on the broadcast tonight, show of force across this country. protesters, police and a big confrontation where the entire movement began. the motive. what we're learning tonight about the man the fbi says tried to kill the president. trapped. an airline pilot tries to take a break, gets trapped in the bathroom triggering a comedy of errors that was all caught on tape. and out to lunch. does pizza really look like a vegetable to anybody? the better question may be what does congress have against healthier lunches for kids? "night at the museum" begins healthier lunches for kids? "night at the museum" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening tonight from new yop new york wenew york. loulouis anp louis anlouise protest movement that started under the banner occupy wall street are on the move. this is the two-month anniversary of the birth of the movement. there was billed as a day of action. it started in new york with thousands on the move and police right behind them. we begin with this still unfolding story tonight. nbc's mike teeb aibbi in lower manhattan. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the occupy wall street movement promised huge crowds and that finally looked realistic a short time ago. now some 5,000 protesters are gathered. before that, much smaller crowds and the police in complete control even when tempers flared.

there were scores of arrests. police keeping protesters away from announced or expected targets like the new york stock exchange. [ chanting ] >> reporter: protest spokesmen said at least they would disrupt or delay the opening bell. >> we're frustrated. we're angry and they can't go against business as usual. >> reporter: the time did ring on time and as usual. in the streets outside it was clear even some supporters were losing patience with the drawn out occupy phenomenon and its impact on the neighborhood. >> i was supposed to be at work at 8:30. it's taken me over an hour. >> reporter: others aimed signs at the protesters or shouted. >> go out and get a job. >> reporter: tent cities were dismantled in dallas and berkeley. >> every time we set up the police will trample on our rights. we won't have our rights abridged. >> reporter: by day, the

protests and sporadic arrests did continue. in portland, oregon -- >> we need good jobs, not cuts. >> reporter: in los angeles, albany and las vegas. >> we're going to send a message to the 1% that the 99% aren't going to take it anymore. >> revolution! >> reporter: they have been saying the same thing for two months. without a list of demands or a concrete plan how much support does the movement have now? >> we want to stimulate the economy. we want people out of the parks and city. the fight is in the wrong place. >> reporter: so far there have been about 200 arrests and there will be more if the protesters try to cross the bridge and disrupt rush hour. so far that hasn't happened. brian? >> mike taibbi in lower manhattan. thanks. for the first time in close to two decades a man was charged with attempting to assassinate the president of the united states in a case that underscores the risk we face every day in a democratic

society. he's a homeless man from idaho now formally charged with the attempted assassination for firing rifle shots from a car at the white house. at least two rounds actually struck the building. and while the president was not in residence at the time, the full force of the law has now come down on this suspect. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams has more on the charges and the suspect. >> reporter: appearing today in a federal courthouse in pennsylvania not far from the motel where he was arrested, oscar ortega hernandez was formally charged with attempting to assassinate president obama. in newly filed court documents the fbi said friends of his from idaho describe him as increasingly agitated, convinced the federal government is conspiring against him. he considered president obama, quote, the anti-christ. ortega said he needed to kill him. his father told telemundo that

ortega was obsessed with november 11, the day the shooting happened. ortega said the world would end that day, his father said. investigators said he fired nine rounds from a semi-automatic rifle like this one, a knockoff of the ak-47 purchased more than a year ago. there were several bullet impact points on the white house. investigators now say ortega pulled over and stopped the car on constitution avenue last friday night, firing from the passenger window. a former secret service agent says even toe president obama was in california the night of the shooting a charge of attempted assassination is justified. >> all that matters is what's in the mind of the criminal, not if the president was there or not. he very well may have thought the president was home. in that case, he, in fact, committed a crime. whether he was home or not is irrelevant. >> reporter: attempted assassination of a president

carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. the last person convicted of shooting at the white house during the clinton administration got 40 years. pete williams, nbc news at the justice department. now to the latest on the awful child sex abuse scandal at penn state university. signs tonight that more victims may be willing to come forward. nbc's peter alexander reports tonight from the penn state campus. >> reporter: with the penn state child sexual abuse scandal growing, several lawyers tell nbc news more potential victims of jerry sandusky are now coming forward and beginning to share stories of abuse, some reportedly dating back to the 1970s. >> there is comfort in numbers. they now understand that we are not alone. >> reporter: he represents at least two alleged vimctims. one not in the report. he is victim number 11. >> my client was sexually assaulted by mr. sandusky in the early '90s.

he was sexually assaulted on the grounds of penn state university. >> reporter: also today the new york times reports officials at the second mile, sandusky's children's charity, discovered several years of documents missing. according to the times, investigators are concerned the missing files may limit their ability to determine whether sandusky used charity funds to recruit new victims or buy their silen silence. just weeks after mike mcqueary witnessed sandusky allegedly sexually assaulting a boy in the locker room shower in 2002 mcqueary joined sandusky at an easter seals charity flag football game. mcqueary showed up to support his annual golf tournament benefitting the second mile. >> everything relative to the second mile has been past my wildest dreams. >> reporter: mcqueary spoke briefly with nbc news today. >> i eep not going into details about anything. i think it's obvious i tried to do the right thing. >> reporter: penn state students and alumni say they are trying to do the right thing as well,

launching a fund-raising effort to support victims of abuse. so far having raised more than $400,000. also tonight the top democrat on the house education committee is calling for a hearing on the child sexual abuse scandal here at penn state, brian. >> peter alexander for us tonight in state college, pennsylvania. thanks. it was on the move last night when we were on the air. a violent weather system that swept across the south has left six people dead including a 3-year-old girl. tornadoes were reported in louisiana, alabama, mississippi and south carolina. severe thunderstorms hit several more. dozens of people were injured. property damage is severe from this. by the way, these tornado-related deaths bring the year's total to 553. that makes this the deadliest year in this country since 1925. on capitol hill today, a hearing on failed solar energy company solyndra which got half a billion dollars in government

loan guarantees, then went bankrupt. energy secretary steven choo who was in charge of the loan program defended his agency's handling of the situation under aggressive questioning from skeptical republicans who allege big campaign donors had too much influence over this loan program. >> the final decisions on solyndra for mine. i made them with the best interests of the taxpayer in mind. >> i don't see a chain of e-mails looking out for taxpayer money. i see a lot of e-mails concerned about the politics. that's what stinks the most about this. >> solyndra was based in fremont, california. president obama himself visited the company last year. its failure cost all 1,100 workers their jobs. back in the days of the reagan administration there was a big flap over the government's efforts to classify ketchup as a vegetable for the purposes of the school lunch program. it didn't work then. now there is a fight over pizza

and what constitutes healthy food for our kids in school. our report tonight from nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: look at this picture. what do you see? in this week's washington test congress sees a vegetable. >> a pizza alone, particularly pizza with no vegetables on it, just tomato paste, it's common sense. it's not a vegetable. what's next? are twinkies considered a vegetable. >> reporter: congress says it is a vegetable because it has two tablespoons of tomato paste and it will remain a vegetable. congress rejected the department of agriculture's attempts to make school lunches healthier. >> congress has put the interest of the pizza and french fry industries before the interests of our children and before our children's health. >> reporter: the agriculture department wanted to cut back on french fries, reduce sodium, increase fruits and vegetables and require a half cup of tomato slice for a pizza slice to get a

vegetable credit but the food industry balked and said kids would, too. >> for many of the kids served by the federal school program this is their primary source of nutrient telus the s through th. we have to provide food they will eat. >> junk. i don't think it belongs in school lunches to be honest. >> i don't want the kids to be my size, you know. >> reporter: in the last 30 years childhood obesity rates have more than tripled. first lady michelle obama is on a mission to change that urging kids to exercise and encouraging healthy eating. mcdonald's got the message adding fruit to happy meals. red lobster and olive garden are making kids' items healthier, too. >> vegetables are vegetables. they are grown out of the ground. >> reporter: giving america new food for thought. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >> when we continue here tonight, a sudden scare in

midair. a pilot takes a bathroom break and almost causes an emergency landing. then later, making a difference tonight. helping young people find the job of their dreams. on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. allen's boots... at juno baby store. make the pledge to shop small. please. shop small on small business saturday. [ harriat ] you hoo! [ female announcer ] must be the os-cal. only os-cal ultra has the most calcium and d3, plus 7 bone health nutrients. so you can always be strong, with os-cal. is teaching my patients how to start taking insulin. and i've learned a lot

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back now with a story about a pilot on a delta flight who needed to use the lavatory. nothing wrong with that. he didn't know the lock would jam and didn't know that would lead to a huge misunderstanding in midair and eventually lead to a situation just shy of an emergency landing because air traffic controllers here in new york city feared there might be a hijacking or worse in progress. nbc's tom costello picks up the story. >> reporter: it was nighttime in new york air space when it happened. flight 6132 flying as delta connection from ashville, north carolina, to laguardia was at 10,000 feet when the copilot

contacted. >> the pilot has disappeared and i have someone with a thick foreign access. i have a situation. >> reporter: the pilot went to use the lavatory, but while inside the door jammed. a passenger tried to help free the pilot, then went to the cockpit to tell a suspicious copilot what was happening. >> i'm told he's stuck in the lav. someone with a thick foreign accent is giving me a pass word access to the cockpit. i'm not lietting him? >> reporter: there was jets on standby. >> you ought the to declare an emergency and get on the ground. >> reporter: former captain john cox said it was reasonable for the first officer to fear a hijacker maybe trying to talk his way into the cockpit. >> since 9/11 the doors are hardened, the locks are hardened. it would be virtually impossible for someone just using their body to get into the flight deck. it was designed that way

specifically to prevent that. >> reporter: finally the flight attendant who was in the cockpit as a security procedure when the pilot was out left the cockpit and freed the pilot. the pilot radioed controllers. >> i had to fight my way out of it with my body to get the door open. there is no issue. >> reporter: once on the ground police and fbi quickly determined it was all an embarrassing misunderstanding. tom costello, nbc news, washington. >> you know how the airlines are charging for every conceivable thing these days? imagine being asked in mid flight to pay for fuel. the passengers on a charter flight from india to the uk were asked for $205 apiece, a total of $31,000 when the plane made a refuelling stop in vienna. they came up with the money though some had to get off the plane and hit the atm and the terminal to do it. apparently the travel agents who took their money didn't pass it along to the airline. up next as we continue, what members of the u.s. senate have decided to do to try to get along better.

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steadily since it peaked in 2007. the one group having more children, the birthrate among women over 40 is up to its highest level since 1967. and we are also getting bigger. according to new stats on weight and health if americans stay on the current path, 83% of men, 72% of women will be overweight or obese by the year 2020. so there's that. well, it was one thing when that freak prehalloween snowstorm hit connecticut and sent 800,000 customers into the dark. it was another thing when the outages went on for some folks for 11 and is 12 days. it has proven too much for the boss to hold onto his job. jeffrey butler, president and of chief operating officer of connecticut light & power resigned today under fire. a search is on for his successor. maybe this will heal the partisan divide in washington. washington post reports six lawmakers have organized the

senate's first ever secret santa gift exchange. how cute is that? so far, more dems than republicans signed up. minnesota democrat al franken was a primary backer of the effort which the paper said is meant to inspire cleej yal ti. they placed a $10 limit on gifts. in a related item the national debt clock cranked past $15 trillion this week and still no agreement on budget cutting in washington. up next here tonight, our making a difference report. dreaming big to keep kids in school. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee.

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it's a disturbing number. more than 25% of this nation's high school students now don't graduate. there are a lot of ways to try to reverse the number. one of them to help kids make the connection between school and the rest of their lives. our chief education correspondent rehema ellis reports on reaching young kids with a simple question. what's your dream job? by doing so, they're making a difference. >> reporter: divantre brown loves to play video games. now he's learning to design

them. >> i would love this job. >> reporter: by 8th grade he showed all the signs of a kid headed for trouble. low test scores and little interest in his subjects. but that's all changed. he's one of several hundred middle schoolers involved in spark, a mentoring program that aims to reduce dropout rates through one on one apprenticeships. after deciding on their dream job, students are paired up with professionals. painters, photographers, even firefighters. >> for so many kids they don't see the connection between school and the real world. for a lot of kids that relevance gap is the difference between staying in school or dropping out. >> reporter: kids like javier who saw blueprints -- >> now you can see the good stuff. >> reporter: -- turn into buildings. >> it's made me more passionate about the work i do seeing his interest in what we do. >> reporter: in seven years spark placed more than 1,000

teens in apprenticeships with impressive results. the nationwide graduation rate is 72%. for kids in spark, it's 98%. sonia apprenticed with a social worker in 2006. now she's a full scholarship student at stanford, on track to graduate in 2013 with a degree in social work. >> it was definitely really helpful. i felt like i knew the direction i wanted to go to. i just needed to explore the different opportunities within that. >> reporter: sparking new dreams. >> think about the cameras on all three sides. >> reporter: by turning the workplace. >> d equals -- >> reporter: into a classroom. rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. >> that's our broadcast for this thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams and we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com