we'll see you then. until then, good night. benghazi. deadly crackdown. one of the bloodiest revolts yet in the middle east, libyan forces open fire again on thousands in the streets. the showdown in washington and the growing risk of a shutdown. can the president and republicans agree before the government runs out of money? winter whiplash. here it comes again. another big snowstorm moving across the country. and the envelope, please. royal invitations are in the mail. what we are learning tonight about who made the guest list. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening, everyone. reports coming to us from inside libya tonight are describing a mounting death toll as security forces today again opened fire on anti-government protesters who are trying to end moammar gadhafi's 41-year rule. u.s. officials tonight are expressing grave concern over the images coming out of places like benghazi, where according to one physician on the ground, 50 more people were killed today it is believed at least 200 people have died during the five-day uprising, a number gadhafi's son tonight call and exaggeration. libya has barred foreign journalists from entering the country, but despite attempts to block communications to the outside, credible eyewitness accounts and some pictures of the violence are reaching us tonight. nbc's ron allen is covering the turmoil in libya from neighboring egypt and joins us now from our cairo bureau with late information. ron. >> reporter: good evening to

you, lester. yes, tonight, protestors in libya's second largest city say they are in control there. there are also reports of thousands of protesters gathered in the capital of tripoli. new indications that there is ever-increasing pressure on the regime of moammar gadhafi and by all accounts, his response continues to be very brutal. these amateur pictures illegally beamed out of libya report to show demonstrators in the rebellious eastern part of the country, heavily armed with weapons taken from or given to them by sympathetic army soldiers. they are heading to benghazi, a city of 1 million people, epicenter of the uprising. this woman was contacted there by phone. >> i think something is going on. hang on. can you hear that? civilians have armed themselves. i can now see civilians with arms, with guns. >> reporter: libya is virtually hidden from the outside world, the internet shut down, outside media be aed -- banned, phone

service sporadic. reports getting out accuse gadhafi's army of firing live ammunition, including heavy weapons into crowds of mourners burying their dead. poor people an oil-rich nation demanding a better life. a cycle playing now the some places several days in a row. we spoke by phone to an activist, worried about what an unpredictable gadhafi would do next. >> i think he is planning a massacre here, definitely for sure. pretty much every victim that died were either shot to the head, chest, neck, or on the leg toward the femoral artery. they were shooting to kill. >> reporter: gadhafi is the longest serving ruler in africa and the arab world, four decades in power, atop the continent's largest oil reserves. for most of that time, an enemy of america. lately, after renouncing terror and taking responsibility for the lockerbie bombing over

scotland, off the list of rogue leaders. today, gadhafi on state tv refused to acknowledge the uprising. he has said foreigners are in the country to cause chaos. >> this is a very serious development and we are afraid that a human rights catastrophe is actually unfolding as i speak. >> reporter: meanwhile, there are reports the rebellion is moving closer to the capitol of tripoli, trapping people in their homes. >> please, please, please, please, we need your help. we need your help to help us. please. do you hear the guns? oh, my goodness. >> reporter: one of gadhafi's sons spoke on state tv, saying the military has been defending itself against separatists who are trying to divide the nation and that media reports have been exaggerating the problem. and here across the border in egypt, a crowd converged on libya's embassy in cairo. many there worried about and barely able to reach family back home. >> i have managed to talk to one of my uncles.

the others, the cousins, i don't know anything about them. i tried to communicate with their cell phones. i hope that they are still alive. i really hope so. >> reporter: gadhafi's sons remarks were defiant and a strong warning to the protesters. at the same time so many libyans we have spoken to today say it is now or never there is no turning back as they fight to force gadhafi out. lester? >> ron allen in cairo tonight, thank you. the bloody confrontation in libya was hardly the only action today. in yemen 1,000 anti-government protesters battled against supporters of the regime and long-time ruler. meanwhile, the social unrest spread to morocco for the first time today. and in iran, the city of shiraz, police on motorcycles chased down anti-government protesters. there was a heavy police presence throughout the country today. the counter calls for large rallies to honor two people killed in protests last week. back in this country tonight, hundreds of protesters once again crowded the capitol building in madison, wisconsin, for a sixth straight day of demonstration.

they are angry the governor wants to strip public sector unions of most of their collective bargaining rights. the governor says the state can no longer afford to pay generous benefits it negotiated in the past. in washington, a government shutdown, the first in 15 years, is a growing possibility tonight if republicans and democrats can't reach common ground on a new spending plan. nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house tonight with more on that mike? >> reporter: good evening, lester. some thought it could never happen again but with a gop-controlled house of representatives facing off against a democratic president at odds over spending, the government could be headed to a shutdown. republican or democrat, both sides agree on one thing. >> the starting point is that we know we need to cut spending. we know we need to live within our means. >> reporter: but they can't agree on where to cut or how much. now, as the odds of a government shutdown grow, each side is already blaming the other. >> the only way we will shut the

government down if it is our democratic colleagues insist on keeping the federal government large and unsustainable. >> reporter: new gop speaker vow there will be no new money coming from congress, even to fund the government in the short term, without big cuts. >> read my lips, we are going to cut spending. >> reporter: boehner led a wide-open house debate, ending in the wee hours saturday, resulting in a $61 billion cut to this year's budget. slashing everything from foreign aid to high-speed rail. but the senate, led by democrats, isn't likely to go along. >> are we gonna take a weed whacker to education funds in this country while we let millionaires continue to deduct interest on their second home? >> reporter: but the clock is ticking. funding for the government runs out on march 4th and with the senate in recess all next week, that leaves only five days to work out a compromise. >> the way it's always been done, the way to do this like adults is not to say it is my way or no way.

that is what newt gingrich did with lots of severe consequences but rather silt down and negotiate. >> reporter: gingrich, theme brand-new speaker, took most of the blame in 1995 when a similar impasse led to a four-week shut down of federal courts, museums and national landmarks. now, with the economy still fragile, president obama is warning this time could be worse. >> be destabilizing at a time when i think everybody is hopeful that we can start growing this economy quicker. >> reporter: but with debt and deficits at record levels, this time, republicans think the public is behind them. >> look, we are not looking for a government shutdown, but at the same time, we are also not looking at rubber-stamping these really high elevated spending levels that congress blew through the joint two years ago. >> reporter: lester this could be the battle in a year-long fight over spending. the government is expected to exceed its statutory debt limit of $14.3 trillion, in about two months and republicans say they wouldn't vote to raise it unless there are bigger cuts in spending. lester? >> mike viqueira, thanks.

for more on this i want to bring in john harwood, chief washington correspondent for cnbc. john, republicans say slashing the budget was the mandate voters gave them in november and we heard they are not going to agree to even a temporary deal without big cuts so the question to you, is this posturing or are they really prepared to allow a government shutdown? >> this group of republican freshmen does not appear to be the kind that plays the usual game of striking a tough initial posture and then making a big compromise but republican leaders know that the likelihood is that they would be blamed if the government shuts down. we have seen in polling that the public believes that president obama is trying harder to work with republicans than republicans are trying to work with him. that gives him some leverage. the question is whether republicans will be able to pull those freshmen back from the brink if it comes to that. >> of course, we are talking about a narrow window, perhaps 12 days here to get this done. what are the options to break a stalemate? >> reporter: well they don't have time for the senate to pass their own stopgap funding bill and then make a compromise. you're going to have to have some sort of agreement.

john boehner has said he would not do it at current levels. the question is how big of a cut from current levels will it take to move something through the house? my guess is that at the end of the day the house still is going to try to move something that cuts spending, not nearly as much as republicans have already passed. >> very quickly, let ask you a question of the budget drama in wisconsin. the governor there wants to limit the bargaining power of public employees. does this signal the weakening of public employee unions across the country? >> reporter: the decline of private sector unions have made public sector unions the most vibrant part of the labor movement and the most vibrant labor union contributor to the democratic party. but this is a potentially big blow. budget deficits across the country have put them in a very difficult spot. but one thing we know, lester, nothing in politics moves in a straight line. it will be a blow if they lose this fight in wisconsin but there are more chapters to go in this story. >> john harwood, good to have you on tonight, thank you. old man winter is not done yet. this season has been long and

it's been hard and now another major storm is moving into the midwest and great lakes region. and this comes on top of a wind storm that stoked wildfires here on the east coast. nbc's peter alexander has our story. >> reporter: the snowstorm taking aim at the upper midwest right now could rival some of the biggest storms to hit that area this season. up to 18 inches forecast in minneapolis, already its fifth snowiest winter to date. >> i can't complain. it is minnesota, right? >> reporter: fierce winds punish the east coast all weekend, knocking down power lines and trees in pennsylvania, and sweeping dozens of wild fires across parts of maryland and virginia. nearby in washington, d.c., powerful winds toppled the national christmas tree that has stood outside the white house more than three decades. gusts reaching more than 50 miles an hour in new york city worked like a blow torch, fueling this five-alarm apartment fire that left one woman dead and more than 20 firefighters injured. >> the wind gusts is making very difficult for the fire

department to put it out. the whole of the top floor is gone. >> reporter: the winter whiplash could make you dizzy. for a moment there last week, it felt like spring, but clashing weather systems forced the temperature in places to plummet by more than 40 degrees in less than 24 hours. this latest storm is targeting the northeast, with buffalo in its bullseye. and new york city expecting several inches of snow overnight. soon enough, it has to thaw with meteorologists warning that record spring flooding is possible. where are they watching? right down the heart of the midwest, from north dakota to st. louis, everything from the red river to the mississippi, when this winter's heavy snow pack finally melts. peter alexander, nbc news, new york. the weather channel's mike seidel joins us now from minneapolis where the snow is already piling up. a different scene than we saw this morning from you, mike. >> reporter: yeah. when we talked this morning, lester, the "today" show, there wasn't a flake on the streets of downtown minneapolis.

boy that changed quickly around 10 a.m. look at this time lapse video and look how quickly the snow piled up here in the city that has already had five feet this season, five feet, that's 50% more than their average to date. the storm heads east tonight, spreading snow and some ice just in time for monday morning rush hour. here in the twin cities, wind up with a foot in spots. no real issues in chicago. long flight delays but mostly rain there but syracuse will crack the 150-inch mark. and you think you had a bad winter? new york city only needs three more inches to hit five feet for the season and they may do it by tomorrow morning. one thing is for sure, lester, there's 60-degree temperatures which had many hoping from boston to new york to d.c. hoping that this winter, this snowy winter, had come to an end. those temperatures off the weather charts for the rest of the month. here in minneapolis, it may be april before they see 60. >> you are just full of good news tonight. mike, thanks. when nightly news continues this sunday evening, how the

u.s. navy is tracking those somali pirates on the move tonight with four american hostages. later, the royal wedding invitations are out. we will show what you they look like and find out who made the list.

we are learning more tonight about the latest pirate attack off the coast of africa. a private american yacht called "the quest" was hijacked by about a dozen pirates near somalia. an american couple from marina del rey, california, was on board. they were sailing around the world to distribute bibles. today, we learned the identity

of a second couple from seattle that was also taken hostage. tonight, the u.s. navy is tracking the yacht. nbc's jim miklaszewski is following the story and he joins us now from washington. jim what is the latest? >> reporter: lester, tonight, three u.s. navy warships and helicopters are shadowing this small yacht as it slowly makes its way toward somalia with those four american hostages and now as many as 15 pirates on board. the u.s. military and an fbi hostage negotiation team with talking to the pirates, trying to gain the safe release of those americans but if that doesn't happen, lester this could turn very ugly. the u.s. military does not want the pirates to reach shore with those hostages. they could easily use warships to block the way, but the chance of u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s pulling off a successful hostage rescue, like the rescue of captain richard phillips two years ago is very slim. there are just too many pirates, nearly four for every hostage, to guarantee that none of the hostages would be harmed. and for now the safety of those americans is absolutely the

military's top priority, lester. >> mick, i recall the stories filed aboard an american warship in the region, trying to deal with this problem. why is it so difficult to ward off these pirates? >> reporter: you know, once you're out there you really do begin to appreciate just how vast this challenge is. pirates are now hijacking ships in more than 1 million square miles of ocean and simply impossible to keep track of them all. most merchant ships take defensive measures to minimize the risk. military officials say small sailing yachts like the one we are talking about here, are sitting ducks. they move at a much slower speed, they are much easier for pirates to board, which is why many are asking today, why do these four americans apparently choose to ignore repeated maritime warnings to steer clear of pirate alley? >> jim miklaszewski in our washington bureau for us tonight. thank you. an engine on a delta airlines jet failed over florida today, forcing an emergency landing.

140 passengers were on board the flight to minneapolis when small parts flew out of the back of the engine. the plane was able to turn around and land at fort lauderdale airport. no one was injured. when we come back here tonight, a frightening problem in hospitals across the country. why so many alarms are being ignored and so many patients are dying because of it.

anyone who has spent any time in a hospital knows they are not restful places, the modern medical technology that saves patient's lives can themselves be could so noisy that critical warning signs are too often missed and patients are dying. our story tonight from nbc chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> reporter: the cost of repetitive noises resound in high-tech intensive care units across the country. but alarms that could warn of a patient whose heart has stopped or is in some other life-threatening danger go off constantly and they are often

false and often ignored. >> it is a very big problem, a severe problem. national patient safety goal and something that needs serious attention. >> reporter: louise valeroe is director of cardiac services in brooklyn, new york. a recent survey by the "boston globe" documented more than 200 deaths nationwide from ignored alarms between 2005 and 2010. most experts believe the numbers to be far higher. very easy for a human being to ignore one of these many, many beeps going on. >> absolutely. i'm sure you have heard the term alarm fatigue or nurses being desensitized because there is so much noise and you just become immune to it. >> reporter: several years ago, after some scary cases, the hospital put stricter controls in place. there is no one easy fix but the changes include constant staff retraining, including testing a team with intentional false alarms. one of the innovations has been

to move the monitors from the larger nurses' stations to smaller pods like this one, so the nurses have fewer distractions when they pay attention to the critical information. [ beeping ] >> reporter: another is new machines that allow a single nurse to shock a patient with a stopped heart without calling in a whole team. >> that could mean a lot for a patient, life and death, life and death, a lot of patients have survived using this at the bedside. >> reporter: the hospital reduced the average response time for a patient alarm from eight minutes to less than one but the effort requires constant vigilance. robert bazell, nbc news, new york. nascar got its newest hero today in its most famous race. >> unbelievable! happy birthday, trevor bayne, 20 years old. >> trevor bayne won the first time in the race. he came winning one day after his 20th birthday. becoming the youngest person to win the 500.

his victory was so unexpected, he had to get directions to victory lane. who says men don't ask for directions? up next, the royal guest list, tonight, invitations are in the mail.

it is the invitation of the season, the royal wedding of britain's prince william and kate middleton. if you are wondering if you are on the list, igt it might be a good time

to check the mailbox. >> reporter: the royal invitations are on a white card, gilded, classic, simple and to the point. invite for william and kate's wedding will be arriving any time now. the list has not been officially released but speculation is growing and some big names don't make the cut. sarah ferguson among those not invited. some royal watchers say it was her choice. it would be rather insensitive for her to turn up and possibly divert all that media attention from their big day to her. >> reporter: the obamas are reportedly not on the list though. in the past, first ladies have attended. >> one of diana's bridesmaids -- >> the crowds and the emotion on the outside of that cathedral were extraordinary. and then she went into the cathedral. >> reporter: unlike the wedding of charles and diana, an extravagant spectacle. this is a royal wedding with an eye on the numbers and an emphasis on the royal for the couple seems want

fun with the formality. dignitaries, charity workers and members of the military will join celebrities like the beckhams. 1900 guests have been invited to westminster abbey, close to 600 for lunch at buckingham palace, but only 300 get to stay for an intimate dinner. this is a couple keen to mix the royal tradition with their real lives, next week a case in point. first, an official engagement in north wales where william is based with the royal air force, but then it's party time, a college reunion at st. andrews university where they first met. william and kate take their royal duties seriously but want a modern wedding, one that everyone is calling the people's wedding. nbc news, london. >> that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. brian williams will be here tomorrow. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. for all of us here at nbc news, good night.