on our broadcast tonight, america remembers what happened 11 years ago today. but for many families at the memorials, this day was different. no school again today in chicago. tonight, we'll look at the sticking point in this huge teachers strike being watched across our country. whistle blower. a convicted felon rewarded with more than $100 million of taxpayer money. tonight the government says there's a very good reason for that. the crisis in syria. ann curry on the ground reporting on the violence driving families apart. and fish oil supplements are in the news, specifically what they do or don't do for your heart. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good evening on this

tuesday, september 11th. a date that will for always and forever mean just one thing on the calendar. especially for all of us who were alive on that day. and most especially for those who lost someone on that day. every year on this day, we pause. bells toll and "taps" is played in many places. this year, especially coming off the tenth anniversary last year, a lot of people noticed a change. though today's date, 9/11, remains cemented in history as the day that changed everything in the modern era. nbc's ron allen starts us off tonight from the world trade center site in lower manhattan. ron, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, brian. we're on the 22nd floor of the new world trade center. over here you can see the memorial down there, set in the footprints of the original twin towers. today's event was more intimate than many others. there were about 1,000 people in attendance. it generates powerful emotions. >> and my uncle, whom my brother and i missed meeting by ten

days. >> reporter: the tradition of honoring each of the 2,983 individuals lost lives on. [ bell tolling ] >> reporter: with only their relatives reading the names. >> dominick e. talia. >> reporter: politicians were excluded for the first time, organizers said, to keep the focus on the families. president obama led a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane struck the north tower. and later, laid a wreath during a tribute at the pentagon, where 184 people were killed. >> this is never an easy day, but it is especially difficult for all of you. >> reporter: in shanksville, pennsylvania, vice president biden comforted families. while in nevada, mitt romney struck a patriotic tone. during an appearance at the national guards conference. >> we remember with heavy hearts the tragic loss of life. and we express thankfulness to the men and women who responded to that tragedy. >> reporter: 11 years later, in many places, this anniversary seems more private than public.

many communities like glenrock, new jersey which lost 11 residents chose not to hold a formal observance for the first time. >> ronald call fazio, sr. >> reporter: this always will be a deeply personal day for those who lost loved ones, like rob fazio. who says the stories he heard about his father's heroism, while trapped on the 99th floor in his office, has given him a sense of purpose. >> countless people told us he was literally holding the door to help them. and we saw that as an inspiration of how he lived his life, and how we wanted to continue to live our lives. >> reporter: his foundation, hold the door open helps people deal with grief. >> the south tower of the world trade center was gone. >> reporter: 11 years later, new stories are still emerging. one in a new documentary airing tonight on discovery. pasquale says he's finally able to talk about how he survived, sliding from the 22nd floor to the top of a pile of rubble as the building collapsed around him. >> i didn't feel anything. my body was totally numb.

i mean, i felt nothing at all. i opened up my eyes and saw blue sky. i really thought i was dead. >> reporter: he said a group of firefighters rescued him. many here today said they especially want to honor first responders who gave their lives and saved so many lives that day. brian? >> ron allen starting us off in lower manhattan tonight. ron, thanks. halfway around the world in cairo today, an explosion of violence aimed at the united states. muslim protesters stormed the u.s. embassy. they're angry over a film they consider insulting to the prophet mohammed. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in the region with us tonight from istanbul. what was this about? and was the embassy ever in any real danger? >> reporter: it was never in any real danger, but this could escalate, and the situation remains tense. it all began this afternoon, when several hundred demonstrators gathered in front of the u.s. embassy.

then a few dozen of the demonstrators managed to scale the perimeter walls, get inside the embassy, pull down the u.s. flag, replace it with a black islamic flag. then egyptian security forces moved in to secure the perimeter. under the former president, hosni mubarak, this would have been very difficult. protesters wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the u.s. embassy. today they were able to scribble graffiti on the embassy wall. this was all triggered by a movie, a fringe, radical movie made in the united states that is insulting to islam. and the danger, brian, is in this internet age, even an obscure film like this, could be seen all around the world. and already tonight there's been another attack, that one in benghazi at the u.s. consulate. demonstrators are angry by the film, tried to burn it down. the u.s. state department says

all staff have been accounted for. >> richard engel on this explosion of violence just today. thanks. there's a new flare up between the u.s. and israel over iran. what seems to have set this off, recent remarks by secretary of state hillary clinton. she said the u.s. would not set deadlines or name so-called red line limits that can't be crossed concerning iran's nuclear activities. netanyahu of israel fired back today, saying those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before israel. and we learned today, the president is not going to meet with netanyahu when he comes to address the u.n. here in new york later this month. in the city of chicago, the third largest in our country, another day of no school and no options for parents and students there. the teachers strike has now stretched through day two. and again tonight, thousands gathered and marched in the downtown loop at rush hour after picketing around the city all day. earlier reports that these two sides were close are being shot down by the union tonight as we

learn more about what separates these two sides. our chief education correspondent rehema ellis remains in chicago tonight. rehema, good evening. >> good evening, brian. this is one of the schools where kids spent some of their time today. authorities say 11,000 kids showed up citywide, but that's only a fraction of nearly 400,000 kids who have been locked out because of the strike. on the picket lines, strikers say they're fighting for what's best for students and what's fair for teachers, whose job security may depend on test scores. >> standardized testing, it can't truly evaluate the teacher, because it doesn't truly evaluate the student. >> reporter: a major stumbling block in negotiations, reform. linking 25% of the teacher's evaluation with standardized test results. >> i wish people would stop thinking that standardized tests tell us anything other than the socioeconomic background of our students. >> reporter: around the city,

teachers have shouted out their frustration with school administrators and the mayor. visiting a school open for a few hours to give kids some place to go, mayor rahm emmanuel again called for teachers to go back to work. >> i'm confident we can work through these issues. we have to on behalf of our children. >> reporter: emmanuel came into office promising education reform, that state legislators agreed to, and his former boss strongly supports. >> for the first time in a generation, nearly every state has answered our call to raise their standards for teaching and learning. >> reporter: two years ago, the president's race to the top initiative offered states struggling with massive budget deficits a piece of a $4 billion grant program, to jump start education reform in big ways. illinois was one of at least 22 states, and the district of columbia that approved new teacher evaluation laws to qualify for federal funds. >> what's happening in

chicago -- >> reporter: tim knoells of the university of chicago now says the battle in chicago is the nation's battle. >> mayors across this country are going to look at who prevails. if rahm prevails, they're going to push a lot harder for the kinds of reforms rahm wants for chicago to improve the schools. >> reporter: and he says, if teachers win, it's likely more cities will see increased resistance from teachers unions. this strike comes at an awkward time for the democrats. analysts point out that teachers union has been a strong ally of the democratic party, which will look to that union to help get out the vote in november. brian? >> rehema ellis remaining in chicago for us tonight. rehema, thanks. a former banker is in the news tonight, he helped his rich clients hide their wealth from the irs in swiss bank accounts, and turned whistle blower a few years back. he squealed on his customers to the justice department and ended up going to jail himself for a time.

but today the irs gave him an eye-popping reward for all the information he provided on those taxpayers. our report from our senior investigative correspondent lisa myers. >> reporter: bradley birkenfeld is an american banker who spent much of his life in switzerland, helping americans hide their riches in a swiss bank. in 2007 he went to the u.s. government and secretly provided information which ultimately led to swiss bank, ubs to pay a $780 million penalty, and turn over the names of 4,000 u.s. taxpayers with secret accounts in switzerland. today his lawyers announced the irs has rewarded birkenfeld with what's believed to be the largest whistle blower award ever. $104 million. citing his exceptional cooperation. >> with $5 billion collected so far, the award to brad is less than two cents on the dollar for every dollar collected by the treasury. >> reporter: after birkenfeld blew the whistle, he was prosecuted for failing to come

completely clean about his own actions to help a client avoid taxes. he's now on home confinement, serving the end of a prison sentence. he and others argued the prosecution was unjust. >> this was the largest tax fraud case in the world, and i sacrificed my reputation, my life, my finances, and this is how i get treated? >> reporter: birkenfeld will have to pay taxes on the award and pay his lawyers, who say they now plan to pursue a presidential pardon. lisa myers, nbc news, washington. now we go to syria, where the civil war has triggered a growing humanitarian crisis that we're on the ground to see. more than a quarter million syrians have been forced to flee their own country. most of them to crowded refugee camps in turkey, lebanon, iraq, and most of all in jordan. nbc's ann curry is reporting from there this week, and is with us from there again tonight.

>> reporter: brian, good evening. it's not just the number of people who have been affected, but how vicious this war has become. the government has the heavy weapons and is using them, but atrocities have been alleged by both sides. the u.n. has reported that even children have been tortured, killed and used as human shields. civil war is turning syria into an unimaginable hell. the fighting is intensifying. the government attacks are more indiscriminate. even small children now know to run. people do what they can to help the injured. while thousands flee the country. desperate to get out of harm's way. refugee camps are filling up. today actor and activist angelina jolie, a special u.n. envoy on refugees, drew a crush of news cameras as she visited a camp in jordan. she was visibly moved by what she saw. >> it is a horrific situation

and a very, very critical time. hundreds and hundreds of people are dying every day. >> reporter: the desperation jolie witnessed has become commonplace. near the syrian border our news team saw a pickup truck speeding into jordan. and jordanian soldiers raced to bring the injured man with a critical neck injury and a leg wound to safety. his name is mohammed, a 20-year-old farmer. he had been driving a truck to pick up a relative when a bomb struck. he says he blacked out. it was the day before his wedding. medics struggled to keep him from slipping away. they don't believe he will survive. hello. two days later we found mohammed alive in a jordanian hospital. and eager to speak with his fiancee back in syria. we help him make the call. his joy is immediate. he tells her, when i regained consciousness, i was thinking about you the whole time. come over here, come over. she says, how can i come over?

mohammed knows she cannot easily make the journey. he's already planning to return to her in syria. he tells her, you are the love of my life. two lives and a country torn apart by war. today the head of the u.n. refugee agency and jordan foreign minister made an urgent appeal for more international aide to help a growing flood of refugees. brian? >> ann curry continuing her reporting from the region for us tonight. ann, thanks. still ahead along the way for us this tuesday evening, fish oil. millions take it for a lot of reasons, but does it make a difference in one crucial area? and later, what butterflies in flight may be trying to tell us about something much bigger.

as you may know, doctors often recommend fish oil to patients for a number of things, your heart, digestion, your skin, your hair, your brain.

but fish oil is being talked about in the news today because of one of those new studies. it narrows in on the effect it has or doesn't have on your heart. our report on this new study tonight from our chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> reporter: katie killian has been taking fish oil supplements as part of a heart healthy program for 20 years. >> taking fish oil has lowered my cholesterol. and that makes me happy, because i don't have to take any other medications. >> reporter: she is hardly alone. the supplements are a source of omega 3 fatty acid. which is known to be good for the heart. while sales exceed $1 billion a year, studies have repeatedly differed on how much fish oil helps. the research out today combined 20 previous studies involving more than 68,000 patients since 1989. the analysis by greek scientists was published today in "the journal of the american medical association." overall, the study concluded the supplements do neither harm nor good.

but it also showed that people taking fish oil supplements suffered 9% fewer heart deaths and 11% fewer heart attacks. for several other factors, sudden deaths, total deaths and stroke, the study found no significant difference. >> if you focus on cardiac death, which is the outcome most likely influenced by fish oil, there is a significant benefit for that outcome. >> reporter: one thing today's report finds is that older studies tended to show more benefit fr the supplement than newer ones. experts say that could be because people are taking better heart medication and eating more fish. the supplements don't matter as much. >> i recommend to patients that they eat fish as a first blind measure. if they don't like fish or want to make sure they're getting omega 3s, there's no harm in taking fish oil. and it certainly might help. >> reporter: katie killian certainly follows that advice, and nothing in the latest

research will likely change her mind. robert bazell, nbc news, new york. up next here tonight, did we here on earth just get spared from something cataclysmic without even knowing about it? i'm a native californian.

times are tough. our state's going through a tough time. but we can fix it. ♪ chevron's been here in california for 133 years. we work hard. we support 1 in 200 jobs in the state. we support each other. and we spent over $450 million dollars with local small businesses last year. and, together, we can keep this...

we're committed. ...the great state of california. committed to california. ♪ as one astronomer put it, it looks like jupiter has taken one for the team. a photograph of jupiter has captured a flash on the surface of the massive planet, believed to be the impact of a comet or asteroid. at 11 times our size, jupiter is so big, out there closer to the edge of the solar system, and it's gravitational pull is so strong, it acts like the earth's catcher's mit. it actually attracts and stops a lot of big things that would leave a mark if they hit us. while we were on the air last night, he was playing an epic five hour tennis match. and with the folks back home staying up late to watch, last night andy murray became the first brit in 76 years to win a men's grand slam event. he is your u.s. open champion for this year coming off a gold medal at his home olympics in london.

well done, andy murray. with their nine-day overseas tour underway, william and kate are lighting up singapore. their travels are taking them to southeast asia, south pacific. an extended celebration of the queen's diamond jubilee, william was presented with a white orchid named after his mother, who died just two weeks before she was to see the flower unveiled for herself. up next tonight, why the butterflies of the bay state may be trying to tell us something about the state of our world.

there's been a news story developing lately in the commonwealth of massachusetts, but to see it, to fully take it in, you have to slow down, get off the grid and be very quiet. it's like the old expression about stopping to smell the roses, but in this case, it's about butterflies. and these butterflies may be on to something bigger than even massachusetts. we get the story tonight from our chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson. >> reporter: in this lush garden of verbena, butterflies that have long called massachusetts home -- >> three american ladies. >> reporter: -- are making way for an influx of butterflies from the south, like fiery skippers. until recently, more likely to

light in florida and texas than new england. >> we call them accidentals. in the old days, you would see perhaps one or two fiery skippers, and now you see dozens. >> reporter: the shift of southern butterflies to the increasingly warmer north is detailed in the journal nature. harvard professor greg breed is the study's lead scientist. >> we see the species that are more adapted to warmer clients are increasing, and species that are adapting to colder climates are decreasing. it seems sensible to infer that this is some climate driven pattern. >> reporter: is it climate change? >> that would be the most logical inference. >> reporter: the study is built on the work of citizen scientists. all members of the massachusetts butterfly club, and the 20,000 sightings they've noted over a period of 19 years. the data includes tom ganion's notes. so how do you keep your records? how do you know what's been here? >> i have a running log right here that i keep. >> reporter: other club members add their observations to the

notebook under the bench. from september 2007 -- >> we had ten common checkered skippers and -- >> reporter: this is a southern species. >> yes, this is a southern species, a fiery skipper. >> reporter: this year, the buzz is all about the giant swallow tails, common in the deep south. >> have you ever seen 108 giant swallow tails in a season? >> not in my whole life, nevermind one season. >> reporter: like the butterflies they note, some may consider these club members accidentals too, accidental scientists, not breed. >> if they go out and look and they're interested, and they write down what they see, that's a perfectly valid observation. >> reporter: seeing nature's patterns change right before their eyes. anne thompson, nbc news, northampton, massachusetts. and that is our broadcast on a tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams, and we sure hope to see you right back here with us tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

right now at 6:00, accusations of abuse at a south bay school. >> no more jail! mo more jails. >> hundreds of protesters turn out in one peninsula city. the fight over how they want their tax dollars to be spent. >> but first quiet no longer. mark zuckerberg opens up. what he says about the future of facebook. >> good evening. and thanks for joining us. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj maathai. >> for the first time since taking his company public facebook boss mark zuckerberg is breaking his silence. a lot of qio