br brian williams is next. >> see you in half an hour. >> see you then. >> on our broadcast tonight, affirmative action a decision from a divided supreme court. concerning one of the hot button issues of our time. air war. a big fight over technology and money coming to a head today. the outcome could forever change the way we watch television. city killers like the one that hit with force of an atomic bomb, they are happening far more often than previously thought. tonight a strong warning from the people who are tracking them. and back to the future. what we thought the future would look like. tonight what we got right and wrong 50 years since the 1964 world's fair. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams.

good evening. affirmative action, using race as a fas tctor in college admissions suffered a blow today when the supreme court, in a lopsided but deeply divided vote, said in effect no matter what it may have done in the past, no matter what it may accomplish, voters in individual states have a right to end b it like in michigan where voters did just that.it like in michigan where voters did just that.it like in michigan where voters did just that. today the court said that should be the last word. it's where we begin tonight with our justice correspondent, pete williams at the court. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. the justices went out of their way to say they were not ruling on the constitutionality of affirmative action itself but this decision is new ammunition for those who want to stop it. it's a big victory for the state of much michigan which had affirmative action in school admissions until 2006 when 58% of is state voters passed proposal 2 amending their constitution to ban it. civil rights groups sued saying

the ban amounted to discrimination making it harder for minority students to push for favorable admission policies. today voting 6-2 the court upheld the right of michigan voters to pass the ban. justice anthony kennedy wrote while the debate on the issue may be emotional it should not be beyond the reach of voters. michigan's attorney general said the ruling favors political fairness. >> it's a victory for the citizens of who voted in 2006 to require equal treatment in admission to our outstanding colleges and universities. >> reporter: in a passionate dissent, justice sotomayor who said affirmative action affected her life said it rigged it against minorities. while the constitution doesn't guarantee minority groups victory in the political process, she said, it does guarantee them meaningful and equal access to that process. they fear other states may try bans of their own. >> there will be a campaign of disinformation and fear about

affirmative action, campaigns that suggest that minority students are taking the place of others. >> reporter: in detroit high school sophomore said today's decision is a setback. >> it complicates things more than they are already. it's creating a new era of racism. it's creating a new jim crow. >> reporter: counting ohio eight states have banned affirmative action starting with california 20 years ago. one other note, justice kagan set this out when she was at the supreme court. >> pete williams at the supreme court building tonight. so that was today's decision by the court. this next issue was argued and presented to the court today and full disclosure right at top. this company is a big player in this case along with a lot of other big names in media who are tonight just like us covering it

as a news story. this is about something called aereo, it delivers tv to you by bypassing the usual players. our report tonight from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: ben allen doesn't pay for cable and he has a message for the cable company. good riddance. >> no more cable. the only thing i'm paying for is internet. >> reporter: he uses the online service aereo. along with several other internet video services. slashing his once $110 tv bill in half. aereo launched last year from a warehouse in brooklyn and now available in 11 cities charging customers $8 a month to watch any broadcast tv network live or recorded. to use aereo you don't have to buy any new gadget. subscribers get on line with their phones or tablets. if i missed my daily celebrity

gossip fix, i now have "access hollywood" right at my fingertips. each account has access to a microantenna at one of aereo's data centers that grabs signals. those signals feed into dvrs until the user wants to watch and then the shows are streamed to them online. aereo said that's no different legally than a person at home using an antenna and a home video recorder. >> we consolidated those two technologies and located them remotely so the consumer can enjoy broadcast tv as they have for a very long time. >> reporter: the broadcast networks including nbc say aereo is different. they say it takes free programs on the air and sells access to them without paying for the right to do it. >> grabbing signals from over the air television and selling them for a profit to individual consumers, we have a technical legal term for that it's called theft. >> reporter: cable and satellite tv companies have to pay networks copyright fees which is why their service is more expensive. the obama administration has sided with the broadcasters but if they lose the case, some networks have threatened to pull

their free signals off the air. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. the story remains hard to believe but more came out today about the 15-year-old who stowed away in the wheel well of a 767 and somehow survived a flight from california all the way west to hawaii. aside from how he survived it, it does raise a natural question in the shoes off and pat-down era of post-9/11 airport security for those of us who fly on the inside of the plane. our report tonight from nbc's joe fryer. >> reporter: he ended up in hawaii but police sources tell our nbc affiliate in honolulu the teenage stow away may have been trying to get to relatives in africa. he started to attend class in santa clara high school in california just a few weeks ago. >> i feel like his heart was in if right place but his mind wasn't in the right place. >> reporter: after getting on to the tarmac at san jose airport officials say surveillance video shows the boy crawling into a wheel well of a hawaiian airlines jet.

some struggled to believe he remained in that cramped space for the entire five hour flight. doctors say the extreme cold may have slowed down his body keeping him alive. >> in this case he was like an amphibian. like a hibernating frog. >> reporter: passengers who were on board that flight are now surprised to learn about the stow away. >> if it was anybody else with a bomb easily put it on the plane and ran away. >> reporter: in the wake of this breach in san jose there are now calls to study perimeter security at airports across the country. >> a person should not be able to jump a fence and roam around a tarmac or get into an airplane without being detected. >> i can tell you san jose is not unique. i will tell you it could have happened at many, many airports, maybe jfk would be an exception. maybe logan. >> reporter: the teen is resting in a hawaiian hospital and will

soon return home to california in a less adventurous way. overseas the tension over ukraine has taken a dramatic new turn with a strong warning from vice president biden in ukraine. and delivering a pointed message directly at moscow. meanwhile there's word tonight hundreds of u.s. troops are being moved to the region. our report on all of it this evening from our chief foreign affairs reporter andrea mitchell. >> reporter: a standoff today over a flag. ukraine's blue and yellow flag which pro kiev protesters raised over a building in lenin square. mass russian supporters demanded they take the flag down. no sign the russian militia are disarming as all sides promised last week. the self-declared mayor claimed he not moscow called in the troops. his retired military friend.

but u.s. officials tells nbc news they have plenty of intelligence beyond the pictures they showed yesterday that vladimir putin is calling the shots. in kiev today vice president biden directed the blame squarely on moscow. >> we call on russia to stop supporting men hiding behind masks in unmarked uniforms, sowing unrest in eastern ukraine. >> reporter: with tensions rising the russian militia seized an american journalist who has been reporting from eastern ukraine. he had an earlier dust up with the russians in march. to counter russian troops exercising along ukraine's border terrify pentagon is sending 600 soldiers to neighboring baltic nations for training and exercises starting in poland tomorrow followed by lithuania, latvia and estonia. john mccain on "late night with seth meyers" wants more. >> russia is a gas station run by mafia that is masquerading. >> reporter: this is why john kerry sounded oddly nostalgic for the bad old days.

>> during the cold war it was easier than it is today, simpler. >> reporter: tonight president obama leaves for asia, a trip he has had to cancel three times before, u.s. officials are resigned that the ukraine crisis will overshadow whatever the president does in asia. andrea, thanks. on his way on that trip to asia, president obama stopped in washington state today. he spent time with families and first responders while touring the scene of devastation there after the landslide that wiped out much of an entire community. the death toll stands at 41. the search is continuing for two others still missing. with a rising death toll over 170 souls still missing the anger is growing tonight after the awful ferry disaster we've been covering in the waters off

south korea. as new details are uncovered about what the captain and crew did and did not do at the first sign of trouble as they started to make their own escape from the vessel. our report tonight from nbc's bill neely in south korea. >> reporter: four of the ship's crew leaving court suspected of negligence, a charge denied by one. we couldn't launch the lifeboats because the ship was too slanted he says. and we told passengers to leave over the loud speakers. most survivors say they heard no such announcement. nine of the ship's crew have

either been arrested or charged. one tried to kill himself. investigators now say the first emergency call was made not by the crew but within three minutes by a frightened boy saying save us, i think we're sinking. the boy is still missing. the senior crew led by the captain responsible for saving people all survived. most of the passengers did not. to free them from the murky waters divers tried to smash windows but it's not easy. well over 100 bodies have now been recovered, the lament of a father to his daughter haunting. [ crying ] my poor baby he cries, what can i do? i haven't had a chance to say i love you. other fathers are still waiting. their missing daughters around their neck but only in a photo. just days ago these families were dreaming of miracles, hoping somehow their children were still alive. they are not dreaming any more. they are utterly exhausted. new descriptions of bodies are

flashed up, 108, no shoes. there are seldom any names. the parents bent with grief already must identify them in person. the flares shoot up for another night searching, another night suffering. bill neely, nbc news, jindo, south korea. members of the ethnic sherpa community of nepal are considering a climbing boycott, a strike in effect in light of the death of 13 sherpas in a recent avalanche on mount everest. since the sherpa famously at the side of sir edmond hilary they have been indispensable as porters and cleaners and guides and cooks. they make their living from the climbers who pump millions into the industry in that area but sherpas are questioning receiving such a small share and meager death benefits for the families of the fallen sherpas.

right now with the peak season about a month away there are 400 climbers and 39 separate sherpa teams on that mountain approaching the summit, a job action could bring climbing there to a virtual halt. we're back with more on a tuesday night from new york right after this.

after seeing this next story you may not want to make plans for the weekend. it's about what we learned from scientists today about the danger posed by asteroids. in just the last 13 years asteroids have caused more than two dozen massive explosions in the atmosphere, some as large or larger than a nuclear bomb. while they have so far missed major population centers the scientists who spoke today are now working to launch a telescope to give us early warning of potential trouble. we get our report tonight from tom costello. >> reporter: in the northern hemisphere overnight the peak

viewing opportunity to see the latest meteor shower including this one streaking across the night sky in russia on saturday. still nothing that compares to the ten ton meteor that hit a year ago traveling at 33,000 miles an hour it exploded with force of a nuclear bomb, injuring 1,000 people. now a group of space experts and former astronauts is warning only blind luck has prevented a major city from taking a direct hit. >> and the reason we haven't lost a city yet is because the earth is big. most of the earth is water and most of the land is desert or unpopulated areas. >> reporter: at the smithsonian, this scientist showed us a piece of a meteor that exploded in 1969. how does something like this survive re-entry? >> because it started out as a very large solid object. so it's moving also at very fast speeds. only the outside of it actually is burning. >> reporter: asteroids become meteors when they hit the earth's atmosphere. between 2000 and 2013, 26

massive explosions across the earth, many over the oceans. astronomers calculate an asteroid big enough to destroy a city hits the earth roughly once every 100 years. the b-6 foundation are raising $250 million to build an orbiting in from a red telescope to warn earth of an approaching asteroid, giving us years even decades to use spacecraft to push it out of the way. >> you get a near miss but sure beats having it whack into the earth. >> reporter: 65 million years ago the earth took a direct hit that wiped out the dinosaurs. the hope is our luck will hold until us earthlings take a more proactive approach. tom costello, nbc news, washington. >> when we continue on this earth day 2014, a photo from today taken of a famous couple in one of the most breathtaking places on the planet.

>> a study by "the new york

times" confirms a reality millions of americans are already living. the american middle class is no longer the most prosperous in the world. it says middle class incomes in canada have surpassed our, and that generally workers in other advanced countries have received better pay raises over the years than american workers have. meantime the rich are getting richer and wealthy americans continue to outpace those in other countries. and no matter what you may have heard about job prospects for college graduates, no matter how many commencement speakers will make uncomfortable jokes about it, the stats show 10.9% unemployment rate for recent college grads. that number was 13.3% in 2012 while obviously some fields are tougher than others, the labor department says flatly what is still true, those with college degrees are still far more likely to find employment and earn more money in life. the temptation to compare william and kate to william's own parents today became

unavoidable as the young couple in the midst of their tour of australia posed in the exact same spot as charles and diana did 31 years ago. today found the royal couple in the heart of the outback at the golden hour of the setting sun in front of the brilliant red rock, a vista prince william declared breathtaking. they celebrate their third wedding anniversary next week. when we come back, the return tonight to a place that forever changed the world back in the day.

rainy and cloudy skies here in new york don't exactly help to brighten up a place that's

been lgely abandoned but you're looking live at a place that was teaming exactly 50 years ago tonight. sadly the plaza has fallen into disrepair in the years since. it's the 50th anniversary of the world's fair of 1964. it was the epicenter of an era when anything seemed possible in america. looking back a lot of it came true. in tonight's report from nbc's harry smith, mr. smith goes back in time to the world's fair of '64. >> reporter: 50 years ago it was the place you came to see the future. the place america displayed its optimism and technological muscle. >> your own private convertible takes you on the magic skype.

>> reporter: 1964 what couldn't we do? >> technology can point the way to a future of limitless promise. >> reporter: a picture phone, crazy, right? >> it would be possible to do it around the world? >> reporter: or computers in the home. we were all going to live in space colonies or under the sea. it's a small world brought animatronics to a level never seen before. ford introduced the mustang. the new york's world fair proved the world was its oyster. >> it was magical here. >> reporter: john started a group that's trying to rehab the once glorious new york state pavilion. >> what did this place used to look like? >> this pavilion was stunning with lights and color. it was called the tent of tomorrow, this area. so it was sensory overload. >> reporter: the fair was like a magnet, more than 50 million people attended. john even played in a band here, called the staff men. >> when you stand here and you look at it as it is now, does it break your heart? >> no. because right now it's a modern ruin and modern ruins have their

own majestic look. this is beautiful. you're up here. you think you're in greece or rome. >> reporter: or in a scene from a movie "men in black." some of the fair's great structures still stand. the unisphere is as glorious as ever. and the old heliport has been turned into an event hall. something fairgoers had never seen before -- the belgian waffle. >> a dollop of whipped cream and sliced strawberries. >> the fair represented innocence and possibility on a grand scale. the likes of which we haven't seen since. harry smith, nbc news, queens. one last request. if you were there to witness the era of limitless promise, please send us your photos or memories on social media or to our website nbcnews.com.

that is for us our broadcast on a tuesday night. thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams. of course, we hope to see you back here tomorrow. good night. nbc bay area news starts now. right now at 6:00, a battle of man versus nature. pg&e wants to cut down thousands of trees all in an effort to keep pipelines safe. thanks for joining us, i'm terry mcsweeney. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. a fight in the east bay to stop pg&e from cutting down thousands of trees across the state. it's aimed at removing obstacles, including trees from eureka to bakers field to make way for miles of gas lines.

jodi hernandez is telling us what's being done in two cities. we're talking about hundreds of tre trees? >> reporter: more than 700 trees in the city of walnut creek alone. the mayor tells me all of these big beautiful trees you see behind me that line locust street are slated by pg&e to come down. but folks here say not so fast. >> martinez is a tree city. so we're very proud of our hills, our trees. this is the home of john muir. no one saved more trees throughout the united states than john muir. >> reporter: butt city of martinez says nearly 300 of their treasured trees are on the chopping block. pg&e has earmarked hundreds of trees across the bay area for removal as part