>> all the students were wide eyed. >> great story. >> thanks for joining us. on our broadcast tonight, it's the law, guns are now allowed in bars and churches, some schools and government buildings, even the airport. tonight critics rise up as the nra hails a history-making victory and like it or not, the state of georgia is the new center of the gun debate. dangerous hoax. the latest victim of an awful new verb, swatting, when swat teams respond only to learn it's a prank call. the big squeeze, a life or death struggle to save the staple of the american breakfast table, tonight, florida oranges. and the most decorated olympian of all time. "nightly news" begins now.

>> announcer: from nbc world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >> good evening. it will soon be possible for licensed gun owners to bring a gun into schools, churches, bars, and airports. republican governor nathan deal signed it today, in effective july 1, georgia joins five other states that have loosened up restrictive gun laws just this year. the nra tonight says it's a victory for second amendment rights, but critics say it's the most extreme gun bill in america. it's where we begin tonight with nbc's gabe gutierrez in atlanta. >> reporter: its official name is the state carry protection act, but critics call it the guns everywhere bill. >> it's the most extreme gun bill in america. >> reporter: gun owners with permits will now be allowed to take their guns into public places, bars, even government

buildings that don't have security check points. and the law authorizes school districts to appoint staffers to carry firearms and lets churches opt in if they want to allow weapons. >> when we limit georgians' ability to carry a weapon to defend themselves, we're empowering the bad guys. >> reporter: another change, airports. at atlanta's hartsfield-jackson a record last year, 111 guns were found at tsa screening areas. the new law allows those with permits that set off alarms here simply pick up their gun and leave with no criminal penalty. some law enforcement agencies are slamming the new law. >> police officers do not want more people carrying guns on the street. >> reporter: other opponents like stephanie stone of atlanta argue the law misinterprets the second amendment and promotes a gun culture. >> i think this bill is reckless. i think it's dangerous and irresponsible. >> reporter: her only son paul, a high school freshman was shot and killed in an armed robbery a

year and a half ago. >> it's hard to see a 14-year-old kid who had so much life in him, who had so much to offer the world gone. >> reporter: since newtown, the gun debate has escalated around the country. eight states have enacted laws making it easier for employees to carry firearms in schools. four states have made it easier to carry weapons in bars, and four states have eased gun carrying in places of worship. with the governor's signature, georgia's sweeping legislation takes effect july 1st. gabe gutierrez, nbc news, atlanta. overseas tonight, we're learning a great deal more about what may have doomed that south korean ferry, causing it to list badly and then sink. one week ago today. the ship was carrying hundreds of high school students, among other passengers, and as of tonight, the bodies of just over half of the more than 300

victims have been recovered. we get our report again tonight from nbc's bill neely in jindo, south korea. >> reporter: divers began searching the deepest part of the ship today. a ship prosecutors believe was faulty, dangerous and badly controlled by a negligent crew. when the teenagers boarded the ferry a week ago, they didn't know it was severely overloaded. it left port with a carlo load three times heavier than the maximum recommended. shipping containers seen here spilling into the sea. the ship had a faulty steering system reported two weeks earlier. so when the crew steered it to the right, prosecutors suspect heavy cargo shifted, unbalancing the ship. it never recovered, sinking fast. i tried to get the ship upright but the equipment wouldn't work says this crewman. he and six others have been charged with intelligence. four more are being questioned.

they say the company lied about the weight of the cargo on the ship. under investigation, whether the company also bribed government safety inspectors to give the ship the all-clear. the passengers paid for what prosecutors say was criminal intelligence with their lives. the number of bodies brought ashore has now passed 150. victim 142, a girl, was recovered almost to the minute exactly one week after the ship made its final turn. each new arrival, a parent's nightmare. they should have gone back to school today. instead, the lost class of teenagers were remembered with white flowers of mourning and a huge memorial. they shouldn't even have been on that ferry. they were booked on its sister ship, but for reasons still unclear, the ships were switched. bill neely, nbc news, jindo,

south korea. and we have late news tonight from australia. new information about that object of interest, a piece of sheet metal that washed up on the beach that had investigators rushing to see if it could possibly be from the missing aircraft. nbc's katy tur remains at search headquarters in perth, australia. katy, good evening. >> reporter: officials -- sorry, a beach goer said they found a piece of sheet metal three and a half hours south of where we're standing in perth, australia. officials have been reviewing a high-quality photo of that piece of sheet metal but now they are saying it's unlikely to be a part of mh370. despite weeks of searching, there is no concrete evidence as to what happened to the plane, only clues. four sets of acoustic pings that ocean shield heard a few weeks ago, but ten missions in and bluefin-21 hasn't found

anything. and by the end of the week it should be done mapping out the area around ping number two, the strongest. next up, more sophisticated technology, potentially even the submarine called the u.s. navy's orion, which can go deeper and send real-time data to the surface. but brian, for all this technology, it's still just an educated guess. the series of mathematical equations and trial and error that's led them to this point and one likely to end up costing hundreds of millions of dollars when this search is all over. brian? >> katy tur at search headquarters in perth, australia. katy, thanks. as the crisis in ukraine plays out with russia, the u.s. is making its presence known militarily in neighboring countries, though this should not be confused with any kind of combat footing deployment. about 150 u.s. troops arrived in poland today for military exercises. others being sent to estonia,

latvia, lithuania, 600 in all. the pentagon says the aim here is to send a signal to reassure those nato countries the u.s. remains committed to their defense. there are ominous reports tonight of yet another chemical attack in syria. syrian opposition activists who posted this video online, unconfirmed as of yet by nbc news, claim chlorine gas was recently used by syrian government forces on towns held by the rebels, and the scores of people were left coughing and choking and gasping for breath. the government denies these reports. members of the u.n. security council are calling for an investigation. chlorine, obviously, highly toxic, is of concern here because it is not covered by the chemical weapons ban because of its other civilian uses. the situation in syria and the ongoing crisis in ukraine will be part of the conversational backdrop as president obama tonight begins a four-nation

trip to asia that has been cancelled three times in the past. he starts off in japan tonight, and our chief white house correspondent chuck todd is traveling with him. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: well, good evening and good morning, actually, brian. the president is just waking up here in tokyo for his first full day of this four-nation, week-long asia trip. but just after he touched down, he already began embarking on some sushi diplomacy. a large crowd greeted the president as he arrived in tokyo, including his new ambassador to japan, caroline kennedy. thousands of japanese citizens lined the streets as the president arrived for the first order of business, dinner with the japanese prime minister at perhaps the world's most expensive sushi restaurant, average meal nearly $400. >> that's some good sushi right there. >> reporter: this trip starts in japan for a reason, as the president hopes to reassure america's closest asian ally

it's still equal. also on the u.s.-japan agenda, japan is embroiled in its own territorial dispute with china over a chain of tiny islands in the east china sea. president obama waded into that issue saying the islands, "fall within the scope of a u.s.-japan security treaty." implying the u.s. would come to japan's defense if there is a military clash with china. those tougher than expected words from the president will be welcomed by nervous japanese leaders. >> they depend on the u.s. alliance for their overall security. they are constantly worried that the u.s., when the chips are down, will not be there, and so they constantly need reassurance. >> reporter: of course, this trip is all about this idea of an asia pivot that president obama's been talking about. after japan, we head to south korea, then it's malaysia and the philippines. and brian, really, the larger theme here is all about in some way containing china. >> chuck todd traveling with the

president tonight. chuck, thanks. it has in this country become an awful new verb, to swat, meaning a s.w.a.t. team gets called to a private home based on a false report of some sort of crime in progress. this is a high stakes, high danger prank. celebrity homes have been hit by it and now some innocent victims in the news in suburban new york inside their own home. we get our report tonight from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: long island police say they were responding to a chilling 911 call. i just killed my mom and i'm going to kill anyone that comes to the house. the s.w.a.t. team responded, surrounding and then entering the home. high-powered weapons drawn. inside, a teenager played video games, his mother, very much alive, was cooking in the kitchen. it was all a hoax. police suspect the prankster was another gamer who called after he lost another round of "call

of duty." >> very angry. tremendous waste of taxpayers' resources, tremendous danger to law enforcement, and unfortunately, this is a nationwide problem. >> reporter: another case of s.w.a.t.'ing, pranksters using online technology to make bogus 911 calls to trick heavily armed police into responding. a similar incident took place in new jersey last year. >> whoever did this, i hope they find him. >> reporter: police surrounded travis grave's house. >> they put a lot of people's lives in danger. the individual who was in the house, officers responding to the scene. >> reporter: there are no nationwide numbers on swathing, but the fbi estimates the numbers to be in the hundreds annually. last year l.a. saw a spate of pranks against celebrities. tom cruise, kim kardashian, justin timberlake. a 12-year-old admitted s.w.a.t.'ing ashton kutcher. the state passed a new law, anyone caught s.w.a.t.ing would have to pay for the cost of the

response. in long island, police say yesterday's hoax cost as much as $100,000 and they have a message to the prankster. >> he did something so, so foolish and so dangerous, that i hope we find you and that you pay for your transgression. >> reporter: but law enforcement admit they are at a disadvantage. s.w.a.t.'ing is a crime easy to pull off and very difficult to trace, which often leaves victims and communities shaken. stephanie grovk, nbc news, new york. still ahead here on our broadcast tonight, the path of destruction threatening what so many families enjoy every day. in florida tonight they say they've never seen anything like it. and later, he provided some of the most exciting moments in olympic history. looks like he's coming back for more.

back as promised tonight, with a huge threat to the florida citrus crop, especially oranges and florida oranges about three-quarters of the orange juice consumed in this country. the problem is a tiny insect killing off the fruit in record numbers. we get more on this tonight from nbc's mark potter. >> reporter: florida farmers are throwing everything they have got into a desperate attempt to keep citrus trees alive, but they are losing the battle against a deadly disease discovered here nine years ago that now threatens the entire industry. >> and if we can't whip this disease, you could possibly lose, would lose, orange juice at the breakfast table. >> that died on the vine. >> reporter: it's citrus greening caused by a tiny insect known as the asian citrus sillit. because of it, the florida orange crop this year is expected to be the lowest in 30 years.

in just the last two years, the number of oranges produced has plummeted by about a quarter from 146 million boxes to a projected 110 million boxes. drastically smaller orange harvest now could mean higher orange juice prices later this year. the orange has long been the symbol of florida, and citrus is a $9 billion industry, supporting 76,000 jobs. >> pretty much every grove in the state is being affected in some way or another. >> reporter: veteran grove manager billy teal says he never seen a disease this destructive. >> you have to be on it. it's a tree killer and a slow, ugly death. >> reporter: for growers and scientists here, the fight against citrus greening and crop loss is now a race against time. at a usda lab in fort pierce, florida, scientists are working all hours to try to find a cure. >> it's mind boggling that something so little could take such a big operation down. >> reporter: in the short term,

they are trying 112-degree heat tents to kill the insects and iv injections of antibiotics and insecticides. meanwhile, the disease has now spread to six other southern states, but has the darkest threat to the sunshine state. mark potter, nbc news, fort pierce, florida. we're back with a big celebration today honoring a national treasure.

as they say, in a day's work for the crew of the international space station. two americans on board went out and installed a new backup computer. they included rick who visited us in our newsroom not long ago. the parts arrived on sunday allowing them to install the spare. as the world prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of d-day and the landings of normandy that changed the course of world war ii, a u.s. robotics company used an unmanned sub to record detailed images of two ships that were sunk by the germans during the what was a secret rehearsal for the mission called operation tiger. 749 americans were lost.

their deaths on board. two naval ships were cloaked in secrecy as to not give the operation away. wreckage was found in about 165 feet of water in the english channel. it got its name from the chewing gum empire, and tonight wrigley field is celebrating its 100 birthday. it's, of course, home to the chicago cubs. let's just say cubs' fans are a special breed and hardy bunch and love the friendly confines. just don't look up to the score board for a video replay at the play at the plate. there's no screen. it is manually operated by a guy inside changing the numbers. along with the bricks and ivy and general feel of the place, it is truly among the great cathedrals of sports at the corner of clark and ad son on chicago's north side. it's an issue of "people magazine" every year gets a lot of attention and this year the actress lupita nyong'o has been named the most beautiful person of 2013.

she grew up in kenya and mexico and won an oscar for best supporting actress for her role in "twelve years a slave." and the detroit metro airport has a new feature designed to provide comfort to service dogs. the k-9s that answered the call of duty must also answer the call of nature while still on the job. they will blur things out so they can continue to serve with dignity. it comes with hydrants and a lawn with sprinklers. it's officially called the service animal relief area. it's for working dogs with no time to a trip outside to the concrete confines of the arrivals ramp. when we come back, testing the waters. michael phelps comes out of retirement. the question, how far does he have left to go?

finally here tonight, some people, though fewer and fewer in this day and age choose to walk off the field at the top of their game. though it's rare and many can't stand it and get back in. michael phelps who retired from swimming after winning four gold and two silver medals in london two years ago is making a comeback. competing this week at a meet in mesa, arizona, and no surprise, the event is soldout. >> reporter: for michael phelps, it's back into the water and out of retirement. when he warmed up for a meet in arizona, the winningest olympian in history became the latest athlete to become the comeback club. >> michael phelps is going to win gold. >> reporter: he famously hung up his goggles in london after winning his 22nd olympic medal. >> i traveled, i played golf, i

gained 30 pounds. you know, i had a lot of fun, and there was something that i missed. >> reporter: downplaying expectations, the 28-year-old will face a familiar rival. >> phelps is coming back into swimming? when did this happen? >> good one, okay. >> reporter: 11-time olympic medalist ryan lochte long ago had a hunch, but couldn't stay away for long. where does he go from here? could he make a run for the next summer games in rio? he wouldn't be the first to want to achieve former glory. michael jordan and brett favre made comebacks from retirement. >> he has a lot left in the tank and in so many ways he's going to dominate in rio. >> reporter: he knows, he retired in 1981 and then un-retired to win three olympic golds in 1984. torrez retired the first time with three olympic medals, then jumped back into the water to win nine more medals, her last at age 41.

>> i am looking forward to wherever this road takes me. >> reporter: the possibility of another olympics would make few happier than his mom debbie phelps, standing cheering or wiping away happy tears. before london she told matt lauer, she wasn't sure she was ready for her son to hang it all up. >> you said you would like him to push forward and go to rio, even if for one event. >> it becomes part of the culture and part of your family. >> no one has won more. >> more than anyone, phelps has proven he's right at home in the water. nbc news, mesa, arizona. 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.

nbc bay area news starts now. right now at 6:00, nowhere left to grow. the south bay housing crisis is pushing even farther south. good evening and thanks for being with us. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. the real estate boom is heading deeper into the south bay county. a development that has been sitting idle since the early '90s is seeing construction action. the community will sit on some 359 acres between santa theresa

and the creek where it used to be farmland. >> reporter: real estate sales are picking up again. and because of that, developers are feeling more comfortable about building again. there are major developments as you mentioned in gilroy and in other parts of the south county, and yet, there are still more buyers than there are houses to buy. build something booming where for years developers sat on land rather than build homes that wouldn't sell. in south gilroy, two projects alone will bring 2400 single family homes. all around the south county, there are homes and townhouses going up too. and buyers are inking the papers before the paint even dries. >> there's still a lot of buyers out there. >> reporter: this real estate agent says new construction