on the broadcast tonight, out of nowhere. a navy jet crashed into an apartment complex in virginia. smoke, flames, and a burning question. what went wrong? >> jobs wanted. a new pothole in the road to recovery. why did the new jobs report out today disappoint? >> pro protector. our conversation with the secret service agent who spent four years by jackie kennedy's side and the personal toll of that day in dallas. and sinking ships, the long and winding journey is over for the ghost ship sent out to sea by a tsunami. "nightly news" starts now. good evening.

i'm savannah guthrie, in tonight for brian. and in virginia, something terrifying and almost unbelievable happened today. a navy f-18 fighter jet fell out of the sky, crashing into an apartment complex there. and given the images you see there, perhaps more astonishing still, there are no reported fatalities at this hour. we have two reports. we begin with nbc's pentagon correspondent, jim miklaszewski. >> it looked like a war zone. the navy fighter jet plowed into this virginia beach apartment complex, setting it ablaze. much of the complex for senior citizens was wiped out in the initial contact. eye witnesses were in shock. >> that one is on fire. look at the roof. the other roof is getting ready to go on fire. oh, my god. this apartment complex right here. this one is already ruined. firefighters are doing the best they can.

>> in the burned out wreckage, the unmistakable twin tails and jet engines from a u.s. navy f-18. eye witnesses reported smoke and flames coming from one of the wings. >> i heard whoop, whoop, whoop, and the pilot, just on the plane, and all of a sudden i looked up and boom, an explosion. >> one witness said it appeared the pilot struggled to gain control of the plane. >> i could hear the engines blowing out or either trying to restart, and i looked up and could see the plane going straight up with no sound or engines, and then i seen it pitch over and go down. >> at the last second, the two crew members ejected safely. one of them seen here on a stretcher. the other walking with a police officer, both with minor injuries. pat kavanaugh found one of the crew members still strapped into his parachute. >> i made sure he didn't have any broken bones. he apologized for crashing into our complex. i chuckled and told him not to

worry about it. >> miraculously, own lee four people on the ground only suffered minor injuries and there are no reported fatalities. the jet had taken off from oesh eanna naval station only seconds before the crash and was only a few blocks from the ocean when it went down. navy officials said the front sea crewman was a student pilot, the back pilot, a seasoned instructor, and blamed the crash on a mechanical breakdown. >> initial indications are that the craft suffered a catastrophic mechanical malfunction. the specifics of which i don't want to speculate on. >> the navy has already launched a full-blown investigation. investigators will obviously look for what caused that mechanical breakdown, but they're also going to take a look at the actions of the crew, the student pilot, and instructor. did they do everything possible to try to save the airplane and avoid the crash? since they were so close to the ocean, where they could have

easily and safely ditched the aircraft, early speculation is they had no chance to regain control of the plane. >> a lot of questions tonight. jim miklaszewski, thank you. nbc's ton chung has just arrived on the ground in virginia beach. good evening to you. >> savannah, firefighters and emergency responders are right now conducting a secondary door to door search in the apartment complexes. they're trying to make sure no one is trapped inside. they say if anybody is trapped inside at this point, the chances of survival are very slim. to be clear, there are no reports of missing persons at this point. and this has been a heart-stopping and frightening afternoon for many of the residents. many watched in horror as the f-18 crashed into the apartment complex, and there are stories of heroism coming out of here. one woman said she and a group of neighbors rushed into a building and pulled out four people before the building collapsed. this is still very much an active scene. a lot of firefighters and emergency responders still working the scene.

a lot of people curious, trying to see what's going on here. they're urging people to stay away because of the hazardous materials they're handling right now, but the overall sentiment is thank god no one was killed. >> the latest from virginia beach. thank you. now to the economy and the monthly jobs report that is so often a key barometer of how the recovery is going in the real world. well today, the numbers disappointed. we added just 120,000 jobs last month. that is much less than what the experts were expecting. but on the plus sigh side, the unemployment rate fell to 8.2%. our report from anne thompson. >> today's report, a sobering reality check on the recovery. the disappointing job growth, economists say, indicate businesses are still not confident in the state of the economy. >> the u.s. economy is generating jobs, but it's not going to be generating jobs at a pace that is spectacular or fast enough to really get people

excited about the labor market. >> the mixed messages of the march report can be seen in two segments of the market. manufacturers continue to bolster their assembly lines, adding 37,000 jobs, but retailers cut jobs even though sales increased, eliminated 34,000 positions. in the optimistic cap, the online travel review site trip adviser headquartered outside of boston. >> is this ever empty? >> no, it's never empty. >> today, there are 70 openings on the j jaue jobs board, looki help in all aspects of the business, from software engineers to sales representatives to marketers. >> we realized while we may be hiring here, we realize the economy did take a hit on other companies and candidates. it's not what you were doing, what are you doing today? >> even the unemployment rate doesn't tell the whole story. though it dropped in march, it fell in part because fewer people were looking for work. some so discouraged, they gave

out looking for work all together and weren't counted. more than 1,000 people waited in line at this job fair in canton, ohio, for a chance at 100 jobs. >> i do have a decade's worth of petroleum experience. >> but in covington, georgia, the sound of hope. this bell rings when jobs are available. today, it rang 20 times for the openings at bridgestone golf. >> a job opening and a job filled is a mortgage payment. >> as the nation slowly rebuilds the economy, one job at a time. anne thompson, nbc news, needham, massachusetts. >> cnbc's kelly evans joins me for a closer look at what the numbers mean for the economy going forward. all week, it felt like economists said we were going to get a big number on friday. how did they get it so wrong? >> that helps to explain why we got the negative reaction. people were looking at the decline seen in people filing for new jobless benefits. some of the better reports we have seen in saying the economy

seems to be picking up momentum, there's been a lot of reports generally about maybe how this time is finally the time when we're at the self sustaining point, and then today's report came out and landed with a thud and poured some cold water on that. is this a case where we're following the pattern in 2011, 2010, where job gains looked like they're picking up, looked like they were on the cusp of something, and then it dissipates. >> it seems like the feature of the recovery, one step forward, two steps back. >> that's the reality we're in. people are hoping this year would be a year like 2004 and 1994, where you see the income gains, the job gains, and everything kind of takes off from there. but you get a report like today, and that's why it's important to watch what happens over the next couple months, fwut makes you wonder whether we're going to be at that point yet, and it highlights the fragility of the u.s. economy and helps explain why we're seeing nervousness in the market. >> kelly evans, thanks for stopping by. lottery officials in kansas announced a winner has come forward to claim the first chunk

of the giant mega millions jackpot from last week. though they had the big check ready togo today, the winner decided to remain anonymous, letting a smiley face stand in as the $218 million prize was awarded. that works out to $110 million after taxes. even as millions of us were glued to the tv set last friday waiting for the numbers, this particular winner did not check his or her ticket until monday and then couldn't believe it. >> checked it over ten times. to make sure that they were reading it right. to verify it, and still had a hard team believing it. >> we can understand that. of course, there are still two more winners out there, and they haven't come forward yet. one bought a ticket in illinois. and one in maryland. overseas tonight, in downtown sarajevo, red chairs as far as the eye can see were laid out on the main street to symbolize the more than 11,000

people killed in that city in the bosnian war that began 20 years ago today. this is good friday. christians marked the day with prayers and processions through jerusalem's old city, while in rome, tens of thousands turned out to hear pope benedict give his good friday address. and for jews around the world, this is of course the first night of passover. up next, as "nightly news" continues, the bodyguard, more of our rare conversation with the man who was by jackie kennedy's side on the day her husband was killed. and later, the deliberate sinking of a shrimping vessel set adrift by the tsunami in japan. how much other floating debris is out there? there? in charge . how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning.

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it was one of america's darkest days. a nation in grief over the assassination of president john f. kennedy. but what was it like to be there? right there when the shots rang out? secret service agent clint hill spent 50 years trying to forget and only now has written a story of his four years as jackie kennedy's closest protector. a time of exhilarating highs and heart wrenching lows. >> that's the one thing that i can't get out of my mind, is that the picture of him lying in her lap with his head exposed to me. looking into the back of his head, into his brain, his eyes fixed, blood and brains and bone fragments all over the car, over mrs. kennedy, and myself.

>> the images america cannot forget are seared painfully in the mind of secret service agent clint hill, assigned to protect jackie kennedy. it was hill who desperately climbed onto intrunk of the president's vehicle that day and for decades was tormented by the thought of what he could have done to stop it. >> i looked in the eyes of those two children who had lost their father and the woman who had lost her husband and recognized that i was there, and i was unable to prevent what happened from happening. >> hill says living with that guilt forced him into seclusion and a deep depression that nearly cost him his life. >> the doctor told me, either quit what you're doing or die. it's your choice. and i chose to live, so i quit drinking, quit smoking, and started to recover gradually. it's priceless. >> in old boxes at his arlington, virginia home, he has precious mementos of his time

with the kennedys. mrs. kennedy's schedule for that day in dallas, a sketch pad where she doodled drawings and her young son john john, did, too. >> i thought that was pretty good for a 2-year-old. that was his big thing, if he could get on a helicopter. he would even go on air force one if given the opportunity, but sometimes they had to say sorry, you have to go back to the white house now. >> mrs. kennedy suspected he wanted to be a pilot. >> yes, based on his interest in everything that flew. she thought, i bet he would be a pilot some day. >> president kennedy has just signed a proclamation authorizing an arms quarantine against cuba. >> during the cuban missile crisis, hill said the strong willed mrs. kennedy wouldn't hear of being taken to a bomb shelter. >> she very sternly backed up and said, let me tell you, mr. hill, if things get to that point, caroline and john and i are going to walk out on the south grounds and stand there, just like every other american, and see what happens.

>> she wanted to be with the president at that time. >> that's right. >> hill was right there as the kennedys jetsetted around the world. he describes a first lady who was spontaneous and mischievous, even sneaking cigarettes from time to time. >> she was like a giddy teenager getting away with something. it was the first of many secrets we would keep with each other. >> true. >> what kind of secrets? >> they wouldn't be secretive if i told you, would they? >> still protecting the first lady, hill says their bond was sealed in tragedy. when you read the book you write about her with such admiration and affection, and almost, dare i say it, love, for her? >> i have been accused of that. i think that's a little bit too strong an emotion. yes, i admired her a great deal. i really respected her. i don't think you could really say that i loved her. >> was she your friend? >> very close friend.

yes, we shared a lot of things together. we had a very, very deep bond between the two of us. >> hill says he finally returned to dallas in 1990 and walked that route once again, finally realizing there was nothing he could have done to stop the bullets, but he said he has never stopped feeling responsible. the book is called "mrs. kennedy and me." at the white house last night, president obama hosted a screening of the classic film "to kill a mockingbird" to help mark the 50th anniversary of its release. our own parent company, nbc universal will broadcast a restored print of the film tomorrow night on the usa network at 8:00 eastern. the president will provide a special introduction as part of tomorrow's usa network show. and coming up next, what lies beneath. spring has sprung but so have my allergies. nighttime is the worst. i can't breathe and forget sleeping.

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the waters off alaska where the u.s. coast guard opened fire and sank a japanese fishing vessel today. the ship was unmoored by last year's tsunami in japan and it's been floating on pacific ocean waters. now it's under the see, but as miguel almaguer reports, it's just one small piece of the tons oftsunami debris out there that could come here. >> the u.s. coast guard finds its target. a 164-foot fishing vessel known as a ghost ship, debris from the earthquake and tsunami, drifting across the pacific for more than a year. >> it's a hazard to navigation with other vessels. >> 25-millimeter cannons punch holes into the ship's hull, a four-hour assault to sink the ghost ship 6,000 feet below. along the coast in the sitka sound. >> what a beautiful morning. >> biologists search for more

evidence from the tsunami. this wildlife refuge is protected by man, but not from the sea. researchers have seen more and more debris wash ashore here than ever before. >> here's a styrofoam buoy. >> stretches of this shore frequently catch debris, but these buoys and bottles are new and suspicious. they're tested for radiation. >> can we see the geiger counter? >> so far, everything comes up clean. this biologist can't confirm the debris is from the tsunami. >> we see a lot of japanese debris already. what we're really looking for is a grouping of debris that would be indicative of the tsunami event. >> scientists say 5 million tons of tsunami debris is in the ocean. they can track it but projecting its path isn't easy. >> we're able to predict ocean currents and ocean winds and it's the combination of those two that move the debris across the pacific. >> ron connister has been

fishing these waters for froyears. >> an act of god. it's a terrible thing that happened, but what can we do? >> for now, he can only watch and wait. one big piece of debris sunk at sea, but tomorrow, it's unclear what the next wave will bring. miguel almaguer, nbc news, sitka, alaska. up next, what works? a woman who took a chance that really paid off. all right, let's decide what to do about medicare and social security... security. that's what matters to me... me? i've been paying in all these years... years washington's been talking at us, but they never really listen... listen...it's not just some line item on a budget; it's what i'll have to live on... i live on branson street, and i have something to say... [ male announcer ] aarp is bringing the conversation on medicare and social security out from behind closed doors in washington. because you've earned a say.

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finally tonight, on a day with less than stellar news about american jobs, we have the story of a woman who went from just making ends meet to building a business that has customers lining up around the block. she did it with the help of other women who are dedicated to giving lots of women a second chance. nbc's cristling dahlgren has our report from oakland, california. >> every morning, allison transforms from busy mom to bake sale betty. the most famous sandwich maker in oakland. >> let's do it. >> but the blue wig isn't the biggest change. >> if you told me ten years ago

this is what would be happening, i would not have believed you at all. >> she was an australian immigrant, a low-paid line cook selling cookies on the side to make ends meet when she took a chance. she opened her own store, selling just a few sandwiches at first. then word spread about her fried chicken. >> this is what it looks like here every day, a line out the door and down the block. 300 sandwiches an hour, but betty is the first to tell you she didn't do this alone. >> i was looking for something to give me the hope and the support that i needed. and i came across women's initiative. >> plug in what is relevant for your business. >> an 11-week program where women put together business plans, get help with loans, and graduate with the confidence and support to launch their dreams. >> they can become economically independent. lift themselves out of poverty. >> in 24 years, that simple concept has helped 24,000

low-income women. their average age, 39. and studies show graduates increase their income 60% within one year. betty now employs 60 people. it's this man's first day. >> my bills are taller than me and i'm 6'6". >> have to do a lot of listening. >> from the unemployment to the assembly line. >> i just needed a chance. >> the same chance allison once needed before a group of women and some famous fried chicken changed everything. >> thank you. >> kristen dahlgren, nbc news, oakland. >> and that is our broadcast for this friday night. thank you for being with us. i'm savannah guthrie. lester holt will be here with you this weekend. and brian williams will be back here monday night. good night, everybody. and have a great weekend.