on the broadcast tonight, off message. is that really what the president wanted to say about the economy? what he did say is making headlines tonight. triple crown shocker. the sad story so many people have been talking about today. the horse that was going to run for the triple crown on saturday scratched from the race. outbreak. a wave of deadly e. coli now spreading through the south and elsewhere and they're looking for where it started. and the class of 2012, one of our favorite nights of the year around here. our send off to this year's graduating class. "nightly news" begins now. good evening. the president has been under a lot of pressure on the economy

ever since a week ago today when the last round of bad numbers came out on jobs. and every day the european financial uncertainty continues. and so today, he came out before reporters in an attempt to calm the waters, but in a charged political season with the republicans running hard after his job, he declared the private sector is doing fine and then the other side pounced. it's where we begin tonight at the white house with our chief white house correspondent chuck todd. good evening. >> good evening, brian. the president has been struggling to get in front of this issue and sthoe the public he's in touch with the growing concerns about the economy. that morning press conference was meant to calm the public, and insaid, those words he said, what you brought up, it set off a political fire storm. >> we created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months. over 800,000 just this year alone. the private sector is doing fine. >> the president wanted to get

the upper hand in the economy debate. instead, his offhand optimistic remark about the private sector handed the republicans an easy opportunity to pounce. >> the private sector is so foreign to him, he might need a passport to go visit. >> did he see the job numbers that came out last week. the private sector is not doing fine. >> and of course, mitt romney got in on the action. >> he said the private sector is doing fine. he said the private sector is doing fine. is he really that out of touch? >> as the feeding frenzy grew, the president did something he rarely does, answered a shouted question later in the day in an attempt to clarify what he meant. >> the economy is not doing fine. i think if you look at what i said this morning and what i said consistently over the year, we have actually seen some good momentum in the private sector. >> the original focus was was

for the european union. >> the decisions are tough, but we have to make them. >> he also warned greece not to divorce itself from the continent's economy. >> the greek people also need to recognize that their hardships will likely be worse if they choose to exit from the eurozone. >> mr. obama's strong words reflect a stark political reality. a financial collapse in europe would seriously threaten his re-election chances if it causes a u.s. downturn. >> most economists i talk to do not say that europe is the predominant problem right now in the u.s. economy. however, they do say it's a major factor that could affect the u.s. economy if it were to go significantly further south than where it is right now. >> meanwhile, the obama campaign is trying to bring attention to a comment mitt romney made. he said we need more fire

manufacture, more plom, more teachers. did he not get the comment it was time to cut back. he said those comments mean that romney is against firemen and teachers. and the beat goes on. >> chuck, thanks. >> we have more now on what is going on in europe, and it's bad. spain is expected to formally ask for an international bailout from its banking system as early as tomorrow, as greece is days away from a vote that could have them bailing out of the euro entirely. as the president noted, what happens there has a big affect on the economy here. our report from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> this is an unemployment agency in spain. 24% of the country is out of work. spain's banks may need more than $100 billion to stay afloat. the housing bubble burst, leaving them with heaps of bad loans. and then there's greece. that country goes bankrupt without another bailout. an election in nine days could

put an agreed upon bailout plan in jeopardy. it may be tempting to see the economic hardship in europe and think, well, at least it isn't that bad in the u.s. but europe is the u.s.'s largest trading partner. if europeans don't have jobs, they don't have money to spend. >> it doesn't matter if it's apple, the greatest company in the world, if it's intel, it doesn't matter if it's general motors, if it's ford, it doesn't matter if it's mcdonald'sier you're all going to suffer because you ain't going to sell the same level of goods in europe as you were doing two years ago. >> no one needs to explain that to drew greenblat. his company makes industrial wire baskets used in factories worldwide. a $400,000 deal with a spanish company is on hold. >> it's jobs. when we have less orders from europe, we hire less people. >> bad enough now, but there are fears that 17-nation eurozone may start to break up.

a break-up would lead to a breakdown in the european banking system. no borrowing or lending. and in an interconnected world, that would quickly spread to the u.s. >> if u.s. banks get nervous and stop lending or they retrench in any way, that has rampifications throughout the u.s. economy. >> the u.s. can only watch and hope europe doesn't let it go that far. stephanie gosk, nbc news, london. >> now we turn to syria where after being shot at yesterday, a te toom from the un got a look at the town where the massacre is said to have happened. ayman mohyeldin has our report. >> the marks where syrian tanks rolled into a small farming village are still visible. today, a day after they came under attack and were denied entry, the u.n. came here to investigate what happened, the spent shells, the burnt homes, and the blood stains all

indicate a killing rampage. this survivor tells the u.n. survivors his brother's family, including seven children, were all killed. new amateur video, a stricken survivor describes how residents were bludgeoned to death. there are reports the dead now outnumber the survivors. undered by condemnation over the massacre, the syrian military continued its unrelenting shelling of the city of homs. still, the violence has not dampened the spirits of the hundreds who once again took to the streets and cities across syria demanding an end to president assad's rule. this evening, eyewitnesses and activists are reporting explosions and gun fights in the capital damascus which for the large part has been immune to the violence in syria. it could prove to be the

ultimate challenge to the grip of assad's power. >> we'll be watching. ayman mohyeldin with us from cairo, thanks. >> there's weather making news tonight. and because new jersey is not kansas, this was a stunner. dramatic home video from a high school graduation ceremony just last night. it looked a heck of a lot like a tornado forming, so a crowd at an outdoor graduation looked up, saw the storm, quickly scattered to the winds. turned out it wasn't technically a tornado funnel cloud, but as close as you want to get. a lot of lightning in the area, so the order to take cover was a good call. in wyoming, it was a tornado and a big one. a quarter-mile wide, swept mostly across unpopulated areas, but caused damage in the rural community of wheatland. one person was injured there. now to the story people have been talking about all day. the news that broke a lot of hearts and scuttled a lot of betting plans today. triple crown contender i'll have another is not only out of this

weekend's belmont stakes, he's out of racing all together. nbc's anne thompson with us tonight from new york. good evening. >> good evening, brian. devastating is the word you heard most here today. you know, you have to go all the way back to 1936 to find another triple crown contender that did not run the belmont. history will now add i'll have another to that list. the words were as hard to hear as they were for own er paul reddam to say. >> this is officially to tell you that i'll have another is retired. >> the 3-year-old who shocked the racing world at the kentucky derby. >> i'll have another has won the kentucky derby. >> and nabbed the preakness title. >> there's the winner, i'll have another! >> triple crown, baby. come on. baltimore, new york, come on, why not? >> why not? tendinitis, developed in his

front leg, scratching him from the triple crown. >> could he run and compete? yes, but would it be in his best interest? no. >> doug o'neill said they first suspected trouble yesterday, and then after a work out today, th leg swells. veterinarians said it would be three to six months before he could run again. >> it was unanimous between the reddams and my brother and i and everyone to retire him. >> the news deflated the hopes of many who wanted to see him race tomorrow. >> trainer oneill is a controversial figure, accused of medication violations with other horses. he told bob costas said no such ishii involved i'll have another. >> he's clean and has been through every drug test and physical known to man. he's just a natural champ. >> do you see any connection there?

any possibility this injury is a result of dosing? >> i don't think it's a possibility. i think it's a real stretch to try to assume that from anyone's standpoint, bought this is not, again, an uncommon injury on a race horse. they pull tendons, train tendons, eventually every day somewhere racing, somewhere in training. >> tomorrow, i'll have another will lead the post parade here, a small consolation for a horse favored to win it all. >> something about this horse, anne, captured the imaginations of so many people. and still ahead as we continue, a deadly and spreading e. coli scare and the effort under way tonight to track down where it started. and later, an annual tourist tradition around here, a little pomp, a little circumstance, and a big farewell and good luck to the class of 2012. right out of the clear blue...ak he was just... "get me an aspirin"... yeah... i knew that i was doing the right thing,

when i gave him the bayer. i'm on an aspirin regimen... and i take bayer chewables. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. so he's a success story... [ laughs ] he's my success story. [ male announcer ] learn how to protect your heart at i am proheart on facebook. challenge that. olay smooth finish facial hair removal duo. first a gentle balm then the removal cream. effective together with less irritation and as gentle as a feather. olay hair removal duo. that's how it is with alzheimer's disease. she needs help from me. and her medication. the exelon patch, it releases medication continuously for twenty-four hours.

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e. coli, now in half a dozen states, but where did it start? our report on this tonight from nbc's gabe gutierrez in atlanta. >> the biggest cluster of e. coli infections is in the atlanta area. five cases right in the cdc's backyard. >> we know this comes from single source. we don't know where. we have not been able to identify a particular food or environmental exposure. >> today, the number of reported cases grew. a total of 14 in six states. georgia, alabama, florida, louisiana, tennessee, and california. so far, at least three people have been hospitalized. one girl just 21 months old, died in new orleans. the cdc and local health officials are scrambling to find the source of the outbreak. it's been hard to lik the cases here in georgia to those outside the state. >> this is obviously substantially above normal. and anything over two cases we consider an outbreak and clearly worth a penetrating

investigation. >> the most common way to get e. coli is by eating contaminated food like ground beef, unpasteurized milk and fresh produce. this is e. coli 0145, a dangerous but rare type of bacteria. the same that sickened more than two dozen people in five states in 2010. >> our recommendation to the public is not to be overly alarmed, not to be panicked by this. just be aware an outbreak is out there. >> an outbreak that is so far a mystery, one that health officials are racing to solve before it spreads. gabe gutierrez, nbc news, atlanta. up next here tonight, a surprise wedding crasher and when you have absolutely positively got to have your stuffed animal. [ male announcer ] fighting pepperoni heartburn and pepperoni breath?

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companion would be scared riding the t because it was so noisy. she got jostled, they dropped numby, and they radioed ahead and rescued him off the tracks. it was stopped, numby was returned. it will be a long time before he rides the t again. >> also from boston tonight, world that click and clack are going off the air. tom and ray, the two brothers who are the men of car talk on npr, are stepping aside after 25 years and 1200 shows. they'll continue to write their column and riar the best of their archival shows. up next here tonight, the head of the class. a special salute to this year's college graduates. looking for a better place to put your cash? here's one you may not have thought of -- fidelity. now you don't have to go to a bank to get the things you want from a bank,

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>> this is what i have waited forty-four years for. my whole life for, really. >> this is a really important day for my mom and for my family. i'm the first in my family that's ever gone to a university before. >> i think i'm feeling a little bit of everything. excited, i'm scared. >> life is full of contradictions. you want wealth? create value for others. if you want to fly, fall down often. >> you're going to fall down, but the world doesn't care how many times you fall down as long as it's one fewer than the number of times you get back up. >> the key to success is continuously maintaining an ever present curiosity.

>> i want you to take one hour a day and turn that thing off. take your eyes off that screen and look into the eyes of the person that you love. have a conversation, a real conversation. >> let life surprise you. don't have a plan. plans are for wuszs. you know, if my life went according to my plan, i would never have the life i have today. now, you're obviously very good planners or you wouldn't be here, so stop it. stop it now. >> i am continuing a family tradition, and to have all my family there made it incredibly special.

>> it's been incredibly nourishing for me to be in an environment that is so traditionally rich. >> cap and gown mixed with traditional rugale yeah and the symbols from the communities we come from. >> your sisters started this tradition in 1895. go. >> the honor walk is a profound symbol of appreciation for the support you have all received. >> the arch is sadoor, an opening. you're walking through a door, walking into the future. >> to see everyone out there at

the very end still cheering us on, it's -- great. >> how do we get the blinders off once we put them on, once we have narrowed our focus and choses a path? if we're looking only to the horizon, what are we missing on either side of the road? >> you don't actually have to build a rocket or go into space. but please take us somewhere. please keep us moving. push us, lift us up. make us better. >> the two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you discover why you were born. >> one, two, three.

>> the class of 2012, we're very innovative. >> highly motivated. >> thinking outside the box. >> passionate. >> i want to be forever young. >> by the way, that represents a bunch of work by a team of thousands around here. well, at least several people headed up by producer amber payne and video feinstein. thanks, gangs, and congratulations class of 2012. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we will of course look for you right back here on monday evening. in the meantime, please have a good weekend. good night.