shell. i don't know if i should apologize for that comment or not. thats pretty corny will. >> why start now? >> we're on a roll. >> we hope to see you for news4 at 11:00. on the broadcast tonight, taxing questions as the president heads home this weekend. is he ready to make a deal on continuingax cuts for the wealthy? and what about everybody else? where are the jobs? we go to the place in america whe the pain is worse than anywhere else. she's everywhere. the new tv show, the book tour. is it any wonder people are wondering about a sarah palin presidenti run? and "making a difference" for kids here at home at a time when they most need some tlc. "nightly news" this friday night starts now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. he left town after a bad election night for the democrats, and headed out on a long trip to asia. and it's been a long week for president obama, and not as successful as the white house had hoped. this trip, after all, was billed in part as a mission to bring jobs home to the u.s. tonight, the president is in japan, his last stop for another summit there. and then he comes me where he has to tackle something else that affects every one of us, taxes. and the typically washington art of making a deal apparently. th's where we begin tonight in our washington newsroom with our chief white house correspondent chuck todd. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. look, things haven't been easy for president obama on this current trip. the longesof his presidency, by the way. as he prepares to rern to washington, the political problems he has to resolve, like how to deal with the so-called bush tax cuts, particularly for the wealthy, getting more complicated by the hour. president obama left f asia

three days after the midterm elections, looking overseas for a political victory or two. but after crisscrossing as, the president doesn't have a lot to show for his efforts. no trade deawith south korea. no resolution with china over their currency valuation. no coolingf tensions between india and pakistan. in south korea today, the president tried to put the best face he could on this trip. >> instead of hitting homeuns, sometimes we're going to hit singles. but they're really important singles. >> reporter: and the president faces a tough reality when he returns home. an emboldened republican house majority. his most pressing issue, what to do with the so-called bush tax cuts set to expire at year's end. if the president and the outgoing democratic congress do nothing, the tax rates for all americans gop. for those making under $250,000, the rates will be as high as 31%, up from 28%. and more those making more than that, the rates will be as high

as 39.6%, up from 36%. despite hints from david axelrod th the president would agree to tax cuts for everyone, the president pushed back on that. >> i want to make sure that taxes don't go up for middle class families starting on january 1st. that's mnumber one priority. >> reporter: still, a compromise to extend them all, even to the wealthiest taxpayers, is likely. some key democrats favor just that. >> you don't raise taxes for cut spending at a time of serious economic weakness. that's bad economics. only makes the downturn worse. >> reporter: and ts means the new watch word in washington for all key issues for the rest of the president's term is likely to be compromise. >> president obama has lost his majority in the congress but he still expects to win. the only way to do that is define victories in ways that are achievable. >> reporter: the president has a lengthy to-do list. that he wants congress to tackle before the end of the year, not just tax cuts. he's hoping to get last-minute deals done on a nuclear arms treaty with russia. then there's don't ask, don't tell. that law, brian.

the supreme court decided it's not going to intervene on an appeal that would temporarily suspend the law. this puts the issue of gays serving openly in the military back in the hands of the courts, unless congress changes the law and ian, senator john mccain is the guy holding it up right now here, which by the way puts him at os with his own wife, cindy mccain, who is arguing to see the w repealed. brian? >> all of this in the prizm on what happened election night. chuck todd startg us off on this friday night. we wanto go across the hall in our washington bureau to the set of "meet the press" with david gregory standing by. you heard chuck, david. think of the two guests, two people among your guests sunday morning. you've got john mccain and david elrod, last mentioned because he was in the news on taxes. i heard somebody say today it's harsh, the white house is pretending to have leverage on this topic. >> well, on the issuef tax

cuts, it's interesting, you heard the president. he doesn't want to negotiate from overseas or give away the engame here, which is probably some compromise here on those tax cuts being extended on those upper earners. what they want to do first, however, is try to get a deal on the ddle class tax cuts being extended. i think they would like to separate that from the upper earners. en if he's going to deal, you're going to see the president potion himself aa fiscal conservative and say to republicans, look, if you want to extend this policy, where there the correspondi spending cutto make it worthwhile? as you know, brian, the president is on record saying there's no way that we can afford to extend these tax cuts on the wealthiest americans. >> david gregory, we will next see u in that very studio sunday for "meet the press." david, thanks. sarah palin revealed she'll make a nine-day, 16-stop tour for her new book coming t later this month. some of those stops will be in someolitically crucial places. her new cable reality show,

"sarah palin's alaska," makes its debut this weekend. then there was her exposure during this past campaign season. so if she looks and sounds like perhaps she's running for president in 2012, is she? our report tonight from nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: sarah palin is everywhere, making paid speeches, promoting this weekend's launch of her reality tv show. >> you always wanted to be a rock climber, sarah. >> was it a rock climber or rock star? >> reporter: in the audience for bristol's appearances on "dancing with stars," sounding off on serious stuff on monetary licy on twitter. and in paid speeches. >> go ask your parent it is they know what quantitative easing is and monetizing the debt. >> reporter: but also campaigning against the nanny state. a supposed cookie ban in pennsylvania. >> who should be making the

decisions what you eat and school choice and everything else, should it be government or should it be the parents? >> reporter: excepshe got it wrong. the state advisory wasn't a ban at all. but while portraying herself as a political outsider -- >> i would rather be doing this than in se stuffy old political office. i would rather be out here being free. >> reporter: she takes credit for tea party victories and channeling ronald reagan's campaign theme. >> this is our movement. this is our moment. this is our morning in america. >> she's improved her position substantially over the course of the last two years. if she gets into the race, she reallyomplicates evebody's plans, particularly in iowa. at least as of today, hard to see how anybody can beat sarah palin in iowa. >> reporter: most republican leaders thinks she is running. paving the way this month with another book tour with stops in early caucus and primary states likeowa and south carolina. so despite a new poll tonight

showing a majority of americans disapprove of palin, 80% of republicans view her favorably. >> danl, would you like to sing at inauguration? not necessarily mine. >> reporter: andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. overseas tonig, there is on alarming spike in haiti's cholera outbreak. the latest numbers, more than 12,000 hospital cases, and almost 800 deaths. this is what we were fearing. ose numbers now include dozens of cases in the crowded capil city of port-au-prince. health experts on the ground warn the numbers are expected to still grow exponentially. regular viewers know we've been running a series of reports we call "the war next door" about the violent drug war in mexico. just across the u.s. border. tonight, there's word that the mexican military is looking for a suspected drug cartel hitman who is 12 years old. our chief foreign correspondent

richard engel went to mexico and saw for himself an entire generation getting swept up in this war next door. [ speaking spanish ] >> reporter: under the bridges, and behind the bus stations in mexico city, you'll find them. 14, 15, 16 years old, desperate, vulnerable, and preyed upon by the drug cartels. living at a highway intersection, we meet a dozen children. they're so high, they're difficult to uerstand. except when they tell us they're hungry. stoned on rags soaked in paint thinner pvc cement. edward is 16, but won't say how he got here. he's guarded and confused. "t situation is great, fantastic," he says. "i love to drug myself and see other people destroying themselves. it's what i like best." when i a him about the future, a blank.

there are 20,000 children living on the streets just here in mexico city. almost all of them are locked into a cycle of drug addiction and prostitution and they're also extremely vulnerable to be recruited by the drug rtels. sophia works at a center to help mexico's street children. but she ys she has to compete with drug dealers who use children as runners, messengers, or just customers. "there are kids growing up to be assassins because they have nothing else to lose." 25-yr-old avi knows how that can happen. at a rehabilitation center outside mexico city, she said she became addicted to cocaine by dating a boy in a gang. now shaking uncontrollably in withdrawal, she says the gang linked to a powerful cartel, used her to seduce a rival, so it could kill him.

"i loved the feeling of adrenaline, to be in the thick of it, the power. went in too deep." do other young people le you want to be drug dealers, i ask? yes, she says. in therapy, she sits next to 17-year-old daniella, also an addict involved in gangs is on tranquilizers because she cuts herself with her fingernails and glass. but she defends the dr cartels here called narcos. "they create jobs," she says. "it's dirty ney, but at least they give work to the poor farmers." in her room, daniella keeps a journal. at the bottom of the page is her sad selfortrait. as the drug war hereocial workers worry is creating a lost generation. richard engel, n news, mexico city. when "nightly news" continues in just a moment on

this friday night, how do you create jobs after a boom goes bust? and later, making a difference for children at a tough time in their lives. s. ugh, myinuses... the congestion... it's your fault. naturally, blame the mucus. well, i can't breathe. did you try blowing your nose? of course. [ both ] and nothing came out. instead of blaminge, try new advil congestion relief. what you probably have is swelling due to nasal inflammation, not mucus. and this can help? it treats the real problem of your sinus sptoms, reducing swelling due to nasal inflammation. so i can breathe. [ mucus ] new advil cgestion relief. the right sinus medicine for t real problem. [ slap! ] [ slap! slap! slap! slap! ] ow, ow! [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting yo fht back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum ta tum tum tums

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deposit fighting ingredient ever. castl gtx exceeds the toughest new industry standard. don't let deposits hold your car back. get castrol gtx. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. as you may know, nowhere in this country did the real estate bubble grow bigger or burst harder than in l vegas. and today, the real estate website zillo says 80% of las vegas homeowners who have mortgageare under water on their loans. that is they owe more than the house isorth. with the real estate bust h come major downturn in the economy and a job drought. the question is, is there any way to fix it? our report tonight from nbc's john yang. >> reporter: with an economy built on tourism, when the nation is in a recession, what happens in vegas feels like a depression. >> so we've got the get the consumer willing to come to

nevada willing to spendingnd boost the resort city again. >> reporter: on the same strip, a hotel has stood empty and unfinished for nearly a year. nevada's unemployment rate is the worst in the nation, 14.4%. analysts say if you include people that have given up for work and people working part-time because they can't find a full-time job, the rate is closer to 20%. after declining for two straight years, the number of visitors to las vegas is rebounding. but spending by visitors has remained flat. economists say the only quick fix uld be a massive public works program on the scale of the hoover dam. about 20 miles outsideas vegas it created 5,000 jobs during the great depression. and sparked economic development by providing a cheap source of electricity. other solutions e long-term. investing in education and diversifying the economy by developing medical tourism at area hospitals. >> you need business owners and business to take chances on

investing money on new product areas and new markets. >> reporter: on the las vegas strip, the tropicana is making a big bet on the economy. a $180 million upgrade of the entire property, from the casino to the pool area. it's creating hundreds of new jobs. tom mccartney is the tropicana's president. >> if we're gointo hire 100 positions, we'll get 2,000 people applying for those 100 posions. >> reporter: hoping that everything wilbe coming up aces again soon. john yang, nbc news, las vegas. we learned today "newsweek" magazine is merging th "the daily beast" created by tina brown, forr editor of "vanity fair" and ""the new yorker." she will be the editor of both. "newsweek" has been losing a lot of money and was sold three months ago and was sold by "the washington post" for $1. it came with a lot of debt. "the daily beast" is not profitable either. now with financing, both are hoping the combination works.

up next, you may have one in your household but you've never seen it this way before. e never seen it this way before. mom, new shoes? old legs. p.a.d., the doctor said. p-a-d... p.a.d. isn't just poor circulation in your legs causingou pain. it more than doubles your risk of a heart attack or stroke. i was going to tell you. if you have p.a.d., plavix can help protect you from a heart attack or stroke. plavix helps keep blood platets from sticking together and forming clots, the cause of most heart attacks and strokes. call the doctor about plavix -- please? i will. [ ale announcer ] certain genetic factors and some medicines such as prilosec reduce the effect of plavix leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. youroctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. don't stop taking plavix without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase. people with stomach ulcers or conditions that cause bleeding should not use plavix. taking plavix alone or with some other medicines

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or for the delicious flavors like chocolate truffle and vanilla creme? mmm. -mmm. -mmm. [ female announcer ] hard to say really. new caltrate soft chews, we put the yum in calcium. i worry about my son playing football. which is why i'm really excited. because toyota developed this software that can simulate head injuries and helps make people safer. then the shared this technology with researchers at wake forest to help reduce head injuries on the fooall fid. so, you know, i can feel a bit better about son playing football. [ male announcer ] how would you use toyota technology to make a better world? learn how to are your ideas at toyota.com/ideasforgood.

general electric, the parent company of nbc universal, has just announced it willuy ,000 electric cars over the next four years, which will convt about half the company's fleet to green vehicles. part of a trend among big fleet owners in this country. the first purchase, 1,000 of those chevy volts next year. ge has major investments in power generation, battery production and electric car charging stations, which they're starting to advertise, so there's, of course, a vested interest in helping the green car business grow. researchers have solved one of the great mysteries of the animal kingdom. why dogs slobber all over the floor when they drink and cats don't. with the help of high speed photography, scientists figured

it out. instead of forming a crude kind of cup with the tongue like a dog does, a cat touches the tip, pulls a lumn toward the mouth, th with lightning speed, shuts its jaws over the column, all in one smooth motion. no slobbery mess, which we forgive in our dogs, by the way, due to their sheer lovability. then there's a great piece of video on the web tonight showing the construction of a 15-sto hotel in china's hunan province. the whole thing took six days to build and finish. prefabricated components snapped together like legos, huge team working around the clock made the whole thing imessive. as someone said today, even the amish might be impressed at this. we've put the whole thing on our website, nigly.msnbc.com. the u.s. postal service has an idea to keep holiday cards alive and well and moving

through the u.s. mail as opposed to say electronically. they're proposing a test of a new prepaid card, the postage would already be on the envelope and postage cost would be included in the cost of the card. they say they are willing to work with the card companies themselves. and an anniversary in th news tonight. 20 years ago, a british software engineer named tim burners lee was working on a plan to allow people around e world to share information on the internet. the name he came up with all by his lonesome was worldwide web. he didn't like it that much and thought it would be tempary until they could come up with something better and more permanent. up next, kids with a special place to go when they need it most. how one young woman's wish is making a big difference. [ advisor 1 ] what do you see yourself doing oneeek, one month, five years after you do retire? ♪ client comes in d they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life.

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finally here tonight, our "making a difference" report. and tonight, it's about helping kids when they experience the worst possible kind of loss, the loss of a family member. there's been a special place created where kids can go through it together, and gethe love and support they need. it's a nationwide network called camp erin. here is our story.

>> love you dad, miss you. >> reporter: 12-year-old thomas and his three younger brothers are grieving and remembering their dad. and they're doing it here at camp erin. it's not your typical camp. here, these boys are not alone. >> this is my mother. >> reporter: created by pitcher jamie moyer and his wife, karen, th is the country's largest bereavement camp for kids. it was inspired by a young girl named erin, who deeply affected them with her concern r the family she was leaving behind as she succumbeto cancer. >> they're dealing with grief and they're dealing with their thoughts, their feelings and emotions. >> this is the mosprecious memories that you have. >> reporter: working with professional grief counselors, and using tools like memory walks and arts and cras, this camp teaches kids it's okay to cry. and it's okay to laugh, too. >> i did it! >> they're in an unusual circumstance.

so this is a placehat they can come and not be unusual. this is the norm here. >> who likes ice skating today? >> reporter: the bon they form at camp are a big part of what helps them heal. losing a loved one can be an isolating experience, but through camp erin, they get to meet other kids just like them going through the exact same thing. thomas has made a close new friend who lost both parents in a car accident. >> i understand how they feel in a way, and they understand how you feel, in a way. >> reporter: now he has a safe space to remember his dad. >> he lived to be 41. he died two days before christmas. we did a lot of fun thin. >> reporter: a group of children brought together by tragedy and heartache. >> it never go away. it's not supposed to go away but it's okay to move on. >> reporter: learning that they can move on together.

>> we should tell you something else. all the good work they do at camp erin is funded by donations and then is fr for the children. there's re information on this, on our wsite, nightly.msnbc.com. that's our broadcast for this friday nighand for this week. thank you for being here with us. before we go, a reminder that on monday night on this broadcast, we're going to have a portion of fascinating conversation with britain's prince charles. he grants very few interviews. it's the subject of a "dateline" hour next friday. i'm brian williams. lester holt will be with you this weekend. as we leave you tonight, take a look at what showed up in our backyard today. a 74-foot norway spruce donated from the backyard of one of new york city's bravest, an fdym firefighter. the lights get turned on novemb 30th. until monday, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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