he delivered that unmistakable message again today and nbc's anne thompson is traveling with him. >> reporter: pope francis is a man on a mission. today walking in the footsteps of his namesake st. francis of assissi who gave up wealth to serve the poor. the same mission this pope wants for the catholic church he now leads. today francis lingered taking time to reach back to many reaching out to him. his first stop, a center for the physically and mentally challenged, engaging each person he met. the pope chose to have lunch at a soup kitchen. led to the table by a child for a meal of lasagna and roast beef. 60 people a day are served here. where did the pope sit? >> he was sitting there. >> reporter: he says the pope ate little, but his presence made those who society often ignores feel important. >> he don't speak a lot. he listened. >> reporter: in the same room where eight centuries ago st. francis renounced his wealth, pope francis remembered the hundreds of people feared dead in yesterday's ship wreck off the coast of sicily. this, he said, was a day to cry and a day to call th

anne thompson, nbc news, essex, connecticut. >> great story to end on for a friday night and for thishank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. lester holt will be here with you this weekend. we, of course, hope to see you right back here on monday night. in the meantime, have a good weekend. good night. >>> good evening, thanks for joining us this friday. i'm janelle wang in for raj matthai. >> i'm jessica aguirre. a husband and wife are dead, three children left orphans and suspect in jail. they walked their little dog. tonight, though, we're learning the woman police was the at the wheel is a convicted drunk driver. nbc bay area's stephanie chuang is live in menlo park where the crash happened and you're hearing from the suspect's friends. >> reporter: that's right, jessica. good evening. they're very surprised. they describe her as a family woman and cannot believe their friend could be responsible for killing two people. or that she was accused before of driving drunk. but that is exactly what menlo park police say happened here last night. with a couple walking in the

anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >> again, sports is one thing.was something else entirely. >>> and that is our broadcast on this monday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we, of course, hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. >>> right now at 6:00, we're following developing news that could cripple the bay area commute. tonight, two transit agencies are threatening to walk off the job. first b.a.r.t. and now ac transit. thanks for joining us on this monday. i'm raj matthai. i'm jessica aguirre. a developing story, the gloves are off and the behind the scenes negotiations appear to be stalled. with only six hours to go before a possible b.a.r.t. strike, officials are venting their frustrations, both announcing they're standing their ground. making matters worse, before 5:00, ac transit workers gave a 72 hour strike notice. that strike could begin thursday if a deal isn't reached by midnight wednesday. i want to show you what the rush hour traffic looks like on bay area freeways. it's not bad now, but

anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >>> doomsday? let's play "hardball." ♪ >>> good evening.ashington. let me start tonight with this. >> we are now ruled, quote, unquote, by a president -- >> imperialistic president. >> -- who bows down to allah. >> except that the rest of the country knows they're going off an economic cliff. the trick is finding a deal that -- while tagging it enough to satisfy the blood lust of the

ann thompson has the story. >> on sunday when the patriots -- >> brady to the end zone!red sox. >> hard hit into right. back at the wall! >> staged improbable come backs that today have the whole sports world talking. a little girl made a come back of her own. 7-year-old jane richard walked to lead the youth choir in singing the national anthem ♪ oh say can you see ♪ by the dawn's early light >> jane is one of the best days after one of the worst nights. jane and her family stood watching the finish of the boston marathon just feet away from where the deadly bomb was planned. the explosion killed her 8-year-old brother martin, left her mother with a head injury and sight in one eye. her dad suffered burns and hearing loss and jane lost her left leg. in the red sox first home game after the bombing, big poppy rallied a shattered but defiant crow and nobody going to hurt united states. >> reporter: fate put the big man and the little girl in the spotlight again. with the bases full, ortiz unloaded hitting a grand slam home run to tie the game. even one of boston's finest c

anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >> again, sports is one thing. that was something else entirely. our broadcast on this monday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we, of course, hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

red sox in the playoffs all week are helping to lift everyone's spirits and not just by winning, anne thompsoneporter: on sunday, when the patriots -- >> brady to the end zone. and thompson kins with a touchdown. >> reporter: -- and the red sox -- >> hard hit into right. back at the wall. tie game. >> reporter: -- staged improbable comebacks that today have the whole sports world talking a little girl made a comeback of her own. jane richard walked to the infield to lead st. ann's youth choir in singing the national anthem. ♪ o say can you see by -- >> jane is part of one of boston's best days after surviving one of its worst. on april 15 her and her family watched the finish of the boston marathon just feet away from where the deadly bomb was planted. the explosion killed her 8-year-old brother martin. left her mom with a head injury and sight in only one eye. her dad suffered shrapnel wound, burns and hearing loss and jane lost her left leg. in the red sox first home game after the bombing, david ortiz, big papi to red sox nation rallied a shattered by defiant crowd. >> this is our [ bleep ]

ann thompson has the story. >> on sunday when the patriots -- >> brady to the end zone!red sox. >> hard hit into right. back at the wall! >> staged improbable come backs that today have the whole sports world talking. a little girl made a come back of her own. 7-year-old jane richard walked to lead the youth choir in singing the national anthem ♪ oh say can you see ♪ by the dawn's early light >> jane is one of the best days after one of the worst nights. jane and her family stood watching the finish of the boston marathon just feet away from where the deadly bomb was planned. the explosion killed her 8-year-old brother martin, left her mother with a head injury and sight in one eye. her dad suffered burns and hearing loss and jane lost her left leg.

here is anne thompson. >> reporter: 49 years later, this snapshot is a proof in the day of the life of went out there and saw the beatles and talked to ringo. >> and nobody believes you you when you came back and told them the story? >> no. it was too ridiculously uver belie unbelievable. >> how great is this? how great that i saw i'm going to shoot that. >> reporter: it was taken after the beatles sped away from new york's kennedy airport on february 7th, in the 64 after a frenzied arrival. marking the beginning of music's british invasion. >> what do you think your music does for these people? >> well, pleases them. >> reporter: not much older than their fans, beatles at times acted like tourists on their first trip to the u.s. ringo was the unofficial photographer capturing the memory for van dorsen and his five friends. >> that is sue, arlene. >> reporter: you all kind of look like you can't believe what you're seeing. >> i think even more, we couldn't believe they were actually talking to them. >> reporter: some memories of the day are hazy. van dorsen just recalls ringo in the li

anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >>> doomsday? let's play "hardball." ♪ >>> good evening.'m chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this. >> we are now ruled, quote, unquote, by president -- >> imperialistic president. >> -- who bows down to allah. >> except that the rest of the country knows they're going off an economic cliff. the trick is finding a deal that -- while tagging it enough to satisfy the blood lust of the republican right in the u.s. house of representatives. figuring out the first is fairly easily, the president is not going to pay the kidnappers who hurt his baby obamacare. right now republicans in the house are a fractured mess. the government has been shut for 14 days. we're three days from a default which is why continue the action is starting between harry reid and mitch mcconnell. they're the ones now trying to assemble an 11th hour deal that will get through the republican house. according to nbc news, this is the deal in the works. it would reopen the government through january 15 at current funding levels. extend the debt limit thro

anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >> chris hayes is up next. >>> good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes. and we have just three days to go until an unprecedented possible u.s. default, and there is some hope at this hour of a deal to reopen the government, raise the debt ceiling and put an end to this ugly, unnecessary crisis. 14 days into a government shutdown, the timeliness to avoid possible economic calamity just three days is truly unforgiven, given the sheer mechanics of getting something passed through both houses of congress even after a deal is finally reached. senate majority leader harry reid and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell spent the day inching closer to a deal after house leaders were unable to arrive at something the president could accept. >> we've made tremendous progress. we are not there yet, but tremendous progress, and everyone just needs to be patient. perhaps tomorrow will be a bright day. we're not there yet. we hope it will be. >> let me echo the remarks of the majority leader. we've had a good day, had a good day yesterday, had another

anne thompson is in italy with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the relatively warm and calm waters of the mediterranean sea tempt many to make the crossing from north africa to italy. today one of the crossings turned deadly. the italian coast guard says as many as 500 people may have been on the boat. an official describes the scene as horrific and likens it to a cemetery. initial reports say fire broke out on board and people threw themselves in the water. pope francis celebrated mass for those who died making the crossing. today he said there is only one word to describe today's ship wreck and that is shameful. >> anne thompson in italy for us. >>> investigators are gathering evidence on a tennessee highway where a church bus crashed into a tractor-trailer and suv on wednesday. eight people were killed including six on the bus. police say the bus was bringing senior citizens home from a church jubilee when it blew a tire. >>> a woman whose family was chased and attacked by a group of motorcycle riders has broken her silence this morning. >> re

ann thompson is in italy with more. good morning. >> good morning, natalie. once again he useds this visit to try to refocus the catholic church's attention on the poor and those that society often forgets. today the pope is literally walking in the footsteps of his name sake. st. francis was a rich young man who 800 years ago renounced his worldly possessions and catholics believe responded to god's call to rebuild his church. today, pope francis is trying to do that very same thing with the modern church warning it today that it must strip away it's worldliness, it's greatest threat. now, pope francis this week met with a group of 8 cardinals and decided that he is going to overhaul the vatican to try and make it more responsive to the 1.2 million catholics as opposed to being so vatican centric as he calls it. they are with him on this trip and they include sean o'malley who is a friar himself. >> thank you so much. an ohio high school cheerleader went head over heels to claim the world record for the most consecutive black flips. she completed 40 back han