>> lots of songs to download, so lots of competition out there. >> tense years. >> thanks so much. goo night. our friday night broadcast, on the fly. amid growing outrage after a nightmare week of flight delays, members of congress found a quick fix, then promptly headed to the airport to catch the first flight out of town. an unbelievable discovery near ground zero in new york late today. what they found more than a decade after 9/11. the escape that led to the end of the manhunt in boston. tonight, the driver they carjacked has described his role in that awful night for the first time. and a music legend who lived a hard life, sang about hard times from personal experience. tonight we remember the great george jones. tonight we remember the great george jones. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening.

there is nothing like thousands of delayed flights and ruined plans and missed meetings to get the attention of congress right befo they all got on a plane to leave town for a week-long break. they voted on something of a repair job for the so-called sequester budget cuts which affected air traffic controllers which, in turn, have affected flights all across this country. while hardly a profile in courage by this congress, it might be a rare moment of customer service, whatever their motivation. we begin with nbc's tom costello at washington national airport again tonight. hey, tom. good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. republicans blamed the white house for manufacturing this whole crisis. they say it never needed to happen. the white house saying the republicans have to deal with the sequester. so this entire airline drama manufactured, created by washington is now resolved by washington.

the good news if you are traveling soon control towers and radar centers should soon be fully staffed again. >> approaching bravo, 119.12. >> reporter: after a week of air traffic delays caused by the budget impasse, sequester and controller furloughs, congress has now voted to give the f.a.a. the authority to pay the controllers. >> members of this house are going to run for the airports. >> reporter: a few hours after voting, members left capitol hill and headed to the airport for a week-long recess. >> i don't have to now wear a mask or a disguise as i go through the airport, i'm happy to say. >> reporter: at chicago o'hare today travellers were mostly fed up with all of washington. >> the government just doesn't appear to be working for the people. they appear to be working for themselves. >> we seem to wait for the last minute for everything. >> it's not the f.a.a. i'm cynical about. it's congress that i'm so cynical about. >> reporter: anger and frustration has gone viral in tweets to nbc news. the only reason they want to fix the airport is so they won't be delayed home, says one. another says it's a disgrace and

everyone is tired of broken government. before leaving town, members of congress offered congratulations. >> it's nice to know when we work together we really can solve problems. >> reporter: and accusations. >> we are here because of a colossal failure of leadership. >> reporter: the white house said it's not enough. >> this is a band-aid covering a massive wound to the economy. >> we hear a lot of complaints from readers that this is a dysfunctional government that seems unable to address the nation's biggest problems in a way that makes sense. when things go wrong they mostly blame one another. >> reporter: so while there is money now for air traffic controllers congress hasn't addressed money for headstart, meals on wheels, fda inspectors. brian, today the army chief of staff said they had to suspend 80% of training because of the sequester.

only troops going to afghanistan are now being fully trained. >> your government at work. tom costello from washington national tonight. tom, thanks. late today in lower manhattan we learned of a stunning discovery. what investigators believe to be pieces of one of the commercial jets that brought down the world trade center found wedged between two buildings near ground zero 11 years after the terrorist attack. this discovery is being treated as a crime scene by the nypd tonight. nbc's stephanie gosk is there. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it's hard to imagine after all this time someone could essentially stumble across a piece of wreckage. especially this big. we are about a quarter of a mile or so from ground zero. that piece was found wedged between these buildings behind me. there were construction workers doing solo inspections. they called 911, brought in the police. they have now turned it into a crime scene. they are taking photos of it.

they said they will move the piece in a couple of days but they might have to do some demolition to get it out of there. it's wedged in so deeply. they may test for human remains. what people don't realize is scores of victims from 9/11 have never been positively identified. this may be an opportunity to bring closure for families that are waiting. finally, if this building looks familiar, it's because it's the site of a controversy over whether or not to build an islamic cultural center here so close to ground zero. brian? >> stephanie gosk in lower manhattan. stephanie, thanks. turning now to boston and the latest on the investigation into the marathon bombings. there is new information on exactly how the bombs were made and a gripping new account of the night it all ended from the man who was carjacked by these two accused bombers. also a big piece of evidence was moved today. our nbc news national investigative correspondent michael isikoff reports. >> reporter: dzhokhar tsarnaev is now being held at fort devins, a special medical prison outside boston.

u.s. marshalls moved him overnight after a week at beth israel hospital. more details of his hospital bed hearing on monday. tsarnaev, bandaged and unable to speak, but the judge ruled he was alert and mentally competent. when told he could face the death penalty he showed no emotion, a source tells nbc news. today federal agents searched this new bedford landfill looking for tsarnaev's laptop and fireworks receipts and the boat where he hid out the night of his capture was hauled away. a government analysis provides new details about the bombs. the designs followed one outlined in "inspire" magazine published by an al qaeda affiliate using low explosives consistent with commercial fireworks, adding shrapnel and triggering by components from a toy car radio controller. experts say some elements go beyond the "inspire" blueprint. >> this design indicates a level of sophistication and determination to really make

these bombs reliable. >> reporter: also today a gripping account from the driver of the suv carjacked by tsarnaev and his brother. danny, a 26-year-old chinese native, was taken on a wild 90-minute ride before escaping and alerting police. during the ride the elder brother tamerlan made a startling confession. >> i just killed a cop in cambridge. >> reporter: danny spent hours talking to the fbi and shared his story with james allen fox, a northeastern university professor. fox said danny was scared for his life but made small talk and played up his foreign heritage. >> he was only trying to save himself. but through that process it looks like he may have saved countless others. >> reporter: when the tsarnaevs stopped for gas danny bolted and called the police who tracked his stolen mercedes using gps. michael isikoff, nbc news, boston. president obama today called the alleged use of chemical

weapons by syria a potential game-changer. our political director, chief white house correspondent chuck todd is with us for more on this. chuck, what to do about it now in a nation not looking for yet another foreign conflict? >> reporter: absolutely. look, the first time personally the president acknowledged that, yes, they have -- we have evidence, the united states government -- evidence of chemical weapons being used in syria. but in a meeting and the oval office with the king of jordan he made that acknowledgment with a lot of caveats. take a listen. >> knowing that potentially chemical weapons have been used inside of syria doesn't tell us when they were used, how they were used, obtaining confirmation and strong evidence. all of those things we have to make sure we work on with the international community and we, ourselves, are going to focus on this. >> reporter: here's what sources are making clear to me. their intelligence, they believe, is spot on.

they believe they know chemical weapons were used. they don't know who ordered it. did assad himself do it? is it a rogue agent? that's the evidence the president was talking about, the facts they want to gather before they make their case, and before they decide if the red line has been crossed to do a military response. as for a potential military response, the key word here, i'm told, is limited. we are not talking about thousands of troops. you talked about the public wouldn't have a big appetite for that. neither would people on capitol hill. but it would look something akin to libya in 2011. some sort of international coalition. the only boots on the ground, i'm told, would be special forces whose sole job would be to secure chemical weapons. by the way, brian, we are talking about a decision that could be weeks away, not days. >> chuck todd at the white house lawn this friday night. chuck, thanks. now we turn to the latest on the flooding in the midwest and the plains. it's finally getting warm enough for the snow to start melting in those parts, and people along

the rivers are bracing for a sudden rush of high water. nbc's kevin tibbles is in fargo tonight where all eyes, as they have been, are on the rising red river. kevin, good evening. >> reporter: well, brian, they have a saying in this part of the country. prepare for the worst and pray for the best. well, tonight here in fargo, they are getting ready. an army of high schoolers builds a sandbag barricade in hopes of holding back the rising red river. >> good to know that we are helping other people be able to live where they do live, which is a great place. >> i feel good about helping the community out. >> more bags! >> reporter: for the fourth time in five years this city on the plains braces for record flooding. in 2009 the water reached nearly 41 feet, swamping hundreds of homes. today, city manager mike williams helps ensure the sandbag levees are ready. >> we have protected to 42 1/2

feet which is this one. this one we have never seen and hope we never do. >> reporter: it's been a waterlogged week throughout the midwest. in the chicago area, the wettest april on record used extensive flooding. in comstock park, michigan, dozens of homes damaged by the record high grand river. so much water on the fields in whiteland, indiana, farmers say they might have to delay planting. this on the heels of last year's drought. near st. louis, water with levels were dangerously low on the mississippi. now, it, too, is flooding. behind their fargo home erin and john aren't taking chances. >> i'm not putting my guard down at all. mother nature knows how to throw a party. >> reporter: they may have had the day off school but these kids are learning about team work. just ask clare croakie. >> everybody helps everybody. >> reporter: that's a good way to live. >> that's the north dakota way. >> reporter: tonight the president has declared a state of emergency for north dakota.

while estimates as to how high the river is going to get have been lowered, which is good news, no one here is taking any chances. brian? >> kevin tibbles in north dakota tonight. no short of good people there. thank you, kevin. still ahead here tonight the intense battle over a project some say is vital, others say is too risky to try. tonight our firsthand look at the fight, what it's all about in a place most people never get to see. later, genuine american heroes making a difference in boston by assuring the victims that everything is going to be okay.

tonight the energy company behind the controversial keystone pipeline says that the long delayed project will be delayed even longer now. the projected start date -- late 2015, as it awaits approval from the obama administration. it would carry almost a million barrels of oil a day from alberta to the gulf coast. but it is a highly polarizing project. our chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson traveled north of the border to see firsthand what the fight is

all about. >> reporter: 700 miles north of the u.s./canadian border is a place called the oil sands. it's at the heart of the controversy over the proposed keystone pipeline which would help canada send heavy crude from landlocked alberta to the gulf coast. while the project is expected to provide 3900 construction jobs in the u.s., critics say it comes at a terrible cost. >> this is a toxic, dirty, messy process. >> reporter: getting oil out of the ground produces 17% more global warming gases than conventional methods, according to the state department. >> you can see the oil in the sand. this is how the oil occurs naturally. >> reporter: no gushers here. at shells jack pine mine they dig for oil 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 28 trucks, each burning 45 gallons of diesel fuel an hour. this dump truck is two stories high. when fully loaded it weighs almost 1.4 million pounds. that's heavier than a 747 airplane.

and the tire alone, 10,500 pounds. hot water is used to separate oil from the sand which creates ponds of waste that can be toxic to wildlife. shell recycles the water from those ponds and plans to use the sand to refill the mine. but producing oil here is adding carbon to the atmosphere at a time when the world is trying to cut emissions. is this a step in the wrong direction? >> i think for the foreseeable future we are going to need fossil fuels. we have an entire world economy that's based on fossil fuels. >> reporter: a company called sinovis is getting the oil another way -- drilling. they flew us in to show us how. under ground the oil is solid. so steam is injected into the ground to melt it from the earth. there is less land to clear and no giant trucks but making steam means burning natural gas and that means more carbon dioxide. the profits are below the industry average for emissions but higher than conventional methods.

>> with today's technology we will not get emissions down to zero. can we continue to decrease them? i think that's very possible. it's something we work on. >> reporter: canada ans to more than double production here. getting the crude ready for transport in pipelines like keystone produces even more emissions. yet another reason why environmentalists are upset. >> you cannot reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the same time you're expanding development in one of the most carbon intensive dirty fuel sources on the planet. >> reporter: canada's oil sands fuelling riches and controversy on both sides of the border. anne thompson, nbc news, fort mcmurray, canada. we're back in a moment with the loss of an american music legend. ♪

the great george jones died today. you're going to hear it a hundred times over these next few days and it's true. his life was a country song and

along the way he redefined the country song. his voice was unique and often imitated. his life was unique until it ended today at the age of 81. a look back from nbc's janet shamlian. ♪ >> reporter: a george jones song was about either drinking or heartbreak or both. the anthems of his life. ♪ and the drinking ♪ it don't kill me >> reporter: born with a broken arm in the east texas piney woods his first hit was in the 1950s. ♪ white lightning >> reporter: half a century later he was still performing. a kennedy center honoree in 2008. >> i'm in a daze. >> reporter: he admits he often was. his hard driving lifestyle of drugs, alcohol and rehab was as legendary as his music.

one year he missed more than 50 concerts earning him the nickname "no show jones." ♪ they call me no show jones >> want to be remembered as an old boy that had all the luck in the world and just didn't use it right. ♪ he stopped loving her today >> reporter: his other weakness was women. "he stopped loving her today" was a chapter straight from his personal life. jones married four times. ♪ stand by your man >> reporter: including to singer tammy wynette. it was his current wife of 30 years, nancy, he credits with rescuing him. country music was heartbroken today. an outpouring from stations like wfm in nashville. >> play george jones songs because you want them. ♪ >> reporter: the man called the king of broken hearts broke even more today. janet shamlian, nbc news,

dallas. sometimes the future king of england and his wife who is pregnant with the heir to the british throne just need to have fun. and today they did. with future uncle harry at the warner brothers studio in the uk, specifically playing with harry potter stuff, learning how to swish and flick with their magic wands, generally having fun even though brothers being brothers, because of moves like that harry was caught making gentle fun of his older brother today. up next, survivors in boston learning how to adjust to their new lives from those who have also had to learn the hard way.

>> announcer: making a difference brought to you by bayer aspirin. >> finally tonight our friday night making a difference report. for the worst possible reasons like two wars fought over the past decade we have a lot of americans in this country who can teach a lot to the surviving victims of the boston bombing. they are veterans and they have reported to boston as if for duty.

we get their story tonight from nbc's katy tur. >> reporter: it started with tears and questions. >> i feel like i can't do anything right now. >> reporter: right now, yes. i'm telling you with all my heart you are going to be more independent than you ever were. >> reporter: sergeant gabe martinez only just met celeste corcoran. but he knows her. >> so you -- >> we're the act same. i'm four inches above the knee. >> reporter: a double amputee, gabe lost both of his legs to a roadside ied in afghanistan in 2010. celeste lost her legs when the finish line of the boston marathon became a war zone. >> we have the same injuries. just to be on that level with somebody, it really gave me, you know, the platform to speak from the heart and tell her how it's going to be. >> reporter: these people lost their limbs from ieds. does that make it more personal? >> absolutely. >> it does. >> reporter: sergeant b.j. ganam lost a leg to an ied.

he, gabe, and a handful of others from the semper fi fund are visiting the boston bomb survivors, offering not just financial support, but real life advice. >> their whole lives are going to change. it's not just to get out of the hospital, heal and throw a prosthetic on, wham, bam, thank you ma'am and they're done. it's the rest of their life. >> reporter: roseann moved to a rehab center this week. her right leg was amputated above her knee. she calls semper fi an inspiration. >> i'm actually very lucky to be alive. what can you say? you can't go backwards. you can only move forwards. that's the direction i'm going. >> this isn't the end. this is the beginning. >> reporter: as for gabe and celeste, they spoke for only a few minutes. what started with tears and questions ended in laughter and a lifetime bond. >> not only do they have strong accents, they have a strong spirit. >> reporter: katy tur, nbc news, boston. >> that is our broadcast for this friday night and for this week. thank you for being here with

us. don't forget. we are 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 on monday night. in the meantime have a good weekend. in the meantime have a good weekend. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening. thanks for being with us on this friday. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. tsunami debris confirmed. for the first time federal officials are saying a japanese fishing boat found along the shore is debris from that 2011 disaster. that boat found in crescent city south of the border. kim b kimberly tere joins us live. what the experts are saying about the finding and why some japanese residents are calling it a reason to be hopeful.

>> reporter: that's exactly right. they are hopeful. after a two-year recovery process they call it a sign of hope. the ocean is unpredictable but those who study it saying finding the debris from the tsunami is incredibly helpful for research. this boat is a long way from home after being lost in the devastating tsunami in march of 2011. it washed ashore earlier this month in crescent city. >> the boat came from a high school in a town that was devastate devastated by the tsunami. >> reporter: noaa confirmed the boat's origin thursday with help from the japanese consulate. the confirmation means it's officially the first debris to reach california's shore. >> this is incredible. nothing like this was supposed d to happen.