we will see a lot of sunshine. monday is mostly cloudy and the rain comes back on tuesday. >> right now nbc nightly news is next. good night. hundreds killed as ss deeper into crisis and a bitter fight during an emergency meeting at the u.n. first in the west. tonight, voters have their say in nevada. as decision 2012 turns to a key swing state. winter whiteout. record snowfall blankets part of the u.s. as europe suffers through a deep freeze. super bowl fever with 24 hours to go, it's pandemonium in indianapolis. the fans, the teams and the high school kids given a once in a lifetime opportunity. captions paid for by

nbc-universal television. good evening. as we come on the air tonight, all eyes are on the middle east and two unfolding crises. in syria, the latest attempt to crush the anti-government uprising may have been the deadliest yet with hundreds reportedly killed in a bombardment of syria's third largest city. tonight, president obama is calling on syria's president assad to step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately. but today, a u.n. resolution calling for assad to leave failed when china and russia refused to support it. and also in the region tonight, iran is putting on a show of force, and raising the stakes in its tense standoff with israel. we've got our team in place from washington to across the middle east. we'll start in cairo with nbc's ayman mohyeldin who is monitoring the latest events.

what's the latest? >> reporter: good evening, lester. it was an attack that happened under the cover of darkness, but by daylight, the human toll was apparent for the world to see. because it's hard for journalists to report from inside syria, we have been relying on footage from activists inside the country to tell the story. so we have to warn our viewers that some of the images are disturbing. activists are describing it as the single deadliest day in the 11-month syrian uprising. a barrage of mortars raining down on the city of homs, killing more than 200 people. amateur footage which we couldn't independently verify captured the devastation and the horror of the nighttime attack, as some are calling a massacre. >> we're trying to remove the bodies from the middle of the street and we get shot at. last night, we tried to get medication and doctors the area and they started shooting at us. >> reporter: homs has seen the most intense fighting. the syrian government blamed the violence on the armed gangs.

it also blamed foreign media for exaggerating the situation inside the city. video on pro government tv stations portrayed life as normal. by daylight, thousands defied the risk of continued violence, taking to the streets and praying in unity and mourning their dead in funerals. not just in homs, but across the country. as syrians continue to grieve, russia and china block the united nations resolution that was trying to end the violence. the syrian opposition says it's not deterred. >> the people will continue regardless of what's going on on the international stage. people will continue demonstrating. >> reporter: the deadly episode triggered demonstrations in london, cairo, washington and australia. and for syrian protesters who may have been dismayed by the u.n.'s inaction, thousands poured on to the streets and their resolve has not been broken.

lester, a senior opposition leader, tells us it would be suicide to stop the protests now because the assad government would seek out and punish anyone that dared to speak out and demonstrated against it in the past 11 months. >> thank you. we want to bring in the chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell. a powerful statement from the president, a contentious showdown at the u.n. where do things stand right now? >> reporter: this was a terrible day for the united nations and diplomacy. the u.n. resolution had been watered down to try to get russia on board, but russia said it would still vote no and bring china along with it. and because of the unprecedented levels of the attack, the violence by the regime against the opposition, the u.s., europe and the arab league all decided to call russia's bluf.

this was unprecedented. and force a vote anyway. afterward, u.s. ambassador susan rice said that the united states was quote, disgusted by russia's veto. >> for months, this council has been held hostage by a couple members. these members stand behind empty arguments and individual interests. this intransigence is even more shameful when you consider that at least one of these members continues to deliver weapons to assad. >> reporter: earlier in the day in munich, secretary of state hillary clinton had a tough meeting with her russian counterpart, who said that the resolution would have amounted to taking sides in a civil war. but the fear now is that the u.n.'s failure to react will encourage assad to be more brutal. knowing russia is going to try to help him stay in tower. tonight, there's no plans for the u.s. to go it alone, to intervene on its own. not without the stamp of approval from the united nations. >> andrea mitchell, thanks. another flash point in the middle east -- iran, which today flexed its muscles, taunting israel and the u.s. by conducting military exercises in a show of force.

tensions between israel and iran have escalated in recent days. we want to get the latest from both countries tonight. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in tel aviv and our tehran chief ali arouzi is in iran. what is the awareness about the tension, how heavily is it being reported in the press there? >> reporter: well, people are very aware of the tensions here, lester. i mean, it's not being reported that heavily in the press because that's carefully staged managed. but yesterday, iran's supreme leader the final authority in the country gave a live televised sermon during friday prayers but he kept saying that the enemy is at the gate. he has been warning the country and the threats from israel is evidence that the enemy is at the gate. so the country is on high alert. he spoke for an hour and a half about the threats to the country from israel, and how iran would retaliate. there's a very jittery feeling on the streets today and over the past few weeks. >> i'll put the same question to

richard about the reaction on the streets there. does it feel like a country on a war footing in fear of attack? >> reporter: it certainly does not. today's obviously a saturday and if you walk around tel aviv, you will see people at the beach, playing paddle ball, walking their dogs. getting a lot of attention in the media, but when you walk around people don't think that this is imminent. they also say that israel has faced threats before, israel faced the gulf war, faced the war with lebanon. most israelis have bomb shelters in their homes. a lot of people have been making sure that the bomb shelters are still up to snuff. that they have the gas mask in place. but there certainly is not an element of fear or panic. this country is not facing sanctions. the economy here is actually going quite well right now. so very different picture in iran where to a degree they are facing a conflict. here, it's life as normal with a theoretical challenge.

people are taking seriously, but are not allowing it to direct their lives. >> the world holds its breath. gentlemen, thanks very much. to presidential politics now. tonight, voters are having their say in nevada, a key swing state and an important battleground in the fall. nbc's peter alexander joining us from the campaign trail in las vegas. good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening to you. mitt romney is counting on a convincing victory, and he won four years ago with the majority, 51% of the vote. gop does not predict a winner until all the doors are closed at the caucus sites. that should happen about 7:00 specific time. romney advisers telling me a short time ago that the significance of this is it's back-to-back significant wins for their candidate, it

demonstrates strength among conservatives, a lot of tea partyers in this state. the top issue by far in this state is the economy with the highest unemployment in the nation nearly 13%. also the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, nearly four times the national average. a significant number to keep an eye on tonight will be how well ron paul does. he's been hoping to gather delegates here in this state, vowing he will stay in this race, lester, through the summer. >> peter alexander on the trail in vegas tonight. peter, thanks. david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." he joins us from washington. we don't know the outcome of nevada, but if gingrich can't pull this off, what does that say about his ability to raise money and stay in the race until the end as he hopes to? >> the end about gingrich valley getting to super tuesday. it's the southern conference where he really thinks he can be successful. we're looking at the run for

mitt romney. this is a very light month, only one debate, not a locality t of attention. that's bad for gingrich. gingrich not only has to raise the money, he has to be very concerned about falling far behind romney in that momentum gig. if gingrich should somehow finish third in nevada, another blow for him on top of the money issues, and where is he going to build that contrast with romney now? you see him trying to compare him to president obama, but i think gingrich will tell you he needs a second act here, a way to really distinguish himself on his conservative record from romney, lester. >> newt gingrich will be among your guests tomorrow morning on "meet the press." tonight a winter storm is making its way across the heartland after blanketing denver. how is it now? >> they're digging out from one of their biggest snowstorms on

record, in fact, the biggest since february. here in denver, 15 inches of powder basically shut the city down late yesterday. there were 400 flight cancellations yesterday. the airport has ramped back up this afternoon and a 100-mile of i-70 reopened. this was in nebraska. they were shoveling cars out of snowbanks in omaha and a foot of snow set a record in lincoln. should be another inch or two before it wraps up for the weekend. most of what falls on sunday, and it won't be much, will be rain. temperatures still warmer than average. around 40 in chicago. atlanta pushes 70 and a terrific super bowl sunday forecast, lester, in indianapolis. the sun is back out. highs in the upper 40s. >> mike seidel. mike, thank you. back overseas now. much of europe continues to struggle with record cold and snow. a deadly deep freeze has now lasted for more than a week. nbc's keira simmons has our

report from london. >> reporter: the freezing is unrelenting and unforgiving. 176 people have died in europe, 122 in ukraine alone. in bosnia, three feet of snow fell on the capital overnight. many towns are cut off. there is even snow in the northern tip of africa, frozen over in nigeria. it is frozen in northern europe, some parts of finland recording a record minus 40. more than 100 accidents in helsin helsinki. a german man was killed in an accident. and the cold has closed rose coliseum, historic temperatures amid the ancient ruins, making transportation difficult. and across europe, flights are

disrupted. passengers delayed from heathrow to farahego. the most snow for decades has brought children on the streets of afghanistan, but the young guests are also the most vulnerable. there are reports of children in refugee camps freezing to death. and forecasters predict the punishing cold will last until the end of next week. keira simmons, nbc news, london. we can tell you 100,000 russians braved the bitter cold in a march on washington. protesters come a month before election that could send putin back to the kremlin for another six years. we have posted a full report by nbc's jim maseda on our web site. when "nbc nightly news" continues on a saturday, many americans are struck by a serious taste of football fever. and later, a city in shock.

parents outraged and demanding answers as a school district reels from scandal.

we're less than 24 hours of super bowl xlvi. tonight, football fever has taken ahold of indianapolis, where the patriots and the giants will face off tomorrow night. nbc's craig melvin joins us right now. good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening to you. this time tomorrow, roughly 70,000 will be inside lucas oil stadium behind me. homeland security says at this

point they don't have any specific evidence of a credible threat, but they're not taking any chances. there will be a no fly zone in effect above the stadium for much of tomorrow. today, though, the 300,000 fans or so who descended on indy, they continued the nonstop street party. cold, steady rain could not keep fans off the streets of indianapolis. warming up for tomorrow's big game. >> we are not going home without a victory. >> a repeat four years later. >> reporter: what's been dubbed hoosier hospitality has been on display all week. from free concerts, to zip lines for the brave who wants a birds eye view of it all. organizers hoisted temporary signs to attract fans from all over and the city suspended open container laws for the weekend. safety officials say they're ready. so far, the only major challenge than managing clogged streets. inside one of the command centers, workers monitor 80 cameras equipped with facial

recognition software and a specially designed program that tracks people's behaviors to detract crimes before they happen. >> we are probably the most technology protected super bowl in the history so far. >> reporter: while stepped up security has become standard for the first time, the giants and patriots' match-up will be streemd li streamed live online. and a stadium shadows another first. and a social media hub for a small arm of self-professed super geeks scours the internet about 50 volunteers track key words on twitter and other sites to help fans avoid lines, find food and spot celebrities. technology isn't the only change since that first super bowl in 1967. back then, a ticket ran about nine bucks. a seat at sunday's game, just over $3,800. and then the ads are more expensive. a 30-second spot then, $42,500.

tomorrow, $3.5 million. while some things have changed over the years fan excitement certainly has not. >> let's go big blue. let's get 'em tomorrow. >> reporter: and the giants, 50 minute practice today. no pads. the patriots did not practice at all. we're told they had a team meeting. and nbc's coverage starts tomorrow at noon eastern. here on nbc. when we come back, one of the country's largest school districts rocked by scandal.

we're back now with a scandal making headlines in southern california. the country's second largest school district is reeling and outraged parents are demanding

answers after the arrest of a veteran teacher, accused of horrifying crimes against children in his care. tonight he is behind bars with bail set at $23 million. we get more now from nbc's adidi roy. >> reporter: he had worked at the elementary school his entire career, teaching there since 1979. but in january of 2011, the los angeles unified school district removed mark berndt from the classroom after they received some suspicious photographs. he resigned one month later after the board voted to fire him. this week, authorities arrested berndt, accusing him of sexually abusing 23 children between 6 and 10 years old, between 2005 and 2010. >> i'm a teacher and a dad. it's disgusting. it's appalling. >> reporter: investigators believe there could be more children who haven't come

forward. a lawyer representing the parents of one alleged victim, a 10-year-old girl, filed the civil suit against the school district. >> this is no game. these are young kids. their lives, forever impacted by a sordid man. >> reporter: some 1,400 children go to the elementary school, almost all are latino. most are low income and more than half are learning english as a second language. some parents think these factors made their children vulnerable. >> i'm afraid. i'm thinking of moving my child from this school. >> reporter: yesterday a second teacher was arrested. martin springer, a 26 year veteran at the school for allegedly fondling two girls in the classroom. he will appear in court next week. investigators say the two cases are not related. one former prosecutor says the allegations are a wake-up call to all schools. >> i think it's a nationwide problem. i think every school is vulnerable to this. >> reporter: the los angeles school district says it's working with authorities and will hold town hall meetings with parents. trying to regain trust in a stunned community. adidi roy, los angeles.

popular character actor ben gazzara has died. he played in movies and on broadway. he originated the role of brick in "cat on a hot tin roof" and he starred in "run for your life." he passed away yesterday here in new york after battling cancer. he was 81 years old. up next here tonight, the high school football team getting to play a super bowl of their own.

finally tonight, it's usually a long road from the high school gridiron to the super bowl, but for indiana's fisher high tigers the 2010 champs that road took a short cut this week, to the turf of the lucas oil stadium where they ran some plays that will have a big effect on how the rest of us see tomorrow's game. >> set, 315. >> they're the plays that got the giants and the patriots to the super bowl. and the ones these indiana high school players have been learning all week. they're prepping to be stand-ins for the tv cameras. twice the number of a typical sunday night game that will capture every angle of the super bowl. >> when you're sitting in the control room, things are happening so fast. so the producer and the director are looking at not only are their 26 screens that they have normally, now it's like 48.

>> each high schooler is assigned a real nfl player to study. >> and when the young man that's emulating gronkowski scores a touchdown he's going to slam it into the ground just like gronk does. >> and then the big day comes. a full dress rehearsal yesterday, shot by the team complete with all the theatrics of the big game. >> i felt like it was a super bowl for us. >> stevens got to play chris snees, right guard for the giants. >> and it's indianapolis, our hometown. this is amazing. it will be something special that we hold with us for the rest of our lives. >> who knows? this could mean bigger things. >> well, getting the playbooks was a huge boost for us. maybe we could sneak a few plays in our playbook and get ourselves to the super bowl. >> while they're just acting, sometimes it doesn't feel like it. >> hey, without us, i don't think the super bowl would

happen. >> imagine the bragging rights. a reminder that full coverage of super bowl xlvi starts tomorrow at noon eastern here on nbc. that's going to do it for "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. from all of us at nbc news, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening. i'm diane dwyer. we begin in redwood city where a presoo