carrie engel from valley view farms is here to answer your plant and gardening questions. >> disturbing new details in their murder-a suicide of a father and his sons and washington. josh powell and his boys died of carbon monoxide poisoning, and the boys suffered at shipments to the head and neck. powell set a house on fire after social services dropped off at the boys. he was a person of interest in his wife's disappearance in 2009. the staff of an elementary school from the principal to the janitor is being replaced as officials investigate sex abuse allegations against teachers. all new teachers, custodians, and other employees will be in place when the students return to class later this week. getting to work or school on time can be a challenge, but for one mom and dad in virginia, it turned into a criminal investigation. they are both charged with our costs. misdemeanor for their children's -- touch with a class a misdemeanor for the children's excessive tardiness. >> i don't think it is appropriate for the county to basically make up laws and try to enforce them to

richard engel reports from tel aviv as tensions reach a fever pitch. >>> super bowl security. with 48 hours to go, tonight an exclusive look at the massive challenge to keep the stadium secure. >>> and commercial appeal. some of the best ads have already gone viral as advertisers threw out the old playbook looking to score early. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. brian is off tonight. i'm lester holt. score another one for the power of social media, susan g. komen for the cure. the nation's largest breast cancer charity is the latest high-profile organization forced to beat a hasty retreat from an unpopular decision in the face of a twitter and facebook firestorm. in this case it was komen's decision to pull funding from its long-time women's health partner planned parenthood. though komen said it dropped planned parenthood because it was under government investigation, many women read it as komen bowing to pressure from anti-abortion groups. the public outcry amplified over the internet became deafening. today an about-

. >> also, carrie engel from valley view farms is here to answer your plant and gardening questions. >> in our "consumer alert," texter is looking to score on their tax refunds are out of luck after this season. this will be the last season for refund anticipation loans. many are offered to customers who want refunds within a couple of days, cbut consumer watchdogs are pushing banks to phase them out because they are to expenses. you might still be able to find them at non-paying entities like a day and mentors. choosing how to prepare your taxes is important. 60% of americans have someone else prepare their returns. there are a few things to consider. not all certified public accountants specialize in income tax returns. get a trusted recommendation or find an accountant through the american institute of certified public accountants. taxpayers who are at least 60 years old might qualify for free tax prep through the aarp service. >> good afternoon. we are definitely seeing a mixture of sunshine and clouds out there right now. that will be the case through the rest of the afternoon.

filming incoming is much more difficult. >> before too long, engel and his crew find themselves in an extremely difficult situation. the soldiers from restrepo design to mount an operation designed to draw out the taliban. >> the troops broke up into two units. one unit from restrepo climbed down in the middle of the night through the hills and took up a post in a safehouse in the middle of this village. the other unit openly, overtly walked, drove and moved in to the village on the other side and set up position in a farmhouse. >> it's a trap to catch the taliban. and things are going just as planned. until a tragic mistake changes everything. >> so i was filming and suddenly there's this very loud explosion. >> a u.s.-fired mortar lands directly on the safehouse where part of the unit waits in ambush. >> it was a really, really awful moment because what it meant was that the operation that we had thought we were going to have, suddenly turned into this very dire situation. >> i remember as soon as we heard that bang, we knew something was wrong. then we heard the most disturbing thi

john, in the center of it all in las vegas, here you are in the state that produced sharon engel, just the angriest manifestation of the tea party possibly tied with christine o'donnell last time around to actually reach a ballot position in a general election against a democrat. what has happened in nevada since then, especially the in the republican party, where they're so kind of relaxed about you how things are going in washington that they don't show up to vote? >> well, i think there's a lot of buyer's remorse and bitterness about what happened with sharon engel, as you point out, lawrence. the tea party which was never really cohesive is more fragmented and maybe dissolved in some ways since they're a highlight of 2010 in nominating sharon engel not realizing what a disaster that was going to be. they cannot spin this turnout number, 33,000, 11,000 less than in 2008. remember in 2008 there was absolutely no race here whatsoever. romney was the only one who campaigned here. here you have the last week. all the candidates were here. they were doing a lot of events, and this is the

we get the latest from richard engel. >> reporter: it started out today as a funeral for three membersopposition killed yesterday. but grew quickly. 5,000 swelled to 15, maybe even 30,000 opposition members say. they were mourning and protesting. and it wasn't just anywhere. but right in damascus and not far from bashar al assad's presidential palace. maybe it was too close for comfort. because witnesses say syrian security forces lowered their weapons and fired live ammunition into the crowds. witnesses say several protesters were killed. dozens wounded. but this could pale in comparison to what may be coming in homs, syria's third city. for two weeks straight, homs has been surrounded by government troops and tanks and snipers. homs is the strong hold of the army, a legion of defectors. government forces have shelled homs from afar and strangled it. but even this dire situation could get much worse. tonight, a leading member of the opposition, a syrian ambassador who defected and now lives in istanbul said they'll enter the city and leading to the worst bloodshed yet. >> the people o

our own chief foreign correspondent richard engel is on the syrian border in turkey tonight and starts us off from there. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. today's violence showed the intensity of the syrian government's crackdown on the city of homs and its indiscriminate shelling of civilian area. even if you listen closely, it's hard to hear a single peaceful moment in homs. syrian troops ringing the city with fire rockets and machine gun in ferocious barrages to drive out a few hundred opposition forces. the blogger who took this video can be heard praying for his life. he was killed a few hours later. this morning, more voices were silenced. this rubble was a rudimentary media center in homs run by the syrian opposition who barely hold a few pockets in the city. the building took a direct hit. inside killed as they were working, french photographer remi ochlik and veteran american war correspondent marie colvin who reported for the british newspaper "the sunday times." colvin provided the bbc with some of the most vivid accounts of the brutality. hearing her

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel on the syrian border with turkey to start us off. richard, good evening. >> reporter: yes, brian. the evacuations have begun, but only in the city of homs. this is all happening in the middle of the night here after protracted negotiations on the ground and extensive pressure on syria. hours before the evacuation, signs of how desperate syria had become. the free syrian army the rebel brigade tries to fight back. they attack government forces. it's a brave fight, but they're losing it. outnumbered and outgunned by a lot. and this morning, homs itself was once again under attack. witnesses describe neighborhoods on fire. people living on shrubs and onions, bodies unreachable under debris. we managed to reach an activist there via skype. he feared for his life. >> no one can protect themselves from shelling. everyone can be a target. i think i will die now. i don't know. >> reporter: then an explosion, the line cut. hours later we learned he was okay. but pressure on syria to let up on homs may have been too much to ignore. in tunisia

>> richard engel, again from th syria/turkey border tonight. thanks. >>> back in this country, a quick weather note. the snow has moved out to sea but the mess remains across the mid south. as much as nine inches in kentucky, tennessee, parts of virginia, west virginia, the carolinas causing lots of trouble on the road. hundreds of accidents. several multi-car pileups. power outages, school closings reported. for good measure there is a huge storm moving east from the kansas/missouri border. >>> still ahead as we continue on this holiday monday night, skiing out of bounds, swept to their deaths by a powerful avalanche. tonight a survivor tells her story and talks about a new piece of equipment she says saved her life. >>> and later, the american with the right stuff. 50 years ago tonight he showed the world the u.s. was no longer second best in space. >>> it was a deadly weekend for skiers out west. four killed in two separate avalanche incidents in the cascades range and washington state. some experts say this is shaping up to be one of the wo

that's where we find richard engel. >> reporter: a truce in syria doesn't seem to be in the making. new undated video shows homs, battered and lifeless. the red cross was only able to bring out around 30 women and children from the besieged city on friday and just a few more today. that's hardly a war zone evacuation from a city of 30,000. in neighboring turkey now, tent cities are cropping up full of men with stories like this man. he says, i was arrested on the street because i'm against assad. i tore a picture of him at the entrance of town. then, he joined the free syrian army and his punishment was 60 days of medieval torture including being chained to the wall, crucifixion style, with feet hanging off the floor for 12 days. they asked a lot of questions, he said. they said i was a traitor working for foreigners, israel and america. there are nearly 2,000 refugees, just in this camp. about 10,000 in all in other camps nearby. turkish officials say this could become a staging ground for humanitarian supplies to enter syria or weapons. they're just waiting for a green light to do

as nbc's richard engel reports, more journalists are being caught in the crossfire. >> reporter: even if you listen closely it's hard to hear a single peaceful moment in homs. syrian troops ringing the city, fire rockets and machine guns in ferocious barrages to drive out a few hundred opposition forces. the blogger who took this video, can be heard praying for his life. >> [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: he was killed a few hours later. this rubble was a rudimentary media center in homs run by the syrian opposition who barely hold a few pockets in the city. the building took a direct hit inside killed as they were working, french photographer ren nay off link and veteran american war correspondent marie colvin who reported for the british newspaper "the sunday times." in homs, colvin provided the bbc with some of the most vivid accounts of the brutality. hearing her now, is haunting just hours before her death. >> there are just shells, rockets coming in, just hitting any building. i have not seen one military target. they're simply [ inaudible ]. and the wounded and dead i have seen, i

we get our report from our chief foreign correspondent richard engel near the turkey/syria border. >>eporter: lester, this referendum is effectively a yes/no vote on new articles of the syrian constitution, and amendments that, in principle, sound very good. they end the syrian baff party's monopoly on power, set term limits for the president, and implement multiparty democracy. the syrian government is presenting this as the centerpiece of its reform program, a program that has been called for by the syrian opposition and members of the international community. the problem is the syrian opposition has absolutely no confidence that any of these changes will actually be implemented. and the referendum is taking place amid ongoing violence. at least 20 more people were killed in syria today. the red cross has been unable to reach the hardest hit parts of the city of homs, so a referendum is taking place, but a war is taking place at the same time. lester? >> richard engel. >>> tonight, legendary former south african leader nelson mandela has been released from a hospital, and is resting

richard engel, nbc news along the turkish border. >>> still to come at 5:00, crews broke ground 70 years ago today for a bay area landmark that changed commuting forever. >>> and ran drew lk showed off his skills today. we will tell you how he did. getting ready to plant? chances are your soil is like this: compacted, drained of nutrients. it'll hold your plants... but it'll also hold 'em back. the solution: miracle-gro garden soil. the perfect mix of rich, organic ingredients, and miracle-gro plant food. just mix it in. and turn bad soil into great soil. helps plants grow twice as big. instead of holding 'em back, they'll leap ahead. miracle-gro garden soil. start right. finish big. [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories,

engel would like his three minutes. >> mr. engel, you're recognized three minutes. >> gentleman yield to me? >> yes. yes. i'll yield. >> i thank you for yielding. this last statement by my colleague from california made no sense to me. he's criticizing the different alternatives of bringing these tar sands down from canada and saying if it's done by railroad as opposed to pipeline. the real issue is whether they're going to do the tar sands at all. if they can't bring it into the united states, they're not going to develop those tar sands. and in accepting the tar sands which is the dirtiest source of coal, they have to spend so much energy to refine it sufficiently they have it go through a pipeline and train. at some point it's going to have to be refined. and the energy used to refine it adds to the green house gases. i just want people to understand there's not just a question of how it's going to be transported. we have pipelines, by the way. we're not against pipelines. any pipeline ought to be reviewed by the appropriat

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nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel has more. what kind of response would an is wrayly attack on iran ignite? >> reporter: well, what kind of a response would an israeli attack is a sensitive question. u.s. intelligence officials have been telling me they are concerned that israel is serious. obviously some of this is blufter. at the end of the day, what is the goal? what does israel want? what does the united states want? israel in particular wants iran to stop its nuclear program and stop developing its nuclear weapon which israel is convinced iran is trying to do, which the united states is convinced iran is trying to do. iran says it is not trying to develop a nuclear weapon. that is the goal, not to just launch some sort of attack on i rehab. you can achieve that goal by either launching the attack or at least threatening to launch it. but what we saw in the last few days in particular is that u.s. officials were becoming incre e increasingly concerned that israel was going to actually do it. and what kind of response its wo

. >> but dave, after sharon engel, after joe miller, after all the experience of all those republican sort of average republicans being primaried by bold color tea party super conservatives republicans and them losing in the general election, is there any sense among these folks there might be lessons learned from that? >> they feel like those were anomalies, sharon engel will tell you the election might not have been above board. miller might have won if it wasn't a write-in campaign. the way history has been written since 2009 is before that, when they nominate the most conservative candidate who makes a clear argument, they win. i think romney will do well in michigan, he has states on super tuesday he can make the argument he's most electable, let's not get carried away by this week. the romney campaign didn't campaign in missouri. minnesota started to write off. colorado is the one disappointment. they don't think that the wheels have come off this week, they are a little bit bemused by the media saying. this the pattern of the race has been mitt romney falling behind some more c

nbc foreign correspondent richard engel has more.there any indication that this cease fooer, wish for two hours of peace will be granted? >> reporter: at this stage, no, and without any serious diplomatic pressure it seems very unlikely. the syrian government is not acknowledging that there is a rebel movement. the syrian government is calling the opposition gangs of terrorists, and without the syrian government's wishes, then there will be no cease-fire. there's also a much more ambitious plan that is being talked about for a humanitarian corridor that would allow supplies to get into some of the conflict zones. we saw some pretty heavy conflict overnight in the city of homs, and that is an area where rebels have been able to hold onto one particular neighborhood, and for about two hours overnight u.s. time, the syrian arm which has been surrounding this area and the entire city of homs for 18 days started to unleash a heavy bombardment and 16 people have been killed including two children. and toactivists we've been speaking to has

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in tel aviv and our tehran chief ali arouzi is in iran. what is the awareness about the tension, how heavily is it being reported in the press there? >> reporter: well, people are very aware of the tensions here, lester. i mean, it's not being reported that heavily in the press because that's carefully staged managed. but yesterday, iran's supreme leader the final authority in the country gave a live televised sermon during friday prayers but he kept saying that the enemy is at the gate. he has been warning the country and the threats from israel is evidence that the enemy is at the gate. so the country is on high alert. he spoke for an hour and a half about the threats to the country from israel, and how iran would retaliate. there's a very jittery feeling on the streets today and over the past few weeks. >> i'll put the same question to richard about the reaction on the streets there. does it feel like a country on a war footing in fear of attack? >> reporter: it certainly does not. today's obviously a saturday and if you walk around te

richard engel is the chief foreign correspondent for nbc news. he's in tel aviv. and dr.ki is former security adviser to president carter. he has a new book called "strategic vision" about the united states' role in the world and whether our power and our influence is on the decline or not. we'll talk to him about that. let's start with the situation out there. what's new, richard, about the prospects for an attack by israel on the iranian nuclear program? their facilities? >> what's new is that the israelis do feel that their window to operate is shrinking. that the iranians are working on their program, making progress every month and that they could reach a point of no return. a point at which it is no longer possible for an israeli air strike, missile strike to slow down the program in any kind of effective way. and according to what is playing out right now, it seems that washington, particularly defense secretary panetta, saw this as a real possibility and took this very unusual step of making public statements through david ignatius to try and signal to the israeli

engel said and there was one after her murder and that was the phone call to let duece know he, tylerd done his job. but defense attorneys say abraham mcdonald, a drug and gun dealer, is solely responsible for stacy's murder and he is cooperating to get a lighter sentence. abraham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and has agreed to testify against tyler. abraham faces between 15 and 50 years in prison when he is sentenced after tyler's trial. defense attorney keith showstag said duece sold his testimony. you know the price of his testimony? 15 years. stacy's mother gayle seton took the stand and talked about the last day she saw her daughter alive. >> this day is here. this trial has begun. how are you feeling about it? >> emotional. nervous. finally we're going to get justice for stacy. >> reporter: there were several additional witnesses who took the stand today. some of them saying that abraham mcdonald had basically ranted he was going to have stacy seton taken care of again believing she was involved in the burglary at his house. the man who says he is responsible for that b

richard engel has more on the scale of destruction inside syria. >> reporter: for the last several weeksall of homs has been surrounded by syrian government forces. they have been shelling the city from the outside, but the opposition does control a few pockets within the city, and this media center was in one of those pockets. it was one of the only places that had limited internet access. the journalists were in this center this morning when it was destroyed by a rocket, apparently fired by government troops, posted around the city. >> and of course, we had the incredible death of marie colvin and others only yesterday. at the same time, today in london, hillary clinton suggested that the time for bashir assad may be coming to an end. >>> it is clear to me that there will be a breaking point. i wish it would be sooner, so that more lives would be saved than later, but i have absolutely no doubt there will be such a breaking point. >> former congresswoman jane harman is president of the wilson center and joins me now. jane, it just seems as though all the rhetoric is not going to get us

among his friends and colleagues our own chief foreign correspondent richard engel, who has written a personal remembrance that we commend to your attention. we put it on our website tonight. >>> now we turn to domestic politics this evening. congress moved with remarkable speed today to pass the payroll tax cut extension through the end of the year. the bill passed today extends unemployment benefits, heads off a cut in doctors' medicare fees. republicans agreed to go along with the extension without offsetting budget cuts. today's action will add about $100 billion to the federal deficit. it goes on to the president for his signature. >>> we have news from the campaign trail. they have a big mess in maine. it was the scene of the last caucus just this past saturday. mitt romney won, ron paul was second. were those results really the results? not unlike iowa, it seems there might have been misplaced votes and the gop may have another primary embarrassment on its hands. the state party chairman in maine says some precinct results may have gone to his e-mail spam folder and he may have

nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel is on the border between syria and turkey. what's the very latest? >> well, i think you had it right. this is not a cease-fire and it shouldn't be portrayed as one. the violence is continuing. the war being carried out by the syrian regime against the opposition. and the armed opposition against the syrian government is ongoing. what we do see now is a very limited tactical cease-fire and attempt by the syrian red crescent and the red cross to evacuate a few people from the besieged city of homs. homs has received a great deal of attention over the last several weeks because about 30,000 people are trapped in this city, surrounded by syrian forces who have been shelling them from the perimeters of the city. of course, it received even more attention when the two journalists were killed, potentially targeted and killed, in the city of homs. we have been told that there are ongoing negotiations between all sides being carried out by the red cross to try and evacuate some people from homs. but it's a very small scale. overnight,