on our broadcast tonight, our nbc news exclusive, ann curry in iran with that nation's new president. his first interview tonight. big revelations about nuclear weapons. red flags about the navy yard gunman. how were so many wning signs missed? and the first words tonight from the gunman's mother. the dating game. use by, sell by, when to know something has gone bad and how much food we needlessly throw out every year. and from the deep. what was found in a lake at the end of a dirt road that may solve a decades-old mystery. "nightly news" begins now.

good evening. we're going to begin tonight with an nbc exclusive interview that comes at a critical time for an entire region of the world. nbc's ann curry made her way to tehran where she has become the first western journalist to interview the new president of oh iran, hassan rouhani. this is the first time americans get to see and hear him. that includes many in the obama administration. what you are about the to hear is significant because it represents the first reason for any optimism, the first sign of movement from iran on the issue of nuclear weapons. right when the crisis in nearby syria has reached its peak. so we begin tonight with nbc's ann curry in tehran. >> reporter: brian, good evening. in our interview iran's president was clearly trying to send a message ahead of the first speech of the united nations that there was a different iran, one that wants

to make a deal. the world believes that iran could build a bomb very quickly. you have said this period of time for resolving the nuclear issue will not be unlimiunlimit. just how short is this window -- weeks, months or years? >> translator: we have never pursued or sought a nuclear bomb. we are not going to do so. we are seeking peaceful nuclear technology. >> reporter: can you say that iran will not build a nuclear weapon under any circumstances whatsoever? >> translator: the answer to this question is quite obvious. we have time and again said that under no circumstances would we seek uh aweapons of mass destruction. >> reporter: the supreme leader made a strong statement recently on diplomatic flexibility. he said, i believe in what's already been called heroic

flexibility. even a wrestler can show flexibility. what does that mean to you, mr. president? what does it allow you in your negotiations on the nuclear issue? >> translator: in its nuclear program, this government enters with full power and has complete authority. i have given the nuclear negotiations portfolio to the foreign ministry. the problem won't be from our side. we have sufficient political latitude to solve this problem. >> reporter: on syria, president rouhani said syria played a major role in crafting the deal. can you assure the world president assad will give up all of his chemical weapons? >> translator: we are not the syrian government. we are one of the countries of the region that seeks peace and stability and the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in the region. >> reporter: do you believe the united states, president obama,

looked weak in backing off an air strike on syria? >> translator: we consider war a weakness. any government that decides on war we consider a weakness. any government that decides on peace we look on it with respect for peace. >> reporter: and president rouhani confirmed he exchanged letters with president obama recently calling them tie i any steps for a future. that begins at the u.n. where he said he hasn't ruled out a meeting with president obama. >> ann curry, thanks. much more reporting on our website tonight and tomorrow morning on "today." for more we want to go to andrea mitchell at the state department. this is the new man. the world came to now ahmadinejad before him. what was important about what he just said versus what we have

heard from iran before? >> reporter: this is a very, very big deal. i can tell you at the white house and at the highest levels of the state department they were watching for this all day. they were looking for these signals in this interview. he made it very clear he wants a deal on the nuclear weapons. the president said on telemundo yesterday he wants to test his seriousness. that is what they are going to be looking for at the u.n. there is no formal meeting scheduled. they are not planning one. unlike ahmadinejad, his predecessor, you can understand ethics week when both of them are at the u.n., same time, same place, they are going to look for an opportunity to see each other, perhaps to have a real conversation. they believe that iran b want this is because of the oh sanctions, because they are crippling the economy, that the time is right but there is a short window to see if iran is serious, whether this man with a clerical background can do the deal. i was told by a top state department official they have been working on the back channel

for two years and one of the significant players is the foreign minister zarif who was the the ambassador and is well known to this administration. >> thank you both. we turn from tonight's news on foreign affairs to the shooting rampage at the washington navy yard and the acknowledgment today by the u.s. secretary of defense there were many red flags that were missed about the past behavior of this gunman, aaron alexis as the gunman's mother today broke her silence. our justice correspondent pete williams is with us from the d.c. newsroom with the latest on the investigation. good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. more signs tonight the of the troubled mind of aaron alexis. investigators say he scratched two phrases in the shotgun he was carrying. quote, better off this way, and my elf weapon. an abbreviation they cannot explain. add the secretary of defense to the list of those wondering how a contractor like aaron alexis

could get and keep a security clearance allowing entry to the navy yard after three run-ins with police and recent struggles with psychiatric problems. >> there were red flags, of course there were. should we have picked them up, why didn't we, how could we? all those questions need to be answered. >> reporter: after examining surveillance video and interviewing survivor uhs officials give this revised account of what happened inside. alexis enters building 197 with a shotgun in a bag and went directly to the 4th floor, ducked into a men's room and came out firing. virtually all of those hit were hit with shotgun blasts. he went back to the entrance, shot a security guard, took his handgun, raced upstairs and continued shooting until killed by police. investigators say they have no idea why alexis selected that building. they have identified no specific target of his anger. alexis's mother declining to appear on camera, says she has

no answers either. >> i don't know why he did what he did. i will never be able to ask him why. aaron is now in a place where he can no longer do harm to anyone. for that i am glad. >> reporter: as the government looks at how to factor mental health issues into bkd investigations there was a note of caution. >> men and women should have the opportunity to overcome their mental disorders or their mental challenges or their clinical health challenges. and shouldn't be stigmatized. >> reporter: nbc news got an exclusive look inside the washington trauma center where survivors were brought monday. nbc's peter alexander talked to doctors who treated the wounded. >> two patients who are here are in good condition, recovering well. we ex expect them to make excellent recoveries. >> reporter: we know alexis told the newport police last month he was hearing voices. now the v.a. says when he later

sought treatment twice he said only that he was having trouble sleeping. the newport police told local nay vi authorities what happened but the navy said that was never reported any further up the chain of command, brian. >> pete williams in the d.c. newsroom on the case tonight. the economic news today sent the stock market soaring but it wasn't necessarily good news for everybody in the rest of the country. the long and short h of it is this. the american economy is not doing well enough to be left alone. after first saying the recovery was gaining strength, the head of the federal reserve, ben bernanke today decided to keep going with economic stimulus to try to encourage job and economic growth. both the dow and s&p closed at record highs as a result. good news for anybody with a 401(k). mortgage rates are expected to drop but the fed believes the american economy still need s a continuing infusion of $85 billion a month. there are growing concern that is a potential government shut-down in washington will h

do more damage. now across the boarder in canada near ottawa today, a terrible crash between a passenger train and a double-decker bus. it killed six people at the height of the morning rush. survivors on the bus said many passengers were screaming at the driver to stop just second s before the bus crashed through a crossing barrier into the train, part of the via system in canada. it's an increasingly desperate situation in and around the resort city of acapulco, mexico, tonight. hit hard by tropical storm manwe ll. the death toll is now listed at at least at 80. most of the 40,000 tourists are trapped without power, access to cash and no way to get home. back in this country, in colorado, the history-making flood waters there have started to recede, revealing the full scope of the devastation beneath. the cleanup now begins. for tens of thousands of

families. at the same time remember almost 200 people are still officially listed as missing, including a husband and father who set out in search of his wife as the flood waters came up and sadly never came home. nbc's kate snow has that story tonight from boulder. >> reporter: the bowlen siblings have been waiting. their parents lived in hard hit lion. >> the speaker came up the canyon saying you need to evacuate immediately. >> reporter: they left in separate vehicles. when sharon saw flooded roads she pulled over. >> i thought he was right behind me . >> reporter: instead jerry headed to a shelter at the elementary school where he taught for 30 years. bonnie newman was there. >> i saw jerry there. i said, where is sharon? he said, i'm looking for her. have you seen her? >> reporter: jerry left sometime after that and hasn't been seen since. >> he was safe.

why would he leave? >> i guess he wanted to see if i went home. >> i think it's a love story. he was safe and sound. they're both just so brave. they're so brave. >> reporter: they had to get to each other. >> they looked for each other. >> you went back looking for him? >> i started to. then i had to be rescued at the other edge of town. >> no, there is a person in there. >> reporter: when her car flooded rescuers sent in the only vehicle that could get through. >> they got out in wetsuits, put a life jacket on me, sat me on the seat with the mud and away we went. >> we saw the footage a million times on thursday. we had no idea it was our mom. >> reporter: in a small community like lyons everyone knows the former football coach and teacher. everyone is searching. >> my brothers, aunts and uncles. >> you never forget what he

taught you. >> he was that kind of guy. >> reporter: that's what his family is celebrating now. >> everybody that had him in school is out looking for him. i thank everybody so much. >> we are just swollen with pride for him. i just can't say enough about how pride i am to be his daughter and how proud i am that he did all the right things in the end. >> reporter: today jerry's son-in-law and grandson were able to get behind this roadblock up into the canyon to look for more clues. so far, the only thing they have found is his overturned pickup truck in the river downhill from his house. they know that's not a great sign, brian, but they are clinging to hope. >> what a desperate story going on so many days now. we grieve for the families who suffered the ultimate loss. kate snow with us from boulder, colorado. still ahead tonight after the break we'll take on a consumer news story. the expiration dates on just about every product. what you should know about them

so you don't throw out more than you should. later, the chief of police in washington who found herself at the center of the news this week. what this does to how she sees her job. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. nobody likes to miss out. that's why ally treats all their customers the same. whether you're the first or the millionth. if your bank doesn't think you're special anymore, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. if you have high cholesterol, here's some information that may be worth looking into. in a clinical trial versus lipitor, crestor got more high-risk patients' bad cholesterol to a goal of under 100. getting to goal is important, especially if you have high cholesterol plus any of these risk factors

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[ inhales deeply ] oh, what a relief it is. ♪ we are back and as we mentioned we have a consumer news story that should be helpful. at least it is intended that way. in just about every american household. it's about what we buy, consume and throw away believing it's no longer good. it's about the sometimes vast difference between the sell by date on a product and the use by date. when something really does go bad and how it all ties into staggering waste in this country, often because of oh consumer misunderstanding. our report tonight from nbc's stephanie gox. -- gosk. >> reporter: americans are wasting food -- a lot of it. 160 billion pounds a year, about 40% of the food supply. that means an average family of four spends more than $1500 a

year on food they never eat. a report released tod blames, in large part, a confusing and unregulated labeling system. food is still good after the sell by date and often still safe well after the use by date. for instance, these egg s have a use by date of october 16. typically egg es are good a few weeks beyond that date. would anyone consider eating them then? you open the refrigerator in november. they are still there. do you make an only oh leomelet? >> no. >> probably not. >> you can eat something past the sell by date. >> reporter: how many days past? >> it depends on the pruk. sometimes they will say use or freeze by. that's useful information to deliver to consumers. >> reporter: enjoy by september 21. what does that mean? >> they're telling you this product will be at its peak quality by this date.

you are not going to get sick on the 22nd. typically this product will rot and get slimy like lettuce does before it would make you sick. >> reporter: this is october 31. it's november 1. can i drink this? >> depending on how you handle the product. if you oh left it in a hot car for 24 hours i may not want to drink that. >> reporter: it's about refrigeration. >> versus just a date. >> reporter: some want government food labels regulated. they say if it looks good and smells good, don't toss it. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. up next for us tonight, the community haunted for decades by a mystery tonight. it may be solved after a discovery in the waters of a rural lake. urn, caused by acid reflux disease, relief is at hand. for many, nexium provides 24-hour heartburn relief and may be available for just $18 a month. there is risk of bone fracture and low magnesium levels. side effects may include headache, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.

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the dark side of the ship, submerged for so long gives you some idea of the crushing force of those rocks below. shredded balconies, missing windows, half submerged staterooms, all of it evidence of the terrible disaster at sea. back in this country in oklahoma a handful of families and a lot of neighbors have been wondering off and on for decades how their loved ones, daughters, fathers, sons and brothers could have vanished without a trace. tonight there finally may be answers because of old cars just pulled out of a lake after being submerged for decades. our story tonight from nbc's janet shamlian in foss lake, oklahoma. >> reporter: highway patrol offers were training using sonar technology on foss lake when they made a startling discovery. caked in mud what was a teen dream at the time -- a 1969 cam row. nearby a collectible 52 chevy

sitting nearly side by side in 12 feet of water. >> my expectation is they were probably stolen vehicles and we were probably going to hook onto them and get them out. >> reporter: they were a watery tomb for six people -- three in each vehicle. this woman believes her grandfather may have been in the chevy. >> i can remember my dad getting in the car, taking my mom. they would look and look. any trace. >> reporter: the camaro may be this one, belonging to 16-year-old jimmy williams. he and two friends were last seen in it in the fall of 1970, headed to a football game. it is believed they may have headed to the lake instead. they vanished that night. >> in all these years they weren't far from home. >> reporter: one set of remains has been identified but not made public. the medical examiner cautions the others could take months, if not years. >> i think the families will get closure like, okay, that's what happened. we can close that chapter in our

lives. >> reporter: an unexpected find in an oklahoma lake. they re-open missing persons cases long gone cold, leaving families in a small town once again in the middle of a mystery. janet shamlian, nbc news, oklahoma. >> when we come back tonight, d.c.'s top cop in one of her most difficult weeks ever and how she says she's able to make a difference in a tough job. la's known definitely for its traffic, congestion, for the smog. but there are a lot people that do ride the bus. and now that the buses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution into the air. so i feel good. i feel like i'm doing my part to help out the environment.

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the nation went through tragedy this week and a woman in a big, visible job in washington was tested on the job as we all watched. she is the police chief in the nation's capital, chief lanier. she went into action along with her entire force when the deadly shooting erupted at the complex of buildings known as the washington navy yard. she's a single mother and the first woman in that job. today she sat down with nbc's jeff rossen to talk about all of it. >> chief on deck. >> reporter: for washington, d.c.'s police chief, these are long days. trying to put her city back together. have you had time to stand back and reflect on the enormity of this? >> yes. last night, you know, late in

the evening is, i think, when it really started to dawn on me, you know. you start thinking about 12 people went to work the morning before and didn't come home. >> reporter: chief lanier was in her car when the call came in. she was on scene within minutes. many of these victims are husbands and wooives, mothers a fathers. how do you begin to console a family. >> it's an important part of our jobs that sometimes gets overlooked. you put your arm around them and say, i'm sorry for your loss. >> reporter: as d.c.'s first female police chief, what perspective do you bring to something like this or the job in general? >> well, i think women and men do some things differently. some things we don't. >> reporter: differences, she said, that were on oh full display in the chaos as chief lanier comforted a fellow officer. >> he walked over and said i was one of the first teams in. i could see on his face how

emotional it was for him and how he felt. so my first instinct is to put my arms around him, give him a hug and say, you did what you had to do, you're okay. >> reporter: compassion the city needs right now. jeff rossen, nbc news, washington. >> that is our oh broadcast on a wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we of course hope to see you right back here tomorrow nig ♪ [ male announcer ] when we built the cadillac ats from the ground up to be the world's best sport sedan... ♪ ...people noticed. ♪