car being sought in the brazen murder of tom clements, colorado's top prison official. >> we hope that information coming out of texas might be positive for us once the investigators have time to complete their work there. the gunman who died of a single shot to the head was identified as 28-year-old evan spencer ebel. a colorado parolee with a lengthy rap sheet and known ties to a violent white supremacist group in colorado prisons called the 211 crew. an organization that tracks hate groups says members are in it forever. >> this is one of the more vicious white supremacist prison gangs in the country. >> reporter: officials are waiting to release results of the forensic investigation. >> we'll also come up from texas and try to figure out why he was here, what his relationship with a gang or anything. >> reporter: law enforcement sources say shell casings recovered in texas match the brand and caliber used in clements's murder.

denver police say there is a strong indication ebel may have been involved in another crime -- the murder of 27-year-old pizza delivery man nathan leon in golden, colorado, on sunday. his family has been struggling to figure out why anyone would kill the father of three working two jobs to provide for his family. >> what a good father and a husband he was to my sister. so, please, help us find who did this to my brother-in-law so we can have justice. please. >> reporter: evidence in ebel's car also included a domino's pizza uniform and carrier. officials here in colorado say they are following leads here. they are not letting their guard down just in case. tonight, brian, security remains high for some officials in this state. >> kristen dahlgren, colorado springs to start us off. kristen, thanks. an awful week for the u.s. marine corps got worse last night when a marine shot and killed a male and a female colleague and then shot himself to death. it happened at the officer candidate school of marine corps base camp quantico 40 miles

south of d.c. all people involved were staff members on active duty. earlier this week seven marines were killed in a mortar training exercise in the nevada desert. those federal budget cuts called the sequester have claimed another victim tonight with a high profile air traffic control towers at small and medium-sized airports across our country. nbc's pete williams has had a look at the list. he's with us tonight from our washington newsroom. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. the f.a.a. says it has to do this to meet the goal of cutting more than $600 million out of its budget. starting in two weeks it's shutting down air traffic control towers in 38 states affecting operations at 149 small and medium-sized airports nationwide. it is not expected to have much impact on commercial airline schedules but it will affect operations at airports like frederick municipal in maryland. private planes operate. the towers will shut down because the f.a.a. is laying off

the contract controllers. another example in greenville, south carolina. it handles an average of 80 flights a day. these airports will not shut down completely because most planes can land without controllers, but it could put more demand on other f.a.a. facilities which will have their own problems coping with layoffs. the group that speaks for private plane owners tonight calls this extremely disappointing and says the same federal agency responsible for ensuring aviation safety is now taking steps to compromise it. brian? >> pete williams on this still developing story tonight. pete, thanks. now to chicago and the outrage expressed over mayor rahm emanuel's plan to close dozens of that city's public schools. 30,000 kids will be moved to different schools, most of them black on the city's south and west sides. chicago's not the only city where budget problems are forcing big changes in the public schools. our chief education correspondent rehema ellis is in detroit tonight after an all day conference as part of our education nation initiative.

good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. detroit is like a lot of cities struggling with budget deficits and closing schools like the one behind me. proposed shut-downs in chicago are more and bigger than any city has ever attempted all at one time. outrage intensified as word spread. 54 public schools in chicago are slated to close at the end of this school year. >> my child has been here since he's been going to school. >> it's so sad to think that they are all going to be separated. >> reporter: the city is working to address a $1 billion deficit and says the closures could save $560 million over ten years. before it can save it has to spend. $223 million to reconfigure the schools absorbing new students. >> this policy is racist, classist and we have to continue

to say that our mayor who is away on a ski trip drops this information right before spring break. this is cowardly. it's the ultimate bullying job. mayor rahm emanuel should be ashamed of himself. >> reporter: mayor emanuel defends the closing claiming too much money has been spent on underutilized schools with empty classrooms saying, the city should focus on safely getting every child into a better performing school. with neighborhoods plagued by gang violence many worry about kids' safety. >> it's hard because the kids are getting killed. that's my only fear -- that they are not going to be safe. >> reporter: another concern, the communities themselves. >> this personally is an attack on our kids. this is an attack on our communities. what are we doing? we're closing down schools and opening liquor stores. >> reporter: this is not the

first time cities have closed schools to balance budgets. kansas city, milwaukee, detroit, and pittsburgh are among those that shuttered dozens in recent years. by the end of this school year, both washington, d.c. and philadelphia intend to close even more. >> district budgets have been really tight since the recession. there is no sign of new money coming down the line. >> reporter: while chicago is planning to close dozens of traditional public schools they are also planning to open more public charter schools. that's also got people outraged. they are worried public education as we know it may eventually disappear all together. brian? >> rehema ellis, our chief education correspondent tonight. thanks. this was an important date for president obama in the middle east after visiting both israel and the west bank.

he met with king abdullah of jordan, a country facing some very turbulent times of its own post-arab spring. there may be no stronger arab ally to the u.s. and israel than jordan. our chief white house correspondent chuck todd traveling with the president and has our report. >> reporter: jordan's welcome for the president featured camels and bagpipes. ♪ at king abdullah's palace, a greeting by jordan's future leader, the young crown prince, a freshman at georgetown. topping the agenda, the war next door in syria. refugees flooding across the border could soon account for 20% of jordan's population. >> so for the americans in the audience have the equivalent of 30 million refugees crossing into the united states. the possibility of that going up to 60 million by the end of the year. >> reporter: the president announced $200 million in aid but still was pressed by a jordanian reporter on why the u.s. wasn't taking military action. >> the united states often finds itself in a situation where if it goes in militarily it is criticized for going in militarily. if it doesn't go in militarily, people say, why aren't you doing something militarily? >> reporter: before leaving israel today president obama did a little tarmac diplomacy arranging for a phone call between israeli's prime minister

netanyahu and turkey's prime minister erdogan. netanyahu apologizing for the death of nine turkish citizens in 2010. >> it's in the interest of the united states that they begin this process of getting their relationship back in order. >> reporter: this morning the president paid a visit to the holocaust memorial yad vashem. and the church of the nativity in bethlehem, considered by christians to be the birthplace of jesus. powerful images in the region that may also resonate with americans back home. chuck todd, nbc news, aman. >> the president's trip will be one topic of discussion on "meet the press" sunday morning as will the fight over guns in this country. new york mayor michael bloomberg and nra ceo wayne la pierre will be among david gregory's guests sunday morning here on nbc. still ahead for us on a friday night, a new warning

about the effectiveness of smoke alarms in millions of our homes. the warning has to do with our kids. later, the number of people who found money they were owed after our report last night about unclaimed life insurance benefits.

we have a story tonight that deserves our attention. a story about protecting children in the event of a fire in the home. there is an emerging body of science telling us what a lot of us parents already know -- kids sleep more soundly than adults. it can take a lot more to wake them up and smoke alarms may not be a match for a sleeping child. we get our report tonight from our nbc national investigative correspondent jeff rossen. [ alarm ] >> reporter: it's the sound we rely on to wake us up in a fire. but experts say in many cases children will sleep right through a smoke alarm. could that really be true? we set up a test at this house in connecticut. home to the hollander family --

parents michelle and josh and their three boys. we installed infrared cameras in the kids' bedrooms and in the middle of the night had a local fire captain set off the smoke alarm. would they wake up? [ alarm ] >> there it goes. >> reporter: we are watching with their parents on a monitor downstairs. seconds go by. then a minute. then two minutes. the boys keep sleeping. >> this could be a real fire right now. >> they would sleep right through it. it's so scary that the kids can sleep through this. >> reporter: fire officials say the boys should have gotten up and out to safety by now. >> did you hear that alarm going off? >> no. >> didn't hear it at all? did you hear that fire alarm? >> no. >> didn't hear it at all. it was beeping so loud right outside your room. our results are disturbing but sleep researcher dr. gary smith says he sees this all the time.

>> it would astound you how loud the sounds can get and children continue to sleep through them. >> reporter: why do kids sleep through the alarms? >> they are simply not small adults. they are different biologically. children spend more time in deep sleep than adults do. that's why it is harder for them to awaken in the case of an emergency. >> reporter: that's why he says families need an escape plan. make sure each adult has a designated child to wake up in a real fire. meanwhile researchers are trying to find a sound that works better than the beeping. dr. smith is experimenting with a new alarm prototype. it allows parents to record their own voices as the alarm telling their kids to get up. he says it seems to be working. right now these alarms aren't on the market and it could be at least another year before they are. jeff rossen, nbc news, new york. as we said, this deserves our attention. you can see more of this reporting sunday night on

"dateline" 7:00/6:00 p.m. central on this nbc station. we are back in a moment with a look at the three men who have been called the most powerful brothers in america.

what a night for the perennial college basketball powerhouse harvard. i'm sorry. that should read just harvard. either way, harvard blew up millions of people's brackets last night when they beat number 3 ranked new mexico. because cinderella stories are supposed to be what march madness is all about. by the way the ncaa continues to offer the boss button for those who are trying to enjoy the game at work when the boss shows up and ruins it. one button makes your computer screen look like you're working. enjoy the game. this is just plain sad. the houston astrodome billed as the 8th wonder of the world when it opened when lbj was president

in 1965 now abandoned. it hosted its last major league game in 1999. it is now referred to as the lonely landmark. the problem now is how much it would cost to blow it up or take it down. $29 million for starters. just to put up a parking lot. so there it will stay for the time being. governor chris christie of new jersey is a very big man. that much can be said factually. he would agree with that. he would also agree it takes a lot to make him look small. but look what happened today. shaq visited. shaq makes anyone next to shaq look small. while we are on the subject, here's a recent photo of shaq and his former girlfriend. last night here we aired a story about the staggering amount of life insurance money that goes unclaimed. a billion dollars worth of it in this country. most of it from policies that have fallen through the cracks over the years that families never knew about. the folks at the website we gave viewers to check report they

received more than 1.5 searches last night alone. one of the busiest days on the site's history. nearly 30,000 of you found unanceoney and filed claims for it. we have put all the information about how to find unclaimed money back on our website, nbcnightlynews.com. a quick preview tonight of a bit of what you can expect later tonight on "rock center." we sat down with the three men who may be the most successful three brothers from any one family in american public life today. the emanuel brothers -- the doctor, the agent, the mayor of chicago. when they get together it is something to see and hear. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> i think the real answer is -- >> again, again, modulate. we're right next to you. >> we're older.

more mature. calmer. >> no longer emotionally constipated. i'm not doing that. i have my view. >> no, no, no. stay. stay. mr. mayor, stay. >> it's the first time dick and i have bonded. we beat the heck out of rahm. >> i'm between you guys. >> that's not how all of it went, by the way. we have a revealing conversation with all three brothers in conjunction with a new book on their lives together. it will air tonight as part of an all new "rock center" tonight at 10:00/9:00 central. when we come back, a story of progress and a great idea that is starting to sprout up across the country.

>> announcer: stories of progress, brought to you by citi. supporting progress for 200 years. >> finally tonight, speaking of stories of progress. even though spring has gotten off to a cold start in a lot of our country, planting season can't be all that far off. that brings us tonight to a movement under way in this country to save the seeds of one year's harvest to plant in the next and create something of a legacy over the years. nbc's diana alviyar reports from richmond, california.

>> reporter: kelly grows a bounty of fruits, vegetables and herbs in her california backyard. >> this is cilantro. >> reporter: all by borrowing seeds from her local library. an old fashioned card catalog houses hundreds of varieties. rebecca newburnd the library three years ago. >> you can come and check out the tomato plants. >> reporter: it's simple. and it's free. >> we want you to plant them, grow them out and return the seeds for other people to borrow. >> reporter: it's how people farmed for centuries, saving the seeds from one year's harvard to plant the following season. >> people have moved away from the farm, growing their own food and a lot of the varieties weren't saved. so we have lost tons of genetic

diversity. >> reporter: many varieties are now patented by large conglomerates for use in commercial farming. that spurred a movement to reclaim seeds as a community resource. >> i really like tomatoes. it's something you can save the seed and eat at the same time. >> reporter: a seed summit at university of california santa cruz featured seed saving lessons and a seed swap. in the u.s. alone there are 60 seed libraries in 23 states and more are in the works. >> the more disconnected we get, the less power we have and less control we have over what food is produced and how it's produced. >> reporter: when kelly saves and shares seeds they represent a lot more to her than just lettuce and peas. for her, they represent a political act. >> if you have seeds, you hold the capacity to grow your own food and to feed yourself. >> reporter: it's become a family affair for kelly. snipping salad greens for dinner with her daughters. for others it is a necessity. >> i have people that are like, thank you, i could not have healthy food if it weren't for the fact that they could get access to free seed. >> reporter: cultivating an appreciation for nature's gifts one seed at a time. diana alviyar, nbc news,

richmond, california. >> that is our broadcast for this friday night and for this week. thank you for being here with us. a reminder. we're back on the air tonight with an all new rock center at 10:00/9:00 central. i'm brian williams. lester holt will be here with you this weekend. we'll look for you right back here monday night. in the meantime, please have a good weekend. in the meantime, please have a good weekend. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

of what one man tried to do on campus. i'm raj mathai. and i'm janelle wang in for jessica aguirre. >> in san jose a deadly stabbing has police searching yard to yard with with their guns drawn. around 3:00 this afternoon police say a woman was stabbed to death in a parking lot of a togo sandwich shop.

nbc bay ar nbc bay area joins us live from the scene. >> reporter: police officers continue to search for the man. the neighbors who are on the inside are being asked to stay inside their homes while the search goes on. we are here on the corner of hedding street and second street. police are telling us the woman was in this parking lot when a man came up to her. there was some sort of argument and then the guy started stabbing her numerous times. the man took off and hopped a fence into a neighborhood. here is video from our chopper showing police have sealed off this area. they are looking in the back yards of homes right now searching for this man. we talked to a an employee who looked out the window and saw the woman getting stabbed. >> a customer, she runs into the store and says lock the doors. so we are like why.

she is like there is a guy stabbing a girl. so we get close to the window and you can see everything that was happening. we couldn't do anything because we could just see the guy stabbing her. >> reporter: now, 30 minutes after the woman was stabbed she died at the hospital. this is san jose's tenth homicide in 2013. police are saying they don't know if this woman knew the man. the search has been going on for about three hours now but still no sign of this man. we are live with breaking news, san jose, nbc bay area news. >> while we have you, a lot of people are coming home from work, are the streets closed off in the area? >> reporter: they have sealed off the area. actually, certain streets where they have cleared they can go to their homes but the streets that are not cleared yet they will not be allowed in while they continue t