on our broadcast tonight, detecting breast cancer. could a blood test tell women if they're at risk for their cancer to come back? team player. today we asked former president clinton about those whispers of disagreement between him and the obama campaign. and he took it head on. the queen's day, the high point of the diand jubilee, 60 years on the thrown. tonight we get to hear from the queen herself. and the big show in the sky. it's been a wild time in the heavens lately. what's happening tonight is something none of us will ever live to see again. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television had good evening, over the past few days we've had encouraging news on the cancer front. tonight it's about breast cancer. specifically, what could lead to a simple way of telling women who have already been treated for breast cancer, whether their disease could come back. the science is early, but the potential impact is obvious, and could be life altering for millions of american women and their families. it's where we begin tonight with our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: for the 200,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer, the fear is, will it return? now a new study from md anderson cancer center, suggests that one day there may be a simple blood

test to predict recurrence. researchers looked at 200 women from 2005 to 2010 with stage 1 breast cancer that had so far been treated. the theory being, it may be the number of breast cancer tumor cells in the blood stream that can predict a woman's risk of relapse and how long she will survive. >> if the patient had cells in the blood, they had at least four times the chance of having a recurrence or death. for patients who had had a lot of cells, let's say three or more, the chance of dying was around 11 times higher. >> reporter: the challenge is to find out which of these circulating tumor cells is harmless, and which could cause trouble. and that's a question that even the researchers admit they don't know the answer to yet. the reality check here is that this test is not yet ready for clinical use. we need more studies, longer follow-up, many more patients. what we don't want to do is

throw an unnecessary test out there. more information is needed, not only on what causes breast cancer but on the risk of recurrence. i think interesting and a glems into the future. >> what are the questions raised by this? >> what do tumor cells circulating through your blood system mean. some may be bad actors, some may be dormant and cause trouble. what we have to do is figure out different tumor cells, their individual risk factors for women and fight breast cancer on a much more cellular level and get away from this burn, poison and cutting people. now we're really looking into the future but at a very, very, very basic level. not yet ready for women to go to their doctor's offices yet. >> so arpg shouse to break that cycle. the u.s. has confirmed the killing by a cia drone strike of

a senior al qaeda leader, it happened in pakistan. and u.s. officials call it a significant blow to al qaeda. the man killed is believed to rank second in the organization and was involved in numerous terrorist plots against western targets over the years. after a knockdown drag out political fight that's dragged on for over a year, wisconsin voters are finally deciding tonight whether to recall their republican governor scott walker and replace him with the man he beat two years ago, the mayor of milwaukee, tom barrett. ron allen is in waukesha, wisconsin. >> reporter: for governor scott walker, voting this morning marked the end of a campaign to keep his job that started in february of last year, when the recall effort was launched. as tens of thousands of protesters occupied the capitol, angry at walker's conservative agenda. >> a lot of times people ask what can you do to bring the

state together. it's more important in many ways, actions than just words. >> hello, wisconsin. >> his opponent, tom barrett has accused walker of waging a civil war, with reforms favoring the rich and virtually eliminating public sector union collective bargaining. >> we've noted around the state the energy has been building and building and building. >> turnout has been like a presidential year, with as many as 65% of the state's voters expected to cast ballots in the most expensive and contentious contest, wisconsin has ever seen. >> a lot of ugliness. i'm ready to move the state in a positive direction. >> i wanted to make sure i voted for sure. this is too important to not vote. >> voters had lined up an hour befored polls opened at 7:00 a.m. turnout monitors said was with running some four times higher than usual for a statewide with election. an election that has pitted

neighbor against neighbor. >> it's caused a big divide. everyone is telling everyone else what their opinion is, who's right, who's wrong. >> reporter: and even divided husbands like josh, who supports walker and his wife wants the governor recalled. your wife supports recalling the governor. how is that working out at home is it. >> it can make for some dicey dinner conversations from time to time. >> wisconsinites are not alone in all this. there are countless activist who is have been campaigning and trying to get out the vote today. tens of millions of dollars have been spent by outside groups trying to influence the outcome of the election, because so much is at stake. >> ron allen in waukesha tonight, ron, thanks. while we're with on the topic of politics today, we had a chance to sit down with former president bill clinton in his office in harlem, new york. he's preparing for a big gathering in chicago of his foundation, the clinton global initiative. it's focused on fixing problems in the u.s. and we talked about some of

those as well. including his view of what social media is doing to our society. the allegations that mr. clinton and the obama campaign somehow aren't on the same page. and the new unemployment figure of 8.2% and the challenge that presents to the democrats. >> roger simon, the political writer has a piece on the web today. the headline of which i noticed this morning, bill clinton out of control in 2012. people are wanting to find room between you and the president on issues like romney, bain capi l capital, your quota they had a sterling record in their line of work. is there any difference between you and the tack the obama campaign has taken? >> mr. simon may think i should be an employee of the campaign but i'm not. i'm trying to help the president win re-election, because i think he's done a better job than most people know. i think the health care bill is a step in the right direction, not the wrong direction.

i think his energy policy on balance is very well grounded and well conceived. and i think that his economic policy is dramatically better than the one articulated by governor romney and his supporters. and i think -- you know, i've been aghast by all this flutter about it. i shouldn't have to criticize romney personally to disagree with his politics. >> how does president obama run a re-election campaign with this being the unemployment rate saying nothing of running a country? >> well, i think first of all, he has to deal with the facts. he has to say, which i've heard him say many times that at least we're growing and our unemployment rate is much lower than europe's, but we're not growing fast enough. then he can point out that because his jobs plan didn't pass, we lost 00,000 public jobs, mostly teachers, police officers, firefighters.

because state and local governments, they can't do this, they can't sell bonds for current expenses. and we still haven't resolved all this home mortgage stuff. although there's some evidence that it's speeding up, refinancing and other things, to resolve it, until those things happen, we're going to be plagued with up and down periods. >> what does clinton global initiative america have that can help america right now. >> this year what we're trying to focus on are things that are working that could be replicated. for example, last year we had carnegie foundation say they were going to answer president obama's call for 100,000 more science, technology engineering and math teachers. they have reaped already 20% more money than they promised to raise. >> do you have an opinion on

facebook as a product, as a movement, as an ipo and did you buy any? >> no, i didn't buy any. no, i don't have an opinion on the ipo. what i'm worried about is that for young people who send an around of 80 text messages a day on their telephone, and live on the internet, that it may make it harder for them now and for the receipt of their lives to be present where they are. i think one thing is, i was the last president born, i guess president bush -- i never asked him this, how old he was when he got his first television. i was ten years old before we had a television. i grew up in a story telling culture, where you're supposed to be present where are. that's what i worry about. >> part of our conversation with former president clinton today on the eve of his gathering in chicago. facebook stock continued its slide today closing below $26 a share. we have posted the rest of the

conversation on our website, nbcnightlynews.com. another legal victory tonight for advocates of same sex marriage. in san francisco, a federal appeals court refused to reconsider a ruling, finding proposition eight unconstitutional. it bans same sex marriage. this puts the case on track to the u.s. supreme court. jury selection underway today in the child sexual abuse trial of former penn state football coach of jerry sandusky, the day showed just how intweened penn state is with the surrounding community. of the 40 prospective jurors interviewed, more than half either worked at or were retired from the university or had immediate family affiliated with the school somehow. the judge said that alone is not enough to disqualify anybody. and one of the nine jurors seated today has been a penn state football season ticket holder since the 1970s. a grand finale in the queen's thank you for a regal

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nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ in london today, millions of british subjects paid tribute to their queen on the final day of her spectacular diamond jubilee 37 again today there was a notable absence, but the queen kept calm and carried on. our report tonight from nbc's stephanie gosk in london. ♪ >> reporter: queen elizabeth

began her day with solemn ceremony. the monarch followed her family down the aisle of st. paul's cathedral. but with husband prince phillip in the hospital, she walked alone. the lord mayor and ceremonial sword nearly blocking the 86-year-old from view. it was called a service of thanksgiving. a chance to reflect on the second longest reign in british history. >> we are marking six decades of proof that public service is possible. >> reporter: the 2,000 guests included prime minister david cameron, extended members of the royal family and dignitaries from around the world. ♪ >> reporter: the queen sat next to her son, prince charles. down the row, grandsons prince william and prince harry. first, second, third in line for

the thrown. after the service, the dean of st. paul's led the queen outside, stopping to point out a plaque honoring the only other monarch to reign as long, queen victoria. her diamond jubilee was in 1897. on the streets of london, the cheering grew. 1.5 million people waiving a sea of british flags. with the rain starting to fall, the royal procession began. the queen led the way, escorted by the famous horses guard. thunderous applause followed the royal family all the way to buckingham palace. after the carriages pass by, the crowd spilled on to the streets. in a taped address, the queen thanked the country for the overwhelming support. >> i will continue to treasure and draw inspiration from the countless kindnesses shown to me.

>> reporter: the final act of the diamond jubilee took place on the balcony of buckingham palace. the same balcony that's been the scene of so many great moments in elizabeth's life, and in her country's history. she stood there smiling, surrounded by her family. another milestone met. and a job that began 60 years ago and still isn't done. in just over three years, the queen will be the longest ruling monarch in british history. what we have seen over the last four days, there are plenty of people in this country that hope she will rule even longer than that. and just a quick update on prince phillip, the palace says he's improving and recovering from his bladder infection. brian? >> stephanie gosk at buckingham palace, where the new era starts tonight. stephanie, thanks. up next here, as we continue, a young woman teaches us all a lesson in valor. last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years.

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♪ only you can make herb reed has died, he was the last surviving group of "the platters." you can hear his voice on songs like "only you." his voice is on more than 400 songs. herb reed was 83 years old. sheryl crow who successfully fought breast cancer six years ago, and has worked tirelessly to raise funds for various cancer charities, has disclosed she has a benign brain tumor. she's 50, a mother of two. she became concerned about memory loss, had an mri, that revealed the tumor, diagnosed as a meningioma. she says despite getting this news last november, she's fine, she's happy and healthy.

it was an act of valor and selflessness the likes of which see in a war movie. this one took place at a state high school track meet in ohio. it's meghan vogel you'll see on the right. she was competing in the 3200 meter, when her competitor and fellow distance runner arden mcmath fell down just short of the finish line. meghan sacrificed her own finish in the race, she scooped her up and they finished together 14th and 15th at the wire. she said she just reacted naturally. we thought the example she set deserved some attention. two names that harkin back to the dawn of the internet age are back together with a new invention. airtime. a new video chat service was unveiled today in new york. while with video chat isn't new, airtime is getting a lot of attention, because it's founders are shawn parker and shawn fanning, creators of napster in the mid '90s. later this week, savannah guthrie sits down with both men for "rock center" thursday night 10:00 p.m. iron, 9:00 central.

thanks to the new england journal of medicine, this man this week became the face sun damage. his name is bill mcelligot. he's 69 years old, he drives a semi. and for 30 years that one with side of his face has been exposed to the sun in the cab of his truck. his doctors say it's a stark textbook example of repeated long term sun exposure. sad news from here in new york, the shuttle got dinged. the shuttle enterprise which survived a flight on the back of a 747 from d.c. to new york did not do so well while traveling by water on a barge to its permanent home on the intrepid, the retired aircraft carrier turned museum. it suffered wing damage this weekend. it was passing under a railroad bridge. it was a tight fit to begin with, then a 35 knot gust of wind got ahold of it. the damage was done, but the damage will be repaired for its big debut. up next here tonight, a rare sight making for a very big night in the sky.

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what's happening tonight in the sky will never happen again in our lifetime, most of us. the planet venus is passing between us and the sun.

transiting, they call it. once it's over it won't happen again until 2117. a lot of folks are gathering to watch safely. mike taibbi is among them in griffith park in l.a. mike, good evening. >> reporter: brian, how are you? it's been a busy and festive afternoon here at l.a.'s griffith observatory. we won't see this for another century, as you say. it started at 3:07 pacific time. though it's not technically an eclipse, you have to wear eclipse caliber eye protection to see it happen. it's not as dramatic as a lunar or solar eclipse. no suddenly darkened skies. a transit of venus shows itself as a distinct dark dot inching slowly across the face of the sun. it takes just under seven hours for the dot to move across the sun. a phenomenon visible in the western hemisphere tonight with hawaii a prime viewing spot, and then moving across europe and

the rest of the eastern hemisphere wednesday morning. nasa is streaming for those who want to follow on screen. for hundreds of astronomy bfs donning these special glasses is the only way to go. >> it's a once in a lifetime feeling. >> there's purely scientific events beyond their rarity. they occur in pairs about a century apart. the last one in 2004. astronomers learn more during their duration of the universe beyond our solar system. for example, more than 60 additional planets have been discovered circling their own sons. >> in the history of astronomy it's important, because it's linked to the successful understanding of how the solar system is laid out. >> among those with the best view, the astronauts aboard the insister national space station. no matter how excited you might be to see it, don't look toward the sun without proper protection. now, only six of these transits of venus have been observed

since they were first discovered in the 17th century. if you miss this one, the next one is on december 10th of the year 2117. >> cool stuff. you're in a great spot to see it. that is our broadcast from new york on a tuesday evening. thank you for being here with us, i'm brian williams. and, of course, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.