on our broadcast tonight, turning it on. team usa set to break recds here in vancouver as some old rivalries heat up. at risk, a warning tonight about a popular diabetes medication, what suld you do if you use it? big ship do. dozens of students stranded in rough waters after their ship capsized. tonight their amazing rescue. and wild ride. it's the newest sport at these olympics, like nothing else we've ever seen on snow. olympics, like nothing else we've ever seen on snow. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television reporting tonight from the

olympic winter games in vancouver. good evening. a major news story is emerging from these olympic winter games, and that story is the performance of team usa. not all that much was made of their chances during the run-up to these games, beyond a few individual athletes. but they have all been working so hard coming into vancouver. tonight, it shows. they may leave vancouver with a record number of medals. here's the medal count so far. the u.s. with 21 and that puts them atop the leaderboard at these games. lester holt is covering this all day. lester, good evening. >> good evening, brian. the most medals the u.s. had won in a nondomestic olympics was 25 four years ago in torino. given the american strength in events still to come, some experts believe the u.s. could rack up another 10 medals here shattering that record before these games end. >> a hug straight air for

shaun. >> with a full week of competition ahead, every one of america's most promising hopes and then some has already delivered. >> sometimes that pressure can get to you, and i think we've done a good job as a whole of sort of standing up and holding our heads high and wearing our usa on our back with pride. >> along with evan like sek, white, vonn, davis, onh omb ode. >> they're looets in the prime of their careers and they're mentally ready to do it. >> the american dominance is fueled by a strong showing in alpine events. >> once that momentum starts, everyone wants that more. >> that momentum includes the u.s.'s first medal in the nordic combined, and athletes who exceeded expectations like skier julia mancuso with two sill verz and the bronze medal in the super g, a skier who has never

placed better than 10th in a world cup race. >> mental conditioning, nutrition, psychology, it's wrapped into a package when our athletes arrived on site, they were prepared and relaxed and felt good about being here in whistler in vancouver. >> the u.s. alpine results validate the training approach of the privately funded sfr for american excellence in park city, utah established after the torino games. >> the level of support that the athletes have been given is night and day compared to in the past, and we should see that reflect in the results. >> it's reignited rivalries of old. the russian skater's bitter loss has sparked disappointment in the former soviet union with russia sitting in 8th place in the medal count. >> i think it's a shame that our team is performing that badly. it's quite unexpected. >> unexpected is canada's performance, too. after a multi-million dollar

push to own the podium in its homeland games, it ranks 4th here, though with several gold medals. >> on the podium the canadians aren't subletting the podium. >> team usa is snatching up canada real estate. apolo onho competes tonight. he could win his 7th medal, he could be the most decorated olympian ever. >> lester holt covering it. wi turn to troubling news about a widely used diabetes medicine. confidential fda studies are confidential no more recommend that the drug avandia be removed from the market because of a link to heart attacks and failure. nancy snyderman is here with us in vancouver. nancy, this controversy is not new. >> it's not new, and trouble has been bubbling around avandia for

quite sometime today. the senate finance committee made news because it issued a letter critical of the medica medication, glaxco smith klein and the fda. the fda has acknowledged 83,000 cases of heart attacks for patients on this medication between 1999 and 2007. they have studied over 250,000 internal documents and has concluded that the company and the fda have delayed in taking action, that action to remove it it from the market. gsk, however, maintains that this medication has a role, should be on the market, and is indeed needed to control blood sugar in so many diabetic patients, brian. >> it's one thing to say this. the natural question is if you're on it, know someone who is, what should they do? >> that'where the water is muddied right now. this senate letter was as much an indictment of the fda as

avandia. there are other medications out there, but it may not be enough to ask your doctor. a lot of doctors will be confused, too, and not having the answers and not having clear alternatives really goes to the core of the problem, that after all these reports and years, why don't we have more definitive news to ge patients? >> nancy snyderman with what we know tonight. in washington thousands of conservatives wrapping up a three-day meeting meant to energize supporters ahead of the mid-term elections. the conservative political action conference is also considered an important stop for aspiring republican presidential candidates. our report tonight from nbc's mike vicera. >> reporter: for conservatives what aiffence a year makes. >> it's take back washington time. we've got the fever. >> reporter: let for dead many many, conservatives sense a

weakened white house. >> the president obama has lost his mojo. >> reporter: while experts give republicans a chance to take back congress later this year. the former vice president is setting the bar even higher. >> i think barack obama is a one-term president. >> reporter: playing out over the past three daze in washington, a parade of presidential as pie rants lined up to take turns bashing mr. obama and democrats on spending. >> i think we should take a nine iron and smash the window out of big government in the country. >> reporter: on the economy. >> when it comes to pinning blame, pin the tail on the donkeys. >> and on the size of government. >> whether it comes to more bailouts the answer? >> no. >> when the conservatives have their conventions and they yell at me and say how terrible i am -- >> reporter: as he was under attack in washington, the president was out west campaigning for vulnerable democrats and defending his

record. mr. obama vowed to move ahead with his agenda. >> it is vital for our economy to change how health care works in this country. >> reporter: late today conservatives wrapped up their meeting with a presidential straw poll to pick the favorite candidate for 2012. the winner was ron paul. nbc news, washington. now we go overseas to afghanistan where u.s. marines and afghan troops advanced but encountered stiff resistance today in their week-long offensive against the taliban's ronghold of marja. they're in the midst of a tough fight and know it. meanwhile the president complained no is not doing enough to prevent civilian casualties with this. with another death today the number of civilian casualties in the operation has risen to now at least 16. one program note. an important program tomorrow. the wars in afghanistan and iraq

will be among the topics on "meet the press." general david petraeus will join david gregory exclusively tomorrow. alex and haig died today. he was 85 years old. the cause of death? complications from an infection. today president obama called him a he great american. haig was a top adviser to three presidents, former secretary of state, white house chief of staff, a four-star general and combat veteran, but it was one moment at a time of great stress for the country, one remark that overshadowed an otherwise stellar career and became known almost in verb form as pulling an al haig. our look back tonight on his life from our chief foreign correspondent andrea mitchell. >> reporter: alexander haig had a long life including stellar military service but he will be remembered for his comments the day ronald reagan was shot. march 30th, 1981.

haig secretary of state rusd to the briefing room. >> constitutionally, gentlemen, you have the president, the vice president, and the secretary of state in that order and should the president decide he wants to transfer the helm to the vice president, 'he will do so. as of now i am in control here in the white house. >>eporter: he said i am in control, but clearly he was not, and he misstated the constitution. the secretary of state is not third in line for the presidency. that misstep and other conflicts with the reagan staff cut short haig's tenure at the state department. he crafted stronger relations with china, but was replaced after only a year and a half. a decade earlier after the watergate scanl, haig had run the white house and some said the country during richard nixon's chaotic final days. >> there wasn't anybody there when i he got to the white house. the two key men were gone.

the other men were all indicted or indictable or under grand jury investigation. >> reporter: during that crisis haig tried to orchestrate a pardon for nixon. then vice president gerald ford refused the deal, and in august 1974 nixon quit anyway. a month later ford did pardon nixon, causing a storm of controversy. in 1988 haig briefly ran for president. throughout his career, alexander haig fought many battles, but from west point to torre ya and vietnam and nato, this military man will be most remembered for the battles he fought in the political arena. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. still ahead tonight as our broadcast continues this saturday night from vancouver, a dramatic rescue on the high seas when a majestic tall ship filled with students sinks. later, the american medal winner whose already beaten the odds at these olympic games, getting

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covering at the funeral. >> reporter: he was carried through the streets by family and friends and laid to rest at church in his hometown. georgian officials from around the country came t partake in the ceremony, including the president. he was actually wearing the georgian olympic uniform during the ceremony. there's been little talk today about the controversy over who is to blame for this tragedy, bullet georgian officials are waiting for the investigations to conclude and when they have the results from those investigations and the family support, they say they may pursue legal action. no one in this town or in country in general has told us that they think nodar was inexperienced. >> stephanie reporting on the sad events there in the republic of georgia. as the games here in vancouver continue, among the highlights speed skate her apolo ono will be racing along with j.r. celski, who took bronze

last saturday when ono won the silver medal. celski's story tonight from nbc's ron mott. >> reporter: it happened in a flash last september. j.r. celski's proud parents watching and recording the memories. slip, crash, pain. then blood. >> i felt every minute of the pain, and how stunned everybody else was. the rink was completely silent, and my mom was screaming and that's the only thing i heard. >> reporter: his left thigh sliced to the bone by his own skate blade, his femoral artery and possibly his life sparded by a mere inch. from three-year-old roller skater, he had finally caught hometown rival and olympic star apolo ono and now it seemed his charge to the top was over or was it?

he spent much of the fall here at the u.s. olympic complex in colorado surrounded by a team of sports medicine professionals. even they thought he faced long odds to get back on the ice in time. recovery was painful physically and emotionally. he was poked and prodded and poked and stretched and imaged and analyzed. but 60 days after the accident, j.r. celski's sharpened the blade that betrayed him and went skating. closing in once again on his olympic debut with every determined stride, finding purpose in the struggle. >> he says, you know, doctor, i'm really glad this happened to me. this is the first injury i have, and you know what? i learned about myself. now i know that i can meet adversity. >> thank you. >> reporter: olympic speed skating champion involved in the assessment of his injury says such adversity might have defeated many others. >> people sort of dwell on

injuries and it will become a big hurdle for them. for him it was a speed bump in the road. >> reporter: it was literally a speed bump that catapulted se celski ontote podium for the first time. >> if i didn't think about anything but racing that night i'd prevail. >> reporter: a bronze medal. ron mott, nbc news, colorado springs. when we come back, high drama on the high seas. when a tall ship carrying dozens of students goes down. ♪ you're gonna be satisfied now you can double your extracare rewards. for a limited time, you can earn double bucks on prescriptions and on cvs/pharmacy brand items. ♪ gonna double your lovin', double your fun ♪ ♪ you get two for the price of one ♪ double bucks means double savings! sign up for double bucks today, only at cvs/pharmacy.

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huge story developing in europe. flooding and mudslides today on the portuguese island of madera triggered by a violent rainstorm. at least 32 deaths reported. it swept away homes, cars, anything else in the path really. the storm has ended, and no more heavy rain is expected at least in the next few days. we have an amazing story tonight of a ship wreck off the coast of brazil. more than 40 high school and college students were aboard a tall ship that capsized and sank in high winds about 300 miles from rio de janeiro on wednesday. today everyone on board returned to shore after a dramatic rescue. the story from nbc's mike tibbia. >> reporter: it's a education at seas program from nova skoech

ya. >> it's a high school whose classroom travels around the world. >> reporter: the tall ship, is a 20-year-old version of a 19th senltary world traveler. only on this trip on wednesday afternoon, a gathering storm unleashed two bursts of rouge wind powerful enough to knock this 188-foot ship on its side. on its way from brazil to uruguay and 300 miles off the coast, it was sinking and it was everyone to the life rafts, 64 students and crew for nearly two days. >> some he were really, really seasi seasick. it was really rough seas and raining. >> we thought we were going to die. >> reporter: no one died because an emergency beacon signaled their position. the life rafts were spotted from the air and they were rescued by friday afternoon. in rio de janeiro, relatives of some of the students almost all of them canadian waited for the

rescue ships to arrive. in the movie version of a similar story ridley scott's "white squall" the students battle the storm at sea. these students, mostly high school students juniors and seniors battled their own storm. >> everyone is safe. there were only very min injuries. >> reporter: you have to think that the tag line for the trip's promotional video. >> this experience is something that i will never forget. >> reporter: will forever, for everyone endured a sinking of far at sea and two days of drifting have a totally different meaning. nbc news, new york. still ahead as we continue, we'll look at the new sport at these winter olympic games. it's been called part nascar on skis. you may want to grab ahold of something while you watch. [ female announcer ] it's lobsterfest.

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enroll today. back here in vancouver, we have a look tonight at the only new sport at these 2010 olympic winter games called ski cross, and as nbc's kevin tibbles reports both competitors and spectators are in for a wild ride there. >> reporter: it may have a rather mundane name, ski cross, but this new olympic sport is anything but boring. >> ski cross is a combination of motor cross and bullriding.

probably the most exciting thing you can do on skis. >> reporter: four skiers plummeting down the side of the mountain, not racing the clock but each other to the finish. each and every race is a white-knuckled ride. headlining the u.s. team a pair of alpine legends. casey puckett and darren rolfs. both lured out of retirement by the thrill of the sport. just when the ski world thought they hung them up, the revival is taking the word comeback to the extreme. you're both in your 30s, and you're in this new wild and crazy sport. when the heck are you going to grow up? >> that's why we're doing it. why grow up, you know? >> there is an element of craziness, because, you know, it's all up in the amplt whir. when you step into that gate, you don't have control over it. you have control over what you're doing, but you don't have control over the tee guys you're competing against.

>> reporter: he's one of the most decorated downhill skiers in u.s. history, winning 12 world cup races. he retired from the sport in 2006. he and wife, michelle, now have two children. puckett retired in 2002 and also has two children with his former wife, kate. >> it's like two lives, you know. i come home, and i immerse myself in the lives of my daughters and try to spend as much time as i can with them. >> when they're not pulling their kids on a bike, they're pushing themselves to the edge. sometimes with consequences. he crashed and dislocated his hip, while puckett is recovering from a separated shoulder. but banged up or not, they're in vancouver to win. >> i still have light in ta lot tank and it's fun. >> reporter: for this high-flying duo the pull of the mountain will always be there no matter what their age. kevin tibbles, nbc news, colorado. that's "nightly news" for

this saturday night. a reminder, nbc sports olympic coverage coming up at 8:00, 7:00 central. we're reporting from vancouver. we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com