on our broadcast tonight, heads are rolling, and one of the most powerful women on wall street is out of a job now that jpmorgan is out $2 billion. dire straits. the most populous state in the nation facing an enormous money crisis. it looks like education is going to pay a terrible price. hidden hazard. a danger for children in the american home that emergency room doctors see all too often. tonight, what parents should know. and a star is born. britain has talent, all right. does it matter that it's a dog? "nightly news" begins now. good evening. tomorrow, jpmorgan chase, far

and away the biggest bank in the country, will face its shareholders in its annual meeting, and the timing is not great for the bank or the people who run it. they just lost $2 billion. in a bad bet. already, one high profile banker is out, and more are said to be right behind her. the stock prices falling as well. the money the bank lost was the bank's money, not taxpayer money, but during this era when taxpayers are still angy about bailout money and a lot of people are fighting regulation, a lot of people are watching the bank closely, and its sheer size makes it a target. it's where we begin tonight. anne thompson has been reporting the story, including the departure of one of the senior women in the top executive ranks really in the financial industry. >> ina drew is the first human casually of jpmorgan chase's $2 billion loss, and she's not pectsed to be the last as the bank tries to get out of this

investment that can cost the bank another billion dollars before it's all over. wall street kept punishing jp morgan chase monday, selling off the stocks. the share price down nearly 12% since the loss was revealed. ina drew, the chief investment officer who oversaw the trades causing the loss, today retired. a 30-year veteran well liked by colleagues and a quiet mentor to women, she tried to resign several times before the loss was made public, says a senior jpmorgan official. >> wall street only remembers your last trade. unfortunately for ina drew, it was a big one and on the wrong side. >> drew reported directly to ceo jamie dimon. in a statement today, dimon called drew a great partner. adding despite our losses, ina's vast contributions to the company should not be overshadowed by these events. >> this morning, my exclusive interview -- >> on "meet the press" dimon admitted the trade was a terrible, egregious mistake but insisted the bank is still healthy. >> it's a stupid thing that we

should never have done, but we're still going to earn a lot of money this quarter. so it isn't like this company is jeopardized. >> dimon's reputation is. the spokes person against inal creased regulation on risk now tarnished, too. >> we need a system where we have a tough cop on the beat, no one should be able to steal your purse on main street or your pension on wall street. >> democrat elizabeth warren, running for the u.s. senate in massachusetts, worked creative consumer watch dog groups to oversee the bank after the 2008 crisis. she said what happened shows there's still not enough oversight of the big banks. >> we all have to wonder what is happening at the other large financial institutions. they are taking on more and more risk and that's bad for all of us. >> today, jpmorgan launched its own investigation into the trades, and tomorrow, dimon will face the bank's shareholders in tampa. at the annual meeting, there will be a nonbinding vote on

executive compensation, including $23.1 million for ceo dimon and $15.5 million for the now retired ina drew. brian. >> could get interesting. anne thompson starting us off tonight. anne, thanks. the obama campaign may have had this jpmorgan story in mind when it picked today to launch a new ad attacking mitt romney's former firm, the private equity giant, bain capital, as a middle class job killer. we heard a lot of this during the campaign. nbc's political director white house correspondent chuck todd with us from the d.c. newsroom tonight. chuck, good evening. >> it worked for ted kennedy in 1994 when he ran against romney, and it worked for a time for newt gingrich during the south carolina primary earlier this year. so attacking mitt romney's time at bain capital for what in some people believe are rough ways that they went about buying up some companies, leveraging them, so the obama campaign unveiled a two-minute ad. they didn't spent too much money

on this ad. it's only going to air one time in a few markets on one day this week, but it tells the story of gst steel in kansas city. what the campaign believes it says is it says about mitt romney's leadership on the economy, that he'll be ruthless. to respond, the romney campaign went up with its own ad, what they believe is a bain success story. it's about a company called steel dynamics in indiana that bain essentially helped restart from scratch. >> and it's commencement season. both romney and president obama chose audiences to go right after a red meat message. didn't they? >> it sure did. president obama today was in new york city, speaking at his alma mater, on the campus of his alma mater, columbia, but he was the commencement speaker for the all women's college barnard, and he sounded like a campaign speech, trying to drive up the gender gap. talk about women's issues. he really hopes that helped him. mitt romney on saturday was at the evangelical school in virginia called liberty university.

it was a speech as much about talking about his mormon faith and the things they have in common with the evangelical christians, but the loudest applause line came when he talked about how he was for marriage between one man and one woman. >> chuck todd in our d.c. newsroom with all things political tonight. chuck, thanks. and one more political note here, ron paul is effectively out of the race for the gop nomination. his campaign announced today he will not spend any more money in the remaining primaries, pretty much conceding the nomination to romney. this was paul's third run for president. he attracted a dedicated core following. it just wasn't robust enough in the end. staffers will continue to push his ideals all the way to the gop convention. back here at home, the economy of the country's biggest state is back in the spotlight in a bad way today. just a few months ago, california's budget deficit was projected to come in at $9 billion. the actual number is now out.

it's almost $16 billion. that means cuts that are going to hurt, and a target is education. right at a time when education is getting so much attention focused on it around the country. our report from nbc's miguel almaguer in los angeles. >> governor jerry brown held little back. >> this is a type of reckoning, and we have to take the medicine. >> facing a nearly $16 billion budget deficit, today, the governor proposed $8.3 billion in cuts. the first step towards balancing the state's chronically ill budget. >> the fact is california has been living beyond its means. the united states of america and its federal government is living beyond its means. >> among some of the proposed cuts, state employees will face furlough days and pay cuts, health care programs like those that serve the elderly will lose funding, as state prisons once again face smaller budgets.

brown says part of the blame, the state's sputtering economy and the still struggling housing market. california's problem, but one states across the country face. >> what starts in california, good or bad, tends to spread across country. >> blaming republican lawmakers for blocking his push to raise taxes, the governor is now calling on voters in november to approve his spending plan. >> what i'm proposing is not a panacea but it goes a long way toward cleaning up the state's budget mess. >> this week, he turned to youtube to make his pitch. within hours of his announcement, protest from state employees and push back from republican lawmakers. >> we had two years of tax increases. it didn't eliminate the deficit. we had a deficit every year. it's not the solution. >> tonight, public education is once again in the budget cross hairs. after rounds of cuts, more could be on the way. >> the question is how deeply will an already dysfunctional

system of higher education be impacted? >> california, the golden state, now in a sea of red. as the governor asked state employees to take a 5% pay cut, he himself has cut his own paycheck by nearly 20%. the governor also warns if californians don't approve his tax increases, they will automatically face deeper and more significant cuts. >> this could get rough in california to come. miguel almaguer. thanks. there's been an awful discovery on the side of a high way in mexico where gangs have been in a bloody turf war over drug smuggling. this just over the border with this country. dozens of bodies were dumped on the side of the road. mark potter has been covering this war next door for years and has our report tonight. >> the mutilated bodies were found along a busy highway in monterrey, new mexico. about 75 miles south of the u.s. border.

the victims, 43 men and 6 women, had their heads, hands, and feet cut off. and are believed by mexican and u.s. authorities to have been killed by members of los zetas, an extremely violent drug cartel. >> they want to show they're the meanest, most sadistic, most cruel criminal organization in the americas. >> sources say the victims may have been members of a rival cartel. a war over smuggling routes between los zetas and sinaloa cartel, mexico's most powerful drug trafficking organization, has led to extreme violence. >> the fight between them is for determination of off-loading points, transit points, and especially crossover points on the border. >> last week, near guadalahara, authorities found 18 beheaded bodies in two vehicles. nine other victims were hanged from a bridge in nuevo laredo, just south of the border. and in the last six years, an estimated 50,000 people have died in mexico's drug war. former mexican foreign minister

is now an nbc news analyst. >> more people are being killed. it's gorier and gorier than ever, and clearly, there's no end to this war. i think the question is for mexicans, was this worth it? >> the mexican government continues to attack and arrest cartel leaders. the next step in that war is now a major issue in mexico's presidential campine, leading to elections this summer. mark potter, nbc news, miami. overseas in syria, there's virtually no sign of anything resembling a peace process. there's been a renewed and awful string of violence there. we're in damascus tonight with the latest on yet another deadly day. >> good evening. it's described as one of the deadliest attacks against government forces since the 14-month uprising against the rule of bashar al assad began. the free syrian army fighting the government, said it carried out the ambush against the

syrian military in central syria, killing 23 soldiers. amateur footage posted online which we couldn't independently verify showed burned out tanks in the aftermath of the attack. opposition activists say 50 people were killed by government forces in protests all across the country on monday. the syrian government did not confirm the incident but has pointed to these types of attacks, including a deadly blast that killed 55 people outside a military intelligence building on thursday as evidence of the terrorism it's fighting. on monday, more u.n. observers arrived into syria. 250 unarmed observers are deployed across the country to make sure both sides implement the peace plan which has been in effect for about a month now. but despite the arrival of more u.n. observers, the killing hasn't stopped entirely, leaving many here and abroad questioning whether or not the peace plan has all but failed. brian. word from north carolina this evening that john edwards' daughter cate edwards will take

the witness stand as early as tomorrow to testify in her father's defense. she's been a steadfast supporter of her father and has accompanied him to court every day. the edwards team started laying out its case today. right out of the gate, they tried to refocus the trial from the sex and lies to the nuts and bolts of campaign finance law, which is after all, what the case is all about. still ahead here as we continue, one family's story about an underrated and underreported household danger that has sent a lot of kids to the emergency room. and later, why this is a day of great pride for mutts everywhere.

we mentioned earlier, doctors have a warning for the parents of small children. it's about the small coin shaped batteries found in all kinds of products. they're behind a growing number of visits to the emergency room. our chief medical editor, dr. nancy snyderman, is with us. even though when you have kids, you're hyperaware of choking hazards, this often isn't top of mind. >> yeah, it is not on people's minds, and as an ear, nose, and throat surgeon, i have seen a lot of cases like this, brian. in the emergency room, in the operating room. child comes in, suddenly a parent says i think my child swallowed something. it's something circular, is it a coin, a button? it turns out it could be something more dangerous, something different all together. susan and mark thought they had done everything right when they baby proofed their home. >> we put the outlet covers on, the knobs on our stove. we're covered. we had baby gates all over the house. we put everything up that we thought we needed to put up.

>> when they son max was 15 months old, he stumbled onto a remote control and removed and swallowed what is known as a button battery. he began vomiting at dinner. while he had no other symptoms, his parents were concerned and took him to the hospital, which is when doctors found this, the button battery lodged in max's esophagus. >> the image is burned into my brain forever. we just started crying. we looked at each other and started crying. like this isn't happening. >> max was taken to the o.r. to have it removed. >> we sat there not knowing if he would come out alive or even have a voice. >> he came out of the surgery screaming for us. that was a very good sign. >> max is far from alone. a new study in the journal of pediatrics found in 2009, a child was taken to the er every 90 minutes because of battery injuries. that's twice as many visits as 20 years ago. dr. gary smith coauthored the study and said max's parents were right to rush him to the hospital. >> if a young child swallows a button battery, it's a medical

emergency. that child needs to have that removed immediately or within less than two hours, it can cause serious injury or even death. >> less than a third of kids' er visits involve batteries from toys. the rest, household items meant for adults. no surprise to max's parents who now say they're watching everything. >> the batteries are everywhere, in remotes, in key chains, in cards, in christmas ornaments. >> industry standards have changed, trying to make remote controls tougher to get the battery out. just today, went downstairs, got one of these fancy cards, and guess what, it doesn't take much for a toddler to open up the back of the card and that's the kind of battery that can literally change a child's life and never for the better. >> especially when they're gnawing on everything. this is a big eye opener. thank you for doing this. up next, text messages that could save lives. and what is trending for america's newest arrivals.

we always talk about how much warning people have in a crisis, but as of this month, if you have a wireless device, there's a good chance you will be warned. they're called wireless emergency alerts. they'll be brief, under 90 character, and wherever you are, especially when bad weather is coming, you will now be notified. 97% of wireless carriers are on board with this program. "avengers" is now a billion dollar movie worldwide after setting the all-time opening weekend movie record. it broke into the rarefied air of movies like avatar and harry potter to make that much money. the folks at social security track baby names as part of their job, and the news is sophia has overtaken the top girl's name. for the past two years running, isabella and emma, strong second and third. for the boys, no change.

jacob retains the top spot for the 13th year in a row. in non-essential food news tonight, confirmation from the girl scouts of what a lot of us already knew, thin mints are your number one girl scout cookie choice, followed by samoas. and the folks at 7-eleven are stepping up to get us out of our national obesity crisis by rolling out the slurpy light. just doing their part. we showed you the ghost airplane, the worth war ii aircraft found in the sahara, virtually untouched, in extraordinary condition, really. it's believed to have gone down in june of 1942. until now, no one knew about the pilot. now, a man in ireland says that was his uncle, a pilot for the raf, considered missing in action back then, and never seen again. a british search party will now fan out across the desert looking for his remains. up next here tonight, doing the charleston as it's never quite been done before.

finally tonight, tv talent shows have become national obsessions. the new season of "america's got talent" debuts tonight on nbc. last night, in the uk, the finale of their season edition

of "britain's got talent," and it's launched a new star who stole the show and walked away with the grand prize on four paws. our report from london, here is nbc's stephanie gosk. >> "britain's got talent." in fact, britain has so much talent. even the dogs are amazing, or at least pudzy is. in choreographed unison with trainer ashley butler, he danced, walked, twirled, and pulled off that move to win british tv's most popular reality show. >> you, ashley, are a star, and pudzy, i can't cope. >> it's a miracle. congratulations to both of you. >> 17-year-old butler, clearly a performer in her own right, is ready for big things. >> it would be an absolute dream come true to go to hollywood. >> pudzy, calm and self effacing at her side, probably wondering when he might get his next steak.

he's no purebred, just a mutt. border collie and bichon with a touch of chinese crusted powder puff for attitude. in the parks of london today, dogs ran and played like they always do, but the mood was grim. >> he's got no talent to talk of. >> the country loves pudzy. my heart goes out to the average british dog. pudzy has set the bar high. you know, eddy, sitting and fetching isn't going to cut it anymore. i can almost feel his anxiety. already worth roughly $17 million, pudzy is going to hollywood where he will face off against the star of the "artist" in hopes to make a name among other canine greats like rin tin tin and lassie. >> i know i have the smartest dog in the world. >> as impressive of their command of the english language may have been, could any of those dogs do the charleston?

stephanie gosk, nbc news, london. >> that's our broadcast on this monday night. thank you for being here with us as we start a new week. i'm brian williams. we of course hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. gepg good evening. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. pg&e paid out big bucks to top executives even after the san bruno disaster that leveled a neighborhood. tonight an action plan demanding pg&e be more accountable with the money we pay them. kimberly tere joins us in san bruno tonight. this is a big evening politically and emotionally, correct? >> reporter: absolutely. in about a half