on our broadcast tonight, a guilty plea for the man who opened fire in tucson killing six and wounding several others includingcongresswoman gabby giffords. and tonight dramatic testimony about his state of mind. also, getting personal in the race for president. tonight what the candidates are now calling each other and how close is mitt romney to picking a running mate? singular sensation. the way we were. a chorus line. tonight we will remember the great marvin hamlish. here at the olympics in london how the women of the games are inspiring the next generation. coming up "nightly news" begins generation. coming up "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening from london. once again tonight we begin right back in the u.s. where since we have been here we have seen another explosion of violence in wisco that came on the heels of our trip to colorado to cover the shooting in that movie theater. and yet it was an awful event in tucson, arizona over a year ago now that galvanized our nation, a mass shooting that killed six people, wounded many others, and it almost killed a member of congress. gabrielle gifford. we later saw the face of the accused gunman and today heard from him for the first time in court in the course of pleading guilty to 19 charges and facing a lifetime in prison. it's where we begin our broadcast tonight. nbc's miguel almaguer is in tucson. good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. today for the first time jared lee loughner was engaged with the judge.

he answered with short answers, looked directly at the judge, and took full responsibility for the horrific massacre. >> we need more than one ambulance. there is more than one person down. >> reporter: 19 months after shots rang out in a tucson parking lot seriously wounding congresswoman gabby giffords, killing a member of her staff, a federal judge, a 9-year-old girl, and three others, the man accused of pulling the trigger admitted today that he did it. it means no trial and no death penalty for jared lee loughner but he faces the rest of his life in prison. >> today justice was done. with the change of his plea jared loughner will now spend the remainder of his life in prison and never be able to harm the tucson community or any other community ever again. >> reporter: in court today dr. christina pikes who has been treating loughner said while he clearly suffers from schizophrenia he is now mentally competent. pikes testified loughner told her he was remorseful for what

he did, saying, quote, i wish i never had those thoughts. and that he especially cried about the child. judge larry burns questioned loughner who is now 23. loughner answered directly with short answers. asked if he understood, he was taking responsibility for the deadly attack, he said, yes. i understand. loughner showed no emotion when the judge read him the names of the victims and asked him if he understood his guilty plea. do you have a clear mind, a clear head? yes, loughner answered. i do. his own lawyers did not object or try to prevent him from pleading. giffords, who wasn't in court, said she was satisfied with the plea. her husband, mark kelly wrote, by avoiding a trial the community can continue with our recovery and move forward with our lives. survivors in the courtroom wipe back tears and said they supported the court's decision. >> we need to move forward and make sure that good comes out of

this. >> it's not a perfect solution. the perfect solution is one that we can't have. >> jared lee loughner will officially be sentenced november 15th. he will not be eligible for parole. brian? >> miguel almaguer, starting us off from tucson tonight. miguel, thanks. in the milwaukee suburb of oak creek, wisconsin, investigators are still trying to figure out why that man opened fire in a sikh temple over this past weekend. tonight in colorado his step mother is speaking out. nbc's john yang has the story. >> reporter: when laura page heard police accuse wade michael page of the sikh temple shooting rampage she didn't recognize her former step son. >> he was a happy person and a happy child. what happened, god only knows, because i don't. >> reporter: page was married to wade's father for 20 years and lost contact with her former step son when he went into the army. she is puzzled by his reported involvement with white

supremacists. >> when he lived in texas with us he had hispanic friends and he had black friends. you know, there was none of that. >> reporter: he was in two heavy metal bands associated with racist skinheads. law enforcement officials tell nbc news that searches of apartments where wade had lived turned up little of interest. they're exploring whether this was domestic terrorism. national sikh leaders say it should be classified as a hate crime. >> i think it's really important that if something was a hate crime that everyone own up that we were in an environment that allowed for this to occur. >> reporter: experts estimate there are more than 1,000 hate groups in america, the numbers fueled by the bad economy. a sikh american group says attacks on sikhs have risen since 9/11. in oak creek the mourners were joined by the indian ambassador who visited the families of the dead. the temple attack has brought the community closer together.

people of all faiths have attended prayer services and candlelight vigils. >> we are just thankful to be living here knowing our neighbors are with us no matter what happens. they're here to support us in any way and we have been just extremely overwhelmed. >> peggy howell was drawn to this hand made memorial in the city park. >> we're all americans. and this kind of hatred cannot be tolerated. >> reporter: visitation at a wake for the slain temple president satwant kaleka has been set for friday morning. so many people have said they want to attend and so many people have asked to speak it's going to be held in the local high school gymnasium. brian? >> john yang at oak creek, wisconsin for us tonight. john, thanks. now, two and a half weeks after that movie theater shooting rampage that left 12 people dead, 58 wounded, kids in grades 6 through 12 went back to school today in aurora, colorado. we also learned that a potential copy cat was arrested this past weekend in an ohio movie

theater. 37-year-old scott smith was carrying a loaded hand gun, extra ammunition, and knives at a 10:00 p.m. showing of "the dark knight rises." now to the big story overseas. it continues to be the chaos in syria. today secretary of state hillary clinton said it's important to make sure that syria's basic institutions like the military remain intact if and when the assad regime falls. and she warned against foreigners and terrorist fighters exploiting the situation there. but as our chief foreign correspondent richard engel tells us, the enemy of the u.s. is now trying to team up with the rebels on the ground there in syria. >> reporter: brian, just a few days ago we reported that al qaeda was trying to make inroads among the poorly armed and increasingly desperate rebels. well, things are moving even faster than we thought. we can now confirm from rebel sources that at least 262 al

qaeda militants are now operating in the border area between turkey and syria mostly concentrated around the border crossing. many are from chechnya, part of a group calling itself the chechen base. there are also fighters, however, from al qaeda from iraq, algeria, pakistan, and saudi arabia. in addition to the ones in the border area, we've also been told there is another group of al qaeda fighters living in a tented camp just outside of aleppo waiting to help the fighters from the rebels in aleppo who are by now almost completely out of ammunition. this is a very dangerous development and rebel leaders we have spoken to are worried that al qaeda is trying to piggy back off the syrian war and could bring a foreign agenda. in fact, some rebel leaders said they would even welcome american help to eliminate al qaeda from syria. other rebel leaders, however, say that al qaeda fighters are welcome as long as they focus on

fighting bashar al assad and the syrian president today was seen for the first time in two weeks on syrian state television trying to show that he is still in charge of syria. brian? >> richard engel along the syria/turkey border for us tonight. richard, thanks. off the coast of mexico tonight ernesto has strengthened into a hurricane as it now bears down on the yucatan peninsula, which is home of course to a lot of tourist destinations. but forecasts say it will stay well south of the resort area in and around cancun. honduras, belize have been hit by heavy rains today but no major damage reported. and this one is set to stay well south of the continental u.s. in the coming days. now to the campaign trail where the dialogue has become a bit less than presidential in the past few days. the story from our nbc news political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd. >> reporter: it's been a bare knuckle campaign, and now the

candidates themselves are getting into the act. president obama last night in connecticut. >> it's like robin hood in reverse. it's romney hood. >> mitt romney today with some name calling of his own. >> we've been watching the president say a lot of things about me and about my policies. and they're just not right. and if i were to coin a term it would be obama loney. >> reporter: and there's more. this new ad from the romney campaign. >> under obama's plan you wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. they just send you your welfare check. >> reporter: prompted a heated response today from the white house. >> let me say that this advertisement is categorically false and it is blatantly dishonest. >> reporter: things first began to reel out of control last week when senate majority leader harry reid actually went on to the floor of the u.s. senate to claim an unnamed source had told him romney didn't pay taxes for ten years while at bain capital. >> the word is out that he hasn't paid any taxes for ten years.

let him prove that he has paid taxes, because he hasn't. >> reporter: romney has called reid out repeatedly most recently today. >> the message i gave harry reid was put up or shut up. i don't really believe he has any kind of credible source. >> reporter: but reid just as doggedly refused to divulge his source or back up his claim with documentation. and the white house has stood aside letting the poisoned atmosphere fester. >> i think the dispute here is between the romney campaign and harry reid. senator reid is, you know, doesn't take direction. he speaks for himself. >> reporter: even the vice presidential speculation seemed to jump the rails today with this rumor from the drudge report that romney wants to name general david petraeus as his runningmate. late this afternoon the cia director general petraeus declared he is not a candidate. the real short list appears to be down to three, ohio senator rob portman, tim pawlenty the former governor of minnesota and

wisconsin congressman paul ryan who may be higher on this list than washington insiders realize. >> we can at least say we'll know in a matter of days. chuck todd in our d.c. newsroom tonight, thanks. now to the summer olympic games here in london. you know the spoiler alert drill. we hope by now if you don't want to know what happened, look away from your screen. we'll tell you when it's safe to look back. the u.s. women's gymnastics were back for their final individual competitions in each event, two americans competed in the floor exercise. the results there on your screen, and you can see from the expression on her face how things went on the balance beam for gabby douglas. aly raisman also took her turn on the beam. there are the medal results in that event. here is a quick look at the top medal count now for the top five nations at these olympic games. and now it is safe to return to your tv screen. still ahead as we continue from here in london, a great american composer has died.

he leaves us with only great music and wonderful memories. tonight we will remember marvin hamlisch. later, how the women of these games have started something really big for those right behind them and watching at home. [ female announcer ] with swiffer wetjet, cleaning better, doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm going to... drink this... on the porch! ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] mops can be a hassle, but swiffer wetjet's spray cleaner and absorbent pads can clean better in half the time so you don't miss a thing. swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. and for dry messes big and small try swiffer sweeper vac.

his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches. the blissful pause just before that rich sweetness touches your lips.

the delightful discovery, the mid-sweetening realization that you have the house all to yourself. well, almost. the sweet reward, making a delicious choice that's also a smart choice. splenda no-calorie sweetener. with the original sugar-like taste you love and trust. splenda makes the moment yours. word arrived today marvin hamlisch had died. he was awarded three oscars, four grammys, four emmys, a tony and three golden globes. most importantly he wrote so much of the music we came to know. he was a composer, arranger and

conductor and croat the scores for over 40 motion pictures. that includes "the sting" and "sophie's choice" and the one so many people remember him for, "the way we were." ♪ memories light the corners of my mind ♪ >> reporter: he was a musical genius as a boy, a genuine protege who started his training in julliard at the age of 7. he was driven as a young man prodded by his musician father to succeed and he did. in his own way he became a celebrity in his own right. he seemed to get a kick out of being famous while retaining the modest bearing of a dentist. that made him fair game on "saturday night live." >> i'm saving myself for my one true love, marvin hamlisch. >> oh, he's cute. >> he was a talk show regular who talked about his process. >> my brain, i can play it like a cassette machine and i literally put rules into the brain.

one cassette goes in, what are the rules? number one the song has to further the action. we've got to not sit there and go i love him he loves me. you have to keep moving the plot along. >> he enjoyed great success on broadway notably with "a chorus line." ♪ one singular sensation >> he worked with streisand for decades and symphony orchestras across the country. he tackled james bond. ♪ nobody does it better >> and pop music. ♪ break it to me gently >> mostly, though, marvin hamlisch enjoyed knowing that people enjoyed his music. marvin hamlisch died after a brief and undisclosed illness. he was 68 years old. up next here tonight, there is news about the health of american children and at long

last it is good news. es but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists.

what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life.

phillips'. you tell us what you want to pay, and we give you a range of coverages to choose from. who is she? that's flobot. she's this new robot we're trying out, mostly for, like, small stuff. wow! look at her go! she's pretty good. she's pretty good. hey, flobot, great job. oops. [ powers down ] uh-oh, flobot is broken. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. call or click today.

only one real color photo from our mars rover so far but give the rover some time. this is an early and grainy image of the countryside because the dust cover is still on the lens. soon, however, it will be beaming actual video from the surface of mars. it had a long journey, needs a little time to get things settled, but everything we're assured is working just fine. big news about the health of american kids today. we learned the number of children with high cholesterol levels has gone down in the past ten years and that is despite the fact that the obesity rate stayed the same. experts think the reason is trans fats have been removed from a lot of what kids like to eat. a lot of snacks and even fast food. we learned overnight robert hughes has died. while born in australia he later became one of america's most

influential art critics. for years in the pages of "time" magazine but also in his books and tv appearances. he took no prisoners, made a lot of enemies, but also loved a lot of art. robert hughes was 74. and the film critic judith crist has died. she was among the most widely read in our nation and millions got to know her as the movie reviewer on the "today" show from 1963 to '73. she was the first female critic for a big city newspaper in the united states. at her height, writing for "tv guide", she had 20 million readers. she loved woody and deniro and famously hated "the sound of music." she was smart and blunt and taught journalism at columbia new york for 50 years. she always said to be a critic you had to first be an ego maniac. judith crist was 90 years old. when we come back here tonight what the next generation back home is seeing in the eyes of the women who are here with team usa. team usa. copd makes it hard to breathe,

but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com.

starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news. ready or not, here i come! ♪ found ya! you always find me. you always hide here. [ male announcer ] tim and richard smucker have always loved the taste of just-picked fruit. so it's no wonder why today smucker's makes the world's best jam. for five generations, with a name like smucker's, it has to be good. they claim to be complete. only centrum goes beyond. providing more than just the essential nutrients, so i'm at my best. centrum. always your most complete.

[ male announcer ] start with a simple idea. think. drink coffee. hatch a design. kill the design. design something totally original. do it again. that's good. kick out the committees. call in the engineers. call in the car guys. call in the nerds. build a prototype. mold it. shape it. love it. give it 40 mpg. no, 41. give it a huge display. give it a starting price under 16 grand. take it to the car shows. get a celebrity endorser. he's perfect. "i am?" yes, you are. making a groundbreaking car. it's that easy. ♪ finally here tonight from london we've finally from london we've

been telling our viewers since the eve of these games there would be a strong women's theme here and there is. they out number men on team usa and we learn viewership among teenage girls in the u.s. has skyrocketed, 55%, since the last summer games. so this is happening. the next generation is watching and ready to go as nbc's chris jansing reports tonight. >> get the gold medals ready. >> reporter: it's the kind of moment when dreams come true. and that inspires olympic dreams to take shape in the hearts of little girls. today aly raisman had that kind of thrilling performance. >> it's a lot of hard work but at the end of the day the feeling of achievement is the best feeling in the world. >> reporter: gabby douglas was already the all-around champion and since then the phones have been ringing incessantly at her home gym in iowa. >> when i was growing up i always wanted to inspire people, inspire a nation. it was definitely on my bucket list. >> reporter: she can check that one off. i love watching her do

gymnastics. it's just so beautiful. >> gabby told me never give up. work hard. and dedication. >> reporter: from des moines to new york, georgia to florida, olympic fever is epidemic. >> they ask right away are you going to be in the olympics? my answer is always, i hope. >> reporter: the year of the woman is having a big impact on little girls in all kinds of sports. when alex morgan used her head to score a last-second epic goal for u.s. women's soccer last night, it created the kind of excitement usually reserved for superbowls and world series and it wasn't even the finals. >> oh, my god. i'm still in shock. >> reporter: and as 15-year-old katie ledecky was bringing her gold home to maryland last night little girls in oklahoma were joining the swim club. interest in archery was already growing thanks to some hit movies. now there aren't enough licensed instructors to keep up with demand.

>> it's awesome. i remember i was one of them before, too. and i love seeing little girls in archery. >> reporter: athletes like miranda leek and jen sur who ended a russian winning streak in the pole vault in sports that rarely get attention are sending a message that transcends medals. >> strong is getting prettier and prettier. i think that will be the real legacy of this olympics is that it's the last time anybody will tell a little girl, you know, girls don't really play that sport. >> reporter: whether 6'1" like missy franklin or 4'11" like gabby douglas strength, power, and athleticism are cool. i asked the women athletes what do they learn from this competition? they say almost to a person discipline, team work, dealing with adversity. maybe it is no surprise that a recent survey found 80% of women executives at companies of at least 100 employees played team sports. brian? >> that is a great message. strong is the new pretty. we're all writing that down. >> reporter: we love it. >> thank you very much. that is our broadcast on this tuesday night. thank you for being here with

us. a reminder primetime olympic coverage tonight starting at 8:00, 7:00 central. i'm brian williams reporting from london. our first proper rainy london night since our visit started. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ptions by vitac -- www.vitac.com