towering achievement right when we could use a little bit more of that kind of thing. nbc's kevin tibbles is in joplin, missouri for us tonight. kevin, good evening. >> reporter: brian, this is all that's left of the joplin high

school, destroyed when that tornado ripped through town. but right from day one, people here vowed it was not going to destroy their spirit. in a badly bruised joplin, missouri, they were determined to open the schools and they did, thanks to team work and creativity. >> there's not a book out there on how to deal with an f-5 tornado and how to get your school started again. >> reporter: that tornado stole the lives of 160 people, smashed 8,000 homes and businesses and t joplin schools in a shambles. this surveillance video from inside the joplin high school shows the monstrous funnel demolishing it. today the hallways of the new high school echo with the sounds of 1,000 bustling juniors and high school echo with the sounds of 1,000 bustling juniors and seniors. store at a local mall, transformed into a modern place of learning. >> you're not looking back? >> no, we can't look back, we

owe it to the legacy of the people who lost their lives in this storm to move forward. looking back and spending time reliving the past wouldn't honor them in the way they need to be honored. >> reporter: each student received a new lap top, the first presented to a young man who lost both his parents in the tornado. all donated by the united arab emirates some 8,000 miles away. >> overjoyed, grateful, extremely grateful. >> reporter: at nearby irving elementa elementary, teachers want the children to feel safe again. >> they're going to be able to come here and forget about everything else they have gone through because we're going to have fun in this room. >> if they're upset, i know i'll get upset. so i have been spending a lot of time praying about it. >> reporter: behind each school stand concrete shelters should the tornado sirens ever sound again. very real reminders about what kids in joplin are still dealing with. >> where are you living? >> at motel six.

>> reporter: back to school in a city that has suffered so much, where hugs are a vital part of the new curriculum. in most places, kids get pencils and paper when they go back to school, here they also get donated shoes and clothing. many of these kids lost everything and still rely on food banks to eat. but here in joplin, they're making sure that their kids don't get left behind in the school year. brian? >> kevin tibbles starting us off tonight from joplin, mo. and, kevin, thanks for that. something to feel good about on this very day that we learn more about the disastrous effects of the american economy. with 13.5 americans new unemployed, new numbers tonight show one in five children in this country living in poverty, that's 15 million american children and nearly 1 in three live in homes where no parent is working full-time year round. our own chris jansing is here in the studio with us now with more on the impact of this stubborn

recession, especially on the children of this country. >> it's really tough stuff. to give you some perspective, a family of four is living below the poverty line if their income is less than $22,350 a year. this new study shows that high unemployment and foreclosure rates have effectively wiped out all the gains made in reducing child poverty in the late 1990s. >> okay let me help you with that. >> reporter: life in florida was very good for the hidalgo family, angel was a building manager. annie was a bank teller. they bought a house and their kids were doing well in school. then a year ago, both parents lost their jobs. >> we had the american dream, but it's going down the drain. >> reporter: the hidalgos show a snapshot of the economic vice that's gripping american children. in 38 states child poverty went up from 2000 to 2009. across the country, nearly 15 million children, one of every five lived below the poverty line, a big reason, stubbornly high unemployment rates.

23 million children don't have a parent with a full-time job. and more than 5 million children are the youngest victims of the foreclosure epidemic. now unable to find work, the hidalgos are about to lose their home and with it their children's sense of security. >> when i go to sleep, i don't know where i'm going to be the next day. >> reporter: their stories illustrates the study's unsettling conclusions. >> kids are less likely to graduate from high school, less likely to graduate from college, and that impacts their long-term earnings potential. so we know that the impacts can ripple and continue to go on generations. >> there is some good news. child and teen death rates are down, so are teenaged pregnancies and drop outrates. but that's small comfort to this 15-year-old, who dreamed of becoming a psychologist and now isn't even sure where she'll be for her junior year. >> there's a lot of people going through this and it's really hard.

>> reporter: the hard reality for millions of children is that this growing economic uncertainty does have an affect on later success and since these kids are the generation that are going to help us achieve on a global scale, the impact reaches far beyond these families. >> chris jansing, thank you for being with us. it's against this backdrop that president obama is promising a new jobs plan but he's taking some heat on this tonight because it's not ready to announce and we won't get to see it until next month. our chief white house correspondent chuck todd traveling with the president tonight in alpha, illinois. chuck, it's clear the heat is on this topic now. >> reporter: that's for sure, no issue has dogged this president during his time in office more than this inability to jump-start the job market so while he's promising to unveil

yet another new plan to do this, he's facing a public that's growing increasingly impatient. call it the frustration tour, the president's third day face to face with voters upset about the economy. those waiting in line for the final town halls of his bus tour, wanted to talk about one thing. >> i don't want to hear about another commission, we have too many commissions now. i want to hear specifics, you know, let's get the people back to work. >> why would he postpone his statement to the public that he's got a jobs plan for after labor day? >> i'm unemployed, a lot of people are unemployed and so that's my main concern that we get the economy moving. >> reporter: and inside the president heard more anxiety. >> every week i sit around the kitchen table of families that are here today and i listen to the stories of the lost jobs. but what can you do without congress today to make a change in jobs? >> reporter: feeling that pressure, the white house said today the president will unveil

a new jobs plan after labor day which officials say will be a mix of tax cuts and government funded construction projects. >> there's no reason why we shouldn't put americans back to work all across the country rebuilding america. >> reporter: but it's not the first time the president had promised to jump-start job growth. >> that is why jobs must be our number one focus in 2010. >> reporter: white house spokesman jay carney defended this decision. >> what makes this different? >> it's a continuation, because as you know when he was sworn into office, the economy was hemorrhaging jobs, to the tune of more than 700,000 a month jobs lost. all told, the reception that he inherited, 8 million american jobs lost. we have been digging ourselves out of that hole. >> reporter: but even some of the president's most ardent defenders who are on their own bus tour in detroit are running out of patience. >> we want to give us every

opportunity, but our people are hurting, unemployment is unconscionable. we don't know what the strategy is. >> well, the president wraps up this town hall, heads back to washington for a full day at the office and then, brian, it's off to martha's vineyard for ten days. >> chuck todd traveling with the president in illinois tonight. chuck, thanks. now we go to tampa, florida where police say they stopped a student who was angry over being expelled from pulling off a bombing plot at school that could have been worse than columbine. nbc's mark potter reports tonight an anonymous tip led tampa police to their suspect. >> reporter: police say in this quiet apartment complex in north tampa they found enough bomb making material, including shrapnel to kill a lot of people. >> we were probably able to thwart a potentially catastrophic event the likes of which the city of tampa has not seen and hopefully never will. >> reporter: arrested on felony bomb charges is 17-year-old

jared cano who was expelled for from tampa's freedom high school last year for inappropriate behavior. on his facebook page he lists one of his favorite quotes as "lessons not learned in blood are soon forgotten j. police learned he planned to set up bombs throughout freedom high next tuesday when classes begin. >> there were two individual faculty members that were specific targets and then he also mentioned his desire to cause more casualties than were suffered at columbine. >> reporter: during the columbine high school massacre 11 years ago, 14 people were murdered before the students killed themselves. officials say the difference this time is they were alerted in advance. >> it's unfortunate to have a situation like this, but it's

most fortunate that we stopped it. >> reporter: some students are scared now to start school. >> we like might not even show up to school, just to be safe. >> reporter: police say so far they believe cano acted alone in his threat against the school. and school officials say they are trying to contact all the parents now to assure them the school behind me is safe. saying classes will still begin on tuesday, brian? >> mark potter in tampa, florida for us tonight. mark, thanks and when our broadcast continues on a wednesday evening, the news tonight on women's health, the blood test that could be a lifesaver, the question is why don't more doctors conduct the test. and later, a girl who had a big dream to make a difference for other kids and a mother who is making sure that dream lives on.

before we get to an important piece of women's health news specifically, first some numbers that deserve our attention that can't be repeated often enough. two of three women who die suddenly of cardiac heart disease have no previous symptoms which is all the more reason women may want to ask their doctors about a blood test that can be a lifesaver and our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman is here to explain this. nancy? >> this is not a new test, it's not an experimental test, but it's a test that not a lot of people know about. and that's a problem because this simple blood test could save your life.

today in atlanta, anne demeron is checking in with her cardiologist, she's taking charge after her husband served a heart attack in june making sure she won't be next. >> i don't want to be left in the dark. i have been in the dark, so now it's time to come out of the dark. >> reporter: in addition to having her blood pressure and cholesterol checked, she's also getting a blood test for c-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation and heart disease. anne knows she's high risk for a heart attack. the cardiologist says that many women whose doctors tell them they're at low risk may not be. >> all too often we see people who have been told they were at low risk for heart disease but they're in the emergency room having a heart attack. so they're clearly not low risk. >> reporter: and that's because most doctors don't routinely check for c-reactive protein for fear of overtreats them. >> reporter: dr. paul ritger is an expert on c-reactive protein

and satins that are commonly used to lower cholesterol. at risk people can take aspirin and satins to ward off a heart attack. ann is already on those medications and knows they're only part of the solution. a good diet and exercise are crucial. >> i wanted to be worked up for everything. i'm going that kind of a traumatic event, i don't want the family to have to go through that again. >> everyone seems to know about heart disease in men, but doctors still under recognize the risk of heart disease in women. so this is a reminder, your family history, your cholesterol, your blood pressure and if you're over the age of 40, this is the time to have a conversation with your doctor about this very simple blood test that's covered by most insurance. >> c-reactive protein, is what to ask for? >> crp. and now why was melanoma in the news today? >> big news, a new drug just got fda approval, zelboraf, targets

metastatic melanoma and the cool thing about this drug is it's a pill taken twice a day and it targets melanoma and not all the other cells in the body. this is a game changer for melanoma. >> as long as we can report more advances than defeats we're ahead of the game. up next here tonight, why a photo of a man buying coffee has been sent around the world on the web tonight. and a frightening truck meets wall situation this morning. here in new york city, how it happened, how it ended.

all right, everybody, just to clarify, r is for reverse and d makes the truck go forward. this is a new york city sanitation truck almost driving out of the third floor of a city garage today. this was not fun for the driver. had to be extricated by new york's bravest. the fdny, the driver a ten-year veteran was injured and hospitalized but treated and released. the truck's being inspected for what might have gone wrong. and a photo of the u.s. ambassador to china is receiving huge attention right now in china. it's not very exciting, we'll show it to you.

the picture shows ambassador gary locke, former governor of washington state is a chinese american, he's en route to china, wearing a backpack and buying coffee. you you see in chinese society where even junior officials have somebody buy their coffee for them, and carry their bags for them, locke's photo has been reposted, sent around the web thousands of times because of the frugality and modesty it shows. ambassador lock explained he likes doing things on his own. ralph albertazzi has died. he wrote the book called the flying white house. but he was not a writer by trade. he was a colonel in the air force and he just happened to be the pilot of air force one. he flew president nixon all over the world on that 707. he also flew kissinger on a secret mission to china. he was something of a legend to pilots, having flown over 90 total missions in korea and

vietnam. he flew half a million miles on air force one. he was flying air force one to take richard nixon home to california when ford became president while the jet was halfway across the country and had lost its air force one designation in flight. ralph albertazzi was 88 years old. up next here tonight, a mother who won't let her daughter's dream die, making a difference tonight and changing the world just a little bit.

time now for our making a difference report. you may remember our stories about a little girl outside seattle who decided she wanted to help get clean drinking water to other kids in parts of africa. tragically, as you may recall, rachel beckwith died before she could reach her goal. but friends and family kept her dream alive with some extraordinary results. tonight rachel's mother is talking about finding comfort and making a difference all in her daughter's name and for such a good cause. the story tonight from nbc's lee cowan. >> reporter: the day rachel beckwith was taken off life support, the day doctors said her injuries from this car accident were too severe, her

mother realized that rachel had become an angel in more ways than one. >> just knowing that rachel is making such an impact around the world, it does help a lot. >> reporter: on her ninth birthday, rachel had decided instead of presents, she wanted donations, money for thirsty kids in far away lands, to get a clean drink of water. >> it seemed to come natural to her, she always had such a loving, giving heart. >> in the days and weeks of her death, her family was caught in a whirlwind of grief and despair, strangers refused to let rachel's dream die too. >> looking at rachel's ninth birthday wish. >> reporter: so her story spread, on talk radio, on facebook and twitter. and soon rachel's tally grew. it wasn't only the donations that offered comfort to her family, it was what people were saying about rachel too. >> it really touches us. we try and read every one if we

can and each one, we usually have to take a moment because they can be so amazing. >> so far, nearly 30,000 people have written and donated. rachel's total now stands at well over $1 million and growing. >> it's just been incredible to watch people, in a way not know how to handle this and then respond, you know, with generosity. >> a little girl's legacy came with a terrible price. but a lesson too. >> no matter how old you are, no matter what the little steps you do, it only takes a little thing and you can just make a huge difference. >> for anyone who doesn't think birthday wishes come true, rachel is proof, they can. lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. >> now as you might imagine, a lot of our viewers have shown their own generosity to rachel's charity. if you wish to do so, you can link to it via our website tonight, that's nightly.msnbc.com. that is our broadcast on a wednesday night.

thank you as always for being here with us. i'm brian williams and we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now, developing news as a hotel standoff disrupts the evening commute. and for the second time in four days, b.a.r.t. becomes the victim of hackers, but this time it involves b.a.r.t. police officers, their families and their safety. and phillip and nancy garrido are questioned about another high profile kidnapping in the bay area. the news at 6:00 starts right now.