>> thanks for joining us. we'll see you back here at 6:00. bye bye. on the broadcast tonight, on the broadcast tonight, damage control. the president says there's no excuse for the government's health care website fiasco, but even as he pledges to make it better, the news gets temporarily worse. another tragedy. another deadly shooting at a middle school where tonight a beloved teacher is dead. children have been wounded after police say a student suddenly opened fire. could it lead to a cure for baldness? millions of americans would pay billions if it's true. tonight we'll show you what has some people's hopes up. and making a difference. remember this picture of the military hero salute? well, there's something else in the picture that tells the story of the work of many good hands. "nightly news" begins now.

good evening. whatever you think about obama care itself, the internet rollout of the new package of health care coverage has been a debacle. the president himself came out today and said no one is madder than he is. he assured americans they're working hard to fix it, but not before a lot of damage has already been done. we learned just today the normally mild manner folks at consumer report said quote, stay away from healthcare.gov for at least another month if you can. the president gave out a toll free number. he says there's no excuse for what has happened, but tonight millions of americans are looking for some consumer satisfaction. we begin tonight with nbc's tom costello in our washington newsroom. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. the white house says nearly 20 million people have visited the website so far. roughly 500,000 have started the application process, but the white house isn't saying how many have actually been able to enroll.

meanwhile, there are indications there may not be a quick and easy fix for the website. three weeks into a very rocky rollout of the affordable care act, the president today admitted it has not gone well. >> there's no sugar coating it. the website has been too slow, people have been getting stuck during the application process, and i think it's fair to say that nobody's more frustrated by that than i am. >> reporter: the white house isn't saying exactly what's wrong with the website, but it's called an outside tech experts. by one estimate 5 million lines of code needs to be rewritten. insurance companies report many of the applications they're getting are filled with serious errors. in michigan, priority health is now phoning everyone who signs up online. >> we can only do that because there's a low volume right now. certainly if it picks up, that will be difficult to call each and every person. >> reporter: while 36 stats use

the federal website, 14 states and d.c. have set up their own. and many of those are working well. kentucky reports 45,000 applications started and nearly 16,000 people already signed up for insurance. >> what makes it work here in kentucky is the streamline application process. where it's just a one-stop shop. >> reporter: and kentucky shoppers can check prices without pages of personal data. supposed to handle six states and instead now handles five times that many. now the clock is ticking to fix the website. >> basically, you know, we've got about a month or six weeks from today to try to get this fixed. in order for people to have coverage starting january 1. >> reporter: with the president today, janice baker, the first in delaware to buy low cost insurance online, though it took 11 days of persistence. >> i'm very happy with it. i'm thrilled, really. i just can't imagine i'm getting such a nice policy out of all

this. >> adon't let problems with the website deter you from signing up. >> reporter: the president is encouraging people to sign up for insurance by calling the 800 enough if the website is not working properly. he insists many can sign up for affordable health care right now. brian? >> tom costello starting us off tonight. let's bring in our political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd. chuck, let's talk accountability. a lot of folks in the business world say if this happened in a private company in the real world, it could be curtains for the company, curtains for the ceo. in this case, the ceo people are asking about pointing to would be health and human services. the cabinet secretary kathleen sebelius. >> reporter: everything i hear in the administration, her job is safe. nobody in the west wing feels this is an administrative error, that this is a competency issue. that at the end of the day, this was a problem if anything, of

overpromising perhaps by the contractors that were used to build the website. the other thing i'm hearing is there's such an all hands on deck mentality, brian. they know they have only weeks to get this right, because it's these young people that use the web that they want to get on. and if the website is thought of as unusable, they'll never get the young and healthy people to sign up for health care which blows the entire system and would raise the cost for everybody. so right now they're not interested in finding accountability. it's an all hands on deck. but in a few months if they find incompetency, nothing should be ruled out. >> chuck todd on the white house lawn tonight for us. chuck, thanks. it has nearly been a year since the awful school shooting at sandy hook in newton, connecticut. today another tragedy involving a gun at school. this time a middle school in nevada just before the starting bell, a student shot and killing a teacher and wounded two other students and then took his own life. it happened east of reno in

sparks, nevada. joe frier is there for us tonight. joe, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. police still don't know what sparked this shooting that left one teacher dead and two students wounded. but they say they are certain the student who opened fire was acting alone. it happened at 7:00 a.m., the buses still emptying at the sparks middle school east of reno while students milled around outside. >> active shooter, sparks middle school. they have at least two down, one in the dropoff area for the buses. suspect is described as wearing khaki pants. >> reporter: 13-year-old kyle newcom said he heard and then saw what happened. >> a student was pointing a gun at a teacher after the teacher told him to put it down. and the student fired a shot at the teacher and the teacher fell and everybody ran away. >> reporter: the teacher mike lanbury who had just celebrated his wedding anniversary last friday, dead at age 45. the other fatality, the student who allegedly shot him.

>> a male student came to the school with a semiautomatic handgun. he shot two students, one male teacher before turning the gun on himself. >> reporter: on a new facebook page generated by the shootings, calls for prayers, offers of counseling, and rest in peace for the school's popular longtime math teacher. >> we're a family. we're a family at sparks middle school. we're a family within our district and within this community. we'll have to mourn together and heal together. >> reporter: the parents who rushed to the school at the news of the shooting were understandably shaken. >> i just was in a panic until we got here and we had to wait a long time to be able to see or know if she was okay. she's my life, you know. >> reporter: the school will remain closed for the rest of the week as officials try to determine how and why a student brought a handgun to school and why it was fired.

the two student victims remain in the hospital tonight. one was shot in the shoulder, the other in the abdomen. police say both are expected to survive. brian? >> joe frier, sparks, nevada, for us tonight. joe, thanks. some severe weather we are watching this evening. hurricane raymond taking aim at an area of mexico coast which was inundated last month by a tropical storm. raymond is now a large category three, could mean really heavy rain around the region around acapulco. forecasters say it will glance by the coast, continuing to churn more wind, more rain before then heading back out to open waters. overseas today, signs of overwhelming air pollution in a city of 11 million people in northeastern china brought to a virtual stand still by choking smog. people walking around wearing masks. incredible images of near-zero visibility. schools canceled classes,

highway traffic paralyzed. the airport was shut down. chinese officials are calling this officially, quote, heavy fog. they're blaming the air emergency on coal fired heaters being turned on with the arrival of the cold weather season. and farmers who burn their corn stalks after the harvest this time of year. you'll remember as we broadcast just last week, the world health organization has warned air pollution as a major cause of cancer around the world. and in australia, dozens of wildfires continue to burn. hundreds of homes have now been damaged or destroyed. most destructive fires have been australia's most populous state. town outside sydney threatened where in recent days heavy smoke has been seen billowing over the harbor and the world-famous opera house. these fires so far have burned an area as big as the city of los angeles. now to the mystery of maria.

a little girl with blond hair who was found by greek police last week. they want people around the world to see her face. and the question in this case is not where is she but who is she. tonight there are lots of potential leads, but still no firm answer. our report from nbc's michelle kosinski in athens. >> reporter: this is maria. her face has been seen around the world. police raiding this gypsy camp in central greece last week looking for guns, drugs, and fugitives found her. fair skinned, blond, blue-eyed, looking not at all like the couple she was living with. a dna test proved they were not maria's parents. they were arrested, charged with abduction. maria was brought to a child services charity in athens. >> doesn't know where she goes. >> reporter: crying and exhausted at first, said the chairman, but later content. he said she'd been living in bad conditions, but there was no

sign of abuse. dental examination revealed her age five or six, but her identity is a mystery. authorities have gone public releasing her picture. that triggered thousands of responses from around the world including the united states. also, hope with people with missing children of their own. and several promising leads. the arrested pair were in court today. their lawyer denied they abducted maria. >> they loved her. and they took care as their own child. >> reporter: but he confessed their adoption of her was not legal. the roma community rallied to support the couple. they released video showing a tidy little girl's room full of toys, shoes neatly laid out, and a happy looking maria dancing. police are now investigating whether she was a victim of child trafficking. and asking the world do you know

this child. michelle kosinski, nbc news, athens. the leaks from the former american security contractor edward snowden continue to make international relations tough for the u.s. today president obama spoke to the president of france to tamp down outrage over allegations of widespread spying by this country on french citizens via tens of millions of phone records. over the weekend, it was anger in mexico. the u.s. was tending to over leaks saying the national security agency had been reading the e-mail of former president felipe calderon. still ahead for us tonight, a hope for millions battling baldness. could it lead to a cure? a promising procedure that could help both men and women. and later, do you recognize any of the young faces in this photo? could one of them, perhaps, be you? there's a former beatle who would like to know. and we own the paper cottage.

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it is known as one of those holy grails in the business of science and medicine. whoever comes up with a bona fide cure for baldness is going to make billions and be praised as a hero. and while it's too early for rejoicing among humans, there was a recent flurry of excitement in the mouse community when a solution seemed to work. at least on mice. and in a blatant bit of typecasting on our part, we get our report tonight from nbc's harry smith. >> it leaves your hair looking alive. >> reporter: forward forward women go for hair extensions. american men spend billions doing everything they can to replace their baldness. blame it on sampson. when he lost his hair, he lost his mojo.

but scientists at columbia university look to be on their way to curing hair loss. >> it's an exciting discovery. really. it's one of the first times i think adults themselves can actually regenerate a whole new organ in human tissue. >> reporter: dr. angela cristiano says -- hair grew. a big deal for the 65% of men and 80% of women who will have noticeable hair loss by the age of 60. >> if it works in humans, it actually opens up the possibility of hair restoration for many more patients than are currently eligible. >> reporter: the doctor has been searching for a cure to hair loss since she lost some of her hair to alopecia as a young woman. why more and more men have made peace, for women it's not the same story. >> athletes who shave their heads, it's glamorous and fashionable. very seldom do you see women with a shaved head you consider

glamorous. >> reporter: it may be a few years before the science makes its way to the market place. it may be too long for those of us who long ago stopped dreaming for a head full of hair. harry smith, new york. we're back with more in a moment. including more to the story of the now-former scout leader who was seen on youtube destroying a natural beauty. ready? as i'll ever be! break a leg! i used to love hearing that phrase but not since i learned i have postmenopausal osteoporosis and a high risk for fracture. i want to keep acting but a broken bone could change that. so my doctor and i chose prolia® to reduce my risk of fractures. prolia® is proven to help make bones stronger proven to help increase bone density. i take prolia®, it's different. it's two shots a year.

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an epic battle in indianapolis last night. peyton manning returning to the place he built. the cathedral of sports in indianapolis. his undefeated broncos visiting the colts. sports writers combined and called it the war of 1812. but it fell more like love and war when manning walked out on the field to sustained applause.

but the returning veteran went down to defeat in his old home. those undefeated broncos were defeated by the colts last night 39-33. there's more back story to that video that caused a lot of outrage on youtube. the scout leader who toppled a boulder formation in utah. it's now reported he filed a suit last month claiming personality disability and impairment from a car accident years ago. but he was strong enough to destroy what mother nature had built. boy scouts have now parted ways with him. he said he did it to clear a potential hazard to children, but tonight he tells nbc news we made a mistake and we need to own up to that. a bellwether in the media business, netflix is now reporting it has more than 40 million subscribers and that means more paid subscriber than hbo. netflix is just started out in the original programming business. the nation's top humor prize

was given out in washington last night to the legendary carol burnett. she received the mark twain prize for american humor. tim conway and tina fey were among those praising her. burnett admitted the prize was a long time coming but said she understood because there are so many funnier people, especially in washington. as we mentioned, ringo starr is asking for your help. take a look at the foe the he shot from a car window during the beatles first visit to the u.s. back in 1964. it happens to be a great photo of a car full of kids who pulled up alongside the beatles motorcade. the photo had never been shown before today. it's in a new book of his. he believes it may have been taken in florida, maybe miami. if you're in the picture or know someone who is, there's new information on our website tonight to contact. because ringo would like to know. when we come back, a certain

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>> announcer: making a difference, brought to you by new oxytrol for women. a number of our viewers told us they were deeply touched by the story a week ago that started out with a photo of the young wounded army ranger thought to be unconscious who struggled to salute as a purple heart was pinned to his blanket. but about that blanket in the photo, some sharp eyed viewers of ours saw that and then they knew they were looking at something familiar, something they had contributed toward the comfort of our returning veterans. our "making a difference" report tonight comes from nbc's erica hill. >> reporter: the moving determined salute by one veteran made some women stop and look again. >> i said oh, my god, that's our quilt. that's fantastic. >> reporter: draped across his hospital bed was the blanket lovingly stitched by quilted valor. 10,000 volunteers. >> every quilt tells a story.

>> reporter: susan gordon is the program's executive director. >> we're all here because we're patrio patriots. we want to share the talents we have with the people who are garden our freedom. >> reporter: there's nothing like being wrapped in the love of a warm quilt. >> the guys love it. >> reporter: this group of quilters based north of atlanta sets up shop once a month combined skills and swatches to cover service members around the world. this group alone has produced more than 400 quilts since january. >> keeps me out of trouble. >> i didn't realize i've made 26 quilts already. >> reporter: some of the more 90,000 distributed since kathryn roberts started the organization in 2003. each one unique. >> she called it flying eagles. >> reporter: these squares were designed by local third graders. >> i asked them to interpret what freedom means to them. >> reporter: for ingelberd

shields, it was a way to honor her husband. >> sometimes i cut out or in this case a star. and i attach it some place in the quilt. >> one of the biggest groups that's been underappreciated are vietnam veterans. for many of them they say this is the first time anybody said thank you for your service. >> we put the fabric together, you guys are the thread. nobody sees what you do, but you hold us together. >> reporter: erica hill, nbc news lawrenceville, georgia. >> and by the way, we have an update tonight on josh har gis. her wife taylor shared this photo of josh sitting upright with his gog gi. taylor says their dog named dent is happy to see his daddy and wait until they find out they're going to be real parents in a few months and bring home

another family member. that is the broadcast for us. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. good evening, and thanks for joining us. i'm janelle wang in for raj matthai. i'm jessica aguirre. our developing story. both sides back at the table. that news cannot come soon enough for commuters in day four of the b.a.r.t. strike and the first day of a new workweek. all happening in the shadow of two b.a.r.t. worker deaths over the weekend as well. want to give you a live look from our nbc chopper. you're looking right now at a ferry headed into the oakland terminal. you should know the ferries have been packed. we're hearing from them, at

least, three times the usual amount of passengers. even with added boats. nbc bay area's cheryl hurd has been following negotiations all day. anything to report at this point? >> reporter: not at this time, but what i can tell you is union members are picketing across the street, and as you can see, microphones are set up just in case there's a statement or a deal. right now, there is no deal. atu has been talking to b.a.r.t. management since 11:00 this morning, but both sides seem to have one thing in common. they both want to see an end to this strike. >> we cannot. >> reporter: the union keeping details about b.a.r.t. negotiations under wraps. sciu chief negotiator josie mooney met privately with the b.a.r.t. board president over the weekend. today she and fellow union president roxanne sanchez says the public needs to encourage b.a.r.t. management to end the strike. >> what's