>> now, you got to question that one, though, because his brother goes to purdue. >> but up until now he's good. >> i don't know. a good track record. on our broadcast here tonight, it's getting ugly as anger over health care reform erupts into over-the-top rhetoric including threats now against members of congress. hard lessons. something new we learned today about american school kids and shows they are not making the grade. lending a hand. one bank's plan to help home owners drowning in debt. does it go far enough? making a difference by teaching kids dreams really can come true one step at a time. also tonight, another television favorite is gone. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. it can now be said the debate over health care reform has gone too far. it's now veered into threats of violence and tonight ten democrats who have been threatened are under increased security. the rise in tension and political division has been months, years in the making. sunday's party line vote in the house sent it over the top. what amounted to a huge victory for the white house was instead a rallying cry for the opposition. and today, there were calls to calm down the anger. we begin here tonit with nbc's kelly o'donnell on capitol hill. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. there is a sense of alarm here tonight and there is caution about what should happen next. there are members of congress who have requested extra security and the u.s. capitol police tell us they have provided security briefings. leaders of both parties are treading carefully publically condemning threats and vandalism, but not wanting to

have attention encourage other attacks. >> we have been meeting with the capitol police and the fbi who are obviously concerned, as well. >> reporter: that sobering assessment from top house democrats today after at least ten members of congress reported threatening incidents. they suspect the acts are politically motivateand link to the house passage of health care reform. do you feel that your members are really at risk in terms of their security? >> yes. i think we've had very serious incidents that have occurred over the last 48, 72 hours. >> reporter: from shattered glass blown out by a pellet gun at the district office of democrat gabrielle gifford, to a brick thrown through a window at the new york office of louise slaughter. >> in niagara falls we had the fbi, local police and sheriff all in there working together on it. >> reporter: today at this virginia home, a propane tank line was found severed.

thomas perriello's brother lives there. that address had reportedly been posted on a conservative active website with a message to drop by. democrats accuse republicans for stirring a hostile move and connect that by republicans to slow thing downs in the senate today. >> the process that got us here has been ugly. >> no more than an attempt to stop and kill this reconciliation bill and we can't allow that to happen. >> reporter: republicans offered dozens of amendments, trying to derail a final package of fixes to the health care reform law and accuse democrats of ignoring the republic. >> the arrogance is palpable and inexcusable. >> reporter: political anger and frustration on vivid display, in ways both civilized and over the line. kelly o'donnell, nbc news, the capitol. this is savannah guthrie at the white house where the president's spokesman said passionate views over health

care shouldn't turn violent. >> we ought to exercise those views, not in a way that threats anybody's safety or security or foments violence. >> wait a minute, wait a minute. >> reporter: washington's epic 14-month battle over health care has exposed an angry side of america. >> kill the bill! >> reporter: and the fault lines of a fundamental philosophical divide. how big government should be and how involved in people's lives. the back drop of wall street bailouts and main street suffering only sharpening the break. >> this is an argument that goes all the way back to the founding of the country. during times of economic distress, this argument, which is always simmering, explodes. we saw it in the 1930s and we're seeing it again today. >> reporter: wrapped around the brick that smashed the door of democratic party headquarters in rochester, new york, a note with the barry goldwater quote, "extremism in defense of liberty is no vice."

on twitter, sarah palin told followers, "don't retreat, reload." while an alabama man advocated armed uprising. >> the mussels of 3 million rifles that can be pointed at the hearts of anyone who wants to be a tyrant in this country. >> reporter: at the tea party protest at the capital this weekend, some demonstrators threw racial and sexually-charged insults at members of the congress. former wush white house advisor karl rove suggested these are the growing pains of a burgeoning political movement. >> some times the rhetoric is raw and angry. that's the down side. the up side is a large number of people have been spectators have been motivated by deep concern about our country to get involved in politics. >> reporter: the president today signed an executive order designed to prove and show that the new health care law es not allow for federal funding of

abortion. that was key to that last-minute deal with anti-abortion democrats that put health care reform over the line. brian? >> savannah guthrie along with kelly o'donnell reporting our lead story tonight. thanks to you both. one more note on this new health care law, the secretary of health and human services says her department is working to fix a problem with one of the main selling points the president used in pushing for this bill. insurance coverage for children with pre-existing conditions. turns out insurance companies can still refuse to write new insurance policies for children with medical problems. hhs says it will clarify these rules so all kids will be eligible for coverage. we got a status report on american students today. a national report card on reading skills across the country, and it's barely a passing grade. the story from our education correspondent rehema ellis. >> reporter: according to the the nation's report card, students' overall academic achievement is stagnant.

some 340,000 students took the test known as the national assessment of educational progress. while the results show encouraging progress in math, they also show over a two-year period, eighth graders' reading scores and comprehension improved only slightly. fourth grader scores were virtually unchanged. it means only 33% of fourth graders were proficient or better in reading, while just 32% of eighth graders were reading at grade level. >> the world is demanding more and more of our students and we have to keep continuously improving. >> reporter: another troubling point, the results show no change in the achievement gap. white fourth graders on average scored 230 on a 500 point scale. hispanics and blacks scored 205, almost the same figures from the last time the tests were given. today's report focuses more criticism on the landmark "no child left behind law," with some experts charging there's been too much testing and not

enough teaching despite the billions of dollars spent on the program. >> i think part of it is an obsession with tests. students need to love to read. >> reporter: yet contrary to the national trend, some states have shown progress. in the nation's capital where students have been among the worst readers, principal jamal wright says their scores jumped 10%. >> we specifically target those kids not reading on gradlevel and work with them and provide interventions for them. >> reporter: tonight, more proof america's schools have to work more on the fundamentals to get a better report card. rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. now to news on the housing markets. still struggling badly, even though the government has made a huge effort to prop it up. prices are down 28% from the peak back in '06. 1/4 of american borrowers own more on their mortgage than their home is worth.

that led to bank of america to announce today it's taking a step it hasn't taken before. our report from diana olick. >> reporter: in the spring housing market, the number of foreclosure signs is growing, driving prices down further across the nation's neighborhoods. one out of every five home loans in the u.sis held by bank of america, the nation's largest mortgage company which took on 12 million loans from failed countrywide financial in 2008. as part of that deal, b of a is launching a small test program that gives borrowers back their equity, about $3 billion worth. >> we are starting with this program and going to test it here and hope to expand it in the future. >> reporter: in fact, the program could be the model for a change in the treasury's modification plan. >> we have been talking to treasury. other large services talking to treasury about programs similar to this for que some time. i think the treasury is close

deciding whether they want to go forward with this program. >> reporter: say your home is worth $100,000. under the plan, bank of america will forgive temporarily up to 30% or in this case, $30,000, lowering your monthly payment and hopefully bringing the equity in your home closer to its market value. there are conditions. your loan balance must be at least 20% more than your home's value. your payments must be on time for five years, and in exchange for paying on time, bank of america will make 1/5 of that temporary 30% reduction permanent each year. >> it's a big deal because for three years the banks have been resisting any kind of principal write down. >> reporter: resisting it because it's expensive and because many like this california home owner say it spends the wrong message. >> why reward people for bad habits that don't try? >> reporter: while bank of america has more than a million delinquent loans this program will only help about 45,000 borrowers. if other banks and the government follow, it could finally stabilize home prices, which might put the critics to rest.

diana olick, cnbc, washington. more on the white house meeting late yesterday between president obama and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. it was so low profile it says a lot about the chill between two long-time allies. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has details on just what happened last night and what didn't. >> reporter: you could call it the case of the disappearing israeli prime minister, gone missing in the white house for hours. 5:29 last night, benjamin netanyahu arrived to see the president one-on-one no aides. officials say president obama asked netanyahu to compromise and get peace talks restarted. unlike past white house meetings with israeli leaders, this time no press. only underscoring the tense relations. 6:17, netanyahu's car is back. is the meeting over? >> is he on his way out right now? >> not yet. >> reporter: 7:33, the president heads to his residence, but

netanyahu stays. where is he? turns out, camped out for almost an hour with israel's defense minister and other advisors in the roosevelt room, just across the hall from the oval office. 8:20. the prime minister asks the president to come back downstairs for a second oval office meeting. they talk for another 35 minutes. 9:10, netanyahu finally emerges, the dispute still not resolved. >> there are areas of agreement, areas of disagreement, and that conversation is ongoing. >> reporter: this afternoon, middle east negotiators george mitchell and dennis ross picked up where the president left off, this time at netanyahu's hotel. >> our goal is the resumption of negotiations. >> reporter: clinton and netanyahu have been sparring, a saga of unreturned phone calls, statements of condemnation, and on jerusalem, defiance. >> jerusalem is not a settlement. it's our capital.

>> reporter: tonight netanyahu is holed up in his hotel and so far no one is inviting him back to the white house, andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. there's been a hopeful breakthrough in talks between the u.s. and russia that could sharply reduce the number of nuclear weapons on both sides. negotiators have been trying to hammer out a deal for almost a year. president obama and russian president medvedev could sign a treaty in prague early next month. when we come back, a new look who is getting hit hardes on the jobs front. ♪ [ slap! ] ♪ [ slap! ] ♪ [ slap! slap! slap! slap! slap! ] [ slap! slap! slap! slap! slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster.

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mara decampo. >> now home during the day, this woman sees first hand how unemployment is affecting her harlem neighborhood. >> i thought it would be more quiet. these are adults on the corner. a year ago they had jobs. >> reporter: it's the same story in african-american communities all over the nation, with the national unemployment rate standing at 9.7%, it's a staggering 15.8% for blacks. >> pulled me to the side and told me business is slow, we have to lay some people off. >> i've been looking for two years. >> reporter: in today's "state of black america report," national urban league president mark morial paints a grim picture. >> black america is suffering. the recession has had a very tough impact. >> reporter: in muskegon, michigan, about 30% black, the head of the job placement center is letting people go.

>> i had to lay off a couple people and had to cut hours. >> reporter: though president obama this month signed a $17.6 billion jobs bill, the urban league says it's not enough. >> we need the kind of powerful response to the jobs crisis that we saw to the banking crisis. >> reporter: they're urging a more targeted approach, funding for job training, a summer work program for teens, establishing credit for small businesses and tax incentives for creating green jobs, all designed to empower the neediest communities. it's a spirit embraced by clark who is freelancing now planning her future. >> i've been able to reevaluate what i want to do next. >> reporter: working through challeing times where finding a job is the toughest job of all. nbc news, new york. when we come back, springtime in denver. you know things are bad when you can't make it to the slopes. springtime in denver. you know things are bad when you can't make it to the slopes. fill out and mail back the census today.

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spring may be a few days old, but it's not how it looked in denver today. fierce snowstorm left the city a mess, caused chaos for travelers trying to get to or from those spring ski vacations. an estimated 5,000 people stuck at the airport as almost two feet of wet snow fell in some areas of the metro area. tonight weote the deaths of two trail blazing women. a pioneering pilot, elinor smith sullivan. she was voted pilot of the year in 1930 over amelia earhart. she set speed, solo endurance and aitude records in a thoroughly male-dominated occupation. she famously flew under four major new york bridges. she once qualified to fly the space shuttle simulator. she last flew in 2001. she was 98 years old. and ella mae johnson died after witnessing more than a century of african-american

history. she went to fiske on scholarship and was the first black student at her grad school studying to be a social worker. at the age of 105 she bundled up in a down sleeping bag determined to see obama's inauguration which she called the highlight of her life. she made it to 106 appropriate for her memoir entitled, "it is well within my soul." and hollywood is reacting to word late today of the death of actor robert culp, best known for the part co-starring with bill cosby in "i spy" from '65 to '68. cosby broke the so-called color barrier in that series. both men were involved in the civil rights movement. culp was a screenwriter and he appeared in the film "bob and carol and ted and alice." he died after a fall outside hits home in hollywood this morning.

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report tonight is about kids. learning how it's done by a pro who never forgot where he came from. it allows him to share his talent with kids and teach them they can do the same thing and find hope along the way. the story tonight from nbc's natalie morales. ♪ 5735,600 minutes >> reporter: while it's singing in harmony or dancing to the beat, for the past three years, this school has taught a thousand kids in the new york city area to dream big. it's that dream that got luiz from puerto rico to broadway. >> i got to find who i was because of art, because of dancing, singing, acting. >> reporter: now as an assistant choreographer and dancer in the acclaimed "in the heights," he

formed the nonprofit dancing group with his colleagues, giving free singing, dancing and drama lessons, especially for latino kids like him. >> i come from a poor family. this is what's fun for me. this is where i can feel safe. >> reporter: the school teaches kids not only at its summer camp, but at schools where students have limited resources. like at mercy school in the bronx. >> the part that i like about dancing and acting, i get to express myself in a whole new different way. it's just, i just love it. >> reporter: these classes helped the once-shy elissa come out of her shell. >> i let nobody knock me down, nobody tell me i can't do something. i just keep on going. >> reporter: and they even take them to broadway. some theaters nate tickets to allow the students to see and experience the music and magic of broadway first hand. their motto, "dare to go

beyond." this woman credits them to give her that courage to land gigs on her own. >> being like, oh, my god, these people made it. i can make it, too. >> it goes in circles. they are learning from us art and learning to be inspired, but we are learning it's possible to make the change we wish to see in the world. >> reporter: changing children's lives one step at a time. natalie morales, nbc news, new york. and a quick update on the making a difference report from last night. a lot of my fellow dog lovers responded to our story about some folks who look after the pets of u.s. soldiers when they head off to war. so much so, in fact, the responses crashed the organization's website as hundreds of our viewers, potential new dog watchers signed up to help their fellow citizens. that is our broadcast for this wednesday night. as always, we thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams.

we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com