eventually. just had to keep talking. glad he's home. >> that's it for now. on our broadcast tonight, race matters. after the outrage and the outburst directed at president obama, new fall out over what a former president told us last night, some of it is just racist. news about how the yale graduate student died and the man the police brought in. the surge going across the country as millions find out what millions already knew. nice catch. parents everywhere identify with what happed at the phillies game last night when a little girl's dad caught a foul ball. it's what happens next that you have to see. "nightly news" begins now.

good evening, the white house today responded to the words of a former president and a son of the american south who says the current president, the first african-american in the job is the target of blatant racism. jimmy carter made the charge in an interview we conducted with him in atlanta, yesterday. the conversation picked up speed and currency today against a backdrop of a severely partisan public debate. andrea mitchell starts us off from the washington news room. andrea, good evening. >> good evening, brian. it's as old as the nation. the racial division many thought were healed after the election of the first african-american president. a former president had us re-examine our thoughts about race.

in a season of angry protests, there are ugly signs that some is not bailout fatigue or suspicion of big government. mixed in the antiobama crowds in recent weeks, racial slurs over the president of the united stat. all of that plus an unprecedented interruption in the president's speech to congress. >> you lie! >> reporter: prompting jimmy carters blunt comments on "nightly news" last night. >> i think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward president barack obama is based on the fact that he is a black man. that he's african-american. i think his bubble up to the surface because of a belief among many white people, not just in the south, but around the country that african-americans are not qualified to lead this great country. >>reporter: today, carter's

comments ignited a verbal fire storm. on one side, rush limbaugh and his followers. >> any criticism of an african-american's policies is racist. that's it. therefore, the question, can this nation really have an african-american president? >> reporter: on the other side, callers to al sharpton's show. >> the bottom line is, they fear barack obama as president of the united states. this intelligent black man can go and work toward a goal for everybody, so they are going to continue to do things to keep him at bay. >> reporter: listen to congressman james clyburn on whether racism in politics is real. >> i have, on occasion, been given added police protection from the threats we get all by people who are, forsome reason,

insulted by my skin color. i did not ask to come here as this color. the good lord made that decision for me. >> the president didn't hear the question about what jimmy carter said. even though mr. obama didn't start the debate, republicans challenged him to put an end to it. >> don't tell me he needs to be excused from the debate when the former president of the united states injects it voicefully and forcibly into the debate. >> reporter: the white house didn't want to talk about it. in a 47 minute briefing, the press secretary was asked about race 18 times, when you count follow up questions. >> the president does not believe that -- that criticism comes based on the color of his skin. >> reporter: is this debate healthy or will it increase racial tension? we asked bill cosby, who agrees

with jimmy carter. >> i don't think you can get peopleho are entrenched in their own hatred to stop. i think what we have to do is find the people who are willing to work together, the people who realize that mistakes will happen and we have to work for the betterment of the american people. >> reporter: is there evidence of hard core antiobama sentiment? when you look at how people voted last fall in the region, 10% of black voters voted for him. 11% of whites in mississippi voted for him. in louisiana, it was 14%. the national number of white voters who went for boarack obaa was 43%. that said, the white house views it as an unwelcome distraction. they want to get back to talking about health care. brian.

>> andrea mitchell talking to us from the white house. an unavoidable factor and the controversy surrounding a.c.o.r.n. and the communitity organizizer that is came up during the campaign. an activist landed a.c.o.r.n. in trouble. our senior investigative correspondent lisa myers has our report. >> reporter: a.c.o.r.n. has been a target of conservatives and was an issue in last year's election. >> we need to know the full extent of barack obama's affiliation with a.c.o.r.n. >> reporter: republicans questioned the method and accused a.c.o.r.n. of trying to steal the election for barack obama. a.c.o.r.n. received tens of millions of federal dollars to help poor families with housing. it provides other community rvices. now, hidden camera video shows a.c.o.r.n. workers in several

cities how to evade the i.r.s. and conceal underage prostitution. >> if they are making money and are underage, don't let nobody know, anyway. >> reporter: the videos were shot by a 25-year-old conservative activist and friend who posed as a pimp and prostitute. republican leaders reacted quickly. >> we need to make sure we sever all ties a.c.o.r.n. has with the federal government, cut off funding they receive from the taxpayers. >> reporter: the census bureau severed its ties. they no longer want a.c.o.r.n.s help counting low income families. the senate voted overwhelmingly to cut off all money for a.c.o.r.n. they say they have been targeted unfairly. today, a.c.o.r.n.s crow review

of practices. >> we would terminate anyone who did not abide by our professional standards. >> reporter: still, the images do not fade quickly, even among friends. lisa myers, nbc news, washington. we turn now to health care on the reform bill from the senate finance committee, a plan that's been in the works for more than a year now. it's supposed to reflect compromise between democrats and republicans. kelly o'donnell live on the hill with details. this landed with a decided thud today. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it was a milestone after months of build up that this senate plan would be the best lance chance for republicans and democrats to come together. instead, we saw max baucus by himself making the case that much of what's in it is what president obama said he wanted in the big address to congress last week and in the campaign style event that is followed.

forget bipartisanship support for now. no gop support and some democrats aren't behind it, either. everyone would have to buy health insurance coverage, with help, if you can't afford it. if you refuse, you pay a penalty, up to $3800 for families. this is new, health insurance companies and drug companies pay taxes an fees to help pay for it. also new, it would not add to the federal deficit and comes in at a cheaper price. overall, $900 billion. that's what the president asked for. brian. >> it goes on from here. there are new details tonight in the case of yale university. police say they now know that graduate student annie le was strong led and there are new developments into who might have killed her. jeff is at police headquarters this evening. good evening. >> reporter: good evening. new haven police headquarters in connecticut. they have gathered 250 pieces of

physical evidence, but still no arrests. last night, police took 24-year-old raymond clark into custody. they called him a person of interest in the murder of annie le. >> we know where he is at at all times. >> reporter: police took bags of potential evidence from his apartment. after searching his car, they towed it away. they say he cooperated and was released early this morning. >> he invoked his rights. at some point he may be willing to ask questions. >> reporter: monday, law enforcement sources told nbc news a yale technician, whom they would not name fail add lie detector test and had defensive wounds. her body was stuffed in the walls in the basement of the research l. today, the medical examiner released the cause of death, traumatic asphyxia. the person of interest, raymond clark lives with his fiance 20 miles from campus.

raymond clark has not been arrested. the victims family and friends hope for a break in the case. >> doing dna as we speak. i could get the results in 30 minutes or it could be hours. it's all up to the lab, now. >> reporter: as police wait for the dna results, they will not make an arrest until they get them. >> jeff, thanks. our own justice correspondent, pete williams is report iing the fib is searchin the denver home of the man at the center of a higprofile terror investigation. it's related to a series of work in new york. the fbi has had the same man under surveillance for awhile. agents searched his apartment today. he lives with his parents, immigrants from afghanistan. he says he's not a terrorist and was not planning an attack. authorities say they found documents in his rented car that

contain formulas for explosives. when our broadcast continues on a wednesday night, what is the connection between the internet and wireless devices and the spread of the swine flu? later, a moment of truth for a parent on the spot. it happened during a televised major league baseball game. during a televised major league baseball game. you've wanted to quit smoking so many times, but those days came and went, and the cigarettes remained. but today's a new day. and a few simple steps can make a real difference in your next quit... things like starting with a plan to quit smoking... getting support... and talking to your doctor about how prescription treatments can help you.

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lucky you to get zero percent apr for 60 months or 5000 cash back on an '09 super duty. so, to hit it big on every built ford tough truck... forget vegas. it's truck month! only at you local ford dealer. we have a story about the swine flu epidemic, going viral. this may be the first epidemic of the twitter age and social media and government are playing a new and combined role here. our report from our chief science correspondent, robert bazell. >> reporter: when pandemic and influenza struck the last two times in 1957 and 1968 -- >> the three astronauts about to leave for the moon have had flu shots. >> reporter: the information revolution was in its infancy. they are taking advantage of internet technology to track the current pandemic.

>> one resource. >> reporter: at a children east hospital in boston, epidemiologist, dr. john brownstein developed an application for the iphone. it works two ways. >> it sends back to the phone alerts about h1n1 in your vicinity or where you may be. the second way, people can report about illness into the system. >> reporter: the trends google flu from around the world. in the u.s., it's been consistent with the cdcs reporting of the cases, from selected doctors and hospitals across the country. there's the combination of twitter and google earth. it shows people's comments about the flu or related problems and where they are in real-time. potentially identifying where cases are occurring and where they are most serious. >> you can see what's happening. >> reporter: another internet

tool, healthmap.org compile reports about many diseases. >> in texas, we are seeing huge amounts. >> reporter: the high-tech tools may some day be weapons on the war on flu. the simplest way to reduce your risk is the best, wash your hands frequently and get the vaccine when it becomes available. robert bazell, nbc news, new york. a lot of people have questions about the swine flu. we'd like to take a whack at yours. you can e-mail them to us. bob bazell will answer as many as humanly possible online and here on the broadcast tomorrow night. >> we have had so many celebrity deaths to report of late. we learned tonight, the latest is henry gibson. depending or your generation, you may know him as the off beat poet fm roan and martin's "laugh-in" on nbc or as the

judge on "boston legal." he was an air force veteran. his biggest film role was "nashville." henry gibson died of cancer at his home in malibu. he was 73. when we come back, the best kept secret in america. these days, a secret no more. in america. these days, a secret no more. i've had asthma forever. i've had asthma for 5 years. 10 years. i used to wonder why my controller medicine wouldn't help prevent... ...help prent my symptoms from coming back. i just figured it couldn't get any better. and then i found out something i didn't know... i found out there are two main causes of asthma symptoms... ...airway constriction you feel and inflammation you may not. most controllele don't treat both. so my doctor prescribed advair. advair treats both main causes to help prevent symptoms in the first place. (announcer) advair contains salmeterol. salmeterol may increase the chance of asthma-related death. so advair is not for asthma that's well controlled on another controller medicine. advair will not replace fast-acting inhalers

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jobs, retraining and a better education opened up a new era. now, community colleges are actually struggling to keep up with the demand. our port from michelle >> reporter: it takes a dedicated student to get up for a predawn biology class. community colleges are jammed. you can see it in classes, standing room only and in the parking lot. >> i got nothing for you. there's no parking. >> reporter: a daily lesson on how thecono made affordable education so crucial and difficult to provide at the same time. >> we are talking about development. >> reporter: here at miami-dade, the largest in the country, well over capacity at 170,000 students, the demand for classes this semester crashed the computer system. >> the amount of students here --

>> reporter: ben jackson was at a private university until tuition hikes sent him moving back in with mom and dad and embracing the community college. >> it's for the better. it's to save money. >> reporter: t schools themselves are scrambling to afford it. around the country, double-digit increases. california had to slash course offerings up to 20%. in miami, departments were eliminated, tuition rose, thousands of studenting we unable to get into the classes they need. as a result, many students had to delay graduation. when you can't be a full time student, it's a problem. >> the issue could be defined in one word. it's the word opportunity. >> reporter: he chairs the association of american colleges and universities got his start here at miami dade, the only

school he could afford. today, om a third of the students live in poverty. >> this is the worst i have seen, not being able to serve the thousands and thousands of students who want to come. >> reporter: here and around the country, a struggle to remain an open door to everyone who wants to learn. michelle kosinski, nbc news, miami. when we come back, we meet a little girl and dad who were on a lot of tv highlights last night because of what happened at the ballpark. highlights last night because of what happened at the ballpark. in the all-new ford taurus. sfx: ((sync beep)) please say a command. read message. highway 8 closed. update route. turn right on silver road. we speak car. we speak innovation. introducing the all-new taurus from ford. drive one. and i was so tender to the touch-- but i didn't know why.

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some sword play at the white house and nobody got hurt and they didn't put anybody's eyes out. it was an event to honor the olympic and paraolympic games. the first lady soon leaves for copenhagen to lobby for the games to be awarded to her hometown. if you have ever had a 3-year-old daughter, this next story may have special meaning to you. but, by no means do you have to be a parent to appreciate the unique moment that took place at a televised baseball game last night. a dad takes his daughter to the ballpark. a foul ball comes their way. wh happens next, made it the highlight of the day.

the story from ron allen in new jersey. >> reporter: little emily was taking her turn at bat today with her dad pitching balls and strikes. he's a lifelong philadelphia phillies fan who, since being a kid himself, dreamed of the magical baseball moment, catching a foul ball at the game. >> i've reached out. >>eporter: last night, it came to one glorious moment. >> to the lower deck. great play, dad. >> reporter: emily was not impressed. >> handshakes all around. souvenir for the little lady. >> reporter: the entire stadium shared his pain. >> my initial reaction was ñmt no, if foul ball i have been waiting for went over the edge into nowhere. >> check this out. dad catches the foul ball, gives it to the daughter. oh, no. no! you have to hold on to that, sweetie!

>> reporter: the biggest highlight came when he shifted into daddy's mode. >> the look on her face said i may have done something wrong. a little startled look. i just wanted to give h a hug and say it's okay. i was proud of seeing the replays of the throw. >> reporter: today, a post game comment from emily. >> remember when daddy caught the ball yesterday? >> yeah. >> reporter: and you threw it back? >> yeah. >> why? >> because i did. >> reporter: the phillies gave her another baseball. here, was a refreshing happy emily still wasn't impressed. ending. a daddy-daughter moment behind home plate. ron allen, nbc news, laurel springs, new yk. >> what are you going to do? >> that's our broadcast from this wednesday night. thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you back tomorrow evening. good night.