on the broadcast tonight, miracle pill. first it was heart attack prevention, then stroke. now, would you believe cancer? tonight, the latest news about the health effects of the modest but mighty aspirin. stocks soar on wall street, but where else is that good news and how will main street feel it? new outrage over what he did, what she said and the toll that bernie madoff took on other people everyone's watching. increasingly it's the police against the people and these days the people have cameras. and was he a drug addict? the portrait of michael jackson painted in court today. the portrait of michael jackson painted in court today. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. when they write the history of modern medicine including the costs, the exotic medications, all our fancy weapons against illness it might be that the most simple medication in our

arsenal, the most modest product in the medicine cabinet may turn out to be the best and most cost effective. that's aspirin. it's almost hard to believe it's all we ever took for headache or aches or pains. that was before we discovered its uses in heart attack prevention, stroke prevention and just now the news is breaking tonight about its use against colon cancer. put it this way. a bottle of generic aspirin, $4.29. medical research, tens of billions of dollars. a household item that could prevent a range of illnesses, priceless. that's how we begin the broadcast tonight with our chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> reporter: it is more powerful evidence that one of the oldest and cheapest medicines on earth may be one of the most beneficial. british researchers studied people like keith reiger who inherited the gene for lynch syndrome which puts him at very high risk for colon cancer. rieger and his father have had colon cancer. two of his three children inherited the gene. one died at 22 from colon cancer.

in the study, 861 people with lynch syndrome took either two 300-milligram tablets of aspirin or a placebo. scientists followed them for two years after they stopped taking the aspirin. >> we reduced by 60% the numbers of colon cancers in the people who actually took aspirin for two years. >> reporter: because the same gene that people inherit with lynch syndrome also plays a role in the more common form of the disease, researchers assume that aspirin may help the general population reduce colon cancer risk. but aspirin is not without its own potential side effects. >> there are also risks, particularly increased risks of serious gastrointestinal bleeding. >> reporter: the ancient greeks used the precursor of aspirin taken from willow trees. the current form was first sold in 1899. it costs pennies and it reduces fever, pain, inflammation and cuts the risk for heart attack, stroke and, we now know, cancer. aspirin has become such a wonder

drug that ads now remind people its main use is pain relief. >> no, no. i'm not having a heart attack. it's my back. >> trust me. it works great for pain. >> reporter: keith and his family, even those without the gene, now take aspirin. they and doctors say it should never be a substitute for colonoscopies which can more dramatically cut the risk for this deadly disease. robert bazell, nbc news, new york. now we turn to wall street where today this is what passed for good news. the deal last night to save europe from collapsing into a heap of debt. so the dow went on a run today, up 339. nasdaq gained just under 88. s&p up almost 43 points. the dow jones industrial average is now up 13% from its low earlier this month which all brings us to our friend david faber from cnbc. i know you're not here to defend wall street, but here's the question.

this disconnect, how many people will get hired in this country because the dow is on a good run and had a good day? how does that wash over into the rest of the economy? when are we going to feel it? >> yeah. we won't feel it perhaps for some time, if we feel it at all. something else we heard which was potentially good news was the report on the growth of the u.s. economy. 2.5% is how much the u.s. economy grew in the third quarter of the year. that was better than many had anticipated, given we were worried we were headed into another recession. but that's still not fast enough, brian, to actually generate real jobs. and so that continues to be the question. an up stock market, two things it does. it creates confidence in the ceo suite perhaps. that gets them feeling better about maybe spending money to open a new plant, and it creates more wealth, maybe more consumer demand a la spending. demand could also create jobs as well. >> david faber from cnbc,

thanks, as always. speaking of disconnects, the man who got filthy rich in a ponzi scheme at the expense of so many people and so many charities is back in the news tonight. his family is as well and many of the people who suffered so much are outraged that the madoffs are now once again getting so much attention. the story from nbc's ron allen. >> reporter: retirees judith welling and dewitt baker now live on pension and social security. gone is $2.5 million invested with bernie madoff. >> we are rather at this point though resentful of the madoff family looking for sympathy. >> oh, god. >> reporter: when madoff faced a judge almost three years ago for orchestrating an estimated $80 billion ponzi scheme and charities alone lost $50 billion, his victims gathered at the courthouse. their outrage clear. >> i think the only thing he's sorry about is he got caught. >> reporter: many feel victimized again as the madoffs do television interviews talking about their own tough times

while launching books with their side of the story. >> we took pills and woke up the next day. >> reporter: madoff's estranged wife ruth talking about how the couple tried to commit suicide and bernie madoff did a jailhouse interview. >> so he's happier there than he was on the outside. >> reporter: mrs. madoff tells her story live on the "today" show monday. >> i don't think anything the madoffs say you can believe in. they have been proven liars. >> it just makes me ill. it really does. >> reporter: richard and cynthia friedman say they are still trying to figure out how much they lost while putting off retirement. today reaction to the madoff interviews has been spiking on internet and social media. with more madoff victims venting. did they try to smother themselves in a big bag of money, writes a woman in california who said she lost millions. welling and baker say they have received a small amount of compensation money, but they are in the minority. it's likely none of the victims will ever see profits from sale

of the madoffs' books. ron allen, nbc news, new york. >> protesters across the country and a lot of americans who are sympathetic to the occupy wall street protest movement are tonight rallying around a 24-year-old iraq war veteran who was seriously injured during a violent confrontation with police in oakland, california, on tuesday. our report tonight from nbc's miguel almaguer. >> medic! [ gunshots ] [ screaming ] >> reporter: in oakland tuesday, 24-year-old marine scott olson was hit by what witnesses say was a police projectile. friends rushed to his aid. >> we asked him his name multiple times. >> what's your name? >> what's your name? >> he wasn't responding. we took him to the medic. >> reporter: olson, who survived two tours of duty in iraq was critically injured with a fractured skull. >> i was shocked that in this country they would do that to a peaceful protester. scott was out here protesting

peacefully. >> reporter: oakland police tactics have come under scrutiny. >> we want to make sure there is a thorough and complete job and a complete comprehensive review done of the incident. >> reporter: like other veterans and thousands of protesters, friends of olson say he was demonstrating against a wide range of issues. >> he just expressed his first amendment right and his conviction that the corporate greed and the wars in iraq and afghanistan needed to come to an end. >> reporter: now olson's story is rallying protesters across the country. >> march with oakland! >> reporter: in new york, they shouted "oakland" as hundreds marched to city hall. >> we are the 99%! >> reporter: from portland to los angeles. >> scott olson is a hero standing with the people. >> reporter: tonight in many cities the occupy movement appears energized. scott olson's family arrived here in the bay area from wisconsin to good news.

he's been upgraded to fair condition. meantime the demonstrators say they plan to go nowhere here in san francisco. they will hold a vigil for olson later on tonight. brian? >> miguel, it's bracing to hear that call for a medic in the states for a guy who survived combat overseas. miguel almaguer, thanks. the protest slogan from the '60s, the whole world is watching, has never been as true as it is right now. pictures from inside the protests that the news media show often originate from social media. while police are increasingly getting called out these days for their behavior, remember, we can now see more of their behavior than ever before and they are under close scrutiny as nbc's mike taibbi reports. >> reporter: in washington, d.c., a disabled man is pulled from his wheelchair and dropped on the ground, his head wound bleeding profusely and later requiring stitches. police say he was cited for public drinking and assaulting a police officer. a bystander cell phone camera only saw what it saw.

>> he's in a wheelchair. what's going on? >> reporter: in utah last thursday a group of football fans go into the haka, a polynesian battle cry familiar to some sports teams, and are pepper sprayed by police. at the start of new york's occupy wall street protests, a police inspector fires his pepper spray canister at a clearly nonviolent crowd. a woman standing on her own property while taping a traffic stop arrest -- >> this is my friend. i'm just recording what you're doing. it's my right. >> reporter: -- is herself arrested when she refuses to move. >> i'm observing what they are doing and they are arresting me. in other words what's going on. >> reporter: what is understood by the aclu is while there may not be more of these incidents, more of them without question are being caught on tape. that raises next level issues in the age old interactions between law enforcement and the public. >> for the first time in our history, 80% of the population are carrying video cameras in their pockets with them on smartphones. >> reporter: of course law

enforcement officials know that and they are using the same technology and social media for their purposes. after rioters looted london and other british cities this past august and attacked police with homemade explosives officials turned to former new york and l.a. police commissioner bill bratton who said use all that video against lawbreakers. >> we are in the age of big brother. he's here. "1984" has arrived in 2011. >> reporter: bratton said it drives him crazy when cops go after citizens shooting video. >> if you're doing the right thing, what the hell do you care if the whole world is filming it? >> reporter: but it is also true that civilians in this post 9/11 world are arming themselves with tasers, mace, and pepper spray and that much of the video posted for the world to see only shows what's been true about how legitimate police work looks. >> we have an expression in policing -- lawful but awful. unfortunately certain police actions when they have to use force to make a lawful arrest don't look good. >> reporter: about some of the

cases we showed you, the woman arrested for taking video from her own front lawn had the charges against her dropped. the nypd inspector who fired pepper spray at the clearly nonthreatening occupy protesters was transferred and could face some loss of pay. but the two washington, d.c. cops who pulled the man from his wheelchair have faced no charges and are back on the job. brian? >> great reporting tonight. this issue isn't going anywhere for now. mike taibbi, thanks, as always. still ahead, as we continue tonight, is it possible michael jackson was nothing more than a hopeless doctor-shopping drug addict? that seemed to be the portrait of him painted in court today in l.a. and making sure the most important day in a kid's life really feels that way.

we're back now with the trial of michael jackson's physician conrad murray. his defense team is nearly done presenting the case they hope will sway the jury to come back with a verdict of not guilty on manslaughter charges. today, there were two final witnesses, both medical experts and the defense presented a portrait of michael jackson very different than the star we all saw on stage. our report tonight from nbc's jeff rossen in los angeles. >> reporter: it is dr. conrad murray's final push and today science was the star. the defense presenting its strongest evidence yet. dr. paul white on the stand. the self-described father of propofol. he literally wrote the book on it. >> if, in fact, murray had administered the drugs he

described in his conversations with the police department and in the doses that he described, i would not have expecteded michael jackson to have died. ♪ >> reporter: the defense argument that michael jackson, a worldwide superstar was actually a secret drug addict. not only hooked on propofol but painkillers, too, and dr. murray had no idea. >> i believe there is evidence he was dependent upon demerol. >> reporter: murray's lawyers blame another doctor for his addiction, jackson's dermatologist arnold klein. according to dr. klein's medical records, jackson received more than 20 injections of demerol from april to june of 2009, often getting several shots in a single week, one just three days before his death. >> you would consider this very high use? >> very high. >> reporter: dr. klein denied the allegations. on cross-examination, the prosecutor fought back. >> are you board certified in addiction medicine? >> no.

>> reporter: they sparred for more than an hour. >> let me try again. dr. waldman, would you diagnose michael jackson as addicted to demerol based strictly on these documents in my hand? yes or no. >> probably not. >> reporter: the defense could rest as early as tomorrow with closing arguments monday. the fate of dr. conrad murray, the legacy of michael jackson sitting in the hands of seven men and five women. jeff rossen, nbc news, los angeles. up next from the waters off southern california, two whales and a kayaker and a photo so spectacular we feared it might be fake.

in turkey today, more than four days now after that quake killed over 500 people, rescue workers in the town of ercis where earlier this week they

saved a 2-week-old girl today made another incredible save. they pulled an 18-year-old man from the rubble alive as medical workers lifted him to the stretcher, onlookers were cheering. we continue to learn from the u.s. census about who we are and how we are changing. this week we learned in large part because of the bad economy americans aren't moving around the country much. u.s. mobility is at its lowest point since world war ii. in a separate study showing a boom in the asian-american population in the last decade. now more than 17 million people in this country. while the largest asian-american communities are in california and new york they are growing fast in a number of other states as well where you may not expect it from the southwest to new england. the u.s. government has given bp the go ahead to start drilling in the gulf of mexico again for the first time since the oil well disaster that killed 11 people and caused untold environmental damage. the approval clears the way for drilling to start again any day

now on an exploratory well about 200 miles off the coast of louisiana. the well is in about 6,000 feet of water. it's a thousand feet deeper than the original well. what we don't know is how a black lab puppy ended up on top of a moving freight train but we can report everything ended up okay. a south carolina family was waiting at a crossing when they saw him. they called 911, followed the train which was going about 50 miles per hour -- they followed it for six miles before norfolk southern had the engineer stop the train. the puppy was rescued by the fire department, was given to the family that saved him. tonight he has a new home and a new name, boxcar hunter. he's three months old and the family is being strongly urged to keep an eye on this guy given his previous track record. in the era of photoshopping we were suspicious this next image was too good to be true. after extensive checking by our team in southern california we

learned a freelance photographer hired to take pictures for the tourism folks in santa cruz county apparently got the shot of a lifetime. two humpback whales breaching next to a kayaker. the whales, we're told, reentered the water very slowly. the kayaker was just fine. we can only assume the photographer and his client were very pleased with the final result. when we come back after a break, making a difference for kids one very special birthday at a time.

when you're a kid and for some adults who i know aren't 50 yet there is nothing like your birthday because it's your day and nobody can take that away from you. but in this economy, some birthdays aren't all that great for some kids because parents can't afford to do what they'd really like to which is where tonight's making a difference report comes in. here is nbc's john yang. >> reporter: twice a week ashley boydgan gathers volunteers in a church kitchen to make birthday cakes for children they will never meet. the group is called sweet blessings and they don't just make any cakes. with decorations hand crafted from icing and assembled with tools more familiar in a workshop than a kitchen, each one is customized to match the

child's interests whether they play the violin or video games, are football or baseball fans. the recipients are special, too. each one from a family in crisis or is suffering from a life-threatening disease. >> i think some of these children will grow up remembering this very special birthday cake all of their lives. >> reporter: she started sweet blessings after sensing something missing in her career in public health. >> i got a feeling i was supposed to be spending more time making a difference and less time making a living. >> reporter: since february the group has delivered about 80 cakes in seven kentucky counties all made by volunteers like 11-year-old meredith moladano. >> it might not not help them grow up big and strong but it will help them have some self-confidence. >> reporter: connie malone is a retired prosecutor. before sweet blessings she never decorated a cake like this. >> it's hard to imagine there are children who don't get birthday cakes. >> reporter: social workers pick

the recipients from among their cases and make the delivers, sometimes changing the tone of their dealings with families in need. >> it really opens doors to communication and makes that relationship much more positive. >> reporter: the volunteer bakers and decorators never see their real final product. >> oh! check it out! what do you think? >> it's cool. >> reporter: a special moment on a child's special day. >> thank you. >> reporter: john yang, nbc news, lexington, kentucky. >> happy birthday, buddy. >> that's why we call it making a difference. that is our broadcast for this thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. before that even i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today." before that even i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today." good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

right now at 6:00, within the past hour, doctors have updated the condition of a veteran seriously injured in the occupy oakland protest. thanks for joining us tonight. >> the veteran injured is improving. we are hearing from a woman who helped him that evening. >> protesters are planning to occupy the plaza. we go to the helicopter above the scene near city hall. that means reestablishing the tent community. the tents are being repitched there in the upper left of your screen. this is the with blessing of oakland mayor jean