on our broadcast here tonight, what gives? should retirement age get moved back, should you get fewer health care benefits? it's got to come from somewhere. tonight, the folks who were asked by the president. what was it? they still don't know what it was that lit up the skies in california. the mitary says it doesn't know. not adding up. disheartening news tonight about american kids and math. back to basics. you lose your job in middle age, how tough is it, really, to reinvinlts yourself? also tonight, see if you can stand to watch the newest thrill sport among some teenagers. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. it's got to come from somewhere. millions of people just days ago turned out at the polls telling us they were fed up with government spending. most of the candidates who won on election night said they were heading to washington to cut government spending. so what would you cut? that's the question the president asked a special commission to consider, and tonight, they are out with their list. it's not going to be popular, but, again, it's got to come from somewhere, and the question again is, where would you cut? we begin our reporting tonight with nbc's lisa meyers in washington. >> reporter: the dramatic proposal would touch every american. and alter two economic corner stones. the mortgage interest deduck shun and social security.

the plan would reduce future cost of living adjustments, raise the retirement age to 68. and cut $200 billion from a broader way of government programs, half from defense. the co-chairs of the commission who drafted the recommendation acknowledged they are highly controversial. >> it's all there. we have harpooned every whale in the ocean, and some of the minnows. and no one has ever done that before. >> reporter: on the tax side, the plan calls for eliminating or scaling back the home mortgage deduction, and most other popular writeoffs. those tax increases would partly offset by lower tax rates. also proposed, a 15 cent gallon increase in gasoline to fund highway spending. they were immediately denounced

by the right as an excuse to raise net taxes on the american people, and by the left as an attack on the middle class. >> while the chairman of the deficit commission, just told working people to drop dead. that they're the losers and wall street and the rich are the winners. >> reporter: the co-chairman argued that something has to be done, and soon. >> this debt is like a cancer that will truly destroy this coin try from within if we don't fix it. >> reporter: these men are washington veterans and acknowledge some of these proposals won't fly. but they believe the proposals are in part shock therapy to drive home the magnitude of what's required to bring deficits under control before they cause under economic crisis. lisa myers, nbc news, washington. these proposals are so explosive, former senator simpson said he's going to have to enter the witness protection

program when people see the details of what they're proposing. with us tonight, david gregory, who is in town from washington. where is the will going -- how are you going to do any of this? >> it's very difficult. there's a reason why it hasn't been done before, because so few want to do it. look at all the response slamming the proposals. the white house were surprised they put this out there today. they've got to get 14 members of the commission to agree to something before it can get taken up in congress. to your point at the top of the broadcast, are they going to be held to account for their promises in the campaign? >> yeah, nobody wins. david gregory, nice to have you in town in new york tonight. while all this happened today, president obama is out of

town. more than that, he's on this long asia trip. today, seoul, south korea, for the meeting of g-20 economic powers. and in london, students took to the streets to protest, what else? government proposals for deep cuts to education, big tuition increases and the protest turned violent. thousands descended on conservative party headquarters, smashing windows, throwing objects from the roof. police were clearly outnumbered early on. eight people, including several police officers, were among the injured. back in this country, more on a story we hold you about last night, that mysterious vapor trail high in the sky over southern california that looked to a lot of people awfully like a large missile had been launched. the pentagon has concluded it wasn't a missile but the explanation may not satisfy everybody. our own jim miklaszewski from the pentagon tonight. >> reporter: it took the

pentagon and military more than a day and a half to come up with that explanation. but there's one gaping hole in their story. they still can't say exactly what it was. it's the shot seen around the world. caught by a traffic chopper, it appears to show a missile streaking across the skies near los angeles. but the pentagon's efforts today to entirely shoot down that theory may have come up short. a terse statement from a pentagon spokesman says, "there is no evidence to suggest this is anything else other than a condensation trail from an aircraft." the pentagon ruled out this was anything launched by the u.s. military or government. but even now could not offer any hard evidence that it is in fact a plane. even though many missile experts are already convinced. >> all of the characteristics of this make it look like a jet contrail, doesn't look like anything like a rocket. airplanes go slow and rockets go

fast. this is going slow. >> reporter: some websites have even tentatively identified the plane. us airways officials say they could not confirm it's their plane. all that has done little to put an end to the conspiracy theories, that this was part of some top secret military program. >> we have a place called a skunk works out there on the west coast. that's where we developed the fr-71, the stealth bomber. all those kinds of projects. >> reporter: or that the pentagon's version of the story is nothing more than a coverup. >> i'm left with one conclusion, some sort of a missile, hopefully a u.s. missile, not a foreign missile. and something that is not going to explode. >> reporter: pentagon and military officials worry they'll never be able to knock down all those conspiracy theories. according to one pentagon official, we started 36 hours

late and will never catch up. brian? >> jim miklaszewski at the pentagon tonight. the mystery continues. news tonight about that planned cargo bomb on the u.s. by al qaeda in yemen last month. scotland yard says the timer on the bomb intercepted in england was set to go off in mid-air at 5:30 in the morning eastern time, october 29th, the day the bomb was discovered. one calculation says that would most likely put the bomb over the eastern seaboard in canadian air space. we told you last night about the giant carnival cruise ship dead in the water. it's now being towed to shore, slowly and the passengers found their cell phone service came back to life. one of those passengers who happens to be a technician for our denver tv station kusa, phoned in an eyewitness report from on board ship. here's how david zambrano

described the situation. >> everything is shut down, although the bars are closed, the casino is closed. people are doing their best to stay in good spirits. the musicians are coming up to play to keep everybody calm. there's no power on the ship whatsoever. they have nothing to cook with. it's almost like a diet cruise. the only thing that made it tough is when all the bathrooms weren't working and people were starting to get uncomfortable. there are still people in the dark here. there are the inward cabins that have no windows, so they have to prop their doors open. so they have three tug boating out here towing us to san diego. many of the people that i talked to said that they will never take another cruise again. >> again, that eyewitness report from on board ship, the "splendor" is expected to dock in san diego tomorrow, three days after the fire that set it adrift. now we return to "education

nation," and a snapshot of how america's young people are doing for global competition for high-skilled jobs. the number of american high school students with top-level math skills is dangerously low. our education correspondent rehema ellis has our report. >> reporter: american students ranked shockingly below other industrialized nations in math skills. that from a new harvard university report which compares advanced math scores of the graduating class of 2009 with scores from students in other countries. the findings, the united states ranks 31st out of 56 countries. and only 6% of all american high school students in both public and private schools, have advanced math skills. >> just because you send your child to a private school doesn't mean that you're escaping this reality that math instruction isn't what it is in other countries. >> reporter: among the states, massachusetts students do the best, with 11% ranked advanced.

but even they fall behind 14 other countries. the lowest ranking states, west virginia, new mexico, and mississippi. researchers wanted to know if the diversity of america's population affected the student's scores. so they compared just white students to students in other countries. american students still faired badly, with only 8% of white students performing at the highest levels. researchers say that has implications beyond the classroom. the competition in the workplace. >> if we aren't training our young people in mathematics, we have a real problem as a country in the years to come. >> reporter: but there are success stories. westin high school in boston is ranked among the best public schools in the nation. work to do. >> we continuously have to look

at our teaching and our instruction and make sure we're meeting their needs, no matter what their color or demographic background is. >> reporter: every expect says if america wants better math test results, there has to be better math teachers. even with smaller classes and new innovations, to get the best person at the head of the class, it's no surprise, schools will have to make the financial investments in those teachers. >> rehema ellis, always a pleasure. thanks. news tonight about children's health. the centers for disease control is out with a new survey that shows 5.4 million schoolchildren have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, adhd. that's 1 in 10. 2/3 of them are taking medications to control it. from 2003 to 2007, the number of kids between 4 and 17 with adhd jumped by 1 million.

experts say tin crease may be due in part to more awareness of the disorder and better screening. if you're a parent of a child diagnosed with adhd or want to know more about the subject, we have posted an extended question and answer session with our chief science correspondent robert bazell on our website, nightly.msnbc.com. when our broadcast continues here in just a moment, new warning labels for cigarettes. some of them are brutally graphic. the question is, will they work? and later, our series "back to basics." changing gears at mid life and ending up better off for it. if you have migraines, you know pain.

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campaign to get americans to stop smoking. mostly those warnings on the side of cigarette packages. now a new law requires stronger, much more graphic warnings taking up about half the pack. the problem is, will the warnings make smokers think twice? and a warning of our own here, some of these images are indeed graphic and that's the point. our report from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: if the fda gets its way, smokers will soon be confronted with the most graphic and direct warnings yet of the dangers of smoking. closeups of cancerous lungs, dying patients, dead bodies with toe tags. tombstones and children in a cloud of smoke. >> in effect, every cigarette pack will be a mini bill board, warning people about the serious life-threatening threats of smoking. >> i smoke camels regularly

because they're mild. >> reporter: 40 and 50 years ago, cigarettes were seen as cool. captured in the hit tv series "mad men" set in the 1960s when 42% of the population smoked. today that's down to 21%. but smoking remains the leading cause of preventable deaths with 443,000 americans dying from smoking related illness each year. and costing $100 billion. >> we want to make sure that every person who picks up a pack of cigarettes is going to know exactly what the risk is they're taking. >> reporter: the new warnings targets smokers who want to quit and teens who might still think smoking is cool. but will they work? >> it's scary stuff. >> reporter: jerry has spent 35 years in advertising. >> i don't think it's going to work, because they make one mistake, they don't realize  they're dealing with addicting. when you talk about reaching younger people, younger people

think they'll never die. >> reporter: reynolds tobacco says it's challenging the labeling in court and phillip morris says it's working with the fda, which hopes the new warnings will help cut smoking rates nearly in half within ten years. tom costello, nbc news, washington. up next, the moment when something unplanned broke out on board an airplane. did you know a problem in your heart can cause a stroke in your brain? it's true. an irregular heartbeat, called atrial fibrillation, or afib, can make a blood clot form, here, in your heart, that can break free and go straight to your brain where it can cause a serious stroke. having atrial fibrillation gives you a 5 times greater risk of stroke than if you didn't have it. strokes that are twice as likely to be deadly or severely disabling as other types of strokes. if you, or someone you care for, have atrial fibrillation, even if you're already taking medication,

there are still important things you'll want to know. for a free interactive book call 1-877-afib-stroke, or log onto afibstroke.com. learn more about the connection between atrial fibrillation and strokes, and get advice on how to live with afib. and with this valuable information in your hand, talk to your doctor. call 1-877-afib-stroke today. [ male announcer ] at ge capital, we're out there every day with clients like jetblue -- financing their fleet, sharing our expertise, and working with people who are changing the face of business in america. after 25 years in the aviation business, i kind of feel like if you're not having fun at what you do, then you've got the wrong job. my landing was better than yours. no, it wasn't. yes, it was. was not. yes, it was. what do you think? take one of the big ones out? nah.

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two viral videos we put on our website tonight, but you've got to see at least a little bit of both of them. first, for anyone that's ever dreamed of this, a tip of the hat to the passengers. the billow fight started in coach and as it should, spread quickly to first class. this next one is not for the faint of heart. it's some bored russian teenagers have taken to walking out on steel beams 900 feet up. no harnesses, no apparent concerns of any kind. i'm just saying neighborhood boys and girls club might be a good idea. at 88 years old, betty white has realized a dream, she's an

honary forest ranger. all that has changed. ladies and gentlemen, your newest u.s. forest ranger, betty white. the wreck was a big part of canadian history and for folks that grew up in michigan, and in this country it was known for the wrong. the wreck of the fitzgerald was 35 years ago today. it was carrying a load of ion ore. it went down in a terrible november gale on lake superior, killing all 29 on board. gordon lightfoot picked it up from there. that's how most americans know the sad story. we're back with reinventing

your life. [ woman ] you know, as a mom, i worry about my son playing football. which is why i'm really excited. because toyota developed this software that can simulate head injuries and helps make people safer. then they shared this technology with researchers at wake forest to help reduce head injuries on the football field. so, you know, i can feel a bit better about my son playing football. [ male announcer ] how would you use toyota technology to make a better world? learn how to share your ideas at toyota.com/ideasforgood. you don't get 100% daily value of any vitamins. unless you do this. but total is the cereal that gives you 100% daily value of 11 essential vitamins and minerals and crunchy oat clusters. total. are you getting 100%? [scraping] [piano keys banging] [scraping] [horns honking]

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series of reports about getting back to basics. down sizing by choice in what are tough times any way for a lot of americans. tonight, two workers who faced a scary situation getting laid off in the late stage of their very successful careers. as you'll see, after that jolt, they both found an upside in a return to basics. nbc's mike taibbi has our report tonight. >> reporter: the older gent serving commuters their coffee was once one of them. >> a few, the proud, the marines. >> reporter: but michael gates, privileged son -- >> pretty fancy life. >> reporter: will never again live in this 25-room mansion. >> on the left was a basketball court. >> reporter: because the ad agency fired him. >> when it happened i thought my

life was over. >> reporter: he stripped his life down to a spare apartment and a monthly budget of less than $1,000 at this low-paying coffee shop job and discovered something. >> whether it's sweeping a floor or cleaning a toilet, i began to stand up a little prouder. >> reporter: he wrote a book about his reinvention. >> hi, glad you're joining me tonight. >> reporter: she had had pig jobs in tv and pr. >> nothing in here i needed to keep. >> reporter: and now sells house content, including her own. >> i can live on less and i can certainly turn a lot of what i have into a job in itself, just selling it. >> reporter: and while at a certain age such optimism is hard to find -- >> for an older worker, it's somewhat more difficult, because they realize that they may not ever work again. >> reporter: maybe the key is to look at work differently. >> if you need health care,

there are different companies that provide health care for what you would think would be a nominal job, like serving coffee. >> reporter: it works for michael gill who has had health issues and now has health coverage. and now at 70, his days of cocktail parties mostly memories. he says his life has never been better. >> i'm totally surprised how a lack of stuff has given me freedom. i don't feel i'm carrying this big burden. >> reporter: no, doesn't seem so. mike taibbi, nbc news, new york. >> you can see extended interviews with both, as well as our full back to basic series on our website, nightly.msnbc.com. and on the "nightly news" facebook page, as well. we would like to hear your stories along these same lines. that is our broadcast for this wednesday night. thank you, as always, for being here with us. i'm brian williams. and we hope to see you right

back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com .