on the broadcast tonight in protest. the growing movement here in new york and around the country which is tonight drawing more and more people into the streets. the great divide. after ten years of war what those who served say about the fight, the sacrifice and whether it was all worth it. the man hunt for an armed killer. s.w.a.t. teams going door to door after a rampage. in his own words. chilling tapes of a sedated michael jackson revealed in court today. and fighting breast cancer. for many women faced with a life saving drug and a dangerous side effect, tonight there is a new option. effect, tonight there is a new option. "nbc nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. we begin tonight with what has become by any measure a pretty massive protest movement. while it goes by the official name occupy wall street it has spread steadily and far beyond wall street. it could turn out to be the protest of this current era. the lyric from 45 years ago in the buffalo springfield song "for what it's worth" could describe this movement. there is something happening here. what it is ain't exactly clear but it encompasses a lot of things. unaccountability and general upheaval and dissatisfaction. again today, thousands took to the streets of the city. they are in the streets of other cities as well. it's where we begin tonight with mara schiavocampo in lower manhattan. good evening. >> reporter: good evening. today the demonstrators got a

boost of manpower joined by thousands of new protesters including many from labor unions. [ chanting ] >> reporter: for the 19th day in a row, crowds took to the streets of new york. >> the beginning of the people's revolution. >> reporter: thousands marching through downtown new york, the largest crowd yet and more varied in age and background. >> i came by here on day three and saw this and of course i joined. >> reporter: the group has not yet come together on what their message is. >> we got sold out! >> reporter: union leaders who support the protesters say they understand. >> they have all got different issues. there are students who can't get a job. there are industrial workers whose factories have been moved to china who can't get a job. there are people who lost their homes and can't find a place to live. people say, hell, no, i'm not taking this anymore. >> reporter: today's union backing drew out people like

leeann, a single mother from new york. >> i work more than ever in order just to live and keep the basics up. i don't see a future really. i don't know how i'm going to retire. >> reporter: protests popped up all over the country. in l.a., even soggy people couldn't keep people away. >> you can't rain out an idea. >> reporter: in chicago, anger at a sign in the windows of the chicago board of trade, we are the 1%, blocking the call that they are the 99%, the vast majority of ordinary americans who have been pummelled by the recession. the movement has drawn the attention of those in washington. >> they blame, with some justification, the problems in the financial sector for getting us into this mess and they are dissatisfied with the policy response here in washington. at some level, i can't blame them. >> reporter: experts say though largely undefined the movement has a lot of potential. >> just as a show of support, to have thousands of people out on the streets agreeing with the

fundamental demand at issue that the protesters are raising, i think, means they have already won. >> reporter: despite a heavy police presence, today's march was orderly and there were few arrests. a departure from last weekend when 700 were taken into custody in a single day. brian? >> mara schiavocampo starting us off in lower manhattan tonight. thanks. in greece today, just about the entire country was shut down by protests over their on going debt crisis. protesters clashed with police as the strike closed all government operations including schools, mass transit, courts, air traffic control, even hospitals. they are protesting tax increases, pay cuts aimed at lowering greece's budget deficit which is a condition for any more international bailout money, by the way. without it, greece will default on its debt. a possibility that has hit the american stock market hard in recent months. in this country there is fresh

and stark evidence tonight about another divide. the gap between the all volunteer military that fights this nation's wars and the civilians who don't. after ten years of war in iraq and afghanistan, a study out from the pugh research center asks veterans how they feel about their sacrifice. we get more from our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: it's another startling sign that ten years and two wars have taken a tremendous toll on america's servicemen and women. in the survey conducted by the pugh research center, only 34% of combat veterans said the wars in iraq and afghanistan were worth fighting. nearly just as many, an alarming 33%, said the wars were not worth it. the survey dug deeper into the personal impact of the wars. the terrible hardships suffered by the troops and their families. nearly half said the wars put a strain on their lives at home. nearly half said they frequently

feel irritable or angry. 37% said they suffer post traumatic stress. the economy also weighs heavily on their minds. 28% said they enlisted in part because they couldn't find a job in the public sector. two months ago, the economy was the top concern when joint chiefs chairman mike mullen visited soldiers and marines in afghanistan. instead of asking about the war, they were more worried about budget cuts and losing their jobs. >> we're going to have to tighten our belts, prioritize, make some hard decisions. >> reporter: there is a dramatic disconnect between american servicemembers and the rest of the country. 8 out of 10 of the veterans believe the american public has no idea of the problems they face in the service. and only 25% of civilians surveyed said they even pay any attention to the wars. after ten years of war, senior military officials here are not surprised by the negative responses in this survey and point out that nearly 90% of the

veterans are still proud of their military service. 82% would still recommend that others enlist. brian? >> interesting numbers. jim miklaszewski from the pentagon. jim, thanks. one piece of political news just out tonight. as soon as chris christie said he was not running for president at that news conference yesterday, questions swung around to whether sarah palin would try to get in and try for the gop nomination, even at this late stage. those questions lasted exactly one day. tonight she is saying in a radio interview she will not get into the race. now we turn to northern california where a workplace shooting this morning turned into a full blown man hunt. janet shamlian is with us from cupertino. good evening. >> reporter: neighborhoods are effectively on lockdown and some streets look like war zones as s.w.a.t. teams have been going door to door with weapons drawn for more than 12 hours.

it started at the cement quarry, a safety meeting. the suspect left unhappy, returned a short time later and opened fire on co-workers. at this hour, three are dead. seven people are injured, including a woman the suspect tried to car jack. authorities recovered weapons including two assault rifles. because there is video of the suspect after the shooting with a weapon, they believe he's still armed and kang rous and on foot in this immediate area. authorities brought in helicopters and search dogs to assist hundreds of officers working this case. but for now, residents are staying behind closed doors. brian? >> unbelievable situation tonight. janet shamlian, thanks. south of where you are in los angeles, another dramatic day in the trial of michael jackson's doctor. today, the jury and television viewers heard more from michael jackson himself from audio recordings before his death. nbc's jeff rossen is outside the courthouse in downtown l.a. jeff, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian.

good evening from los angeles. that tape is chilling when you hear it. prosecutors played part of it in court last week and it shocked the courtroom including jackson's own family sitting right there in the first rows. they played the full recording today and as you are about to hear, michael jackson sounds drugged. he's slurring his words. he had a deep voice and he had plenty to say about children and his own pain as a child. dr. conrad murray sat in court today listening to the recording he made of his star patient, michael jackson. >> i didn't have a childhood. i had no childhood. i feel their pain. i feel their hurt. >> reporter: jackson was talking about his upcoming tour and seems focused on raising money for a children's hospital. >> i want to tell my children to

always be my dream. i love them. >> reporter: dr. conrad murray recorded the pop star. they say he pumped him with more drugs and a deadly dose of propofol. >> it helps the jury see michael jackson as a real person and demonstrates that dr. murray was on notice that michael jackson needed help. >> you okay? >> i am asleep. >> reporter: there was another audio tape, this one of dr. conrad murray himself. prosecutors plan to play for the jury his police interrogation in the days after michael jackson's death. >> jeff rossen in los angeles. thanks. in seattle tonight, amanda knox is with her family and in private, finally back home after the judge in italy overturned the murder conviction that had her behind bars for four years overseas.

stephanie gosk was there when amanda knox touched down in seattle last night. >> reporter: amanda knox, exhausted and fighting back tears, did not have to speak when she landed in seattle, but she wanted to. >> what's important for me to say is just thank you to everyone who has believed in me, who has defended me, who has supported my family. >> reporter: she maintained her composure just long enough. >> amanda is very strong and has stayed very strong throughout this whole process. we're going to kind of have to see what happens with her at this stage of the game. >> reporter: knox has to recover from four years in an italian prison far from home for a crime the court now says she didn't commit. >> prison is a profoundly traumatic experience for anybody. for people who have been exonerated, in a way it's even more traumatic because they have suffered for no good reason. >> reporter: her notoriety and the clamor for her story will

only make it more difficult. >> it is obvious to amanda what is going on, but she has maintained, i guess an uncommon balance. her focus is on her family. >> reporter: there is potentially a lot of money at stake. the competition for the first interview is fierce, but there are also possible book deals and movie rights. it may be the only way the family can get out from under a mountain of legal debt. >> i don't think it's going to be a windfall where she's going to be faced with millions of dollars, but she will have a lot of different options. >> reporter: first, amanda's father says his daughter will need time and space. one of her first priorities is a day in the park. after four years in a concrete prison she wants a chance to lie in the grass. october may be just getting going but it looked like winter in northern california today. as much as a foot of snow in higher elevations of the sierra

nevadas which is unusual this time of year. and for our friends in chicago, while today was a great sparkling fall day it could go south at any moment. chicago is expected to have the worst winter weather in the country this year if those long-range forecasts are worth anything with colder than normal temperatures and twice the normal amount of snow, they say as much as 58 inches. we'll hold them to account come spring. still ahead as "nightly news" continues, good news for a change about breast cancer treatment. there is a new option tonight for women with an especially aggressive form of the disease. later, a reunion for members of america's greatest generation and the unusual story of what brought them together in the very first place. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil

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patients in a way that greatly reduces one of its most serious side effects. the story tonight from our chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> reporter: when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, rebecca friedman got an additional scary piece of news. >> it was her-2 positive which i hadn't heard of before. >> reporter: there is a certain protein on the cells which can make them more aggressive. she was especially concerned because her daughter hannah was just a baby. >> she was too little to really understand what was going on. but she was very supportive of me in her own way. >> reporter: a drug called herceptin targets the protein and can be effective. the way it is given with a chemotherapy agent increase it is risk of heart failure. the study out today in which friedman volunteers showed if

doctors use it with a different chemotherapy the risk of heart failure drops by five failure while overall heart function improves. >> we can do away with one major problem the drug has which is increased heart toxicity. >> reporter: there is a drawback. women getting the new combination had slightly more cancer recurrences. the increase is enough for many doctors to say they will not immediately change the drugs they give to all patients. what does it mean for you in your practice? >> it means we have another option without increasing the risk for some very serious long-term complications. >> all right. this is exciting. >> reporter: experts agree more options are needed for the 200,000 women a year like rebecca friedman diagnosed with breast cancer. robert bazell, nbc news, new york. up next here tonight, the labor threat that they are saying could end the television institution. ugh, my feet are killin' me. well, we're here to get you custom orthotic inserts.

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there are some animated discussions under way surrounding one of the longest running shows on tv. the bottom line here is "the simpsons" may have to come to an end because of a contract dispute. 20th century fox television says it can't produce any future seasons under the current financial model. that means pay cuts for the show's six main voice actors, the producers reportedly want to cut their multi-million dollar salaries in half. we have a couple of departures to note tonight, all happen to be members of the greatest generation. let's begin with a number. this broadcast was seen by 7.649 million viewers last night, or so we think, give or take at least according to the only measurement we have -- the nielsen ratings. the brain child of a.c. nielsen who has died at the age of 92.

he embraced computers early on, built a company to measure the tv audience minute by minute and going back to 1950 it's still the only game in time. the reverend fred shuttlesworth has died. he was bombed, beaten and arrested in the fight for civil rights. dr. king called him a courageous freedom fighter. he was a truck driver who studied religion in night school before becoming a pastor. he was in the fight every day until his death. he was 89. and kenneth dollberg has died. his early achievement came in world war ii. he was an ace who shot down four enemy planes in one single day. many more aside from that. he was shot down three times himself during the war and was a p.o.w. he thrived in business as the manufacturer of miracle ear hearing aids. kenneth dollberg was 94 years

old. and friendly's ice cream chain is filing for bankruptcy. they were caught by rising food prices just when fewer people can afford to eat out. restaurants mostly here in the east. they will stay open while they financially restructure. up next, a reunion of world war ii vets unlike any other. please stay with us for that. the seal i get with the super poligrip free keeps the seeds from getting up underneath. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. a lot of things going on in my life and the last thing i want to be thinking about is my dentures. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. it's bring your happiness to work day. campbell's microwavable soups.

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as we all say good-bye to members of the greatest generation and, remember, we lose 1,200 of them every day, it's always a good time to honor their titanic accomplishments, especially during the war and including what became the fist real integration of the u.s. armed forces. as we learn tonight it might never have happened except for one big snowstorm. our story tonight from nbc's george louis. >> reporter: there's never been a reunion like this one. black veterans and their white counterparts reliving an incident that brought them together as brothers in arms. >> i feel very privileged that it snowed on our field. >> reporter: the black vets were

members of the legendary tuskegee airmen. >> york the markings. he's colored. >> reporter: fighter pilots whose heroism is the subject matter of a film coming out next month. fist they had to fight washington to get into the war and prove themselves equal to or better than the white flyers. they flew p-51 mustang fighter planes with their tails painted red. the bomber crews knew when they saw the red tails they were well protected. the flyers of the 485th bomb group had never met any of the airmen until a heavy snowstorm forced them to make an emergency landing in italy where they remained for five days. >> to have them on our base, coming together was incidental,

accidental and eventful. >> reporter: they soon got beyond racial stereotypes. >> we started talking about flying. flying became the common ground. >> you can be judged based upon your abilities rather than the color of your skin. >> reporter: in that snowy, wartime winter, a group of black men and a group of white men in a segregated military overcame their differences. >> there is such a significant impact on me personally and the other people that i have talked to. >> reporter: and formed a bond that has endured for all these years. george lewis, nbc news, san diego. how about that? that's our broadcast for this wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com