on our broadcast tonight, help wanted. news tonight on the jobs front. what may be signs of life out there for millions of americans looking for work. bang for the buck. a big change coming for the military. if the president gets his way, it will be the biggest change in years. protecting her own. a young mother is forced to use a weapon to defend her home and child. it all happened while she was on the phone with 911. wild weather. what's going on with winter? records falling across the country today in what is supposed to be the dead of winter. it feels more like spring. and the comeback kid. an nbc news exclusive. a promising olympic athlete until a terrible accident. tonight the inspiring story of kevin pierce back on the slopes.

tonight the inspiring story of kevin pierce back on the slopes. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. in every poll every day of this political season we asked voters about the number one issue and every day the answer comes back jobs and the economy. everyone looking for shreds of evidence of a turnaround or any good news on the horizon. yesterday was auto sales. people are buying cars these last few months. that can't be bad but today brought better news -- a surge in the number of jobs in the private sector just as 2011 came to a close. it's enough for a lot of folks to pin their hopes on as 2012 gets under way. it's where we begin tonight. >> i have been looking for a job for three years. >> reporter: in ontario, california, job hunters lined up early for 6,000 jobs at retailer

dollar general. >> i saw the big ad in the paper. i figured it was worth a shot. >> they are looking for forklift operators. >> reporter: walmart is looking for 250 new workers today in covington, georgia. >> i'm more optimistic today than i would have been a couple months ago. >> reporter: snapshots of a stronger job trend heading into 2012 than we saw a year ago. new numbers from payroll giant adp show the u.s. added 325,000 private sector jobs in december. while the numbers may be inflated by seasonal issues, other indicators are positive, too. u.s. companies say they are planning fewer lay-offs, the lowest number since june. new unemployment claims are down for the best four-week average in two and a half years. >> fewer people are being fired. more people are being hired. >> reporter: in large part that's because while segments of the private sector are hiring,

amazon, td bank, chrysler and jpmorgan chase among those adding jobs, government jobs continue to dry up. >> we are seeing state and local cuts of teachers, policemen and firemen. we are now going to see in 2012 the military really begin to see lots of job cutting. >> reporter: and so while companies like dollar general are building new stores and stoking enthusiasm, boeing this week announced plans to close a plant in kansas that's built airplanes since 1929. >> this is a very sad day for wichita. >> reporter: a victim of military spending cuts. >> nobody is ready to sound the all clear until they can come out of the bunker, look in the sky and make sure there are no more airplanes dropping bombs. >> reporter: there is one more key number economists will be watching. tomorrow morning the government's report on unemployment and job growth comes out. it is expected to show, even if

unemployment ticks up a little, that manufacturers have added jobs for two consecutive years. the peak was in 1979. it's been a long time coming, brian. >> everyone's looking to hang onto something. thanks. a program note. more on this subject tomorrow night here on the broadcast. for those who have been working but watched their retirement savings shrink in this awful economy. tomorrow night we focus on how to bounce back including three things americans can do right now at the start of the new year to get back on track. if president obama gets his way along with the senior leadership at the pentagon, the u.s. military is in for a big change. it will affect all the american suns and daughters who raised their hands to fight our wars. it will affect the wars this country choosese to fight perhaps. it's a design for a new military in the era after the dual wars we have been fighting. it will be the biggest change in decades. we start our reporting with jim

miklaszewski on duty tonight at e pentagon. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. for the first time since 911, the pentagon is being forced to tighten its belt. to do it will take wholesale changes in the way the military does business. president obama came to the pentagon today as commander in chief to unveil his new strategy aimed at cutting the budget. the president acknowledged the new military will be leaner but insisted no less meaner. >> the united states is going to maintain our military superiority with armed forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of threats. >> reporter: a decade of war in iraq and afghanistan sapped the military and sent pentagon spending soaring up 71% in the last ten years. a bill leon panetta says the nation can no longer afford. >> all of this comes at a time

when america faces a serious deficit and debt problem here at home, a problem which is itself a national security risk that is squeezing both the defense and domestic budgets. >> reporter: to cut the military's budget will take a major shift in strategy. u.s. forces wills now focus on deterring a growing threat from china in the asia-pacific region, conduct smaller counter insurgency missions elsewhere, and no longer attempt to fight two major ground wars at the same time. >> i'm uneasy about recognizing up front that we are not going to retain that capability. it tells your adversaries, look, they're tied up in a place like korea. it's time for mischief in the persian gulf. >> reporter: there will also be sacrifice. the pentagon will slash its spending by $489 billion over the next ten year. the army and marines will cut more than 100,000 service

members. major weps programs will be cut back or eliminated. for the first time in nearly 20 years active duty military and retirees will be forced to pay more for health care benefits. reaction from capitol hill was swift. a release from the house republican-controlled houseded services committee says this is not a strategy for superiority. it is a menu for mediocrity. and so, brian, the pentagon budget baltttles begin. >> thanks. with us here in new york, retired army colonel jack jacobs, a recipient of the medal of honor and combat veteran of the vietnam war. we have been to the battlefields in both dual wars over seas. we have seen the build-up of the military complex, but what does this now mean for the future? >> it means we're going to have to do what we need to do to defend this very large country with far fewer people. if you want to save money, you

can save money by cancelling programs but you're going to save money only in the future. you want to save money today, you have to make the army in particular much smaller. we were about ready to have an army that's smaller than the army was in vietnam when i was fighting there. i'm not convinced we can do what we need to do with that small an army. >> what about the reserve? >> we'll call on them again. despite what we want to do -- and that is keep the guard and reserve so they don't have to make constant trips over the ocean, we're going to continue to call them because we won't have enough people on active duty to take care of the little spots we have to take care of in the future. >> colonel jack jacobs, thank you. >> you're welcome. speaking of american troops it was less than three weeks ago as you will recall as we covered here u.s. forces left iraq leaving a fragile situation there, one people fear could slip back into sectarian violence, perhaps civil war. today we saw clear evidence of just that kind of thing.

it was a very bloody day in baghdad and elsewhere. at least 68 people killed. more than a hundred wounded in coordinated attacks by sunni insurgents against iraq shiites who now dominate the government there. now in this country to the campaign trail. we're into the season now post iowa where we are never going to be more than a few days away from the next contest which, of course, happens to be the first real primary next tuesday in new hampshire. from there it's on to the critical state of south carolina. nbc's peter alexander is traveling with the new hampshire frontrunner mitt romney who is in charleston, south carolina, tonight. peter, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you. the primary in south carolina is more than two weeks away, but it is already looking like it is going to be a brawl. the last stand for the anyone but mitt forces, as one political analyst put it today, in a state that's correctly picked the gop nominee since

1980. with barely five days until new hampshire voters go to the polls, mitt romney had just one brief morning event there before heading to south carolina leaving his closest rivals with a captive audience of voters. romney's opponents aimed jabs at the absent frontrunner himself. >> i don't believe a massachusetts moderate is in a very good position to debate barack obama. i think it would be very hard for him to win the general election. >> reporter: gingrich who has criticized obama as the, quote, food stamp president for his welfare policies also said this today. >> i'm prepared if the naacp invites me to go to their convention and talk about why the african-american community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps. >> reporter: meanwhile, rick santorum riding the surge from the strong iowa finish raising more than $1 million since tuesday ran into a crowd of

college students. >> how does it affect you if two men or two women get married? >> the law for 230 years was marriage is between a man and a woman. >> reporter: and john huntsman who has taken up residence in new hampshire since june said he'll exceed expectations. >> you have to be who you are. people say, throw red meat, sound bites. i don't do that. i believe in ideas. nibble leadership for this country. >> the things the president is doing kills jobs. >> reporter: on the ground in south carolina, romney campaigned today with the state's governor, nicky hailey, a tea party favorite. >> it will be a great day in the country when we see this one-term president turn over to president romney. >> reporter: rick perry's presence is being felt. with his supporters continuing to attack both gingrich and romney in south carolina. >> gingrich found guilty of

ethics violations. mitt creates romney-care. >> reporter: this afternoon a group that supports ron paul released a video questioning john huntsman's american values showing a picture of his adopted daughter from china. that prompted a call for an apology from the huntsman campaign. late this evening the paul campaign called the video offensive. brian? >> still early. it's turned so nasty already. peter alexander on the campaign trail. thanks. by the way the final debate before the new hampshire primary will be here on this nbc station. it's sunday morning on "meet the press" with david gregory. still ahead as we continue tonight, a mother protecting her own doing something unimagine bli brave to save herself and her baby with intruders just outside the front door. also ahead, millions of americans have reason to ask what's the deal with the winter of 2012 at least so far?

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the house was under renovation. one of the questions for investigators is whether the home had working smoke alarms. now to the story out of oklahoma about another mother forced to make an extraordinary step to protect herself and her child in a dangerous situation. intruders were at the door when she called 911. nbc's kristen dahlgren picks up the story. >> reporter: a young mother facing a life or death decision. >> i've got two guns in my hand. is it okay to shoot him if he comes in this door? >> you have to make a choice -- you or him. i chose my son over him. >> reporter: 18-year-old sara mcinially was home alone with her baby. grieving. her husband had died of cancer on christmas day when two men started banging on her door. grabbing a shotgun she called for help. >> i knew she was scared. she was whispering. she didn't want him to know she was on the phone with me. >> is it okay to shoot him if he

comes in this door. >> i can't tell you that you can do that. but you do what you have to do to protect your baby. >> reporter: mckinley shot and killed justin martin who was armed with a knife. >> they said i couldn't shoot him until he got in the house. he got in and i shot him. >> reporter: she was cleared of wrongdoing, the 911 tapes showing she was clearly within the rights. a law in 21 states that gives the right to protect your home. >> when someone breaks into your house the oklahoma castle law presumes the intruder intends to use deadly force so the homeowner is justified even if the intruder was unarmed. >> reporter: the second alleged intruder is charged with first-degree murder. >> the accomplice was up to no good. under our felony murder laws that's the person responsible. >> reporter: today mckinley is a hometown hero with hope that the worst is behind her.

>> maybe something a little bit better than last year. >> reporter: kristen dahlgren, nbc news, los angeles. >> up next here tonight we're going to try to explain what's going on across parts of this country including 60 degrees in a town famous for cold winters. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen,

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you're looking at the first eruption of the new year for europe's biggest and most active volcano mount aetna in sicily. today there was an impressive-looking ash plume in the sky. here's a fact to wrap your head around. today, 98% of this country had temperatures above freezing. that is virtually unheard of for january. in fact, here's one more. there were 115 new record high temperatures for the date set as of today.

continuing the strange weather it has already been, people were christmas shopping in shirt sleeves this christmas season here in new york. some folks enjoyed the outdoors today. it was a gorgeous day across the plains, midwest from north platte, nebraska, to north dakota where the cows might be forgiven for being confused what month this is. weather channel meteorologist jim cantore is with us from headquart rs tonight. jim, everyone is saying the same thing. didn't used to be this way. we had a halloween blizzard but nothing since. what's going on? is it part of anything larger or permanent? >> well, i mean, brian, until we can get the jet stream to really start blocking some of the air masses and allowing cold air to come down and build up a snow pack we are going to continue with this mild winter. you mentioned the 115 record highs. this is where we want to center in on. four of them have been all-time for select cities for the month of january. in aberdeen, they are 41 degrees

above average. they don't even have 41 degrees for an average high. we had snow cover across the country last year 46%. the jet stream situated like this. this year we have 19%. unless you can keep cold air coming down refrigerated you lose all that. that's what we are going to see over the next several days. 75 in los angeles. they have waves to accompany the record heat out there and more heat for the weekend. look at the 50 in new york. one could argue a for a flip-flop. until we get the atmosphere to block up, the winter that wasn't continues. >> the weather is nice outside. you're in the studio. >> that's right. >> up next tonight back on the board again. olympics viewers followed his story. tonight we'll document his comeback. i habe a cohd. and i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] sorry, buddy. truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose.

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>> reporter: two years ago kevin pearce was flying high. >> whoa, kevin! >> reporter: a favorite on the snowboard circuit, poised for the podium at the vancouver olympics. but then he fell to earth. pearce missed a new difficult maneuver called the double cork while training on the half pipe in park city, utah, slamming his head into the icy wall with such force it cracked his helmet. he was left near death with severe brain trauma. >> i guess from what i hear i never will remember any of what happened that day. you know, that's all right with me. >> reporter: pearce suffered memory loss and impaired vision. he would have to learn to walk again. his father, renowned glass blower simon pearce and the rest of this tight knit vermont family supported kevin every step of the way. >> what he's done in the last two years, i can't imagine anyone who's been part of it who wouldn't be inspired by it. >> reporter: kevin's brothers were a constant source of

strength including his brother david with down's syndrome who was his workout partner. there is one more challenge facing him. with his family at his side pearce straps on the board high in the mountains of vermont and he rips it up. >> just like riding a bike for you? getting back on? >> it is, man. it's mellow. it's good how easy it is. >> reporter: you didn't forget? >> no. i still know how to do it. >> reporter: he says competing is out of the question -- just too dangerous. being on the mountain again means the world. >> it just feels so good after so much hard work. just everything i put in to be able to get back up there and start snowboarding again. >> reporter: even after a two-year convalescence, keeping up with him proves difficult. slow down! >> i had no idea we would be here today, snowboarding together today. i couldn't be more proud of him or happy over how it's turned out. >> reporter: but for the boy who loves to fly it's the love of

family that has helped guide him back home. >> high five me, right there. yeah, dude! >> reporter: kevin tibbles, nbc news, vermont. >> that's our thursday night broadcast. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. of course we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.