that view is. previously, the highest free-fall ride in the world was located in las vegas. you know, i would be leaving all kinds of on the broadcast tonight, a political earthquake in washington. president obama says no to a massive pipeline project, and is immediately charged with having said no to thousands of new american jobs. gone blank. tonight the big fight behind what happened to some big names on the web today and why they went away. a new twist in the cruise ship captain's story. how he ended up in a lifeboat while thousands of passengers were stranded, and tonight why the search for the missing may be over. and snow day, a city more accustomed to rain practically shut down tonight by something different, and that storm is moving east. plus what are the absolute worst airport terminals in this country? see if the one you're thinking

of made the new list. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. it would have stretched from canada to texas, and all along the countryside in between, and it still might someday, but for now, president obama has said no to a massive oil pipeline project, a $7 billion job that would create a lot of jobs in this country. the president says he has his reasons. he feels rushed into a decision by congress, and there are questions about a lot of things, including the environment, and his decision now to put this on hold has angered a lot of people from canada on south clear to congress and washington, and as of today, you can be sure, as the campaign season enters the home stretch, we'll be hearing a lot more about this long stretch of pipe. it's where we begin tonight with

nbc's andrea mitchell in washington. andrea, good evening. >> good evening, brian. this sure was a no win situation for the president. on one side, environmentalists fighting the pipeline which would have added to an existing pipeline and run from canada all the way to the gulf of mexico. on the other side, union members wanting construction jobs, plus in an election year, all those republican candidates accusing mr. obama of passing up all that canadian oil. it would have been the longest pipeline outside of russia and china, nearly 2,000 miles from canada to the gulf coast, designed to deliver 700,000 barrels of oil a day. within minutes, republican candidates pounced. >> this is a stunningly stupid thing to do. there's no better word for it. these people are so out of touch with reality, it's as though they were governing mars. >> reporter: even some democrats objected. >> so i think the president made

the wrong decision here. i think the keystone pipeline is a good jobs opportunity. >> reporter: president obama had wanted to delay a decision for another year which would have put it beyond the november election, but congress forced his hand demanding he decide now. in a written statement today mr. obama called that a rushed and arbitrary deadline, preventing a full assessment on the pipeline's effect on health, safety and the environment. oil industry lobbyists claim thousands of jobs will now be lost. >> the president repeatedly said he wants new jobs, he wants to aba job creator, yet today he rejected the largest shovel-ready job creator in america today. >> reporter: how many jobs are at stake? that's debatable. the industry says at least 20,000, the state department says 6,000 and a cornell university study says at most 2,000 to 4,650 temporary construction jobs for two years. today environmental groups who protested against the pipeline for months warned it could even

cost jobs if disaster struck. >> far from being a job creator this is a pipeline if it had a disastrous oil spill in america's heartland would mean loss of jobs for thousands of farmers. >> the president called canada's prime minister to tell him of the decision. the prime minister reportedly said that canada will now send its oil to china especially because the state department said the pipeline company cannot amend its application to take care of environmental concerns. it has to start all over again and that could take years. brian? >> andrea mitchell starting us off from d.c. tonight, andrea, thanks. speaking of politics, with just two days to go now to the south carolina primary, newt gingrich seized on mitt romney's revelation that he pays a much lower tax rate than the average middle class american worker, and that he pounded away our political director chuck todd with us from rock hill, south carolina, tonight, chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. newt gingrich definitely feeling his oats with less than 72 hours to go before the voting.

in fact, on that tax issue, newt gingrich has a flat tax proposal that's 15%, and he joked today he wants to call it the mitt romney flat tax proposal, to talk about that 15% but there's something more going on here. this coronation of mitt romney that appeared to be in place about 48 hours ago appears to have been erased. gingrich getting huge crowds all of a sudden here. you've got romney's campaign clearly deciding they're in trouble. they did a conference call attacking gingrich today and launched a new web ad and romney is going after him on the campaign trail. something is happening here, you see a shift in polling. this thing is not over, brian. >> stay on the story, chuck todd in south carolina tonight, chuck, thanks. today in washington the secretary of defense addressed what some are calling an epidemic, rape inside the u.s. military. he promised new steps to fix one of america's shameful secrets just two days before a new documentary on the subject premieres at the sundance film

festival. we'll get more from jim miklaszewski at the pentagon. >> reporter: it's a startling statistic, women in the military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than attacked by the enemy. a powerful new documentary "the invisible war" captures the horror of military sexual assault. >> i remember holding the closet thinking, what just happened? >> a month later, i found out i was pregnant. >> reporter: there were more than 3,000 reports of military sexual assault last year. since many go unreported the pentagon estimates the actual number is a staggering 19,000. defense secretary leon panetta pledged today protecting servicemembers from sexual assault is a top priority. >> we have a moral duty to keep them safe from those who would attack their dignity and their honor. >> reporter: the pentagon has taken several steps to make it easier for victims to report

assaults and seek protection, but the military's record remains dismal, only 8% of sexual assault cases have been prosecuted, and only 2% end in convictions. panetta argues that military judges and prosecutors must be more aggressive. >> in order to make sure that the signal is sent that anybody who does this is going to be held accountable. >> reporter: but that will require a major shift in the military's mind-set and male-dominated culture, while thousands of military women suffer in silence. jim miklaszewski, nbc news, the pentagon. now we go overseas to italy and the disaster at sea. tonight, five days after the accident aboard the "costa concordia," search and recovery efforts around the shipwreck for the more than 20 still missing are on hold because of safety concerns, and a big european weather system is moving in. that could mean big waves, and another satellite view to show

you tonight, the incredible photo of the wreck as seen from space. nbc's michelle kosinski has our report from the scene tonight. >> reporter: all the work today had to be above the waterline, dropping huge hoses onto the ship, preparing to pump out half a million gallons of fuel, which can't happen until searchers finish, the plan is to blast four more holes into "concordia's hull" today and find more bodies of the missing. yesterday they were able to plunge the depths of the once grand ship. it's lit now by search lights. today, the dangerously shifting vessel would not let them. perched on rocks above a slope that drops 200 feet, the families of the unaccounted for, their photos hung in town, must also wait. >> i'm looking for my brother russel. >> reporter: russel rebello, a waiter from india, who was last seen helping passengers escape on lifeboats. >> i'm very proud of him.

>> reporter: the captain many are calling the most hated man in italy, francesco schettino, seen here greeting passengers before the voyage. he says he hopes it will be an unforgettable journey for them. friday night after he took the ship off course, hit rock and left before desperate passengers did, he insisted to the furious port authority he did not abandon ship and reportedly told prosecutors he tripped and fell right into a lifeboat. >> he will go one day in a prison for a long time. >> reporter: still industry analysts using satellite data say schettino took a virtually identical route last year which they say was authorized and charted. >> must have come perilously close, i mean possibly within touching distance. >> reporter: schettino may have had reason to believe this path was safe.

tonight what is really threatening the search, the stability of the ship and the fuel situation are waves, tonight expected to reach six feet high, storms on the way. it's been tough for everyone to look at this day after day and know they're losing time. brian? >> michelle kosinski on the italian coast with the wreckage right there behind her tonight, michelle, thanks. now to the middle east, inside syria where we're on the ground tonight after ten months of protest and more than 5,000 dead in the uprising, the government crackdown there, and the hope for a solution is dwindling, nbc's ayman hohyeldin, one of the few western journalists in damascus, ayman, good evening.

>> reporter: brian there was little hope from arab league observers they'd find a solution to the conflict but today as the fact-finding mission wraps up its work many are questioning whether it has made any difference at all. it was their last chance to hear firsthand what is happening inside syria. arab league monitors turning the country speaking to witnesses and victims. >> we don't need this regime. you can understand me? they are killing us. >> reporter: this is what the people wanted to show them, the violence inflicted by the syrian military on neighborhoods captured on amateur footage like this. the head of the mission will present his team's findings to an arab foreign ministers meeting in cairo on sunday. >> no comment. >> reporter: already many say the mission has been a failure since they arrived last month to ensure syria's compliance with an arab league promise to end the violence, activists say as many as 600 people have been killed. >> arab league observers don't prevent the daily killing and they failed to do anything to help the syrian people. >> reporter: several arab league monitors tell nbc news their movements have been restricted by government security

forces and they were threatened and attacked. a few of the monitors quit in protest. the syrian government says it is waging war on armed gangs terrorizing the country and says more than 2,000 of its security forces have been killed. the government claims to be complying with the arab league agreement releasing prisoners, allowing foreign media into the country to report freely, but today when we tried to film long lines at a gas station to show the impact of economic sanctions, we were stopped. after we were taken to the police station, we were questioned briefly but ultimately released highlighting the kind of nervousness that the government has about foreign media operating here in the country of syria. back to you. >> ayman mohyeldin in damascus tonight, thank you. back in this country the winter storm that hit seattle was not the apocalyptic disaster some were predicting and fearing but for that part of the country five inches of snow in one shot is a lot.

our report from nbc's miguel almaguer. >> oh, yeah! >> reporter: across washington state a good day to stay home. streets became neighborhood playgrounds. >> look at all of this stuff and it's still snowing right now. >> reporter: in olympia, the state capital, some found new ways to get to work. downtown seattle where nearly a year's worth of snow fell in a single day, most streets were deserted. >> i came from chicago and we experience heavier snow than here, but everyone is having problems driving. >> reporter: five inches paralyzing a community used to rain. sights like these are rare. snowmobiles in the streets, smartcars wearing chains. the winter blast left many hillside roads closed, schools shut down and airlines canceled flights. >> we're definitely ready to go home. i'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. >> reporter: ray slish took the day off with his st. bernard, panda.

>> if i get stuck i hook him up to the car and let him pull me out. >> reporter: in higher elevations, mountain passes were temporarily shut down because of avalanche danger, a storm on the move. >> oh! >> it's going to shift to the south and give northern california, utah and colorado some much needed snowfall. they haven't had a good storm like this since november. >> reporter: already in oregon, rain turned to slush and hammered portland while along the coast, hurricane-force wind gusts knocked out power to 30,000. brian the good news, snow in seattle is expected to turn to rain. they're used to that in these parts. the bad news it's headed in your direction, first chicago then the northeast. brian? >> first you get inside miguel. thanks for that. a bad night in seattle. nbc's miguel almaguer. still ahead, when we continue, why so many internet searches came up empty today because of the fight we'll tell you about tonight. and later, it's happened before, getting a giant hip righted and out of the water

after a disaster. tonight how it's done from the man who does it. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions

or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. we have to thank you for the advice on phillips' caplets. magnesium, right? you bet! phillips' caplets use magnesium. works more naturally than stimulant laxatives... for gentle relief of occasional constipation. can i get an autograph? [ female announcer ] live the regular life.

phillips'. depending on what you searched for on the web today, you either got what you wanted or drove right into a black hole as some sites took themselves down to send a message to all of us, wanting us to imagine a world without free knowledge. new media on the web ran up against older schooled media in this case, including the company we work for, in a fight over a bill aimed at preventing internet piracy. critics say it will lead somehow to censorship. nbc's kevin tibbles reports. >> reporter: wikipedia pulled the plug for 24 hours, all done toe pro'tis the stop on privacy act, or sopa, before congress. >> this bill puts together the infrastructure for censorship in a way completely unnecessary to combat piracy. >> reporter: those in the media

industry supporting regulation including nbc universal claim online piracy costs $135 billion a year and steals 2.5 million jobs worldwide. >> your father's counterfeiting was people selling cheap knockoffs on street corners. today those same criminal enterprises sell these products online, dupe consumers. >> reporter: they aim to block foreign websites that infringe on copyrights from movies and television, music, publishing, software and consumer products, even material on youtube could be affected. not so long ago, much of our information came from these, but in the last decade or so, the proliferation of the internet has made ownership of this information very difficult to police. but the online revolt against sopa has grown to include some 7,000 websites, including the tech site wired, online magazine, boing boing and mozilla, maker of the popular browser firefox. google blacked out its own familiar home page today, adding the message "tell congress please don't censor the web."

many took note today. here's nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: both democrats and republicans have been bombarded with calls and e-mails and many are now backing off. >> reporter: just ask any group of college kids and they'll tell you. >> a lot of people think why pay for it. >> if the price is too outrageous it will probably get pirated. >> reporter: it also didn't take long to discover hitting escape reopens the wikipedia site. these days information travels fast. kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. up next here tonight, the new list of best and worst airports, and an american legend taking on a new challenge. when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we knew it would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund

so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home. with thermacare heatwraps. thermacare works differently. it's the only wrap with patented heat cells that penetrate deep to relax, soothe, and unlock tight muscles. for up to 16 hours of relief, try thermacare. my feet and exactly where i needed more support. i had tired, achy feet.

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the folks at frommer's travel guides are out with the list of not their best beach or travel destinations as they usually do, but this time the best and worst airport terminals in the world. the most beautiful according to them, jeddah in saudi arabia and there's one u.s. terminal in the

top five, the iconic terminal five at new york's jfk, but jfk deservedly gets it on the other end as well, worst terminal in the world, terminal three at kennedy, described as dank, crowded and confusing. they say there's evidence "the cleaning crew gave up in despair a while ago." laguardia's terminal c is the seventh worst in the world in their top ten. we put the entire list on our website. speaking of jfk, perhaps you remember the horror stories from the two different elderly women who claim they were strip searched in separate incidents around the holidays by the tsa. today the feds admitted wrongdoing and apologized to both women. in one case, they admitted to examining her colostomy bag, but even after the apology, both women say the tsa is lying in the final report. both say they were asked to remove articles of clothing in a private screening area. now to an image getting a

lot of attention tonight, it shows a couple of prominent american citizens, two people a lot of folks look up to, but today it was the secretary of state who was doing the looking up at kareem abdul jabbar, nba all-time leading scorer, jazz aficionado and author, and today named cultural ambassador and he will travel the world as a goodwill messenger for the united states and he will stand out. up next what do you do with a giant crippled ship? one man has a very good idea. and now, b vitamins to boot. coffee doesn't have fiber. unless you want it to. splenda® essentials™ are the first and only line of sweeteners with a small boost of fiber, or antioxidants, or b vitamins in every packet. mmm. same great taste with an added "way to go, me" feeling. splenda® essentials™. get more out of what you put in.

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this week we've been covering the cruise ship disaster in italy, and asking how it could have happened and right about now it's time to ask what happens next? how do you move a cruise ship that is currently lying on its side in the water? our report from nbc's mark potter. >> reporter: even for salvers with years of experience, the huge ship "concordia" presents a daunting challenge. bob umdenstock of the resolve marine group in ft. lauderdale has worked 40 years in salvage operations. he believes removing the cruise ship could easily take more than a year. >> it could possibly be as difficult a job as anybody's ever attempted.

>> reporter: the first concerns he said are for the victims, workers' safety and the environment as fuel is removed. then after complex engineering studies, an attempt could be made to right the ship, perhaps with a technique called parbuckling. >> parbuckling involves rolling the ship upright. in order to roll it upright, you have to apply forces that induce that rolling. >> reporter: if the ship is parbuckled, chains attached to the top of the ship would be pulled with tugboats or barges. other chains attached to the bottom of the ship would be pulled in the opposite direction. a third set of chains attached to land would keep the ship from moving away. the next challenge would be to ensure the ship floats, pumping out water, plugging holes if çó necessary and sealing off damaged compartments. >> i think it's doable but -- from what i know, it certainly has been done before with other ships in other circumstances. >> reporter: our french cruise ship "the normandy" rolled over in new york harbor during world war ii, just like "the

concordia." with a lot of work salvers were able to raise it. 60 years later they face the same challenge, moving massive tons of steel, securing gallons of fuel while quietly respecting those who died here. mark potter, nbc news, miami. that's our broadcast for tonight. thank you for being here. i'm brian williams and of course we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.