>> yeah, we're going to be on track. even with a few pockets of 70s. so a great start to the workweek. >> okay. nightly news at 6:00 is nextig and we'll see you again at six. on this sunday night, a cry for help. as thousands rally for trayvon rally, what does new expert analysis of the new 911 tapes tell us about what happened that night? stranded at sea. tonight, the rescue mission for more than a dozen people trapped in rough waters during a race around the world. breast cancer risk. new information tonight about taking hormones and their affect on women's health. and back to the future. it's a giant '80s party at the movies as hollywood looks to the past for some big money hits.

good evening. with just over a week before a florida grand jury begins its look into the shooting death of trayvon martin, those demanding an immediate arrest of george zimmerman are keeping up the pressure. a day after the massive march in sanford, demonstrators today took to the streets of miami. trayvon martin's hometown. it's been 35 days since the unarmed black teenager was killed at the hands of an hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer. and since then, everything about the case from whether race was a factor, to who started the confrontation, has been in dispute. and tonight, a new expert analysis of the 911 tapes is adding fuel to the debate. kerry sanders has the latest from miami. >> reporter: good evening. tomorrow, the lawyers for trayvon martin's family say they plan to ask the justice department to launch an investigation into the sanford police department and state attorney's office.

the goal, to get answers as to how the decision was made not to charge the man who shot and killed 17-year-old trayvon martin. >> we want justice! >> reporter: in the 35 days since he died, at dozens of rallies around the nation, there's been one constant refrain. >> no justice! >> reporter: and again today, thousands came to downtown miami. nationally recognized civil rights leaders continuing their call for relentless, peaceful pressure, to charge the white man who killed a black teenager. >> don't talk to us about violence! handcuff the violent one! >> nobody has the right to kill anybody. >> reporter: 28-year-old george zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer, says he shot and killed trayvon in self-defense after the two scuffled. and in 911 calls, there's some uncertainty. what sounds like muffled screams can be heard moments before a gun shot.

>> so you think he's yelling help? >> yes. >> what is your -- >> there's gunshots. >> reporter: was that george zimmerman or trayvon martin? >> so, you think he's yelling help? >> yes. >> reporter: two forensic audio experts who analyzed the 911 calls claim various voice recognition technologies allow them to say with certainty those screams were not from zimmerman. one expert tells nbc news the technology i used is similar to what the nsa and cia use. it's 99% accurate. the scream is not george zimmerman. >> what's your reaction to that? >> i have no comment. >> reporter: craig sunter went on to say he's concerned. the numerous protests will unduly influence the special prosecutor's decision on whether

there should be charges. former u.s. attorney kendall coffee has been in hot spots like this before. >> no one should prosecute an innocent man, because of public opinion, but if it's a close case, it's hard to say that strong public opinion is going to be completely ignored. >> reporter: at this rally as they have done at others, they passed the hat raising money. money they say they'll use to keep trayvon martin's family's legal team funded to keep up the fight. lester? >> kerry, thank you. to presidential politics now and fighting words from rick santorum today, two days before a showdown with mitt romney in wisconsin. facing intense pressure to quit from some inside his own party, tonight, santorum is hitting back. nbc's ron mott is on the campaign trail in wisconsin. >> we are looking forward to a great day on tuesday to shock the world. >> i'm glad you stayed in. >> thank you.

>> reporter: like a battered, yet determined prize fighter, rick santorum is waving off calls to throw in the towel. instead, he came out swinging hard today over suggestions he'd bow out before mitt romney gets the required majority of 1144 delegates. >> if he's at that number, we'll step aside, but right now, you know, he's not there. he's not even close to it. >> reporter: but the former pennsylvania senator has yet to win where he's rooted. in the industrial heart land, which is why some view wisconsin as a must win. >> we need someone to be a contrast to barack obama, not the same old, tired establishment person that's going to be shoved down our throat. >> reporter: despite santorum's feistiness, he seems less interested in grapping with with his rivals than the president. a nod to his presumptive nominee status. >> this president's policies have failed to turn this economy around. his economic strategy has been a bust and that's one reason why i'm convinced that the american people are going to turn him out of office in 2012.

>> governor romney is the person to lead our party, our nation. >> reporter: this morning, another big endorsement for romney. wisconsin's tea party backed senator, ron johnson. >> the next president of the united states, mitt romney. >> reporter: part of a growing force of support. >> i think he's going to be an excellent candidate and i think that the chances are overwhelming that he will be our nominee. >> reporter: and as such, the awaiting opposition climbed into the ring and joined the fight. vice president biden jabbing romney. as out of touch for opposing the auto bailouts. >> this is about the middle class and what affects middle class people. none of what he's offering does anything, it's just returning to a policy. >> reporter: perhaps a sign of their confidence going into tuesday, mitt romney's staff and supporters played an april fool's joke on him today. take a look at this. they introduced him with great fanfare. the crowd erupted. he walked in to find no one there but his team. they hope to have the last

laugh here in two days. >> thanks. john harwood is cnbc's chief washington correspondent. sketch out the check that could face gingrich and santorum? if romney winsz wins. what could the conversations be about on wednesday morning? >> voters in wisconsin are going to have a lot to say about that, but the expectation of elected officials and strategists is that wisconsin will be another case like michigan, ohio and illinois before, where rick santorum fails to do enough in a big midwestern state and they want this race to be over because the last thing republicans need right now is another two months of rick santorum and newt gingrich throwing spit balls at mitt romney if it's not going to affect the outcome. what republicans most want now is to get on to a very challenging general election race against president obama. >> john, thank you. a quick program note. tuesday morning, former alaska governor sarah palin will be live from studio 1a, co-hosting the "today" show.

she'll weigh in on all things politics. that's tuesday morning on "today." tonight, coast guard crews are on a mission to rescue more than a dozen people stranded at sea in the pacific. crew members aboard a yacht on a race around the world lost the ability to steer when a giant wave slammed into the boat. thus far, efforts to reach them have been hampered by bad weather and gabe gutierrez has the details. >> reporter: 400 miles off the coast of california, the coast guard dropped medical supplies trying to rescue more than a dozen people stranded at sea while competing in the clipper around the world yacht race. portions of the trip chronicled on their website. four sailors were hurt when a massive wave smashed into their boat. breaking its steering wheel. one crew member is from australia, three from britain including this man, who had described the race's challenges on its website. before they set sail. >> and showers and cold beers.

>> reporter: it was one of ten boats in the 11-month race that began in britain and took sailors to south america, africa, australia, singapore and china. then on their way to san francisco, severe weather struck. >> this was a wind driven wave on top of the swell. as it went over the back of the boat, the back of the boat, the eye tip that hit was 25 to 30 feet up. >> reporter: meteorologists say there were hurricane force wind gusts. >> this was just another one in a long line of storms that has been battering the west coast. >> reporter: late saturday, a helicopter reached the yacht, but also ran into rough weather and had to turn back. >> they were able to drop some medical supplies to the vessel, but were not able to complete the jump because of the weather. >> reporter: tonight, there are questions about whether the mostly amateur crew should have taken another course.

>> the fact is, this boat was sailing straight downwind, which is the most dangerous point of sailing, and they got out of control. >> reporter: now, the coast guard is waiting for the weather to improve before sending at helicopter. the latest race to save a crew stranded at sea. there is word tonight from kansas that five people are dead and several more are hurt after a highway wreck. authorities there say a motor home pulling a trailer with up to 18 people inside, including children, hit a guardrail and crashed into a ravine 30 feet below. now to a historic victory against all odds for a woman who stood up to dictators who tried to keep her silent. she is being compared to nelson mandela, even gandhi, but tonight, is being hailed around the world as a hero. we get her story from ian williams in myanmar in southeast asia. >> reporter: they started voting shortly after dawn in the dusty township, filing into a converted school to be faced with something rare in myanmar,

a real choice. so many hopes have been frustrated in the past she said, but i believe this represents change. like so many here today, she was putting her faith in aung san suu kyi, persecuted for her beliefs but out early this morning to inspect the polling stations. she worried about possible cheating and there have been reports of minor irregularities, but here, election observers did seem happy. >> thailand sh singapore, this is as good as it could be. >> reporter: at 4:00 after a call for any final voters, the polling stations closed and the count began. there was little room for manipulation at this polling

center since the support for suu kyi was overwhelming among the 1,000 votes cast. just a handful of lonely ballot papers in her opponent's trays. it will be a few days before the results are official, but it's pretty clear she has been elected to parliament by a landslide and the celebrations are already underway. tonight, euphoric crowds packed the streets outside the headquarters of her party, which claims to have won 41 of the 44 seats up for grabs today. that's still only a fraction of the total seats in parliament, but a huge step in the remarkable reform process now gripping this country. ian williams, nbc news. tonight, secretary of state hillary clinton is on her way back to the u.s. after a whirlwind trip in the middle east. today in istanbul, the secretary attended a summit to address the crisis in syria and sat down to discuss the situation with

our foreign correspondent, andrea mitchell. >> reporter: you have said there will be serious consequences if assad does not stop killing his people. this is the moment, the time for excuses is over, but short of military intervention, what is going to stop this man? >> it's very painful to watch the terrible killing continue by the assad regime. but out of this meeting today, we have agreed on not only more sanctions, but a means to enforce them. we have more humanitarian aid going in. we have an accountability project underway to catalog all of the atrocities that have been done and we have been increasing the various forms of assistance for the syrian opposition. >> clinton announced today that the u.s. will provide communications equipment to help the syrian rebels organize. she is opposing calls from saudi arabia to arm the rebels. when "nightly news" continues, looking for loans in

online places. the new look of pawnshops where business is booming. and later, some of the biggest hits and brightest stars of the '80s coming soon to a theatre near you.

we're back with a business that's booming through the recession and the slow climb to recovery. when you think of pawnshops, you might have visions of dimly lit strip malls and high interest loans. these days, the high interest remains, but now some pawnshops are going digital and the clientele is changing with them. we get our report from nbc's kate snow. >> reporter: inside this steel vault, fragments of the big moments in life. >> a tiffany bag. >> reporter: lives that got turned upside down in the great recession.

there are engagement rings, gold anniversary watches, diamonds, valuables their owners must have cherished and hated to part with. >> america is liquidating luxury assets that they have acquired. >> reporter: todd hills has an interesting view of today's economy. for 25 years, he's been a pawnbroker. >> the banks are locked up, you know, the neon light that says open at the bank, it's not. >> reporter: so that's where hill steps in. he's filled a void with the credit market so tight many of the middle class are being forced to put up their possessions as collateral to get a loan because they can no longer rely on banks for cash. hill's online shop is always open. he charges up to 6% interest a month and if people can't pay back the loan, he sells their asset. >> yeah, those are nice. >> reporter: in a package that came from a woman named amy in maine, these pearls.

they're willing to loan her $4,000. turns out amy and her fiance are pawning the pearls for money to start a daycare center. the family used to live in maryland and when the economy was rolling, they owned a multi-million dollar cable installation business. >> from 2003 to 2008, business was booming. >> reporter: then what happened? >> the economy. people stopped having so much cable. as the customers went away, so did our business. >> reporter: you worry -- >> i worry, too. >> reporter: but the gap between hope and reality was too big. a few weeks after we sat down with the couple, they defaulted on their pawngo loan. if they'd done that at their local bank, they could probably forget about ever getting another loan. but not with todd hill.

>> if you walk through the doors again, i'm going to shake your hand, put my arm around you and say, what can i do for you today? >> reporter: kate snow, nbc news. when we come back, health news tonight about breast cancer about the risk of hormone replacement. why doctors are sounding the alarm once again.

some important news on women's health about a new study on the long-term use of hormones to ease symptoms of menopause. the issue is the risk is cancer. robert bezel is here to tell us more. >> most women have gotten the message that long-term hormone replacement medication increases breast cancer risk, but some doctors have raised the possibility that alone, may not raise the possibility for women with hysterectomies. this latest study shows that all long-term hormone use, especially ten years or more, increases risk. women should talk to their

doctors, but most experts agree that women should only take hormones to treat the hot flashes and for the shortest amount of time. >> thanks. still no word tonight on the identities of at least three winners of the mega million lottery. in maryland, illinois, kansas. the jackpot is worth more than $640 million. reality quickly set in for the losers and today in redbud, illinois, where one of the famous tickets was purchased, they were printing t-shirts for everyone else that read yes, i am from redbud, no, i am not the winner. and in lexington, kentucky, things turned ugly after the university of kentucky beat louisville in final four basketball in new orleans. thousands of fans took to the streets near the campus, overturning cars and setting fires. at least ten people were injured and the same number were arrested. officials say there will be tighter security when kentucky plays kansas in tomorrow night's national championship in lexington.

we wanted to show you some of the hundreds of landmarks around the world that went dark last night during the annual earth hour. to draw attention to climate change. the iconic sydney harbor bridge, the eiffel tower in paris, berlin, the great wall of china and new york's empire state building were among the many landmarks that took part. and up next, hoping for new hits by dipping into the hollywood time machine.

if our final story were a movie, the plot line might go something like this. facing unprecedented competition, a storied industry tries to revive its fortunes by borrowing heavily from hits and stars of the past. this is in fact what's going on in hollywood right now and tonight, nbc's craig melvin reports on a big trend in the big screen. >> 21 jump street. >> reporter: in hollywood these days, old is new again. >> i did not know at all that they had actually made a 21 jump street before this one had come out. >> reporter: the popular '80s tv

show became a spoof starring jonah hill. it's made more than $70 million. the latest in a string of hollywood throwbacks. >> you take my hand. >> that would leave you with one. >> reporter: a new version of arthur, to the return of arnold. making good on his promise in the "the terminator." stars we haven't seen on the big screen in a while are back. at 64, arnold schwarzenegger is making on three action films and a remake of "twins." with danny devito. billy crystal is set to play a funny grandpa later this year. and chevy chase may be getting ready for another disaster of a vacation. >> is there some kind of weird retro thing going on this weekend? >> reporter: well, yes, actually, not just in "hot tub time machine." though not everyone is thrilled. >> some of the stuff they're going back and getting, you go, that wasn't that good the first time, you know. >> reporter: but movie makers hope that reaching back to the

'80s will lift sagging ticket sales. the industry projects about 150 million fewer tickets will be sold this year than three years ago. with fewer people going to the movies and dvd sales down, hollywood is struggling, so tinsel down has decided to turn to the familiar. >> anytime a studio can build a movie around an older franchise, thoo -- that already has a built in audience, that's very appealing to them because it's a safer bet. >> reporter: hollywood hoping to secure its future by going back to the future. craig melvin, nbc news, hollywood. that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. i'll see you shortly for tonight's "dateline" where we take a powerful look at bullying. brian williams will be here tomorrow. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. for all of us here at nbc news, new york. for all of us here at nbc news, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com