those in noncombat roles. >> a brave american was determined to brighten the light of learning through books, written in the native tongue of the students that she'd never met, but whom she felt compelled to help. these are the challenges that our citizens face, not just in afghanistan but in many dangerous parts of the world. >> reporter: the attack in the southern province of zabul was the single deadliest for americans in afghanistan since july. three service members, two civilians. and coincided with the unannounced visit to the battlefield of joint chiefs chairman, general martin dempsey. in an interview sunday with the associated press, dempsey says he's cautious about the upcoming transfer of security responsibilities to afghan forces, though expressed optimism they will ultimately prove successful. >> the good news is that even though the taliban has some toughness and some resilience and some success in these missions, the afghan forces are not folding. they're holding up. >> reporter: as civilian deaths have mounted in afghanistan, tensions between washington and kabul have increased, which secretary kerry appeared to have smoothed somewhat during his recent meeting with president hamid karzai.

still, another 11 afghan civilians, including ten children, died today in a nato attack in kunar province, bordering pakistan. perhaps reinforcing complaints that the collateral damage in afghanistan has grown too costly. meantime in the chicago suburb where anne smedinghoff was raised, ribbons were tied to trees in honor of a young woman who impressed so many with her dedication to others. as friends like nbc's atia abawi, who worked with her in afghanistan, reflect on a young life full of meaningful contributions. >> anne was making a difference in the country and the afghan people really respected her, the ones that she touched, the ones that knew her. >> reporter: anne's parents released a statement saying they are consoled knowing that she died doing a job she loved and that she was serving her country by trying to make a difference in the world. >> ron mott in kabul tonight, thank you. still a lot of anxiety tonight over north korea as both the united states and china made moves today to reduce the tension over all the threats coming from that country.

nbc's jim maceda watching it again tonight for us from south korea. >> reporter: kim jong-un's regime turning once again to its airways to make a point about its enemy to the south. north korean soldiers released their trained dogs on this effigy of south korea's defense minister, a u.s. ally, says the commentary, who deserved to be chewed to death. but with tensions so high, it was south korea and the u.s. who tried to accommodate the erratic kim today. the pentagon canceled the test launch of a minute man long range ballistic missile in california, while in seoul, the top military commander postponed a trip to washington. the allies avoiding anything that might be misread. but the north koreans remain defiant and on track to test at least one of their own missiles the musudan, with a range that could in theory reach guam in the pacific.

some intelligence reports suggest kim will choose to launch before or on april 15th, the anniversary of kim's grandfather, kim il-sung, the founder of the nation. the missile is probably unarmed but even an accident could be catastrophic. >> i could see a major war happening if the north koreans overplay their hand this time because the public in south korea, the united states, i think the whole region is fed up with this guy. >> reporter: even china, north korea's main ally, is losing patience. in a strong condemnation, the chinese government, without naming north korea, said it does not "allow trouble making on its own doorstep." and with secretary of state john kerry coming to korea later this week, some see a window for a joint diplomatic offensive on the north koreans. >> they're very difficult, but i think we need a new negotiating track, and i think the key is going to be the united states and china. >> reporter: but others are mindful that when it comes to taming the hermit kingdom, diplomacy has never worked. south korean sources are saying they believe the north's missile

test could happen as early as wednesday. this whole peninsula will be holding its breath. lester? >> jim maceda in south korea for us tonight. in this country, the fight over guns heats up again this week as president obama presses his case for more restrictive gun laws. today both sides weighed in on the debate. we have more tonight from nbc's peter alexander at the white house. >> reporter: returning to connecticut monday not far from the newtown community that's come to symbolize the demand for stiffer gun laws, president obama now faces new urgency as senators could start debating the issue including universal background checks within days. >> we're going to try to get the strongest bill we can and there is no reason that we can't have one. this is a 90% issue. you can't get 90% of the americans to agree on the weather. >> reporter: still the forecast for a white house victory remains unclear. leading gun advocates contend the most pivotal piece of any new legislation is background checks, specifically those that would extend beyond the roughly 55,000 federally licensed

firearm dealers to cover private sales as well like those at gun shows and online. but conservative republicans led by kentucky senator rand paul have warned they'll block any proposals that they say threaten the second amendment. that strategy is frustrating many democrats. >> please let us go to the floor. if we go to the floor i'm still hopeful that what i call the sweet spot, background checks, can succeed. >> reporter: gun rights supporters insist the obama administration's going about it the wrong way. >> even if you had all your universal background checks, bad guys are going to get guns and it's not going to solve the problem in the schools and it is not going to diminish the need for greater security in the schools. >> reporter: just days after connecticut passed the nation's toughest gun laws, governor dan malloy today responded to nra's head, wayne lapierre, who said the state's new restrictions wouldn't stop criminals from illegally getting guns. >> wayne reminds me of the

clowns at the circus. they get the most attention. that's what he's paid to do. >> reporter: and other battles are looming, lester, as congress prepares to tackle immigration reform and the budget. the president's formal budget proposal is due out this wednesday. >> peter alexander, thanks. suddenly this weekend there was renewed speculation, some would call it a frenzy, about whether hillary clinton will run for president in 2016. nbc's andrea mitchell now on what's fueling the buzz. >> reporter: she can be forgiven for heading to a spa after her million mile run as secretary of state. but only two months later hillary clinton supporters are pushing her to run for president. >> 2016! >> hillary! >> 2016! >> hillary! >> reporter: in twin appearances before women's activists last week, clinton's first since stepping down as secretary of state, she was deliberately ambiguous. >> we've shared struggles and successes and even some fox holes over the years. it's a little bit like a family reunion. >> this truly is the unfinished

business of the 21st century, and it is the work we are called to do. i look forward to being your partner in all the days and years ahead. >> reporter: will she or won't she? republicans have little doubt. >> it's like do you think dillinger might rob a bank? yeah, i think she's going to run. she's got a base and she's been to the college of losing for a president. that's a very rare college and you learn a lot. >> reporter: what did she learn in 2008 when she was thought to be inevitable and wasn't? >> that campaign was very mismanaged, by all accounts. that falls to her at the end of the day. did she learn from 2008? can she make different choices this time? >> reporter: a veteran clinton strategist signed on with the ready for hillary super pac this week. >> we're just going to be sitting around here waiting. there's not much we can do about it. we ought to just enjoy this for what it is. it's a political story unlike any other that i've ever seen in my lifetime. >> reporter: clinton is working on a book about her state department years, has quietly rented office space in downtown washington and will be giving

paid speeches. still, for the first time in two decades, hillary clinton's schedule is open-ended. chelsea clinton, a special nbc news correspondent, talked to john yang for the "today" show. >> as a daughter, i very much want her to make the right choice for herself. i know that will be the right choice for our country. >> reporter: until hillary decides, all the other democratic hopefuls can only watch and wait. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. kansas appears set to enact one of the country's most restrictive abortion laws after lawmakers passed a sweeping bill on the issue. the measure declares that life begins at fertilization, blocks tax breaks for abortion providers, and bans abortions that are based only on the gender of the fetus. governor sam brownback is expected to sign the bill. not a week goes by, it seems, without reports of a new sinkhole that threatens a home or an entire neighborhood. nbc's gabe gutierrez has more on what seems like a sinkhole epidemic.

>> reporter: they seem to be everywhere. a neighborhood in ohio. a road in kentucky. a beach in new jersey. >> and then all the sand just came right down and just sucked me in. i mean, i couldn't move. >> reporter: earlier this year in florida a sinkhole swallowed a man in his bedroom. this is new video showing the damage. since then we've heard similar horror stories. a golfer barely survives when the course opened up beneath him in illinois. more than 300 people in louisiana evacuated after the earth crumbled there. so are there more sinkholes or just more headlines about them? >> it may be that you're having a rash of sinkholes in florida in particular as a result of the drought that's been going on. >> reporter: the state's unique limestone bedrock is prone to collapse due to a shift in deep underground rivers. either too much rainfall can help dissolve more of the

limestone and create some of the pockets that allow for sinkholes, but too little rainfall depreciouses causing sinkholes as well. >> reporter: while sinkhole insurance doesn't exist in most states, in florida sinkhole related claims more than doubled from 2006 to 2009. it is now the only state that requires catastrophic ground collapse coverage. >> we're coming off of a dry winter. an unusually dry winter. and so now the rains are starting to come. and so between now and july, there is a chance there may be more sinkhole activity. >> reporter: a record drought, perhaps giving way to a spring of sinkholes. gabe gutierrez, nbc news. when "nightly news" continues on this sunday, preventing alzheimer's disease. do some new drugs hold the promise of a breakthrough? and later, how one woman is making a difference by still working at 79 and giving away her hard-earned money.

the urgent need for better treatment of alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia was highlighted this past week with a report that said dementia cost this country as much as $215 billion a year. well, now there is a fascinating study going on involving some new drugs that might prevent alzheimer's. we get details tonight from nbc's chief science correspondent, robert bazell. >> reporter: the hinrichs of davenpo davenport, iowa, are among 100 families worldwide taking part in a daring experiment. >> it is an exciting time. it is very exciting, it is also very scary. >> reporter: each member of these families has a 50%/50% chance of having a rare genetic mutation that brings on

alzheimer's in the 30s, 40s and 50s. for now families have chosen not to know which are carriers. an enormous mile post -- scientists have chosen three drugs that could stop some of them from having a certain future of alzheimer's disease. >> there is hope that we've got something to move forward on. >> reporter: in the drug trials which started last month, family members are receiving either active drugs or placebo. based on brain scans and other biomarkers, researchers will decide which drugs look best and continue with those to see if they can prevent alzheimer's or at least slow the progression. the three drugs target a protein called aloyd beta that many scientists believe causes alzheimer's. not just in families with a rare mutation, but also in the common form that strikes later in life. similar drugs have failed to halt alzheimer's. scientists now believe they gave them too late. from studying families, they've learned the brain decay of alzheimer's begins decades before symptoms. this study is not waiting for symptoms. >> in a family that has an early onset, say at 35 years, they can be as young as 20 and still enroll in this.

>> reporter: you could be giving drugs to people as young as 20? >> yes. >> all three of these individuals carry a gene mutation. >> reporter: scientists see this as their best shot yet. >> we have a good chance to prevent brain cells from dying and hopefully preventing the onset of alzheimer's dementia. >> reporter: the scientists hope to see results within two or three years. robert bazell, nbc news, st. louis. when we come back here tonight, "candid camera." a rare look behind the scenes of vintage hollywood.

it was the top of the seventh at the nationals-reds game in cincinnati when jason worth belted one out of there. but even more memorable was the play in the stands. the one-handed catch by a fan who showed he was clearly capable of multi-tasking. though, not something we would necessarily recommend when holding on to a baby with the other hand.

it was an unusual sight today at augusta national in georgia. former secretary of state condoleezza rice took a stroll around the famed golf course as one of the first of two female members to join augusta national. earlier rice played a practice round with none other than phil mickelson who will compete in the masters tournament later this week. their careers were made in motion pictures, but it is some long forgotten still frames of stars from the golden age of movies that are attracting a lot of attention this weekend at an auction here in new york. especially because they were nearly lost to the trash heap. it's the ultimate hollywood photo-op. >> james dean will be sold for 200. >> this is probably the largest, most comprehensive collection of hollywood negatives and photographs in the world. >> reporter: the collection of more than 3 million negatives and photographs comes from movie star news, a landmark shop in new york founded by amateur photographer irvin claw back in the 1930s.

>> the studios were discarding these negatives over all of these years. so we gave them the negatives, and people came to the store and bought photographs. >> reporter: icons from virtually every genre captured in the moment and on the sets of some of the most famous motion pictures of all time. "frankenstein." "king kong." "the wizard of oz." >> when the studio was promoting a movie they would shoot onset behind the scenes. >> reporter: stewart shyman, one of the owners who bought the collection last year, say this is the first of several auctions to come. >> first time in 75 years they've been offered to the public. >> reporter: also on the block -- personal items from the shop. irving claw's photo shoots of the legendary 1950s pin-up queen betty page. page's stiletto shoes, the first in history, sold for $9,000. the highest selling items so far. other big sellers included this single partially nude marilyn monroe negative which sold for nearly $2,000. vintage hollywood on display.

>> i think it's americana. >> reporter: proving to be a dream come true for collectors and movie buffs alike. this first in a series of auctions of the movie star news collection concluded today. we're told "the wizard of oz" items were among the big sellers including a single negative and six prints made from it that went for $1,300. an icon of fashion and high society died today. lilly pulitzer, best known for her colorful floral prints, dressed generations of women who embraced the style which became a uniform for the preppie set. she attended boarding school with jacqueline kennedy, married into the famous pulitzer journalism family and began making dresses around 1960. she sold the rights to the brand around 20 years ago but remained a consultant. lilly pulitzer was 81 years old. up next here tonight -- time to retire? no, thanks, says a 79-year-old nurse who still has much more work to do.

let's face it, by the age of 79, most people are trying to stay out of the hospital. but for one dedicated nurse, there are no plans to leave the hospital any time soon. working and helping women have children are a labor of love. nbc's michelle franzen and how she is making a difference. >> reporter: it's an early morning at mcgee women's hospital in pittsburgh.

nurse sill va benosoli preps her patients for surgery. >> your hair is gorgeous. who does this? >> reporter: with a nurturing touch, sylvia sedates patients beginning in-vitro fertilization, a procedure that for many women is their last hope of having a child. >> they all say that i put them at ease. i hope they tell me the truth. >> well, they send you flowers afterwards. >> yes, they do. i get a lot of flowers and candy. >> reporter: sylvia had been working as a nurse for more than a half a century. >> the first test tube baby born in the united states is in fine shape tonight. >> reporter: but when in-vitro technology became a reality in the u.s. during the '80s, she found her calling. >> at 79 -- i am 79. i don't want to be doing old ladies with their fractured hips and old men with all their cardiac conditions and so on. this is a fun, fun job. >> reporter: more than a job. a passion that sylvia's taking one step further. donating her life savings to the hospital's fertility center. in all, more than half a million dollars. money that will fund the hospital's labs where cutting-edge research is taking

place to develop fertility treatments, some of which helps to protect cancer patients. >> she treated me like a human. >> reporter: melanie sitler, a math tutor, is battling thyroid cancer and says sylvia was by her side last month when she chose to have her eggs frozen. >> i want to be able to have the same things everybody else is able to have. part of life is being able to start a family. >> reporter: according to the most recent data, doctors now perform about 150,000 in-vitro procedures a year nationwide. around 40% result in birth. odds sylvia hopes will grow. a gift that will keep on giving. >> this is my love. this is my life. >> we're taking care of you. >> reporter: michelle franzen, nbc news, pittsburgh. that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. brian williams will be here tomorrow. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. for all of us here at nbc news, goodnight.

. good evening, i'm terry mcsweeney. a perk getting employees free

vacation time. janet susco joins us with details on the district attorney's time-off policy. >> when the budget crunch forced departments to cut back, select attorneys lost their 5% bonus. our investigation exposes rosen directed time sheets be altered giving weeks off without using any vacation days. now the county is opening an investigation. >> reporter: hundreds of time sheets from top-paid attorneys in the d.a.'s office atrd. >> i directed this to happen. i wanted this to happen. this is exactly what i wanted to happen. it was unfair and unprecedented that their 5% differential was taken away. so after long and careful deliberation, i instituted a policy. >> reporter: his policy, taking time sheets and changing to

administrative leave. >> is it fair to everyone else who have had to make cuts? >> i don't even understand the question. >> reporter: other departments making cuts. >> i'm the elected district attorney, so i'm entrusted with protecting the public. i'm not here to speak about how other departments in the county run their affairs. >> reporter: that's not what these documents show. take a look. in 2011, the lead das took less than 600 hours of admin time. compare that to 2012. after the cuts, it quadrupled. >> that concerns me. >> after we started looking into the da's admin leave -- >> i was surprised. i was a little shocked by the large numbers. first thing i thought was, we need