petite grand gitet, very petite. >> thank you for joining us. lester holt is next. >> bye-bye. on this tuesday night, breaking her silence. hillary clinton finally speaking out about her personal e-mail. what she says she deleted and what she says is off limits. expelled. fraternity brothers thrown out over a racist chant. now a new video clip surfacing of their house mother using the same slur but she says it's not what it seems. security risks. an nbc news investigation. hundreds of i.d. badges used to access secure areas lost or stolen from the nation's airports. and caught on camera. chilling video from a quiet town. a stranger snatches a toddler and runs off. tonight the children who gave chase, and the hunt for the kidnapper. "nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: from nbc news

world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news." reporting tonight, lester holt. good evening. hillary clinton is not yet a candidate for president, but she may have gotten a preview today of what the campaign trail could be like when she came face-to-face with reporters here in new york all hungry to hear why she used a personal e-mail account to conduct government business when she was secretary of state. the simple answer, mrs. clinton says, convenience. pointing out that she broke no rules and she has encouraged the release of her official e-mails. but what about those e-mails that she deemed non-official? what was in them and why were they deleted? our andrea mitchell joined in the questioning today and has a lot more for us. >> reporter: it was a media frenzy unlike anything ever seen at the u.n. a likely presidential candidate trying to quiet a firestorm by finally explaining why she used a private e-mail system while secretary of state. >> i opted for convenience to use my personal e-mail account

which was allowed by the state department because i thought it would be easier to carry just one device for my work and for my personal e-mails instead of two. >> reporter: after two weeks of stonewalling, hillary clinton acknowledged the fallout. >> looking back, it would have been better for me to use two separate phones and two e-mail accounts. i thought using one device would be simpler, and obviously it hasn't worked out that way. >> reporter: she said she has turned over all work-related e-mails, 55,000 pages to the state department but deleted personal e-mails. >> the server contains personal communications from my husband and me, and i believe i have met all of my responsibilities, and the server will remain private. >> reporter: her examples all deeply personal. >> at the end, i chose not to keep my private personal e-mails. e-mails about planning chelsea's

wedding or my mother's funeral arrangements condolence notes to friends as well as yoga routines. >> reporter: it lasted 20 minutes, taking 10 questions. can you explain how you decided which of the personal e-mails to get rid of how you got rid of them and when? and how you'll respond to questions about you being the arbiter of what you release? >> i had no reason to save them. but that was my decision because the federal guidelines are clear and the state department request was clear. >> reporter: and what about hacking? >> the system we used was set up for president clinton's office. and it had numerous safeguards, and there were no security breaches. >> reporter: the leading democrat who had urged her to talk is now satisfied. >> the important thing was that she stepped forward and talked to people and i think people will be reassured listening to it. >> andrea mitchell and chuck todd, nbc news political director and moderator of "meet

the press" join me. andrea, let me first talk to you. the democrats wanted her to come out and speak today. what's the early read from republicans? >> the early read is negative. rand paul is going to be speaking out later. we've already heard from trey gowdy is the republican chair of that benghazi investigating committee. he said not only didn't she answer all the questions he wants to hear about, he wants her to turn over the server to a third party, a neutral party. and he says he's going to call her twice, at least twice to testify before his committee. >> the fact that she goes out there and stands in front to reporters and takes those questions, let's talk about the future here. >> let's talk the captain obvious observation here. she's rupping for president. press conference here -- >> she wouldn't do it otherwise. >> if she wasn't going to run for president, she wouldn't have done this press conference. what's interesting the politico lead today really nailed it. hillary rodham clinton's presidential campaign began on terms set by her adversesaries. that itself tells you this will be a long, hard slog for her. i thought today she did the bare

minimum as far as democrats are concerned, but she didn't satisfy her media critics and she certainly didn't satisfy her republican critics, which means this is going to be a typical clinton campaign circa 1990s. >> chuck and andrea good to have both of you here. the story sparking outrage today. the university of oklahoma expelled two students after video emerged of fraternity members engaging in a racist chant. now a new video clip has surfaced that is only provoking further outcry. we've got more from nbc's gabe gutierrez who is on the campus tonight. ♪ [ bleep ] >> reporter: it is the chant that shocked the country, and tonight one of the students involved has been identified. ♪ [ bleep ]. >> reporter: the student pumping his fist is parker rice a university of oklahoma freshman who graduated from a jesuit prep school in dallas last year. >> i'm not only appalled, but i'm also saddened and hurt that here we are 2015 and year still

dealing with issues of racism and bigotry. >> reporter: today ou expelled two students though officials won't name them citing privacy laws. >> we're just not going to let this define the university and we're going to send a message. >> reporter: now this short clip posted online showing the longtime housemother for cigna alpha epsilon at ou using the same racial slur. in a written statement, she said she is heart broken by any racist portrayal. she does not tolerate any form of discrimination, and she was only singing along to a rap song. today at the sae house, members rushed to move out before the midnight deadline. the fraternity shut down, leaving its cook without a job. online, donors have raised about $50,000 for him. >> it's like getting punched in the stomach. >> reporter: jonathan davis says he was the first african-american pledge ever at sae's ou chapter in 1989. >> that house has turned into a symbol for modern-day racism.

>> reporter: we spoke with an ou senior who asked that we not use her name or show her face because she didn't want to be associated with the fraternity. she says she heard the same chant on a bus two years ago at an sae date party. >> i would definitely say it's not an isolated incident. >> reporter: tonight the fraternity's national headquarters says it is investigating those claims but any suggestion this chant was a tradition is false. another student rally is planned here on campus later tonight. the university says its investigation is not over, and that more students could be disciplined. lester? >> gabe gutierrez, thank you. in the trial of the alleged boston marathon bomber, for the first time today we got a look at what investigators say dzhokhar tsarnaev scrolled inside the boat where he hid right before his capture. tsarnaev may have believed those would be his final words in the last moments of his life as police closed in. nbc's pete williams was in the courtroom. >> reporter: four days after the marathon bombing, police

discovered dzhokhar tsarnaev hiding in a boat stored in a watertown backyard. it was clear he had been injured, shot several times. pictures revealed publicly today clearly show that the boat was riddled with police gunfire. they show three sections streaked with tsarnaev's blood, with at least 21 bullet holes visible. his older brother tamerlan died early that day during a police shoot-out. in pencil tsarnaev wrote, i'm jealous of my brother who received the reward of paradise, god willing, before me. god has a plan for each person. mine was to hide in this boat and shed some light on our actions. he criticized u.s. military operations in the muslim world and said, you are fighting men who look into the barrel of your gun and see heaven. the judge adjourned court early to go look at the boat in fbi custody himself. and now he's deciding whether to let the jury see it, too. pete williams, nbc news, boston. it is supposed to be one of the most protected addresses in

the world. now the white house has a new security challenge that the secret service must face after several high-profile missteps over the last year. the potential threat from drones. turns out the agency has been quietly running tests while the rest of us are sleeping. we get more from nbc's peter alexander. >> reporter: for the last several weeks in the middle of the night around washington the secret service has been testing how to defeat the threat of unmanned drones. the effort in response to a frightening episode last january when this drone crashed on white house property, triggering a lockdown. >> you have now a device that can transport both the surveillance technology and explosives that's commercially available. >> reporter: details of the secret service's tests are classified, but experts say these are the best options. if a rogue drone zeros in on the white house, agenting can block the radio signal that connects the drone to its controller. they can shoot it down but risk detonating an explosive or hitting people. the most complicated defense, hijacking the drone.

this experiment conducted by researchers at the university of texas shows how they hacked a drone's gps, forcing it to the ground. >> i think the secret service has a lot on their hands if they're going to protect the white house from threat of even these commercial drones. >> reporter: another challenge in heavily populated washington, d.c., figuring out how to disable a drone without interfering with other devices that use similar frequencies, like car navigation systems, smartphones, even planes at nearby ragian airport. >> unless you put up a giant net, there's no foolproof way we'll be able to stop every single drone someone comes up. >> reporter: no word how long the secretive tests will last as federal agents try to prevent a midair intruder. peter alexander, nbc news, washington. we want to update you on the condition of the u.s. ambassador who was viciously attacked by a knife-wielding man in south korea. he's now out of the hospital. five days ago an attacker yelling about korean unification slashed mark lippert in the face and arm. doctors say lippert had 80

stitches removed from his face before he was discharged. lippert has more rehab to do but he was upbeat about his recovery. >> i feel pretty darn good all things considered. i mean, it was obviously a scary incident. but i'm walking, talking, holding my baby, you know, hugging my wife. so i just feel really good. >> questions remain about how the attacker got so close to lippert. he had only one full-time bodyguard assigned to him who was unarmed at the time. south korea's capital has been considered a low-threat diplomatic post. in argentina, reality show production went horribly wrong when two helicopters collided in midair killing ten people, the two pilots and eight french nationals, including three of that country's most prominent athletes. both choppers were part of a tv survival show being shot in remote western argentina. the cause of the crash is not yet known, but the french are opening a manslaughter investigation into the accident.

now to an nbc news investigation. the tsa today said it is considering a new range of measures to stop the wrong people from getting into high security areas. but at our nation's busiest airport, hundreds of i.d. badges, the ones that grant access to those areas, are already missing. scott friedman from our nbc station kxas in dallas has the report. >> reporter: at airports across the country, thousands of workers use i.d.s that let them in through a side door, skipping security. now an nbc news investigation finds hundreds of those i.d.s have gone missing. >> because of your employment, you are in a very, very critical position that can mean the life safety of individuals or aircraft, our nation. >> reporter: nbc news requested records from some of the nation's largest airports. america's busiest, atlanta, sent us this letter saying more than 1,400 i.d.s were lost or stolen over approximately two years.

before we could get those numbers from other airports like dallas/ft. worth the transportation security administration stepped in and said we couldn't have that information. the tsa says it's security sensitive. but police reports from dfw airports show crew uniforms go missing, too. even a federal flight deck officer's credentials and badge, which allow a pilot to carry a gun on a plane. >> every airport employee that receives a badge is required to report if that badge is either lost or stolen. at that point, it's immediately deactivated. >> reporter: still, some security officials fear bad guys with stolen i.d.s could sneak in an open perimeter gate or hop a fence and may be less likely to stabbed out on the tarmac. atlanta airport officials say missing badges do not pose a significant security threat. because i.d.s have employee photos and require a p.i.n. to get in. the tsa says it's conducting a nationwide review of security at those employee entrances,

looking for ways to make them more secure, which may include i.d. checks at the door to help protect the more than 600 million who fly each year. scott friedman, nbc news, dallas. over the last few days, many of us have finally felt this brutal winter start to give way. there are huge reminders of it washing up on the beaches of cape cod. take a look at these massive hunks of ice and snow, some of it bigger than buicks now rest on the sand. they form out in the cold open water and are brought in by the tide, but these warmer temperatures are already starting to melt them. still ahead tonight, the moment every parent fierce. a stranger steals a toddler and runs off. his attempted getaway caught on tape. the verdict is in on a trial over one of the biggest hit songs of the decade.

no parent ever wants to think it could happen to their child, an abduction in broad daylight from a place many people would consider perfectly safe. in washington state tonight, police are hunting for a suspected kidnapper who might have gotten away if it wasn't for the victim's siblings, and it was caught on tape. we get more from nbc's joe fryer. >> reporter: surveillance video from a small town grocery store captures the heart-pounding moments. a suspect running away with 22-month-old owen wright in his arms, moments after snatching the toddler from a park in sprague, washington. ten seconds later, the boy's 8-year-old sister is seen sprinting after them, then the boy's brother pushing the stroller in which owen had been sitting when he was taken.

dorothy giddings saw owen's sister running and screaming. >> i'm holding her trying to find out -- she said, he went that away, he went that away. >> a man grabbed a 2-year-old baby child and was running with it. and the little kid started screaming. >> reporter: after others joined the chase, the suspect put owen down and kept running. the boy is now safe with his parents. >> the sheriff said, your daughter's got some lungs. i think there's no one in that town that didn't hear her. >> the little girl did what she was supposed to do, which is run after him, yell, scream, and draw attention to herself. >> reporter: the three kids had been staying with a baby-sitter. deputies say they were playing in the park unattended when the suspect, a stranger, started talking with the kids before grabbing owen. >> he was like, i'm 19 years old, and i watch kids all the time. >> it looks to me like it's a random act of trying to abduct a little boy. >> reporter: stranger abductions are incredibly rare. authorities now hope to catch the man before he strikes again.

joe fryer, nbc news. we're back in a moment with major changes at fast-food chains, including one menu item you thought you'd never see.

♪ i know you want to ♪ it was a song of 2013, but "blurred lines" isn't winning any points for originality, in a court of law, that is. a jury ruled late today that the men behind "blurred lines" robin thicke and pharrell williams copied it from the 1977 marvin gaye song "got to give it up." as a result, the jury awarded gaye's children $7.3 million. thicke told jurors he didn't write the song, and pharrell testified he came up with it in about an hour in 2012 and denied using gaye's song as the basis.

fast food as we know it may never be the same. there are reports tonight that mcdonald's is thinking about adding kale to menu items this year. perhaps in salads or even smoothies. while competitor burger king has quietly removed soft drinks from its kids' menus and kids' meals. legacy fast food restaurants are facing increasing competition from fast casual chains like chipotle and five guys. in california, the odds of a big one hitting have increased considerably according to a new study. the u.s. geological survey said there is now a 7% chance of an earthquake with a magnitude 8 or higher hitting california in the next 30 years. that's up from a 4.7% chance in the previous survey in 2008. when we come back, by day, he's a new jersey mayor. by night, a hero to children. in one of the most dangerous places on earth.

finally tonight, they are school children separated by a long distance and circumstances that couldn't be more different. one group is in new jersey, the other in war-torn syria. these children are connected by one thing, a man who wants to make sure all of them get a chance at an education. ann curry has tonight's "making a difference" report. >> reporter: from all appearances he seems to be your

average american family man raising young children. a hard-working school administrator, for ten years he's also been part-time mayor of tiny prospect park, new jersey. but mayor mohamed khairullah leads a double life that takes him to one of the most dangerous places in the world. you heard the cries all the way here in new jersey from aleppo, syria. >> i could relate with the suffering of the people, particularly the children. >> reporter: he was himself a small child when his family emigrated to america from aleppo. into that war zone he's gone back five times in three years. discovering the struggle to survive aerial bombs has driven some of aleppo's children underground. >> this area we're going down to is designed to be a bomb shelter. >> reporter: in a cellar, these girls are studying english despite poor ventilation. >> one of the girls, she said, they could bomb us as much as

they want. we will continue to pursue our education. >> reporter: it was seeing how much the children wanted to learn, despite war, hunger, and the winter cold, that convinced mayor khairullah to start a foundation, using social media to raise $300,000 so far, supplying a growing network of underground schools despite his own risk hoping more of us will care about the suffering of aleppo's children. >> when you see the smile on a child's face, that's what it's about to me. you know? making a difference in the lives of those who nobody else cares about. >> some people would say you're a hero. what would you say? >> i'm just a servant with a purpose. >> reporter: a servant keeping hope alive for the future of syria. ann curry for nbc news, prospect park, new jersey. and that will do it for us on this tuesday night. i'm lester holt. thank you for joining us. and by the way, we know you can't always be with us at this time, that's why we're always

available on demand. have a good night, everyone. right now at 6:00 beware of the beverage. the proposal to treat soda like cigarettes. >> taking on soda take two. voters didn't swallow taxing sugar-sweetened drinks so now san francisco wants to be the first to require warning labels on all advertisements for drinks like soda, energy drinks and even some juices. while the intension is fighting obesity, some say it is an

intrusion they are vowing to fight. >> reporter: jessica, after a soda tax failed last november at the ballot box, san francisco leaders are back at it again with a different approach. this time with three proposals. the most controversial one is to treat soda much like we treat cigarettes. a public health risk. adds are everywhere in san francisco. muni buses, cabs billboards. but if scott weiner has his way, sugar sweetened drinks would have to have a warning label saying consumption could cause obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. >> these drinks are a significant health problem. and we want to make sure that people have full information about what the health risks are and then people can make whatever choice they think is appropriate. >> the soda nd us try is fighting