deejay kenny jones from ohio hosts one of the city's most popular radio shows. >> are you looking for a job? >> reporter: while he quit microsoft to set up an

pioneering employment agency for blue collar workers using text messaging. >> there's a lot of hope. >> reporter: india's most dynamic city won't lose too much sleep over not seeing the president. they're much too busy for that. ian williams, nbc news, bangalore. we have breaking news tonight from california, where a white transit police officer in oakland has been sentenced today in the shooting death of an unarmed black man. our report tonight from nbc's george lewis. >> reporter: tonight, there are protests in the streets of oakland over the judge's ruling. a ruling that many see as too lenient given the fact that a man was killed. >> i believe it's a racist criminal justice system. >> reporter: 22-year-old oscar grant was an unruly but unarmed train passenger. in 2009, he was detained by police after a fight. the incident, recorded from different angles by people with cell phones.

officer johanas pulled his pistol and fired. grant died several hours later in a hospital, leaving behind his fiance and 4-year-old daughter. mehserle was put on trial for murder, but in july a jury in los angeles found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter. he could have received a maximum of 14 years in prison. but instead the judge sentenced him to two years with credit for time already served. that means mehserle could be out in seven to eight months. >> it is still my hope that people will express their anger in a manner that is nonviolent. >> reporter: and tonight, the oakland police are trying to keep the violence to a minimum. george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. and now to the storm we've been watching with some anxiety here this week, hurricane tomas.

the fear was it could devastate the nation of haiti where more than a million people, as you know, are still living in tents since the massive earthquake. as it turned out, and we've been watching it all day, haiti's capital city faired better than expected, but other places were not as fortunate. our own mark potter reports tonight from one of the towns that is suffering all over again. >> reporter: once again, haiti has fallen victim. last january, it was at the epicenter of the earthquake, when 90% of the town was destroyed. now flood waters from hurricane tomas fill the streets, as residents struggle and worry about how high the water will go. this water is from all the rain that began falling at 8:00 last night. it collected throughout the area, and is now racing through the center of town. rushing water surrounded a makeshift camp here, for homeless earthquake victims. adults and children now

threatened inside their temperatures. >> it's just really heartbreaking. >> reporter: in a local hospital, doctors had 20 minutes to move patients to safety on the second floor before flood waters came rolling in. mark potter, nbc news, haiti. a passenger plane crash in central cuba just as hurricane tomas moved into that area late yesterday killed all 68 people onboard. state media said the plane was a european made atr-72 twin turboprop passenger airplane. the bulletin arrived one year ago today. a report of shots fired at ft. hood, the massive u.s. army post in texas. well, as you know, it turned out to be a massacre. the gunman was an army psychiatrist who developed extreme views about his own islamic faith. today, a memorial was unveiled there amid lots of still unanswered questions about how it was allowed to happen. our report tonight from nbc's

janet shamlian in texas. >> reporter: on america's largest active duty military base, it will always be known as the day combat came home. >> november the 5th, 2009, is forever etched into the consciousness of ft. hood, the army and the united states. >> reporter: when a gunman turned a stateside post into a battlefield. firing on fellow soldiers before being shot and paralyzed by two civilian cops. when it was over, 13 were dead. fathers, sons, daughters and one, a mother-to-be. today, their families wept in front of a block of granite, etched with those 13 names. >> it's been very emotional. it's almost like another funeral all over again, i guess. but very honorable at the same time. >> reporter: witnesses say the gunman was army psychologist major nadal hasan. an american born muslim with radical views of islam. a military hearing resumes later this month to determine

if there's enough evidence to go forward with the trial. in the months after, most of the injured soldiers set aside their grief and waded back into war. some are in afghanistan with shrapnel still in their bodies from the battlefield back at home. the two officers who stopped him are also back on the job. more than a memorial, 51st responders were honored, soldiers and civilians who by risking their own lives, saved countless others. janet shamlian, nbc news, ft. hood. when our broadcast continues on a friday night in just a moment, a closer look at some major health news about a test to detect lung cancer early. when it comes to making a difference, they were some of the originals to answer jfk's call to duty.

we told you last night here about a major health story, a new study that shows a certain type of cat scan can cut death rates from lung cancer, one of the deadliest types of cancer. the people it's helping are current and former smokers, and there are more than 96 million of them here in the u.s. more than a third of them over the age of 50. our own chris jansing has a closer look. >> take a couple of deep breaths. >> reporter: for 55 years, arnold lord was a two-pack-a-day smoker. his doctor says an a ray of his lungs came up clean. but a spiral ct scan caught his cancer early. finding this now, what does it mean for the patient? >> it means everything. this patient, with good treatment, has about a 95% chance of having the cancer cured in this area. >> reporter: since yesterday's news showing that low-dose

spiral ct scans can reduce the death rate by 20%, hospitals have been getting lots of calls about the scanners. many made by ge, parent company of nbc universal. but experts advise caution. >> i'm very frightened we're going to have a lot of people at low risk or moderate risk for lung cancer go out and demand this test and end up being harmed because of it. >> reporter: one risk, 25% of scans produced false alarms, which can send patients on an emotional roller coaster. and can also mean invasive and expensive tests to then rule out cancer. the high risk group, who would benefit most, are people over 50, who have smoked what oncologists call 30-pack years. say someone who smoked one pack a day for 30 years or two packs a day for 15 years. there are other concerns, too. most health plans don't cover the $300 to $400 cost. the chance for early detection shouldn't be taken as a license

to light up. >> people should not smoke. this does not give people a card to go out and smoke. >> reporter: for those who have been heavy smokers for years, the preliminary results are extremely promising. >> if not for the cat scans in both cases, i would probably be dead. >> reporter: and arnold lord hopes to be living proof for years to come. chris jansing, nbc news, new york. up next here tonight, a man gets on a plane, crosses the pacific ocean and emerges a completely different person.

it was announced today keith olberman has been suspended indefinitely and without pay by msnbc after it was revealed he made campaign donations to three democratic candidates in the run-up to this election. he was suspended for being in violation of nbc news policy. an incredible story from canada tonight that could have scary ramifications for airline security. an elderly white man, pictured here, boarded an air canada flight from hong kong recently en route to vancouver. at some point during the flight, he went to the restroom and emerged a young asian man.

which happens to be his actual identity. once in vancouver, authorities detained him and found clothing and a mask in his luggage. he has asked for refugee protection. it's the holy grail of collector's items and tonight an order of roman catholic nuns is the beneficiary of a $220,000 windfall because of it. one of the 60 original honus wagner baseball cards known to exist was left to the school sisters of notre dame in baltimore by the brother of one of the nuns. the card was purchased at auction. the proceeds now go to the order's ministries around the world. when we come back here tonight, an unlikely reunion, 50 years in the making for a special group who came together to make a difference when the world was a different place.

not long ago here we brought you a "making a difference" report about the peace corps, returning to one of the world's most dangerous places, sierra leone. we got a ton of e-mails after that story and it led us to a kind of reunion of a group of men and women who were there when it started serving with an organization that's been making

a difference, coming up on 50 years now. our report from nbc's ron allen. >> reporter: they've come together to celebrate. back to rutgers university in new jersey, where they trained for what was a new volunteer program almost 50 years ago. a group of 62 young men without a real good idea of what they were getting themselves into. >> it's decision time and you're invited to go to colombia. well, yeah! you know, let's go. when is the plane leaving? >> reporter: they all say they signed up after hearing a young president's call to action. >> we'll send americans abroad who are qualified to do a job. >> reporter: what do you think those two years meant to your life? >> for me, there's no question, it was life changing. at 19, 20, 21, i had -- i had no direction. i didn't think about what i wanted to be when i grow up. >> i got to live in different places and meet different people.

i loved every minute of it. >> reporter: they served in colombia, south america, where nbc news first met mike wilson in 1962, riding a horse back and forth to work. >> we built roads here, we've built some basketball courts, wells, water supplies. >> reporter: the group, known as colombia one, also is credited with helping pave the way for over 200,000 americans who would follow to more than 100 countries. often leaving a lasting impression. that's something we saw firsthand while reporting on the peace corps' return to war-torn sierra leon. ♪ the lord, lord, lord is surely good to me ♪ >> reporter: a local man who remembered a peace corps teacher from 40 years ago. >> ms. watson. >> reporter: ms. watson? >> yes. i remember her. >> reporter: we had to pass that message along. ms. watson is marilyn scott, a retired social worker who still volunteers teaching english.

>> isn't that nice? i got as much from them as they got from me. >> reporter: many from colombia one stayed with the peace corps, training new recruits. directing programs around the world. what do you guys share? >> it was an adventure that also maybe helped some other people and i was part of something bigger for my country. >> reporter: would you do it again? >> in a heart beat. well, if i were younger. >> reporter: a brotherhood then and now, that came together to try to lend a hand. ron allen, nbc news, new brunswick, new jersey. >> great story. that's 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 .

this has the got to be the most despicable day in oakland. >> outrage, the rally begins after the sentence. johanas mehserle will be out of jail in less than a year. good evening, everyone. i'm tom sinkovitz.