around the world with hundreds dead and the effort to save hundreds more. the chilling story from elizabeth smart, going public about what life was like during her kidnapping ordeal. >> is this the missing link? what we can learn from something 4 million years old. was that really him flying the plane today, turns out it was, "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening, the picture emerging tonight from the island of somatra and indonesia is multiplying. there's been another strong quake. now, the effort to find andres cue survivors in one of two separate disasters we're covering, by the way, has become more urgent. it's where we begin tonight.

ian williams has the latest from ground zero of this disaster. >> reporter: we drove into a traumatized city. an estimated 500 buildings badly damaged. hotels, shops and a school were among many leveled and the quake that killed at least 1100 people. the worst devastation is here in the center of padang where entire buildings collapsed. this is all that remains of a shop front. the cars where they are when it hit with such force. throughout the day, survivors were drug from the twisted remains. they estimate hundreds are still trapped. a big 6.8 magnitude aftershock frayed the nerves here. at night fall, we reached what remained of the gamma for

private school for teenage girls where rescue workers were digging for survivors. it was the end of the school day when the quake struck. 60 students were here. about half of them were buried in the rubble. at padang's main hospital, hundreds are waiting to be identified. >> run, run. >> reporter: he told me how his mother failed to escape the family's collapsing house and how they dug her out with their bare hands. was it difficult? >> very difficult. the concrete is very, very heavy. >> reporter: supplies are running dangerously low. >> until now -- >> reporter: you are running out? >> yes. >> reporter: in padang, fearing more. while at the school, rescue

workers continue to dig into the night in the hopes of finding more children alive. ian williams, nbc news, padang. >> afraid to say reports are grim as well from the samoan islands. 5,000 miles away, the scene of another disaster after an underground earthquake. the confirmed death toll there is climbing toward 200,lee cowan is in samoa tonight. >> reporter: this is the image around samoa and american samoa today. the elderly woman who lost her life here is being mourned, not in her church, there's still too much water. instead, her body is carried down the main road back to her home where there is nothing left.

the death toll continues to rise. victims washing back ashore. >> we don't have a head count on the amount of people, but from what we were told, there were a lot of people that were still sleeping at the time of the tsunami. >> reporter: the morgues at the local hospitals are full. refrigerated containers a grim reminder of the toll. it's made a bad situation worse. those who are returning are finding rebuilding nearly impossible. many are too afraid to come back. no wonder. all the talk of tsunami warnings. the first waves are on them before the ground stops shaking. there have been few aftershocks. the roads that were impassable are passable. humanetarian aid is coming in. medical supplies are being flown in from hawaii. it is a flurry of activity.

the group huddled around the grave to say good-bye. >> this woman used to come every sunday to keep communion. so, i really missed her very much. >> reporter: lost to the water, she was brought home for the last time. lee cowan, nbc news, samoa. elsewhere overseas, you don't see this often. the u.s. and iran sat down for face-to-face talks. it happened in geneva. the hope is today's discussions will be the first step on a breakthrough to all things nuclear. andrea mitchell is in geneva for us, andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. the first talks between the united states and iran in 30 years. the president and the white house issued a stern warning saying he wants to see results

within two weeks. at an 18th century villa in lake geneva, talks of a 21st century problem. iran said it would not discuss the nuclear program here. for seven and a half hours, it did, including a one-on-one session with william burns. others enjoyed a lavish lunch, the iranians and americans negotiated in a side room. they agreed to prompt inspections and a possible way to enrich stockpiles of uranium. freeze sanctions if iran freezes its nuclear program. at the white house, the president said his patience are not limited. >> if they do not step up, then the united states will not continue to negotiate indefinitely. we are prepared to move toward increase pressure. >> reporter: the u.s. is

demanding complete access. iran said it will explore a proposal to turn over most of its low grade uranium to russia and france. it's turned into nuclear fuel for research in a form that could not be used for a bomb, then send it back to iran. if it works, it could be expanded. >> you could eliminate a need to operate an enrichment program inside iran. >> reporter: the administration says these talks will be the first test of the policy of diplomatic engagement. they agreed to meet, again, at the end of the month. >> thanks. today in washington, i interviewed david petraeus. the general has been in on these talks on afghanistan with president obama. he said, again, today, it's a far different war.

a direct outgrowth of 9/11. among other things, i asked about the main reason u.s. troops went to that place eight years ago, osama bin laden. on your top list going forward, where does osama bin laden fit on those? >> well, bin laden obviously has enormous iconic importance and a degree of operational importance. it's really his deputy issuing the instructions. the top two are of significant importance. and, it is obviously a focus of a lot of folks in the central command area, responsibility and partner agencies, eventually to locate the individuals and to kill or capture them. >> bears repeating there. general petraeus saying bin laden is of enormous importance

and operational importance to the u.s. a focus of a big effort by the military. it's an hour long interview. you can see it on our website, nightly.msnbc.com. the month of september saw the end of the cash for clunkers program, then autosales fell with a thug. gm sales were down. cloudy skiesler down 42%. ford with a smaller decline of 5%. on wall street, a sell off, the dow finishing down 203 in the end. the company we work for was in the news tonight. there are multiple reports our parent company, general electric is in talks with comcast to merge nbc universal and comcast into a separate company, 51% of which would be owned by comcast under the deal being considered.

corporate officials at ge and comcast declined to comment. there's a lot of interest in a find scientists are saying walked the earth more than 4 million years ago. our chief science correspondent, robert bazell has more on the female creature, ardi who may be the oldest known relative. >> reporter: the discovery, in the valley of ethiopia moves the story of human evolution back 4 million years. researchers say it's one of the most significant finds of the decade. >> we found an amazing time capsule. we found a layer of three meters of setment. >> reporter: the biggest find, the female creature they call ardi. she stood four feet tall, weighed 110 pounds and changes

ideas about human origins. until now, the oldest was lucy found in the 1970s and shown at the museum of natural science and history. until now, scientists assumed any earlier human ancestors would be more chimpanzee-like and walk on all fours. >> reporter: she challenges that idea. >> it's different from what people expected and different from lucy. it's not specifically chimpanzee-like. >> reporter: she lived in the forest. scientists speculate in this environment, males could carry more food, making them more attractive to females. >> what would naturally follow is females target males that supply them with food on a regular basis.

>> reporter: a time that remains fascinating, the human descendants of ardi of all ages. >> how old do you think they are walking around? >> 36. >> they look as old as me then, huh? >> reporter: robert bazell. kidnapped as a young girl seven years ago, elizabeth smart tells her story in court. later, up in the sky in new york, it was an american hero. announcer: right now,

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captured worldwide attention. it's been seven years ago. a religious fanatic held her in the woods. >> reporter: at 21, elizabeth smart is moving forward with her life, planning a mission trip to france. for nearly two hours, she returned to 2002, when she was just 14. she recounted details of when she was kidnapped in her bed at knife point. >> she was strong and gave powerful testimony. >> reporter: for the first time ever, telling the story in public. details her family didn't know. >> there were a lot of things i never heard before. i had -- i had no idea what she had gone through so much out there. >> reporter: smart told of being chained to a tree in the woods,

being forced to take drugs and alcohol. her testimony will help a judge determine whether a homeless street creature is mentally competent to stand trial for her kidnapping. he was a master manipulator who used religion as an excuse. she endured nine months of sexual assault. mitchell was removed from the courtroom when he refused to stop singing religious hymns. >> she wanted to face him. she asked fred if he could be muzzled and have to sit there and watch it. >> indicated to her relief that he was there in her room with the audio and video and had nothing else to do but to listen to that. >> reporter: smart's family described her as relieved to put this behind her. dozens more witnesses will be

called. chris jansing, nbc news. the thing we are supposed to know and parents should tell all their kids, no texting while behind the wheel. the president signed an executive order making the practice illegal. when "nightly news" continues in just a moment, a genuine good samaritan risking his life for a child while a camera records it all. a heart attack caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. plavix, taken with other heart medicines goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots. ask your doctor about plavix, protection that helps save lives. (female announcer) if you have stomach ulcer or other condition that causes bleeding, you should not use plavix. taking plavix alone or with some other medicines

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this was the scene in new york yesterday as a store owner in the bronx risked his life to carry a 4-year-old from his burning apartment. he heard screams, grabbed the ladder and climbed the fire escape. a firefighter handed him the child who is recovering well today. former president jimmy carter turned 85 today.

during an interview a short time back in conjunction with the new opening, i asked him about his status in relationship to the other former living president. >> when we look at you, sir, in the club of form er presidents e have known in recent times, you stand out. you are different. you are apart from the pact in one photograph, you were physically apart from the pact. if i were writing the american people's guide to understanding president jimmy carter, why is that? what should people, once and for all, understand about you and what has set you apart from other chief executives? in mind set and your wiring. >> i would say two things. i left the white house early. i still had a life expectancy then, which i have exceeded of 25 more years.

secondly, i had frustrated ambitions that were very important to me to carry out in a second term, which i didn't have a chance to implement. i used the carter center, in many ways, to deal with those things, with africa and peace agreements and promoting peace and stability with israel and its neighbors. things i need not enumerate. i would say that intense ambition to continue to be gainfully occupied, premature separation from the white house and a desire to fulfill some of the dreams i had, even when i was still president. >> jimmy carter at age 85. by the way, the former president's next book, his 25th book, will be out in a few months. it will be his diary of his time in office. it will raise a few eyebrows.

it may not further endure him to washington. by this time tomorrow night, we'll know where the 2016 olympics will be held. the stakes are high for president obama. today, michelle obama played lobbyist and chief, taking up chicago's four year, $48 million campaign to get the games. her husband arrives tomorrow. the voting begins tomorrow, 11:00 a.m. eastern time. the winner should be known just before 1:00 p.m. eastern. when we come back, the guy with the moustache in the cockpit look familiar to you? he sure did to us. about smoking - is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. and the sad thing about it is that you can always use an excuse if cigarettes don't kill me, oh well - something else will. but, you can't use that as an excuse. i honestly loved smoking,

and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. it was very interesting during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it is proven to reduce the urge to smoke. i did have an unopen pack of cigarettes in my purse and then i think i opened my purse and realized it was still there. and i said, "what the heck, i don't need these..." ...i said, you know, "bye, i don't need you anymore, you're not my crutch, i don't need a crutch." (announcer) talk to your doctor about chantix and a support plan that's right for you. some people have had changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice agitation, hostility, depression or changes in behavior, thinking or mood that are not typical for you,

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ncer) chantix should talk to your doctor to find out if prescription chantix is right for you. finally, tonight, he's the only guy who's pulled off a water landing of an airbus. passengers who heard sully say, this is your captain had to feel good of their chances of landing on the ground. tom castello on the flight he finally got to finish. >> reporter: back in the cockpit, sully sullenberger and

jeff skiles, a reunion they requested to finish the trip they didn't. >> every part of it. >> reporter: the last time they flew the new york to charlotte run, things didn't go so well. a massive bird strike took out both engines. seconds later, they pulled off the impossible, a water landing. larry was among the passengers that day. he's flown many times since, but never felt comfortable. today, he's back. >> i might be able to sleep on the flight today. >> reporter: they are still deciding when they will come back. a third is deciding whether she's ever going to come back. a lot of today's passengers had no idea who would be up front. then the buzz started.

>> we were not aware of it when we got here, but we are so glad to be on this flight. i feel safe about flying with him. >> once in the air, sully simply followed routine. but, the passengers in the back would have none of that. >> i'm learning to wait now, thank you. >> reporter: applause for two unassuming heroes who both insist the cockpit is home. tom costello, nbc news, new york. that's our broadcast this thursday night. thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams, we'll see you tomorrow night back in new york, good night.

jon gosselin's revenge. he bans