nbc goes on assignment. >> you're there. one key difference, you're not. >> richard engle is in the desert outside vegas where the top secret war on terror is really being waged. >> ready to launch left missile. >> drones targeting terrorists with deadly efficiency. >> al qaeda was very methodically dismantled. >> but tonight the drone war program comes underfire from the inside. >> i lost a piece of my humanity. >> being able to press a button on the opposite side of the

world and kill another human being is way too easy. >> josh with an investigation. we're just off the brand new bay bridge. an architectural marvel connecting san francisco with oakland. >> it's built to with stand earthquakes and after shocks but what about sticker shock. >> 2.6 billion. 5.3 billion. >> 6.5 billion. >> it's like a soap opera. >> the twisting tale of the bridge that broke the bank. >> we got completely ripped off. >> cynthia mcfadden had a real life. downton abbey. it's the grand estate where princess diana grew up. and tonight you'll see something never seen before. the reason for this rare tour would make the princess proud. >> you're a real rebel rouser. >> i'm bucking all the big kids on the block.

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>> he could be heading home from a night out on the strip. >> does it feel like you're going to war right now? because you will be in a matter of minutes? >> yeah. we do go to war every day. >> will is a u.s. air force captain. the epicenter of president obama's secretive military drone operations. the air force doesn't want us to use will's last name but did allow us to trade some of the 2500 other airmen here. >> ready to launch left missile? they control drones launched thousands of miles away oversees flying them 24/7 in ships. >> when i'm flying a mission, i am for all intents and purposes there fighting the war. you're so involved in what is

going on that you feel like you're in the airplane flying the mission. you're there. >> one key difference, you're not. >> using high powered drone cameras and electronics tens of thousands of feet aloft. they often keep watch over u.s. troops on the ball field. >> we asked the pilot of a drone flying above us right now to zoom in on me so we can get a sense of the resolution and it is pretty clear but there's other capabilities that government agencies don't want to reveal like the ability to recognize voices, faces or even someone's individual gait all from thousands of feet above. >> they also gather intelligence, sometimes spying on terror suspects for weeks or months getting to know into the details of their lives before killing them.

the air force did not release the much cleaner image the drone operator saw you could make out a moving white dot on the screen. that's a missile following the drone's laser beam right into the window. >> i have seen a lot of videos but i haven't seen a weapon do that arc. >> another drone strikes a hidden isis position. the weapon leaving most of the building intact a third clip shows a drone strike on a moving isis vehicle. the occupants obliterated. >> do you ever feel guilty that you're fighting against the enemy who can't hit you back? >> we're saving people or helping our troops on the ground. when would i ever feel bad about taking care of our guys? >> after 8 hours of teaching operators the art of drone war, will heads home, cooks dinner with his wife and they walk the dog.

relaxing after just another day at the office. >> it's a commuter war. you go to war and then you go back home. >> yeah, absolutely. >> there is no one in our air force more deliberately engaged against those that would do us harm than the men and women of this community. >> the commander of the air force base distinguished combat fighter pilot colonel cunningham says drones are decisive weapons key to u.s. military dominance. >> it would be fair to say that the american tradition is not to work toward a fair fight. and so i will never apologize that we are not in a fair fight. >> drones are now part and parcel of war. >> peter singer, senior fellow with the new america think tank and a leading drone expert says in the 8 years of president obama's term in office drones have changed the way america wages war. >> if you're telling the story

of american foreign policy in this period obama is the president that takes drones from being seen as abnormal to the new normal of national security policy. >> one of the architects of that national security policy is john brennan. director of the cia. >> you're okay with being considered one of the architects of this changed way of warfare? >> i take great pride in being part of a national security team that has done some great things to protect this country. >> the drone revolution can be traced back to this moment when a cia drone picked up a figure in white believed to be bin laden. no one took a shot because back then drones weren't armed. that was a year before 911. soon drones went from intelligence gathering to

killing. >> taking action against a target or an individual is usually a last resort. >> the cia director told us that this agency would prefer to capture a terror suspect and then kill him. is that true? >> i'm sure they would prefer to if both were equally riskless. the reality is they're not so we have consistently chosen kill rather than capture. >> with no american troops at risk under president obama drone strikes surge sharper. the main targets were the september 11th plotters. >> the al qaeda organization was very methodically dismantled. >> nbc news a list of 285 terrorist targets and a kill list of all the names about half are gone. including 7 potential successors to al qaeda leader bin laden.

all 7 killed by drones. they are here with their lawyer because they fear prosecution for breaches of security as they describe the u.s.'s drone use as immorale. >> being able to press a button from the opposite side of the world and kill another human being or multiple human beings at once is way too easy. >> is it video game warfare? >> it is. the skill set that you use for video games is the exact same skill set that you have when operating a drone. >> i actually deployed overseas and the drone program for me was worse. i lost a piece of my humanity. >> i supported 2,400 members and 200 plus enemy kills and i asked to see the civilian causalities.

nobody would give that to me. >> i killed 13 people directly with missiles. the other ten people i don't know who they were. >> well a critic would say what did you think you were going to do? you were in the air force. a military organization that fires from afar. >> if we don't have integrity in what we're doing, what's the point? >> there's no honor in drone warfare. >> this is above honor. it's without reproach. >> but some critics say it's war by video game. >> it's so far from a video game that it -- it's laughable honestly when that comparison gets used. >> what about the cost to civilians? >> war is an ugly thing but i can guarentee you that every effort is made to make sure that civilians are not injured on the

ground. >> international human rights organizations say hundreds of civilians have been killed overseas including many children. criticism that forced the president to defend his use of drones. and once bomb a village that is not how folk versus operated. >> who is right and why such a gap. >> and it's how people are defining civilian versus combatant. >> those conditions contribute to an overall lack of transparency. that's especially true of the cia he says which unlike the air

force could carry out covert operations including signature strikes where a person not known to be a terrorist is killed because he behaves like a terrorist or what's called a double tap. >> what is a double tap. >> you strike the target and people gather around and you strike the target again. >> to kill the people that have come to that target? >> yeah. >> that dark hidden side of drone warfare does critical potentially long-term damage to the u.s. >> it's seeing a huge amount of push back when it comes to anger at america, public attitudes across the muslim world. >> and worse. >> it's also been effective in inspiring other people to join terrorist groups. >> cia director brennan insists the u.s. is safer now than 15 years ago but acknowledges the

number of terrorists has grown. >> we still see that this very strong antiwestern, anti-u.s dimension of these groups continues to propagate. >> the same progress that gives us the technology to strike half a world away also demands the discipline to constrain that power or risk abusing it. >> three years ago the president pledged more transparency and oversight over u.s. drone warfare programs. there's no sign they're under military control. >> meanwhile as the president prepares to leave office, the power of u.s. drones has been seen by the world. and they're now being developed and flown by 86 countries. >> what happens to the united

states when that happens. >> we don't rest and wait for our adversaries to catch up. >> the drones are part of president obama's legacy and are part of your legacy. you're okay with that legacy? >> it is very, very difficult to make decisions that result in the loss of life. when i see the extent of evil and the number of individuals that wantonly murder innocence the obligation of government is to do what it needs to do in order to protect it's citizens from that type of violence. >> coming up a bridge in america out sourced to china? >> the saga of san francisco's new bay bridge. why it cost billions more than planned and thousands of american jobs. >> people will do dumb stuff. >> josh investigates. buckle your seat belt. many people clean their dentures

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design, we're talking about the cost. josh reports from california. >> you're going to want to pay attention here because these are literally your tax dollars at work. we're just off the brand new bay bridge. an architectural marvel connecting san francisco with oakland. the bridge came in billions of dollars overbudget and behind schedule. in the send, it actually cost thousands of american jobs. how did that happen? well buckle your seat belt. and you might want to get a good grip on your wallet too. we're on a voyage to find out. >> you get what you paid for. in this case we didn't get what we paid for. we got completely ripped off. >> if it's a rip off, it's one taxpayers never saw coming. >> whand? >> this epic tale began with a

natural disaster. a monster 6.9 earthquake in 1989 that killed dozens of people, caused billions in damage and collapsed a portion of the old bay bridge. engineers said the bridge wouldn't survive another quake so the state transportation agency proposed a stirdy if basic new one. and estimates the cost at $1.2 billion but that was a low ball figure and it was just the beginning. >> i was fortunately in a position to find that the real cost was going to be $2.6 billion. that 2.6 billion was the tap before ego's got it wrong. >> a couple of people wanted an

iconic structure that would be able to rival it. >> a committee produced this soaring majestic design. which was also very very expensive. >> i found they had decided and everyone was telling everybody it would be $5.3 billion. >> 5.3 billion. 4 billion more than the original estimate and with that kind of money on the table, well that's where the real fun began. >> it's like a soap opera. >> karen is a u.c. berkeley professor that wrote a decree teak of this drama. >> there's just these fantastic plot twists that happen along the way. so suddenly you have every area of government and all of these elected officials in place. >> like san francisco's then major willie brown who had big plans for the city's treasure island. an undeveloped slab of land at the base of the bridge. >> you were thinking about

putting a casino on that island? >> that is correct. >> when he looked at the plans for the fancy new bridge, something was missing. >> they were not putting any any off ramps to treasure island. >> without ramps you can't develop that island at all. >> you can't use the island. >> so brown said no ramps, no new bridge. and he stopped the project. >> we have almost 280,000 vehicles crossing this bridge every day. filled with people. significant. let's say 8 with that kind of magnitude. goodness knows it could have happened. >> so they were flirting with disaster pretty literally. >> that's a pretty modest statement, yes. >> did you feel any sense of urgency because maybe there was going to be another earthquake. >> no, no sense of urgency. i believe the old structure was adequate, period. >> and as so often happened here

in the bay area, mayor brown won the battle you can see crews working on the ramps as we speak but it delayed the project. they could have paved those off ramp with 20s but at least construction was back on track until a new player took the stage. when actor turned governor arnold schwarzenegger thought maybe the state could save some money by going back to the original simpler privilege. >> he had the entire thing stocked and everybody started pulling their hair out and screaming and yelling and we had to go through all of it all over again. >> in the end, the elaborate design survived. all governor schwarzenegger managed to do was hold construction up for another year. and it cost what? >> in the neighborhood of $1

billion. >> the earthquake happened in 1989. we're now in the mid 2000s and we still don't have a bridge. >> in 2005, the state legislature picked this man, as the defacto head of a new agency in charge of a new bridge. his orders finish the job without waisting any more time or money. >> that's the saddest part of the story in many ways. in one of the most union friendly states in the country the decision was made let's bypass american workers. all we have to do is go to china. china is booming. china builds stuff all the time. china has cranes all over shanghai. they must know about fabricating steel. >> they hope to save $400 million. by having the suspension part of the bridge the centerpiece of the project built in china by a steel fab ri kay to called zpmc.

in it's promotional video they sound ready to boldly go to the final frontiers of capitalism. just one thing, zpnc had never built anything this complex before and whistleblowers later told state investigators zpmc's early work on the bridge was dangerously subpar. >> hundreds of cracks in the welds. >> not up to snuff. >> doesn't need code. doesn't need any standard. unacceptable. >> meanwhile time is passing and the meter is running and the cash register is ricking. >> those bad wells delayed the bridge another year and when they demanded the chinese step on the gas -- >> they said in order for us to speed this up and bring in more workers you're going to have to

pay us even more money. they're not going to be able to finish this on time unless you give us another 100 million dollars. you heard right. another $100 million to finish work that had been delayed on poor workmenship. >> they said this was extortion. >> but in the end, cal trans paid it and more. a lot more according to this california state senate report. a total of 200 $43 million more. the chinese had a difficult time getting into the right rhythm. >> did you feel hike you were essentially paying extortion to get that thing done? >> not at all. >> they basically said we want more money to finish this and instead of fighting them on this and saying you guys didn't do the work and you made the mistakes you guys just said okay. >> we had a situation where there was a stalemate.

and that stalemate had to be resolved one way or the other. now the fact that we paid them some money doesn't mean they were holding that hostage. it means they resolved a construction dispute. >> would california have received a better overall deal from an american contractor? tom lead steel fab ri karicator had a bid on the bridge and watched the chinese do it instead. >> we had 3,000 jobs during one of the worst economic times during this country's history. could have supported the middle class and could have supported these people that work hard for a living. >> taxpayer was not going to get a good deal if we built this project in the united states. >> well unless you consider the money that would have gone to those steelworkers that they would have later used to buy houses and cars and go to the super market and we played by

the rules fair and square and the american steel industry is not what it used to be unfortunately. >> the american steel industry would argue that one of the reasons it's not what it used to be is guys like you keep sending your business overseas. >> guys like me have to comply with federal law. if the american bid is higher, are we still supposed to award that with tax money? we were going to create a world glass fabrication facility and one that would rival any fabrication facility in the world and we didn't do that. >> actually we did but it's in shanghai and it's owned by zpmc and the chinese government. >> zpmc got to build this huge facility to be able to do this kind of work in the future. >> just before leaving office, governor schwarzenegger personally met with bridge workers to show his appreciation for a job well done. >> thank you very much.

thank you, thank you for the great work you're doing. >> nice except he said that at the dock yard in china. in the end china got the jobs and the new steel plant. we got the bridge and the bill. >> what's the price tag now? >> 6.5 billion. >> and maybe that much again to service the debt. >> yeah we borrowed the money sure. so we have to pay off the bonds. >> from 1.2 billion to more than 6 billion. and during that time the toll went from $1 to $6 during rush hour costing a daily commuter about $1,500 a year. >> our job when we started was to get this bridge built. we did that job. now did it take too long? yes. did it cost too much money? yes.

>> the next big transportation project in california high speed rail between l.a. and san francisco. current price tag, $65 billion. here's one of its biggest boosters. >> i am completely committed to high speed rail. >> is there any chance that that is going to happen on budget or on time. >> not in my or your lifetime. we can forget it. >> coming up seth rogen and i take a neighborhood stroll. >> you have been called a comedy genius. you make us laugh. what makes you laugh. >> it's a walk around the rock. also -- >> it makes downton abby look downton shabby. >> a rare tour of princess diana's childhood home. how the new american lady of the house is keeping her legacy alive. >> hopefully we're giving these children a little taste of a family. using 60,000 points from my chase ink card

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>> police in orlando, florida revealing the identity of the suspect accused of gunning down singer and former the voice contestant. this is kevin james loibl. the 27-year-old shot and killed grimmie last night as she met fans and signed autographs. he is from st. petersburg florida and drove to orlando with the intention of killing the 22-year-old but the motive for the murder is still a mystery. back to date line on assignment. >> if you have been to new york you know that nbc broadcasts from the landmark rockerfeller center right in the heart of the city. you never know who you might run into around here. i've got some company for a walk around the rock. >> hey i got my questions and here's my guest. seth rogen.

how is it going. >> i'm waiting on the street for you. >> with all of your fans. >> my security. >> strangest fan encounter? >> man i've had a lot of them. i'm always amazed at what illegal things people are willing to pull out in public to have me sign. >> things that could become evidence at some point. >> exactly. >> you have been called a comedy genius. you make us laugh. what makes you laugh? >> mostly when i'm laughing at the people i know and people falling down always makes me laugh. >> you're an actor, writer, producer, what are you best at? >> we're best at writing and it's the thing that i spend the least amount of time doing but it's the thing i think i'm the best at. >> superbad you wrote at 15. >> 13 we started. >> nice. >> no idea what it was going to become. >> no we hoped it would be a movie but we weren't sure it would happen at all. >> neighbors. >> wow, oh my god. >> i love when they go oh my god but they don't know your name.

>> i know. >> what's the funniest comedy of 2016. >> other than neighbors 2? or should i just say neighbors 2. >> hi we're your neighbors. >> welcome to kappa nu. >> do you think it will get a nomination for an academy award. >> i don't think it will. >> because they're anticomedies? >> yeah. the best of comedies don't get nominated? >> why is that? >> people find comedy to be lower art form. i actually saw an interview with jay leno once where he put it best. it's because everyone thinks they're funny so it doesn't seem like a skill to make people laugh. >> who is your favorite dictator in the world? >> not kim jong un. >> the north korean government is threatening retaliation if this film is released. >> you're not his favorite comedian. >> no, exactly. >> if you could hack anyone's computer, whose would bit? >> kim jong un's computer.

give him a taste of his own medicine. >> last question, hi your organization supports alzheimer's research. it's personal. >> my mother-in-law was diagnosed with early on set alzheimer's in her early 50s and we just saw that no one in our generation was really advocating for it or educating people at all about it and so we just started doing that really. >> terrific. >> seth row again. thanks for the walk around the walk. >> thank you for having me. >> come back any time. >> no problem. >> coming up. >> this is a room that i associate with diana. >> the magnificent mansion where princess diana grew up. 31 bedrooms. 88 fireplaces. >> we are going to open the home. >> and you could be a guest for the weekend. a surprise for you. it's red lobster's new lobster and shrimp summerfest! with the lobster and shrimp... ...you love in so many new dishes, you're gonna wanna try... ...every last one.

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it's called a real life downton abby and could be your next weekend getaway. the estate where princess diana grew up is open for guests with a purpose in the tradition of its most famous princess. cynthia mcfadden is in england. >> the 500-year-old home of the spencer family doesn't just come with 31 bedrooms, it comes with the title too. >> you're a countess? >> yes, the long version, the right honorable the countess spencer. >> she loves that. >> while this world is all new to karen spencer it's something her husband charles has known all of his life. >> you're the earl. >> yes, the ninth one to live here. >> but most know this place because of its most famous occupant, princess diana. this is the home where she grew up and where she is now buried

on a small island. nearly 20 years after his emotional and controversial speech at her funeral. >> she needed no royal title to continue to generate a particular brand of magic. >> diana's brother charles says the memories of her are still strong. >> this is a room that we associate with diana tap dancing. we have great acoustics in here and as a teenager she did endless tap dancing in here. that's my main connection to her. but it's the current lady of the house we have come to see because she has new ideas for this old place. before we get into that we get a tour. it's a real life downton abbey. only some say much grander. >> there's a peace about this house. >> 100,000 square foot home with 88 fireplaces and one of the finest art collections still in

private hands. >> this was actually all an open courtyard in the original building and they covered it over. >> it's a grand entrance made by world leaders and dignities for centuries. >> think of the guests that stayed here. winston churchill, more recent mandela. >> kings and queens. >> lots of kings and queens. >> now this, this is the picture gallery which is the room in the house and i love seeing all of this because this is a 500-year-old room as it always was. >> what would people do in a room like this? >> on a day like today you go up and down it 20 times. it's a mile. they used to just drift along. >> it was the gym. >> without the sweat. >> it's clear charles relishes the history of the house but growing up here wasn't always easy for him and diana. >> your mother left when you were very little. >> yes. >> and after their mother left their father remarried. their new step mother gave her own children all the grand

bedrooms while relegating charles and diana to the smallest rooms. >> so we were put up in the attics and for a house like this i'd say very, very modest rooms. >> we go upstairs to see. the first time cameras are allowed in. >> former maid's rooms. >> yes. quite junior maids i would imagine. >> how old were you when they told you this would be yours some day? >> i remember being told by a rather sort of upset cousin of mine because he would have inherited it if i hadn't been born. he said this will be yours one day and i was five or six and i remember thinking i don't want this at all. it with was too daunting but it's bricks and mortar. you can make it what you want it to be. >> which brings us back to charles's american wife karen. the stuff of fairy tales. she dropped out of model to become a fashion model and was

introduced to the earl on a blind date. it's her second marriage. his third. >> i finally cracked it. i have a wonderful wife. >> we both have cracked it, finally. >> when they met she was a divorced mother of 2. nearly broke and about to lose her home. that's because she was pouring her divorce settlement into her passion. a charity to help transform orfaorf orphanages. i was struck by her great beauty but when we were struck by her passion i was really impressed. >> karen's idea for improving the world's orphanages is simple but you are general. making sure that every child has a loving caring adult. >> warm interaction with a consistent adult caregiver. >> that's not the case in most orphanages. >> that is not happening.

we had one child that was 3 years old and didn't know what his own name was. >> because. >> no one was calling hill by his name and he had been rotated through so many caregivers and so many groups that probably nobody actually knew what his name was and kids being passed between 50 different caregivers by the time they are five. she took us to one of the orphanages where they instituted her simple ideas. >> whether a child is growing up in a place that has a dirt floor or not i don't believe that's going to be the indicator of that child's ability to go on to do well. >> without hiring any more staff they retrain and reschedule the people already here. encouraging them to make a connection with the kids in

their caregivers focus on feeding the baby. you see the eye contact they're having right now. >> every child has his or her own space. >> what a difference. >> well for a child to have your own things is part of having a sense of identity. >> and every child is given their own baby boom. >> the primary point of it of course is that it gives a child a history of their life. they'll have some sort of record of who they were and their firsts and all of those important moments. it sucks the caregiver into a deeper relationship with the child. it's a trick. >> the changes may look small but when researchers from the university of pittsburgh studied the impact the results were astounding. >> even we were surprised at the kind of impact that we were able to see. we had 85% of the children that were scoring as though intellectually disabled. later with no change in number to caregivers using the existing facility only 15% of those children were scoring as though

intellectually disabled. >> how many kids were tested as functionally disabled? >> 85%. >> and how many after just retraining the staff? >> 15%. >> and just as amazing the children's height and weight increased dramatically without any change in ing. >> that's because many of of the biggest and most powerful charities don't want to invest in orphanages arguing money is

better spent moving them out of foster care or back with relatives. >> unicef doesn't agree with you. the united states government won't put money into orphanagings around the world. >> the policy is, they don't believe in the institutionization of children. and i don't either. >> but in the meantime, millions of children's are growing in these orphanages? >> yes. >> you're the rebel rouser? >> yes, i'm bucking the big kids on the block with this idea and it's rather contrary to what a lot of people are pushing for. >> his name is jose. >> but she refuses to back down, and has been invited by the government of el salvador to bring her staff and training to 72 orphanages there. >> hopefully we're getting these children a little taste of a family. >> but that costs money, and now she has an idea to pay for it, which brings us back to althorp.

>> we are launching a campaign to raise funds for the home. >> an offer that puts even the best air bnb to shame. allowing anyone with deep pockets to spend the weekend here. >> it's not going to be cheap to spend the weekend here. >> no, it's not. >> the cost? $40,000 per couple. for $250,000, a private group of 18. >> who's idea was it to open -- it was your idea? >> they're all my ideas. >> yeah. >> but i was instantly on board. >> oh, for sure. >> i've always thought of this house size contributing. it's not just a little bastian or fort of privilege. >> they'll share intimate dinners and sleep in the grand bedroom. >> this is the king william,

named because king william stayed here. >> it's beautiful. fit for a king. >> it is fit for a king. this is also where princess diana slept when she came to visit. >> this is the queen mary room. but she was the house guest from hell. you did not want her to stay. >> why? >> she was basically a very up-market thief. you'd be sitting around having tea, and she'd say, i really like the silver tea pot, and the hostess would go, yes, it's been in my family for generations. and she would go, but i really like it, and the hostess would have to hand it over. it was a nightmare. >> this house continues on a long tradition of spencer women helping others. >> it's about growing that circle and how do we connect with people who might be interested in the same sorts of things, share our passion for helping children. >> putting a 500-year-old

mansion to work for children who need a place to call home. coming up -- >> say hut two, three, four. >> hail to the harroi hero ps - heroes. >> a soldier protects someone who is important to them. >> thank you for standing up for america. >> next at the kids' table. ah, it's my brother. keep going... sara, will you marry... [phone rings again] what do you want, todd???? [crowd cheering] keep it going!!!! if you sit on your phone, you butt-dial people. it's what you do. todd! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. i know we just met like, two months ago... yes! [crowd cheering] [crowd cheering over phone] ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪

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tomorrow, america observes memorial day, and tonight, it's all about service at the kids' table. ♪ >> my hero and my family. >> my dog. >> daddy. >> james! >> allie. >> i would say my hero is my dad. because once i was about to fall and he caught me. and also my mom. she will watch this. i don't want my mom to get offended. so -- but not my sister. >> my hero is my great grandpa because he risked his life and fought for us and he's still alive. >> walk a bridge and it's wobbly and it's almost fell down and

they run across the bridge and could not fell down. >> i went on a roller coaster and i wasn't scared. >> when i get my blood checked, i cry and i don't really be brave. >> when i saw a ghost, i was not afraid. >> what ghost? there's no such thing as a ghost. >> it was outside my backyard. >> a real life ghost? ♪ >> a soldier is a person who fights in an army. >> a soldier is somebody that goes to war. >> they protect people. >> a soldier protects someone who is special to them. >> say hut, two, three, four, hut, two, three, four. >> thank you for all you've done for america, to fight to make our country free. >> thank you for helping us be free and for risking your life. >> thank you for protecting us and being brave to fight. >> thank you for standing up for

america. >> thank you for saving the world. >> that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. >> tonight, nbc news goes on assignment. >> you think you saved a life? >> no. i think i did my job. >> josh mankiewicz is on the front line of a whole new war on drugs. >> just makes you want to give up all over again sometimes. >> offenders here don't get handcuffed. they get help. >> you don't arrest them even though they have drugs on them which is illegal? >> correct. >> i think the chief's intentions are misguided here. >> can it work? >> i just want to be sober. >> i sit down with the savvy young ceo of airbnb.