with jcp cash, earn ten dollars off when you spend just twenty five storewide. and, unlike other stores, we don't make you come back to save. get ten dollars off with no exclusions! we make it affordable, you make it yours! jcpenney. on the broadcast tonight, it's in the water. radiation in tokyo's drinking water rises to dangerous levels, and we know a number of you have questions about the safety of the food coming here from japan. we'll have answers for you here tonight. the struggle of those rebels in libya to now get the upper hand as nbc's richard engel lives through a close call on the ground. making a difference. with a combination of medical expertise and a higher power. and a screen gem is gone. some say the last of the true movie stars. tonight we'll remember elizabeth taylor. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. we're still in the middle of an air assault on libya. really the third front the u.s. is fighting on these days. it was launched by president obama to protect civilians, he said, because gadhafi's forces were bearing down on the rebels' headquarter city of benghazi. but all those cruise missiles and bombs still haven't stopped the ground fighting. the rebels were under heavy fire today about 100 miles to the south of benghazi. and as you're about to see, our own chief foreign correspondent, richard engel, was with them and got about as close as you'd ever want to. richard is back safely in benghazi tonight and is with us from there tonight. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the rebels have the will, they have the numbers, but they don't have the equipment or the discipline to take on gadhafi's forces where they're dug in, as we saw for ourselves firsthand

today. the road outside benghazi today is a graveyard of gadhafi's armored vehicles, destroyed by western air strikes. after an hour and a half driving south flanked by desert, we reached the rebels' front line. there are no trenches or sandbags, just men poorly armed, who want to fight. the front line is about five miles outside the town of ajdabiya. smoke can be seen rising from ajdabiya in the distance. gadhafi still has tanks and artillery in the town. the rebels watch with binoculars but can't advance. outgunned, the rebels say they are killed whenever they approach gadhafi's forces. we have light weapons, he has tanks, complained one man. another rebel showed me he isn't actually armed at all. >> it's a toy gun. >> reporter: this is amazing. he just handed me his gun. i didn't realize until he put it in my hands, it's actually made of plastic. it's a toy. [ gunfire ]

>> reporter: three explosions 50 yards away. we were doing the interviews, incoming rounds just landed in this area. some of the rebels are now starting to flee. rebels cheer that they survived this assault by gadhafi's army. >> there have been several artillery rounds that have landed right in this area. we're using this piece of concrete to take a little cover and to see if the artillery rounds stop long enough for us to get out of the area. >> reporter: shockingly the rebel we interviewed leaves cover to retrieve his plastic gun, but abandons it as we hear another explosion. we leave a few minutes later, and find rebels regrouping at a safer distance. but without leadership or the close air support, they desperately want from the west, the rebels are struggling. back in benghazi, the wounded

are treated from the fighting around ajdabiya. rebels say five people were killed today on the front line. rebels say despite the difficulties, they're going to go back to the front lines again tomorrow and try again. brian, as you know, this is a team effort. i was joined on the front by cameraman john koyster and producer gazi who as usual did fantastic work. >> i know the three of you are veterans at this but still, as we said, about as close as you'd want to get. richard engel and team from benghazi tonight, thank you. president obama now back in washington from latin america a few hours earlier than he had planned. chief white house correspondent chuck todd has been traveling all along with the president, he too back at the white house tonight. chuck, what is the white house doing in the face of what is starting to be domestic criticism of this? >> reporter: that's right. look, they cut it short a little bit because there was a planned photo op, tour of mayan ruins

in el salvador and they cut that short in lieu of a longer briefing on libya. the white house is sensitive to this perception that during this five-day swing in latin america that somehow the president didn't look like he was on top of the libya situation. that said, within minutes that he landed on the ground, he was hit with bipartisan congressional criticism. speaker of the house john boehner sent the president a letter with what boehner says are a slew of unanswered questions on a mission he says is not clearly defined. former house speaker and leader of the democrats, nancy pelosi, put out a very tepid statement of support of the president's policies that an aide tells me was intended to send a message that, guess what, house democrats are on the verge of fracturing. so they have this public relations crisis on capitol hill and they are sensitive on what's going on on late-night comedy tv. despite it all though, brian, i'm told don't expect the president to do an oval office address or primetime address any time soon. >> chuck todd back at the white house tonight.

chuck, thanks. this violence and unrest is not limited to libya. throughout the middle east there have been incidents of it. it's been a bloody 24 hours. in jerusalem there was a bomb explosion at a crowded bus stop near the main bus station there. it happened at rush hour. one person was killed, two dozen more injured, broke a period of relative peacefulness. the worst attack in jerusalem in four years. >> in syria, there's been a massacre at a mosque. at least six protesters taken refuge inside were killed in a raid by syrian authorities. and the protests continue in yemen, where the president is under intense pressure to leave. he has moved up the date he was willing to leave but he was also abandoned by many of his top military leaders. that made him dig in, taking on emergency powers to put down the uprisings there, at least for now. we want to return to our coverage of japan tonight. this nuclear crisis that came out of the quake and the tsunami

is an ongoing crisis in japan. but it's a growing global issue as it is any time radiation is involved. in japan they have discovered radiation levels are too high in the drinking water, especially for young children, infants. it's been detected in 11 different types of vegetables. this has led to something of a food safety scare here. the fda has slapped a ban on milk, fruit and vegetables from that region of japan. here is nbc's robert bazell in tokyo. bob, good evening. >> reporter: well, the levels of radiation here in tokyo are still relatively low. the incident underscores the need to get those reactors under control as soon as possible. >> radioactive materials have been detected in one of tokyo's water purifying plants. >> reporter: the news rattled tokyo residents. but officials cautioned that levels of radioactive iodine in tap water threatened only infants, and instructed families to use bottled water for

formula, sending frantic parents out to stock up. >> translator: i am so worried. i came to the store to buy supplies for my baby. >> reporter: while others considered more drastic measures, including leaving town. >> you have to do the best you can. so if you have the means to go further out, perhaps you should. >> reporter: dr. ritsuko komaki survived hiroshima as a child. she is now a radiation oncologist at md andersen hospital in houston. >> the children who are growing, their cells are very sensitive to radiation. >> reporter: which puts them at the greatest risk for developing thyroid cancer from excessive radioactive iodine. concerns for safety of the food supply mounted, as radiation has now been detected in milk and 11 different vegetables. some fear radiation found in the ocean could also threaten seafood. new video released by the tokyo fire department showed firefighters at the fukushima plant friday.

efforts to cool down radioactive material continue today, although workers had to be evacuated temporarily after black smoke billowed again from reactor 3. newly released pictures show plant workers, now heroes throughout japan, struggling to restore power. the lights are finally on in the control room in number 3, but workers are still evaluating damage to various pumps before turning them on. >> that is really the key to bringing the situation under control, getting water pumped into each one of these buildings, both to the reactor and to the spent fuel pools. >> reporter: and, brian, to help families with small children, the government announced it will make bottled water available throughout the affected area. >> robert bazell in tokyo tonight. as we mentioned, a lot of folks have questions about food safety. many are wondering which foods we get from japan. just last night, as we said, the feds announced they're halting the import of some foods coming

to this country from the affected area of japan. that hasn't stopped people from being concerned about it, though, about fish and produce on store shelves. our report from nbc's kristen welker. >> reporter: at this little tokyo grocery store in los angeles, business is brisk. the shelves are stocked with seaweed and fish from japan. the leafy greens are grown locally. owners insist it's all safe. >> all that we have here are not affected by the earthquake or nuclear power plant issue. >> reporter: the u.s. food and drug administration has banned all vegetable, fruit and milk products from areas impacted by japan's nuclear crisis. >> the step that fda implemented is an additional step in the global food safety net to safeguard the u.s. food supply. >> reporter: still, despite reassurances, images of geiger counters testing food scare consumers. >> i would not buy them. i'm really afraid of them. >> reporter: according to the fda, items from japan constitute

about 4% of foods imported to the u.s., mostly seafood, snacks, processed fruit and vegetables, like these mushrooms, popular at this hawaiian grocery store. >> if we bring in any type of fresh vegetable, we feel that everything is okay. >> reporter: in san diego, sushi chef rob ruiz is calming customers' fears. >> people will have a hesitancy. >> reporter: but his supplier is not worried. >> the typical question is do i have to worry about the fish i buy and the answer is no, it's safe. >> reporter: in our supermarkets very little food is actually from japan. this sushi was rolled in california, this soy sauce made in michigan, these greens are locally grown, and so is this fuji apple. and there is heightened alert at ports. regulatory officials add that it takes about eight days for cargo from japan to reach the u.s., and there have been limited shipments since the earthquake. an increased level of oversight, as japan's nuclear crisis continues. kristen welker, nbc news, los

angeles. when we come back tonight, wild spring weather, much more like winter. and later, remembering one of the greats of the big screen of all time, elizabeth taylor. and a woman who can heal body and soul making a difference where it's really needed in this country.

spring may be well under way, but it didn't look like it today in the northeast. snow in new jersey, pennsylvania and new york. not just a dusting, mind you, 4 to 8 inches in some places, and more violent weather passed through the pittsburgh area today, with a major hailstorm spread over a wide area along with some tornadic activity. all of it is headed east toward new england tonight with connecticut, massachusetts and

new hampshire set to get their dose of spring snow tonight and tomorrow. it is a sickening sight in the waters off the shores of louisiana. more oil, and now more containment boom and cleanup crews, just as they are still trying to recover from last year's catastrophic spill and environmental disaster. tonight louisiana state officials say they have traced the spill to an oil company based in houston, but the company, anglo-suisse offshore partner says they're surprised the oil has been traced to one of their closed wells because they said they were only aware of a discharge of five gallons of oil. they had been working on permanently plugging a well when the spill happened. the slick has now spread over a 30-mile area. this company, anglo-suisse, will pay for the cleanup. we learned tonight two planes landed at reagan national airport in washington just after midnight last night without clearance from the control

tower, because the tower never answered the pilots' request to land. the american airlines flight from miami and united flight from chicago both landed safety. an investigation is under way to find out why the control tower did not respond to the pilots. take a break. up next, making a difference with the power of healing and faith together.

time now tonight for our "making a difference" report, and it comes from one of the most needy and underserved parts of our nation, the mississippi delta. our story comes from a small town there in need of the basic service of medical care. but as nbc's thanh truong reports from tutwiler, mississippi, tonight, one doctor has dedicated her life to helping the poor and hearing the call of a higher power. >> reporter: the tiny town of

tutwiler, mississippi, is the place, as the sign suggests, where the blues were born. it's also a place of profound poverty and home to the t ucht twiler clinic. >> medically we see people who are in some cases very ill and haven't had care. >> reporter: for nearly three decades, dr. ann brooks and the staff have provided desperately needed health care to a rural population that used to go without. loretta phillips recently lost her job and needs medication. the clinic is the only option she and many others can afford. payment here is welcomed, but not a requirement for care. >> i just thank god. i really do. because i was very, very concerned. >> reporter: before brooks reopened the clinic, it had been shuttered since 1964 and had an ugly past. >> there was a black waiting room and a white waiting room. i closed the black waiting room. >> reporter: when dr. brooks

arrived here in 1983, a lot of the homes didn't have indoor plumbing and the health situation was pretty bleak. while things have gotten better, tutwiler faces a lot of challenges. rates of unemployment, poverty and obesity remain high. for inspiration, dr. brooks turns to her faith. you see, dr. ann brooks is also sister ann brooks. as brooks helps her patients, she looks for a little help from above. >> as i examine a patient when they're breathing in and out and i hear the breath of life, i pray for them. >> reporter: to brooks, she's answering a higher calling. but to the people of this delta town -- >> i would say she's an angel sent from heaven. >> reporter: she's been an answer to their prayers. thanh truong, nbc news, tutwiler, mississippi. when we come back here tonight, our remembrance of the legendary elizabeth taylor.

next at 6:00, a wet commute ahead. we've got a look at the storm rolling in. and vandals cause a sewage spill at a popular east bay crick. plus, no fun here. a popular area with snow gazers rolls back the welcome mat. finally tonight, the news so many americans woke up to. as you no doubt heard earlier today, one of the greatest movie stars in the history of hollywood is gone. elizabeth taylor was a real star, glamorous and durable. also troubled and vulnerable.

her career spanned 50 motion pictures over seven decades. put in terms of american presidents, her career spanned from fdr to obama. she was called the queen of hollywood. that's a title hollywood doesn't throw around lightly. we watched her grow up on camera. she was always in the public eye, a star beginning as a child. so, of course, nothing about her life ever seemed quite normal. >> i'm not like anyone, i'm me. >> elizabeth rosemond taylor was born in london in 1932, the daughter of an actress and an art dealer. her parents left great britain before the outbreak of world war ii and settled in beverly hills. it was her eyes everyone first noticed. they were violet, and they were extraordinary. and with the rise of color film, that color sure stood out. her mother had always said she was an ugly duckling as a child,

but she grew into a profound beauty known as elizabeth to her friends. liz was the invention of the press. her horse-riding skills helped her land a big role in "national velvet" back in 1944, when she was just 12. that film made her a star, and she always called it the most exciting movie she ever made. >> mother, we won. >> that led to a long-term contract with mgm which she later resented, but that contract led to an oscar, her first, for the film "butterfield 8." >> elizabeth taylor. >> her second oscar came for her gritty, hard-to-watch performance as a dramatic, abusive wife in "who's afraid of virginia woolf." >> but i am not a monster, i'm not. >> the recognition of the industry helped heal her wounds, criticism from roles like the overhyped "cleopatra" and the resulting media frenzy. the role earned her a million

dollars and that was a hollywood first. but her off-screen affair with co-star richard burton, who she later married not once, but twice, overshadowed the production, which then opened to bad reviews. in all, elizabeth taylor married eight times. there was a singer, eddie fisher, who was married to debbie reynolds when they first met. there was a senator, republican john warner of virginia. there was even a builder, who taylor met when he was doing some home improvements for her. for a lot of her life, taylor battled health problems, near fatal pneumonia, a brain tumor, substance abuse and weight problems. >> either you look forward to waking up or you don't. i do. >> all of her troubles provided comics with a lot of material. she never gave up, and kept her name and famous face out there with product endorsements later in life. >> these have always brought me luck. >> her remaining years were defined by the death of her

close friend and former co-star, rock hudson. his revelation that he was dying of aids shocked the country, but she went to work, devoting her life to raising money and research to fight the disease and fight the stigma surrounding it. >> they have so little touching and compassion in their life, that if you reach out to them, you receive so much love in return. >> elizabeth taylor went on to found amfar. in a statement today the organization noted her monumental legacy in the fight against aids. in the end she suffered from congestive heart failure and she died with her family at her bedside. here's another way of thinking of elizabeth taylor's career and it comes from another entertainment institution, joan rivers. "she lived a great life and died wealthy, unforgotten, with her family around her. where do i sign." joan rivers on her friend, elizabeth taylor, gone today at the age of 79. for us that's our broadcast

for this wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. of course we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com wicked weather, rain, and wind whipping the bay area. get ready for another round tonight. also, a political game of chicken. the governor says he doesn't need the republicans. they threaten to sue. we look at what's next in the multibillion dollar battle. and the nation remembers a movie star. we look at how elizabeth taylor changed the fight against aids. nbc bay area news at 6:00 starts right now.