on the broadcast tonight, image makeover. passengers call it an invasion of privacy. those full body scanners that show everything. but tonight, big changes are coming to our airports. coming home. after our exclusive interview with iran's president there is news tonight about the fate of those two american hikers held captive there for over two years. hitting home. how this jobs crisis is taking an enormous toll now on the working women of this country. and whale watch. a rare spectacular sight off the california coast and we now know what's bringing them there. california coast and we now know what's bringing them there. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. there is evidence tonight that ten years after terrorists used our airplanes to crash into our buildings on an awful day that changed the aviation business forever, the federal government is getting more of a handle on a more consumer-friendly approach to airport security. the ritual of shoe removal, body scans that look more like dirty pictures and, in some cases, intrusive pat-downs is now part of life for those of us who fly but over the last few days the evidence is mounting that we may all soon face less hassle, maybe even better security prior to boarding. nbc's pete williams is at national airport in washington. start us off tonight, pete. good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening and welcome to the security announcement. the obama administration says it's moving quickly to deploy new technology at airports that use the full body scanners where

they produce a less explicit image, but house republicans say it's not doing that quickly enough. from the beginning, full body scanners have been controversial. the original machines created such a detailed image some called it a virtual strip search. now the tsa is deploying the latest version that uses an entirely different system. no explicit images, just an outline to show where screeners should pay attention. of the 500 machines now in use at 78 airports nationwide, tsa says about half will use the new technology within the next few months. and just last week, the tsa bought more all with the advanced outline system. but members of a house homeland security subcommittee approved a measure today that would speed that up, requiring all the scanners to be upgraded within 90 days if the full congress approves. >> it's giving a little bit more dignity back to the people who have to go through the scanners without sacrificing any type of security.

>> reporter: on another security issue, a big concern for parents, the homeland security secretary said children under 12 will no longer have to take off their shoes for screening and will be patted down less often. >> we hope over the coming weeks and months to begin rolling that out. it does require additional training of all of the thousands of tsa officers, and that's under way. >> reporter: a different travel nightmare for a woman caught up in heightened security over the 9/11 anniversary. passenger and crew jitters led to fighter jets escorting a frontier airlines flight to detroit sunday after two men seated in the same row were seen making frequent long visits to the plane lavatory. shoshana hebshi of ohio, seated in the same row as the men, said she and the men were hustled off the plane. she writes the local authorities strip searched her at the airport. i feel violated, humiliated and sure i was taken from the plane simply because of my appearance. tonight the detroit airport said

it regrets that the actions of the police were necessary, but it says they acted appropriately given how quickly things were unfolding and that the police treated everyone with respect. brian? >> pete, while we have you, i know that there was an incident at washington's other airport, dulles, today. >> reporter: there was. there was a plane that was taxiing on takeoff. a flight from here in washington to san francisco. and the pilot thought there was a fire in one of the engines. he stopped the plane on the tarmac and all the passengers had to deploy on chutes. one of them was supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg and the court tells me today she jumped down the slides, at age 78, like everybody else. >> just like everybody else. pete williams at national airport in washington tonight starting us off. pete, thanks. now we turn to our exclusive reporting from iran where last night, president ahmadinejad told ann curry that those two american hikers jailed in iran for more than two years were

just days from being released. things have been moving quickly. in the past 24 hours now, with mixed signals out of iran, but at this hour there is hopeful news. here is ann curry again tonight in tehran. >> reporter: the headline tonight, the lawyer for the two young american hikers tells nbc news he's now making bail arrangements. while a pushback from iran's judiciary raised concerns today about whether a release would happen it now appears just a matter of time. president ahmadinejad was very specific about just how imminently josh fattal and shane bauer would be released. >> they will be freed in a couple of days. >> in a couple of days? >> in couple of days. they will be freed. >> reporter: today iran's powerful judiciary which doesn't answer to the president was quoted as saying release wasn't imminent sparking speculation of

a power struggle behind the scenes. later today, a state department spokesman would not or could not confirm a report that a plane from oman is headed to tehran. significant because it was a private jet sent by the sultan of oman that brought out sarah shourd, the third hiker released a year ago today. >> i have a huge debt to repay the world for what it's done for me. my first priority is to help my fiance shane bauer and my friend josh fattal to regain their freedom. >> reporter: now sarah, along with the young men's mothers, who worked hard to make sure the world would not forget their sons. >> iran needs to stop playing games with shane and josh. >> reporter: appear about to have a heartfelt wish come true. the question tonight -- how soon before these two young american hikers are home again?

and after more than two years in prison in iran, how are they holding up? brian? >> ann, thanks. ann curry reporting again tonight from tehran. in washington, an effort to investigate an effort by the obama administration to create green jobs. this one went bad. a solar energy company championed by the president himself received half a billion dollars in government loans, and then it went bankrupt last month. today, republicans were looking for answers here. the story from our senior investigative correspondent lisa myers. >> reporter: the president visited the company solyndra last year, hailing it as a stimulus success story. >> the true engine of economic growth will always be companies like solyndra. >> reporter: today the company is bankrupt. 1,100 workers laid off. taxpayers stand to lose as much as $500 million. >> i think everyone must agree

that there is some scandal involved in this. >> reporter: house republicans today hammered the white house, revealing e-mails which suggest the administration was in a hurry to provide taxpayer money despite red flags about the company's viability. >> yeah. there was pressure. but it was pressure applied in pushing this thing out the door. >> reporter: just days before the deal was approved, a staffer warns that one model shows the project runs out of cash in september 2011, which it did. another questioned the government's assumptions but said given the time pressure we are under to sign off on solyndra, we don't have time to change the model. why the rush? e-mails showed the white house wanted the vice president to announce a final deal the next week, which he did. still, administration officials insist everything was handled properly. >> extensive due diligence was done across multiple years. >> reporter: they blame the company's collapse on unforeseeable market conditions which caused solar prices to plummet this year.

>> at the end of the day, the taxpayer loses big time. it stinks to high heaven. >> reporter: still, the white house argues it was a necessary risk for the u.s. to compete in a high tech global economy. lisa myers, nbc news, washington. >> now to electoral politics tonight. democrats lost special elections in new york and nevada last night. in new york anthony wiener's old congressional seat went to republican newcomer bob turner, a retired television executive who created the jerry springer show. he beat democratic state assemblyman david wepran. mark amade defeated kate marshall. up in massachusetts, elizabeth warren who set up the consumer financial protection bureau kicked off her campaign for u.s. senate in south boston today greeting commuters at a train stop. warren is a harvard professor,

long-time advocate for the middle class. she gained a reputation as wall street's nemesis after the financial meltdown and faces a crowded democratic primary field on the way to challenging republican senator scott brown. nbc's kelly o'donnell has been watching all of this and is with us from capitol hill. kelly, on the congressional races, the party that loses the seats always says, well, this was just a local election. the party that gains them says, well, it was obviously a referendum on the president. >> reporter: that was exactly the script today, brian. and those two new republican house members will be sworn in. their parties say it is a bad omen for the president and democrats. when you consider the new york district has been in democratic hands for 88 years. democrats say they can't sugarcoat the losses, but they say that the president's low approval rating, especially in the new york district made

winning insurmountable. they say don't read into it. they say the republican winner hammered the president on policy toward israel in a district with many conservative jews. something you won't see repeated around the country. when you get to the republican challenge in the massachusetts senate race, remember it was the tea party's first big win. that propelled scott brown into finishing ted kennedy's term. he's popular in massachusetts, up for re-election. democrats are excited to have a big name like elizabeth warren join the race. >> kelly o'donnell with all things political tonight from the hill. kelly, thanks. bp is coming in for scathing criticism over shortcuts and outright failures that resulted in last april's disastrous oil spill in the gulf of mexico that killed 11 rig workers, soiled miles of coastline and took almost three months just to get under control. this time, the blame comes in a 217-page report by a federal task force on the causes of the deepwater horizon spill.

our chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson who covered the crisis in the gulf for five long months is here with us in studio with details. good evening. >> good evening. this report makes it clear there is plenty of blame to spread around. they blame everybody from the crew on the rig to bp decision-makers. the federal task force says the central cause of the blowout was a bad cement job and the report cites bp and halliburton for failing to do the job to industry standards. in particular, it focuses on the failure of a cement barrier at the bottom of that well that allowed natural gas to flow up the well and ignite the explosion that killed 11 men and caused the largest oil spill in our nation's history. it slams bp, halliburton and the owner of the rig, transocean, for poor risk management, last-minute changes to plans and a failure to observe and respond to critical signs of trouble and cites seven violations of federal regulations involving the protection of workers, the environment, and proper drilling

procedures. this is by no means the end of this story. there are civil penalties, fines to be levied and criminal charges that may come. >> people just want their coastline back in the meantime anne thompson, thanks. we told you about a forest fire in northern minnesota that sent a blanket of smoke all the way to chicago. tonight firefighters are making progress on this, helped by calm winds. the fire was started by a lightning strike back on august 18th. that's some dense forest though. it burned more than 160 square miles of woodland. when our broadcast continues on a wednesday night, news about america's working women who are at risk. why the jobs that seemed secure for so long for so many are suddenly disappearing. later, an amazing sight off the california coastline. what's drawing these magnificent creatures to this very spot?

another campaign-style rally for president obama today. he traveled to raleigh-durham, made visits to a small business and to the campus of n.c. state, urged people to press congress to pass his jobs bill. the fight over this plan comes at a time when women are losing ground in this u.s. jobs market and fast. our report tonight from nbc's chris jansing.

>> oh, somebody has to shoot. >> reporter: stephanie walker is a woman who somehow always managed to handle it all. helping with homework, chauffeuring emma and luke to football and soccer. >> baby, get in there a little bit. >> reporter: and working. for 17 years, a high school english teacher. then a few months ago, she was laid off. >> i came home and told my husband and -- >> reporter: stephanie's husband was working sporadically in construction. >> i am overeducated as a displaced worker. >> reporter: she was earning 60% to 70% of the family income. >> in the blink of an eye, your life can change. >> reporter: these days, her story is all too familiar. women like stephanie make up 52% of state workers, 61% in local government. secretaries, social workers, teachers -- they had great job

security. not so much anymore. while men lost more jobs than women during the recession, the recovery has left women behind. >> men have gained about 980,000 jobs. women have lost around 345,000 jobs. that is because largely the job losses in the public sector. >> reporter: among the hardest hit -- low income single moms like kelly warren. she was laid off first by the post office, then as a home health care worker. >> it's a struggle right now. i just try to keep my head up. >> you're traveling! >> reporter: back in ohio, stephanie said she just filled her tank with home heating oil, worried she won't have the money by the time the weather turns. one of millions of women who have always worked, now struggling in an economy that could leave them literally and figuratively out in the cold. >> mommy, i love you. >> i love you, too, sweetie. >> reporter: chris jansing, wintersville, ohio. >> up next, as we continue here tonight, a bittersweet debut today for a talented young woman.

♪ >> to fans around the world the saddest thing about watching amy winehouse in this song released today, the new duet with tony bennett, is how good she looks and how naturally she approached the music and the song, body and soul. she was 27 when she died. apparently after getting the upper hand on a life of substance abuse. nasa has unveiled the design of its next generation rocket. it's a dreadnaut, the most powerful ever to be built. if it gets built, it will contain enough thrust to power all the way to mars which might be easier than getting it funded from congress. the program carries a cost

estimate of $35 billion. without a new space program, u.s. astronauts now rely on the russians for a ride into space. if you have been following the saga of the baby boomer generation icon, the ez bake oven, then you know it has fallen victim to that energy bill signed by president bush which outlaws the 100-watt incandescent bulb coming up in a few months. the oven used the bulb as a cooking element meaning you could bake a small cake inside. while they often had the consistency of hot asphalt it was hours of rainy day fun. the new redesign is purple and it really does mark the end of the innocence. it heats up to 375 degrees inside using a real heating element instead of a lightbulb and it's much more like a real appliance. nothing like the simple version that first came out when jfk was in the white house. up next tonight, creatures of the sea that are getting a lot of attention -- deservedly so.

for the past few weeks off the coast of southern california, some unusually cold

water that's been hanging around and the food that it brings with it has attracted some stunning visitors. blue whales, the biggest creatures on the planet. they were almost hunted to extinction. they're back, and people are watching. miguel almaguer drew the assignment of the day, hands down. >> look! >> reporter: in the chilly waters off southern california's coast, the hunt is on. >> there's the tail. there's the tail. >> reporter: all hands on deck. all eyes on the sea. [ cheers ] >> reporter: to catch a glimpse of the world's largest creature -- the blue whale. >> watch for the tail. >> oh! >> reporter: these days, there's been plenty of surprises. >> we live on the california coast, but you don't actually see them like this. >> like nothing i have ever seen before. they're so huge. >> whoa, what's that? >> reporter: biologists say the 200-ton mammals are searching for tiny, shrimp-like krill. this stretch of the pacific is fertile feeding ground. >> the krill does really well in

very cold water. last year was the coldest it's been in 30 years. >> reporter: the length of a basketball court they can live up to 90 years. blues are graceful, elegant and even curious. ten years ago, spotting even one would have been rare. but this year, at least 500 sightings so far. researchers saw blue whales courting. >> what we got to see today was off the charts. >> reporter: for kayakers, it doesn't get closer than this. hunted primarily for their blubber, blue whales were headed toward extinction when, in 1966, they were placed on the endangered species list. scientists won't say they are thriving but there are roughly 10,000 worldwide. near the port of long beach, the big threat now is being hit by ships. >> what concerns us though is because they are so close to shore now they are venturing into the shipping channels. >> reporter: but today, for scientists and tourists alike, a reminder of what we almost lost.

gentle giants like few have ever seen before. miguel almaguer, nbc news, long beach, california. >> spectacular. that's our broadcast for this wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening, everyone. thanks for joining us. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. we begin with some developing news with the san francisco giants. the man in charge of the organization has been forced out. this is a surprising move, considering the success of the team. we have some new information within the last ten minutes. according to the "mercury news" now, bill neukom has been asked