on the broadcast tonight, up in the air. the last of the big airlines, a legacy carrier, american airlines files for bankruptcy. tonight why this has happened and what it means for those who fly. second thoughts for herman cain tonight, he's reassessing whether to stay in the race after the new accusations if a 13-year extra-marital affair. under siege, just like 1979 all over again. in tehran today, an angry mob storms the embassy and sends a chilling message to the west. you saw the three lottery jackpot winners in connecticut yesterday. are they the real winners? if not, who is? are they the real winners? if not, who is? "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television perhaps it's because of its name. for all the bankruptcies we've covered in this grim u.s. economy, this one gets our attention. >> you'll forgive us, we have a fire alarm announcement going on in the studio. it's called american airlines, and it can mean a cramped seat on a crowded flight on a well-worn plane. a legacy carrier. it's one of the oldest, one of the big brand names. the airline has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to financially regroup while staying in the air. though perhaps not something special any more. again, we have an announcement going on in the studio. tom costello, we should advise

our viewers, there's no danger to us. >> i'm glad you're okay. that's a first for me. american airlines says its labor costs are $800 million higher than its competitors. it was losing too much money. today it acted. for ten years, american airlines has fought to avoid bankruptcy even as delta, united, continental and usairways became leaner and stronger under chapter 11. more than $10 billion in debt, american said it could wait no longer. >> the path ahead will be hard, but it's a well worn path. and we will make the company successful. >> american insists customers won't be affected. but for the 265,000 passengers who fly american everyoand amer eagle every day, some concerns. >> we would be concerned the next time we schedule a flight anywhere. certainly in it was american. >> among passengers moved common

questions. what if i booked upcoming travel on american or a partner? those tickets will be honored. what about the valuable frequent flyer miles we've earned. your advantage miles are secure. and what if i may want to fly american in the future? the airline insists it plans to be around for a long time. >> for most of us who get on a plane and fly, you're not going to notice any difference. >> despite all the extra fees passengers now pay to check a back, get a little leg room or change a ticket. american lost nearly half a billion last year. now it promises a tail by tail review of the entire airline. that could mean slimming down, fewer seats and fewer destinations. robert crandall is considered a legend in the airline industry. running american from 1995 to 1998. >> you're going to see as a consequence of this bankruptcy

filing, american will remain a strong and viable competitor. the industry needs a strong and viable competitor. >> reporter: there are thousands of employees that have been locked in nasty contract talks with the company. >> we thought all the speakers were turned off in here, it looks like we have a routine alarm one floor below our studio, all is well. tom costello, thanks for that from our washington bureau. in presidential politics tonight, one day after an atlanta woman came forward alleging a 13-year affair, herman cain told staffers he is reassessing his candidacy. our report tonight from lisa myers. >> here he is. >> reporter: herman cain kept his distance from reporters today, after telling his staff he's reassessing the viability of his candidacy.

in a conference call with his team, cain spoke of the latest firestorm. claims by an atlanta woman, that she had a 13-year affair with him. >> i didn't want so come out with this, i did not. >> reporter: cain unequivocally denied having an affair. said the woman was a friend he had been trying to help financially. but he added, we have to do an assessment whether this is going to create too much of a cloud in people's minds. he said, it's also taken a toll on my wife and family. >> many conservatives came to cain's defense before. when four different women accused him of sexual harassment. so far, not this time. >> i think this is the most damaging allegation that's been made to date, no question about it. >> reporter: former speaker newt gingrich, who's had his own infidelity issues, tread carefully. >> i think it's a very difficult situation for he and his family.

my heart goes out to them. i hope he reaches whatever is the right decision for them. >> reporter: white says she decided to go forward, partly because she felt badly about how cain's other accusers were treated. >> these statements are false? they're all lying? they're all lie something. >> yes, they are. >> it bothered me that they were being demonized, sort of. or if they were being treated as if they were automatically lying. >> reporter: asked tonight if he is dropping out of the race, cain told nbc news. >> 9-9-9, doing fine. >> reporter: cain says he'll continue to campaign with vim and vigor over the next several days and see how his supporters respond. many conservative voices say he's now too badly damaged to be a viable candidate. >> at this point our chief white house correspondent and political director chuck todd is with us with more on this.

chuck, where does this herman cain development leave this already kind of confused gop field? >> reporter: the cain campaign was withering on the vine before this allegation. the trend lines were going down. at this point, puts it in a downward spiral as the campaign is acknowledging. the republican campaign is moving on. there's an interesting dynamic going on. have you newt gingrich as the new anti-romney conservative candidate surging in the polls. he's desperately trying to get in a one on one with mitt romney. you have mitt romney trying to draw out president obama. today he was excited to answer questions about this new dnc attack ads. what's the obama campaign doing? they're desperately putting out ads hoping the republican primary will tie m.i.t. romney down. they would like to see other republicans attack him. you have this odd little circular dance going on, between

arguably the three major contenders. >> i want to play a clip now from rick perry. this was something that aired over and over on the cable networks today. the moment people heard it, they realized he managed to make two mistakes in one sentence. >> those of you that will be 21 by november 12th, i ask for your support and your vote. those of you who won't be, just work hard. >> reporter: he can't afford flubs like this. the voters can forgive you for one or two flubs. because of the brain freeze, these are things that are a little more difficult for him to get over than if it was another candidate. >> he managed to get both the voting age wrong and the date of the election. >> reporter: there you go. hopefully for his sake, the voters don't necessarily follow his advice. >> chuck todd at the white house

tonight. overseas to iran, and what happened in the streets of tehran this morning. the storming of british embassy in an assault that looked frighteningly familiar to what we all lived through decades ago. we're learning tonight it may have been more orchestrated than it first appeared to be. andrea mitchell has our report. >> reporter: a terrifying mob attack. hundreds of protesters screaming death to england. storming the british embassy, breaking windows, even running off with a picture of the queen. in 1979, 52 americans were held for 444 days. today iran's government tv covered it all live. >> britain should be accountable. this is not my word, this is the word of experts. >> reporter: a tip-off that the sanction was supported by the regime.

today even iran's russian allies joined the u.s. and others in condemning the attack. >> i strongly urge the iranian government to hold those who are responsible to task. they have a responsibility to protect diplomatic outposts. >> we have to assume that incidents like this have tacit approval from the very top. spontaneous demonstrations are not tolerated by the government and are crushed by an iron fist. >> what set it off, last week the british cut off all dealings with iran's central bank because of the country's nuclear activities. much tougher than nuclear sanctions. >> you feel isolated because of the sanctions. >> there are other tensions. eye ran h iran has accused great britain and the u.s. of assassinating top military scientists. and sabotage at iran's military site. all this, plus political

infighting between the supreme leader and president ahmadinejad. >> it may be that the power struggle underway has allowed this to happen. >> the embassy attack comes as israel is debating whether to take military action against iran. and the republican candidates all calling on president obama to get a lot tougher with the regime. >> andrea, thanks. the fire alarm, we assured everybody has been given the all clear is back on. bear with us today. in los angeles tonight, michael jackson's former doctor conrad murray was given the maximum sentence, four years. he was found guilty earlier this month in the singer's overdose death. and the judge in the case had some strong words for the now disgraced physician. >> not only isn't there any remorse, there's umbrage and outrage on the part of dr. murray against the decedent.

he repeatedly lied, engaged in deceitful misconduct and attempted to cover-up his transgressions. he violated the trust of the medical community, his colleagues, of his patient. and he has absolutely no sense of remorse, absolutely no sense of fault. and is, and remains dangerous. >> one more thing here, california's prison overcrowding problem means murray will probably only serve less than two years behind bars in the l.a. county jail. still, jackson's family said after the sentencing, they were pleased with the result. thanks for bearing with us here and our difficult fire alarm problem. we continue to be under no danger, it's just clearing the electronics at this point. [ coughing ]

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as we continue to deal with the fire alarm that is stuck, we press on, nonetheless with tonight's broadcast. that mean s ss we're back with latest installment of the war next door. the fight against mexican drug traffickers, who have crossed deeply into this country along the southern border. we have a rare look at the sky, that's seen record drug seizures this year, with some of the americans who fly day and night along the route, spotting

smugglers and protecting u.s. law enforcement on the ground. our report tonight from nbc's mark potter. >> reporter: near the mexican border, another day of air patrol, for the texas department of public safety. on a day we fly with them along the rio grande, pilots quickly spot a team of mexican traffickers, with a load of drugs bound for the united states. >> there's going to be about six or seven guys. at least five bundles, and a blue raft. >> reporter: veteran officers here, who spend every day say drug trafficking in this area has increased dramatically in the last couple years, and they see no end in sight. what they do see is vehicles loaded with mexican drugs racing dangerously through busy streets on the u.s. side of the border. >> two school buses southbound. >> i've seen the level of aggression increase

exponentially. the sheer volume of narcotics that's being pumped into our border has risen. >> reporter: they see mexican cartel smuggling vehicles running from u.s. law enforcement, then driving into the rio grande to avoid capture. >> we have a splashdown. >> reporter: in south texas, it happens routinely. >> we have a bunch of people on the u.s. side. >> reporter: the mexican smugglers come brazenly to the riverbank to retrieve their packages, and then move quickly to the mexican side where agents cannot arrest them. >> we've had a lot of guns on the river. the threat is in. >> reporter: pilots say that threat to officers and the public is rising. >> i think it's important that our citizens not only in the state but in the united states are aware of how porous our

border is and what the threats are and can be. >> reporter: threats that officers in the sky see every day. mark potter, nbc news edinburgh, texas. >> there is a lot more from the front lines on the war next door. it's on our website, nbcnightlynews.com. up next here tonight, why a big star is it telling his fans not to buy his new record collection. and proof that no matter who you are, you still have to wait for the cable guy between 3:00 and 5:00. [ male announcer ] humana and walmart have teamed up to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with the lowest national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003.

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because we are still dealing with this fire alarm problem in new york, we're going to go back down to andrea mitchell in our washington bureau to continue things here, and andrea, the question to you is about what happened today in tehran. one more note on this, this is going to look so familiar these

pictures, to so many people, from 1979. >> 1979, and, of course, going into an election year, jimmy carter really trapped by what happened. 444 days, 252 americans held hostage. there were six british diplomats who were held in a room in the embassy today. but i'm told it was technically not considered a hostage situation, because it was iranian authorities who were helping to keep them secure. we should point out these were not students, brian, these were organized government-led militia. we talked to our tehran bureau chief earlier today. he said these were the same people really, they've been described as government thugs who cracked down on those student protesters in 2009 a little over two years ago, when they tried to hold free elections in iran. this is a very ominous sign, just as tensions have been really increasing, there's been

an open, fierce political debate in israel, and a lot of pressure during the debate here in the republican party over what the president should do next. >> andrea mitchell, thank you. we're going to take another break. and when we come back, a story we brought you last night, that exploded in questions today. those three record powerball winners from the state of connecticut who chose the lump sum. they were described as financial professionals, but are they the real winners? that story from nbc's anne thompson right after this break. called atrial fibrillation, or afib, that's not caused by a heart valve problem? are you taking warfarin to reduce your risk of stroke caused by a clot? you should know about pradaxa. an important study showed that pradaxa 150mg reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin. and with pradaxa, there's no need for those regular blood tests.

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a zero dollar monthly premium. you only have until december 7th to enroll. call unitedhealthcare today. welcome back. and again, last night here we told you about the three money managers who won the largest jackpot in connecticut history, a quarter million dollars when all is said and done. today the plot in this story thickened as a friend said the three men were fronting for a wealthy client who wished to remain annaonymoanonymous. tonight another plot twist, and a promise that at least some of that money will go to a very good cause, the story from nbc's anne thompson.

>> reporter: winning $254 million would make most people giddy, not these guys. money managers stoically claimaclaimed the largest jackpot in connecticut history yesterday. their uncomfortable reaction in stark contrast to other big lottery winners. the $229 million joy of tom and kathleen moore. >> we're going to live the way we have, just a little bit higher p.m. >> reporter: the new york costco winners. and the humility of nea neal wanless. >> i plan to repay it many times over. >> reporter: the reaction from the three led to snarky headlines. and this bombshell, reporting

the three are fronting for the real winner. their source, tom glad stone, a friend of the bankers who told nbc news, i was nervous that i let the cat out of the bag. conspiracy theorists online, pointed to the trio's attorney to talk about the men. and then there are the odds. you have a better shot at dating a supermodel, winning an olympic gold medal even becoming president than the odds of winning this prize. today a spokesperson said there is no fourth person, and at the gas station where the ticket was sold, the story is very simple. now these money managers have to manage millions of their own. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. with thanks for your cooperation, that is our broadcast on this tuesday night. again, thank you for being here with us, and for those of you who stayed here with us, i'm brian williams. we hope to get the all quiet and see you back here tomorrow evening. see you back here tomorrow evening. good night.

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