>> that's true. "nbc nightly news" is next and more local news on the bay area at 6:00. we'll see you then. how safe? more problems revealed in that southwest jet that tore open at 36,000 feet. was the plane an accident waiting to happen? and what about other jets in the fleet? days of rage. the spreading anger and protest in afghanistan. what caused it. and what the u.s. is doing to put out the fire. sex slaves, lured here with the promise of a better life, forced into selling themselves, maybe in a neighborhood near you. and once upon a time, the man who is making a difference bringing children's books back man who is making a difference bringing children's books back to life. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. investigators tonight are getting a much better idea as to why a five-foot hole ripped open on a southwest airlines jet over arizona friday evening. a roof section of the boeing 737-300 will be removed and sent to washington overnight for closer analysis. but already, investigators have found evidence of previous structural fatigue and widespread cracking in the plane's fuselage, despite the fact it underwent a major inspection only a year ago. meantime, 79 of southwest's 737-300s, an older model of the popular jet, remain grounded. emergency inspections have led to 300 flight cancellations today alone. nbc's tom costello has been working the story for us and has the latest details. >> reporter: on the tarmac in yuma, arizona today investigators been cutting out a nine-foot section of the fuselage that will be sent back

to the ntsb lab in washington for metal fatigue tests. the cockpit voice and flight data recorders are already in washington. also today, new photos of the five-foot hole that opened up just 18 minutes into flight and the passengers on board wearing oxygen masks. the ntsb said today the tear in the fuselage happened along what's called a lap joint in the plane's skin. >> and we have clear evidence that the skin separated at the lower rivet line. a preliminary on-site examination reveals pre-existing fatigue along the entire fracture surface. >> reporter: faa records obtained by nbc news show that during a heavy maintenance overhaul in march of last year inspectors found multiple cracks along the fuselage of this particular 737-300, a frame crack 867 inches from the nose, another 380 inches from the nose, 500 inches from the nose, and many more.

but the faa today cautioned that's not unusual for a plane that was 14 years old at the time. and inspections are conducted to find and repair those cracks. >> is there something that this inspection process missed one way or another, or is the process itself -- does it need to be more robust or done on a more frequent basis? and i think those are central questions the investigators will be asking. >> reporter: two years ago a football-sized hole opened up on another southwest 737-300, forcing it to make an emergency landing in west virginia. this weekend thousands of travelers nationwide had their travel plans disrupted, with southwest grounding 79 planes for emergency inspections and canceling 600 flights over two days. >> we don't want to get on a plane and the same thing happen to us, so you can't really complain about that. >> on one side, i'm really ready to go. on the other side, i would rather they get the planes all fixed first. >> reporter: southwest isn't saying how many flights might be affected tomorrow. late today southwest did say 19 planes have already been found

to be safe. they are going to be returned to service. however, two planes, lester, were found to have small cracks. it is also safe to assume the cancellations will continue for at least another day. as for the 737-300, delta, united and continental, they don't fly them anymore. us airways says it is not affected. back to you. >> tom, and southwest says it is replacing its 737-300s for newer models but in the meantime, they have over 100, but they've taken 79 out of service. why those particular ones? >> reporter: it says that those 79 had a different design process and out of the 540 planes it flies in total only about 170 are 737-300s. southwest says it's already replaced the skin on most of them but the skin had not yet been replaced on these 79. >> tom costello in washington, thank you. former ntsb investigator greg fife join us again from denver. greg, let me understand this. it had a heavy maintenance check in march last year, a bit over a year ago. could these new cracks have developed over a 12-month

period, or were they in a place that no one was perhaps looking? >> a combination of both, lester, because where these cracks have formed are in what they call the lap joint and they are subsurface, they're microscopic, if you will. they can't be seen by a visual inspection. even though there are a number of required inspections in that particular area. so the only way you are going to find these cracks is through ndt, or nondestructive testing methods, like eddy current or some of the other methods, x-ray, and that kind of thing. >> let me ask you this. this 300 model of the 737 is out of production. they make a whole new generation of the airplane, the 700, 800, 900s. are these at risk of having the same kind of issue? >> not really, because they are a newer generation of airplane, and the lessons learned from these previous versions have gone into the structural design changes for the later generation airplanes. so you're going to see it just confined to the 737-300 series. >> important information for

folks flying. thank you, greg fife, we appreciate it. it's been almost two years since an air france jetliner crashed in the atlantic ocean on a flight from brazil to paris. tonight, french authorities say more wreckage of the airbus jet has been located, which will hopefully lead to the recovery of the black boxes and the cause of the crash. the a-330 went down in a storm with 228 people on board. anti-american violence spread in afghanistan today, unraveling years of work to build confidence in the american mission among the afghan people. nbc's peter alexander with the latest on that. >> reporter: across afghanistan, a third day of rage. these violent protests, now blamed for at least 24 deaths, have reached virtually every major afghan city. in the east in jalalabad, young men rampaged through the streets, torching a cross and an effigy of president obama. the demonstrations were fueled by the recent burning of the koran by radical pastor terry

jones at a fundamentalist church in florida, the same man who sparked worldwide outrage for threatening to burn islam's holy book last september. "the burning upset the whole muslim world," this man said. "we condemn this act." in kabul tonight the united nations' top diplomat received seven coffins, each draped with a u.n. flag. the victims, all foreign workers, killed friday when a mob stormed their compound. trying to defuse tensions, in a statement president obama called the u.n. attack an affront to human decency and condemned the koran burning as an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry. general david petraeus, who heads up the war in afghanistan, criticized the burning as well. >> that action was hateful. it was intolerant. and it was extremely disrespectful. >> reporter: military analysts warn these recent events damage american efforts to win the support of the afghan people. >> these deadly riots demonstrate, if nothing else,

that even with all the success we've had in lots of places in afghanistan, just one incident 8,000 miles away in the united states can prove how fragile these gains really are. >> reporter: a mission still at risk nearly ten years into america's longest war. peter alexander, nbc news. our chief foreign correspondent, richard engel, joins us now. richard, we're supposed to be months away from the beginning of a drawdown in afghanistan. you've spent a lot of time there. you know u.s. commanders. a lot of their success has been built on gaining the trust of local leaders in the communities. what does all this do to those efforts? >> reporter: well, it -- clearly, that trust hasn't been built upon and doesn't really even exist when one incident like this can create nationwide riots. the u.s. mission in afghanistan now is to use military force in order to build up the afghan government so that it can fight off the taliban. that mission, exposed by this incident right now, still appears very far away.

>> richard, let me turn to what's going on in libya. you're in benghazi tonight. last night at this time we were reporting the end of u.s. combat operations there. i understand they have been extended. what can you tell us? >> reporter: this is a big development, i think. as of today, as of last night when we spoke and then during the daylight hours today, the u.s. was not supposed to be flying any more bombing missions. instead, just a support role, refueling jets, collecting intelligence. but instead, at the request of nato there were more american bombing missions today, attacking gadhafi's armored vehicles around sirte and not far from brega. now, according to pentagon officials, nato asked for this because of bad weather, but according to the agreement, nato was only supposed to ask for american military help under extreme circumstances, under emergencies. bad weather seems to be a fairly low threshold, so i think it is going to be difficult if the u.s. wants to extricate itself from the military operation if

nato continues to ask for help. >> richard engel in benghazi, thanks. back in this country, a big budget fight is shaping this up week with congress and the white house face the prospect of a government shutdown by week's end. nbc's mike viqueira is following it all from the white house tonight. >> reporter: the choice facing leaders this week, fund the government by friday night or see part of it shut down. >> i hope we can solve the problem, because frankly, people are looking for a little bit of adult interaction and they are interested in solutions to our debt and to our deficits and not just games. >> reporter: republicans want to slash $61 billion from a more than $1 trillion bill funding the government for the rest of this year. that's too deep for the president and democrats, who have countered with a plan to cut $33 billion. >> we have agreed on a number as to the cut. now we have to agree on the component parts of it and move forward. >> reporter: but after gaining seats in congress on a promise to cut spending, republicans are under mounting pressure from conservatives to reject a

compromise and get tough with the president. >> and if liberals in the senate would rather play political games and shut down the government instead of making a small down payment on fiscal discipline and reform, i say shut it down. >> reporter: as vice president biden leads closed-door talks, the top house republican denies democratic claims that the two sides are close. >> there is no agreement. republicans continue to fight for the largest spending cuts possible to help end washington's job-crushing spending binge. >> reporter: now with the jobless rate dropping and the economy picking up steam, the president says a shutdown risks damage to a still-fragile recovery. >> if these budget negotiations break down, we could end up having to shut down the government just at a time when the economy is starting to recover. >> reporter: and lester, there is yet another big spending fight coming up for budgets for next year and beyond. on tuesday, republican leaders

will unveil their plan to slash the national debt, in part with what are sure to be controversial changes to medicare and medicaid. lester? >> mike, thanks. as the anniversary of the gulf oil spill approaches this month, we learned today that bp is asking the government for permission to resume oil drilling in the gulf of mexico. company officials say bp wants to restart drilling at ten existing deep water wells this summer. in return, the company would adhere to stricter safety rules. tonight, much of the country is getting ready for some very bad weather over the next couple of days. for more on that, we are joined by the weather channel's chris warren. chris, what's it look like? >> lester, we are facing the first major severe outbreak of the season. we are watching this developing system coming out of the rockies. and as it does, starting tonight, we have the threat for severe weather. we could see hail, large hail, we could also see damaging wind and possibly tornadoes. this threat continues into tomorrow and look at the extent of this. we are talking more than 20 states potentially affected by

this, more than 70 million people and the threat moving off to the east. we could see a widespread tornado outbreak during the day on your monday and into monday night. lester, potentially dangerous situation when these storms happen during the overnight hours. >> chris warren, thanks. when "nbc nightly news" continues this sunday, a grim new assessment about that nuclear crisis in japan. and later, making a difference, bringing children's stories back to life.

government officials in japan said today it may take months before leaking radiation

can be stopped at that crippled nuclear power plant. at the same time, the search for thousands still missing after last month's earthquake and tsunami has come to an end. nbc's lee cowan with the latest now from tokyo. >> reporter: it is over. the massive search by air and by sea involving a huge presence of u.s. military personnel was officially suspended today after finding only a tiny fraction of the thousands of bodies who are still missing. but as one u.s. effort ends, another begins. more marines arrived in japan today, those specializing in nuclear emergency response. and they may have their hands full before they know it. engineers at the crippled nuclear power plant revealed today that they don't have the equipment they need to monitor high levels of radiation, which casts doubt on just how accurate their measurements have been. it is especially unsettling given that what they call highly radioactive water has been

gushing into the pacific ocean. over the last 24 hours, engineers have tried everything to stop it, including burying the crack in concrete. when that didn't work, they switched to a witch's brew of a chemical mixed with newspaper and sawdust that they hope will swell and plug the pipes. the problem, the more fresh water that's pumped from barges into cooler reactors, the more radioactive water is expected to leak out, a cycle that will persist for months, experts now say, which makes finding a place to store it all that much more critical. just about everything is on the table, including the possibility of pumping that radioactive water into tankers. but that creates a whole other set of problems. for starters, what to do with the contaminated cargo once it's on board. it's the kind of secondary contamination that forced protesters into the streets of tokyo again today, demanding an end to nuclear power. the legacy of this disaster likely will be the coastline

that has been erased and all the residents that will forever be missing. lee cowan, nbc news, tokyo. when we come back here tonight, a troubling story here at home. what may be going on in your neighborhood.

now to what investigators say is a growing problem in neighborhoods across america, women lured to the united states from latin america by the promise of jobs and a better life, only to be forced into sex work. you might be surprised to find something like that could happen where you live. nbc's richard lui reports. >> reporter: from the outside, this house looks like any other in the neighborhood. but inside, prosecutors say that women and children were forced to have sex up to 40 times a day after being lured to the u.s. by amador cortez mesa, the convicted ringleader of one of the largest international sex trafficking cases ever prosecuted here. authorities say these victims were held as slaves in nearby

houses. the windows boarded. there was no way out. the women we spoke with asked us not to use their real names or show their faces. >> translator: he beat me with a broomstick and with a closet bar. it's just not right what he did. he promised he would marry me. >> reporter: that's one way authorities say cortez mesa would trick his victims, at least ten in this case, and there may be more. authorities don't know if they are connected, but nbc news has found reports of similar types of brothels in at least 25 states. >> hello, national human trafficking resource center. >> reporter: anti-trafficking group polaris calls this phenomenon latino residential brothels. >> the whole network spans all across the country really, and it's something i don't think many people realize. >> the johns would come in here. the girls -- >> reporter: in the cortez mesa case authorities say dozens of johns would arrive at the house every night. >> how much money are we talking about here?

>> it would range between $25 and $35 per john. >> reporter: prosecutors say just one victim could earn the cortez mesa ring hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and the women wouldn't get a cent. even if you knew it was happening inside of here, you couldn't just show up. you needed a personal invitation to get through that door. you had to be latino or referred to get in. the invitation, phony business cards passed out at this shopping center. often, these brothels are hard to find. even the neighbors didn't know what cortez mesa's group was doing. did you have any idea what was happening across the street? >> not a clue. not a clue. >> reporter: cortez mesa was recently sentenced in federal court. the charges included child sex trafficking and human smuggling. >> he's an animal. he's an animal that will now spend the next 40 years in jail for what he did to these women and others. >> reporter: women and children enslaved in america at a house next door or right down the street. richard lui, nbc news, cartersville, georgia.

>> you will find much more on all this on our website, nightly.msnbc.com. and we've been following a very different kind of story on the web today, along with a whole lot of other people. an expanding family of eagles in a live video feed from a nest in a tree 80 feet high in northeast iowa. one eaglet hatched on friday, a second early this morning, and a third is expected in the next few days. adults are taking turn caring for the youngsters. at any given time, 130,000 viewers are watching it unfold live with eagle eyes. we're back with our "making a difference" report after this. ♪ fly like an eagle ♪ to the sea

at a time when just about everything in our world seems to be going digital, our "making a difference report" tonight is about a man who is appreciated for his low-tech expertise. and it is children hungry for a good story who are benefiting from his work. our story tonight from nbc's dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: on a quiet little street in princeton, a craftsman

is at work. spending countless hours in his attic workshop, he is surrounded by the simplest of tools. >> fastidious is the word. every little speck. >> reporter: with an old iron, a few bricks wrapped in paper, and a smooth piece of bone, 80-year-old bill strong restores and repairs children's books, bringing them back to life. so this is where the magic is made? >> well -- >> reporter: this is where the magic is saved. >> okay. >> reporter: bill has always had a passion for books, but saving broken ones, well, that started as a hobby and then grew into something more. what's the most special project you've ever done? >> oh, there's loads of them. it was a grandfather that brought me a book that his grandfather had given to him, inscribed. and he wanted me to fix it up so that he could catch a plane next week to go to colorado, inscribe it for his grandson. that's nice. >> reporter: for the last several years he's been donating

his time and talents to the children's section of the princeton public library. >> hey, ann, got some -- got a present for you. >> reporter: where he estimates he's given thousands of books a second chance. >> in a few weeks, it will be 3,000 books that have passed across this desk. >> we would never be able to afford the services of a conservator that has his level of talent, so it's an invaluable resource. >> reporter: above his desk in his quaint work space, a favorite quote. >> "the hands, those precious wonderful instruments, ask for some creative occupation." >> your hands? >> yeah. and people's hands in general. they are your tools. >> these are honest, good hands. >> wow. thank you. >> reporter: giving new life to the written word, passed from the hands of an elder craftsman into the hands and the hearts of children. dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, princeton, new jersey. that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. brian williams will be here