years is gone and a new era now begins for libya. tonight, moammar gadhafi's final moments, how he died, what his death now means, and reaction from the still devastated families of pan-am 103. breast cancer. specifically why radiation treatment is back in the news tonight after so much back and forth and so many years of medical procedure. and making a difference. a woman and a mother teaching kids in a tough part of town to make something beautiful instead. make something beautiful instead. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. moammar gadhafi is dead. in the end, the man who ran libya for 42 years met a violent end and, like saddam hussein in iraq before him, in the end he was found cowering, was stripped of most of his clothing and what remained of his dignity.

the pictures showing his last moments alive -- fair warning -- are disturbing. there are graphic pictures showing him after death. the libyan revolution is now over. it is the middle of the night there but the streets are alive. an explosion of celebration erupted when word went out that gadhafi was dead. it's more change for our world. and we have it all covered here tonight beginning with our chief foreign correspondent, a veteran of the battlefield in libya, richard engel here in studio with us. richard, for most of our adult life really, an era is over. >> most libyans never knew another leader. these are shocking images that will resonate not only around the middle east but around the world. an arab dictator killed by his own people. gadhafi's final moments, injured, dazed, manhandled and dying, captured by rebels who prop him up on the hood of a car to take pictures, proof of life, but he wouldn't live much longer. [ gunfire ]

>> reporter: news of gadhafi's death triggered wild celebrations across libya. he was killed in sirte, his hometown, in a neighborhood called district 2. fighting there has been intense for weeks. the reason is now obvious. the rebel assault devastated district 2, so today moammar gadhafi tried to escape. in a convoy with body guards he attempted to slip out of sirte, but the convoy was spotted and u.s. officials say targeted by a nato air strike. gadhafi survived the strike. witnesses say he managed to crawl to a nearby drainpipe under a bridge. it was there, in a pipe, that the former dictator was found by rebels. rebels quickly covered it in graffiti. it reads, "gadhafi was here." the rebels also arrested his bodyguards and seized a gold pistol they say gadhafi was carrying.

gadhafi asked rebels who they were and said, "don't shoot, i'm like your father." but these rebels say they did shoot him, at least once in the lower stomach. >> we shot him. somebody shot him by gun, nine milli. >> reporter: they also hit him with their shoes before loading him into an ambulance. gadhafi died in transit. later, pictures show what appears to be a gunshot to the head, execution style. gadhafi had been on the run since tripoli fell two months ago. as his palace was overrun, he escaped, reportedly through a network of tunnels. gadhafi returned to his hometown issuing defiant radio addresses promising victory and vengeance. tactically, sirte was a poor choice, but at least in sirte, gadhafi felt safe among loyalists. in the end, gadhafi died surrounded by rebels he once called rats who pulled the wounded dictator from a drainpipe, shot him and watched

him die. tripoli fell in late august, brian, but the war against gadhafi wasn't really over until today. >> as we say, the end of an era. richard engel who was there to cover so much of it. richard, thanks. so what role did the u.s. play in this? if not in his actual death firing the last shot but more like knowing where gadhafi was. tonight our man at the pentagon, jim miklaszewski has details on that. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. based on intelligence, u.s. military predator drones were focused on a possible target for weeks and eventually played a critical role in taking down gadhafi. as libyan rebels turned up their assault on gadhafi's hometown of sirte, predator drones circled overhead, providing surveillance 24/7, just waiting for gadhafi to make a run for it. when gadhafi's convoy took off today, the predator was ready. it fired off a hellfire missile and along with several rockets from a nato war plane, destroyed many of the vehicles. gadhafi survived the air strike

but was captured and killed with a single bullet to the head. tonight, u.s. military officials admit they weren't absolutely certain that gadhafi was in that convoy. but frankly, brian, they were pretty much poised to take out anything that moved. >> jim miklaszewski, an update from the pentagon tonight. jim, thanks. now we want to go to libya. nbc news correspondent adrienne mong is the only network correspondent on the ground in libya tonight. what's it like there tonight, adrienne? >> reporter: brian, gadhafi's body was brought here to misrata. he'll be buried tomorrow according to islamic law in likely an unmarked grave. his death was announced by a smiling flag-draped anchor. in misrata tonight an autopsy was performed and rebels posed with the body, taking pictures on their cell phones. meanwhile on the streets of misrata, crowds celebrated by dancing, honking horns, firing guns into the air.

as to questions about who killed gadhafi or exactly how he died, one person we spoke to laughed and said, "god killed him." this saturday, the interim government will formally announce the liberation of libya. as one member told us, we are now back in the civilized world. brian? >> adrienne mong, thanks. president obama went before cameras in the rose garden at 2:00 p.m. and pronounced gadhafi's death the end of a long and painful chapter for the people of libya. >> there will be difficult days ahead. but the united states together with the international community is committed to the libyan people. you have won your revolution. >> president obama earlier today. now back to gadhafi. for most of his 42 years in power he was surely a thorn in the side of the united states and, of course, a lot of americans will forever associate him with one of the worst acts

of terrorism in world history that marked an entire era. we get more tonight from our chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell. >> reporter: for americans of a certain age it was their first experience with terror. a pan-am 747 exploding over a small scottish village four days before christmas in 1988. the debris covered 850 square miles. the emotional wreckage lasts forever. ♪ >> reporter: 270 victims including 189 americans, the largest number 35 all students from syracuse university. like jeannine boulanger's daughter nicole. >> it is full of memories. of a very special child. >> reporter: victoria cummock lost her husband john, a father

of three. >> i pledged to him that i would seek justice for his murder. >> reporter: and burt ammerman who lost his brother tom. >> it's the last chapter for me. i said that i could walk away the day i personally felt that i did everything possible so that my brother and the other 269 people did not die in vain. >> reporter: it was moammar gadhafi's most violent act against america but not his first. two years earlier libyan terrorists bombed a disco frequented by service members, killing two. ronald reagan retaliated. >> this mad dog of the middle east has a goal of a world revolution, muslim fundamentalist revolution. >> reporter: but george w. bush's white house took gadhafi off the terror list in 2006, after he gave up his nuclear program and paid damages to the pan-am families. secretary of state condoleezza rice went to tripoli in 2008. then the arab spring, inspiring libyans to rebel and gadhafi to threaten mass murder.

>> some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. the united states of america is different. >> reporter: two days ago hillary clinton went to tripoli, the highest ranking u.s. official since the civil war began, to show solidarity with rebel leaders. later she said she hoped gadhafi would be captured or killed soon. it didn't take long. today in afghanistan, clinton was preparing for an interview when aides alerted her that gadhafi might have been caught. >> wow. huh. >> unconfirmed. >> unconfirmed, yeah. >> what happened? >> unconfirmed reports about gadhafi being captured. >> reporter: now the challenge for the administration is what happens next. and how to explain why the u.s. helped topple gadhafi but not other arab dictators. brian? >> andrea mitchell in our d.c. newsroom tonight. as we keep saying, the end of an era. for more we are joined by michael leiter, an intelligence veteran of both the bush and obama administrations. the former director of the u.s. national counterterrorism center. thank you for coming in. >> good to be here.

>> you were in the situation room the night the osama bin laden raid went down. i'm sitting here looking at the list of names that we have gone through who are no longer here. was this the mission from the get-go? remember the pressure early on on president obama? go in big, go in strong, we can finish this off. i think tempered by two wars going on, the u.s. wanted to do it this way. >> well, i wouldn't say that killing gadhafi was necessarily the mission. i think the mission was to give the libyan people an opportunity to have a more democratic country. but undoubtedly killing gadhafi was a necessary start to that. without gadhafi gone there really wasn't going to be progress in libya and this was a critical step in that regard. >> to a lot of people around the world this looks like a positive development. you look at libya, the size of alaska, population less than the city of new york. they've got a lot of oil. they could have good days ahead. doesn't always happen.

when we took out iraq, we took out iran's natural enemy and the order can be upset. do you think this is overall net-net a positive development for the world? do you think we'll start feeling that soon? >> i think undoubtedly it is. as andrea just reported, it's an important step for the united states given gadhafi's history. it's going to be hard for libya. they have issues of governance, economic issues and potentially still problems with terrorist organizations throughout their nation in the south of the country. so it's going to be a challenge to get a rule of law established across libya. but, again, it couldn't have really started until gadhafi was gone. >> all right. michael leiter, thank you very much for your expertise and for being with us tonight. >> my pleasure. >> when our broadcast continues, some of the news of the day including what's now happened to those wild animals who survived after being set loose near columbus, ohio, in that sad story. and later there is big news about radiation and breast cancer. it may very well help many women make an always tough decision.

you're looking at what was a second day of violent protests in greece which turned deadly today as protesters fought each other. one person died of a heart attack in a cloud of teargas among other things. at the end of the day, greece's parliament passed the austerity measures that the protesters have been fighting against. now to that sad story out of ohio where tonight authorities

buried 49 dead exotic animals, and the few that survived are being taken care of at the columbus zoo. all of them were released by an eccentric criminal who then killed himself. an update tonight from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: in less than a day terry thompson's sprawling private zoo was all but wiped out. these are the survivors -- three cheetahs, two monkeys and a bear -- brought to the columbus zoo where harry peachy takes care of the big cats. >> this is not an animal you can just bring to the vet. >> reporter: thompson had 18 tigers and 17 lions in zanesville. this zoo, one of the largest in the country has three tigers and four lions. each one costs about $17,000 a year to care for. this is an example of the kind of care big cats get at the zoo. it's a cold, rainy day in ohio

and these two have the right idea. they are relaxing comfortably in a heated cave. but ohio has some of the weakest regulations for privately owned exotic pets in the country. and since 2003 the humane society has documented 22 incidents involving these animals. everything from pet escapes to attacks on humans. >> ohio has an enormous number of incidents relative to states that had strong policies to forbid keeping dangerous wild animals as pets. >> reporter: tougher regulations may be a possible solution. but it took a painful lesson in zanesville to get people talking. stephanie gosk, nbc news, columbus. up next here tonight, new information for women trying to decide whether radiation treatment for breast cancer is worth it. also ahead here tonight, news about the american way of life.

breast cancer to share with you. it's about radiation treatments and preventing recurrence. dr. beth dupree, the medical director of the breast health program at holy redeemer outside philly is here. doctor, thank you for coming in. as i read this new data it says that radiation, which of course is a very personal decision, part of a package of decisions, lowers the risk of spread, prevents recurrence, saves more lives, especially in the first ten years post surgery. but i guess it's still true that it's not for everyone. >> true. the study was important because it looked at 17 different institutions from around the world. and they looked at all of the data over a period of sometimes 10 to 20 years and what they found was that women who had a lumpectomy or part of the breast removed removed the cancer but kept their breath were able to decrease chances of the cancer

coming back not just in the breast but systemically. this is important because we talk about the treatment of breast cancer and radiation therapy, as we typically describe it to patients is a localized treatment to the breast itself to prevent the cancer from coming back there. what's important about the study was it shows us that there is a benefit systemically meaning outside of the breast to decrease the chance of the cancer coming back. and that is important because as a woman sits down to have a discussion about breast cancer she needs to know what her choices are. and i start all of my consultations with my patients with a very sound, very solid piece of information that no woman or man ever dies of breast cancer in their breast. they all look at me with these wondering eyes. it's the cancer that spreads outside the breast that can kill us. so finding out that this data supports the fact that there is not only a decreased incidence of the cancer in the breast

coming back but also a systemic benefit may help women when sitting down with their doctors to come up with their treatment plan. >> and you expect the part of this that actually kind of argues against mastectomies in some cases to filter down and become known in the doctor-patient relationship? >> i think what's important for the patients to know they don't have to remove their breast just to be able to save their life. they have to come up with a game plan based upon their age, the type of tumor that they have, the size of the breast that they have and come up with a plan that works for them. but no woman who has an option of keeping her breast and having a good cosmetic result and good local control should opt to get a mastectomy just out of fear that she's not doing enough because the radiation can be the equalizer that helps with the process. >> dr. dupree, thank you for coming today and for all your appearances previously on "nightly news." we appreciate it. there is now hard evidence that the iconic poster showing american confidence back in another era is in fact no longer true.

the american standard of living has fallen badly and is no longer the source of pride it once was. to quote the christian science monitor today, the standard of living for americans has fallen longer and more steeply over the last three years than at any time since the u.s. government began recording it five decades ago. in plain english, it's confirmation life isn't as good as it used to be in this country. income is down. so is net worth to say nothing of housing and of course it's all been devastating to the great american middle class. up next here as we continue, a woman making a real difference for young people in one of this country's roughest areas. wait until you hear how that difference sounds.

at the white house today a honor for those making a difference. the recipients of the presidential citizenship medal. tonight we meet one of them, a woman from l.a. who is using music to lure kids away from gangs. george lewis has her story tonight. >> the united states honors dr. margaret martin. >> reporter: a presidential citizens medal for a woman who turned hard times into harmony. ♪

>> i started with 36 kids in 2001. today we've got about 1,500. >> reporter: margaret martin says those 1,500 youngsters learn more than simply making music. >> our students learn persistence, confidence, accountability for the use of their time. ♪ >> reporter: those accepted into the harmony project get free instruments and musical tutoring, if they stay in school. >> it allows me to do things i'm interested in. >> it's really improved my grades a lot and takes me out of doing bad things. >> reporter: margaret martin knows about hard times. as a young mother she left an abusive marriage and lived with her children for a time in an empty office building. >> this is the face of poverty. >> reporter: after she turned her own life around, earning a

ph.d. in public health, she wanted to give back something. >> i started harmony project because i saw a group of gang members stop in a farmer's market in front of a little kid playing brahm's on a violin. >> reporter: that kid was her son max. the gang members, entranced by the music started putting money in his violin case. >> they were teaching me that they would rather be doing what that little kid was doing than what they were doing, but they never had the chance. >> reporter: providing the chance is what drives the harmony project. >> kids will rise to the level of your expectations. you just have to have great expectations. >> reporter: now she hopes to replicate the project in other cities. ♪ >> reporter: george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. that's our broadcast for a thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you eight back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you eight back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

right now at 6:00 it was the drill in the morning and then the real thing in the afternoon. earthquakes and aftershocks shaking up the bay area. good evening. thanks for joining us. >> did you feel it? the bay area was jolted by an earthquake today. >> initially it was a 3.9, but they upgraded the quake to a 4.0 along the hayward fault. it struck at 2:41 this afternoon. >> it was followed by two aftershocks. cheryl hurd is live from berkeley. people still talking about it? >> reporter: indeed, jessica. this earthquake got everyone's attention. being a bay area native usually a