people and the leadership, this week of the tenth anniversary of the iraq war we have the president of the united states talking very seriously about military action taking place in two new countries -- iran and syria. it was the president's first visit to the holy land as president. israel rolled out more than just a red carpet. ♪ >> reporter: but it took a while to get rolling. car trouble for the presidential limo. it was quickly replaced with a backup. mr. obama is eager to use this visit to reset relations with a long time ally. >> we are following the red line, sir. >> oh, following the red line, okay. >> red lines all the time, huh? >> we're always talking about red lines. >> reporter: it may have been a joke, but the red lines for syria and iran are deadly serious business for both leaders. >> we have been clear that the use of chemical weapons against the syrian people would be a serious and tragic mistake. >> reporter: the president did not confirm whether chemical weapons have actually been used in syria, but he clearly didn't believe some initial reports. >> i am deeply skeptical of any

claim that, in fact, it was the opposition that used chemical weapons. >> reporter: on iran, the two leaders took pains to show a united front with the israeli prime minister agreeing with the president that iran is at least a year away from developing nuclear weapons. >> i'm absolutely convinced that the president is determined to prevent iran from getting nuclear weapons. >> and i will repeat, all options are on the table. we will do what is necessary to prevent iran from getting the world's worst weapons. >> reporter: it's been a difficult four years between these two, but today they seemed determined to put that behind them. >> let's get you in there, the rose between the thorns. >> reporter: neither leader missed a chance to charm the other. >> i think that people should

get to know president obama the way i have gotten to know him. >> reporter: it may seem like a fresh start, but there was no breakthrough on peace with the palestinians. despite what the president told brian just five months ago. >> when i go to israel, i want to make sure we are actually moving something forward. >> reporter: but the hope remains that an improved personal relationship will lead to the prospect of a renewed peace prospect in a very dangerous neighborhood. chuck todd, nbc news, jerusalem. i'm richard engel. israel sees the world just beyond its borders collapsing. the war in syria, the renewed war in iraq. hamas in charge in gaza with new rockets that can reach tel aviv. the muslim brotherhood running egypt. israel hasn't ever been popular in this neighborhood. now its enemies are at the gate and angry. the arab spring uprising has become a threat to israel. it is sealing off its borders. in the sinai mountains, 150-mile fence is going up along the border with egypt. 20 feet high, thermal cameras, razor wire.

when it's finished it will run all along israel's border with egypt. israel is quite physically walling itself off from a neighbor it's had a peace deal with for three decades. israel still has a peace treaty with egypt, its biggest arab neighbor, but it is not taking any chances. >> this is the fence itself. >> reporter: made of what? steel? >> exactly. you can see way above it's like knives. >> reporter: very hard to climb. you couldn't grip on it. in northern israel another fence is going up along the syrian border. it's not far from the saroker family home. >> we know the whole thing is going to explode in our face at some point. it looks like it's going to be soon. >> reporter: israel is becoming

a fortress. fences along the borders with egypt, lebanon, and syria. more fences around the gaza strip and a massive wall along the west bank. a country the size of new jersey with more than 500 miles of barricades. israel is shutting out the arab world and shutting itself in. the president had one main message for the israeli people. the united states is with you in these uncertain times. it's the same message the president will now deliver to other increasingly nervous american allies in the west bank and jordan. brian? >> richard engel back in the region for us tonight. chuck todd prior to that traveling with the president starting us off. gentlemen, thanks. back to the press conference, both leaders had opening statements. the actual press conference part was limited to two questions from israeli journalists and two questions from the visiting americans. so when our own friend chuck todd asked a multi part question he got called out for it. >> another question i have for you is -- >> chuck, how many you got? do you guys do this in the israeli press? you say you get one question and then you add, like, five? you see how the young lady from

channel 1 had one question? she was very well behaved, chuck. >> this is not a kosher question, but don't hog it. >> chuck, i mean, you're just incorrigible. >> he is incorrigible, come to think of it. our own chuck todd called out in jerusalem and guilty as charged. truth be told. back in this country, there is an intense manhunt under way in the state of colorado after a high profile figure in that state was shot and killed when he answered the front door to his own home. no one knows who did this or why. it happened last night in monument, just north of colorado springs. nbc's kristen dahlgren has our report. >> reporter: in an upscale neighborhood outside denver, a desperate manhunt for a brazen killer that took his crime to the state's highest levels. shooting tom clements, the head of the colorado department of corrections in clements's own home. >> tom clements dedicated his life to being a public servant,

to making our state better, to making the world a better place. he is going to be deeply missed. >> reporter: while security was beefed up at colorado governor john hickenlooper's mansion as a precaution, authorities say they have no suspect or motive. >> we are sensitive to the fact there could be any number of people who may have a motive for wanting to target him for a crime such as this. however, we also remain open minded to all of the other possibilities as well. >> reporter: since 2011 clements oversaw colorado's 20 prisons, home to more than 20,000 inmates. for 31 years before that he worked in missouri's prison system. tuesday night, clements was shot at his front door. >> somebody rang the doorbell. the husband answered and was shot. >> reporter: neighbors told police say saw a car running outside just minutes before the murder. >> because we don't have a suspect, we don't know the whereabouts of the suspect we want folks to remain vigilant. >> reporter: it's the latest

shooting in a state that saw the aurora movie theater massacre and columbine. it's become ground zero for the gun debate. ironically the government kept his schedule today, signing tough new gun legislation limiting ammunition and requiring buyers to pay for background checks, just hours after the beloved member of his cabinet was shot. >> he would have expected us to sign these bills and go forward today. that's the kind of man he was. >> reporter: kristen dahlgren, nbc new, los angeles. as we mentioned at the very top of the broadcast tonight the health news this evening is this. the number of children with autism in this country may be a lot higher than previously thought according to new research from the cdc. tonight our chief science correspondent robert bazell has a look at what's behind these new numbers. >> reporter: the latest numbers show that autism diagnoses have grown to the point where parents report that fully 1 in 50 school age children has autism. aiden myers was diagnosed two years ago. >> i think it's scary. i think that we obviously need

to figure out what is going on. >> reporter: hello, aiden. how do you do? no one doubts aiden myers's diagnosis. he is clearly not terribly disabled. he was late starting to speak and he's working to overcome learning disabilities at the reed academy in new jersey. >> awesome job. >> reporter: the latest numbers from a telephone survey with the federal government showed the highest increases occurring in mild cases like aiden's along the spectrum of autism disorders as opposed to children who are severely withdrawn socially and often unable to speak. the government survey find that is the reported number of children with autism grew from 1.16% in 2007 to 2% now. that means about 1 million children in the united states are now diagnosed with autism. >> look. say, mom, come watch me. >> come watch me. >> reporter: experts say the new numbers do not necessarily point

to a genuine increase in children with the neurological changes that are labeled as autism. >> a lot of things are changing. one, awareness is changing. we hear about autism in many different circles. two, clinicians are recognizing autism much more frequently. both of those factors are certainly playing into the increased numbers that we are seeing. >> reporter: the experts say more research is needed to know for certain whether other factors are involved in the ever growing numbers of american children being diagnosed with autism. >> aiden, where's the lollipop? >> the lollipop. >> yeah. >> reporter: robert bazell, nbc news, new york. and where our weather is making news tonight, a whole lot of americans need reminding tonight it is actually spring -- at least the calendar tells us it starts today. with the jet stream dipping way down, a lot of temperatures are way below normal for this time of year. wind chills around zero this morning in parts of the midwest. and across the northern half of the country from coast to coast really the snow cover is hanging

in there. there's yet another winter weather system setting up for this weekend in the plains and the rockies. what a difference a year makes. those who can recall it remember last spring was the warmest ever on record in this country. still ahead for us tonight on a wednesday evening, the backlash over a new health plan at a big employer. a lot of folks told to get on the scale or it will cost them. later, an old joke among a lot of women has suddenly become serious business for some folks providing a helping hand for a lot of busy families.

there is a new front in the battle of obesity in this country tonight. a growing problem that cannot be ignored. here's why. with two-thirds of americans now officially listed as either overweight or obese and related health care costs soaring now to $168 billion a year. now one of the nation's big employers, the cvs drugstore chain, is taking a hard line on monitoring its own employees' weight. it's causing an uproar including a big reaction when we posted it on our facebook page just today. the story tonight from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: numbers on the scale don't lie. this country needs to lose some

weight. but how involved should employers get in the process? a new employee health policy at cvs, the rhode island-based pharmacy company, has triggered lively debate and more than a little anger. >> i don't necessarily think that's something they should ask employees. >> i think the cost is just ridiculous. >> reporter: to take part in the company-sponsored health insurance, cvs employees are now required to have their weight, body fat and glucose levels screened by their doctors. if they do not, their premiums may go up $600 a year. that's $50 a month. in a statement, cvs says the data collected never leaves the doctor's office and that the goal is to help employees improve their health and manage health-associated costs. right idea, say some, but the wrong approach. >> they may well want a healthier workforce, but they are going about it in a destructive way that offends people and violates their privacy. >> reporter: in a 2009 survey of 5,000 company, 8% used financial penalties to motivate healthy behavior. last year the number jumped to

20%. employers use two different strategies to encourage participation. some, like cvs, use what might be considered the stick approach. threatening penalties. while others use more carrot-like incentives. at this small insurance firm in new york, the carrot is money. a quarter of the staff signed up for a weight loss competition with 17 other companies. over the course of three months, whoever loses the most in their office will get $3,000. whoever loses the most overall gets $10,000. the contest is purely voluntary. >> we have a lot of people who opted not to participate in it this way. they didn't want any kind of information about them or their health out there. >> reporter: as employers' health care costs rise, more companies may not be willing to give employees the choice to opt out of wellness. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. we're back in a moment with something you don't see the queen do every day. plus, an amazing discovery from the bottom of the atlantic ocean. there's this island -- and it's got super-cute kangaroos.

barrow island has got rare kangaroos. ♪ chevron has been developing energy here for decades. we need to protect their environment. we have a strict quarantine system to protect the integrity of the environment. forty years on, it's still a class-a nature reserve. it's our job to look after them. ...it's my job to look after it. ♪ it is believed, though not

confirmed, that mankind has sent an object outside our own solar system for the first time. voyager i was launched 35 years ago to explore the planets. it traveled 11 billion miles. now some astronomers say it and its companion, voyager ii are the two most distant active representatives of humanity and its desire to explore. put it this way. if all the cars made were as well made as the voyager there would be no need for a break-down lane. speaking of space it always bothered jeff bazos that engines that powered apollo xi to the moon were disposable. they were meant to fall into the sea. even though the engines played a huge role in space history. well, jeff is the guy behind amazon.com. he's well financed and enjoys a good challenge.

so today after a year of trying, they brought up engine parts from the deep. there is a lot of discarded rocket engines out there in the atlantic off florida. so while it's believed these are the right ones, they don't know for sure yet. as we said, you don't get to see this every day. the queen and duchess kate middleton on the subway. part of the 150th celebration of the london underground. it's the oldest subway system in the world and one of the best still, by the way. kate loved her gift -- a baby on board lapel pin. all of this took place at the baker street station right around the corner from sherlock holmes's old place. you could almost hear the sound they use on "antiques roadshow" when someone learns that their discovered attic treasure is worth a lot of money. ♪

that sound right there. a chinese bowl purchased for $3 at a garage sale turned out to be from china. it's 1,000 years old. it has sold at auction for $2.2 million. that's $3 original price. there is one known example like it. it's been in the british museum for 60 years. always strange when your own company is in the news, especially if it involves what people watch on tv at night. the new york times is reporting "the tonight show" is moving back to new york after 40 years in beautiful downtown burbank. veteran tv writer bill carter says it's in part because late night host jimmy fallon will take over for jay leno at the end of jay's current contract. when we asked the grown-ups about this our company said, quote, no decisions have been made. up next here tonight, when there just isn't enough time in the day to get it all done, one woman says she has the solution.

finally tonight, depending on your at home domestic relationship and how busy your life is you may have heard people say they need a wife to handle it all -- even people who are married or have a wife or a husband. increasingly some enterprising folks found a way to profit from this need. our report tonight from nbc's chris jansing. >> reporter: in new orleans there is a laundry room that needs to get organized. >> we are going to do something

with all of her wreaths. >> reporter: and decorations still piled up long after the holidays ended. kay morrison never seemed to finish her to-do list. her ah-ha moment came when she and her husband made overlapping plans with no one left to take care of the kids. >> my husband screamed out, oh, my god, we need a wife! i was like, hey, buddy, i think i do a pretty good job. he said, you know, you're right. we need an occasional wife. i was like, bam! >> reporter: she quit climbing the corporate ladder and jumped into her own small business, the occasional wife. tailor made for busy professionals like jenny williamson who called kay in tears. >> i probably cried at the beginning when i first called you because i was so overwhelmed. >> do people do that? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: kay's staff will shop for groceries, plan a birthday party or whip your home into neat, blissful shape. while occasional husbands tackle

moving, repairs, installation. besides busy families typical customers are single professional women, single dads, empty nesters looking to downsize and frankly, anyone who just isn't very good at getting organized themselves. businesses like it are flourishing around the country. blanca crotay built rent-a-spouse in san francisco from almost nothing. >> i started a business with $25 to my name and turned it into six figures, part time within less than a year. >> reporter: word of mouth fuels the businesses. when kay morrison organized a playroom for jenny's daughter she literally hugged the organizational system. >> i love seeing people really less stressed. that's what i wanted so bad when i was in that crazy world of trying to do it all. >> reporter: while you might have it all, you just can't do it all yourself. chris jansing, nbc news, new orleans. >> that is our broadcast on a wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com now. good evening. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. we first broke this story about a year ago. tonight it involves google employees. toxic vapors inside two google office buildings. this report comes from our partners at the center for investigative reporting. again, this is getting a lot of attention. >> absolutely, raj. our colleagues for the center of investigative reporting obtained this report to the e.p.a. which runs more than 1,300 pages long. it details how from mid november through mid january high levels

of tce in the air inside those google buildings exceeded what is considered safe by the e.p.a. all because workers disabled a critical part of the office complex's ventilation system. the buildings involved are ones renovated and leased by google that sit directly over the e.p.a. superfund site known as the new plume. it found higher than expected levels of tce in the air and ground under homes outside that plume back in december as well as in the google buildings. now it appears the levels of tce could have lingered in the air for months all because the air conditioning system was shut off. >> what we do know is prior to november, mid nov when the readings were found to be elevated the inspection was

overwritten. all responsible parties got together about two months later after they initially found the tce levels were high and decided to switch it to automatic in mid january. within a few days the readings were back to normal. >> reporter: tce is a cleaning solvent once used commonly by the military. it is a toxic solvent that causes cancer in people and heart deformities in unborn babies. it leaked from underground tanks in this area and spilled all over the site making it a site being cleaned up. the main threat from tce comes from vapors that seep from underground and accumulate inside buildings. the e.p.a. says it cannot verify how many employees have been exposed but a spokesman did tell women to speak to their