in chicago turns into more of a wake. blame it on rio, perhaps, but not even the president could bring the games to his homewn. something unexpected in the september jobs reports. where does the economy go from here. extortion. david letterman tells viewers he was blackmailed. and making a difference. some will tell she has a power to heal the sick or just make people feel better. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television blan good evening, they gathered in public spaces and around tvs in chicago today because the folks who really wanted the olympics to come to town in 2016 really liked their chances. after all, the president of the united states followed the recent custom of other world

leaders, flying to europe, personally getting involved to bring the olympics to his hometown. then the agony of defeat. chicago lost in the first round. the games will go to rio. there's sadness tonight in chicago. we begin with lester holt. lester, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. down the stretch, polls found chicagoans divided whether they wanted the games in chicago. folks on either side were shocked the city's bid went down so quickly. after a pitch to host the first ever south american olympic games, rio de janeiro's victory was far from a shock. but the early round loser was. >> the city of chicago will not participate in the next round. >> reporter: a collective gasp was heard on chicago's daily

plaza as thousands who thought they would be celebrating a victory learned chicago came in last, behind rio, madrid and tokyo. >> for it to be over that quickly, that stunningly fast, it's heart breaking. >> i'm surprised and disappointed. >> it was going to be work and construction and jobs. >> i don't feel good about it. >> reporter: president obama faced backlash to make a last minute trip to koben haggen was in air when he got word of the loss. >> one of the things that's most valuable about sports is you can play a great game and still not win. >> reporter: the presentation of the $4.8 billion had been given high marks. some long-time olympic observers say it may not have been over merits, but between the u.s. and international olympic committees.

>> chicago is collateral damage. the fight is between the international olympic committee and the united states committee. they are in disputes over money. >> reporter: unlike rio de janeiro where thousands celebrated today, public support was tepid. a recent poll found less than half of chicagoans were in favor of their city hosting the games. >> whether you are for or against the games, you want a better chicago. >> reporter: those deeply familiar with rio de janeiro's proposal said geography was on its side. >> it's all of south america. the single biggest reason they won in their very passionate layout of their plan. they did the most unbelievable job --

meantime, the white house is dismissing republican complaints the president shouldn't have made the trip. david axelrod said the only thing the president missed was a good night's sleep. >> lester holt starting us off in chicago tonight, thanks. now, a word about the winners, rio deja nar owe. the picture is more complicated. they mounted a huge effort and they won. you could almost hear the celebration from here. somehow miguel almaguer found his way. >> reporter: it's not blanketed the enthusiasm here in row owe. they are celebrating on the streets and beaches. today, the city made history. >> the games of the 31st olympia

are awarded to the city of rio de janeiro. >> reporter: with that, rio erupted. the beach shook with excitement. frenzy of yellow and green sprinkled with bikini. in copenhagen, brazil soccer legend celebrated with hugs and cheers. luis made a case the olympics should belong to all people and all continents. >> translator: our time has come. it's time. tonight, the olympic calderon is lit. >> reporter: the olympics have been held 30 times in europe, five in asia, twice in australia and 12 times in north america. brazil, with 200 million people,

most who speak portuguese is the power house of south america. it's expected to be the fifth largest by the time of the 2016 games. what they have going is the stunning backdrop. the promise of all sports held in the city. rio promised to spend $14 million on venues and infrastructure on the games and go green by planted 24 million trees to offset carbon die ox side emissions. as they prepare, there are challenges ahead. known for its high crime and murder rate, will the city be safe for the games? what to do about the poverty and slums scattering the city. back on the beach, concern is no match for celebration. rio is dripping with pride and now south america is finally on the olympic map. all though they have lost four

previous olympic bids, the president of this country says this entire nation is ready to host the world. brian. >> miguel almaguer in rio. thanks. it was a bombshell when the excited studio audience of mostly tourists sat in on the taping for david letterman. it involves sex in the workplace, extortion, a painful public admission and an arrest. the story to want from nbcs peter alexander. >> do you feel like a story. >> reporter: it was an extraordinary late night confession that many of david letterman's audience mistook for a joke. last month, he got a package in the backseat of his car. >> there's a letter in the package and it says that i know that you do some terrible,

terrible things. >> reporter: letterman made another startling admission. >> i have had sex with women who work on this show. >> reporter: today, more details became public as prosecutors charged 51-year-old robert joe halderman a veteran of cbs programs including "48 hours." he wrote letterman threatening a large chunk of money. >> new york will not tolerate the coercion or extortion of anyone be the victim rich or poor, famous or anonymous. >> reporter: prosecutors say last month letterman's attorney met privately with this man, twice, secretly recording the conversation before giving a fake $2 million check that he tried to deposit yesterday. he was released on bail late this afternoon. his attorney says he's not

guilty. >> there's another side to the story. it's not the open and shut case you just heard about. >> these cases happen with some frequency. the defendant knows the victim because otherwise, they wouldn't be able to extort them. >> reporter: connecticut voter registration records show halderman was living with one of letterman's long-time assistants. letterman did not name any co-workers when he addressed it last night. >> would it be embarrassing if it was made public? perhaps it would. perhaps it would, especially for the audience. >> reporter: some do not consider it a laughing matter. especially for someone who didn't have sympathy for women in the past. baseball star al exrodriguez.

they issued a statement saying dave is not in violation of our policy and no one has ever raised a complaint against him. he was not at work today with his show pretaped and audience unsure how to react. peter alexander, nbc news, new york. after flash floods killed almost 300 people in the philippines, another storm on the way. typhoon parma is rolling in now with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour. government declared a state of calamity and ordered mass evacuations. risen to at least 169. relief workers are delivering food and medicine to thousands left homeless. aid is just starting to get to the survivors of successive earthquakes on the indonesia

island of somatra. the death toll there stands atmore than 1,000 people. that number is expected to rise dramatically. ian williams is in the hard hit city of padang. >> reporter: it was a moment that lifted the hopes of padang 48 hours after the quake struck. a young woman pulled alive from the wreckage of her school. then, a little later, another survivor. the dramatic rescue coming as officials warned that up to 3,000 others could still be buried under collapsed buildings. today, we traveled to the hardest hit town 30 miles from the epicenter of the quake. house after house collapsed. 10,000 destroyed according to officials. people huddled in makeshift shelters. the damage for more extensive than in padang. all the houses here have gone,

she told us. she pulled her son from the rubble and he's in the hospital in padang. down the road, this family was pulling wood from the wreckage of their home to build a new house. quakes aren't new here, but they told me, i've never felt a tremor like it. in spite of all the damage, casualties here appear to be low. 150 dead by official counts. homes were mostly single story and built of flimsy material, enabling many people to escape. nearby, we found people lining up for material to make shelters, crowds scrambling for plastic sheets. officials struggled to maintain order. this is the first aid to reach this village where 80% of the homes are damaged. they are in urgent need of food and water. we return this evening where at a collapsed hotel, rescue

workers heard voices under the rubble. they are working through the night to open a new breach in the wall of twisted concrete, racing to reach the sounds of life beyond. ian williams, nbc news, padang. if you would like to help the survivors of these natural disasters, we have put together a list of various charities involved in the relief effort. for those who wish to donate, we have posted the longer list on our website. it's all there, nightly.msnbc.com. when "nightly news" continues on this friday evening, we might all have to learn a new term, jobless recovery, after the number that is came out today. later, taking care of the care givers. a remarkable woman that makes a hospital seem a little more like home. when you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep... remember 2-layer ambien cr.

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as we mentioned news on the economy tonight confirms what a lot of american families are feeling. september's jobs report was worse than a lot of analysts expected with the unemployment rate hitting 9.8%. our white house correspondent, savannah guthrie with more on this. savannah, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. the foreign policy issues weighing on the president, the reminder of the number one domestic problem, answering the simple question, where are the jobs? back from copenhagen empty handed, the president had to fend off more bad news. >> today's jobs report is a reminder. we need to grind out the

recovery, step-by-step. >> reporter: the number surprised wall street. unemployment now at 9.8%. employers cutting 263,000 jobs last month. despite a huge influx of spending from the stimulus plan. more than 15 million americans are now out of a job. not since june of 1983 has it been this bad. >> the strength of the recovery is called into question. >> reporter: long term unemployment continues to rise. more than 5 million americans now out of a job, six months or more. a story, clear on the front line. >> knocking on doors, working, sitting and looking at people go to work wishing you were in the car. >> reporter: trying to emphasize the positive, the white house

says the pace of job losses is slowing. without the stimulus, it would be worse. republicans were quick to pounce. >> we don't see any evidence, what so ever, that the stimulus package is having an impact. >> reporter: the president vowed to do more to stop job losses. white house aids sidestepped the talk. >> the first stimulus, as i said, is less than half done. so, it's a little premature to have that discussion. >> reporter: aids won't say what additional measures they are considering. congress is looking at extending unemployment benefits again. 1.3 million people are scheduled to lose the benefits at the end of the year. >> savannah, thanks. the blue chip stocks clawed back from a triple digit loss. what it's like to see a

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latest numbers out from the center for disease control indicate what we have been saying night after night. swine flu spreading rapidly over the country. cdc reporting there's widespread activity in 27 states now. those kind of numbers extremely unusual this early on. if you are old enough to remember a time when depending on the circumstances you were

born into, some were expected to die relatively young. there are new life expectancy numbers out that are nothing short of extraordinary. half of all babies born could live to be at least 100 years old. this study is published in a medical journal. one more note on the president's trip overseas, general stanley mcchrystal flew to copenhagen to meet with the president. mcchrystal requested more u.s. troops. the president is considering it. speaking of the military, in jacksonville, florida, just when it felt like they would never come home, like their long wait would never come to an end, the situation involved as the hangar door opened and members of the 146th signal battalion returned

home from a one-year deployment from iraq. they came home whole. their unit suffered not a single fatality or injure. when we come back on a friday, making a difference. making people better by caring for the caregivers. my parents all smoked. my grandparents smoked. i've been a long-time smoker. you know, discouragement is a big thing in quitting smoking. i'm a guy who had given up quitting. what caused me to be interested was, chantix is not a nicotine product and that intrigued me. the doctor said while you're taking it you can continue to smoke during the first week. (announcer) chantix is proven to reduce the urge to smoke.

in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. today i see myself as a jolly old man, (laughing) who doesn't have to smoke. ...who doesn't have to sneak out to take a couple puffs of a cigarette anymore. (announcer) herb quit smoking with chantix and support. 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, or if you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. talk to your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which can get worse while taking chantix. some people can have allergic or serious skin reactions to chantix, some of which can be life threatening. if you notice swelling of face,

mouth, throat or a rash stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away. tell your doctor which medicines you are taking as they may work differently when you quit smoking. chantix dosing may be different if you have kidney problems. the most common side effect is nausea. patients also reported trouble sleeping and vivid, unusual or strange dreams. until you know how chantix may affect you, use caution when driving or operating machinery. chantix should not be taken with other quit smoking products. the urges weren't like they used to be, and that help me quit. (announcer) talk to your doctor to find out if prescription chantix is right for you.

tonight's making a difference report is about a very special and beloved woman in chicago. some will tell you she has the power, indirectly, at least, to make the sick feel better. she cares for the caregivers and d dispences her brand of healing. the story from john yang. >> reporter: as night settles over chicago's memorial hospital, the young patients finally sleep. in the basement, it's a whirlwind of activity. betty tucker is a human dynamo in constant motion. she tends to doctors, nurses, parents and patients. >> what else did you need, hon? >> i know if i keep my staff

happy, they are going to take care of the kids. >> reporter: she's been the sole night cook here for 28 years, serving meals with a side of love. >> she's an honorary chaplin. she's so in tune with what people need and what's going on. >> how is school going. >> reporter: she's been enjoying her sandwiches most of her life. she has cystic fibrosis. >> i try to make my grilled cheese like hers. >> reporter: something is missing? >> something is missing. >> reporter: what do you put in the grilled cheese? >> a lot of love. a lot of love is all. >> reporter: she provides a slice of normal. >> when you see parents here three or four nikts at a time, i try to do whatever i can to help them. >> reporter: they spend days and

nigh nights here with their daughter. she calls miss betty her mom away from home. >> she's here to listen to me. >> cook, chaplin, mother, friend, feeding body and soul. >> have a good one, baby. i love both of you. >> reporter: john yang, nbc news chicago. one more thing, this happens to be miss betty's 65th birthday. it's about the only thing to keep her off the night shift. we wish her a happy birthday and enjoyable night off. >> thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams, we hope to see you back here on monday. in the meantime, have a great weekend. good night.

david letterman