holy saturday. the pope's easter vigil as a new war of words erupts over the crisis in the catholic church. what's left after days of historic flooding in the northeast? drastic measures. what thousands of families now face to fix a hidden danger in their homes. it's here, but is it worth the wait? the early line on the ipad. and on a mission. a woman, a whale and their extraordinary teamwork on the a woman, a whale and their extraordinary teamwork on the high seas. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

it is already easter sunday in rome and pope benedict has ushered in the holiest day on the christian calendar with the vigit at st. peter's. the pope made no mention of the sex abuse scandal swirling around the church but the vatican newspaper denounced a vile defamation operation against the pope. also tonight, other church leaders have plenty to say about the crisis. and its impact. nbc's anne thompson is in rome tonight for us with the latest. good evening to you, anne. >> reporter: good evening, peter. tonight in the absence of any statement by pope benedict there is an international war of words on. between catholic church officials and leaders of other religions over the clergy sex abuse scandal. ♪ on holy saturday, the catholic church is under siege. today the leader of the anglican church, the archbishop of

canterbury criticized the way the catholic church has dealt with the crisis in ireland. >> an institution so deeply bound into the life of the society, suddenly becoming, suddenly losing all credibility. and that's not just a problem for the church. it is a problem for everybody in ireland. >> reporter: that brought a swipt response from dublin's catholic archbishop working to heal the pain of widespread abuse in church institutions. >> it's very damaging to those who are trying to restore credibility to be simply, you know, wiped off with a general comment like that. >> reporter: tonight, the archbishop of canterbury apologized saying in a statement he did not mean to criticize or attack the catholic church. meanwhile in vatican city, officials spent the day trying to repair the damage done friday night by the pope's preacher. his comparison of the attacks on the pope to the persecution of jews provoked outrage in jerusalem. >> there are other ces of raceanism the world, but i don't think this is one of them. >> reporter: and new york.

>> i thought it just shows the depth of ignorance in the church or church leaders of what anti-semitism is about because there is no comparison. >> reporter: the vatican spokesperson said the preacher's comparison is not the thinking of the church. in the u.s., victims' attorneys continue to release documents they claim show church officials knew about the abuse problem but dragged their feet. ♪ tonight, in munich, cardinal reinhart marks prayed for a church renewed by easter. a new start that is possible, says father robert gall who teaches ethics at the church of the holy cross in rome. >> it's like having to have surgery to remove a tumor. the scandal is an opportunity to cure the disease so tha the priesthood can be built up in the future. >> reporter: now the attention turns to the pope's address after easter sunday mass. it is his speech to the city and the world.

in the past, he has used it to talk about such issues as the war in iraq. the question is will he use it to talk about the scandal in his church? peter? >> anne thompson in rome for us tonight. yaing, thank you. in a village south of baghdad, there's been an explosion of violence that one report called a chilling episode reminiscent of some of iraq's worst days. gunmen disguised in iraqi army uniforms shot and slit the throats of at least 25 people. most of the victims were sunnis who used to fight against american troops, but who now joined forces with u.s. troops and the iraqi government to protect sunni neighborhoods. iraqi authorities say more than two dozen people have been arrested in connection with these latest killings. back now in this country, the floodwaters continue to recede across rhode island after the worst natural disaster to hit that state in 200 years. the president has declared it a federal disaster zone following two historic storms in just a

single month. in many of the cities like cranston, people are returning to their waterlogged homes for the first time this weekend and finding little they can salvage. >> just watch your step. it's kind of slippery. >> reporter: returning home for billy joe rossy meant stepping knee deep into everything that's left of everything her family owned. >> i did try to take pictures and stuff, but that's about it. they have nothing. my kids have nothing. it's all gone. >> reporter: this was one of her kids' bedrooms until it was swamped by the record-setting floods. >> these came right off the wall because those were in my daughter's room. it's actually her report card. >> reporter: rossy's family lived on the first floor of her parent's cranston, rhode island, home. bob and sheilaave lived here on perkins avenue for the last 35 years. >> i love my house. i put a lot of work into my house. i put additions on so my children can live here and i

don't know what -- i don't know what to do. >> reporter: the rossys experience is crushing like that of hundreds of others across the state where three major rivers overflowed this week, leaving homes under water, bridges badly damaged and businesses ruined. >> i lost everything. 60 years of business. everything that's in there is gone. >> reporter: rhode island, the nation's smallest state, will require a massive cleanup. now a federal disaster zone, 9700 people have already applied for help from fema. on friday, the secretary of homeland security got an aerial tour and pledged the government's full support. >> we are going to have to dig in our heels, work our way out and really bring rhode island back to where it was before this flood event occurred. >> reporter: on perkins avenue, rather than wait for help, neighbors are helng one another. in between the pumping and sweeping and shoveling, there are moments of sadness and silence. as these families come to terms with what to do once the water

is gone. >> there's no doubt in my mind that we're not going to be okay. we're going to be okay. >> damage estimates have already soared into the hundreds of millions of dollars statewide. forecasters predict the pawtuxet river, blamed for much of that flooding, will fall below flood stage tomorrow evening. through the southeast, thousands of other families are facing the daunting prospect of gutting and rebuilding their homes built with drywall from china. that's because the federal government now agrees with what many of these homeowners have been saying for a long time, that the fumes from the drywall may be hazardous to their health. here's nbc's mike taibbi >> reporter: the tell-tale smell of rotten eggs have magette sanchez thinking the worst as they dug into her walls. and there it was. the world china on the sheets of drywall she said had sicken her kids and others in her coconut grove, florida, neighborhood and elsewhere had blacken and corroded cotton pipes, fixtures,

wiring, air conditioning coils and even jewelry. the culprit, mostly in homes in the southeast, sulified compounds, hence the rotten egg odor. and among the conclusion from the consumer product safety commission, certain chinese samples had emission rates of hydrogen sulfified 100 times greater than non-chinese samples. for renters like the lane family in newport news, virginia, it's an easy decision. >> it's just best for us to move on. >> reporter: but it's not so easy for homeowners like the sanches or schultz family of new orleans. their homes were among tens of thousands during the housing boom and the '05 post-hurricane reconstruction frenzy that used chinese drywall when other sources ran out. now despite a growing anecdotal collection of health threats, there's been no proven report between chinese drywall and health problems. but the damage to the house is real and the recommended fix dramatic. to replace all possible problem drywall, electrical components and wiring, gas service piping

and sprinkler systems. in other words, to essentially gut the house if chinese drywall was used. average cost over six figures. there's tough talk about who pays. >> the deep pockets of the chinese government are going to have to make all of these poor homeowners whole. >> reporter: but saying it won't make it so. and class action lawsuits that have now been filed in at least two states an only hope for a payment by a chinese manufacturer. so while shannon schultz was endourgeed by the safety commission's conclusions -- >> now that we know what needs to be done, we can move forward. >> reporter: any movement will be just a start. this is not an easy fix. mike taibbi, nbc news, new york. now to jobs. and with 15 million americans looking for work, president obama warned today that even after yesterday's encouraging report showing employers added 162,000 jobs last month, economic recovery is still far from a done deal. >> we've begun to reverse the devastating slide.

but we have a long way to go to repair the damage from this recession. and then we'll continue to be my focus every single day. >> for more on what almost all the experts say will be a long and slow recovery, we are now joined by cnbc's trish regan. trish, weust heard from the president that the news is good. but not great. so what do economists say needs to happen to me this sustained growth? >> peter, we need jobs. that's the reality of the situation. but those jobs are very hard to come by. keep this in mind. it takes 100,000 jobs being added to the economy every month just to break even, just to keep the unemployment rate at 9.7%. so if you really want to see that rate start to come down, you are talking about adding 200,000, 300,00 jobs consistently every month. we're just not even close to that. keep in mindy in 162,000 jobs being added last month, a number of those jobs ce from census workers. those jobs won't be there in the near future. and so it's going to be a real challenge to get this job rate to look better in the coming

months. >> so you speak about the challenge. so many americans looking for work. how difficult is it for an average american to find work right now? >> there's an interesting statistic in this job report. if youere looking for work in the month of february and tried to find a job in the month of march, your chances of finding a job last month were actually the worst they have been since they started looking at this particular piece of data in 1948. so that really puts it in some perspective. really shows you just how difficult it is, how discouraging it is for workers, and, of course, everyone hopes that it will get better soon. but we will have to see. >> still a lot of sobering economic news. trish regan from cnbc. thanks so much. it's one of the most hotly desired new devices of the year. today, fans of apple's ipad finally got their hands on that flat computer. following generally good tech reviews from those tech writers, as many as 300,000 ipads were expected to be sold this weekend alone. among the new ipad owners? nbc's george lewis.

>> from the l.a. area -- to the streets of new york. >> three, two, one! >> reporter: the stampede began this morning as apple stores opened for business. and the mobs were there for just one thing. >> ipad. >> reporter: some people had camped out for days for the privilege of being first to get their hands on one. and in chicago, they waited in the rain. >> it's my wife's birthday. >> reporter: tech blogger robert scobel was first to emerge from the apple store in palo alto, california. >> pretty nice. it's very, very light. >> reporter: the hype has been going on for more than two months now. >> we call it the ipad. >> reporter: since late january when apple's ceo steve jobs made that announcement, bloggers have written nonstop about the ipad. but almost mediately, the jokes began. some saying the ipad was nothing more than an ipod touch on

steroids. the ipad is not a heavy duty computer, but rather a device designed for users to consume digital media. books, newspapers, music, photos, videos, the internet, all at the swipe of a finger. and then there are the fun apps like this virtual piano. ♪ it is a testament to the business savvy ofteve jobs and apple inc. that they can turn electronic gadgets into objects of desire. and the release of those gadgets into major events. not only major events but lovefests. >> they make amazing products, and this especially is something i had to have. >> i describe it as oscars and i think it really is. >> it's like christmas. >> it's a little like an apple cult. >> reporter: according to some stock analysts, apple could sell about 5 million of them this year, a number that could double in 2011. the love affair is just beginning. george lewis, nbc news, santa

monica, california. up next as "nightly news" continues this saturday, stopping the school bully. tough new lessons about finding a better way to tackle the problem. and later, a whale of an escort for a woman on an unusual mission to help a friend. this one you got to see. out of ? then you may not be seeing the whole picture. ask your doctor about trilipix. statin to lower bad cholesterol, along with diet, adding trilipix can lower fatty triglycerides and raise good cholesterol to help improve all three cholesterol numbers. trilipix has not been shown to prevent heart attacks or stroke more than a statin alone. trilipix is not for everyone, including people with liver, gallbladder, or severe kidney disease, or nursing women. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you are pregnant or may become pregnant. blood tests are needed before and during treatment to check for liver problems. contact your doctor if you develop unexplained muscle pain or weakness, as this can be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. this risk may be increased when trilipix is used with a statin.

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the internet. this is the latest wake-up call for parents, schools and now even the federal government that bullying is a problem in need of more attention. here's nbc's jeff rossen. >> reporter: this small massachusetts high school, the latest example of how dangerous bullying can be. prosecutors say 15-year-old phoebe prince was tormented in the hallways and online. in january, she hangs herself at home. now her alleged bullies, a group of classmates dubbed the mean girls have been charged with harassment, along with two boys at the school charged with statutory rape. >> what were the bullies doing to her in school? >> called her names, followed her home. >> reporter: now south hadley school officials are under fire accused of ignoring repeated complaints. >> the actions or inactions of some adults at the school are troublesome. >> reporter: lawmakers have been keeping an eye on bullying for more than two decades. this latest case in massachusetts may help renew the government's efforts. and it isn't just the schoolyard

they have to watch anymore. from texting to twittering, there are new challenges for school districts, too. >> there's no safe harbor. it used to be that we could go home if we were targeted, close our doors or even go out in our neighborhood and play and be free from the tormenting. >> reporter: 32% of public school students between 12 and 18 years old report they have been bullied. and 4% say they've been cyberbullied, threatened or insultd online. in springfield, massachusetts, a young boy hanged himself last year after being teased about his size. in ohio, jesse logan hanged herself after a nude photo was spread around her school. experts say warning signs are often there. >> they hang up from their phone and they are sad or sullen. they get off the internet and they look a little frightened. these are all clues that you and i as parents need to be clued into. >> reporter: and education officials are worried, too. worried bullying is causing a drop in the graduation rate. now the federal government is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a new anti-bullying

campaign. >> what keeps me up at night and everyone in the u.s. department of education, is the idea that out there, there are children who would rather die than go to school. >> reporter: the desperate choice that's left this massachusetts town grieving. >> i hope people will get a lesson out of it. >> reporter: a lesson that came too late for phoebe prince. jeff rossen, nbc news, south hadley, massachusetts. and when we come back tonight, one american city discovering what it takes to turn a housing bust into a new boom. [ slap! ]

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this next story is about a boom, then a bust and what may be a new boom. the skyline in miami was changing quickly as new condo towers went up by the dozens. that was the boom that went bust when the economy tanked, of course. but now the buyers and renters are back. nbc's michelle kaczynski has the story. >> reporter: what if you built a brand new skyline and nobody came? that's what downtown miami felt like after the real estate crash with 75 new condo buildings. many completely empty. expensive, ghost towns in the sky. >> it comes finishes with all thtop of the line appliances you see here. >> reporter: now in the last six months here, the buyers are suddenly back. >> inventory has been flying off the shelves like 350 units a month. and so it's not that the developers are making money. it's not that the banks are

making money, but they cut their losses by moving the inventory. >> reporter: condo sales in the fourth quarter jumped 200% over 2008. some buildings have sold out. for a while, developers and their own lenders were deadlocked over for how low a price they could let these things go. now that's loosening, sparking a condo fire sale. >> it was a great deal. something that was -- i couldn't imagine passing it by. >> reporter: first time buyer dina bandman got a big discount in the icon. a billion dollar behemoth that's slashed prices up to 50%. >> products moving for about 280 a foot roughly in a marketplace where it costs 250 to 350 a square foot to construct. just to construct. >> reporter: occupancy downtown is 74%. a 20% jump since may. about half our renters and of the buyers, around 40% of them paid all cash. for new buyer andres, that means neighbors. for a time, he was the only one

living in his 40-story building. >> i used to joke that that's how horror movies began. >> reporter: and investors are buying condos here in bulk at unheard of prices, well below the cost of even building them. >> it's a good thing because when you see the real investors enter the market, it means we are getting close to the bottom. >> reporter: in a place where boom went bust. now a vultures market. michelle kaczynski, nbc news, miami. and up next, a mare paddle on the high seas for a good cause and the surprise visitor who made a big difference. with erectile dysfunction , men can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis. with two clinically proven dosing options, you can choose the moment that's right for you and your partner. 36-hour cialis and cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a low-dose tablet you takevery day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. day or night. >> tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity.

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female announcer ] for two free samples, finally tonight, a california surfer has become the first woman to paddleboard from catalina island all the way to the california coast. that's nearly 40 miles across open water. she did it to raise money for breast cancer research. but she had some unexpected company along the way. and wait until you hear what happened next. our story tonight from nbc's lee cowan. >> reporter: the waves were calm. the journey, long. some 40 miles of ocean between catalina island and the california coast. with nothing but a board, a paddle and a purpose. >> i just wanted to any ed ted e and do something that was big and a little bit overwhelming to think about. >> reporter: that was the point for surfer jodie nelson. to experience standing up to something scary. just the way her best friend is standing up to breast cancer. >> to see such an amazing friend risk her life like that for me

is nothing but inspiring. >> reporter: her crossing was maents to raise money for cancer research. on her board, names of survivors. including jodie's own mom. all the motivation she needed, she thought. but then, nearly 20 miles out, something truly extraordinary happened. that turned jodie's floating odyssey from inspirational to magical. out of that pacific blue surfaced a 30-foot menke whale. rare in these waters. rarer still he joined in jodie's marathon for two hours. >> i was pretty certain that was not normal behavior. then when he would blow those bubbles up, i could smell his breath. i was like, it's disgusting. >> i life you, larry. >> reporter: she nicknamed him larry. when word of it spread, she had a huge jump in donations. $100,000 in just 24 hours. >> i did say while i was on the

water, larry is going to get us the $100,000. and larry has. >> reporter: he became a graceful partner who, without saying a word, spoke to the hearts of those he'll never meet. lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. you got to love larry. that's nbc nightly news for this saturday. i'm peter alexander reporting from new york for lester holt and everyone here at nbc news. from new york for lester holt and everyone here at nbc news. have a good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com