on this tuesday night, fixing it. bowing to pressure, indiana's governor promising to rework the law ensuring religious freedom. viewed by many as a life to discriminate as backlash hits the state's bottom line. how a prisoner got awaynd evaded capture. what if someone is hiding in the trunk of your car and starts kicking his way to the back seat. no secret, turns out the airline was previously told about the co-pilot's treatment for severe de preparation. and treating back pain. the pain reliever many go to first and why it may not be the right pill for your aching back. "nightly news" begins right now.

>> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york this from nbc news world headquarters in new york this is "nbc nightly news." reporting tonight, lester holt. facing a growing opposition from inside and outside the state and a threat to its economy, indiana's governor with glaring headlines like this in the indianapolis star called for a change to the controversial law that opens the door to legalized discrimination. governor mike pence says he wants legislation on his desk this week that clearly spells out the religious freedom law does not allow businesses to discriminate. as indiana rushes to calm the uproar tonight, another state may be about to step into the fray with its own law. nbc's gabe gutierrez is on that story for us again tonight. >> reporter: mike pence blasted his critics saying indiana's new law is about religious freedom, not discrimination. >> this law has been smeared. >> reporter: the front page of

the indianapolis "star," fix this now. the governor said he's working with a lawmakers to clarify the intent of the law by the end of the week. >> under this law, as it's written, is it legal for a florist to deny services to a same-sex couple citing their religious beliefs? >> this law does not give anyone a license to deny services to gay and lesbian couples. >> reporter: that's a different interpretation from eric miller, one of the bill's proponents who stood next to the governor at thursday's bill signing. the bill would help christian bakers, florists and photographers who should not be punished for refusing to participate in a homosexual marriage. since then -- >> was i expecting this kind of backlash? heavens no. >> reporter: nine ceos have sent a letter to state officials demanding the law be changed. >> the notion that you can tell businesses somehow that they are

free to discriminate against people based on who they are is madness, it's bad for business. >> reporter: indianapolis's republican mayor wants the law repealed. unless protections for sexual orientation are added to state law. >> indianapolis will not be defined by this. indianapolis welcomes everybody. >> reporter: other states now considering similar bills. >> eight states, please do not discriminate. >> reporter: late today the state house passed its own religious freedom bill. >> my bill is designed to protect people's civil liberties when it comes to religion. >> reporter: now on its way to the governor's desk. tonight the debate also heating up in georgia and north carolina. so why did the law pass in indiana now? the governor says it was on the heels of the recent hobby lobby supreme court decision that strengthened religious protections. but critics of the bill say the timing was due to indiana's

same-sex marriage ban being overturned last year. >> gabe gutierrez, thank you. a major development tonight in the investigation into the crash of that germanwings plane in the mountains of france. germanwings parent company lufthansa said it knew six years ago that the co-pilot who investigators say deliberately crashed the plane had suffered from severe depression. nbc's bill neely has details. >> reporter: in a statement entitled lufthansa helps investigation progress, the airline confirmed for the first time that andreas lubitz had a previous episode of severe depression. it says he wrote this in a 2009 e-mail to the flight training pilot school, so he could resume his training after dropping out for several months. lufthansa said it has now given this e-mail to prosecutors after further internal investigations. the key question is, when did it know about the e-mail. once lubitz revealed his

depression as a past issue, he resumed training and qualified as a pilot with lufthansa. the statement doesn't address how the airline followed up his past severe depression. two days ago a lufthansa spokesman told nbc news the airline, quote, had no knowledge of medical problems during lubitz's employment. for days, lufthansa and its subsidiary germanwings has tried to leave no room for doubt about its pilots and its procedures, saying this two days after the crash. >> we have complete confidence in our pilots. we have a well-known flight school which all of our pilots go through. >> reporter: lufthansa's boss repeating the same 100% assurance about lubitz. 100% fit to fly without any restrictions, he says. lufthansa faces a risk of multimillion dollar lawsuits of compensation over the crash. the fact that its officials were aware that lubitz had suffered

from serious depression, then later certified him to fly passenger jets, will come under intense scrutiny. tonight, french authorities are dismissing the claims of a french magazine and a german tabloid newspaper that a reporter has seen a cell phone video of the final seconds of the flight, a video that somehow it's claimed was recovered from the debris. a french police spokesman tells nbc news tonight, this is false. it is a fake. back to you, lester. >> bill neely in france, thank you. to a wild manhunt and a day of high anxiety in the virginia suburbs of washington, d.c. for the better part of nine hours, hundreds of police and federal agents chased an armed bank robbery suspect. the chase included two carjackings, and put a hospital on lockdown. then in the middle of that pursuit, another dramatic chase that shut down some of d.c. area's busiest highways during rush hour. nbc's tom costello was there.

>> reporter: high drama in a northern virginia neighborhood this morning. a suspect considered armed and dangerous, bare foot and wearing a hospital gown. it started just before 3:00 a.m. hospital patients and nurses hid in their rooms as s.w.a.t. team members searched for an escape prisoner. 42-year-old assai had allegedly overpowered a female guard at the hospital taken her gun and fled. suddenly adding to the confusion, police were pulled into another high-speed chase during rush hour. it was a female suspect in a pickup wanted for credit card and identity theft, crashing over a median and into ensuing police cruisers before they were able to box her in and smash the window before they arrested her. then they were back searching for the first suspect. he allegedly hid in a woman's trunk, then kicked out the back seat when she got in.

she then crashed the car. >> heard a big slam. and i heard a lady screaming like crazy. >> reporter: but he took off and dumped the first car and changed clothes. suddenly the suspect came running out of the woods. he found a car with a key in it right there, then took off right down the street. >> crazy. it was wild. i've never seen nothing like that. >> reporter: after nine hours police arrested him without incident in southeast washington. with a long rap sheet, dubbed the suspected bicycle bandit, for 12 area bank robberies. tonight, back in the custody of federal marshals. tom costello, nbc news. tonight after just two days of testimony, the defense has rested its case in the boston marathon bombing trial. the case will soon be in the hands of a jury. but as our justice correspondent pete williams reports, the final witnesses brought some surprises. >> reporter: the jury learned today that after the fbi scoured the scene for all the bits and

pieces of the two pressure cooker bombs set off at the marathon, 500 separate pieces in all, fingerprints were found on only two. a remnant of cardboard from the first bomb, and a portion of the backpack that held the second. and all the fingerprints on those parts belonged to dzhokhar tsarnaev tsarnaev's older brother, tamerlan tamerlan. and six other prints on it were tamerlan's. defense lawyers claim the major steps in preparing for the bomb attacks were taken by the older brother. but the government says it's not surprising so few prints were found on bomb pieces, and a former senior atf investigator agrees. >> fingerprints are fragile. when a bomb detonates, heat, flame and blast pressure can all destroy the fingerprints. >> reporter: also today a defense computer analyst said the al qaeda online magazine with bomb-making instructions was transferred from tamerlan's computer to south carolina har's.

the younger brother never went hunting for it online the expert said. that's it for this week. on monday, the lawyers give their closing arguments and the jury starts deliberating. then once there's a verdict, a second trial will begin a short time later on the penalty. lester? >> pete, thank you. the initial deadline has come and gone to nail down a framework for a nuclear deal with iran. but the talks among the u.s. iran and five other countries are going into overtime. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more from the site of the talks in luzan, switzerland. >> reporter: they had the weary look of college students pulling an all-nighter. the world's top diplomats missing their own midnight deadline. but making enough progress, they said, to justify keeping at it until tomorrow. president obama had said they wouldn't go past march 31st. now they are. >> if we are making progress toward the finish line, then we should keep going. >> reporter: iran said it's in no hurry to quit. >> we do not have any official deadline.

6:00, 7:00, 9:00. for us, the whole day can end in the next morning. >> reporter: russia's foreign minister left the talks yesterday, saying he would only return if there were progress. tonight he came back. in this final phase, the u.s. and iran are leaning heavily on their nuclear experts. energy secretary ernest moniz, and union's nuclear chief, both from m.i.t. but it may take more than two nuclear physicists to solve these problems. what kind of nuclear research will iran be allowed after the first ten years of an agreement? will the u.n. sanctions be lifted in june as iran demands or just suspended so they can be slapped back on if iran cheats? john kerry doesn't give up easily. but if he doesn't get a nuclear deal, he has made his mark here. a local restaurant has named a pizza after him, arugula, chicken, onion and bacon to go. even if there is a deal

tomorrow, the u.s. will not get the specific commitments that it once hoped to get from iran. that will make it harder for critics who fear the administration is making too many concessions just to get a deal. lester? >> andrea mitchell, thank you. a big headline in the fight against isis in iraq. that country's prime minister says iraqi forces have reached the center of tikrit as they move to retake control of saddam hussein's hometown north of baghdad. the white house pointed out today iraqi forces have been able to make that progress with the help of u.s. air strikes. republican-led committee investigating the benghazi attacks is now requesting a private interview with hillary clinton about the personal e-mail account she used exclusively as secretary of state. her spokesman says she is ready to speak out, but only at a public hearing. clinton has claimed she only used one account for both personal and work e-mails, because she only wanted to carry one device. but it was reported today that she e-mailed from at least two

devices, her blackberry and an ipad. many people just learned the name trevor noah yesterday. the fresh face picked to take over for jon stewart of the "daily show." but already noah has ignited a backlash online over comments he made before all eyes were on him. nbc's kevin tibbles has more on the controversy. >> reporter: a social media smackdown, just 24 hours after comedy central announced south african comedian trevor noah has jon stewart's replacement on the daily show. his past use of twitter as far back as 2009 has made him the target of critics who claim his humor is inappropriate and even offensive, to jews, women and gays. this angry message later deleted from fellow comedian roseanne barr. you should cease sexist and anti-semitic humor about jewish women and israel. and a statement wishing noah success, adding we hope he will

not cross the line from legitimate satire into offensiveness with jokes calling up anti-semitic stereotypes and ma soj my soblg soj any. in his defense, others have tweeted, trevor noah is a maverick, deal with it. >> i think it's way too soon to decide whether or not this will have any lasting impact on the show. there are much more risks involved for comedy central in replacing jon stewart with an unknown guy to american viewers. >> reporter: comedy central today stood by their new host saying his comedy spares no one, himself included. late today the subject of all this controversy tweeted to reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn't land, is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian. kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. a lot more news ahead on a busy tuesday night, including a surprising new finding about treating back pain. tens of millions of americans suffer through it every day.

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tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm... amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. think about this, doctors say 80% of us will experience back pain at some point in our lifetime. and that's where americans spend at least $50 billion a year on medications to help their aching backs. but tonight there's new research that the pain reliever many

people reach for first might not be as effective for back pain as they've been told. nbc's anne thompson reports. >> reporter: susan fox is on a mission to stay healthy. one of 31 million americans suffering with low back pain. she runs through the streets of boston. stretches with a trainer at upward spiral studio. and takes acetaminophen every day for the piece of surgery never removed. >> i take it because it's kind of what they tell you to do. >> reporter: advice that's now called into question. a study today in the british medical journal bmj said acetaminophen is no more effective than a placebo and offers only small benefits for those with knee and hip pain. >> at some point everybody has back pain in their lifetime. >> reporter: if it's not acetaminophen, what should i choose? >> if i had a muscle spasm

today, i would stretch it, i would take anti-inflammatory medicine. i might use heat. i think those are all good things to start. >> reporter: none carry the risk of liver damage that acetaminophen does. let's do it. most importantly, exercise. waldman tells all his patients to plank a minute a day to strengthen the back's small muscles. this is better than lying on the couch? >> much better. >> reporter: the trade group for makers of acetaminophen said the efficacy is well documented supported by 50 years of scientific study and real-world use. susan fox now wonders if it's a pill that she needs, as she builds strength to win over back pain. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. we're back in a moment with a big surprise on the map today that kept a lot of people distracted all day long. you total your brand new car. nobody's hurt,but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do, drive three-quarters of a car? now if you

had liberty mutual new car replacement, you'd get your whole car back. i guess they don't want you driving around on three wheels. smart. with liberty mutual new car replacement, we'll replace the full value of your car. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. i'm brian vickers, nascar® driver. i'm kevin nealon comedian. and i'm arnold palmer, professional golfer. know what we have in common? we talked to our doctors about treatment with xarelto®. me, when i had a blood clot in my leg that could have traveled to my lungs. that's why i took xarelto®, too. xarelto® is proven to treat and help reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots. i took xarelto® for afib... an irregular heartbeat that can lead to a stroke from a blood clot. xarelto® is proven to reduce the risk of stroke in people with afib, not caused by a heart valve problem. hey, well i'm glad we got together. for people with afib currently well managed on warfarin there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin

compare in reducing the risk of stroke. i tried warfarin before, but the blood testing routine and dietary restrictions had me off my game. tell me about it. let's see, golf clinic, or blood clinic? ooh, that's a tough one. not this time. not with xarelto®. anything else? i'll have another arnold palmer. ok. make mine a kevin nealon. really, brian? hey, safety first. like all blood thinners, don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of a blood clot or stroke. while taking xarelto® you may bruise more easily and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto® can cause serious bleeding and in rare cases may be fatal. get help right away if you develop unexpected bleeding unusual bruising, or tingling. if you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto® watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle-related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve, or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto® tell your doctor about any conditions such as

kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto® has been prescribed more than 11 million times in the u.s. and that number's growing. like your guys' scores. with xarelto® there is no regular blood monitoring, and no known dietary restrictions. treatment with xarelto® was the right move for us. ask your doctor about xarelto®. you may be able to get up to 12 months at no cost. we live in a pick and choose world. choose, choose, choose. but at bedtime? ...why settle for this? enter the sleep number bed. designed to let couples sleep together in individualized comfort. sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. you like the bed soft. he's more hardcore. so your sleep goes from good to great to wow! now we can all choose amazing sleep only at a sleep number store. right now, you can save $600 on the number one-rated i8 bed. know better sleep with sleep number. over half a century since their first u.s. tour, the rolling stones say they're

starting up again, announcing a 15-city north american stadium tour their first since 2006. the zip code tour kicks off may 24th in san diego. and with an average age older than the justices in the supreme court, mick, keith and company are hitting the road to show they've still got it. a great new perk for moms if they like the cincinnati reds. if their kids are getting fussy during the game the reds are opening a new deluxe nursing center complete with gliders, diaper stations toys to keep older kids busy and flat screen tvs to keep watching the game. if you're using google maps tonight, you may notice an extra road hazard like red and pink ghosts chasing you down main street. google maps has a button that for now can change any game you can search into pacman. it's google's april fool's joke, and you'll never get there on time if you start playing it. the little girl who is able

to high five from her bike thanks to some pretty amazing technology. i accept that i'm not 21. i accept i'm not the sprinter i was back in college. i even accept that i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. but i won't accept giving it less than my best. so if i can go for something better than warfarin ...i will. eliquis. eliquis... reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin plus it had less major bleeding than warfarin... eliquis had both. that really mattered to me. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical

or dental procedures. i accept that i'm not as fast, but i'm still going for my personal best... and for eliquis. reduced risk of stroke... plus less major bleeding. ask your doctor... if eliquis is right for you. i love making sunday dinners. but when my back hurt, cooking all day... forget about it. tylenol was ok, but it was 6 pills a day. but aleve is just 2 pills all day. and now, i'm back! aleve. caring for someone with alzheimer's means i am a lot of things. i am his sunshine. i am his advocate. so i asked about adding once-daily namenda xr to his current treatment for moderate to severe alzheimer's. it works differently. when added to another alzheimer's treatment, it may improve overall function and cognition. and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. vo: namenda xr doesn't change how the disease progresses. it shouldn't be taken by anyone allergic to memantine,

or who's had a bad reaction to namenda xr or its ingredients. before starting treatment, tell their doctor if they have or ever had, a seizure disorder, difficulty passing urine liver, kidney or bladder problems, and about medications they're taking. certain medications, changes in diet, or medical conditions may affect the amount of namenda xr in the body and may increase side effects. the most common side effects are headache, diarrhea and dizziness. he's always been my everything. now i am giving back. ask their doctor about adding once-daily namenda xr. parents, think about how much you've spent on things as your child grew out of them. how much on shoes alone. well some kids have needs that

go far beyond a larger pair of pants, and fulfilling them can be awfully expensive. as halle jackson says, it's knocking the price down to a fraction of the cost. >> reporter: who needs two hands to hang ten. certainly not faith lennox, who's doing okay with just one. >> we knew that she was going to unstoppable. i just never knew she would be this unstoppable. >> reporter: when faith was born, her hand didn't work. a rare circulation problem. and after three surgeries, in her first three months, an agonizing decision. >> they talked about amputation, and if we amputated, she could get a prosthetic later in life. it was a really tough choice. it was not like cutting your child's hair where it's going to grow back. >> reporter: nicole lennox found peace with the choice to amputate her daughter's arm. so did faith, who also found the humor in it. but what they haven't found is a prosthetic hand that fits. until now. this 3-d printing lab is making prosthetics for thousands of dollars less than the traditional kind. good for kids who outgrow them

fast. >> if you have something good for five years, but in a year or so you need to replace it, why spend so much. >> reporter: here engineers design a mockup and send that blueprint to a 3-d printer, that builds a hand by plastic, layer by layer, all of it assembled for about $200. >> they're more cost effective, especially on a child as wild as faith. >> reporter: today with her new hand fresh off the printer, faith tries it on -- >> good job. >> reporter: -- and tests it out. two hands make it easier to ride, but you still only need one to high five. >> it's really awesome. >> she's so inspiring to us. we're blown away every day that we get to be her parents. >> reporter: faith's always had plenty of heart, and today she's showing just how big it really is. halle jackson, nbc news, los angeles. that will do it for us on this tuesday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching, and good night.

lights, camera, access. did you feel like bruno's comment was a little rough tonight? >> you will never win the nobel prize for quantum fizz ibs. >> i just felt like it was uncalled for. >> bruno backlash as he