on o on our broadcast tonight from washington, mr. speaker. tonight, our exclusive interview with the new speaker of the house, john boehner. his first as speaker. also, suspicious packages, three of them. all sent to government buildings in this region. all with something in common. and the gathering storm taking aim again at the northeast. also tonight, we'll meet amers newest super rich couple. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good evening from the piece of real estate they call the speaker's balcony on the west front of the u.s. capitol building.

this was the first day of business for the new congress, and the new speaker. and the first order of business was the first time ever reading of the u.s. constitution on the floor of the house. it began after some maneuvering by democrats, but in the end, both parties took part, reading different portions. >> we, the people, of the united states, in order to form a more perfect union. >> neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, the parties shall have been duly convicted within the united states. >> no person, except a natural born citizen or a citizen of the united states at the time of the adoption of this constitution shall be eligible to be office of president -- >> except obama! >> we're going to have more on that disruption in just a

moment. first, though, we begin with our exclusive interview with the new speaker of the house, republican john boehner of ohio. his first interview as speaker on his very first full day on the job, insisting to us, as he did in his speech yesterday, that even though he woke up this morning second in the line of succession behind the president, he hasn't changed. >> i'm just a regular guy with a big job. i'm humbled to have the opportunity that i have to be the speaker of the house and have the confidence of my colleagues and the american people. but it's a humbling experience. i'm glad i'm there, though. >> what one thing are you willing to go down in flames on? what one issue is so important to you that if you knew in advance you would make the deal you would be a short-term two-year speaker of the house? >> i believe my number one responsibility is to restore the institution of the united states

house of representatives. the american people know that congress is broken. and it is broken. >> your speech yesterday seemed personal. i noted a lot of conciliatory language in it. but there was that expression "scar tissue." you said there's been a lot of scar tissue build-up. elaborate, what did you mean? >> partisanship, inability of members to work across the aisle. the heated rhetoric from each side of the aisle. all of that, in my description, is the scar tissue that's built up over the last 15 or 20 years. and i think that by having a more open process, a more open house that allows members of both parties to participate in the debate, offer amendments, i think over time that will begin to melt the scar tissue that's built up between the two parties. >> and yet respectfully, the first thing you're doing after the reading of the constitution,

is bringing so-called obama care, the obama health plan up for a vote. it's been called a stunt, because it can pass the republican house, but it's certain to fail, if not in the democratic senate, but it won't survive a veto. why spend the valuable time of your beloved house of representatives that way? >> you have to understand that in my opinion, obama care is the biggest job killer we have in america today. it's a weight over every employer that we have. there by requiring them to hold back their willingness to hire people. secondly, i believe that obama care will ruin the best health care delivery system in the world. and then thirdly, i think it will bankrupt our country. >> two points. what do you say to those who would disagree that it was the best health care delivery system in the world, because they, by the millions, weren't getting it? and second, where are you getting the notion, as you said again this morning, the american

people want it repealed. our exit poll was 48%-47%, very evenly split on that. >> i've talked to tens of thousands of people across the country last year as i was out helping my candidates. i've been from one corner of my district to another, and it's pretty clear to me that this law ought to be repealed. the job killing aspects, the cost of it, and what it's going to do to the delivery. while yes, not every american had fair access to affordable health insurance, every american had access to the best health care delivery system in the world. >> i'm curious as to how much responsibility you feel specifically because of something that happened this morning. during the reading of the constitution, congressman frank pallone of new jersey was reading a portion of the document, interrupted by someone who heckled from within the chamber. it was to express doubt over the president's american

citizenship. provided you believe the president is an american citizen, you've got 12 members co-sponsoring legislation that does about the same thing, it expresses doubt. would you be willing to say, this is a distraction? i've looked at it to my satisfaction, let's move on? >> the state of hawaii has said that president obama was born there. that's good enough for me. >> would you be willing to say that message to the 12 members in your caucus who seem to either believe otherwise, or are willing to express doubt and have co-sponsored legislation? >> brian, when you come to the congress of the united states, there are 435 of us. we're nothing more than a slice of america. people come -- regardless of party labels, they come with all kinds of beliefs and ideas. it's the melting pot of america. it's not up to me to tell them what to think. >> do you consider the defense budget sacred?

do you consider -- >> absolutely not. >> do you consider the homeland security budget sacred? >> no! >> what goes? name a program right now that we could do without. >> i don't think i have one off the top of my head, but there is no part of this government that should be sacred. >> do you think we belong in afghanistan, still to this day? >> oh, i do, i do. as expensive as it is in terms of lives, and in terms of our treasury, denying safe haven to the terrorists who want to kill us is critically, critically important to the long-term security of our country. when you think about our responsibility as a government, i think the first responsibility that we have is to make sure that there is security in our country. >> the new man in charge in the house. a portion of our conversation with speaker boehner. later in the broadcast, the conversation turns personal. we'll talk about his emotions, even his smoking and his life leading up to this big job.

we're joined here at the capitol building by our capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. kelly, while the senate hasn't changed, they're still under democratic control, there's no greater measure of how much the house has changed than the fact this was nancy pelosi's balcony. it isn't anymore. >> we catch ourselves still referring to it as the pelosi balcony. but with the gavel go these trappings. i was talking to a senior democratic official today who said he's now in the lower rent district if you will, and having less opulent space might be good for democrats. new members are still figuring out where things are. hiring staff. there are boxes in hallways and they're getting down to some business. today, republicans and democrats voted to cut their own budget for office space, staff, that sort of thing, trying to set an example. but don't look for that kind of cooperation next week. that's when they want to tackle repealing the health care law. republicans want to do that. democrats are trying to find any way to stop that. >> all part of the new reality and divided government here on the hill. kelly o'donnell who covers it

for us every day, thanks. across town at the white house, there's a new man in the crucial and powerful job of chief of staff. he is bill daley of chicago, son of former mayor daley, brother of the current mayor daley. he's been a cabinet official, most recently midwest chairman of investment bank jpmorgan chase. white house correspondent savannah guthrie covering the announcement there today. savannah, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the president told senior advisers at their meeting this morning, daley expected to start in two or three weeks. in picking daley, the president has reached out to someone described as a tried and true democratic centrist. he has strong ties, as you said to the business community, having worked as an executive with jpmorgan. he was also commerce secretary under bill clinton. chairman of al gore's 2000 campaign and he grew up in politics as the son of chicago's famous mayor. >> needless to say, bill also

has a smidgen of awareness how our system of government and politics works. you might say it is a genetic trait. >> you, mr. president, have proven your strength, your leadership, your vision during a most difficult time for our nation and for the world. you have also shown through your example that public service is an honorable calling and i am pleased to answer your call. >> reporter: daley and obama, of course, are both from chicago, but the two men are not said to be personally close. the president only met with daley two or three times in connection with this job before offering him the position. and this is something that was so closely held by the president, even very senior advisers didn't know how seriously daley was being considered for the chief of staff job until very late in the process, brian. >> savannah guthrie at the white house where next we will learn who the new press secretary is going to be. savannah, thanks. across the potomac river,

our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski is reporting that 1,400 additional u.s. marines are on their way to afghanistan as backup ahead of the taliban spring offensive. at the same time, defense secretary robert gates is announcing some new budget cuts for the military, totalling about $78 million over five years. even he admits, however, that is modest given the massive pentagon budget. he's also cancelling the order for a $14 billion amphibious vehicle for the u.s. marine corps. not far from here in maryland tonight, there's a developing story we mentioned at the top of the broadcast. suspicious packages in the mail. our justice correspondent pete williams following the story from our newsroom tonight. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. these were packages sent through the mail to state offices in maryland, causing a great deal of alarm this afternoon. but it turns out that none of them contained explosives. they were instead designed to spark and catch fire. and surprisingly they contained a message about threat warnings.

the first package was addressed to the governor, opened shortly after noon near the capital building in annapolis. then another opened about 15 minutes later in another state office building. this one near the baltimore airport. police say the packages were both about the size of a book, that they smoked and caught fire, causing minor burns on the fingers of state employees who opened them. one federal official said they contained a message protesting, of all things, the state's road signs that urge people to report suspicious activity and this message in the package said "you have created a self-fulfilling prophecy." another official describes the message as relatively routine from a disgruntled state official. maryland authorities put a hold on state mail delivery today, checking for similar packages. but there is no suggestion of terrorism here, brian. >> strange and still developing story. pete williams covering it for us tonight. pete, thanks.

when our broadcast continues in a moment, the unusual weather pattern winding up to hit millions of us again. later, the personal sign of the new speaker of the house, including personal habits in his first interview as speaker. including personal habits in his first interview as speaker. as much as i can about a company before i invest in it. that's why i like fidelity. they give me tools and research i can't get anywhere else. their stock screener lets me search for stocks with more than 140 criteria. i can see what their experts are thinking and even call them to bounce an idea off of one of their investment professionals. a good strategy relies on good insight. if you wanted to learn more about a company, i think you'd actually have to be there. and get a cold... ...you need a cold medicine with a heart. only coricidin hbp has a heart, right here. it's the only cold and flu brand that won't raise your blood pressure.

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you, brian. the northeast will see some snow tomorrow. the big question is, how much? and before we get into the numbers, i want to show you the timing of this. regardless of how much snow we end up with, this snow will cause some problems on the ground and possibly through the air, as well. so in the morning hours, new york will be seeing the heaviest snow. what's important here to look at, this is a band of snow that will be moving through the evening hours through connecticut and eventually the overnight hours into boston and new england. so saturday morning, boston you will be seeing some snow. at times we will have reduced visibility. but the main thing to realize is even though some of these snowfall totals, all relatively modest. 3 to 5 inches in new york. 2 to 4 inches in boston. it's that band of snow moving through, if that stalls out, if it hangs out in a small area, about 30 to 60 miles, you could see a foot of snow. so while modest in many spots, we could end up with a lot of snow in a small area. >> chris, after 34 inches in

jersey, 3 to 5 sounds like a dusting. we'll take it. chris warren, thanks as always. up next, as we continue here, one of the mega lottery winners claims his prize, and knows immediately what to do with the money. his prize, and knows immediately what to do with the money. nighttime nasal congestion meant, i couldn't breathe right. i couldn't sleep right. next day it took forever to get going. night after night, i sat up. sprayed up. took a shower... or took a pill. then i tried drug-free breathe right advanced. and instantly, i breathed better! i slept better. it felt...better. thank you, breathe right! [ male announcer ] breathe better, sleep better, feel better. now try new breathe right advanced for free... at breatheright.com. [ woman ] it's my right to breathe right. isn't it your right, too?

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we're back. one of the two lucky winners of tuesday's giant mega millions jackpot came forward to claim his prize today. jim mccullar, retired from his job at boeing, was in olympia, washington with his wife carolyn and family to pick up half of the $380 million prize, second biggest lottery jackpot ever. and he knew exactly what to do with the money once they handed it to him. >> i've been married 41 years. i know what to do with this check. she looked at me and screamed! tears started flowing down and i looked at her and i started crying.

and all she could say is, is this real? is this real? tuesday, the 3rd, i was jim mccullar. and wednesday the 4th, i was still jim mccullar. i'm the same guy. what this means to me is not that i'm going to fly all over the world and buy my own jet. what this means to me is that the legacy is going to go generation after generation after generation. >> that's really terrific. by the way, mrs. mccullar is sharing the prize with another lucky person that purchased a ticket in neighboring idaho. they just haven't come forward yet. donald tyson has died. he was the man behind tyson chicken. he turned his arkansas chicken farm into a mega business. he helped develop chicken mcnuggets for mcdonald's. he bought out holly farms and grew bigger than purdue. he played rough. he took risks in life and became

one of the richest men in the world. donald tyson, dead of cancer at the age of 80. up next, more of our interview with john boehner. his first as the new speaker of the house. and what he says about who he is on the personal side. sonal side. [ sneezes ] client's here.

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fine, thanks. i've got the same responsibilities today. >> we're back with more of our exclusive interview with speaker of the house john boehner. the first one he's granted as speaker. he's 61 years old, one of 12 kids. he was a high school football player. a catholic from a blue collar background in ohio. married close to 40 years and now the conversation turns personal, to the topic most americans now associate with john boehner. you're an emotional guy. a lot of us are, and you know this before i even mention it. it's been the main topic of conversation, and that is your emotions. do you understand why it's so much a topic of discussion and do you worry at all about it being a distraction, specifically during times of high moment? >> no. listen, it's who i am. you know, there are some things

i feel very strongly about. and when it comes to kids, when it comes to my own family, soldiers, you know, i get -- i feel very strongly. i want america to be the country that i grew up in. >> what do you do for strength? >> i pray. i pray from the moment i wake up, and i may pray all day long, because it's -- you can't do this by yourself. can't do it. >> personal question, you're a smoker, and not just a smoker, you're a pretty committed smoker. i've got one in my own family, we all know them. do you think it's fair game as a topic given smoking's prominence in the health care debate or do you think it should be nobody's business and a matter of personal privilege for you? >> well, it just is what it is. that's my take on it. it's a bad habit. i wish i didn't have it, but i have it. >> have you tried to quit? >> i've tried to quit from time to time but not for a while. >> most smokers have tried to

quit about 20 times. >> nowhere close. >> do you get a lot of heat for it? >> i have a lot of people offering advice to me, suggestions. >> but for now it's a part of your life. >> it's what i do. >> it's what you do, and you're willing to -- >> i'll take the heat. listen, i am who i am, and i'm never going to be anybody that i'm not. >> when you go home next, is there a sidewalk, a place, a person, that's kind of a talisman to grab onto, talking about strength in the new job? >> well, i get strength every day just going to my facebook site. people having conversations with people. i'm humbled by the confidence they have in me. >> the kid who's 16 in ohio writes you on facebook. mr. speaker, how do i do what you just did? what's going to give me the shot? who's going to give me the chance? this has been called the first american generation without the hope life is going to be better for them.

>> right. >> so answer that. >> get a decent education. work hard. and most importantly, dream big. you can do whatever you want to do. i played football for jerry faust, moeller high school, cincinnati. went on to coach for notre dame. one of my dear friends. left my a voice mail yesterday. i told the story for 20 years what he taught us, there's nothing in this world you can't accomplish, nothing you can't succeed at if you're willing to work hard enough and make the sacrifices that are necessary. >> from that emotion welling up again at the end of our conversation there. and you can see more of our conversation with the speaker on our website, beginning right now. that's nightly.msnbc.com. that is our broadcast for this thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. reporting tonight from the speaker's balcony on the west front of the u.s. capitol building. we hope to see you tomorrow night back home in new york. good night.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com . she stays, for now. the student about to be deported from the bay area. good evening. i'm garvin thomas. >> their tales are becoming so familiar to us. undocumented immigrants pleading with u.s. immigration officials to allow them to stay in this country so they can complete their college education. a san francisco student learned today she and