win was 2, 2, 2, 2 back in september of 2002. tuesday we will all go on our broadcast tonight, how good is today's news on jobs? the numbers are up, but there's more you should know. flight safety. there's news tonight about pilots taking certain medications. and new rules for screening passengers who may be dangerous. on good friday, the catholic church tries a new defense as the scandal takes a toll worldwide. the next big thing. the lines are already formed. it goes on sale in the morning. question is, can you live without it? and a woman making a difference for young people with a chance their parents never had. also, another famous name in hollywood is gone tonight. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. one reporter today put it this way, the clouds have parted. more jobs were added to american payrolls last month. and in this economy, that is good news. there's no other way to slice it and the president couldn't wait to get out on the road and talk about it. while there are still so many americans out there looking for work, some of them have stopped looking. there were also predictions today that something of a corner has been turned here and recovery might now start to feel real to more americans. here's the number, 162,000 new jobs last month. the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7%. we'll begin our coverage here tonight at the white house with our chief white house correspondent chuck todd. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it's the type of jobs report this country and the white house has been waiting for more

than a year. a possible sign that not only have we hit bottom on this jobs issue, but maybe things are starting look up. >> we are beginning to turn the corner. >> reporter: that was president obama in charlotte today, touting the first truly positive jobs report on his watch. >> at the same time it's important to emphasize while we've come a long way, we've still got a ways to go. economic statistics don't do justice to the pain and anxiety that results from unemployment. >> reporter: and the president's chief economist also provided a reality check. >> we've lost more than 8 million jobs so it's going to take a lot of months of even faster job growth than this to really fill in that hole. >> reporter: and there is still plenty of pain and anxiety deeper in the numbers. the unemployment rate among african-americans actually increased last month, nearly a full percentage point to 16.5%. for hispanics, 12.6%.

long-term unemployment went up, not down. percentage of americans out of work six months or longer make up a staggering 44% of the jobless. and theris anxty at a savannah, georgia, jobs fair. michelle rankin has been out of work for two years. >> i'll take just about anything. >> reporter: economists were impressed. >> numbers were better than we were expecting. we were expecting about 150,000. however, we were expecting a bigger boost from the census jobs and that wasn't the case. a lot came from private employment. nothing bad about that. >> reporter: back in north carolina at an expanding high-tech battery plant, the president was an optimist. >> what we can see here in this plant is that the worst of the storm is over. brighter days are still ahead. >> reporter: now, brian, republican criticism was not surprisingly muted with the biggest complaint being, guess what? this job growth isn't fast enough. >> chuck todd starting us off on

a friday night at the white house. thanks. we want to turn to a guy we turn to a lot on these questions, cnbc senior economics reporter steve liesman. how about a reality check? when we come on the air and give the headline, 162,000 new jobs, what aren't we saying at the same time? >> reporter: first, brian, you had me on to tell a lot of bad news. i can say for the first time in about two years this is the first legitimate piece of good news we had in the job market. it leads economists to think maybe this is going to be a self-sustaining job growth here. the revisions were good, workweek was up. even jobs in manufacturing and construction. we are not saying as chuck alluded to this the long-term unemployed. earnings are down. a lot of the jobs are temporary so they are not the best jobs out there. i would think of this as a flow of a river into the lake and the flow of the unemployed has stopped. the lake is still 8 million people unemployed, 25 million underemployed in this country, but what we have today the first trickle out.

it's a trickle. it needs to be 300,000, 400,000 a month to make a dent in the huge pool of unemployed workers in america today. >> always a wizard of imagery and upbeat steve liesman with us in the new york studios tonight. we have two stories on aviation making news tonight. the faa is lifting a long-time ban on pilots taking anti-depressants like zoloft and prozac. this could affect upwards of 10,000 pilots who will be able to take such medication with permission and clearance. there is also news tonight on airline security. new screening procedures for passengers on flights to the u.s. from overseas. this is the latest response by the obama administration to that attempt to bomb a u.s. passenger plane in detroit on christmas day. more on the story tonight from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: administration

officials say the failed plot to bomb a plane to detroit on christmas day by a man with explosives hidden in his underwear actually provided a needed jolt to shake up airline security. now the government is making a big change to a system started just three months ago, to evaluate who should be pulled aside at airports overseas for secondary screening, including patdowns or interviews or inspection in one of the full body image scanners. >> it is a more information-based way to screen. it's a stronger way to determine whether passengers should go through secondary examination and not just primary examination. >> reporter: gone is the practice started just in january of giving extra screening to anyone traveling from 14 countries where terror groups were known to operate or draw support. instead, screeners overseas will be urged to focus on other indicators. such as partial names, fragments of passport numbers, travel patterns or physical descriptions. anything of value in screening that's derived from current threat intelligence. they'll continue to look at such

obvious factors as people who have recently been in yemen, a new qaeda stronghold. a former homeland security official ss it's a good idea but has potential drawbacks. >> we'll be conveying intelligence to these screeners and that mea leaks, so we're going to have more leaks and we're going to have to find ways to determine who we n trust. >> reporter: some parts of the system will not change. the no-fly list will still be used. in fact, since january, the number of people on it has more than doubled. pete williams, nbc news, washington. this, of course, is good friday. in a service at the vatican today there was an unusual defense of the pope and the growing sexual abuse scandals in the catholic church. nbc's anne thompson is in rome again for us tonight. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the world is still waiting to hear from pope benedict on this issue, but comments from another church official have only added to the vatican's problems.

pope benedict leading the way of the cross. the event at the heart of christianity. jesus dying for the sins of man, but the outcry over the priests dominated this good friday. priests who sexually abused children and church leaders who covered it up, perhaps even the pope. those accusations brought a controversial defense from the pope's personal preacher at today's service he compared the attacks on benedict to the persecution of the jews. >> translator: they know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence, and also because of this, they are quick to recognize the recurrent symptoms. >> reporter: a vatican spokesperson said those are the thoughts of the preacher and not the pope, words that angered jewish leaders around the world. the strident words stood out from the collective mea culpa church leaders made across europe.

in every german church, a special prayer was offered for abuse victims. in vatican city, the faithful waited in long lines to attend a service, but even life-long catholics expressed frustration with the pope. >> i think the pope could be more proactive and send a stronger message about how the church can make retribution for the abuses that have happened. ♪ i know your hearts are torn and frayed ♪ >> reporter: outside washington, d.c., cathedral, a small group of protestors kept what they called a vigil of sorrows. the burd of the scandal is carried by rank and file priests. father robert barren writing a book in rome says the crisis takes a serious toll on his own ministry. >> it undermines the work of the church in almost every way. the work i try to do, my work is undermined all the time by this scandal. >> reporter: priests i have talked to see this scandal as an

opportunity, a chance to deal with this issue once and for all. and in doing so, strengthen the priesthood. brian? >> anne thompson on this good friday night in rome. thanks. back at home tonight, an update on the historic flooding that left parts of southern new england under water this past week. as we saw a moment ago, homeland security secretary janet napolitano was in rhode island today talking to local officials about the situation. many parts of the state are submerged and the state is asking for emergency federal grants to help clean up and recovery. we turn to politics and by any measure, this was a bad week for the republican national committee. some big mistakes and revelations about questionable expenses have put the committee and its high-profile chairman michael steele under scrutiny again. our own andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: the republican party entertaining donors at a west hollywood bondage-themed sex club.

and mailing a fund-raising letter with a wrong number, mistakenly directed contributors to a phone sex hotline. to prevent similar embarrassments, today party leaders ordered new controls on expenditures. too late for social conservative tony perkins. he is telling followers to stop giving money to the rnc. >> the rnc is tone deaf to the concerns of social conservatives whom they look to for financial support. >> reporter: is only the latest embarrassment for michael steele, widely criticized as a big spender. >> what a crowd here. you sound like a bunch of republicans partying in west hollywood. >> reporter: steele got tepid support today from potential presidential candidate tim pawlenty. >> something that should not have happened. it's on michael's watch, but he's taken responsibility for it. >> reporter: the sex club caper happens after steele held a lavish party meeting in hawaii.

he surprised party big wigs freelancing with a book and paid speeches. bad management say republican critics. >> are the procedures in place to spend money on elections, not to spend money on jets and trips to bondage clubs. >> reporter: most damaging of all for steele is the bottom line. in the past decade the republican party vastly outraised democrats. this year the democrats are running even with the gop. and even have more cash on hand. many republican donors tell nbc news they are bypassing the national party, sending their checks to their governors' association or directly to candidates. not at all happy about the way their leader is redefining grand old party. andrea mitchl, nbc news, washington. when our broadcast continues tonight, the wait is almost over. the next big thing on the planet ready to arrive. will it change life as we know it? [ male announcer ] ready for the most amazing

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problems. more than 90% of the complaints come out of the state of florida. a lot of these homes came after hurricane damage. now congress may consider compensating people who face the enormous expense of gutting the walls in their homes and replacing all that wallboard. it's become a rite of passage in this country. every ti apple introduces a new product, there is a frenzy of interest. people line up at the stores. many interviewed on television. tomorrow's newest invention goes on sale and we are faced with the question of need. nbc's george lewis has our report from los angeles. >> reporter: in manhattan, new yorkers are already standing in line at the apple store waiting for the ipads to go on sale at 9:00 tomorrow morning. jeannie mullen arrived at 5:00 a.m. >> i wanted to would be one of the first people to get it in their hands and experience it. i didn't want to wait for ups.

>> can't apple invent something that will wait in line for me? >> reporter: david letterman got in a few comedic licks last night, literally. as did steven colbert. >> you've got the e-mail, the web browsing, music video, you can shield your eyes from the sun. and just look how quickly it makes delicious salsa. bam! >> reporter: and in the mother of product placements, the latest "modern family" episode revolved around the ad as a birthday gift. >> not so hard, but touch it. touch it, but don't touch it. >> reporter: starting at 500 bucks, the ipad is not a heavy-duty computer. there are a lot of tasks it won't do. if your thing is web surfing, getting e-mails, playing music, video or games, many tech writers say it's perfect. >> i'm really impressed by it.

i haven't let it out of my hands the entire time. >> reporter: when i look at the electronic gadgets i carry in the course of the day, laptop, cell phone, blackberry, various blue tooth headsets, cameras, do i really need the ipad? i do not really need the ipad. do i want the ipad? yes. just like all those people lined up tonight, george lewis, nbc news, santa monica. good for george for being honest. we'll take a break. so many arthritis pain relievers -- i just want fewer pills and relief that lasts all day. take 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 to 6 hours?!? taking 8 pills a day... and if i take it for 10 days -- that's 80 pills. just 2 aleve can last all day. perfect. choose aleve and you can be taking four times... fewer pills than exa strength tylenol.

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you can be ready for your moment with cialis. morning, bosley. good morning, angels. >> morning, charley. >> millions of americans knew that voice by heart. it belonged to john forsythe who died today. he gained his fame years before his popular tv roles on shows like "charlies' angels." and let's not forget blake carrington on "dynasty." he was a world war ii vet. for a time he was public announcer for the brooklyn dodgers. his given name was frund, but when no one could pronounce that correctly, he took his mother's name of forsythe. he was a celebrated stage actor who turned to television when it was a young medium. john forsythe was 92 years old. and eugene allen has died. few americans will ever get to

see as much history as he did, and only a handful have ever been this close to power. eugene allen, you see, was a butler for eight u.s. presidents. he worked inside the white house for 34 years. the reagans promoted him to the senior position of maitre'd of the white house. he became the first butler to be invited to a state dinner. served the most powerful people, most famous people in the world, and after hours, a lot of presidents treated him as their friend. he grew up under harsh segregation in virginia. in his retirement years he live a quiet life in suburban, washington. about a year ago with a marine escort by his side, he had tears in his eyes during president obama's inauguration. eugene allen was 90 years old. it was an emotional homecoming last night for one of america's many military families. 10-year-old henry dinee was part of a flag ceremony before a waington capitals hockey game.

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on this friday night it's time for our "making a difference" report. during this season of graduation and change, tonight a woman who is smoothing what can be a tough transition for young people fresh out of high school, becoming the first person perhaps in their family to have a chance to go to college. nbc's peter alexander has the story of a unique program at a university in ohio where one remarkable woman is making a difference. >> reporter: it's often called the best time of a person's life, but for university of cincinnati freshman tracy stiegel, college didn't start out that way. >> it was scary. i'm thinking i'm 1 out of 38,000. >> reporter: at his offcampus

dorm, tracy is notlone. this is a one of a kind learn being experiment. a home for 21 low-income freshmen, all the first in their family to attend college. >> hello, hello, hello. >> reporter: program coordinator ju mausy is part advisor, part mom. >> i use the word sherpa. i've been to the mountain before i can recognize the signs. >> reporter: that mountain is elusive college degree. statistics are staggering. low-income first generation students are four times more likely than their classmates to drop out before the end of their freshmen year. overall, 89% of them won't graduate. >> they have had to grow up sometimes faster than their years. they have had financial struggles. they finished well in high school and maybe that's where most people think their journey will end. not these kids. >> rorter: this child of an addict, one of 12 kids in all.

she can handle school, but it's the stress of family life that nearly caused her to give up. >> it felt a little more comfortable knowing other people in the house were going through what i was going through and they were still here. >> reporter: this opportunity comes with tough rules. a strict curfew, quiet hours and no drugs or alcohol. >> just bullet your arguments. reporter: in exchange she gives them the extra tutoring and support they need. what are you most proud of? >> the courage that they chose to be here. >> reporter: and they're fighting to stay. so perhaps four years from now, what they have in common isn't just a difficult past, but a college degree. peter alexander, nbc news, cincinnati. that's our broadcast for this friday night and for this week. thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams. we of course hope to see you back here on monday. few things before we leave you tonight. please remember this is world autism awareness day. let's not forget with easter two

days away, the cherry blossoms are exploding beautifully in our nation's cital. have a good weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com