on the broadcast tonight, not at the wheel, phone calls, texting, e-mails, millions of us do it every day, even at the wheel. tonight there's an extraordinary new push to ban all of it. a wild year for a presidential election. our new poll is out tonight. what it says about the candidates, the voters, and a possible twist we haven't seen in years. courtroom surprise. when his accusers came to confront jerry sandusky. what happens now in the penn state sexual abuse case. and home for the holidays, an early christmas today. emotional reunions for hundreds of families who have sacrificed so much for their country. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

an agency of the federal government has decided texting, e maiming or talking on a cell phone while driving a car is simply too dangerous and should be outlawed in this country. all of it by all of us. this comes from the national transportation safety board. the ntsb, the very serious folks who investigate airline crashes among other things and their advice is likely to carry a lot of weight. they've determined too many people are dying because of distracted driving and they want it outlawed. of course, here's what they're up against, the millions of us who drive distracted on occasion, especially those of us who think we're fine, it's the other drivers that present the greatest danger on the road. it's about to become a bigger issue than it already is. we begin tonight with tom costello in washington. >> at any given moment, one out of 100 drivers you pass on the road is texting while driving. the ntsb calls it an epidemic,

says too many people are dying, and it has to end. investigators say the fatal chain reaction crash involving two school buses in missouri last year, was caused by a 19-year-old pickup driver texting. 11 texts in 11 minutes. today, after years of similar reports, the ntsb said it's heard enough. >> no one can drive safely when they're distracted. >> reporter: today the board called on all 50 states to ban the use of all portable devices for all drivers. at the moment, 35 states ban texting while driving. ten and d.c. ban handheld devices. no states have the kind of total ban the ntsb wants. >> we need to stand up and say, this is not acceptable behavior. >> reporter: the government says

there are 3,092 fatalities as a result of distracted driving in 2010. roughly 20% of all drivers and 50% of drivers between 21 and 24 years of age admit to having texted while driving. >> she was looking at my message i had just sent her. she was ejected through the driver's side door. >> reporter: public service campaigns like this one launched by at&t have tried to drive home the dangers of driving while texting. >> four letters. >> i sent lol and killed a man. >> reporter: the industry is calling for new products and services, including those that can disable the driver's mobile device. in los angeles, mixed reaction. >> a complete ban of any cell phone use in your car, i don't think i would support that. >> i could live without it.

>> we know that this recommendation is going to be very unpopular with some people. but we're not here to win a popularity contest. >> reporter: the ntsb says hands free devices are covered, because it believes distracted drivers who are talking on a hands free device are still distracted and leading to tearibility cratea terrible crashes. a total ban may be unlikely at this point, but insurance companies will enact their own rules that apply to employees and policyholders. >> we'll hear a lot more about this. tom, you be careful out there. tom costello tonight in washington. we turn to presidential politics. tonight according to some of the very best people in the business of measuring the mood of the american electorate, there's reason to believe that the united states is approaching a tumultuous and game changing election year.

we've never seen the voting attitude, exactly the way it is now. tonight we're going to take a few minutes here to talk about this because of some new data that was shared with us today. we have the pollster himself, and the rest of our veteran political team with us, our political director, chuck todd is here as is peter hart, meet the press moderator david gregory, and from washington, andrea mitchell. chuck, let's start with the hard numbers today and what they tell us. >> this poll that we have tonight is a tale of two republicans with their own set of electability problems. let's start with mitt romney, his problem is getting the republican nomination. as you can see, newt gingrich has surged to 40%. the highest number any republican has had in the calendar year of 2011, since we've started polling this primary. when the race shrinks down to three candidates, gingrich's

lead expands. what is rom any's electability problem? it is simply one word, ideology. 70% of republicans call themselves conservative. only 29% believe mitt romney is conservative. mitt romney and barack obama would be a neck and neck race. newt gingrich, different story. 51 for the president, just 40% for newt gingrich. independent voters really are sour on newt gingrich. who could you just not vote for. newt gingrich. half the country says they just could not vote for gingrich. to hit the 50% mark, though, a big deal. newt gingrich's image is the same as it was in october 1998, the last time we polled him as speaker of the house.

27 to 46. 27 to 24 now. >> you've been in this game a long time, peter hart, you and your partner in polling briefed our staff today. i don't think i've ever heard your assessment the way it was today. give us the view of this country from, as they say, 50,000 feet. >> from up above, it's terrible. direction of the country 70% the wrong direction. are people feeling about this year? one of the worst years. when they look at this congress, they say, this is the worst congress i've seen. how do i feel about the economy, america going-forward? every element the american public comes up negative. there's no sense of optimism, there's no sense of hope. >> you were saying earlier today, if this is a so-called referendum election, which is a type of election that taps into a certain voter anger, it could

be perilous for the current president? >> absolutely. because if it's an up or down with 29% saying, i think the country's going in the right direction, you just can't make it. the sense of the president and the economy, he can't make it, but if it's a choice election, how do i choose between the two? well, you just heard what chuck said. neither of the republican candidates look all that good to the american public. three flawed candidates. >> now, are you talking about a potential entry for a third party this year being a possibility? >> well, as bill mcinterf says, expect the unexpected. one of the unexpecteds is expect a third candidate in the race. that will help president obama. >> david gregory, there's a very energized right word facet of the republican party out there. what's fuelling it, and what

manifestation could we see? >> the tea party effect. it's driving the conservative base, and that's where newt gingrich does well. these where romney is still coming up short. what peter and chuck is describing is something we don't exactly know yet, in terms of what's happening inside the republican party. they're rejecting the establishment candidate, and going back to a guy who 13 years to the day of the iowa caucuses had his last day as speaker of the house. that's newt gingrich. he can take the fight to obama, he can debate, well, yes, he's erratic, but he's viewed negatively. there's so much emotion, and passion in this campaign right now. i think that's what the driving force is on the right. >> andrea mitchell in washington, i spoke to a veteran of the social wars in this country of a few decades back, who said, look for the summer of 2012, if this all -- if this spark becomes a prairie fire, look for the summer of 2012,

when we have two political conventions to look a lot like the summer of '68 perhaps. >> well, it could happen, because you got so much anger, so much frustration. the numbers that peter sites and that chuck has cited show there is an extraordinary disaffectionate all institutions. there's no respect for anything except perhaps the military here. with that kind of anger building, and you have the occupy folks on one side, the tea party on the other, i think you could start seeing a joining of forces with these two parties. you don't know what to expect and it's all been so unpredictable until now. >> peter hart, it's safe to say, we haven't seen this country in this shape before, and we certainly haven't seen the electorate look like this before? >> anger is all around. the thing that most disappoints people in 2011, and that is the

declining middle class, the rich are getting richer. >> peter, david, andrea mitchell in washington, thank you all. and one more note from our poll, 75% call this year's congress either below average or one of the worst ever. that's a low in u.s. history. and the battling over taxes on capitol hill grinds on tonight with a stand-off over executing the payroll tax cut. kelly o'donnell is with us from washington. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: i have more of what makes the public so angry. another down to the wire battle. 160 million americans could see their taxes go up in a couple weeks, and the government runs out of money to operate this saturday. both parties thought they had achieved a big bipartisan deem to keep the government running. the president put the brakes on that, saying congress needs to do the payroll tax cut extension and unemployment benefits. the house is voting tonight on a republican version of that, but

president obama says he will veto it, democrats don't like some of what's in it, including an oil pipeline project. so tonight the vice president has been working the phones and what we're really left with issed risk of a government shutdown and the risk of higher taxes still hanging in the air. >> kelly o'donnell on capitol hill tonight, thanks. how about an item from the natural world, one place in this country where it's beginning to look a lot like christmas, the desert southwest. a major winter storm system rotating in from the pacific ocean, blanketed the interior of southern california as well as portions of southern arizona, colorado and utah. as we continue here on a tuesday night, jerry sandusky heads to court, where his accusers had planned to confront him face to face, and thin the unexpected happened. many happy returns for some of america's military families that have been waiting a good long time for what happened today.

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disappointment for several young men who had gotten up very early on a frigid day to come to court and face jerry sandusky, the former assistant coach at penn state that they now accuse of molesting them. michael isikoff was in court for what was supposed to be sandusky's preliminary hearing. >> reporter: jerry sandusky arrived at the courthouse with wife dotty escorted by sheriff's deputies. >> are you looking forward to facing your accusers? >> reporter: defense lawyer joe amandola asked the judge for a sidebar, and judge robert scott announced sandusky was waiving his right to a preliminary hearing. >> there would be no testimony today. >> we're going to put together the best possible defense we can. to stay the course, to fight -- >> reporter: prosecutors were prepared to call 11 witnesses, many of them alleged victims in

what promised to be explosive testimony laying out the state's case in detail for the first time. one potential witness, penn state assistant coach, mike mcqueary who's claimed he reported seeing sandusky sexually abusing a boy in 2002 has been disputed. last night, a.mmandola decided waive the preliminary hearing. >> this is a fight to the death. this is the fight of jerry sandusky's life. this is the game of his life. >> reporter: nbc news chief legal analyst savannah guthrie. >> it's a tradeoff on the one hand. the defense loses the opportunity to assess the witness's demeanor. >> reporter: the postponement

was most painful for sandusky's alleged victims. >> he's a coward for not showing up and facing them today. once they were prepared and gone through the wrenching gut check of going through this, depriving them of telling their story to his face. >> reporter: they'll get another chance if there's no plea deal and this case goes to trial. up here next tonight, there's something you should know about those plans to cut back at the post office. and a plan to do something about the volume of what you're about to see, commercials on television. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint

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until may, while senate democ t democrats try to pass the funding to save them. they say it doesn't happen officially, but it happens and we've all heard them and complained about them. the television commercials that air at a higher volume than what you're currently watching on television. the fcc is acting on if, putting out an order to crack down on it. it will go into effect a year from now. 86% of the viewers find the commercials louder than the programs and the feds over the years have received thousands of complaints about it. now to something hard to hear, but there's a good reason for that. >> that's a recording made by alexander graham bell from the 1880s, and it's one of several that has been packed away at the

smithsonian for 100 years. played publicly for the first time today, now that they have the technology to play them. the museum has 400 of the earliest recordings of any kind documenting nothing short than the birth of the medium. we brought you the story of a giant sequoia and it's companion tree that fell over in california's national forest named for the majestic trees. the u.s. forest service asked for suggestions about what to do about the trees. now they're proposing a board walk be built that would reconnect the trail of 100 giants that was cut off by the two trees that fell, the elevated board walk would also allow people to get a good look at these downed trees, which would, of course, then stay right where they are. up next here tonight, proof on the home front that america's long war in iraq really is coming to an end. [ male announcer ] a simple gesture

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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. ♪ finally tonight, the real proof nawaz we've been reporting nearly all american troops are scheduled to be out of iraq by new year's eve, back home and reunited at lodge last with their friends and family.

today at ft. bliss in el paso, what's become a familiar happy scene. a plane load of men and women in uniform finished their long journey home. and nbc's janet shamlian was there. >> reporter: a wait that has lasted months is just moments from being over. >> right now, for some reason, i am pretty nervous. >> byron bought flowers for his wife. returning from his fourth and final deployment to iraq. >> i'm happy because he's coming home. and i know he's coming home alive. >> reporter: among the friends and family. two sisters are blissfully unaware today is the day. >> it's going to be like them opening one of their biggest presents on christmas morning seeing him. >> reporter: ashley told her daughters they were here to welcome someone else's father home. he's missed birthdays and anniversaries, but he won't miss

christmas. >> the auditorium here at ft. bliss has looked just like this, full of families and heavy with anticipation as another plane load of troops arrives home. >> reporter: as the soldiers walk toward their families, lillian realizes the homecoming is her father. >> daddy! >> reporter: the initial reunions are quick, soldiers have to be debriefed and return their weapons. and then they can return to their family ies. >> i missed you. are we going to play now? >> it's great to be home. it's great. >> reporter: there may be other deployments and more time away, but for now the iraq chapter of their service comes to a close. and this is time for family. janet shamlian, nbc news, el paso. >> what a great story to end on tonight.

that's our broadcast on a tuesday evening. thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com