on our broadcast tonight, sky high. we're talking about gas prices, and tonight we'll look at what's driving these prices and the wider effect it could have. all options. fierce fighting in libya as the rebels lose a bit of ground, as the white house now says it's at least considering military moves. sudden death, the collapse of a star player and now the questions about medical testing for young athletes. and education nation. tenure for teachers no longer a guaranteed job. plus, they survived revolution. now they are making a difference for others in the same boat. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. if you bought gas this weekend, if you filled up today, if you're a commuter, you need gas this week, you will feel this increase in gas prices nationwide. everyone will, and it affects the prices of almost everything else. of course it's being driven by oil prices, up again today. oil closed above $105 a barrel now. the average price of gas nationwide, that's unleaded regular, $3.51 a gallon. that's average, but it's no comfort if where you live you're paying more. it's a big story across the country. we have a team covering it, beginning with nbc's tom costello on why even with all that's going on these prices are so high. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. there's talk of $3.75 to $4 a gallon by memorial day, and real concern that that could take a bite out of family budgets and the economy.

at $3.51 a gallon, the nation's collective groan at the gas pump seems to have hit a crescendo. >> really frustrated. i've just spent like $65 to fill up a full tank. of course i'm going to be frustrated. >> reporter: gas prices follow oil. since hitting $75 a barrel last august, oil prices have climbed to over $105 today, up 40% since august, up 19% in just three weeks. >> i think you're seeing a tremendous amount of speculation in this market. >> reporter: the running debate on cnbc, how much of this is due solely to market speculation. meanwhile, the white house says it's considering whether to tap the strategic petroleum reserve as a way of pushing gas prices lower. those reserves hold 727 million barrels of oil. with u.s. consumption at 20 million barrels a day, it's 36 days worth of supplies meant for national emergencies, not price wings. >> tapping it when there's price pressure but no shortage is like giving sugar to people that are

hungry. it doesn't help them. it may satiate them for a moment but it doesn't help them. >> reporter: the concern among economists, with gas prices up nearly 40 cents in a month, it's quickly reaching a point where the pain at the pump could eat into home savings and a fragile economy. >> the risk is if gas prices move to $4 or even higher, we will see real softening in the economy. the unemployment rate will begin to drift higher. >> reporter: meanwhile, in charlotte, north carolina, the tipping point may have already come for some drivers. sales at mike's scooter store are up 200% over last year. >> if you don't have a long commute, if you don't have to go on the highway, it's a great solution for a lot of people. >> reporter: $4 to fill it up and 120 miles before a refill. if gas prices were to freeze where they are right now, the average american family would still be paying $450 more per year in fuel costs than at this point a year ago. but of course, brian, gas prices are still moving higher. back to you. >> tom costello starting us off.

bethesda, maryland, tonight. tom, thanks. now to our team across the country. we're joined by nbc's miguel almaguer in west covina, california. john yang is in chicago and ron mott in atlanta. ron, we'll start with you. good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. the average cost for a gallon of regular here in georgia, $3.43. that is up 13 cents in just the past week. 40 cents over the past month and almost 80 cents higher than it was this time a year ago here at this exxon station in the buckhead section of atlanta. the prices are a little higher than the state average. the pain at the pump starting to spread as well. taxi riders are being hit with a $2 fuel surcharge every time they get into a cab. that went into effect a few weeks ago. and school districts around the state starting to pay attention to those bus budgets, because especially those districts that did not lock in their gas prices. >> reporter: this is john yang in chicago where gas prices have gone up 11% in the last month alone. now an average of $3.71 a gallon. that's 20 cents higher than the

national average. one reason why it's higher here is the illinois gas tax. it's a percentage of the price at the pump, so the higher the price, the higher the tax. the manager of this station here in downtown chicago says that as prices have gone up, business has gone down. fewer people filling up, more people buying just enough gas to get them to the suburbs. >> reporter: this is miguel almaguer in west covina, california, where drivers are dealing with sticker shock. at the gas station behind me, it's nearly $5 for a gallon of gas. in fact drivers here in california are paying more for gas than anywhere else in the country. why? well, there's two reasons. tough emission laws require a special blend, a boutique blend of environmentally friendly gas, so it's more expensive. and drivers here in california are also taxed more for a gallon of gas than anywhere else in the country. add those two things together and drivers here in california are simply paying the most for a gallon of gas. brian.

>> miguel almaguer and all our correspondents in the field for us tonight. thanks. all of this, of course, being driven by the events in the middle east and north africa. today moammar gadhafi's forces intensified their counterattacks now, including a new assault on an oil port held by rebels. nbc's stephanie gosk went to that town today. she is back in benghazi tonight. stephanie, i know you were out in it today. >> reporter: good evening, brian. we did get a look at it today. you know, for the last week some of the fiercest fighting has been happening in two towns with key oil facilities. images of heavily armed rebels guarding oil refineries are not going to help the jitters. on the front line of libya's civil war, it's not the gunfire that worries the rebels, it's the jet fighters. again today moammar gadhafi's russian-made warplane attacked opposition forces in the oil town of ras lanuf. the bombs either missed their

targets or were being used to instill fear. in the last 48 hours gadhafi has struck back with greater force and heavier fire power than ever before in this conflict, pushing rebels back and forcing them to regroup. fighters fled into staging areas like this one, looking for food, weapons, and some kind of direction. form units of ten, they're being told. make sure some in the group are armed. everyone is asked to write down their names. in the distance beyond the anti-aircraft guns, the ras lanuf oil refinery at a standstill because of the violence. this is the final staging ground before the front lines but these guys have their eyes on the sky as well. they have already been shelled this morning. the faintest sound of a plane overhead, the anti-aircraft guns fire wildly. this turned out to be a false alarm. rebel forces relying on the eastern city of benghazi for supplies say they will push all

the way to tripoli, even through gadhafi's hometown of surt. but their steady push west came to a sudden halt on sunday when gadhafi's forces showed some of their true strength. many believe the libyan leader has been holding back an even more violent counterattack because he fears foreign military intervention. while his son warns of a nightmare scenario if the gadhafi regime falls. >> libya may become the somalia of north africa, of the mediterranean. you'll see millions of illegal immigrants. the terror will be next to your door. >> reporter: in ras lanuf, the rebels are undeterred, even though outgunned. with or without the world's help they say they won't stop fighting until gadhafi is gone. the u.s. ambassador said they are discussing a no-fly zone but downplayed the importance of gadhafi's air power saying up to this point it has not been the deciding factor in the unrest, brian. >> stephanie gosk reporting on

the combat there today. stephanie, thanks. so open warfare throughout parts of libya. now to washington. the pressure remains on the obama white house to act in some way. our chief white house correspondent chuck todd covering there for us tonight. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well, the president said today that nato is considering all options, including the military one. and with this growing pressure from the leaders of european nations like england and france to institute a no-fly zone, america's ambassador to nato said -- questioned whether it was the best military strategy saying putting in a no-fly zone might not be able to deal with what's actually happening on the ground. that said, nato did approve a new 24-hour surveillance program over libya to track all of gadhafi's military movements. now, brian, i've got one other important note here from the white house. no issue has bedeviled this president more than trying to keep his promise of shutting down the prison at guantanamo bay. today the president ordered the

pentagon to reinstitute the military tribunals in order to deal with detainees still in guantanamo, including the 9/11 conspirators, like khalid sheikh mohammed. the white house said today they were forced to do this because it was clear congress would not fund any program that was going to bring those detainees onto american soil to be tried in federal courts, brian. >> chuck todd with all the latest from the white house tonight. chuck, thanks. here we are approaching the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and tonight some previously unseen videotape has surfaced on the web. it is the unique view of the city and the destruction that morning as shot from an nypd helicopter circling the towers, hoping to rescue victims. you can see more of it on our website tonight. that's nightly.msnbc.com. now we turn our attention to michigan, where a high school basketball team is playing its first game since its star player collapsed and died after scoring the winning basket. his death is raising questions

about preventative medical care for young athletes. our nbc news chief medical editor, dr. nancy snyderman, has our report. >> reporter: when the fennville high school blackhawks take the boards tonight, they'll be without their star player. today at practice, the team wore number 35 in his memory. after 16-year-old wes leonard scored the game-winning shot thursday, he collapsed on the court. he was pronounced dead hours later. yesterday, hundreds of people came to this small town to pay their respects. >> he was great, the perfect teammate, i guess. a leader. >> reporter: the cause of death, cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart. it's a rare condition that often goes undetected until it's too late. the heart cavity is stretched, weak, and does not pump normally. wes had reportedly been feeling flu-like symptoms, and now there are questions about whether that could have been a sign of a greater problem.

an undated video of him describing his health is being shared on the internet. >> i was sick, but sickness never stopped kobe, never stopped lebron, never stopped jordan. >> reporter: for four years beaumont hospital outside detroit has been offering heart checks for young athletes. it includes monitoring blood pressure, taking medical history and an echocardiogram if needed. >> 32 out of the 5200 were advised to stop sports. four students that had conditions that by all rights could be life-threatening. >> reporter: sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in young athletes, but it is still quite rare. and that's why there's a debate as to whether universal screening is cost effective and can really make a difference. so for now, every young athlete needs to know a couple of things. family history, blood pressure, and report any light headedness, heart racing and fainting to parents and coaches. and brian, those parents and coaches need to listen when their young athletes say they're experiencing these things.

>> this one hit home with a lot of families. nancy, thanks, as always. word from the west coast tonight. charlie sheen has formally finally lost his job. warner brothers television fired him today from "two and a half men," the series they produced for cbs. production, you'll recall, was halted over a week ago. they sent a letter to sheen's lawyer saying sheen had, quote, engaged in dangerously self-destructive conduct and is obviously very ill, end of quote. we'll take a break. when we come back, schools across the country struggling with budgets prompting a new look at whether it should be easier to get rid of veteran teachers. and later, their world rocked by revolution, but still reaching out to help others and making a difference in the process.

this week we return to our series "education nation." on this nation's schools. our issue tonight, one of the mainstays of teaching in this country, what just about every

teacher aspires to, and that's tenure. but the tenure system itself is under increasing attack. our chief education correspondent, rehema ellis, is here with that story tonight. welcome. >> reporter: brian, thank you. when many people hear tenure, they think about university professors who earn tenure and with it guaranteed employment. technically that's not the case in public schools, but in a lot of places, it's been turning out that way. the mayor of providence, rhode island, has fired every one of the city's nearly 2,000 teachers. >> show me just cause. >> reporter: but says he'll rehire as many as he can afford. >> we have to balance our budget. we have to educate our kids. we're going to do both. >> reporter: a major issue in providence and elsewhere is tenure. a controversial teachers union protection, frequently perceived as a job guarantee. nationwide, a handful of states are trying to eliminate it. >> teaching can no longer be the only profession where you have

no rewards for excellence and no consequences for failure. let new jersey lead the way again. the time to eliminate teacher tenure is now. >> reporter: but what is tenure? new public school teachers get tenure after three to five years, but it is not a job guarantee. >> what it means in the k-12 system is that you are entitled to a hearing, and that's it. >> reporter: but at least nine states have replaced tenure and the perception of a permanent position with renewable contracts, based on teacher evaluations. in 1997, oregon was among the first to adopt renewable contracts, but maintained the fair dismissal process. contract teachers are up for renewal every two years. at cedar park middle school outside of portland, 19-year veteran teacher trisha park says it works for her. >> it keeps me accountable for staying in top shape on the job. and then it keeps the principals accountable for measuring me.

>> reporter: but across the country, at ps 65 in new york city, where teachers have tenure, principal daisy garcia says the current process just takes too long. >> in one case, it took over three years of documentation, 40 days of testimony, 5,000 pages of testimony, it cost the city between $300,000 and $400,000 in legal fees. >> reporter: the president of the nation's second largest teachers union says too little oversight and not enough attention to teacher development are to blame, and has proposed a model that would cut the red tape, giving underperforming teachers about three months to defend their job. >> frankly, the process of an evaluation should start from day one, because ultimately we all need a development and evaluation system. >> reporter: there is momentum for reforming the way teachers are hired and fired. the question is whether teachers, administrators, union officials and elected officials will each be willing to give up something to create a system

that works best for the people most important, and that's the nation's 50 million public school students, brian. >> that's why this issue is red hot. rehema ellis, thank you, as always. we'll take a break. when we continue, an old friend in hawaii has come roaring back to life.

kilauea is at it again in hawaii, erupting in spectacular fashion since saturday. lava is flowing freely, as you see, jumping over 60 feet in the air in some spots. the activity has produced 150 recorded earthquakes. no injuries, no damage, but parts of the appropriately named volcano national park have been closed because of dangerous fumes. this is something you don't hear all that often, there are two balloon-related stories in the news tonight. the first one, a pr screw-up in san francisco that ended up being a potential environmental disaster. a gaming company called thq released 10,000 red balloons to promote their product for a gaming conference in town. the heavy, wet weather, though, forced a lot of them right down into san francisco bay.

the company hired a cleanup crew, even though they say their balloons were organic, biodegradable balloons. an environmental scientist whose house happens to face the water witnessed the balloons falling into the water, said he was flabbergasted. if you saw the movie "up," you'll love this, proof that it can happen. if you attach enough balloons to a house, it will fly. the stunt was pulled off by 300 weather balloons and a prop house, full-size house, though, and it went up for real. it flew for an hour, it reached 10,000 feet. it's all for a new national geographic show called "how hard can it be." up next here tonight, making a difference. ordinary people helping others who are escaping war.

finally tonight, our "making a difference" report comes from a situation that's become an open, all-out civil war in libya. the scene of a people's rebellion, an uprising and a lot of suffering. a real humanitarian challenge. but we've also found some extraordinary humanity on display. our own anne thompson is there covering the conflict and the exodus out of libya and has

tonight's "making a difference" report on the kindness she has witnessed in the middle of this plight. >> reporter: we knew we would find desperation at the refugee camp near the libyan border, but we never expected to find so much generosity. this tunisian family drove six and a half hours to bring oranges, underwear and socks. it is our tradition, one man explained, to show hospitality. at this haven for international workers fleeing libya, tunisians showed their heart. mohammed and his brother brought fresh vegetable, canned tomatoes and friends all the way to cook at the camp. you're not part of an aid group, you just decided to do this. what compelled you? why come? >> you are a human. >> reporter: yes. >> we are humans helping humans. >> reporter: tunisia's revolution ignited this wave of uprisings in the arab world, but its people are putting aside

their problems to help those in need. english teacher mohammed niley serving food to refugees at an airport says it's in the spirit of the revolution. >> this is our identity, our roots. >> reporter: when you see one of these refugees eating a plate of food, how does that make you feel? >> it's something -- i cannot tell it in words. >> reporter: the refugees can. among the nations helping the workers from 23 countries go home, the usa. i hitched a ride on an air force c-130 taking egyptians back to cairo. and what i heard surprised me and all 82 refugees. [ speaking foreign language ] marine major adam speaking their language, reminding the world the u.s. military does more than fight. >> it's nice to see the people. they're very thankful. i kind of feel good in your

heart that you're able to help these people and get them back to their home countries. >> reporter: whether a super power or a nation being reborn, compassion carried the day. anne thompson, nbc news, cairo. >> great story to end our broadcast for this monday night. thank you for being here with us as we start off a new week. i'm brian williams. we, of course, hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. the blitz is on. the move coming this week that could sack a 49ers stadium plan in santa clara. >> and another major drug scandal involving the very people that should have been enforcing the law. a key player is talking to nbc bay area. >> thanks for joining us on this monday evening.