no word yet on damages or injuries. "nightly news" will be tracking the story as well. >> we'll have more tonight at 6:00 also. good night. on our broadcast tonight, demanding answers from the new woman in charge at gm. why didn't the company warn customers about a defect it knew about for over a decade while lives were lost? disaster zone. our first look tonight at the unbelievable force of nature up close after the landslide that wiped out much of a community. early detection. controversial findings reigniting the debate over mammograms yet again. and the amazing comeback happening tonight. a young family just starting out, while people watch it all live. "nightly news" begins now. good evening. the biggest automaker in this country, a company synonymous with an entire industry has a

big problem on its hands. today the new ceo of gm appeared before congress, and it quickly got testy, because her company finds itself explaining faulty ignition switches, deadly accidents, and a recall that is at least a decade too late. many of the victim's family members went to washington today to see the testimony for themselves. most of the cars involved here are in the inexpensive range. especially when sold on the used car market, they're often the first car a lot of young people drive. that's why a lot of young people are among the victims. today the ceo faced both lawmakers and those family members, and we begin tonight with nbc's tom costello on capitol hill tonight. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. the new ceo mary barra has been with the company for 30 years, but she said she knew nothing about cars shutting down, air bags failing until she became ceo in january. the horrific stories of accidents and fatalities have filled the headlines for weeks.

general motors confirms at least 32 crashes and 13 deaths linked to a faulty ignition switch it admits it knew about at least a decade ago, yet failed to warn customers. today, seven weeks after first announcing a worldwide recall, gm's new ceo faced an angry congress, and promised to do the right thing. >> that begins with my sincere apologies to everyone who has been affected by this recall. >> reporter: the apology was directed at victims' family members who came to washington demanding answers from gm. >> it's got his ashes in it. my daughter had it done for me. i wear it every day. >> sherry sharkey came for her 21-year-old son michael who died after his car went off the road in upstate new york and caught fire. >> when i close my eyes, i see my son's face and imagine the worst, what he had to go through. that's all i can see. >> reporter: gm knew as early as 2001 it had a problem.

in 2005 it declined to make a stopgap fix, citing costs. the nbc news investigative unit has obtained an internal gm document showing that in 2006 a design engineer signed off on a redesign for part of the ignition switch. the name on that form, ray digorgio. under oath in a lawsuit deposition in 2013, di giorgio said he did not know about the changes to the switch. >> if any such change was made, it was made without your knowledge? and authorization? >> that is correct. >> reporter: but that gm document appears to have been signed by digiorgio himself. he's not responded to our request for comment. gm admits it ordered a fix for new cars in 2006, but never told existing customers that they may be at risk. and government regulators say they were never told either. >> our ability to find defects also requires automakers to act in good faith and to provide information on time. >> reporter: nick and kim langley wonder whether their son scotty would be alive had gm

ordered a recall sooner. >> why wasn't this done sooner? this is now six years. >> reporter: today ceo barra struggled to answer questions. >> you don't know? >> about our entire -- >> you don't know than? >> -- and our entire >> reporter: barra was pressed whether her company would be accountable. >> is the company responsible? >> we will make the best decisions for our customers. recognizing we have legal obligations and responsibilities as well as moral obligations. >> reporter: gm said today it's hired ken feinberg, the man who ran the 9/11 fund and the gulf oil spill fund, to look at issues and programs for gm customers. gm is not yet committing to a financial settlement. this is costing the company a bundle. $750 million in the first quarter after a profit of $900 million in late 2013. brian? >> tom costello starting us off after an emotional day on capitol hill. tom, thanks. and across town in washington, late this afternoon at the white house, president obama stepped into the rose garden for what was designed as

an outdoor public victory lap, to make the official announcement that 7.1 million americans have signed up for health care under obamacare. he referenced the disastrous start of the website. he conceded future fixes and tried to lay down a marker or two to critics. our chief white house correspondent chuck todd was there for it. he is with us now from the north lawn. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. obviously a sense of relief here at the white house considering where they started back in october with that botched roll-out. bury there's a lot we don't know about these enrollment figures, including how many people were uninsured, how many healthy young people signed up. if those ratios aren't good, then premiums for all of us could skyrocket next year. it could be weeks, though, before we know the answers to those questions. yet today the president was in a feisty mood against his republican foes. >> you know, in the end, history is it not kind to those who would deny americans their basic economic security. nobody remembers well those who

stands in the way of america's progress or our people. as messy as it's been sometimes, as contentious as it's been sometimes, it is progress. >> reporter: now republicans still believe an anti-obama care message is a political winner for them this year. but the white house wants to make sure democrats don't run away from health care. that's why you heard a fired up president today trying to set the tone for his own party. the question remains, brian, will endangered democrats follow him? >> chuck todd at the white house for us. chuck, thanks. tonight, as we get a new view from space that shows the extent of the damage done by that landslide in washington state, we are also getting our first look inside that disaster zone up close, on the ground with the search teams who are digging through the rubble and the mud over a week since much of a community was wiped out in seconds. 27 people now confirmed dead. 22 more among those believed missing. nbc's miguel almaguer has our report tonight from osso, washington.

>> reporter: this is our first look at the debris field. this is state route 530. this -- right down the road is where the slide hit. this hillside didn't just slide, it blew out a tremendous amount of energy and forest, burying so much of this area in just seconds. you can see this huge tree that's been toppled over. it looks like there's clothes from a family that are draped around it. to the side of it here, you see what looks like a household container. it's heartbreaking work here. the teams are combing through people's lives, picking apart this area, stick by stick. it's painstakingly slow. for one square mile all you see is debris and this huge wasteland. it's going to take search teams so long to go through all of this, there is so much land for them to cover, so much work that needs to be done. from this higher elevation, you can see the hillside that just sheered off.

it's a massive chunk of land. and look at how much ground it covers, one square mile slid all the way down this mountain. this is where the active search is going on for any possible victims and recovery of bodies. it looks like crews have discovered another victim here, so we're going to stop shooting. in the slide zone, crews found a thin red string, and after tugging on it, this is what they found. a tattered flag flies here now, a symbol of hope and recovery. miguel almaguer, nbc news, osso, washington. we turn now to another ongoing tragedy. malaysian authorities released the full transcript of radio communications between the pilots on flight 370 and air traffic controllers on the ground. investigators and all the experts say it's all the stuff of normal radio transmissions, up to and including the signoff from the flight deck, "good

night malaysian 370." in the meantime, the man heading up the search off the coast of australia, the former chief of australian defense forces is warning it's possible no wreckage will ever be found. he emphasized the search will continue, but it could take years with no guarantees on that vast ocean. we turn now to afghanistan, where a wave of violence threatens to disrupt this saturday's presidential election. it is a critical test of that nation's stability after american troops draw down and leave after a dozen years of war. the attacks have been brazen and deadly of late, including one 12 days ago, that left a 2-year-old boy fighting for his life. it happened in the heart of the city of kabul, in a place that was supposed to be safe. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel reports from kabul. >> reporter: it's a wonder 2-year-old abu zar is alive at all. an attacker shot him four times, including in the head. doctors here fought to save his life. when he woke up from a coma, his

17-year-old aunt was there, but not his parents. they were dead, killed by the same men who shot him. these men, walking through the gate of kabul's upscale supposedly safe serena hotel. they were searched, but not thoroughly. they had pistols hidden in their shoes, undetected. they walked to the hotel restaurant and started shooting. >> the first thing i hear is just a bunch of popping. i hear gunshots. >> reporter: kim motley, an american lawyer, had just checked in. she represents afghan rape victims and works to free foreigners from afghan jails. she knows how dangerous it can be here. did you think you were going to die that night? >> i thought it was a possibility. it was the closest i've ever come to thinking i was going to die. >> reporter: by the time police arrived, six people were injured, nine were dead, including abu zar's brother and sister, ages 5 and 6, his mother who had pleaded for her children's lives, and his

father, respected afghan journalist sardar ahmed. this is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, it's unclear if sardar and his family were targeted because of his work or caught up in an attack on a hotel full of foreigners. sardar's older brother is also well-known here as the book seller of kabul, made famous by the book of the same name. you warned him not to go to places like that? >> many, many times. >> don't go to the restaurants where foreigners -- >> no, many, many times i warned him. >> reporter: he and his brother embodied afghanistan's best hope -- educated, moderate, making a difference. now they're being gunned down with their families. >> it's the taliban. muslims or human beings, they shoot innocent people, they should change themselves. if they don't change, all the world should unite against them. >> abu zar is recovering. when he's strong enough, he will move to canada to live with relatives.

they don't see a future for him here. richard engel, nbc news, kabul. and we're back with more on this tuesday night from new york, right after this.

i'm rehema ellis in los angeles with late-breaking news. a major earthquake of 8.0 struck off the coast of chile near the mining area of akike. according to the u.s. geological survey, the quake was very shallow, only 6.2 miles below the seabed, which would have made it feel stronger. it was centered 53 miles west of akike. it is not immediately known if the quake sparked a tsunami alert. but typically quakes of that size near the coast typically do. chile is on the ring of fire with faults connecting to the western united states. again, there has been a powerful earthquake off the coast of chile, magnitude 8.0. now back to brian williams. a team of researchers from

harvard has compiled more than 50 years of data about the effectiveness of mammograms. and tonight they've issued some controversial findings, with apologies for the confusion this may reignite. they say the benefits of screening are often overstated, while the potential harms are often downplayed. but tell that to so many women whose lives have been saved by early detection and say they'd rather be safe than sorry. our report tonight on all of it from our chief medical editor, dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: america's conversation about breast cancer began in 1974, when president gerald ford made an unprecedented and emotional announcement. >> i just returned from the hospital where i saw betty as she came from the operating room. >> reporter: his wife, first lady betty ford, had survived breast cancer. and she changed everything and becoming an outspoken advocate for early detection. >> urge the women you care about to have regular mammograms. >> reporter: since then a lot of high profile women have gone

public about their own breast cancer. many say their survival started with a mammogram. but today's study from harvard medical school and brigham and women's hospital analyzed 50 years of data and concluded the benefits of screening are often overstated and the harms downplayed. >> for women who undergo mammograms every year, about 60% of them will have at least one false positive over a ten year period. >> reporter: false positives can lead to additional imaging, anxiety, unnecessary biopsies and surgery. all a physical and economic drain. but still, so many say they'd rather have a false positive than miss a cancer. when a government task force changed the recommendations from mammography in 2009, it created tremendous controversy. the new guidelines said to start screening at age 50 instead of age 40. the advice has been largely ignored. today's study recommends doctors shift their thinking, to focus

on a woman's individual risk for breast cancer when it comes to recommending mammography. age remains an important factor. hereditary plays a crucial role. women who have had a close relative with breast cancer are at greater risk, as are women who have never had children. >> there isn't a single one size fits all answer to the mammography question is. i think it depends on who you are, what your individual risk for breast cancer are, and how you would feel about the harms of overdiagnosis and unnecessary biopsies and false positives. >> reporter: this real take-home message of one size does not fit all is imperative. it's very important for women to sit down with their physicians and say, what are my risk factors, what are the pros, what are the cons, because with any test, there's an up side and there's a down side, brian. and it's about time for women to recognize these are individual decisions. >> as emotional as it always is confusing, nancy snyderman with

the very latest on this tonight. nancy, thanks. we'll take a break. we're back in a moment with the multimillion-dollar purchase that led to a very public apology.

starting out to be a second sad week in massachusetts, where already today there was a sea of blue on hand for the first of two wakes and two funerals for the two boston firefighters killed in the line of duty. in last week aeg's wind-fed fire in an apartment building. thousands of firefighters from around this country and the world will attend as edward walsh and firefighter michael kennedy are laid to rest. after a tough year for the city of boston, this was a big day for red sox nation. world series champs got to visit the white house today. the president, an avid white sox fan, said he's surrounded by boston fans on the staff. and then he obliged when big papi asked to shoot a selfie of them. not quite the spartan life and devotion to god pope francis has tried to exemplify.

so now the catholic archbishop from atlanta, wilton gregory has apologized for building a $2.2 million, 6,000-square-foot mansion for himself. the house was largely built thanks to a $15 million donation from the nephew of the author of "gone with the wind." responding to complaints, gregory said he is willing to sell the place and move to more humble digs. it's right out of the plot line of this new film, "monuments men," germany has returned to poland an 18th century painting called palace stairs. it was looted by the nazis for hitler's museum during world war ii. the subject of returning plundered art has led to the tensions between the two nations, what germany called its difficulty history. there are still thousands of outstanding unreturned works of art. the american dream will be fulfilled for a family from ghana. kwasi enin has been accepted by all eight ivy league schools,

from brown to yale. first generation american from long island, new york as a musician, a vocalist and violinist. he's taken 11 ap courses in high school, hopes to be a doctor some day, and appears to be well on his way. a five minute piece of video on the web is getting a lot of attention, and deservedly so. it shows an extraordinary moving effort in pennsylvania. a group of amish men pick up a house from the inside and move it to its concrete slab foundation, in keeping with religious custom, without the help of machines. for the estimated 300 men responsible for this new address, it was all in a day's work. when we come back, the new family in town that has everybody talking.

finally tonight, a story out of pittsburgh, where for the first time in recorded memory, the eagles are getting more attention than the steelers. that's because there's something special going on right now, and it's all playing out live on the web, and it's being watched around the world. we get the story tonight from nbc's harry smith. >> the one that hatched on sunday actually hatched on the right day, though? >> yes. >> reporter: in debbie young's fifth grade class in suburban pittsburgh this spring, there's been an unmistakable air of anticipation.

>> it was actually really exciting to see how the eggs hatch. >> you could see it was opening up and coming out. >> reporter: for weeks the kids have been keeping an eye on the nest of bald eagles. eagles and their eggs. two eaglets have hatched in the last week, a third could hatch at any minute. the eagle family is in a giant nest just five miles from downtown pittsburgh. a big deal because naturalists say because of industrialization there haven't been bald eagles here in more than 200 years. >> i think that it says that pittsburgh is a great place to live, both for humans and birds. right? if a place is good enough for birds to live in happily and healthily, you can be sure it's good for people as well. >> reporter: the eaglecam went up in december and has provided moments of drama only nature can provide. the first egg is laid, then another. one night not long after, a raccoon comes to raid the nest, the mother eagle manages to dissuade the masked marauder.

but there's more. days later the mother is distressed and for good reason. a hungry red tailed hawk has the eagle's nest under surveillance. you can just see it swoop by. and what's more endearing than watching a parent care for a newborn? aww. it wasn't that long ago the bald eagle was endangered. the species is no longer even regarded as threatened. but pittsburgh provides what might be the ultimate proof of their comeback. if they can make it there -- well, you know. harry smith, nbc news, new york. that is our broadcast on a tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

right now at 6:00 a new round of cleaning up after another soaking across the bay area. and today no lightning. instead, what you're hearing is hail along with ice and of course, plenty of rain. thanks for joining us, i'm raj mathei. >> tsunami warnings and evacuations. here is a live feed from tv chile. the powerful 8.2 struck just

before 5:00 pacific time. tsunami warnings in effect for chile, peru and ecuador. as we get more information on this breaking news story, we'll bring it to you during the newscast. our local headlines, the weather slamming the bay area. we want to take you outside. a live look at the oakland coliseum. it's soupy. just into the newsroom, the a's game scheduled to start around 7:00 has been postponed because of the rain. the first rainout in oakland since may of 1998. a wet, messy night for those trying to get home right now. here is a live look at the san mateo bridge and the long, slow drive home. multiple reports this evening. >> our crews are fanned out across the bay area.