on the broadcast tonight, 18 days and one last critical debate to go now. tonight, there is a new word in the political dictionary. and what happened last night that a lot of americans wish we could see more of. disappearing act, remember the uproar over the x-ray full body scanners over at the airport. why many of them have started to disappear from some of the nation's busier airports. and signs of hope tonight, from malala yousufzai, the young woman targeted for assassination by the taliban, for speaking freely, tonight there is remarkable news from her hospital room. and having babies, news about a choice women have been making, using science to put off motherhood.

good evening, with 18 days to go now until this presidential election, there was something that happened during one brief shining moment last night that a whole lot of americans would like to see more of. both candidates made fun of themselves and then went on to say nice things about each other and their families. that was last night. today, the president and governor romney went their separate ways, some campaigning, some preparation for the next and final debate on monday night, just prior to the all-out sprint to the finish. we begin our coverage tonight with our chief white house correspondent, chuck todd, good evening. >> good evening, brian, we're at the point in the campaign where every day feels like a week, every week feels like a day. well, today the president is feeling the heat, testing out yet another new line of attack on mitt romney. president obama today dialled up his criticism in virginia, feeling the heat from mitt romney's continued momentum. >> i mean, he is changing up so much and back-tracking and side-stepping.

we have got to -- we have got to -- we got to name this condition that he is going through. i think -- i -- i think it is called rom-nesia, here is the good news, obama care covers pre-existing conditions. >> with governor romney on his way to florida, the site of the final debate, his running mate in the state making the case for him. >> of all the things romney has done in his life it is how to turn sluggish, slow, organizations into lean, effective organizations, this is what he did in his career. >> romney's campaigning in florida, in 2008 they supported mr. obama, today, they wrote, we have little confidence that mr. obama would be more successful in managing the budget in the next four years. the president did receive some significant newspaper support today, including the tampa bay times in

florida, "the denver post," and even the salt lake city tribune. >> everybody take a seat, otherwise, clint eastwood will yell at them. last night in new york city, it was all smiles and friendly barbs. the two men took a break from the heated campaign to co-headline the al smith dinner >> i was actually hoping the president would bring joe biden along this evening because he will laugh at anything. >> after my foreign trip in 2008, i was attacked as a celebrity because i was so popular with our allies overseas. and i have to say i'm impressed with how governor romney has avoided that problem. >> nice to relax and wear what ann and i wear around the house. >> each praised the other. >> i admire him as a family man and a loving father, and those are two titles that will always matter more than political ones. >> don't tell anybody i said so but our president has many gifts and a beautiful family that would make any man proud.

>> and campaigning in pennsylvania, the first time any member of the gop ticket has been in that state. the first time in weeks, we'll have the new york wall street national poll debuting on "meet the press." >> all right, chuck todd here, just a few weeks left, thank you. and now to a story we could hear about in the foreign policy theme debate. president and governor romney already went over this once, benghazi, and u.s. officials and what they knew and when they knew it after the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate last month. republicans have been raising new issues tonight about the intelligence. we get more from our chief correspondent andrea mitchell. >> reporter: trying to put the issue behind him the president gave his critics a new talking point last night. >> i would say even you would admit it was not the optimal response for the american people, as far as us being on the same page. >> here is what i say, if four

people get killed, it is not optimal. >> he used stewart's words, but that didn't count. critics pounced. >> that makes me a little sad. the optimal remark. >> reporter: blindsiding the administration and house democrats, republican house members released documents the state department had provided congress, including this cable from ambassador chris stevens, a month before the attacks, he warned, what we have seen are not random crimes of opportunity, but rather targeted attacks, they wrote answers about security failures. and while the president vows to hunt down the killers, libyan authorities are permitting one suspected terrorist to walk free, bragging. how will mitt romney challenge the president at the debate? a preview from paul ryan today >> the problem is the story continues to shift. they refuse to answer the basic questions about what happened.

>> reporter: intelligence officials do have an explanation, saying they were working with multiple reports. riots in cairo, tunisia and elsewhere over the anti-muslim video. reports in the consulate about contradictions outside the consulate saying there was a protest. intercepted information, planned attacks, linked to the al-qaeda off-shoot. >> this rush to judgment during a presidential campaign i find it to be troubling and i find it to be very distasteful. >> reporter: ambassador stevens wrote this cable on september 11th, the day he was killed, warning that libyan security was too weak. still, tonight intelligence officials tell them they had no idea the attack was planned, sticking with earlier assessments, that the attackers only struck after hearing about the violence in cairo. >> we'll hear more about this, as we said, andrea mitchell, thank you, in washington. as recently as yesterday,

the head of tourism in lebanon was angry at this past episode of the popular tv show "homeland," for portraying beirut then, an explosion of violence after what was a peaceful run there. a massive car bomb where some fear that the war in syria is spreading. eight people are dead, our report tonight from stephanie gosk in beirut. >> reporter: the bomb devastated a narrow street in one of beirut's nicest residential neighborhoods. buildings collapsed, cars burned, calm turned to chaos. the whole place was destroyed, this woman yelled. god saved me, but there is nothing left. no roof, no windows. the explosion left a 15-foot crater, among the dead,

al-hassan, one of lebanon's top officials. they made an urgent plea for blood as more than 100 were rushed to emergency rooms. this has been the fear all along, that violence in syria would spill over its borders, many believe that is what happened today there in beirut some of the same sectarian divisions that fuelled the civil war in syria also exist in this country. but until today, the lebanese government has been able to keep relative peace between the groups who support the government. and now, some are blaming president assad for the attack, calling it an assassination of general hassan, who was a vocal critic of assad. tonight, protesters have taken to the street, burning tires and blocking roads, while many in lebanon worry today's violence is just the beginning. the bomb exploded a 100 yards from here.

the military has completely shut down this street. this city is extremely quiet tonight, especially for a friday. it is a good indication of just how rattled people are here tonight. >> stephanie gosk, thank you. and airport security, we learned today that some of the airport body scanners which were in the news over fears of privacy and radiation are being removed from some of the bigger airports across the country. also there is word that the tsa has fired or suspended dozens of screeners at one major airport for not properly doing their jobs. our report from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: they were initially rolled out as the state-of-the-art upgrades at the tsa airports, so-called background machines that searched passengers for weapons and explosives. despite word from the tsa and the scientific community that the radiation levels are very low and safe, many travellers

have remained concerned. >> it has always been an issue for women, especially if there is pregnant women going through, the body scanners. >> reporter: the tsa supervisors have also complained to nbc news that the screeners have broken down, causing long delays at the checkpoints. today, the tsa announced the back scanner scanners are coming out of some airports, including jfk and l.a.x., and moved to smaller airports, to be replaced by the wave scanners, using radio waves instead of radiation. the tsa says it is an effort to insure the most efficient and effective use of security technology and should speed things along at the big tsa checkpoints. meanwhile, at newark airport, some have been fired or suspended after an internal investigation found they were not following procedures, screening the checked luggage for explosives. >> the only way you fix this is bring in new people, supervisors

and managers, as quickly as possible. >> reporter: with 50,000 screeners, the agency says it has zero tolerance for misconduct. tom costello, washington. and good news to report tonight about the 15-year-old pakistani girl, malala yousufzai, whose story has been followed around the globe, ten days after she was shot by the taliban, and four days after she was brought to the uk for treatment, she is making great progress. more from kier simmons. >> reporter: malala yousufzai, the young girl out of a coma, clutching a teddy bear out of her bedroom. she took on the taliban. she wanted this picture to be released. >> she is happy to share, quite a lot of clinical detail with you. >> reporter: doctors call her progress very encouraging. >> she is doing very well, in fact, she was standing with some help for the first time this

morning when i went in to see her. she is communicating very freely and writing. >> reporter: she is still very weak. but she apparently remembers the shooting last week that nearly killed her. people in pakistan remember, too. many have rallied to her cause, education for girls. school girls here in britain have also taken notice. >> it was completely shocking. i mean i don't -- i don't expect it to happen, we take education for granted here. her family is still in pakistan >> reporter: the doctors are trying to set up a call so her dad can speak to her. she can't talk yet, still has a tube in her throat, she has written messages for the world. >> she has asked me to thank people for their support, telling us how much they can about how strong she is really. >> reporter: malala yousufzai is still fighting an infection and

will need surgery, doctors say the bullet grazed her brain, just a tiny move in the trajectory would have been fatal. instead, she is now on the long road to recovery. and 25 years ago on this very night we were assessing the damage from "black monday" on wall street, biggest percentage drop, the dow losing 22%, on wall street today, the major indexes all ended the day down, their worst day since june. and still ahead, what doctors are saying about an option many women are choosing to beat the biological clock. and back in the game, grandparents to the rescue.

our health news tonight has to do with the leading option for women who want to have children but may want to wait until later in life, say, after the age of 35. for those women, there is a choice becoming much more common. tonight, the nation's fertility doctors are giving it their stamp of approval, for women who want to in effect, freeze time. the story from our chief correspondent, robert bazell. >> reporter: kathy cooper is a 38-year-old businesswoman who wants to have children some day, but not yet. a year ago she decided to have some of her eggs frozen and stored, so that in the future she will have a good chance to have a baby that is her own biologically. >> i knew i wanted to have the options in my life, to be able to have kids.

>> reporter: today, the studies show that egg freezing is no longer experimental, but should be considered a routine treatment. >> we were able to get the baby rate very similar with frozen thawed eggs, as we were with the standard treatment, where we use eggs fresh from the patient >> reporter: previously, doctors were able to freeze eggs, but it often damaged the eggs. doctors learned to do it without water so that the ice crystals wouldn't harm the eggs. without egg freezing, women nearer or past 40 can only have children with the ivf, with eggs donated by others, today, they try to beat the biological clock. instead for cancer patients and others who know they have limited fertility, it can be used. many women and doctors dismiss some theories. >> i don't think that is for an agency to decide how a woman chooses to conduct her reproductive life.

>> reporter: egg freezing costs between 20 and $40,000. few insurers will pay for it. but at the very least, today's news calls for attention on the fertility option for many more women. robert bazell, nbc news new york. and up next here tonight, the greatest show on earth this weekend, right in your own back yard.

big texas no more, caught fire burned from his boots to his cowboy hat. for 60 years, he served to all entering the state, as a greeter, they are promising to re-build big tex by next year's state fair. no injuries or known causes electronics were suspected. and witnesses in oklahoma said it reminded them of the dust bowl days, after a wreck was triggered on the highway, it claimed three dozen vehicles, caused nine injuries, many of the locals blamed it on the recent drought. if there is clear skies

where you live, go outside saturday night and watch the orionid meteor shower, many could have spectacular colored trails, we put a viewer's guide on our website. and the new york times sports page has weighed in on the four-game sweep of the hometown team by the detroit tigersthey say when it mattered most, two hundred million could barely buy a hit. didn't matter that derek jeter broke his ankle, jeter will try to come back, a lot of fans hope that a-rod won't. and a tender moment caught in kenya, a baby elephant was unable to get out of a deep hole. and after a stand-off with the nervous mother while rescue crews got a rope around it, pulling it out finally with the help of a land rover. at the end of it all it sprinted towards its mother and was reunited.

up next, coming out of retirement to make a difference.

our "making a difference" report tonight is about a group of retirees coming out of retirement and helping kids in some of the country's toughest

schools. they call themselves foster grandparents. tonight, chelsea clinton tells their story. >> reporter: he is hard at work every morning, well before some students are awake. but 71-year-old percy thomas retired long away. he volunteers with the foster grandparent program. a national effort to get retirees to mentor america's youth. and grandfather thomas is always there at d.c.'s minor elementary school, assisting second grade teacher, ms. sharp, and teaching students. many, one-on-one in the fundamentals. >> okay. >> do you talk to kids about why math and reading are so important? >> well, you could have a lot of money, if you can't count it is not going to help you. >> reporter: more than 80% of kids here are on free or reduced lunch. a role model, guide, friend,

grandfather thomas has worked with more than 200 children through the years. >> he is sweet, he is kind, he is nice and everybody adores him. >> can you imagine your class without grandfather thomas? >> no, i would be mad. >> you would be mad, why would you be mad? >> because he ain't here. >> you like it when he is here? >> uh-huh. >> it is something about a grandparent that you just can't explain. it is that nurturing spirit. and the children, they feel that. >> reporter: the foster grandparent program is not only here in d.c. there are 28,000 volunteers across the country. and it is not just with young kids. >> i love them. >> reporter: grandmother dorothy campbell has mentored this teen since they met 11 years ago. >> she just taught me how to eat more healthy, and taught me how to cook healthy foods but filling foods. >> reporter: here, at d.c.'s united planning organization which runs the local chapter of

foster grandparents she is passing along some of her famous recipes. >> i think the kids are keeping me well, come to think of it. and that is why i'm 75. so therefore, i just got to keep on living. >> reporter: for grandfather thomas, it is the kids at minor elementary school who keep him young. >> i paid my dues. i take the things that i learned through life and give it back to somebody. if i didn't do that, i would be home watching tv all day long. this is my family. >> reporter: stitching generations together, learning life's lessons along the way. chelsea clinton, nbc news, washington. >> that is our broadcast on a friday night and for this week. thank you for joining us here. i'm brian williams, of course, we hope to see you right back here on monday. and in the meantime, please have a good weekend. good night.

good friday evening. i'm janelle wang. i'm jessica aguirre. it's the last day of school for two young girls. the parents say the daughters are getting kicked out of their district for something they have no control over. the severe cases of nut allergies. the district says they don't belong not because of the allergies but because an investigation proves the family doesn't live in the town. >> live with a story on nbc bay area.