on our broadcast this monday night, flight risk. growing anger and uncertainty over the new scans and intrusive airport patdowns. stampede. panic in a crowd of millions turns a festival into a tragedy. and the toll especially among women victims is rising. the palin factor. a new book brings a new platform and new controversy. an entire american generation finding a way to reconnect that another generation already knew about. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. it now seems clear tonight the federal government has been caught off guard by the level of public outrage on the part of some passengers toward these new security rules at airports. the sky also be full of flying passengers this thanksgiving week. all of them have to get through security first and for many of them, this will be their first time encounter thing either/or combination of body scans and the patdowns that have some groups planning civil disobedience. the government reminds us this threat of terrorism is constant. we want to start off with tom costello who is at reagan national airport in washington. tom, good evening. >> reporter: the government has heard the complaints and senior government officials tell nbc that they're going to modify the number of people who are

randomly selected for the patdowns as the government really tries to find a balance between security and privacy. after a week of growing public and political anger over the tsa's new enhanced patdowns, the administration suggested it might tweak its policy. the tsa administrator on the "today" show. >> yes, we're going to look at how can we do the most effective screening in the least invasive way. >> reporter: don't look for the tsa to abandon enhanced patdowns. >> of course we'll make changes wen called upon but not changes that will affect the basic operational capability that we need to have to make sure that air travel remains safe. >> reporter: the tsa insists only passengers who opt out of the new full body scans or trip a metal detector are selected for a patdown. but it's also reeling from horror stories. in detroit, a bladder cancer survivor says he tried to tell

officers he was wearing an external bladders but their patdown caused the bladder to spill urine down his pants. >> it was so embarrassing and humiliating. >> reporter: this weekend, secretary of state clinton admitted she would not want a patdown. >> would you submit to one of these patdowns? >> not if i could avoid it. no, who would? >> reporter: any federal official with armed bodyguards like cabinet members or congressional leaders of both parties have always been allowed to avoid tsa checkpoints. the rest of us have to wait in line. >> i wouldn't let it happen. i would not do it. i would just not fly. >> it's intrusive to our civil rights but i guess if we have to, to be safe. >> by now, the technology is better and we should have a better system than people just fondling us. >> reporter: a couple of stats

for you. less than 3% of people are ever selected for patdowns and of those who go through the full body scanners only 1% decide to opt out and go for the patdown instead. so far no sign of that protest that they've been talking about this week with people opting out, trying to force these tsa checkpoints to get into a choke period. but the crunch day is wednesday, the day before thanksgiving. >> tom costello at washington's national airport. tom, thanks. the close calls we've had with terrorism in recent months haven't started in airports here at home, but in europe. nbc's jim maceda is at london heathrow with the latest on how they've been handling security over there. jim, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. security checks and patdowns have also put a strain on passenger's patience overseas but so far at least they're mostly taking it in stride. across europe, security at major airports for u.s. bound flights

has become time consuming and personal. >> americans are paranoid about security, as simple as that. >> reporter: even heathrow airport officials admit there's overkill in the system. >> i think we could do a better job for passengers. >> reporter: but there's no rethinking this. richard reid, the shoe bomber, and the so-called underwear bomber, omar abdulmutallab were on planes that departed from europe. >> in europe, we have now reluctantly accepted the fact that when you buy an airline ticket, you agree to surrender your dignity. >> reporter: since the christmas day attack, what was unheard of before are now more visible, with varying degrees of acceptance. after a three-month trial period, paris dropped all use of body scanners, calling them too inveiasiv

invasive. great britain and germany now use a handful of body scanners between them. patdowns are random, or secure if scanners or profilers pick up something suspicious. opinions generally are mixed but there's been little outcry. >> i don't, as a rule, mind being searched and all that, as long as they're polite. >> reporter: and amsterdam airport has avoided any controversy. the scanners use radio waves to detect explosives without an image of the body. other airports are looking at similar technology. security experts say the biggest difference is attitude. europeans are less likely to question an intrusion on personal freedom if there's a greater good, like stopping a terrorist attack. brian? >> jim, thanks. sltz >> there is a major tragedy unfolding overseas tonight in cambodia. what started as a celebration

attracting a huge crowd, in fact, millions of people has ended in a death toll in the hundreds after panic triggered a human stampede. our own ian williams is in bangkok in neighboring thailand tonight. ian, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. more than 330 people died in the stampede, which came at the end of a huge celebration to mark the end of the rainy season. it should have been the joyous end to one of cambodia's biggest festival. instead this, the shocking aftermath of a stampede that's killed hundreds of people. early reports say the majority are women, hospitals in the cambodian capital are overwhelmed. millions of people have descended on the city for the annual three-day water festival, celebrating the end of the rainy season. eyewitnesss say there was panic, that the vast crowd pressed across a small bridge back from

a nearby island where they had been attending a concert. >> a lot of people can't swim, so there's no doubt some people drowned in the river. >> reporter: the prime minister's calling it the biggest tragedy since the murderous khmer rouge regime ruled the country. it's dawn now and the search for bodies is continuing. officials still trying to figure out exactly what figgered that tragic stampede, brian. >> ian williams reporting from the region tonight. thanks for that. in ireland today, prime minister brian cowan asked for a massive bailout of that nation's banking system. as much as $123 billion from the european union and the international monetary fund, a staggering amount for a nation that size. cowan had denied last week the nation needed a bailout, but ireland's banks and bond market were at the risk of collapse. now cowan's government is being pressured to resign.

he says he will call an early national election. in this country, the fbi today raided the offices of several hedge funds as part of a wide ranging investigation into insider trading at large and powerful funds. our justice correspondent pete williams has been following this all day and is with us from our washington newsroom. >> reporter: more of these searches may be coming in fact as this investigation picks up speed and becomes more visible. but for months now, the fbi has been looking at insider trading, which the top federal prosecutor in new york has said is like athletes using performance enhancing drugs to get an illegal edge. agents searched two offices in the new york area and a third in boston. officials say this is a nationwide investigation, and one thing they're looking into is whether industry consultants unfairly passed along information that they learned to investors. officials say arrests in this case could start coming in the next month or so, affecting

everything from small companies to some of the biggest names on wall street. brian? >> pete williams in our washington newsroom. pete, thanks. there's a new target date for u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan agreed to by president obama and nato allies just this past weekend. it's 2014, that would be 13 years after the war started. lester holt is in afghanistan tonight where he's spending time with americans in the fight. for them, it's their lives and their comrades mean everything. that means they're willing to do just about anything when trouble breaks out. lester, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. you want to get a sense of how intense the fighting has been. >> there it is right there. that's the ak-47 hole. >> reporter: the hole is in the bottom of a helicopter.

the endescription he wrote next to it says it all. >> almost got me. the bottom struck the bottom of the aircraft and part of the pieces went right over my sunglasses and right underneath my helmet here. >> reporter: just five stitches and one day later, he was back in the air. sergeant jimmy settle is a p.j., a combat paramedic with search and rescue squadrons. it's a well-oiled team from the ground to the cockpit. the pedros as they're known here can scramble within minutes of a call for help. their motto is that others may live. >> it's all about the guy on the ground and we're there to support them. >> reporter: waiting for a mission, they trained in the art of flying low, using speed as their best defense. racing their own shadow. and assessing potential threats, which is, as we discover, can require split second calls

whether someone is friend or foe. >> roger, did he present anything? >> negative. >> we'll leave him alone. >> reporter: when they come into an area where there's still enemy present, they'll jump out with guns ready to establish a perimeter. with night vision equipment, they can defend a landing zone, and even refuel in the air to remain over a hot battlefield. business lately has been brisk for the pedros. they don't always bring home the living. for sergeant saddle and his team, only something more than themselves keeps them going back. you didn't hesitate for a moment to get back on the job. >> those dudes on the ground are more important. >> reporter: there are other air force and army units in this country carrying out the same mission, each dedicated to getting the critically injured

from the battlefield to medicare care within an hour. >> lester, thanks and great work there this past weekend as well. lester holt who continues his report in kabul, afghanistan for us. when "nightly news" continues in just a moment, sarah palin's new book ready to launch. tonight, who she takes aim at next. and later, the quiet explosion on facebook. tom brokaw will tell us about the giggest group of new users. [ laughter ] ♪ [ male announcer ] for tim and richard smucker, giving a gift of their delicious jam always made the holidays just a little bit sweeter. we forgot to put our names on them! richard, i think they'll know who it's from. ♪ thank you, boys. you're welcome. you're welcome. [ male announcer ] happy holidays from our family to yours. i love christmas. [ but aleve can last 12 hours. tylenol 8 hour lasts 8 hours.

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halibut. >> they can do some damage here. >> reporter: her reality tv show is breaking all records for tlc. >> take your prom hair back home. >> reporter: daughter bristol dances for the gold tonight on "dancing with the stars." in america by heart, reflections on family, faith and flag, palin rehashes the debate over unwed mothers, writing about bristol's teen pregnancy, given the choice of role models between bristol and murphy brown, i choose bristol. she also praises mitt romney a mormon. she writes, where kennedy seemed to want to run away from religion, mitt romney embraced it. in her book, palin slams the president and first lady for mrs. obama's remark during the 2008 campaign, that it was the first time she felt proud of her country. palin writes, i guess this shouldn't surprise us, since

both spent almost two decades in the pews of the reverend jeremiah wright's church. palin got a court order this weekend, pulling down pages of the book posted on the website gawker. but not before some material leaked. all this will probably help sales, but will that translate into votes if palin decides to run for president. barbara bush was blunt with lk. >> i think she's very happy in alaska and i hope she'll stay there. >> if you ran for president, would you beat barack obama? >> i believe so. >> reporter: other republican hopefuls are viewing palin more nervously, worrying how high she might aim. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. when we continue here tonight, what this day will always mean to millions of americans.

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her job as chief financial officer for the non-profit organization amvets. she talked to the moderator of that september town hall meeting, krrvesnbc's john harwood about what happened today. >> for me, what's in my heart now, i appreciate what millions of people who are in my opinion now have been experiencing for the last two, three, four years. >> by the way, you can hear more from her on power lunch tomorrow on cnbc. for more than one american generation, november 22nd will always be the day president kennedy was shot. a new book just out is full of the imagery of those years. it's called "portrait of camelot" full of family photos by the white house photographer back then. they include jfk's christmas eve in palm beach, making sure the stockings were hung by the

chimney with care. incredibly john jr. on a boat in august of '63. jacqueline kennedy on a boat off cape cod while caroline naps on a summer day. video released includes first family dip in the fountain, the backyard of the white house on the south lawn. and for the first family, of course, it all came to an end on this day, 1963 in dallas, texas. when we come back here tonight, tom brokaw takes a look at who's on facebook, and the answer is, it's probably somebody you know. the middle of this special moment and i need to run off to the bathroom. i'm fed up with always having to put my bladder's needs ahead of my daughter. so today i'm finally talking to my doctor about overactive bladder. [ female announcer ] if you're suffering, today is the day to talk to your doctor and ask about prescription toviaz. one toviaz pill a day

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the hollywood film the social network shows us the invention of facebook, built by college students for college students, but that was billions of dollars and millions of users ago, and it's not just not true anymore. tom brokaw has our final report tonight. it's about what many consider the big story of late in the social network business, the age of those getting into it. >> in the film "the social network" the idea began as a college opportunity. but quickly went around the world and across generations. >> this cannot be happening. >> well, it finally happened.

your mom is on facebook. >> reporter: and chief operating officer cheryl sandberg couldn't be happier. >> i think facebook is more valuable as you get older. you think you've interacted with more people, maybe you've lived in more places, you've had more jobs, maybe you have kids and grand kids. there are more people to keep in touch with. >> reporter: sandberg joined facebook in march of 2008 from google. a former wizz kid, now 41, a harvard mba and veteran of the world bank and treasury department, sandberg arrived at facebook to a new personal reality. >> i've been there around a month and someone called me middle age at a meeting. this guy alex, says we have to take into account all user demographic in this lunch, including the middle aged demographic and i didn't know who he was waving at but that's a sign i was bringing a new

approach. >> do you think facebook will mean that in the future we'll have virtual college and high school reunions and not real reunions where we go and tell the old stories all over again? >> the barriers of time and geography become more and more important and facebook breaks those down. >> and it's easy to find folks on facebook doing just that. >> this is a page created by a group of people. this page is dedicated to those of us who grew up back in the '50s, '60s and '70s. >> reporter: vickie allen lives in las vegas. a long way in time and distance from the miami of her childhood. >> we all grow up in the same neighborhood and we found each other again on facebook. >> reporter: like nearly 5,000 others, on facebook, she relives the day of burr road. >> it makes me feel connected. i'm home. i go on that site and i'm home.

>> reporter: not everyone of a certain age is so enthusiastic. why should justice o'connor be on facebook? >> i'm not. heaven help us. >> reporter: at a stanford symposium on aging, sandberg made her case on social networking to her honor. >> even people as famous as justice o'connor use facebook. >> why would you resist it, justice o'connor? >> i don't need anymore publicity, even on facebook. >> reporter: that symposium at stanford, justice o'connor did acknowledge she uses skype to be in touch with her grandchildren, >> and there are a million more other uses, other groups in this age group. >> baby boomers are pouring on social networks and we just discovered a lot of them are having to care for their elderly parents, something they had not

anticipated. they can be in touch with each other about what works best and answer a lot of questions. so it is a new resource for them that's going to be very important and valuable as they go forward in their lives. >> tom brokaw, thanks for your reporting tonight, good to have you. that is our broadcast for this monday evening. thanks for being here with us. i'm brian williams. as always, we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com