on the broadcast here cc1: tonight, the nuclear option. the governor of wisconsin rams through an anti-union bill with the democrats out of town and protesters jamming the capitol. extreme debate. a capitol hill hearing on radical islam doesn't go the way the chairman planned. it turns emotional and angry. record-breaker. more rain, more massive flooding in the northeast with another c: round yet to go. bully pulpit. the president takes a stand on an issue that affects far too c: many kids, and he says he was one of them. and education nation. could this be the future of learning? 2,000 free online lessons showing the way. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. that rumbling you hear is coming from the state of wisconsin where the governor says he will sign legislation into law as soon as possible that would strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from the state's public workers. this is being called one of the strongest blows to the power of unions in years. it was passed by the state senate last night with very few people present and with all the democrats out of town. the word went out, the protesters arrived and today they were dragged out of the state capitol. suddenly union labor is now front and center in this story that started in wisconsin, but : is now spreading. we begin our reporting tonight with nbc's john yang in madison, wisconsin. john, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this bill tied up this capitol

for more -- for nearly four weeks, but in the end the republicans muscled it through in 24 hours to send it on its way to the governor. outside the wisconsin state capitol this morning, protesters tried to get in. >> let us in! >> reporter: inside protesters blocking access to the state assembly chamber were forcibly taken out. cc >> i'm asking you please to get: up and walk out. >> no! >> reporter: because last night senate republicans took what many are calling the nuclear option, passing legislation to strip public workers of many of their collective bargaining rights. >> this is clearly a violation of the open meetings law. >> reporter: the legislative fight that has roiled for four weeks was over in barely 30 minutes. republicans used an unusual parliamentary maneuver to separate the measure from the spending provision. that allowed them to pass the legislation without any of the : senate democrats, who had blocked a vote by fleeing the state. after the vote, senate republicans needed a police

escort to leave the building as protesters called after them. today the acrimony continued in the assembly. >> this is wrong!cc1: >> reporter: republican governor scott walker said the collective bargaining limits are needed to attack the $3.6 billion budget deficit and avoid layoffs. >> it's really about reform. it's about giving local governments the reform and state government as well, the reforms they need to make government work better. >> democrats said it's all about union busting, and admit they're licked. the battle could now turn to the courts with possible legal challenges and to the ballot box with recall drives against eight republican senators and eight democrats. >> it's going to be street by street, door by door, face by face. everybody is going to have a very strong opinion about this and we believe that the opinion is on our side. >> reporter: certainly among the protesters here at the capitol who seemed angrier and more confrontational today than before, upset not only by the outcome, but by how it came about. >> this is bullying. the very thing i teach my

children not to be. >> reporter: some of them were talking about a general strike but democratic lawmakers are warning against it, saying it could play into the governor's hands by allowing him to exercise a new power under this law, to fire state workers who go on strike. brian. >> john yang starting us off in madison, wisconsin, tonight. john, thanks. now to the congressional hearing today that for a time appeared to blow up in the face of the man who gaveled it into session. new york republican congressman peter king admits he's obsessed with 9/11. he runs the homeland security committee in the house and he has wanted to hold hearings to root out radical islam in the u.s. but things did not go the way he planned. nbc's kelly o'donnell covered today's hearing on capitol hill. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well, congressman king says the reaction is rabid and hysterical. but after the administration said al qaeda is trying to

recruit inside the u.s., king says it's his duty to investigate. arriving with the extra security he requested, republican chairman peter king launched a preemptive strike against vocal and angry critics. >> there is nothing radical or unamerican in holding these hearings. >> reporter: for weeks king has been accused of discriminating against muslims by focusing only on islamic extremism inside the u.s. >> it's a backdown -- of political correctness. >> i don't see the benefit in stigmatizing, in finger pointing. >> reporter: democrats who tried to block the hearing even after it began say it played into enemy hands. >> this hearing focuses on american muslim community will be used by those who seek to inspire a new generation of suicide bombers. >> reporter: but no one expected what happened next. >> it's well known that -- >> reporter: tears swept over minnesota democrat keith

ellison, the first muslim elected to congress. crying as he spoke of a muslim paramedic killed september 11th. >> he bravely sacrificed his life to try to help others on 9/11. >> reporter: ellison said that fallen first responder had been viewed with suspicion because of his faith. >> his life should not be cc1: identified as just a member of an ethnic group or just a member of a religion, but as an american who gave everything for his fellow americans. >> reporter: a very different personal pain from a memphis father who testified that his son, charged with killing a soldier in arkansas, had converted to islam and was recruited through a tennessee mosque and then sent to yemen. >> carlos ended up in a training camp run by terrorists. >> do the mosques know that they're responsible for the radicalization of your son?cc1: >> sure, they know. but they're waiting around to do it again to someone else's cc1: child. >> reporter: democrats

repeatedly protested that this hearing was too narrow and should have included other extremist groups. >> the klan is a terrorist organization and has been over 100 years, sir. you have not suffered a cross burning. >> reporter: and democrats rejected king's assertion that some muslims refused to cooperate with law enforcement.: >> muslims are here cooperating. they are doing what this hearing has suggested that they do not do. >> reporter: and that issue also gets sensitive because there was also evidence presented today that some muslim groups are discouraging muslim americans to come forward. brian. >> kelly o'donnell after a hot day on capitol hill in washington. kelly, thanks. now we turn overseas to the story we've been covering here in libya, the rebels battling for control of that country. they encountered fierce new resistance from gadhafi's forces in several key oil towns. nbc's stephanie gosk is in the rebel-held town of tobruk. stephanie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well, the fighting in the strategic part of libya seemed

to have stalled the last couple of days, but today pro-gadhafi forces launched a fierce attack. the rebels holding the small desert town of ras lanuf were hit so hard today by pro-gadhafi forces, there was nothing left to do but turn and run. the government is making its move into rebel-held east libya, and the front line is moving with it. >> it's time for liberation. it's time for action. we are moving now. >> reporter: in the last week, both sides have fought for control of two of the country's largest oil facilities. it was only a matter of time before it led to this. the ras lanuf oil terminal in flames. on wednesday, libya's oil minister said production has been cut by two-thirds since the unrest began, but that the government was still firmly in control of the country's resources. not exactly, say these oil workers. this is the oil terminal in tobruk, eastern libya.

it's one of the few active ports and refineries. peaceful, operational, and completely rebel-held. the oil is pumped from 300 miles away deep in the desert through this pipe. you can actually feel it coming through here, but they have had to slow down the flow because the oil tankers aren't regularly coming into port. the tankers are slowly returning. two have already left this month carrying 1.6 million barrels, worth more than $160 million. money that used to go to gadhafi's government. now it is going to the opposition. this man has worked here as a safety specialist for 20 years. >> i think the money is going to go to the libyan people. the people who are really in need of the money. >> reporter: but in his hands he carries the picture of a young man killed in the battle of ras lanuf, a reminder that just west of here, the fight for control of the oil and the country still rages. the oil workers were so eager to

show us they are producing oil they actually gave me some. libya has some of the highest quality oil in the world. they aren't giving much more than this away for free, brian. >> all right, stephanie gosk in libya for us tonight. stephanie, thanks. with a great deal at stake here, the united states continues to tread lightly on what to do about libya, and the director of national intelligence suggested today gadhafi may ultimately prevail in this one. very difficult to know what's really going on behind the scenes these days. an explanation tonight from our chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell in our d.c. newsroom. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the administration tried to speak with one voice today, but as you point out the nation's top spy said without foreign intervention, gadhafi is likely to win. at nato, defense secretary gates raised serious concerns about whether a no-fly zone would work. in washington secretary of state clinton agreed, the u.s. should not go it alone. >> it's easy for people to say

do this, do that and then they turn and say, okay, u.s., go do it. you use your assets. >> reporter: even as the administration claims that its sanctions are squeezing gadhafi, national intelligence director general clapper told congress that gadhafi will prevail. tonight a senior official said that the president does not believe gadhafi will prevail. tomorrow the president will have to try to explain that at a news conference, try to address those differences. brian. >> andrea mitchell from d.c. tonight. andrea, thanks. there's word this evening from the associated press and others that congresswoman gabby giffords who's recovering from that gunshot wound to the head will indeed attend the launch of the space shuttle "endeavour" piloted by her husband, mark kelly. that will confirm what kelly himself told us in an interview here last month.cc1: the launch is set for april 19 at the kennedy space center. doctors treating the congresswoman at a rehab cc1: facility in houston will give us an update on her condition tomorrow.cc1: now to the brutal weather

that everybody has had at least a piece of this winter, it seems.cc1: and it just keeps coming. in parts of the midwest, snow and lots of it.cc1: here in the northeast, this huge water pump of a storm taking up the entire eastern third of the country at one time. nbc's ron allen is with us from wayne, new jersey, tonight, with the fear of more flooding there. ron, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this is the passaic river, well out of its banks and rising during the course of the day. one reason so much of the state of new jersey faces a state of emergency, and why so many residents are trying to decide whether to stay or flee their homes. >> it's real pretty. there's green trees and there's plants and flowers around everybody's house. >> reporter: paula bush still sees the beauty in the neighborhood where she spent her entire life, even though a river now runs right through it. >> this used to be a family room when i was growing up here. >> reporter: her basement has two feet of water and floods almost every year.

she's tried to sell, but can't find a buyer. >> who wolf comfortable about living like this? it's depressing. i mean, you know, it's depressing, but i mean what are you going to do? you make the best of what you have today. >> reporter: new jersey is not the only state under water. storms are drenching the northeast. >> those are flood warnings. >> big storm system off to our southwest. >> so the rain is going to continue. >> reporter: connecticut's housatonic river hit 21 feet, the highest mark in nearly 30 years. several feet of water destroyed everything in scott ames' backyard. >> there's nothing to prep for at this point. there's nothing left to save so we're just going to wait it out. >> reporter: out of the midwest, even more severe weather. the weather channel's mike seidel predicts record snow. >> we're expecting heavy wet snow across parts of ohio and pennsylvania all the way down into the southern appalachians. here in cleveland we're forecasting 6 to 10 inches. it's not unusual for it to snow here in march, but 10 inches is

the average for the entire month. >> reporter: in new jersey, rescue teams rolled through water-logged streets, urging residents to evacuate, but not convincing ray brimer. >> it's gotten as high where you can't walk. it would be over your head pretty much. so it's -- but i don't -- hopefully it won't get that high. >> reporter: people say the water has been higher than that bridge back there. brian. >> all right, ron allen in wayne, new jersey, looking at another long night there. ron, thanks. the weather brought some drama to the pga cadillac championship in doral, florida. a violent storm with wind gustsc over 50 miles an hour sent the : famous leaderboard, palm trees, tv towers and hospital tents flying in all different directions. the players were already off the course when the damage took place. fortunately, no one was hurt. now that the weather has calmed down, the action on the course at doral continues tomorrow on

the golf channel, this weekend on nbc sports. when we come back here tonight, the president gets personal about how he was a cc1: victim of something so many kids and their parents deal with today. and later, opening the door to high quality, low cost learning on the internet.cc1: some good news in our education: nation segment tonight. cc1:cc1::

anybody with kids knows about it. so many kids and their parents have to deal with it, even more so with the internet. bullying is such a big problem in this day and age in this country it got attention from the top today as the white house held a conference on it. our story tonight from nbc's norah o'donnell. >> reporter: bullying is no longer just a childhood rite of passage. now it can be a matter of life or death. >> carl was a wonderful little boy, but he wasn't treated right at school. >> reporter: 11-year-old carl joseph walker hoover, hanged

himself with an extension cord in 2009 after enduring daily, vicious attacks. >> well, he came home and told me specifically that there were a group of kids that were calling him gay. the last day of my son's life, there was a major incident, a major fight at the school, and i was never contacted. >> reporter: parents, principals and teachers say there's an epidemic of bullying now, with texts, tweets and facebook insults forming a permanent record, a change from the old days of fleeting schoolyard taunts. >> so we all have a lot of work to do. >> reporter: today the president and first lady convened over 150 students, parents and education professionals for the first-ever white house conference to prevent bullying. where the president revealed he himself was picked on in school. >> and i have to say with big ears and the name that i have, i wasn't immune. >> reporter: the white house estimates one-third of all school-age children or some 13 million students are bullied each year. >> parents aren't the only ones

who have a responsibility. we all need to play a role. >> reporter: now an urgent call to not only rally public attention, but also help schools and communities find specific new ways to make our kids feel safe. norah o'donnell, nbc news, washington. and when we come back here tonight, how a good dog got a second chance and a piece of video people are searching for on the web. cc1:

we now know when it comes to social networking, the highest saturation of social network traffic is in washington, d.c. a lot of folks expected the usage number to be higher in silicon valley, but a study for "men's health" magazine says it's the capital city. in second and third place after washington for the most active social network in the country, atlanta and denver. the nation's least socially networked city, el paso, texas. not a lot of twitter activity there, but some folks just like to take their time getting into it. it looked like peter max got nauseous on the interstate in peabody, mass. a semi tipped over containing c: 16,000 pounds of ink cartridges. the amazing technicolor mishap was partially cleaned up with sand. 8,000 gallons of ink spilled

out, thankfully no injuries, in what is being called the most colorful traffic incident in history. and a scary moment in seattle. this web video we were talking about for a woman and her dog. this has ended up being an instructional and inspirational video on the web. after the dog stopped breathing during an obedience class, the trainer took action. he started giving the dog chest compressions. at one point administering mouth-to-mouth. the owner can be heard wailing in the background. after two minutes of cpr, the dog fully revived, and we've put the entire video on our website for you tonight. that's nightly.msnbc.com. up next, what could be the next big thing in our education nation, and a development people need to know about.

we continue our series from education nation tonight with the work of a remarkable young man who's applying his three degrees from mit and one from harvard to help a lot of young people around the world do cccc: better in school.

his classroom in this case is the internet, and his videos have become a teaching sensation. from mountain view, california, nbc's kristen welker has our story tonight. [ cheering ]cc1: >> reporter: what makes fifth graders cheer? would you believe math? >> i'm starting to really like math now. >> reporter: these kids are learning with the help of khan academy, an online school. >> you got it right, good job. >> reporter: videos that are interactive and fun, explaining difficult concepts in a conversational way. >> so if you want the slope of a line -- >> reporter: khan academy is the brainchild of 34-year-old sal khan. >> everything in my gut says that's the right way education should move in the future. >> reporter: in 2004 he started tutoring his cousin in math. >> so this is it. >> reporter: she was out of state, so he coached her online, from a closet in his home. now studying premed at sara lawrence college, nadia says she has her cousin to thank. >> i kind of was able to learn

at my own pace. >> reporter: khan posted more lessons on line for anyone to use. the videos went viral and positive feedback poured in. >> your videos will allow us to -- >> reporter: khan eventually made 2200 video, basic math, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, all for free. khan's lessons have been viewed on youtube 43 million times. >> x equals 0. >> reporter: making them the largest educational source on the site, and he's attracting big attention. >> i'm actually envious of the amazing work that he's done. >> reporter: we caught up with bill gates promoting khan academy at this year's t.e.d. conference, which focuses on new ideas. >> it's phenomenal. it's the cutting edge of where education is going. >> reporter: the gates foundation and google recently donated a total of $3.5 million to help turn khan's not-for-profit into a global classroom. >> hopefully khan academy will

teach people there are no such things as geniuses or everybody is. >> reporter: a philosophy that's opening doors of learning all over the world. kristen welker, nbc news, mountain view, california. >> where was he when i needed him. that's our broadcast for this thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. right now at 6:00, a bay area muslim group comes under attack in washington, d.c. whyhey say the hearing necessary for national security for one lawmaker are putting us all in danger. >> i'm jodi hernandez in martinez where i received an e-mail revealing a major new development in the growing alleged police corruption case. i will have details coming up. high school field trip ends in a stunning and dangerous stunt. how a teena