on the broadcast tonight, prescription change. the obama administration blocks a plan to make the morning after pill more easily available to young girls. is this about medicine, politics or something else? the penn state scandal. jerry sandusky arrested again, handcuffed at his home, taken to jail after two more young men accuse him of sexual abuse. fighting breast cancer. should women worry about the risk from cell phones, hair color, water bottles, what's in the environment. tonight we have an update on treatment and prevention of the disease. and together again praps for the last time. 70 years after a day the world will never forget a dwindling group of survivors returns to pearl harbor. group of survivors returns to pearl harbor. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. we begin here tonight with a big story, but one that could not be a more personal topic, especially among parents of young teenagers. it's about plan b, sometimes called the morning after contraceptive pill, and how close this country came today to allowing it to be freely sold over-the-counter on demand without prescription. it looked like a done deal, in fact, until the obama administration today did what no administration has ever done. it overruled a decision by its own fda that would have made emergency contraception available without prescription and that would include girls 16 and under. we begin tonight with the surprise decision that takes us right to the intersection of medicine, science and politics. here is nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: the secret life of

teenagers caught in the crossfire of politics and science. a day after accompanying president obama to kansas, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius took the unpress departmented step of overruling the food and drug administration is. the morning after pill would be made available to 16 and under only with a prescription. >> i expected it to be a better day for good news for women and access to emergency contraception. this has been a very disappointing day. >> reporter: the fda found adequate and reasonable, well supported and science-based evidence to allow plan b to be sold over-the-counter to females of child-bearing age. but sebelius argued the data didn't show girls as young as 11 would understand how to use the pill writing there are significant differences between older girls and the youngest girls of reproductive age. the president pledged scientific

integrity in his administration. >> it is about making sure scientific data is never distorted. >> reporter: today those who applauded him then say sebelius ignored studies saying even the youngest women can understand plan b. >> there is very good research on that. the secretary's statement, nicely as it's written, is really just a cover the for what i believe was a political decision. >> reporter: an administration decision denied politics played a role. >> this administration has promised a commitment to science and transparency. today they acted in that way. >> reporter: for this mother of a teenage daughter it's apparently issue. >> i would hope she would come and tell me, you know, before, after, whatever. i don't care. but i would want her to say something. i don't think she needs a prescription. it's her body. >> reporter: as the government holds the line on this aspect of teenage life. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >> now to another big story

today. former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky has been arrested again after two new accusers have come forward with new child molestation accusations. this brings the total number of alleged victims here to ten. nbc's peter alexander has been covering this story for us, is with us from our d.c. newsroom. >> reporter: good evening to you. jerry sandusky appeared briefly in court this afternoon where a judge ordered him held on $250,000 cash bail. if he can meet those conditions he can get out of jail but he'll have to wear an electronic monitor. wearing hand cuffs and a penn state track suit jerry sandusky was arrested on the new charges at his home today bringing the number of boys he's accused of assaulting to ten. the two latest charges say sandusky abused two boys between the ages of 10 and 12. prosecutors say one series of assaults started 14 years ago. in court documents a grand jury

accuses him of assaulting one of the boys in the basement of sandusky's home. it says the victim claimed, quote, he screamed for help knowing that sandusky's wife was upstairs, but no one ever came to help him. prosecutors say the other boy claims he was assaulted during wrestling sessions at sandusky's house and at an outdoor swimming pool on the penn state campus. sandusky says he never assaulted anyone and his lawyer said he's disappointed the police made a show of arresting him because he offered to turn himself in if new charges arose. he's due to appear at a court hearing tuesday where some of the victims are expected to testify. tonight jerry sandusky's lawyer tells nbc news he expects his client will make bail and will be released from jail tomorrow. also late tonight the second mile, the charity where sandusky met his alleged victims says it is losing financial support and will lay off some of its staff. brian? >> peter alexander in our

washington bureau tonight. peter, thanks for that. in up state new york tonight law enforcement officials said former syracuse university assistant men's basketball coach bernie fine cannot be prosecuted on child abuse accusations because the statute of limitations to bring those charges out ran out long ago. fine was accused by two former ball boys of molestation that allegedly took place back in the 1990s. this was sentencing day today for former illinois governor rod blagojevich. he will be joining a long line of former illinois governors who have gone behind bars. his sentence, 14 years. his demeanor, much different from the time of his initial arrest on corruption charges almost three years ago now. our report tonight from nbc's ron allen in chicago. >> reporter: rod blagojevich left federal court a disgraced man, headed for 14 years in federal prison, convicted of 17

counts of bribery and attempted extortion, including most notoriously attempting to sell an appointment to president obama's old senate seat. >> i've got this thing and it's [ bleep ] golden. i'm just not giving it up for [ bleep ] nothing. >> reporter: when federal agents arrested blagojevich in 2008 he defiantly asked, is this a joke? in all the time since he has not apologized until today. i was the governor and i should have known better and i am just so incredibly sorry, he told judge zagel adding, i would hope you could find some mercy. but the judge scolded blagojevich for abusing the public trust. the fabric of illinois is torn, disfigured. you did that damage, he said. >> if there is a public official out there thinking of committing a crime, boy, they ought to be thinking twice. >> reporter: for the past three years the man who became known as blago at times seemed to revel in the spotlight.

appearing in a commercial. >> rod blagojevich, how are you? >> reporter: even on reality tv. today as he left court the former governor tried to summon some of that bravado. >> we'll keep fighting on through this adversity. see you soon. >> reporter: he has until february to report to prison. he will become the fourth illinois governor in the last four decades to do time. ron allen, nbc news, chicago. . the weather is in the news tonight. specifically a big change heading right for a lot of folks in the eastern half of the nation. tonight nbc's janice huff joins us in studio with a look at what's in store. 61 degrees in new york last night. winter has to arrive at some point. >> it's december already. most of the snow has been out west, but this time the eastern seaboard will see a bit especially across interior areas of the northeast. this is the same storm system that brought anywhere from two to three feet of snow over parts

of new mexico. they had snow, wind and even snow in tennessee, alabama and mississippi this morning. a huge plume of moisture from the southern states up the appalachians into new england. it's mainly rain for the coastal cities, d.c., new york city, boston. back to the west it has changed from snow for west virginia, pittsburgh and interior sections of new york. that's where you will see the heaviest snow amounts coming up. we have a future cast preview to show you what we expect with the computer forecast models. by 11:00 tonight the rain/snow line will be moving toward parts of new jersey, the catskills and poconos and the adirondacks. the ski resorts will be happy. rain continuing on the eastern seaboard. boston with rain in the morning. by 6:00 a.m. it dries out for just about everybody except for the great lakes. there will be light snow left around 2:00 or so. there's the six to 12 inches

over new york. the green and white mountains. north of new york city, one to three. philadelphia, boston, new york city, maybe flurries here and there. the ground is still warm from the temperatures the past few days. >> folks in florida are chuckling but it has to get here eventually. always a pleasure. it was 70 years ago today that nearly 2,400 meramericans d when japan attacked pearl harbor which drew the u.s. into world war ii. defense secretary leon panetta laid a wreath in washington, d.c. while in hawaii, the dwindling number of pearl harbor survivors gathered to remember those who were lost that day, and it was lost on no one. this will likely be their last such large gathering. nbc's george lewis is there for us tonight. george, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it's been a day of remembrances, nostalgia, some tears and a lot

of war stories from a band of brothers who lived through a pivotal moment in american history. ♪ >> reporter: at 7:55 this morning, the exact time the japanese attack began a in 1941, u.s. air force and national guard planes flew over pearl harbor in a salute to the dead. >> ladies and gentlemen, these are heroes. >> reporter: 120 of the survivors of the attack showed up to remember that day. one of them, 88-year-old mal middlesworth. he was stationed aboard the u.s.s. san francisco when the bombs started dropping. one hitting the battleship arizona killing 177 sailors and marines. >> standing there with a front row seat at one of the greatest spectacles of the 20th century. >> reporter: he survived that,

married his childhood sweetheart. fought with the marines in some of the bloodiest battles of the pacific. >> marine corps is an equal opportunity employer. you get to get shot at on a ship, in the air or running up beaches. >> reporter: today, he was talking about the lessons and legacies of the war. >> freedom isn't free. never has been. looks like it's never going to be. for most of the survivors of pearl harbor in their late 80s or 90s this will probably be their last get-together. two of those who died this year are being reunited on sunken battleships where so many lost their lives 70 years ago. last night at sunset, divers carried the ashes of lee sousie under water to be interred with the battleship utah. >> he would be so proud and

honored to have all the people here. he really would. >> reporter: at the arizona memorial, a similar service for vernon olsson who died in april. members of his family say being here has been a deeply moving experience. >> i can compare it to going to the world trade center memorial. this is for their generation compared to my generation. >> reporter: it will be up to those future generations to keep the memory arrive. the pearl harbor survivors association is going out of business as a nonprofit organization at the end of this year. brian? >> george lewis, pearl harbor, hawaii. george, thanks. up next as "nightly news" continues on a wednesday night, lowering the risk of breast cancer. a new report out today tells women what they can do but may disappoint some others who want even better information. and later, making a difference. a group of young men doing something you may not expect in a place where the odds are often

stacked long against them and against success. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller.

over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ rx plan gives you the lowest plan premium in the country... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. [ pneumatic wrench buzzing ] [ slap! slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums i wanted support for my heart... and now i get it from centrum specialist heart. new centrum specialist vision... helps keep my eyes healthy. centrum specialist energy... helps me keep up with them. centrum specialist prenatal...

supports my child's growth and development. new centrum specialist is a complete multivitamin that gives me all the benefits of centrum. plus additional support... [ all ] for what's important to me. [ male announcer ] new centrum specialist helps make nutrition possible. we're back now with news from a big meeting of breast cancer experts in santa ana incluin -- san antonio. things people use every day could cause breast cancer. as our chief science correspondent robert bazell reports tonight the conclusions won't sit well with some women who are certain there is a link. >> reporter: cindy gagan diagnosed with breast cancer at age 35 grew up on long island where there have been hard to explain clusters of breast cancer. like many women she thinks a lot of chemicals from industrial pollutants to hair dye and plastic water bottles could be a

cause. >> there are lots of things i know i was exposed to and general knowledge knowing some of those things may cause breast cancer. >> reporter: a new report from the institute of medicine released at a major breast cancer conference today concludes the science so far makes no such connection. >> the evidence was not there to say, yes, this causes breast cancer in women. >> reporter: the report financed by the susan g.komen foundation calls for more research, especially concerning exposure in the womb and childhood. it says there are things women can do. avoid exposure to medical radiation such as c.a.t. scans when not necessary. don't take certain hormones. don't smoke. limit alcohol consumption. avoid weight gain and increase exercise. such advice hardly helps susan who is an activist with why me.

>> i don't think we know anything today we don't know last week or six years ago. >> reporter: some encouraging news about new treatments for breast cancer. rachel's breast cancer had spread to her liver and doctors said she was out of options. >> i was so young. 37 years old at the time. >> reporter: then her doctors at m.d. anderson cancer center tried afinitor, a drug already on the market to treat other canne cancers. now she's running marathons and planning a future. >> it's amazing. >> reporter: everybody grease that's heartening, but prevention is a major goal and it's elusive. robert bazell, nbc news, san antonio. >> when we come back after a break, a new report on breast cancer cereals that's getting a lot of attention tonight. tourism season in years. he gu't

all because so many people wanted to visit us... in louisiana. they came to see us in florida... nice try, they came to hang out with us in alabama... once folks heard mississippi had the welcome sign out, they couldn't wait to get here. this year was great but next year's gonna be even better. and anyone who knows the gulf knows that winter is primetime fun time. the sun's out and the water's beautiful. you can go deep sea fishing for amberjack, grouper and mackerel. our golf courses are open. our bed and breakfast have special rates. and migrating waterfowl from all over make this a bird watcher's paradise. so if you missed it earlier this year, come on down. if you've already been here come on back... to mississippi... florida... louisiana... alabama. the gulf's america's get-a-way spot no matter where you go. so come on down and help make 2012 an even better year for tourism on the gulf. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home.

♪ well, the man who brought us that song has died. dobie gray recorded "drift away" in 1973. it's in a lot of oldies collections along with his other hit "the in crowd." he was born into a sharecropper family in texas. he moved to california where sonny bono gave him his big break. dobie gray dead in nashville at the age of 69. there is a new report on the amount of sugar in cereal getting a lot of attention. the gist is a lot of cereals have more sugar than desserts. they make bacon look healthy. just two examples. honey smacks have more sugar per

serving than twinkies and honey nut cheerios have more than oreos. alec baldwin was thrown off a flight last night because he wouldn't turn off his electronic device. he was in the middle of words with friends. the airline said he was extremely rude and used offensive language. on any flight the captain's the boss and the captain tossed him. he took a later flight without incident. his rep pointed out other passengers were live tweeting about the fracas using devices they didn't turn off either. baldwin apologized but said, the lesson i learned is to turn my phone off when the 1950s gym teacher is on duty. colonel sherman potter has

died, that is to say harry morgan has died. he was a plainspoken detroiter who was prelaw at the university of chicago before getting bitten by the acting bug. he had a big starring role in "dragnet." harry morgan was 96 years old. up next here tonight, making a difference by going to the mat for kids they care about. [ male announcer ] you never know when a moment might turn into something more. and when it does men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. ♪ [ man ] tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. [ man ] do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis.

side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if cialis for daily use is right for you. for a 30-tablet free trial offer, go to cialis.com. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ our machines help identify early stages of cancer,

and it's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology, you know that the things that you do in your life matter. if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor, i'm sure i could take something positive away from that. [ jocelyn ] my name is jocelyn. and i'm a cancer survivor. [ woman ] i had cancer. i have no evidence of disease now. [ woman #2 ] i would love to meet the people that made the machines. i had such an amazing group of doctors and nurses, it would just make such a complete picture of why i'm sitting here today. ♪ [ man ] from the moment we walk in the front door, just to see me -- not as a cancer patient, but as a person that had been helped by their work, i was just blown away. life's been good to me. i feel like one of the luckiest guys in the world. ♪

our making a difference report tonight is about a group of guys who returned to the neighborhood where they grew up and they are helping the kids who live there find peace of mind in a way you may not expect. rehema ellis has their story from baltimore. >> reporter: they were asked to coach pee-wee football, but andy gonzales along with brothers ali and atman smith had another idea. >> chin up, exhale out. >> reporter: yoga, offering an experience to kids who know nothing about inner peace. >> there were four shootings in a one weekend period. >> reporter: shootings in the neighborhood where the smith brothers grow up and learned yoga from their dad. >> it wasn't what we left when we went to college. e we saw a need there.

>> reporter: nine years ago they formed the holistic life organization offering free yoga classes. >> we got the kids with the behavioral issues, anger management issues. emotional issues. >> reporter: they started with 15 students. now they have taught more than 1,000. >> how many inches in a foot? >> reporter: away from the yoga mat they are tutors and mentors. they have even got kids who once destroyed property to help build this neighborhood park. there haven't been a lot of studies on how yoga affects kids, especially inner city kids like these in baltimore. early findings show this kind of exercise is helping kids manage their stress. >> when someone wants to fight me, i just start to do deep breathing. i start breathing so i can calm myself down. >> reporter: one volunteer, darrius douglas, said he fought every day until he started doing yoga ten years ago. >> if i didn't have ali, atman and andy i would be probably on

the streets selling something i shouldn't be selling. >> the kids we help are getting older and seeing that they need to give back, too. i feel like we're doing a good job. >> reporter: stretching bodies and teaching kids the value of learning to exhale. rehema ellis, nbc news, baltimore. >> that's our broadcast on a wednesday night.