tomorrow morning. if you're going to the raider's game, we talk about the it, tailgating will be wet, but for the game it should be dry. >> warming up a little too. >> nbc nightly news is next, then more local news on the bay area at 6:00. on a mission -- the president overseas and under pressure to bring home jobs. danger zone -- the worst eruption yet for a ferocious volcano. more than 100 dead and tonight air traffic is ordered to stay away. under fire -- a mystery in the nation's capital, bringing back bad memories. and new fear, where will the ooter strike next? and horse power -- she may be the best athlete in america. she's only 6 years old. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. president obama is in mumbai, india, tonight at the start of a ten-day overseas journey in which he hopes to pry open asian markets and revive a sputtering economy here at home. it's the president's first extended foreign trip of the year, and, of course, comes on the heels of tuesday's democratic election losses. and so tonight, the white house is determined to bring home results from this trip in the form of thousands of new american jobs. nbc's lee cowan is traveling with the president and joins us from mumbai with more. lee, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. the president says the math on this is pretty simple. investing in one of the world's fastest growing economies, even if it is all the way on the other siftd world is, as he put it, a strategy for creating jobs back home. and he brought out the numbers to prove it. a muggy arrival in mumbai as the president and first lady begin their three-day visit to india.

a mix of history, a stop at gandhi's home, culture, and the brass tacks of economic cooperation. but before it all came, a reminder that the world's two largest democracies must cooperate on something else. the fight against terror. >> so, yes, we visit here to send a very clear message that in our determination to give our people a future of security and prosperity, the united states and india stand united. >> reporter: the president made his remarks in the shadow of the now infamous taj mahal hotel, where almost exactly two years ago, more than 160 people were killed in a series of coordinated terror attacks. security was tight. the mood, somber. all in stark contrast to the president's upbeat jobs message that he hoped was going to resonate at home. >> the united states sees asia and especially india as a market of the future. >> reporter: before a packed

house of u.s. and indian business executives, the president unveiled a sweeping series of negotiations under way that could be worth more than $10 billion for the likes of boeing and general electric, parent company of nbc universal. contracts he predicted could create more than 50,000 u.s. jobs. that's not the india often portrayed, as the home of outsourced jobs. but the president now calls that largely a stereotype, one that ignores the reality of india's current business climate. >> it is a dynamic two-way relationship that is creating jobs, growth and higher living standards in both our countries. and that is the truth. >> reporter: but what india wants out of this visit is a tangible result, a real take-away, a lifting of trade restrictions, especially in the high-tech sector. and that's what it got. the u.s. is removing indian space and defense agencies from its entities list, clearing the way for u.s. companies to export technology for both peaceful and

military uses. back to the first lady, lester, she's only joined the president on the first two legs of this four-nation tour in india as well as indonesia. and those images of her dancing certainly got a lot of play here. not only was she doing that. she was playing musical instruments. at one point she was even hop-scotching with those children. they were all disadvantaged children, either orphaned or run-aways and she certainly seemed at the very least to be in her element there. as for the president, he's got a town hall meeting here in mumbai, then it's off to new delhi later on for a joint news conference with india's prime minister. lester? >> lee cowan in mumbai tonight, thank you. the president's asian trip takes him to indonesia early next week. that country has been suffering from a pair of deadly natural disasters. a devastating tsunami last month, and the continuing eruption of the mt. merapi volcano. which has killed more than 100 people and driven thousands from their homes. now dangerous ash has brought air traffic in the region to a halt.

nbc's pierce simmons reports. >> reporter: even from a distance, its awesome beauty betrays a fearsome power. and this is the power of the mt. merapi volcano close up. hot gas, rocks and debris torching houses and trees on friday. more than 130 people have been killed. many more injured. little wonder that now the danger zone around the volcano has been expanded to 20 miles. already since its eruption ten days ago, thousands have fled. people of all ages are crammed into shelters. those that can barely cope with such conditions, and many who simply cannot cope at all. the stadium is designed to hold 10,000 people. the number here now is 36,000. they share 150 bathrooms. "we don't have enough water" this woman says. "it's scary," said another. there are 200,000 people in shelters like this across the

indonesia region. they sleep wherever they can, and when they can, they pray for better times. already the small local hospitals are overwhelmed with those suffering breathing problems, burns and broken bones. many of their community are coated in a poisonous ash, streets in which soldiers have recovered bodies. it will be months before those who survived can recover their lives and livelihoods. the local airport is closed. and even in the capital, jakarta, several international airlines have suspended flights. >> the bigger the ash cloud gets, the more potential there is for a lot of material to come out of the ash cloud, either falling out slowly or catastrophically flowing at speeds that a human can't outrun and neither can a motor vehicle. if this eruption gets bigger it could get quite bad. >> president obama is expected in jakarta from tuesday, but officials say he will be a long way from the exclusion zone. many thousands wait to see if

that zone is wide enough to protect them from nature's fury. kearce simmons, nbc news, jakarta. a bit closer to home now to haiti where u.s. military helicopters today began flyovers to assess the extent of the damage from hurricane tomas. tonight tomas is a tropical storm over the atlantic but it has left behind significant damage and suffering. nbc's mark potter is in port-au-prince tonight. mark? >> reporter: and good evening, to you, lester. the storm has passed, and most of haiti was unhurt. but a few areas were damaged and are now recovering. ? leogane, haiti, the flood is receding now but the town center is covered by running water with the rains of hurricane tomas. with u.n. peace keepers patrolling the streets, residents try to resume their normal lives, as children play in the muddy water. leogane was at the epicenter of the haitian earthquake last january, and most of the town was destroyed. now a tent camp for residents made homeless by the earthquake

is surrounded by water from another threat. according to international aid officials, there are 235 tent camps in the leogane area. 15 are flooded, and several of those are still unreachable. but aid workers have been talking to residents there by phone and say all of them are safe. while a few areas were hard hit by the storm, most of haiti fared well. a u.n. spokesperson said the country was incredibly lucky. port-au-prince, the capital, had heavy rains, but only minimal flooding. in a tent camp, though, a mudslide buried one of the homes. >> they said when the mud fell down that it destroyed the house. it was underneath the shelter house that was made. now all the mud just covered everything, but no one died, but just all the material and beds and everything is left inside. >> reporter: aid workers are now assessing the recovery needs and the u.s. is offering supplies and helicopter support.

with the skies clear again, haitian streets are returning to life as the people here weather yet another storm. now, still to be determined is whether the heavy rains may have worsened the cholera epidemic here, by spreading the contaminated water that has already killed more than 400 haitians and put thousands in the hospital. lester? >> mark potter tonight. thanks. we learned today the u.s. received a warning from saudi arabia earlier last month, that an al qaeda operative on the arabian peninsula was planning on attacking using one or more airplanes. that was three weeks before the recent cargo bomb plot was foiled. earlier this week al qaeda in yemen said it was behind the attack. also tonight the global police agency interpol has issued an alert to 188 countries with photos and technical details to help authorities identify similar suspicious devices. there's a troubling mystery tonight in washington, d.c. who has been shooting at buildings associated with the u.s. military and why?

as nbc's justice correspondent pete williams reports, these shootings are stoking fear and dredging up some very bad memories. >> reporter: the latest target, a coast guard recruiting office in virginia outside washington, the fbi says it was hit by shots fired from the same weapon used in a recent string of shootings. though no one has been hurt, the shootings for many echo the attacks by two snipers who stalked the washington, d.c., area eight years ago, killing ten people. >> it's scary. very scary. >> somebody's upset about what's happening. but it needs to come to an end. >> reporter: this latest series began last month, as many as ten shots fired as the u.s. marine corps national museum outside washington. two days later at the pentagon. security officers heard gunshots about 5:00 a.m. bullet fragments were found in two windows on upper floors undergoing renovation. a week after that, the target was a marine corps recruiting office in virginia, also being renovated. then the marine museum was hit by gunfire a second time. the fbi is urging whoever is

responsible, presumed to be a military veteran, to turn himself in. >> we do not believe it is the intention to harm innocent citizens or marines, acting out in this way, however, can eventually lead to disastrous and tragic consequences that we all wish to avoid. >> reporter: the four buildings are on or near busy highways, but investigators have found no witnesses or useful surveillance video. it's because the shots are fired at night that the fbi believes there's no desire to hurt anyone. profilers believe someone with a grievance against the military is firing the shots. >> i think the most probable right now appears to be a current or former serviceman or person who is trying to send a message. i think the challenge right now is to be able to understand that message. >> reporter: for now the fbi is asking for tips, looking for information about anyone who's suffered a recent crisis and who has been out late at night tets

when the shootings took place. >> we believe the subject is engaged in recognizable behaviors and activities during around the times of commissions of these crimes. >> reporter: no suspect so far in a case the fbi hopes it can crack before the string of shootings takes a deadly turn. pete williams, nbc news, washington. we're following another kind of mystery tonight, this one of a political nature. who will win the united states senate race in alaska? with a pile of write-in votes being counted, determining the winner could get ugly and last a very long time. northbound's kristen welker reports tonight from anchorage. >> reporter: lisa murkowski and joe miller, caught in a cliffhanger. murkowski, the most visible write-in candidate, celebrated tuesday when returns showed the write-in ballots topped republican joe miller by 13,000 votes. if she wins, she would be the second write-in candidate in u.s. history to claim a senate seat. >> we recognize that we are not yet complete with making history, but we are poised.

and it feels pretty good. >> reporter: how realistic do you think it is for you to win this race? >> you're missing the 31,000 absentee ballots that have not been counted yet. that's a significant component. >> reporter: in a campaign full of controversies, now another one. which write-in ballots should officials count as legitimate? the miller camp has argued that if murkowski's name is misspelled it should not be counted. election officials have said they will be looking at voter intent. but political analysts wonder what exactly that will mean for the counting process. >> there will be attorneys on the shoulder, on both shoulders, of whoever that person is that looks at that ballot. >> reporter: the battle has been contentious from the beginning, when miller beat murkowski in the gop primary this summer, she was stunned, but defied her own party and ran as a write-in. miller was emboldened, aligned with the tea party, he had the backing of the gop and sarah palin. the race captured national headlines and saw heated debate on both sides, including an

allegation that miller used government computers for personal reasons in 2008. >> do you regret not releasing more information earlier? >> yeah. this is an event that occurred a couple of years ago. certainly a mistake. i learned from it. >> reporter: the rancor reached a fevered pitch when dozens of miller self-avowed supporters signed up as write-in candidates to confuse voters. alaskans say they've seen enough bickering. >> we don't have chads to worry about but we have little circles to worry about and spelling to worry about. >> reporter: they just hope their next senator is named soon. kristen welker, nbc news, anchorage, alaska. when "nbc nightly news" continues this saturday, getting ready for the busy holiday travel season but at what cost? and later, the horse some are calling she-biscuit.

remember a couple of years ago when airlines battered by high oil prices and recession were struggling just to survive? their life line was the introduction of a series of fees in a so-called a la carte pricing strategy. well, it worked for them but maybe not for their passengers. here's nbc's ron mott. >> reporter: the lazy days of summer were busy and uplifting for the nation's airlines. but at what cost? in august alone, passenger complaints rose 35%. >> fares are expensive enough. >> reporter: joe medley is among those saying the airlines are taking passengers for a ride. >> fees are getting a little ridiculous.

>> reporter: frustrated that add-on charges for checked luggage, premium seats and ticket changes aren't always clear. >> we all feel we're being nickeled and dimed, every step of the way from making your reservation, to getting a seat, to checking your luggage. the airlines are always asking us for more money. >> reporter: and they're getting it with planes leaving gates packed to capacity. airline profits are soaring again after being grounded the past couple of years by high fuel and other operating expenses. us airways, $240 million in the third quarter. delta, $363 million. united continental, which merged october 1st, $741 million combined. and analysts predict airlines are poised to have a profitable fourth quarter as well. the industry's first in a decade. with higher demand and fewer seats during the holiday season leading to bigger fares and even longer lines. jed blue's chief credits the tacked-on fees for the driving third quarter.

>> ancillary fees i think what you'll see is being a significant focus on transparency. a customer should know, am i paying for that seat? what about the first bag, second bag, or whatever the case might be. >> reporter: however much passengers grumble about up-charges, they're still flying in large numbers. she knows there are alternatives but this woman plans to keep toting her tots by air to visit the grandparents. >> other than that, there's not much you can do about it. >> reporter: some pains, big gains. the cost of flying today. ron mott, nbc news, atlanta. when we come back, after new numbers this week, a reality check on the one thing that's got many americans very worried. jobs.

america got a new snapshot

had this week of the economy and unemployment. 151,000 jobs were added in october, the biggest gain in months. but the overall unemployment number didn't budge, and many experts say get used to it. is there any good news here? cnbc's trish regan is here with a reality check. trish, 151,000 jobs sounds like a lot. why isn't it making a dent in the unemployment rate? >> reporter: you're right. it was a a lot. in fact, it was twice as much as any economist had been anticipated. but the fact is we're still at 9.6% on the unemployment rate. one reason is because a lot of people that previously wanted to be in the workforce but had bowed out because the economy was so bad, they want to be back in. and so now they're being counted in these rosters. the other reason -- and this is the harsh reality here -- is it's going to take a lot more than 151,000 jobs being added to the economy every month in order to make a dent in the unemployment rate. it takes, lester, 100,000 jobs being added to the economy every month just to keep up with population growth. so, really, we're looking at

needing 300,000 jobs to really start to see that 9.6% come down. >> also in these numbers we saw -- it looked like a pickup in temporary workers being hired. is that a sign of hope? >> reporter: well, it certainly is, because we know corporations really don't want to hire until they absolutely have to, until they really know there's some consumer demand out there. the fact that they're starting to hire temporary workers is indeed a very good sign. but still, buckle up. 9.6% is pretty high. and we've got a long ways to go. >> trish regan, good to see you. thanks much. a reminder, tonight is the night we fall back, turn our clocks back an hour for daylight saving time. the actress jill clayburgh has died. for five decades she starred on broadway, on television and in films, include "an unmarried woman." she was 66 years old and had been suffering from leukemia for more than 20 years. up next here tonight, an american champion, a leading lady outrunning all the guys.

finally tonight, a perfect athlete. just 6 years old and as she headed into her last race tonight, undefeated. her name is zenyatta. at tonight's breeder's cup race all eyes were on her. the question everyone asking, could she win just one more time and retire 20 for 20? here's nbc's george lewis with a girl who has been beating all the boys. >> reporter: in horse racing a

male-dominated sport, the sport of kings, after all, zenyatta has already claimed her own royal title. >> in your mind and heart, the queen continues her legend. >> reporter: the queen. and she has her court. the fans, assembling before every race, watching her digging at the ground, almost dancing on the paddock. zenyatta's farewell appearance at today as breeders' cup classic at churchill downs in louisville, created a lot of anticipation. >> i tell you, she just left everybody in the dust last year, so we'll see if she can do it again. >> reporter: she's been the subject of magazine spreads, made oprah's "o" 202010 power list of females changing the world for the better, even profiled on "60 minutes." >> she's agile, she's nimble and she's got a huge heart. she's just got a desire to win, and she cuts it pretty close sometimes, but she always gets the job done. >> reporter: but it was her performance in last year's

breeders' cup that made zenyatta a legend. she started dead last. >> zenyatta has a lot of ground to make up. zenyatta, if she wins this, she'll be a super horse. >> reporter: and proceeded to do just that. to the astonishment of everyone at santa anita racetrack in california. >> this is unbelievable! zenyatta. >> reporter: becoming the first female horse to win the event. part of her training regimen, lapping up guinness stout. >> zenyatta enjoying her guinness this morning. after a nice little gallon lop. >> reporter: not a bad commercial endorsement for a horse. in today's breeders' cup zenyatta started out dead last once again. then in the stretch came within a nose of the leader, blaine. >> zenyatta, zenyatta, zenyatta!

>> but finished second ending her career at 19-1. george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. and that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today," then right back here tomorrow evening. good night. captions by vitac www.vitac.com good evening, i'm diane