>> go 300 milds east. >> thank you very much. "nbc nightly news" is next, and then more local news at 6:00. target libya, the first u.s. and coalition military strikes on gadhafi's forces are under way. >> we cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells this people that there will be no mercy. american cruise missiles and french fighter jets attack libyan targets. the broadest military effort since the invasion of iraq began eight years ago today. >> plus, disaster in japan, progress on the crippled nuclear reactor, but new concerns about the safety of food in that country.

>> from nbc news world head quarters in new york, this is "nbc news with lester holt". >> good evening u.s. war ships opened fire on libya's air defenses tonight. part of protecting libyan civilians from moammar gadhafi. following air strikes by french fighter jets, u.s. and british naval vessels launched 110 tomahawk cruise missiles aimed at 20 tar guess along libyan's coast. president obama stressed it would not involve u.s. ground troops. the strike comes two days after the u.n. security council okayed the establishment of a no fly zone over libya. we have all fronts covered. we want to start with jim maceda. >> reporter: lester, what unfolded in libya today was

implausible days ago. it has left the regime stunned, but defiant. late this afternoon a squad of fighter jets took off destination benghazi, libya. the military intervention had begun. later the u.s. fired 110 cruise missiles as well, hitting 120 air defense systems. earlier in the day they punched through anti-gadhafi rebel defenses. intense fighting killing many civilians. the violence too much for many who fled in their cars heading east to the egyptian border, their hopes of getting military help crushed. >> we are disappointed that everybody left us, we are left alone with this killer. >> at one point an old fighter plane was seen falling from the sky and crashing. the cause still unclear. back in tripoli the government said it was abiding by a cease fire it declared on friday. pro gadhafi attacks on rebel

held towns, reportedly shot after the cease-fire were lies fabricated by the rebels. >> we have no bombardment of any kind after the cease-fire was declared by us. once over benghazi those french planes lost little time. firing on several tanks and weapons. the rebels there were celebrating the news. back in tripoli there was defiance. thousands of libyan supports packed into gadhafi's compound making themselves human shields. >> state turns v told libyans american had bombed civilian areas in tripoli. lester, late tonight in an area

recording, they called on latin americans, africans to confront their colonial crusader and libya has become a battle ground. >> thank you. as the attacks began president obama moved quickly to reassure the nation, speaking from brazil where he's beginning a five day economic tour. nbc's chief white house correspondent chuck todd is traveling with the president. he joins us now from brazil. chuck? >> reporter: good evening. u.s. officials coordinated on three continents today, president obama here in brazil, secretary of state hillary clinton in paris and defense secretary robert gates at the pentagon. but while they were coordinating on three different continents they had one message they wanted to send. that not only was this an international led coalition, but the u.s. was not driving this military operation at all. as french fighter jets made their way to libya, president obama touched down in praz where he announced americans limited

military role dubbed operation odyssey dawn. >> at any point american people to know that the use of force is not our first choice. that it's not a choice that i make lightly. but we cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy. >> hours before the offensive be secretary of state of hillary clinton was meeting with officials in paris. >> we did not lead this. we didn't engaging unilateral actions. clinton met with arab and nato powers how to implement the no fly zone. it was an extraordinary meeting here in paris. in the end it was the french president who announced the start of military action against libya. >> translator: as of now our

aircraft are preventing planes from attacking the town. >> what we're doing is necessary, it is legal and it is right. >> clinton rattled off a role call of leaders who participated in the talks and thanked the arab league. >> the arab league showed with their statements what it meant it changed the diplomatic landscape. >> the leaders emphasized there's still a way out for gadhafi if he stops the violence. they stopped short of calling for his ouster. our commitment is for the long term. we will not loet coet colonel g go on. >> it's difficult to know how it will end. if you don't know how it will end you don't know how many

resources to throw at it. in the end it will take longer because we haven't articulated what our objective is in the area. >> reporter: it was remarkable watching the president today here in brazil. he kept to his schedule for the most part even participating and i lot of ceremonial aspects here in brazil, toasting the president of brazil who was being vetted by business leaders while at the same time ordering his pentagon to go through with those strikes. >> you look at gulf war i, gulf war ii, afghanistan, u.s. forces leading the way. tonight it's the french. is this the start avenue doctrine from this white house? >> two years ago the last time president obama was in latin america i asked him to describe the obama doctrine. he had just been on three different continents at that time. he said he wasn't ready to call at it doctrine. what he said two years ago is what played out today. no more junior partners or senior partners on the

international stage. doesn't mean the u.s. won't lead on a set of principles but he want these multilateral coalitions and not just a group of countries but getting it legally basically getting the legal justification from institutions like the united nations and the arab league both of which we saw today. in many cases this is a blueprint for what an obama administration how they would have handled a rwanda or sudan. >> let's take a close are look at what the coalition forces were aiming at. more than 20 tar fwets the pentagon identified 11 of them around tripoli and other towns in western libya. joining us now we tired u.s. army general barry mccaffrey. >> very impressive operation. 1110 toma hawk missiles joined

by one british submarine. the notion is create a benign environment so the british and french fighter bombers can get in and establish the no fly zone and the question is will they or will they not operate against the center of gravity tanks, armored artillery or not. >> that begins to sound like a war when you describe it that way. >> is this a de facto attempt of forcing a regime change? >> i hope so. he is a threat to his own people. he is hated by the arab league. enough for them to endorse this action which is highly unusual. the one concern i have is where are the arab neighbors, the egyptians, saudis. more importantly will we take military action that achieves our purpose or not?

>> how much military flexibility does this u.n. mandate offer. what can the military do beyond the current mandate? >> i would assume if we turned loose the air power and told them to break up gadhafi's armored forces, it would then change the nature of the struggle in terms of the rebellion. but at the end of the day the question still remains who are the tribes that are still protecting gadhafi? will they stay with him and who are the ones in the eastern and western libya that are rising up? are they the same ones that supplied al qaeda suicide bombers in iraq a few years ago. >> general mccaffrey, thank you. for more on how the action is playing out we turn to richard engel in cairo right now. richard? does this back gadhafi in a

corner or does he still have some options? >> reporter: he does have options. right now his heavy weapons, his tanks and artillery are feeling very exposed especially if they stay in the desert where they are attacked today by the french. they can retreat which would eliminate the cause for them to being attacked allowing gadhafi to play possum, appearing to abide by the rules in which case he could stay in power for a long time and become mostly the king of tripoli. the other option, much more troubling try to get into the urban center, and use the heavy weapons could try to burrow themselves with the soldiers getting out of the vehicles and engaging with street to street fighting in places like benghazi something that gadhafi wants to do and if you have that intense guerrilla war there's little that toma hawk strikes could do.

>> attacks in the mid east are usually unwelcomed. could this be different? >> reporter: this one has the possibility of being a very popular war for the united states. over the last few weeks this conflict has gotten wall to wall atension in the arab media that's been showing atrocities carried out by gadhafi's regime not just now but in years past. it is seen in the middle east as a just cause and if the united states is acting and will continue to act it seems like it is coming down on the right side of history to use a cliche in acting in defense of a humanitarian goal and that is very popular in the middle east. very different from the iraq war where the u.s. was acting alone in an unpopular war. now the united states could be seen to be helping arab downs get rid of a dictator. >> richard engel, thanks. we are learning more about what was going on behind the scenes.

leading up to today's military action. we go to nbc foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell. was the administration divided o this question of whether to intervene militarily? >> reporter: indeed. there has been a lot of internal debate leading to criticism that the administration waited too long to join countries like the french. in the end it became the women foreign policy advisors against the men. although hillary clinton initially resisted the idea of a no-fly zone she was persuaded at the beginning of this week by the arab league's endorsement of military action. and she had intense meetings with a libyan opposition leader this week. she joined susan rice and two other women in the national security council. they have been arguing for more aggressive action in persuading the president on tuesday. this is a rare instance of clinton going up against secretary gates and tom donovan.

the bottom line for the president was not to do what george w. bush did which was to lead a muslim nation. also very importantly that susan rice was able to engineer a broader u.n. resolution this week, one with real muscle. goes well beyond the no-fly zone. and that was the bottom line and the biggest factor. >> andrea mitchell in our washington newsroom. thank you very much. there's a lot more to come on "nbc nightly news" this saturday. the other major story of the day the disaster in japan. news of possible progress in the nuclear reactors, but also new worries about radiation in the food supply. we'll be back. news of possible progress but also new worries of radiation in the food supply. we will be back. back. grams of protein, boost plus also has fourn

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we want to turn now to the crisis in japan. and what may be hopeful news about those crippled nuclear reactors. at the same time there are new worries on the radiation leak on the food supply now. we have the latest now from tokyo. >> reporter: lester, the desperate effort to stop the radiation disaster is showing some encouraging signs, but it is far from over and the discovery of contaminated milk and spinach shows why the race against time. fire trucks were able to get within 60 feet of rasht 3 and shoot 1500 tons of water at it. that should be enough to fill the water tank which should look like this covering spent fuel

rods that have been exposed and emitting radiation. if the water hit its mark then the tank does not have a major leak. >> translator: we think we have succeed in capturing enough water in the number 3 reactor and stabilized the situation. >> engineers will try to get the pumps running again. in reactors 5 and 6, diesel powered generators have the water circulating again and the trench is dropping. >> there is a slight chance that one of these react ter vessels will have a late failure. not likely because the fuel is getting cooler all the time and they seem to have a way of getting water into these reactor coerce. if they keep doing that they should be okay. it's a fragile situation. there's potential for a mistake. >> reporter: the damage has been done. the containmented milk came from

fukushima prefecture. radiation levels was five times higher than those considered safe. the spinach was found in farms in the miyagi prefecture. >> most of the limits are set low to begin with. so five times higher than the legal limit still would not be enough i don't think to cause a discernible health effect. >> reporter: the government said drinking a glass of contaminated milk a day for an entire year would expose a person to as much radiation as one ct scan. to block the effects of containmented food, officials recommend that people take iodine tablets. radioactive iodine was found in the drinking water here. those don't exceed safety standards but experts say if the reactor was brought under control tomorrow and it won't be, radioactive contamination

will continue for weeks and perhaps months. lester? >> >> tonight when we come back, america stepping up to relieve the suffering in japan. be, radioactive contamination will continue for weeks and perhaps months. >> tonight when we come back, america stepping up to relieve the suffering in japan. plavix helps protect people with acs against heart attack or stroke: people like you. it's one of the most researched prescription medicines. goes beyond what they do alone by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking and forming dangerous clots. plavix. protection against heart attack or stroke in people with acs. [ female announcer ] plavix is not for everyone. certain genetic factors and some medicines such as prilosec reduce the effect of plavix leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. don't stop taking plavix without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase. people with stomach ulcers or conditions that cause bleeding

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they are in the battered area of misawa. they have come from the local u.s. base from the air force and army, as well as civilians working there. >> reporter: the damage along this part of the coast was patchy. they are luckier than some areas. at least there is something left to clean up. further south entire communities have been wiped from the map. the u.s. has offered to help in every way they can. as survivors face shortages of food, water, medicine and cooking oil. >> if someone said we are going to throw an earthquake and a tsunami at you and a nuclear reactor at you, we would say stop, it's never realistic and here we are dealing with it. >> reporter: while at the same time, evacuating shaken personnel and 1,700 at the misawa base alone. >> it is because one the nuclear

thing. i'm a little concerned there. two, my family is freaking out. >> reporter: this man was preparing to leaf, leaving behind his active-duty wife and his 10-month-old daughter. >> i know they will be in a safer place. and that is all that matters right now. >> reporter: and yet for those that remain, the operation is being seen as the closest cooperation with japan since the end of the war. ian williams, nbc news, misawa. >> former secretary of state warren christopher has died. a top diplomat for decades. he helped win lease of the american hostages in iran and bring peace to bosnia. secretary of state hillary clinton called him one of the giants. christopher died of complications of kidney and bladder cancer, he was 85. >> when we return here tonight we'll lighten up a bit. why you will want to look up at the moon tonight. he was 85. >> when we return here tonight we'll lighten up a bit. why you will want to look up at the moon tonight. moon tonight. iates

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than most cars do in a lifetime. tonight if the sky is clear, where you are go outside and look up. you will see a full moon but it won't be a typical one. this one has been billed a super moon. nbc's george lewis explains why. >> reporter: remember when we conquered the moon or so we thought? >> one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. >> reporter: now the moon is in the headlines once again. a so-called super moon. and what is that exactly? >> every 18 years the moon gets closest to the earth. >> reporter: and when that part

of the lunar orbit coincides with the full moon it's a super moon. it gives rise to fears of causing earthquakes. >> nothing to fear just a good show by mother nature. >> reporter: the moon has been the stuff by legend forever. in medieval times they thought people would go crazy. staring at it. the word lunatic comes from luna. this carried over into the movies like "the wolf man." in "et" there was the ride past the moon. ♪ moon river "breakfast at tiffany's". gave us an oscar-winning moon song. so tonight as the moon looms larger than it has in two decades we continue to be inspired by it. in the words of the old standard

the moon belongs to everybody, the best things in life are free. george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. >> and that is "nbc nightly news" for this busy saturday and by the way, we featured reports from four continents tonight. just another day in the office tonight. good night everyone. by the way, we featured reports from four continents tonight. just another day in the office tonight. good night everyone. good night everyone. good evening. i'm marla tellez in for diane dwyer tonight. an i