this weekend. >> nightly news is next. >> bye. on our broadcast tonight, shots fired in canada's halls of power. a soldier and suspect both dead. the capital city placed on lockdown. and in this country the fbi put on alert. free and clear, our nbc news cameraman fresh out of the hospital talking with us tonight about surviving ebola. sudden impact, a new warning about those defective airbags. passengers a now being told to stay out of the front seat until it's fixed. and making a difference, in detroit a sanctuary for young people that was in danger of closing until so many of you stepped up. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. good evening. this was an awful day for our

northern neighbors in canada and has made for nervousness to the south among law enforcement throughout north america. two people are dead tonight in ottawa, a canadian soldier and a suspect after a shooting on parliament hill, canada's equivalent of capitol hill. a violent morning that culminated in a shootout inside the ornate building where lawmakers were caucusing. [ gunfire ] >> the gunman killed in that exchange of fire has been identified as a canadian citizen who converted to islam. it all happened in the heart of ottawa at the war memorial there and inside the parliament building. our justice correspondent pete williams starts off our coverage tonight. >> out of the way! >> reporter: police in ottawa frantically search for armed men most of the day in the center of

ottawa, canada's fourth largest city. just before 10:00 a.m. eastern time a soldier standing guard at canada's war memorial was shot and seriously wounded by a man with a rifle. a shocking scene witnessed by many bystanders. >> i was over here, and i just heard a shot and turned around and there was a guy with a rifle just around on the back corner. and just pow. >> i thought it was just fire crackers going off. so i looked across the street. there's a man with a rifle shooting at a bunch of people. >> reporter: witnesses at the memorial say the gunman then hijacked the car. >> didn't hurt the gentleman in the car and then took off the back and headed towards that direction. >> reporter: the gunman went about a third of a mile, to the building housing canada's parliament in session at the time. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: as officers inside responded, dozens of shots rang out inside the building's ornate halls.

members of parliament inside meeting rooms reacted by piling furniture against the doors. outside members were hustled away by police and security. canadian authorities say the gunman was shot and killed in parliament's central hall of honor by the sergeant at arms. authorities say he was a 32-year-old canadian man. moments later witnesses reported seeing other armed men on nearby streets dressed in black with white bandanas. >> get against the wall right now! >> reporter: a shopping center, schools and u.s. embassy were put on lockdown as heavily armed police swarmed streets. they searched door-to-door and checked cars leaving the area. but by day's end no other gunman was found. the soldier wounded at the memorial named by canadian media as corporal nathan cirillo died a short time after the shooting and was memorialized on facebook. >> there's pain greater than losing a loved one. to have it happen in such circumstances as this morning is

beyond expression and underlined with sad anger in my heart. >> reporter: for more than a week canada has been on a heightened state of alert. two days ago a man drove a car at two soldiers near montreal. one was killed. now canadian officials caution military personnel about wearing their uniforms in public. >> the challenge will now be for canada to come up with new, smart security precautions but not to overreact. >> reporter: no changes in security were ordered at u.s. federal buildings, but it was stepped up at the tomb of the unknowns at arlington national cemetery as a precaution. and in new york police beefed up their presence outside canadian and british diplomatic buildings. the gunman is michael joseph hall also known as michael zehaf-bibeau of quebec, a recent muslim convert who just turned 32. they're now looking into possible terrorist connections. brian. >> pete williams starting us off tonight. pete, thanks. canadians have been asked to

stay out of the center of ottawa tonight. it's still very tense around parliament with a major security presence in and around that building as you can imagine. nbc's ron allen there for us tonight. ron, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, brian. yes, we are on the edge of parliament hill. the area's still very much in lockdown. you can see up there the flashing lights, a heavy police presence right around the parliament building, the war memorial where earlier today chaos and mayhem in the streets as police descended on the area responding to the reports of gunmen attacking the parliament building. a heavily congested area here in the heart of the nation's capitol. just unbelievable scene. visitors in this area, college campus, mall here still shut down. people are in the streets milling about still trying to comprehend what happened. still a lot of young people here just trying to make sense of why this happened in this capital. police are remaining -- are telling people to remain vigilant, remain calm as they try to sort out why this happened, exactly what happened and still trying to make sure it's entirely over. brian, back to you.

>> ron allen in ottawa after a terrible day there. today we learned that nearly 5,000 people have now died from ebola in west africa. a handful of americans who've contracted the virus in that part of the world have been fortunate enough to be flown home for treatment and survive. as of tonight the quarantine for dr. nancy snyderman and her team is over. and we are pleased to report our cameraman, ashoka mukpo is now out of the hospital. tonight, he is able to share his story with nbc's kate snow. >> do you do hugs at all? >> reporter: for the first time ashoka mukpo got to see his care givers who cared for him with no protective gear in the way. we met up with him a little while later. >> i'm so fortunate to be alive. every breath i take, every step i take is just a reminder of how valuable and precious life is. >> reporter: ashoka had been back in liberia for several weeks and worked with our nbc news crew including dr. nancy

snyderman on two days. on the start of that second day he felt fine, but after lunch his back started to ache so he stopped at his apartment. >> i put my thermometer in my mouth and that thing came up 101.3 and that was it. >> 101.3? >> and i didn't really feel feverish. >> people might think if you were starting to feel funny, why were you working? why would you put other people at risk? >> the moment i started to feel funny i went home. i mean, there was a five-minute period, literally, five to ten-minute period between the first moment i thought what's that and i had a temp and thermometer in my mouth. >> do you know how you contracted ebola? >> that's the million dollar question. unfortunately there's not a satisfactory answer for it. the best thing i can say is there was a period of time of about a week where i was working with various news organizations and in the course of that week i was at ebola treatment units, i was following burial teams. i was with ambulance drivers.

>> was that the week before you joined up with the nbc team? >> yeah, it was about a week. >> reporter: his parents begged him not to go back to liberia, but he says he has no regrets despite all he's been through. >> you know, your life is hanging by a thread. it makes me remember a lot of these people i've filmed and talked to and to connect with the fear they must have felt. and, you know, there's almost no words for that. you feel like this is 2014, we can't be seeing what's happening to human beings right now. we've got to do better. we've really got to do better. >> reporter: more good news to share tonight about one of the nurses from dallas being treated at emory university hospital, amber vinson. we've learned from her family she's had blood tests done and she is negative for ebola. her family saying she's overjoyed one step closer, brian, to going home. >> nice to report good news all around. kate snow with that from omaha, thanks.

auto safety news continues tonight. new developments tonight in this new and enormous recall of defective airbags including warnings from some of the big automakers about the potential danger to those in the passenger seats and these cars affected. we get the latest tonight from nbc's john yang. >> reporter: from two big automakers a stark warning, no front seat passengers until defective airbags are fixed, one of them, toyota, is going even further. >> disable the airbag and put a note on the front seat. essentially on the dashboard saying do not allow somebody to ride in the front passenger seat until this airbag is fixed. >> reporter: nearly 8 million u.s. cars have been recalled because their airbags could send shrapnel flying when they inflate. so far four people have died. regulators say the problem's worse in hot and humid regions. reporter mark douglas of nbc's tampa station owns an '03 honda accord. >> i consulted with my dealer today and he tells me it will be three or four days before they can get the parts and maybe next

week before they can install them. >> reporter: what's worse? the national highway traffic safety administration's website to check if your car's involved wasn't working part of today. nearly a dozen carmakers are involved all with airbags made by the same company. fixing all the cars could take months while drivers worry if their airbag will work if they need it. john yang, nbc news, chicago. their name became synonymous with military contractors during the iraq war as did their conduct at times. even though blackwater has changed its name, four of its security personnel were held accountable today. one found guilty of murder, three others of manslaughter for one of the worst episodes from that era. seven years ago they fired into a traffic circle in baghdad killing 14 unarmed iraqis, wounding 17. they claim at the time they were ambushed and acted in self-defense. the american freed by north korea after nearly six months in captivity arrived home to his family in ohio today.

jeffrey fowl reported in good health. for its part north korea said kim jong-un had personally ordered the release after requests by president obama. the u.s. has denied there was any deal. after we learned of his death last night at the age of 93, ben bradlee was remembered today as one of the giants of american journalism. as you're about to hear, he was profane, a patriot, a fearless editor who guided "the washington post" and its coverage of watergate and inspiration of generation of reporters. tonight, tom brokaw looks back at bradlee's career. >> reporter: he was an american original turning "newsweek" into a power of washington journalism. paling around with jfk and becoming the most famous newspaper editor in the world, the man who guided two rookie reporters through watergate. >> we asked ourselves a lot of questions. and how could all of this be true?

how could somebody with all that much to lose put it at risk every day? >> he was a patriot. he really believed in the country. but when somebody broke that trust, you know, it was just go get 'em. >> he wanted to be first with the story, but he never wanted to be wrong. >> reporter: bradlee, woodward and bernstein nailed the nixon cover-up and ben was in charge. immortalized all the president's men. >> when is somebody going to go on the record in this story? >> what he had was fantastic. instincts. he loved the political game. >> reporter: bradlee and his third wife, shorthand for power couple, he was known for his charm, his star power and his profanity. >> jesus, what kind of a crazy story is this? >> reporter: bradlee stumbled after watergate. publishing a prize winning series on an 8-year-old heroin addict, but it was a hoax. he recovered and remained fearless and yet sentimental.

my last interview with him, the 50th anniversary of the assassination of his friend, john f. kennedy. do you cry about it? >> oh, sure, i remember crying that day when jackie walked in in that [ bleep ] dress -- >> and put her arms around you? >> and put her arms around me. >> do you turn away now when you see those scenes? you say i've seen it enough? i've lived it. >> i don't. >> you still watch it? >> i still watch it. >> reporter: those whose lives he touched and careers he made were under his spell for life. >> ben bradlee was not a cynical man. not cynical about politics. it was always fact-driven. as a reporter you appreciate that. in fact, i've fell in love with it. and him. >> tom brokaw tonight remembering the navy veteran, veteran journalist and generally larger than life, ben bradlee dead at the age of 93.

a break here and still ahead for us tonight on the broadcast, a huge name in academics and the ncaa accused of faking grades for decades to keep athletes in play. and later, the comments that erupted after people were unable to identify this oscar-winning actress. tonight, she is responding.

the university of north carolina tarheels are well-known as an ncaa powerhouse, but tonight the college president

says he was shocked and embarrassed to learn the scope of an academic scandal that allowed unc athletes to coast through classes, many without professors, in order to keep them in the game. that derisive old joke about college athletes taking courses in basket weaving, that would be a step up compared to some of what's now been revealed. our report on all of it tonight from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: the university of north carolina, a premier university with top-rank athletes reeling tonight from what may be the biggest academic fraud in collegiate history. >> this never should have been allowed to happen. >> reporter: today, an independent investigator revealed the full scope of the scandal. for two decades basketball and football players funneled into classes that required no class time, no professor and only a single term paper graded by an administrative assistant. yet the athletes received as and bs so they could remain eligible to play sports. more than 3,100 students took

188 no-show classes over 18 years, most through the african-american studies department where the administrative assistant and department chair ran the program. former federal prosecutor ken wanestein. >> is there any evidence that anybody else outside this department knew about this? >> no, and we looked very hard to see if anybody from the chain of command up to the chancellor knew and we didn't find that knowledge. >> reporter: or claiming that tutors wrote his papers and the coaching staff knew of the bogus classes. but he refused to cooperate. the coaches denied it. and investigators found no evidence they knew. today, unc students were stunned and embarrassed. >> especially right now. i mean, just tainted. >> i can't say that myself, you know, my entire time here just to hear that is a little discouraging. >> reporter: unc says the fraud ended in 2011. nine staffers have been fired or disciplined and none of the

current coaches were involved. the full report now goes to the ncaa which could impose further sanctions. tom costello, nbc news, chapel hill. when we come back, the good news and bad news on the social security front. there's more on the way, but maybe not as much as millions had hoped.

if you are among the 64 million or so americans who rely on a social security check, here's the good news, a 1.7% cost of living increase is coming along starting in january. bad news, that's only about $20 or more per month on average. this is the third year in a row that the benefit bump has been less than 2%, which is being blamed on low inflation. researchers have announced a haunting discovery at the bottom of the atlantic ocean 30 miles off the coast of cape hatteras, north carolina. it's a world war ii german sub u-576. it went down in combat in 1942

with all souls still on board. and if the hull is still largely intact, that could mean remains still inside. during the spring and summer of '42, the germans were sinking u.s. vessels in those waters at the rate of one every other day. there has been some blowback on the internet after this photo surfaced yesterday and people were then surprised to learn it was the actress renee zellweger. especially when displayed side by side as before and after photos. at one point this was trending worldwide on twitter. it caused so much comment that now zellweger is commenting as well telling "people" magazine saying "i'm glad folks think i look different. i'm living a different happy more fulfilling life and perhaps it shows." when we come back, how you helped to write the story of a gym that's been changing kids'

lives.

all this week here we are following up on some of our favorite "making a difference" reports, specifically the stories that inspired our viewers to step up and help the

cause. tonight, nbc's rehema ellis goes back to a gym in detroit where boxing is just the beginning. >> reporter: it's a tough sport in an even tougher city. coach sweeney who grew up on detroit's rough streets opened this gym nine years ago to give kids something he never had. >> this is about saving lives. >> reporter: when we first visited the downtown youth boxing gym more than a year and a half ago, the lights were about to be shut off. but viewers saw something that moved them and hundreds responded. money also came from big names like madonna, support from the detroit pistons, clothes, computers and food all donated. and gm provided three vans for transportation. executive director jessica houser and coach shuttle kids to the school and back home keeping them safe in dangerous neighborhoods. but before all this comes education.

>> boxing, that's the hook. >> reporter: this is not about creating the next mohamed ali? >> no. the next bill gates or the next donald trump. >> reporter: teachers chip in after hours tutoring the students. >> my education comes before sports. >> comes before boxing. >> reporter: the payoff is huge. the high school graduation rate here is 100% compared to 65% citywide. students once failing are now thriving. >> now i'm getting like just as and bs. >> reporter: 65 kids are in the program, more than 400 on waiting list. with plans to move to a bigger space and double the number of students next year, they're hoping for even more help. >> what's amazing is that we are a little drop in the ocean, but the effects are huge. >> reporter: so the commitment remains, fighting the good fight for the future of one city's kids. rehema ellis, nbc news, detroit. and that is our broadcast on

a wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. of course we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. we need to do those things proactively to save lives and save our economy. >> right now at 6:00, thousands living in danger in the south bay. the new push now for safety upgrades and the cash incentives to get it done. good evening and thanks for joining us. >> bay area's biggest city, that's why there's so much concern. hundreds of buildings in san jose are vulnerable to collapsing in a major earthquake. today a plan that would give cash incentives to the landlords. michelle roberts is in san jose at one of those buildings.

>> reporter: it's called a soft story. take a look behind me. it means the building is built on top of an open parking structure. there are more than 1,000 of these in san jose. if a big quake hit these buildings will be extremely vulnerable. no one knows when the next big one will hit. devastation in napa a reminder historic and older structures weren't built to withstand shaky ground. >> this is our home. >> reporter: bradley lives in san jose apartments built in the '60s or '70s. his unit is directly above a parking space and he knows it's vulnerable to collapse during a quake. >> i can no longer afor the record to live in a complexion that i used to be able to. >> reporter: he doesn't have the move to money and cost may be a reason why his landlord hasn't retrofitted the building. >> costs for seismic retrofit can run from the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> reporter: the city councilman is proposi a