on our broadcast tonight, fed up with washington. that's not a surprise. it is a new record as we debut our new poll tonight. and as the president hits the road in his own defense. secrets and lies and new fallout from an x-rated political scandal that has engulfed the biggest mayoral race in the country all because of one man. family history about to continue for caroline kennedy said to be getting a big job representing the u.s. prince george, the new baby has a name rooted in british history. while the young parents continue to break with old traditions. and show of support. the story behind this. the most striking photo of the day. "nightly news" begins now.

good evening. the news tonight isn't so much that americans are fed up with washington and disapprove of the job congress is doing. sadly that's pretty much a constant of late. but it is news that our discontent has set an all-time record. our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows some numbers not seen in the history of polling. 83% of us now disapprove of congress. the president is riding a 45% approval. his lowest number notably since two summers ago. it perhaps fueled his trip to illinois and then missouri today. the places like that, a whole lot easier to distance yourself from washington. our chief white house correspondent political director chuck todd here with us in our studios in new york with all of it. chuck, good evening. >> brian, that's exactly what this is. when presidents are in trouble, things aren't going well in washington they do one thing. they get out of washington. the president here trying to channel the public's anger and try to reconnect with it. a public that seems to be slowly disconnecting from him.

♪ >> reporter: president obama traveled to gailsburg, illinois in an attempt to re-energize his presidency and demonstrate to the public he is focused on trying to speed up the economic recovery. >> today, five years after the start of that great recession, america has fought its way back. >> reporter: in a new nbc news "wall street journal" poll, 29% believe the country is headed in the right direction near a two-year low. a growing majority believes the country is on the wrong track. the president acknowledged during this recovery the middle-class is stagnating. >> even though our businesses are creating new jobs and broken record profits nearly all the income gains of the past ten years have continued to flow to the top 1%. >> reporter: while unemployment has fallen during his presidency, from a high of 10% to 7.6% today, these folks at a florida jobs fair this week are still frustrated. >> you can send out 100 resumes and you never get a response. there are so many people out

there looking for jobs. >> right now it is terrible. it is terrible. you can do a lot better. >> reporter: back in illinois, the president's talk wasn't just all about the economy. he blamed republicans in congress for obstructing his agenda and constantly trying to repeal his signature health care law. >> stop taking meaningless repeal votes and share your concrete ideas with the country. >> reporter: on this point the public agrees with the president. 56% called congressional republicans too inflexible when dealing with the president. only 19% believe they are striking the right balance. still the public is not very optimistic about the president's second term. just 43% think he can be effective. a majority, 53%, believe he won't be able to get much done. but the president pledged to try. >> the only thing i care about is how to use every minute of the remaining 1,276 days of my term to make this country work for working americans again.

>> brian, one of his big challenges in the next six months is implementing health care. right now all-time record low of people in our poll thinks his health care law is a good idea. just 34%. he has got a lot of challenges on his plate. >> chuck todd covering it all in the new york studios. chuck, thanks. of all the 535 members of congress, there was one name in particular that americans came to know two years ago because of what he did and what led to his resignation. new york democratic congressman anthony weiner was caught in a string of inappropriate internet relationships some of them illustrated with vivid photographs. his name was tossed on the stack of disgraced former politicians until he decided to run for mayor of new york city. but yesterday he was forced to admit his behavior continued after he left congress and this now involves his prominent wife and the prominent political family named clinton. weiner insisted today this is not about him. but the race for mayor, the media attention and the anger being vented right now is all about him.

we get our report on all of it from nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: today anthony weiner said it was all about the city not about him. >> you know, i am fine. i have an amazing wife and child upstairs. i have a comfortable life. this is not about me. >> reporter: but to many it did seem to be all about him especially after watching his wife, huma abedin, long time hillary clinton confidant break her silence to come to his defense. >> it took a lot of work. and a whole lot of therapy to get to a place where i could forgive anthony. that was a decision i made for me. for our son, and for our family. >> reporter: to outraged editorial writers and tv commentators, weiner was hiding behind his wife. >> to cover his butt. dragging a nice woman, drags her out to stand there next to him, it makes richard nixon and pat nixon look like it was a royal marriage. >> reporter: "the new york

times" decried his arrogance. "the wall street journal" compared him to eliot spitzer. the paper wrote another "narcissist attempting a political comeback after humiliating his wife." then there its the time line. weiner's latest online sext, a full year after he resigned from congress in disgrace. a week before this gauzy, "people" magazine, profile, quoting huma as saying "anthony has spent every day since then trying to be the best dad and husband he can be." to the clintons, huma is family. bill clinton officiated her marriage to weiner and said if he had a second daughter it would be huma. her mentor, hillary clinton, proved that wives and voters can forgive. >> i am not sitting here some little woman standing by my man. like tammy wynette. >> reporter: weiner seems to be channelling bill clinton. >> i won't stop fighting until the last dog dies. >> i will be there for you until the last dog dies. >> reporter: in the september issue of harper's bazaar headlined "the good wife" huma wrote putting yourself out there comes with a cost.

in life as in fiction. >> voters need to see you together up on the stage holding hands. >> i want to be a great state's attorney. i can't do it without you. >> reporter: before the latest revelations, weiner was leading a crowded primary race for mayor. he has already had plenty of money in the bank, some say he has nothing to lose at least not politically. >> andrea, to another matter on your beat. that is caroline kennedy's name in the news. tonight, a story i think you first reported was coming down the track in april. >> back in april. she has been nominated. she has to be confirmed by the senate. i think that really is just a formality. she will be ambassador to japan. she has no ambassador experience. there is plenty back in her history. her grandfather, joe kennedy was ambassador to great britain. but the kennedy name is magic in japan. back in the '60s, japan was on its heels, jfk, his brother, and their first ambassador to japan, really set the relationship going forward. this is the third largest economy. it is a big job. women are not accepted in

business and in the professions the way they are here in the states, at least better in the states. in japan. so this is going to be a big challenge for her. caroline kennedy, as i say the kennedy name, celebrity, an early, strong supporter of barack obama when he was running against hillary clinton. >> andrea mitchell thank you for all of it. the duke and duchess of cambridge, william and kate, revealed the name of their newborn son. he is george alexander louis. or as he will be addressed this royal highness prince george of cambridge. tonight the family made their way to kate's parents house in the village of bucklebury where kate's mother, the baby's only living grandmother, carol middleton is expected to play a big role in the days and years ahead for that matter. nbc's chris jansing has made her way to bucklebury tonight. chris, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. from a pub frequented by the middletons, you know it is a real break with royal tradition to take a two-day heir to the throne out of the palace into the countryside.

unexpected too that they named him so quickly. but what is not a surprise is the name itself. just 24 hours after the world first glimpsed the baby cambridge, he got a very grownup name. >> it's george! >> reporter: george alexander louis. >> lovely combination actually. >> i think it's a tremendous name. very traditional. >> reporter: ending a week's long guessing game. >> it matters an enormous amount in royal, because what they're consciously doing is to fling back the memory, the imagination, sometimes hundreds of years. >> reporter: george the name of six previous kings two of them immortalized by hollywood. >> apart from the place we must not mention. >> reporter: there was "the madness of king george iii" who lost the american colonies. >> the united states. >> reporter: and george vi in "the king's speech." he the beloved father of the queen. >> it got much better, papa. >> bless you. >> reporter: who met her great

grandson for the first time this morning. then will and kate did most untraditional thing taking his royal highness out of the palace off to kate's hometown of bucklebury. welcomed by the sounds and the sights of celebration. but most of all, by the familiar comfort of kate's family, who built a bond with william over ten years of the couple's courtship. >> he is known to call michael middleton dad. carol said to dote on her son-in-law. a photograph of him on her mobile phone. >> reporter: like diana, carol middleton was a hands-on open ly affectionate mom.ly affectionate mom. a descendant of coal miners who with her husband built a multimillion dollar business and raised a future queen. now as prince george's only grandmother she is in a unique position of influence. >> she will be there to say this is what we achieved with very little. you can go on and do great things, king or not. >> reporter: and back to the

names, apparently, kate liked the name alexander for the girl. that may be why alexander now for george. and also louis for lord mountbatten. who was very close to prince charles. it is worth pointing out, brian, that prince george when he becomes king isn't obligated to take any of those names. >> chris jansing in a prominent but still very small town. chris, thanks for your reporting tonight. sadly, an awful scene in northwestern spain to report tonight where a high-speed train derailed tearing at least one car open on the tracks. there are reports of about 45 dead. dozens more perhaps 70 wounded. rescue crews are still working to free people who they fear are trapped inside. the mayor of rio apologize ed today for the lapse in security that allowed crowds to surround at times completely stop the pope on his ride into the city from the airport monday. the pope was in the small fiat minivan and was at times completely exposed. this morning, security was tighter, more visible with 5,000 military and police

sup limiting plain clothed security. as pope francis celebrated mass before 150,000 people. later this evening, he was out again as a crush of people surrounded him wanting to take photos. tonight three weeks after the deadline passed doubling student loan rates leaving millions of american students in the lurch, the u.s. senate has now passed a bill that will lower rates for college students this fall. the house passed a similar bill. it is likely to pass the senate version now, sending the combined act to the president for his signature. still ahead for us this evening, american hospitals. with the kinds of services you see at restaurants and spas, that includes some emergency rooms, given the cost of health care isn't about time, we got a little customer service. later the story behind what is easily the picture of the day featuring a very familiar face with a new look for a reason.

as we mentioned our health news tonight is about a big change happening in hospitals. more and more trying to be a

nice place to stay even though few of us ever want to go there. there is a financial incentive to offer patients better services and surroundings to the tune of $1 billion a year. our report on all of it from dr. nancy snyderman, our chief medical editor. >> reporter: an early morning massage. >> that's wonderful. >> this is lavender. >> reporter: some aroma therapy. >> nice. >> reporter: these are the amenities, not at a spa, but at california's st. helena hospital. 61-year-old o'rourke sweeney is here for heart surgery. >> we want patients to know they're more than a procedure to us. that we will take care of them. that they're our guests in our home. >> it's not just the act of actually massaging. it's the fact that they care enough to do this. >> reporter: it is happening in hospitals across the nation. the affordable care act ties $964 million in medicare funding this year to patient satisfaction.

there is even a grading system. lower scores can mean fines. a 32-question government survey asks patients for example whether doctors carefully listen to you and patients have taken to social media sites to post reviews of their doctors. >> i feel thoroughly googled every time a patient walks into my office. it's pretty obvious that patients are more savvy today. >> reporter: in new york, the hospital has a no-wait emergency room. every patient who walks in is instantly triaged into an e.r. bed. but with faster access comes frustration. >> in the emergency department you have to balance two responsibilities, the responsibility to the patient you are seeing and the responsibility to all the other patients walking in the door. because we have to see everyone who comes in for whatever they come in for. >> reporter: critics say mandated patient surveys might have unintended consequences. "forbes" magazine discovered hospitals trying to artificially boost their satisfaction scores. one of the more egregious things

that i came across was the example of a hospital that was providing vicodin goody bags as they called to to discharged patients. >> reporter: american hospital association responds that they're committed to care delivered in the right way in a manner that respects the values and preferences of the patient and family. >> give me a breath. >> reporter: at saint helena's, o'rourke sweeney recovers from his surgery. modern health care, now balancing patient satisfaction with the best path to healing. dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, new york. and quickly here, we got a situation in the gulf tonight. if you know the region, 40 miles south of grand isle, louisiana, it's a natural gas platform. it collapsed and is burning to the water line. officials are telling us there are few environmental dangers evident. if you know the region and its history of course we have heard that before. we'll keep an eye on it. when we come back, the story behind the "photo of the day."

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we came across a photo today that is almost shocking to look at at first. taken at kennebunkport, maine at the summer home of former president george h.w. bush 41. in fact, it's shocking because it shows the former president in a way we have never seen him before. >> reporter: it doesn't look at all like the former 41 we have come to know. then you see the reason for the former president's new look. the 2-year-old named patrick sitting in his lap. patrick is the son of one of president bush's secret service agents. he's lost his hair during chemo while undergoing treatment for leukemia. so the former president and most of his security detail did the only thing that made sense to them. they shaved their heads and became the largest hairless solidarity flash mob in the entire state of maine. for the former president, this is more personal than it may look. there's a history here for the bushes. george and barbara lost their second child to leukemia.

their daughter robin was just four years old when she died. they, of course, have never gotten over it. that much was evident during an emotional interview, jenna bush conducted with her grandfather a year ago. >> there is people in heaven that you want to see? >> definitely. >> who would you want to see first? >> my mom. and my father. and maybe robin our little girl that died. >> just days ago former president bush enjoyed a warm, gracious day at the white house as the obamas hosted the bushes to pay tribute to his points of light foundation. he has been in a wheelchair, and scooter to his great frustration ever since his legs gave out a few years back. late last year he had a health scare, serious enough to gather family members around his hospital bed. but for this world war ii veteran and former president who went skydiving the day he turned 85 it's his disposition that has always broken through and powered him on. patrick's family says he faces a

long road but his prognosis is positive especially if you believe in the healing power of having a good friend. former president, making news today in his own way. another break and when we come back tonight, even if you're thinking of hitting all the museums you can in washington this summer, you won't be allowed to see this one.

finally tonight, if washington, d.c. is the capital of all museums, and considering this is the height of summer tourist season, we wanted to show you one place not on the tour. where the public is not allowed. but it contains vast treasures nonetheless of a secret variety. specifically the tools of the trade of the cia. tonight our chief foreign correspondent richard engel has been offered a rare look. >> reporter: it's the greatest museum you'll never see. and it's filled with secrets. hidden cameras, weapons, decoding machines. >> figuring out how the enigma worked is one of the turning points of the war. >> absolutely. >> reporter: world war ii when the cia began as the oss, the office of strategic services. ever since, the agency has created tools for spies.

not james bond, not maxwell smart. >> hello, chief? >> reporter: these are for real, vintage pistols with silencers, a camera carrying pigeon, a 70s era drone the size of a dragonfly, the insectothopter. a coin-sized cold war camera. >> this is a microdot camera. the film pack is this disk. >> reporter: it's american history, but no visitors allowed. the secrecy protects cia officers undercover. >> i love this. even in your own museum. oh, to celebrate the accomplishments. all of their faces are blurred out. the killing of osama bin laden is represented here too. this is the mock up. i recognize this from seeing it so many times. this is bin laden's compound. a mock up. >> the original model was used to brief the policy makers. >> the white house? >> to brief the president. >> brief the president? >> absolutely. the assault team used it to plan their raid. >> reporter: so tell us more -- >> we had hundreds of pieces of

all source intelligence to make it as accurate as possible. >> including the internal spaces? >> including -- i can't talk about that. >> can't talk about that? >> no. >> reporter: they can talk about this, osama bin laden's personal ak-47, recovered by navy seals on the night of the raid. much like in the movie "zero dark 30." the real one. this one has never been seen until now. >> yes, this is the rifle that was recovered from the third floor of the abbottabad compound by the assault team. it is a russian ak with chinese markings. >> reporter: on the night of the raid, bin laden never fired a shot. now he's gone and his gun is a museum piece. one of thousands here for private viewing only. richard engel, nbc news, at cia headquarters. >> back on the record, that's 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.

good night. good wednesday evening. >> we begin with a story you'll see only on nbc bay area. a popular amusement park under fire tonight. six flags discovery kingdom is working to clean up a mess after we asked questions about debris in a nearby creek. the junk is from the park and from an old ski show? >> reporter: that's right. it appears that some of the park's leftover ski equipment from the once popular water ski

show never got cleared out. the departments of fish and wildlife says it has launched an investigation and a local environmentalist is demanding that the park clean up its back jared mess. >> a lake like this can't take care of itself. >> reporter: doug is on a mission to preserve the city's lake and nearby creek. >> i got one. oh, no, no. darn. it's not a keeper. it's not indigenous to these waters. >> reporter: he has been chronicling a mess, debris that six flags discovery kingdom has failed to completely clean up. >> we used to have structures in the water back here that discovery kingdom used to use in the water ski shows. and they deteriorated and the storms carried them down stream. you can see the red has not