mike taibbi, nbc news, new york. >>> when we come back here tonight, extreme makeover, the white house edition. >>> a new survey may shock so-called helicopter parents everywhere. 30% of british adults admit they find playing with their kids boring. half the parents surveyed said work and chores make it difficult to find time to play with their kids at all. not so shocking, more than half the kids wish they had more quality time with their parents. >>> plastic shopping bags may be about to go the way of public smoking in california. state lawmakers are set to vote on a plastic bag ban arguing the 19 billion of them that are used per year are bad for the environment and cost the state $25 million a year to dump in the landfills. the plastic bag industry has been furiously opposed to the bill, calling it a job killer. >>> while the first family was on summer vacation, we now know what was going on back at the white house. the carpenters and rug people and paperhangers were busier than a paperhanger. and today, the redecorated oval office made its debut to mixed reviews, especially when c

mike taibbi, nbc news, winchester, virginia. >> i'm with roy. that's our broadcast for this thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. as always, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> good evening, everyone. >> first, physical freedom tonight, emotional freedom as sarah shourd opens up about year long ordeal in an iranian prison. >> it had come political and at this point, this is bier

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mike taibbi, new jersey. >>> when our broadcast continues in a moment, "education nation." you know how teachers have been under attack lately, tonight we meet parents who were willing to go to battle for the teachers. >>> later, remembering one of the great leading men, tony curtis. words alone aren't enough. my job is to listen to the needs and frustrations of the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel or restaurant workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. bp has taken full responsibility for the clean up in the gulf and that includes keeping you informed. our job is to listen and find ways to help. that means working with communities. restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund to cover lost income until people impacted can get back to work. and our efforts aren't coming at tax-payer expense. i know people are wondering-- now that the well is capped, is bp gonna meet its commitments? i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i

our story tonight from nbc's mike taibbi. >> reporter: he was an exuberant student and gifted musician who graduated high school with honors and scholarships. but the body of 18-year-old tyler clemente was pulled from the hudson river just days aft two of his rutgers college freshman classmates allegedly secretly videotaped him during a sexual encounter with another man and streamed that video live. three days later, reportedly wrote on his facebook page, jumping off the g.w. bridge, sorry. but there's a growing chorus of voices saying this is an incident of not just of cyber bullying but of cyber gay bashing. >> that's really amplified and changed this unpleasant behavior. >> reporter: in one survey, 85% of lesbian, gay and transgender students reported being verbally harassed. 40% physically harassed. and 19% physically assaulted. in september alone, three other teens were mocked for being gay or perceived to being gay took their own lives. 13-year-old seth walsh of california, and 15-year-old biy lucas of indiana both hanged themselves. and 13-year-old asher brown of texas killed hi

mike taibbi, nbc news, new york. >> hard to believe nine years tomorrow.t story about an important lesson. >>> on wall street back in new york today, stocks finished slightly higher. the dow gained 47.5 points on the day's trading. when we return tonight from los angeles, making a difference by making quality of life a key element in cancer care. hey what's going on? doing the shipping. man, it would be a lot easier if we didn't have to weigh 'em all. if those boxes are under 70 lbs. you don't have to weigh 'em. with these priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. no weigh? nope. no way. yeah. no weigh? sure. no way! uh-uh. no way. yes way, no weigh. priority mail flat rate box shipping starts at $4.95, only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. i couldn't sleep right. next day it took forever to get going. night after night, i sat up. sprayed up. took a shower... or took a pill. then i tried drug-free breathe right. and instantly, i breathed better! i slept better. i

mike taibbi, winchester, virginia. >> i'm with roy. that's our broadcast for thursday night. to see you back here tourm evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

here's nbc mike taibbi. >> reporter: when tyler celebrated his high school graduation this past junea claim as a violinist and on sunday, september 19th his new college roommate dharun ravi announced via twitter that roommate asked for the room until midnight. i went to molly's room and turned on my webcam. i saw him making out with a dude. an untold number of viewers could watch and then ravi tried to do it again, yes, it's happening again. although this time it did not work, the next day a police source tells nbc news two witnesses saw clementi jump off the george washington bridge to his death. the two have been criminally charged with violating new jersey's privacy laws. they could be in prison for two to five years. >> if they limit to violation in state law, they're not doing their job. >> reporter: clementi's suicide by be the latest teen death by humiliating by privacy. these two girls took their lives in separate incidents after nude photos they sexted to close friends were forwarded to their classmates. but in tyler's death, his accused tormentors face criminal charges. rut

nbc's mike taibbi is live at rutgers university in new brunswick, new jersey, with this just tragic, awful story. mike? >> reporter: yeah, it really is, chuck. this is my alma mater, by the way, and i talked to a lot of people at rutgers yesterday. there are grief counselors that have been here for a week. as you said, these two freshman had videotaped the sexual activity and encounter of a classmate and they tweeted, one of them did, while it was happening, that he was making out with a dude, yay. that's an exact quote from his tweet. three days later that student, tyler clementi, according to two witnesses, and police i spoke to yesterday confirmed this, jumped to his death off the george washington bridge into the hudson river. a body's been recovered, not confirmed that it's him yet, but it's logical. i spoke to the vice president of student affairs. he made the point that these incoming freshman at 18 are really smart, they've grown up with the internet. they know the internet can be abused as easily as it can be used, but in his view, serious misuse of the internet rarely happen

. >>> let's go to mike taibbi in lower manhattan. just trying to sort this out, is it possible -- we had two prongs of this that weren't talking to each other. is it possible a deal was cut in florida involving a promise to move the controversial planned location of that islamic center that is to contain a mosque without checking or getting the approval of the folks in new york? >> reporter: well, brian, apparently, thinking back to the famous movie line, what we have here is a failure to communicate, from the new york end in this, there were no negotiations and there is no deal. that both from the owner of the building and more importantly from imam rauf who is behind the planned cultural center and mosque. he released a statement a short time ago saying, "i am glad that pastor jones has decided not to burn any korans, however, i have not spoken to pastor jones or imam musry. i am surprised by their statements. we are not going to toy with our religion, nor are we going to barter. we are here to extend our hands and build peace and

mike taibbi, winchester, virginia. >> i'm with roy. that's o broadcast for this thursday night.th us. i'm brian williams. as always, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com china, they're sy building wind farms and expanding clean energy manufacturing. but in america, gridlock has held us back. now, the senate can change that - by passing a renewable electricity standard. it will spur development of clean energy and boost manufacturing in arica, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. so we can make our own energy future - not just buy it from china. call your senators and urge them to pass a renewable electricity standard today.

mike taibbi has the story. >> reporter: they are by now familiar remembrance. >> adam -- >> reporter: the pause of the moments when the planes struck and the towers fell. the bells, the reading of the names of those lost. >> james joseph carson, jr. >> christopher carston. >> reporter: vice president joe biden was at new york's ground zero. >> a privilege. >> reporter: first lady michele obama and former first lady laura bush in shanksville, pennsylvania, and president obama at the pentagon. >> this is a day to remember, a day of reflection, and with god's grace, a day of unity and renewal. >> reporter: earlier, florida pastor terry jones, whose threat to burn korans by day's end might have overwhelmed any sense of unity and renewal said on the "today" show he was withdrawing that threat for good. >> we will definitely not burn the koran, no. >> reporter: but the day was not without other reminder beyond the diffused koran burning threat over the polar rised debate over islam, dueling protests one against the proposed islamic cultural center and mosque two and a half blocks from groun

let's get the latest from mike taibbi at rutgers. what are these two students being charged with? >> right now they're being charged with violations of privacy law in new jersey. under the privacy law here they can get jail sentences of three to five years, maximum for videotaping this encounter and disseminating it. for this case to be prosecuted as a hate crime because it wasn't just a sexual encounter it was a gay sexual encounter and gay right groups are asking that it be classified as a hate crime and that's because one of the tweets that was set up by one of the co-defendants in this case, dharun ravi. roommate asked for the room till midnight. i went into molly's room and turned on my webca. i saw him making out with a dude. yay. tyler clementi, according to two witnesses, jumped off the george washington bridge into the river and a body has been recovered. the parents are on the way now to nypd to identify the body at this point. right now there are at this campuses a number of meetings under a project that was formulated called project civility which will deal with how to

nbc's mike taibbi has the story. >> when tyler clemente celebrated his high school graduation this pastinist and a scholarship. but on sunday, september 19th, his new college roommate announced via twitter, according to the ap, that roommate asked for the room till midnight. i went into molly's room and turned on my web cam. i saw him making out with a dude. yay. prosecutors say ravi also broadcast live video of clemente's sexual encounter over the internet, where an untold number of viewers could watch. then ravi allegedly tried to do it again tweeting, yes, it's happening again. and although this time it did not work, the next day, a police source told nbc news, two witnesses saw clemente jump off the towering george washington bridge to his death. ravi and the molli he referred to, high school and college classmate, molly way, have been criminally charged with violating new jersey's privacy laws, and if convicted, could face three to five years in prison. not if you have, says privacy law expert, teri aftab. >> i think if the prosecutors limit this to just the privacy violations in s

. >> mike taibbi on the campus.ou very much. >>> a safety expert and the vice president of student affairs at rutgers university, good morning to you both. >> good morning, matt. >> let me start with you. it's obviously a horrible day for students and everyone at rutgers. what is the university doing to deal with this situation? >> the campus is in mourning. we're all very very sad about what has happened to tyler. our heart goes out to his family. there is no greater tragedy than to lose a child. our entire campus mourns with him. >> i know you cannot, because of federal law, speak specifically about the case, but i wonder, has there ever been any kind of similar incident at rutgers? any situation involving such a gross invasion of privacy? >> i've been in higher education 36 years working with students and i have never seen a case like this in that 36 year period. it's highly unusual for a case like this to happen. mostly what happens in our residence hall, students develop a close-knit trust relationship and atta