"nightly news" is next. on our broadcast tonight, it's boy for the duke and duchess of cambridge, william and kate, as crowds gather tonight in london to celebrate the birth of the future king of england. security concerns as pope francis makes his first overseas trip. already dicey moments during a wild scene in the streets of brazil. pensions in danger in bankrupt detroit. reties are angry they won't get the money they need to live. a growing problem in cities and states across this country. and the presence looming over today's happy news from london. why so many thoughts today turned to princess diana and the last time a future king was born. nightly news begins now.

good evening. tonight in a london hospital, there are two future kings of england, father and son. duchess katherine, the former kate middleton, gave birth to a baby boy in late afternoon, london time. mother and child are said to be doing well. the queen has expressed her happiness through a statement. so has prince charles, who tonight became a grandfather for the first time. the message emblazoned in light tonight atop the british telecom tower in london says it all, heralding the birth of a child who will grow up before our eyes and grow up to lead, even though we don't yet know his name. we begin our coverage tonight with nbc's chris jansing outside st. mary's hospital in london, where inside, a family of three is resting comfortably. chris, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well, by royal standards, it's actually a very modern decision that william is spending the night tonight with kate and their new son. and a big boy it is, almost 8 1/2 pounds. he is the prince of cambridge, the first here in england in

almost 200 years. and i think the royal couple reflected the feelings of a lot of people when they issued a simple statement tonight saying, "we could not be happier." the cheers echoed across the grounds of buckingham palace. >> it's a boy! >> reporter: a boy born at 4:24 p.m., 8 pound, 6 ounces. the official word came from st. mary's hospital, carried by car to buckingham palace, where it was posted on an easel that once announced prince william's birth. from town criers to towers, unique celebrations, because what had been dubbed the great kate wait was finally over. >> congratulate her. >> absolutely amazing. >> reporter: queen elizabeth came home to buckingham palace from her castle in windsor and said in a statement tonight that she was delighted, as were other british leaders. >> it is an important moment in the life of our nation. but i suppose, above all, it's a

wonderful moment for a warm and loving couple who've got a brand new baby boy. >> reporter: new grandfather, prince charles, said he was overjoyed, after a day in york, 200 miles north of london, where he got today's news, and a present. >> it's for the baby. >> right. i'll see what i can do. >> reporter: brits woke up this morning to find out that kate had gone to the hospital. >> hello, again. if you are just waking up, really, really exciting news. >> reporter: but william and kate arrived so stealthily, none of the scores of photographers who camped out for days got them going in the back entrance. >> no one wants to be photographed mid-contraction, so i think very, very cleverly that she switched cars. >> reporter: the crowd of international media grew quickly, joined by curious brits. this woman was so excited, she baked a cake and traveled five hours to be here. >> i got a taxi. i got a coach. i got a train. i got a tube. >> it really gives the whole

country a bit of a boost. >> reporter: when william was born in 1982, the obstetrician reported he cried lustily. this time, no additional details from the doctors after more than ten hours of labor. of course, it's called labor for a reason, but the lindo wing definitely makes the best of it. georgie mcgrath delivered molly and ollie there. >> you have a special menu. you can choose from what you would like, you know, lobster to whatever. champagne. >> reporter: and what will the new prince be named? >> george. the regal george. very, very popular. several large, even a fourth figure. >> reporter: and it's a very good bet that tonight, many a brit is raising a pint to the future king. and tomorrow, we could get our first look at the future king. when william was born, charles and diana came out on those very same steps behind me 21 hours after the birth. brian? >> chris jansing, the very happy city of london tonight. chris, thanks. andrew roberts is here with us in the studio in new york. as contemporary british historians and authors go, he has covered wars and prime ministers and the churchill

years and the monarchy, which brings us to tonight. you and i were speaking earlier, and i have a dual question for you. number one, the distinction in the modern era about how many generations in the royal family are alive and with us. and second, what does this do for continuity and robustness going forward? >> well, it's the first time since 1981, since the reign of queen victoria, that we've had four living monarchs all at the same time, monarchs and monarchs in waiting, which is quite extraordinary, because it gives the sense of continuity to the house of windsor. we know now that there will, assuming this young prince has his mother and his great-grandmother's longevity, will be there in the 22nd century. and as far as the robustness is concerned, well, the monarchy has never been more popular since the abdication crisis than it is today. >> well, all things looking up for the people in the uk as the world kind of comes together for

good news today for a change today. andrew, thank you for being here with us. >> thank you. we want to let you know that nbc news will have more on this tonight, an hour-long special on the new arrival, as compiled by the "dateline" team. it airs at 10/9 central here on nbc. another big story we are following tonight, the visit of pope francis to brazil, his first overseas trip as pope. there were security concerns before this trip for the pope who likes to get there within the crowds. and moments after touchdown, those security fears were realized during a wild, and at times, downright hazardous trip through the streets of rio. nbc's anne thompson is traveling with the pope, spoke with him on the plane en route to brazil. she is with us from rio tonight. hey, anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. pope francis is resting tonight after a 12-hour flight and what can only be described as a raucous welcome, beginning a week that will test brazilian security and put the global spotlight back on this nation's economic woes.

they could not wait to touch him. brazilians rushing pope francis' motorcade as he made his way through the streets of rio, his car mobbed, forced to a standstill several times by the excited crowd. the first latin-american pope wasted no time reaching out to the people. a potential security nightmare, rio officials said federal police changed the motorcade's route without informing city authorities, but francis seemed to revel in the chaos, even stopping to kiss a baby. officials say world youth day is the biggest police operation in the history of rio, and today, the mayor promised francis would be safe during his six-day stay. >> he wants to be open to the people. now, that's a risk. i think we love him for doing that, but at the same time, we worry about him. >> reporter: as cardinal of argentina, francis made this transatlantic trip many times. speaking to reporters on the

plane, the pope talked about the crisis of youth unemployment, saying we are at risk of having a generation that does not work. we are used to a throw-away culture, he warned. we do it with the aged. and now, the pope said we are doing it with the young. brazil is a nation raw with economic tension, but the pope did not address these problems directly. he took no questions from reporters, but he did greet each journalist personally. i told him there was great excitement in the u.s. about his papacy. the pope laughed and said, "thank you" and then said, "pray for me," and blessed the medallion i wore. now, authorities announced they discovered a homemade pipe bomb at the shrine complex nearby. and that is where the pope will go to visit on wednesday. authorities say they detonated the bomb and at this hour, no arrests have been made in connection with that pipe bomb. brian?

>> anne thompson in rio as we start off coverage of this trip after let's just say an eventful trip getting there. anne, thanks for that. and for more on the security concerns, we want to bring in former police commissioner in new york and l.a., and these days, nbc news national security analyst, william bratton. commissioner, when you look at these pictures, what goes on in your central nervous system? what's wrong with the picture? >> you have to ask yourself, what were they thinking? i've never seen anything like it in over 40 years in the business. the thing that you want to not allow to happen at any time in a motorcade is choke points, where you are not able to move backwards, forwards or sideways. and you look at these photos, they are extraordinarily frightening, particularly when the camera pulls away and you can see what he is trapped in

the middle of. if this is the best that the brazilian security forces can do for the pope's visit, we want to watch very carefully the next couple of days, because this was an absolute mess. >> considering the fact that you and i both know there are people in the security business who replay things like the horrible assassination of yitzhak rabin in israel, looking for exposures, lessons learned. everything about this will then defeat the pope's goal of having the less regal trappings of especially the end of the benedict area, where we saw the helicopter and the motorcade. >> well, there's basically a middle ground that can be achieved. this is a pope that wants to be seen as of the people and with the people, but he also has to recognize that unfortunately, he is a target, a very highly visible target. the 1981 assassination attempt where the pope was shot four times in vatican square, the 1995 plot in the philippines, that he is going to be, for all time, as pope, a potential target. >> bill bratton here with us in our new york studios tonight. commissioner, thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. and here in new york, at the height of the evening getaway, laguardia airport was shut down

to all incoming and outgoing flights because of this scary incident on the runway. southwest flight coming in from nashville had the front landing gear collapse. it skidded in for a landing. firefighters were on it. passengers stayed on board the aircraft throughout. no fire, though we are getting late reports of several minor injuries among passengers. in cleveland today, a registered sex offender was charged with murder after a grisly discover over the weekend. bodies of three women wrapped in garbage bags after neighbors reported a foul odor coming from a home. 35-year-old michael madison has yet to enter a plea. the mayor of east cleveland says madison suggested he may have been influenced by a cleveland serial killer caught back in '09, convicted in the deaths of 11 women. now to detroit and the largest city bankruptcy in u.s. history, which is now being watched so closely by cities across this country because there's a problem a lot of them share, huge gaps between the amount of money they have already set aside for pensions

and the amount of money they have actually promised retired city workers. nbc's john yang reports. >> reporter: john day was a detroit cop for more than 26 years. he worked long hours and went years without raises in return for the promise of reliable retirement income. now that pension, $2900 a month, is at risk. >> if these cuts go through, it will destroy my retirement. i have to try to find a full-time job with benefits that, you know, aren't in abundant supply. >> reporter: like many state and city workers across the country, he is not eligible for social security. in bankruptcy court, day and other retirees are just another creditor fighting for a piece of a very small pie. >> i feel betrayed. i think all the retirees feel betrayed. >> reporter: the problem's not limited to detroit. like a lot of households, states and cities don't always set aside enough money for the future. a new boston college study finds that nationwide, state and local governments have promised

workers about $1 trillion more in retirement benefits than they are able to pay. >> in a lot of cases, these increased costs, these poor-funded ratios are a product of poor funding in the past and not so much that plans promised exorbitant benefits. >> reporter: according to the pew research center, 34 states have pension fund shortfalls of at least 20%. the worst, illinois, which has less than half what it needs. the same day detroit filed for bankruptcy, the bond rating service, moody's, downgraded chicago's credit rating to negative. among the reasons, extremely underfunded pension plans and the political barriers to pension reform. >> what chicago gets from detroit is the opportunity to see what happens when you don't address the problems when you still have a chance. >> reporter: something that leaders in states and cities across the nation will likely look at very closely. john yang, nbc news, chicago. and still ahead for us on this monday night, a rather stunning new look at what's become our economic reality.

where you live in america goes a long way in determining just how far you may go in life. and later, the legacy and lessons of a young mother who raised her children in front of the world, including a future king of england.

as we mentioned, fascinating new research out tonight about america's new socioeconomic reality. where you live may determine a whole lot about your life going forward. specifically, your ability to be upwardly mobile and pursue that american ideal of earning more than your parents did. our report tonight from nbc's mike taibbi. >> reporter: atlanta is one of the country's most affluent cities, on par with seattle, for example. but given atlanta's spotty public transportation, struggle school system and geographic separation between economic classes, moving up in class is much tougher. sonia underwood, a single mom with three kids and no job after 11 years of hospital employment, knows how tough.

>> i constantly ask my family for help. pray. i pray, because it can get a little stressful. >> reporter: now a study of millions of anonymous earnings records compiled by economists from harvard and the university of california at berkeley shows the odds of attaining the american dream by region and even city. in atlanta, the study shows there's about a 4% chance of climbing from the bottom fifth to the top fifth in income. >> in contrast, if you're in a city like salt lake city or san jose, that same probability is about 12%. >> reporter: the statistics show it's a slow climb in cities like atlanta, charlotte, memphis, indianapolis, cincinnati and columbus and a faster climb in new york, boston, pittsburgh, salt lake city, seattle and large parts of california. at this federal job center, most of the position available are part-time jobs with no benefits. many of the applicants resigned to accepting anything at all. but the study shows moving up is linked to several factors, mixed income neighborhoods, good schools, two-parent households and involvement in community and

religious life, all present in the l.a. area. chris grant, looking for restaurant work, believes his prospects are good. >> i'm very optimistic about that. i do believe i do have many opportunities ahead of me. >> reporter: optimism linked not so much to today's economy as to a particular region statistical hold on the american dream. mike taibbi, nbc news, los angeles. and up next for us tonight, remembering one of the great tough guys in modern movie history. john, i've got another one

john, i've got another one for you. >> yes, sir. >> this one's straight from the top. >> the great dennis farina, telling captain miller, as played by tom hanks, that he has a tough new assignment for him regarding a young gi named ryan. dennis farina died today.

he was also, of course, detective joe fontana on "law & order." he was magnificent in "get shorty" and "midnight run." farina retained the look and the rich chicago accent of his previous life. he was a chicago city cop for 20 years before his acting career took off. he sure elevated some four-letter word combinations to a high art form. he died of a blood clot in his lung. dennis farina was 69 years old. much of official washington still reacting to the news this weekend of the death of helen thomas, a constant presence in the white house press corps for half a century, a trailblazer who covered ten presidents. and a press conference wasn't officially over until she said, "thank you, mr. president." helen thomas joined united press back in 1943. she was 92 years old. house speaker john boehner says this current congress, "should not be judged on how many new laws we create." rather, he said, "we ought to be judged on how many laws we repeal." of course, that's been a rallying cry of many in his

caucus. the speaker also refuses to take a position on immigration because he says it will make it harder to come to agreement on a bill. he said his job is, instead, to facilitate a process. well, if you have any reason to doubt the power of people working together, look at this scene in japan. a woman exiting a commuter train outside tokyo had fallen and become wedged up to her waist between the car and the platform. and so onlookers, about 40 of them, got together to tilt the train until the woman could be freed. they did so without serious injury. when we come back, the looming and missing presence during the big announcement in london today.

finally tonight, the birth of the future king of england today. it had a lot of people thinking of last time a baby boy, born to a 20-year-old mother, who went on to become a global icon. and had she lived, she would have become a grandmother today. a look back tonight from nbc's keir simmons in london. >> reporter: william is at kate's bedside tonight. the family is celebrating. but there is someone missing, diana.

>> there will be that moment when the baby is safely born. there will be a tinge of sadness that she is not there. >> reporter: she has been a presence from the beginning. kate's engagement ring belonged to diana. >> i would loved to have met her. she would have been an amazing woman to look up to. >> this is my way of keeping her so close. >> reporter: she would have been 52 now. >> i think she would be thinking, i'm going to be a grandmother. that's always a bit of a shock. and i think she will think i hope this baby has as much fun as i had with william and harry. >> reporter: diana was fun. she loved being a mother. when royal duty called, she found it hard to be away. >> i love coming back to them. >> the greatest picture of diana with those boys is when she's been on a trip and they are on a boat and her arms are as wide as the world. and she says, this is where you feel safe. >> reporter: she was fiercely protective, with children born in the spotlight. diana was determined to raise her boys as normal children.

here near kensington palace, she'd bring them to mcdonald's and the movies, the kind of thing william is likely to remember as a new father. diana's influence is inescapable, something for william to draw on. >> she was both huge sort of reservoirs of strength. >> reporter: but he will also feel her loss now, as he has since he was young. >> i wait to see that picture of a brand-new beautiful baby. and i wait to see it cradled in kate's arms. and i think for all of us who knew diana and certainly for william, there will be that moment, if only my mother could have seen my lovely child. >> reporter: keir simmons, nbc news, london. and that is our broadcast on this eventful monday night, as we start a new week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we look to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

nbc bay area newsw3 starts now. shs he's the best person i've ever known. he changed my life. he made me a better person. he made this world a better place. >> right now at 6:00, a widow's anguish. family and friends mourning a man who lost his hive trying to help people heñiñi didn't even . >> caring and a gentleman at every tournament tonight we know more about that good samaritan

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