doctors. on our broadcast tonight, who will blink here in washington over the war of words on the debt crisis while across america the people of this country are wondering if it's any way to run a country. heart of darkness. we're learning more about the man accused in those awful attacks in norway. his lawyer says he thinks he's at war. desperate hours and difficult choices inand where drought and famine are the killers and the awful question, how do you choose who to save? and making a difference tonight. you don't have to listen to this man but you might want to when you learn who he is and what he does. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. we're here in washington tonight good evening. we're here in washington tonight where every day is kind of like the movie "groundhog day." you can hear the alarm going off, in this case the debt ceiling where rational people agree needs to be raised. but every day there's no deal. last night the president and the speaker of the house went on national television two minutes apart. today they went at it again. on one side of town, the white house. on the other, the capitol. republicans control the house and democrats in the senate. right now, tonight, no one can tell you exactly how they're going to get to a deal. or when. so that's washington and as for america? this is just one destination we want to show you on twitter. it has a common theme and a name we can't say or show you on tv because of the language. it's become a place where people

are venting their anger at washington and there's a lot of it. so it's all where we begin tonight with nbc's kelly o'donnell on the hill and kelly, what has changed from last night to today? >> something new. >> reporter: a setback for speaker john boehner. his plan which promised a trillion dollars in cuts, the congressional office ran the numbers and says it falls short by $150 billion. so boehner aides tell me they're looking at it and rewriting, red pen out, looking for more cuts. that's a new hurdle as so much frustration is aimed right here. >> reporter: congress and the country on hold. >> i'm asking you all to make your voice heard. >> reporter: and hundreds of thousands did. >> there are 212 people waiting on hold. >> if you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your member of congress know. >> reporter: today a flood of phone calls and e-mail to both

parties saying -- get something done! much of the pressure to get a deal that prevents default falls on house speaker john boehner who blamed the president in primetime. >> i gave it my all. unfortunately, the president would not take "yes" for an answer. >> reporter: and today, it was boehner's plan under assault, predictably from democrats have a competing proposal to raise the debt limit and reduce the deficit. >> speaker boehner's plan is not a compromise. it was written for the tea party, not the american people. >> reporter: but a block of republicans, tea party conservatives is rebuffing the speaker. >> i'm confident as of this morning, that there were not 218 republicans in support of the plan. >> i think for us, kind of true fiscal conservatives, we have a very difficult time with this. >> reporter: a tight rope. boehner wants to hang on to those conservatives who demanded a tougher bill and appeal to moderate house democrats to get enough votes. >> this was negotiated in a bipartisan manner between both houses of the congress.

and i do think that we're going to have some work to do to get it passed but i think we can do it. >> reporter: today, the white house tried to stay in the mix threatening a veto and urging cooperation. >> what's clear is that it's only going to take a little bit of compromise between the house and the senate to make sure we don't default. >> reporter: brian, so much of the front stage here has been all about the speaker boehner plan but aides tell me privately they're working on the senate side to look for some kind of fix so if the boehner plan fails they have somewhere to go and they're watching the clock knowing there's so little time left. >> kelly, they say the whole world is watching. let's go across town to the white house and our chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. two themes emerged today, both on the web. first the website talking points memo made the case that the media are wrong about this. there's compromise going on but they're just not agreeing, both sides. and second, the common wisdom

this morning was that the momentum had moved from where you are from the white house to the hill? >> reporter: that's right. the white house is largely out of the negotiations. their proxy, as far as the president is concerned, is senate majority leader harry reid. here's what i can tell you is that harry reid and john boehner are talking and trying to figure out how they can make their plans work. there's some common agreement on the up-front cuts. of course, kelly mentioned what happened with the congressional budget office. that could set boehner back on that front. but the problem that reid and boehner are running into is this enforcement mechanism to trigger the second rise in the debt sealing. to trigger tax reform and entitlement reform. they haven't figured out the penalty if congress can't agree on those second rounds of cuts. the same problem speaker boehner and the president ran into last week. and that's the hold-up there and what's happening now? there are whispers, brian, of a 30-day extension that ends up

getting shoved at the president which i'm told the president would sign if that's all he had. >> oh, boy. chuck, thanks. of course, all of this makes it sound like we're living in two different worlds. here in washington it's all this talk about the deal, the competing plans, who has the momentum and who can sell what to which caucus. meantime, in america, people have had it with what they see here. the stops and starts. the back and forth. the name calling and the brinksmanship. lee cowan takes a look at our angry nation. >> reporter: when the circus pulls into town like it did in san diego last week a lot gets done in a short amount of time which is why it may have come as an insult to the circus when the president compared the stalled debt talks to the comparatively productive energy of a three-ring circus. >> when you come to the table and say what you're not going to do, i would at least hope somebody would come to the table and say what they will do.

>> washington's high-wire act is hardly being cheered these days. >> it's taking down the morale of this country. >> reporter: and some marched into their congressman's office today. >> save medicare and social security. >> reporter: and then some turned to twitter. it's not rated but we are, so one of the cleanest ones we could find is this one directing anger at washington for getting what compromise means and getting it done. >> i think it's like a spoiled child. i got to have my way or it's no way. >> it's a pig and a poke. >> reporter: the anger isn't just predictable but entertaining clashes on talk radio either. >> not one of these people asked how they could be part of the answer. they were 100% part of the problem. >> reporter: it even spilled into the sports arena. after ending the nfl lockout team owners declared themselves more able negotiators than congress. >> i hope we gave a little lesson to the people in washington because the debt crisis is a lot easier to fix than this deal was.

>> reporter: historians say it wasn't always like this. building war chests has replaced building relationships. >> in earlier days, legislators would socialize together on the weekends. play poker. they would drink and share stories and created friendships that went across party lines. >> reporter: if all this is, indeed, a circus, voters seem to think each side refuses to lead its respective ring arguing divide government was supposed to give us debate, not dysfunction. lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. >> and if you remember last night, president obama made the point that he doesn't want a debt ceiling deal to come at the expense of the lowest income americans and a new study out tonight, shows that they are increasingly black and hispanic americans. they're median household net worth is 20 times less than that of white households in this country. that's the biggest wealth gap ever recorded. and a staggering one-third of black and hispanic americans have a negative net worth now compared to 15% of white

households in america. and one more note on the budget. congress failed to renew the faa's budget authority last friday and the fallout from that is now actually costing money. work had to be stopped on a new control tower under correction at mccarron airport in las vegas. it's sitting there idle and it could cost taxpayers as much as $8,500 a day in construction rental equipment and other fees. that's just one project. thousands of faa workers have been furloughed across the country. no word on when this budget standoff could end. for the second time in six weeks, a democratic congressman is resigning because of a sex scandal. this time, it is representative david wu from portland, oregon, facing allegations of an unwanted encounter with an 18-year-old woman. he says it was consensual but decided to quit out of concern for his family and colleagues. this is the same member of

congress who recently became known for the photo that appeared all over the web showing him in a tiger suit and regarding the timing of his resignation, congressman wu says his departure date is uncertain but it will be after this debt fight is over here in washington because the democrats need every vote. president obama left the white house here in washington today and traveled a few miles by motorcade to the norwegian ambassador to pay respects total bass door and to sign a book of ambassador and to sign a book of condolences on behalf of the american people. the nation of norway remains in shock over the twin attacks they've suffered. the bombing in downtown oslo and then the gruesome massacre at a summer camp. today the death toll is posted at 76. the man being held for all of those murders is one of their

own and today, the lawyer representing him tried to fill in some of the gaps and answer some of the questions about why his client, a 32-year-old extremist went on this killing rampage. nbc's martin fletcher is in oslo with information about a man that seems to live in a world of his own. martin, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. while the memorial candles and flowers here at oslo cathedral is a focus of the grief, the police are urging the confessed killer's claim that there are two more terror cells in norway. he's not cooperating and he insists he won't say anything about anything until he gets the food he wants. a picture is emerging of a manipulative cold-hearted killer who planned a massacre and bomb attacks for years. and as breivik told his lawyer, to strengthen himself for his deadly mission he took drugs to keep himself awake and strong. the lawyer explained how breivick could admit to the killing but plead not guilty to murder. >> he believes that he's in a war. he believes when you're in a war you can do things like that

without pleading guilty. >> breivik calls his war "a crusade" to stop muslims from emigrating to europe. he sees himself as a hero who struck the first blow in the war for europe's independence. >> he has a view on reality which is very difficult to explain. very, very rare. >> reporter: his conclusion, everything points to breivik being insane. marie went to high school with breivik and said he was a nice guy with a sense of humor. >> we became friends on facebook and we saw some troubling statements that he made. i remember commenting on it and saying, this is unacceptable. >> reporter: what did he say that you found objectionable? >> i can't remember. it was something incredibly racist. homophobic or islamaphobic -- >> reporter: when was that? >> i would say like three or four years ago, maybe. >> reporter: she dropped him as a friend and didn't hear of him again until friday. then she read bits of his internet manifesto.

had he become a different person? >> absolutely. unrecognizable. i mean, the level of cynicism and detachment from anything and everything is just chilling. >> reporter: breivik's parents divorced when he was 1 or 2 years old. his father told norwegian tv he hadn't spoken to his son in 16 years. now he's shocked. he shouldn't have killed all those people, he said. my son should have killed himself. breivik loved playing the war "world of warcraft: cataclysm worgen quest" which often involved killing creatures. a norwegian psychologist asked, did he confuse myth with reality? police have discovered explosives on his farm which they detonated safely. brian? >> what an unbelievable story. such a sad backdrop behind you in oslo, norway. when we come back here tonight, we'll take you where much of the world's attention is turning. where some life or death choices

are made every day. and later, a healer, a doctor, living proof that age is just a number. "making a difference" tonight. -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal. is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur? [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪ my name is lacey calvert and i'm a yoga instructor. if i have any soreness, i'm not going to be able to do my job. but once i take advil, i'm able to finish out strong. it really works! [ laughs ]

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helping strengthen our bones. caltrate delivers 1200 milligrams of calcium and 800 iu of vitamin d plus minerals. women need caltrate. caltrate helps women keep moving because women move the world. i'm lee cowan in los angeles. sad news to report out of olympic skiing. jeret speedy peterson has died. he was killed out of tore torino, italy for a fight. he was just 29 years old. now, back to brian williams in washington. while the entire world is just now noticing these are desperate hours for the victims

of drought and famine and the horn of africa, somalia, kenya, ethiopia and djibouti and that means some heartbreaking choices are being made on a daily basis. choices about the starving and the sick and who survives. as we said this is the next global crisis we're going global crisis wire covering. to be covering. and we continue our extraordinary reporting for us tonight with rohit kachroo on the road between somalia and kenya and a warning, these images are tough to watch. >> reporter: it's not the screams that concern the doctors the most. but the silence of those too weak to cry. this is one of the busiest hospitals at the dadaab refugee camp where the most frail children are taken when they arrive. this child is 1 year old but looks like a newborn. her mother says she feels completely helpless. she's getting stronger and is expected to survive. >> most of the children die within the first 24 hours. >> reporter: doctors have seen

an increase in the number of serious cases in the past few weeks. >> a child who wants to come -- we're talking of mother who was upset because they've seen all their children die because they have no food to eat. >> reporter: and the gates to the main camp, the lines are growing longer. groups of the desperate separated from the even more desperate. this is one of the busiest days at this camp ever. there are so many new arrivals here that incredibly sick children are judged to be low priority. they cannot get immediate help. like this woman, she can't understand why no one is helping her. she says she doesn't know where to go. finally, she's allowed to get food for her children, new shoes and some vaccinations. she leaves with supplies but is told that because of demand she might not get any more food rations for three months. with the main camp at breaking

point, her likely new home will be an illegal make-shift camp where disease has killed many. today, hundreds of families moved to a new, cleaner camp building the homes themselves. >> they're excited. most of them are telling us they're happy to be here. >> reporter: but the kenyan authorities would have to build one of these camps every single day to cope with the rate of new arrivals and conditions are getting worse. rohit kachroo, nbc news, on the kenya/somalia border. and a reminder for all those of you who wish to help the people of east africa, we have a growing list of organizations doing just that. keeping it on our website nightly.msnbc.com. on wall street, stocks fell and in the last hour of trading the dow finished down more than 91 points at the end of the day. up next here tonight, the sad farewell today in london.

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fire that's erupted as a plastic's plant in fairfield, california, about 40 miles from sacramento and near travis air force base. no early reports of injuries but the smoke from the fire can be seen for miles in the skies over california tonight. under pressure from nutrition experts, alarm by childhood obesity in this country, mcdonald's said today it's taking steps to make happy meals healthier. they with cutting the size of the french fry portion in half for starters and adding apple slices to every meal. the new meals will have about 20% fewer calories coming in at under 600 calories total. first lady michelle obama who campaigns the course for better nutrition put out a statement today calling this "a good step." after a tragic ending after a briefly brilliant career in just 27 years on earth, funeral services were held today at a

london cemetery for amy winehouse. family, friends, fellow musicians came to mourn. her father announced a foundation in her name. london police are still waiting on toxicology reports for the cause of death. it's been reported she died at home and alone. when we come back here tonight, setting an example for all of us and "making a difference" in the process. and "making a difference" in the process. [ male announcer ] this is lisa, who tries to stay ahead of her class.

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finally tonight, you're about to meet a great character. you don't have to do what he says but it might help to listen up. he's a doctor, after all. and not just any doctor. you're about to hear some advice on how to live a long life in his view, and about what you should and should not do and as you listen to him remember, experience does count for a lot in this world. it's our "making a difference" report and here's the story from nbc's robert bazell. >> reporter: dr. ephraim engelman keeps regular hours for arthritis patients at the university of california san francisco. he directs the rosalind russell medical research center for arthritis and frequently meets

with colleagues to discuss research. >> your hands look pretty good. >> reporter: none of that would be unusual except that dr. engelman just celebrated his 100th birthday and has no plans to slow down. would you ever consider retiring? >> no. not unless i have to. >> reporter: it would be difficult to exaggerate the changes in medicine in the course of his 75-year career. >> the treatment for arthritis was aspirin. people would come in wheelchairs and gurneys. we don't see that anymore. people walk in. they're not necessarily cured, but they're much better. >> reporter: his advice for achieving longevity is not exactly the wisdom. >> i think exercise is mostly overrated. and totally unnecessary. and the use of vitamins, forget it. and i don't encourage a lot of doctors. >> reporter: so what does he recommend? >> fall in love and get married. sex is to be encouraged. children are a priority. >> reporter: his sons, phillip and ed, are both physicians.

his daughter, jill, a lawyer, is married to a doctor, and their son is a physician. aside from medicine, engelman has two great passions. one is music and his phenomenal violin ability. ♪ and the biggest passion -- >> that was our wedding picture. >> reporter: -- his wife, jeanne. ♪ but always >> reporter: with whom he just celebrated their 70th anniversary. >> it's been a lovely 70 years. >> i know, it's been wonderful. so let's stay together for another 70 years. >> okay, whatever you say. >> reporter: robert bazell, nbc news, san francisco. >> i think i had the wrong doctor all these years. that's our broadcast for this tuesday night. thank you for being here. i'm brian williams and we're reporting tonight from our nbc washington bureau because we're in town for tomorrow. we're spending all day tomorrow on capitol hill for an hour-long special airing sunday night at 7:00, 6:00 central.

"taking the hill:inside congress." and what a time for us to be arriving at the capitol with a fleet of cameras and journalist during this epic battle over the debt ceiling. that will air on sunday night but first things first. we hope to see you right back here on this broadcast tomorrow evening. for all of us here, good night. we begin with developing news in the east bay. thanks for joining us. i'm raj mathai. >> plastic containers are smoldering this evening. people as far away asraacme snto reported seeing the thick smoke as that fire raged for hours this afternoon. nbc bay area is just outside the warehouse with the latest.