>> on this solemn day on the broadcast tonight, ght, years later, during the remembrance of/11, a security e ofe in washington. is it the fault of the coast guard or a cable network? onight, we are covering the memorials and the unfinished business. one shot, could it be that is all it will take to protect us against the swine flu and when will thvaccine be us available? ne benmaking a difference, dcross america on this national day ofervice. dcross america on this national day ofervice. ightly news" begins now. captions paid for nbc-universal television

good evening. re are a much different cotry today than we weren the immediate aftermath of 9/11. while we are still fighting two wars launched in its immediate aftermath, and while, thankfully, we have remained ethingwe aren't as skittish as we were rit af9/11. iket is, until something happens, like did today. mring the 9/11 memorial in on, angtonan urgent ory broke onelevision out an incident on the potomac river not far from where the president nts at the pentagon. tedbound flits werhalted at nsioington's airrt, and tensions were high, until we learned it was a false ala. the day nt on from there. sad memorials here in new york, washington, pennsylvania and elsewhere,any of them in el n aking rain. but e tone w set. our justice correspondent, pete williams, starts us off from the williaof the potomac in washington tonight. pete, good evening. >> reporter: bri, this is

memorial bridge over the potomac. and as the president's motorcade des driving back and forth across it this morning, something was going on nearby that sent ripples of alarm across the capital. for the crews the u.s. coast of ths fast patrol boats, it d's a normal day, a routine s aining drill likthis one on the potomac river between two washington bridges and not far from the pentagon and nation airport. n andrt of therill, a coast guardsman said on an open marine radio channel that a suspicious boat refused an order to sto "bang, bang, bang" said one of oe exercise participants. >>here is other ne that we need to get out to you. in fact, breaking news right now. now.eporter: a f minutes later, cnn, hearing the radio the rnd seeing coast guard guas maneuvering,eported that shots had, in fact, been fired.ñ edibhis is pretty incredible. i have to say, as the story is developing here, and i learned

that rounds had tually been fired. r: beporter: based strictly on the news reports, the fbi scrambled a response team, and nearby national airport stopped ll takeoffs for nearly half an hour, delaying 17 flights. no there s no suspicious boat on the river, no shots were ever on fired. itas all a drill. the coast guard said it owed no apolog >> we are charged wi 7/2 365, all day, every day, all ecurher, security and safety on a maritime interest the national capal region. we train every day eveeporter: but heland eportety secretary janet seculitano, who oversees the coast guard,rdered a complete review, and the coasguard ng mist would look into conducting such a visible ss theng mission while president obama was traveling back and forth across the river on the vey of the 9/11 anniversary. >> this is very instructive for tivend we are going to back torough this. are g goingo review our own protocols, our own procedures. procedning in the potoc. tingeporter:ut the white house spokesperson saithe reporting

>> i matters worse. of do wish that some of the haople that reported that acident might have taken a timee bit of time to check and andwhether what ty were reporting was accurate. havorter:onight, cnsays it wouldave been irresponsible not to have reported what it saw led heard, buthis whole yeaode shows that eight yrs fter the 9/11 attacks, s stington is still a city on , briabrian. >> pete wiia in waington srtus to start us off tonight. pete, anks. pe to and now tohe day itself, eight years after the worst fterorist attack in u.s. history. and the natural anfair uestion, how much has changed? our report tonightrom nbc's ron allen. >> reporter: eight yea lat, ident ent obama marked his first september 11th aiversary as commandein cef with a moment timelence at the time the first strue struck. where pentagon, where 184 benches honored those killed be ledre, the psident vowedo ednew the fight against those ightonsible. >> the defense oour nation, we will never waiver. warsuit of al qaeda and its

extremist allies, we will never lllter. >> reporter: however, osama bin >> r oden is still free and public fret r that warn afghanistan is declining. af >> woleska martinez. >> reporter: september 11th families eight yea later face 11th disappointmes. they gathered in the field in theysylvania where 40 ed fighting the hijackers of united flight 93. but thers still no morial ther just two ds before this anniversary, a bronze plaque was unveiled at the capitol, where the flight seemed headed tha headel day. >> i love you and i miss you. is reporter: eight years later, the grief is still raw. >> jean-erre, who worked on ierr102nd floor of the north ther. f reporter: volunteers stood by >> repmilies. is anniversary, for the first time, has been declared a national day of service by the , hden >> still feel the loss. ent.t think it ever goes away. n't thorter: linda mcgee and brother, stanley alexander, r: linach year.

they lost a sister, brenda. make many, they are dippointed ground zero remains a vast open emar, the big hole filled only scarmuter rail staon. no memorial here as well. >> it seems like maybe they shouldave been a little further alon >> reporter:he most recent ha plan is to build four office towers here, surrounding a tree-lined plaza, with a museum and memorial in the center. a an behind schedule because of seemingly endss political nd financial disputes and delays. the goal now, to at least ha a memorial open by 21, the tenth anniversary. ♪ however today, many still r ruggled with this anniversary and the deep sense of loss that probably will never go away. ron allen, nbc news, new york. >and then there's the place where the al qaeda attack ariginated, afghanistan. ated, le later on inhis broadcast, a growing number of t, ations and doubts about sending more u.s. combat troops into that cotry. and mewhat uelievably unday on wall streetnot r

fr ground zerot all, theow fr nduss indurial closeat nmoalheam emombxanut e ct ier i did eight years ago the day re the 91 tas. remeer, that was the day dayse the exchange was shut errorior several days following e terrorist attack. >> lth now we move on to health care reform, as negotiators on capitol hill try to settle their dierences ov severalssues. the one that was front and center today was the one raise by congressman joe wilson, the by soutcarolina republican whose heckling of the presidt om the house floor continues to reverberate. correspondent kelly o'donnell has r report from capitol hill. >> iant to take this moment to speato you directly. >> reporter: a muccalmer joe wilson today, but after shouting down the president in prime time - would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie. >> reporter: more fallout. today, wilson was told by democric leadershat he must apologize on the house floor or face a formal reprimand next week. wilson already told the white house he was sorry. >> my stements were

inappropriate. >> reporter: andith his re-election campaign video, went on offense against proposed health care changes. >> on these issues, i will not beuzzl. i will speak up and speak loudly agait this risky plan. >> reporter: democrats say illegal migrants will not get health insurance under thelan, but wilson claims gislation does not do enough to enforce citinship requirements. ba he in h south carolina district -- >> i think he spoke for many citizens, includg myself. >> reporter: folks athe sunset diner did not approve of wilson's outburst, but many say they agree with his views. maybe wasn't the time or the ace say what he said, but what he id i thought was accurate >> reporter: wilson's sudden notoriety quickly contributed to campaign cash for both parts. wilson is running ads on the internet and said he raised more than $700,000. outrage surrounding wilson helped their challenger, rob ller, top $800,000, democrats say. as a result this controversy,

senate democrats today said they discusd options, like requiring soal security numbers to make clear illegal imgrants will not get coverage. >> there's aigh degree of confidence that we have an outline to prevent anybody here illegally from benefiting from these initiatives. reporter:hile the whole unclon matter has been b distraction, it's still unclea if the president has enough althrate democrats to pass health care reform. key o'donnl, nbc news, the capitol. there is also moreo rert tonight about flu season. ont only, of course do we face a auble threat this year, the swine flu and the regular wesonal flu, we learned today at theu is making an unusually narly appearan. there are now flu cases in all n0 states, mosof those swine flu. and there is news as well about the swine flu vaccine. all of it tonight om our chief science correspondent, robert ball. yes, i am ready. >> reporter: health ficials are encouraged by the experimental results showing

that healt adults will need only a sgle dose of the swine flu vaccine when it arts to be available next month. >> it noappears that most of the folks have a rust immune responsen eight to ten days from the date of the first vaccine. >> reporter: many people will get swipe flu before there is any vaccine. after the virus first appear in late april, visitto doctors and hospitals for flu incrsed sharply, then stabilized for the summer. but in recent weeks, the numbers have climbed sharply again, with no end in sight. e american college health associiorepos that 72% of colleges and universities it surveys across the country reported flu cases in the week ending september 4th. >> 98% of the viruses that are circulating right now are this new h1n1. the levels of flu activity that we are seeing right now in september are extremely unusual

for this time year. we have flu activity occring occll 50 states and the district of columbia. >> all right. ready? t. rea. >> reporter:xperts say the new swine flu vaine should be safe. a 1976 vaccination campaign accinat a different swine flu threat causean increase in a ag rarearalytic contion calle guillain-barre syndrome. an >> so, we will be monitoring it very, very carefully, exemely important and we a very mindful of the experience in 1976nd the importance of being able to assure the public out the safety of vaccine use. >> reporter: a new monitoring ystem will check electronic anyicarecords of m hospits and insurance plans for the first signs of any side for cts of the vcine. eobert bazell, nbc news, new ork. as you may know, the clock is tking toward a vote on who ge to host the 2016 summer olympics. ousethe white house announced today they a going all-in in the effort to get the games here.

first lady michelle obama will n toel to copenhagen to make one la lobing push for h hmetown, chicago, illinois. the u.s. olympic committee and hicago's bid team were hoping the prident himself would make the trip. nhe other cities, rio de highro, madrid and too. thvote happens oober 2nd. a shting right in ont of a michigan high school, another death nearby, a suspect in custody. the question is what happened d in what order? >>and later, because those who serve make a difrence in our lives, tonight, we honor their work thank u claritin-d. (announcer so you'll find claritin-d behind the pharmacy counter. thank you claritin, fostaying tough on the tohe allergy symptoms. for refusing to change your formul (annncer) noing works stronger, fasterr loer to relieve your worst allergyymptoms including congestion andinus pressure without drowsiness. thank you claritin-d for helpg live claritin clr. (aouncer) get claritin-d at the phma counter.

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some terrifying moments outside a michigan high school th morning, a shooting and later, another person found dead. now ere e qutions about why thisappened in aown mt 70 oilweesorthst 70 nf iles morthwest of detroit. our report tonight from nbc news correspondent john yang. >> reporter: students from owosso high school were riving for class this morning when james poullion, a well-known lol an-abortion activist was gunned down from a passing vehicle. >> my son actually seen him laying there. he is kind of emotional about that. >> reporter: witnesses reported the vehicle's license plate number and police traced ito 33-year-old harlan drake. as ty questied him, police said drakeade a startlg statement about another killing that had taken place this morning. >> the time of his arrest, the suspect made statements that he

was invoedn another homicide in shiawassee county the same day. >>eporter: the second victim was michael fuoss, the owner of another gravel company. prosecutors said drake said he wanted to kill a third person but ey caught him before he could carried it out. late this afternoon, drake was arraigned and arged with one count of possession of a felony firearm, one count of carrying a firearm and one count of fon murd. drake d noyet entered a plea. prosecutors say drake had grudges against all three targets but none were specifically related to anti- or pro-ortion beliefs. tonight, the students who wiessed the killing and community who knew these men are left wondering why. hn yg, nbc news, owoo, michigan. we learned late today that larry gelbart has ed today in beverly hills. gelbart wrote so much of what made america laugh for so many years. 60-yeacareer, including the big one, "m.a.s.h." and films like "tootsie" and "o, god."

he worked with bob hope, johnny carson, red buttons, sid ceasar and george burns. he contied wringntil three weeks ago. lay gelbart, a giantf hollywood, was 81 years old. the oldest person in the world died today in los angeles. we last saw gertrude baines when she celebrat her 115th birthday last ril. she is believed to be the granddaughter of former slaves. when she was born in 1894, grover cleveland was president. there was no such thing as penicillin and the u.s. flag had just 44 stars. she cleaned college rm rooms for a living and she loved jerry springer, crispy bacon, fried chicken and ice crea she was mentally alert until the very end. she lived long enough to vote for barack obama for president last november. again, gertrude baines was 115 years old. when we come back here tonight, spending american blood and treasure in afghanistan and why a growing number of influential voices areay@@ sg enough is enough. a growing number of inflntial voices are saying enough is enough. whether i'm at the batting cage..

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we are we are back with nbc new "in depth" tonight. it is about the place whe the 9/11 attacks took root, afghantan, a now the fight over what america should do next. as we have been reporting, the military is expected to ask for thounds more boots on the ground. at the samtime, a g leader in the senate is pushing new essu on e whe house not to put any more american lives at stake there. nbc news pentagon correspondent, jim miklzewski, has more on thwar over this war. >> reporte even as american mmanders in afghanista prepare to ask for more u. forces to fight e war, their biggest battle may be back in washington. today, the powerful chairman of the armed services committee, decratic senator carl levin, said he is against sending more american combat troops to afghanistan, but instead, would send mility trnerso he expand the afghan military.

>> we need a surge of afghan security forces, and we have not ne nrly enough to put that in motion. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi is opposed to any ditional u.s. forces. >> i don't think there is a great deal of support for sending moreroops to afghistan in the coury or in thcongress. >> reporter: and for the first time, the erican public has turned against the afghanistan war. in a recent poll, 51% saidhe war is not worth fighting. public support eroded as the situation in afghanistan is rapidly deteriorating. in the past two months, a record number of american forcehave be killed in thear, while the talin has been gaining ground. a new study showthe taliban now has control over 80% of afghanistan, up from 54% only o years ag tourn that around, the top commander in afghanistan, general stan mcchrtal's new sttegy is to undermine the

taban by providing more protection forhe ahan ople but thatou take large numbers of combat foes and mcchrystal is expected to as for 25 to 40,000 additional troops, starting next year. >> the increase in u.s. forces we arealki about he is really meant to be a bridge. this is a strategy that is desied to reduce the power of the insurgency while we build up the afghan national security rces. >> reporter: president oma has saidfghanistan is a war th u.s. mt win, but he may caught between his mitary commanders and growi opposition to the war at he. white house officials say any decision ocomb forces is still months away. jim miklaszewski, nbc news, the pentagon. when we come back, somof the many americans who are taking time out to make a diffence where they live. pentagon when we come back, some of the many americans who are taking time out to make a difference where they live the mily budget? o be h here goes the good old steam. [ pfffft! ] whooa!!!! [ female announcer ] let bounty help... because it cleans the mess with less than the bargain brands. 's thick and absorbent. and really durable.

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finally onhis 9/11 finally on this 9/11 anniversary, did you serve someone today or do you know someone who did? this was, after all, a national day of service. and so, tonight, we asked our owkevin tibbles to give us a snapot of some of the millions of ordinarand extraordinary people who, day in and day out,

are out there making a difference. >> reporter: on a damp, somber morning, 1 rays of hope. >>hese guys are the best guys that ever happened to this school. >> reporter: these guys are members of the 100 black men organization. >> did you do your homework last night? >> reporter: volunteering to mentor boys, some of whom may not have a dad at this acade. >> i do this every d because it's needed everday. >> g tmake sure it's straight. >> reporte helng a boy beco a man alsmeans teacng him how to dress for success. >> everybody good? >> reporter: it was a day of hustlet the greater chicago food depository. volunteers gatheby the dens, filling boxes food. >> we are hereo be of service. >> i think we need to remember that we are a united states of amica. >> i wish i could do more than put a can in a box. >> but you are dng what you can do. >> i'm doing what i can do. >> reporter: this facility feeds

a half million nee chicagoans every year. their messag every day is a od day to voluntr. in los angeles, volunteering to strengthen community and self. >> taking an hr or two from your life. it is not gonna kill you. it is going to helyou, actually. >> reporr: there are members of girls inc., an organization that encourages young men to succeed. the first national day of service was spent touching up, cleaning up and spruci up their school. >> it is a day we could start looking at as a day of rebirth and renewal. >> reporr: on this, the anniversary of an awful day, people giving of themselves in different ways, but with a common goal. ♪ ♪ we can make the world a better place for everne ♪ >> reporter: kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. and that's our broadcast for this friday night and for is week. thank you for being withs. i'm brian williams. amy robachill be here with you tomorrow night.

we hope to see you back here on monday night. in the meantime, have a good monday night. in the meantime, have a good weekend and good night. --aptions by vitac -- www.vitac.com