back to you, brian. >> jim maceda, toulouse, france. thanks. >> there's news to report in the investigation into the massacre in afghanistan allegedly committed by the american staff sergeant and reports that afghan villagers have been offering one theory about what might have motivated his rampage. our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski on duty from there tonight. jim, good evening. >> good evening, brian. another twist to the tragic story, villagers where the shooting took place are now claiming that the 16 civilians were gunned down in retaliation for an ied attack against american forces. they claim days before the massacre, american combat troops entered the village and threatened to kill every man and their children for that attack on the americans. but pentagon and military officials said there's no evidence of any ied attack around that time and no evidence the americans threatened retaliation. in fact, officials here at the pentagon suspect this is nothing more than propaganda. at the same time, we're told tonight those ch

jim maceda, nbc news, moscow. >>> and when "nbc nightly news" continues on this sunday evening, making the grade, something new in your child's classroom. it is a novel idea to produce better teachers. >>> and later, after the storm, ordinary heroes easing the pain for those who have lost so much. >>> we're back now with news of an important new idea in educating our children. what if there were a way to bring better teachers to school districts that are struggling, and to keep them there. well, there is, and tonight we get the story from nbc's thanh truong. >> make sure you spell it right, sweetie. >> reporter: tiffany bast is a former flight attendant in denver trying her best to become a teacher. >> there are times when i'm in the classroom by myself i cry and i think what am i doing? >> reporter: for help, she turns to fifth grade teacher stephanie franco. >> it is important for me to be her guide, her coach. >> reporter: mentor and apprentice. they're part of a fast growing trend in education called urban teacher residencies, modeled after medical residencies. >> we think of it as

>> jim maceda in moscow. jim, thanks for your reporting. >>> still ahead as we continue, the apology, rush limbaugh says he's sorry about the personal attack on a law student. but tonight, some big sponsors have had enough. >>> after a written apology over the weekend, rush limbaugh apologized again today on the radio to the young woman he verbally abused over contraceptives and insurance. but the story goes on. we hear tonight from nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: today, on the air, rush limbaugh said he's sorry. >> i again sincerely apologize to ms. fluke for using those two words to describe her. >> reporter: not once, not twice -- >> i genuinely apologize for using those words. >> reporter: but three times in the first hour of his radio show. apologizing to sandra fluke, the georgetown law student who spoke out in favor of government-mandated contraception coverage. >> i should not have used the language i did about sandra fluke. >> reporter: this is what he said about fluke last week. >> it means your a

nbc's jim maceda joins us from toulouse, france, with a look at the dramatic end to a 32-hour standoff. >> reporter: this 30-hour-plus siege now seems to be over, a number of police officials are confirming that the police assaulted the house and that the gunman, mohammed merah, fired at them. the police fired back. and in the barrage, merah himself is dead. there have been at least two wounded police, one shot in the foot, the other suffering from shock. we did hear two bursts of machine gun fire in very close proximity of each other. we did see earlier today police scaling nearby balconies, preparing to move in. and at the time to see if the gunman, mohammed merah, was indeed dead or alive. it turns out now clearly that he was alive and that he came out guns ablazing. there had been no contact or signs of life since yesterday evening of the individual. do remember that merah himself had told police that he wanted to die with his guns in his hands. it does look like now that he had his wish, even though the police were saying consistently that they had preferred to have captured him a

nbc's jim maceda remains in masako tonight where putin has already made clear he is not putting up with challenges to a comeback. >> reporter: brian, vladimir putin is now officially back in the driver's seat. his victory in russia's presidential election was so solid that even taking into account all of the reports of vote fraud -- and there were many -- he would still have won a majority. and tonight he let some 10,000 protesters know he's not going to tolerate them much longer. when a few hundred tried to overstay their allotted time to stay on a square here in moscow, riot police swooped in and arrested 200. six more years of putin will be a hard pill to swallow for this opposition, which is threatening yet more civil disobedience. there could be a lot more turbulence here ahead. today his first day as president-elect, he was already talking tough. he told reporters the tear they saw his cheek wasn't emotion but just a gust of wind, he said. and with putin, again, as president, relations with america could take a major step backwards. he blames the u.s., of course, for surpgt those

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jim maceda has the latest on the standoff in toulouse and more on the man who said he wanted to bring the nation of france to its knees. >> inside this house in north toulouse, the gunman who alleged ly killed soldiers and civilians, muslims and jews, and outside, hundreds of police hoping to avoid a blood bath. an early morning police raid, the suspect put up stiff resistance. three policemen wounded in a barrage of gun fire. this man's son was awoken. >> i was with him on the phone, a grenade exploded and he dropped the phone. he must have been terrified. >> the gunman, 24-year-old mohammed merah, wanted to talk. he bragged about how and why he killed three french soldiers last week because they served in occupied afghanistan. his victims in a jewish school, a rabbi and three children, revenge for the murder of palestinian children. he swore allegiance to al qaeda and made several trips to pakistan. which french police first took notice of him. home grown and hard core. >> he obviously had done some reconnaissance. he wasn't just going out looking for likely targets. in the way that

i'm jim maceda, nbc news. now back to you. >>> when news 4 at 4:00 continues, a tsa patdown of a toddler quickly becomes a viral video. ♪ ♪ now there's no turning back >> well, she knocked it out of the park. the gaithersburg woman with the voice. it was the best battle round of the night. >>> plus cane from hot 99.5 joins us with all the hot talk, including the new craze of including the new craze of hiring never in my lifetime did i think i could walk 60 miles in 3 days. (woman) the goal is to bring an end to breast cancer. (woman) there's no doubt in my mind that komen's funding helped saved my life. the 3-day is my opportunity to help save others' lives. (woman) i'll never stop walking, not till we find a cure. it is the most rewarding experience i have ever had in my entire life. (man) register today for the... because everyone deserves a lifetime. texting...blogging... all this technology, but you're still banking like pilgrims! get high yield free checking at capital one bank. why earn bupkis, when your

i'm jim maceda, nbc news, reporting from london. now back to you. >>> a suspicious package at a fairfax county school cost a lot of confusion this morning. students at andy anandale high kept in a safe location outside the building for a few hours while police investigated a package on the front lawn of the school. this was the scene from chopper 4. police took in a robot to check out the package but they declared it was safe. the threat disrupted not only the opening of annandale high but buses that were dropping students off at 18 fairfax county elementary schools. >>> news 4 at 4:00 is just getting started. ♪ too late my time has come >> a suspect decides to sing the entire song bohemian rhapsody while in the back of a cop car. >> james cameron talks about "the titanic" re-release. >>> plus, he has worked here for more than three decades. morning anchor joe krebs says his trademark bye today as he signs off the air for a final time. his message to viewers. we've got it after the break. never in my lifetime did i think i could wal

nbc's jim maceda is on the scene tonight in toulouse, france. >> it was mayhem and cold blooded murder carried out in a jewish school down the road right behind me. and just as children were arriving for the beginning of a new school week. the shooter, wearing a helmet and driving a scooter began firing allegedly at whatever moved. first, he kills a 30-year-old teacher and his two sons, age 3 and 6, then he got off the scooter, walked into a courtyard, and kept firing. one woman saw graphic surveillance video of what happened next. this video, by the way, not released by french police, but here is what she saw. >> and then he grabbed an 8-year-old little girl, put a gun to her head, and blew her brains out. >> in all, four were killed. last week, three french soldiers were shot and killed in two separate incidents by someone on a motor bike or a scooter as well, and police are saying at least one weapon used then and today were identical. now, a mass manhunt is under way, including counterterrorism and serial killer experts, but that's brought little release to a jewish community here

i'm jim maceda reporting from teluge. >> the shooting rampage allegedly carried out by a u.s. soldier is putting new attention on the army's mental health programs. the army is now reviewing whether soldiers are properly diagnosed. 16 civilians were killed in the shooting spree. staff sergeant robert bales is in solitary confinement at fort leavenworth in kansas while the military investigates. bales' attorney has suggested a defense based on stress from his multiple tours of duty. >>> today the wife of jason russell says the man behind the viral kony 2012 video suffers from psychosis. tmz footage shows a man reported to be russell last week going on a naked rant on a san diego street corner. police took him in for a mental evaluation. his wife says stress, exhaustion, dehydration brought on his condition and says he'll likely be in the hospital several weeks. in less than a month more than 84 million people have watched his video targeting african warlord joseph kony. >>> when news 4 at 4:00 continues, move over real housewives. celebrity ex-wives are getting their own show.

>> jim maceda, thank you so much.posted on what's going on in toulouse. >>> meantime, residents of southern mexico are cleaning up this morning after a strong 7.4 magnitude earthquake caused damage to buildings. about a dozen people were hurt. amazingly, no deaths were reported. first daughter, malia obama is in that region on a class service trip. but the first lady's office says she is completely safe. >>> two new study that is show taking an aspirin a day may reduce the risk of cancer and prevent it from spreading. among the findings, people who take aspirin have a 15% lower risk of dying from cancer even after diagnosis. aspirin users have a 36% lower risk of having their cancers spread. >>> add batten down the hatches. democrats have come out in full force against paul ryan's budget. >> this budget they're putting forward today is a budget mitt romney will love. >> i think mr. ryan's plan, like i said before, it's deja vu all over again. it's the same plan. >> it is not a plan that this president could support. >

let's get right to nbc's jim maceda. he's on the scene in toulouse. jim, good morning to you. what can you tell us? >> hi there, matt. well, that's right. the french special police launched a raid very early this morning around 3:00 a.m. here in the northern part of toulouse. the house where they believe the main suspect for those murders was hiding. again, the four killed mostly children at that jewish school on monday, and also three french soldiers who were killed four days before that. the gunfire broke out almost immediately. two policemen were wounded, then early negotiations began. they even brought in the gunman's mother to try to help but that failed. she has no, she said, control over her son. then another policeman was wounded in another round of gunfire. but for the past six hours or so, negotiations have intensified. there's been a lot of talking. this man's name is mohammed marei, he's 24 years old, as you say, he's from toulouse, trained, as you said, by al qaeda. been to the tribal territories between pakistan and afghanistan a number of times. returning to fra

jim maceda in toulouse, france. thank you, jim. >>> now to wall street, and cnbc's courtney reagan's at the new york stock exchange. good morning to you, courtney. >> hi, good morning to you natalie. well investors are watching shares of apple today to see if the company can set more records after closing above $600 a share for the first time on monday. apple announced it will pay a dividend for the first time in 17 years. elsewhere, gas prices on the rise, up four cents a gallon, to a national average of $3.87. up 27 cents in a month to the highest levels recorded for march. natalie, back to you. >> courtney reagan at the new york stock exchange. thank you. >>> first lady michelle obama sat down with david letterman last night to share some laughs and she talked about one of her undercover shopping trips to target. take a listen. >> no one knew that was me, because a woman actually walked up to me, right, i was in the detergent aisle, and she said -- i kid you not, she said, excuse me, i just have to ask you somethi

nbc's jim maceda joins me. all of this playing out in dramatic form. know the investigation is still going on. jim, what else can you tell us? >> reporter: you can imagine the disconnect that reporters like myself felt in this quiet part of toulouse this morning. standing there and hearing those sounds that you just showed. it was a front line experience happening right next to you. probably seven or eight minutes of that kind of firefight went on between the gunman and members of the s.w.a.t. team. some members of that team, by the way, that afterwards, and they've been doing this a long time but they had never experienced so much violence and resistance from one individual. remember, there was no contact with this person since last night. they thought he might have been dead. but he was clearly very much alive when they moved in. what happened was he had been hiding in his bathroom for hours. until the police came in around 11:30 our time with a video probe. a small camera which went under the bathroom door. then he burst out of the bathroom with guns

i'm jim maceda, nbc news, reporting from teluse. now back to you. >>> there are new details about the criminal probe into d.c. mayor vincent gray's campaign back in 2010. federal officials are looking into a possible shadow campaign and we're learning who within that campaign might have been involved. tom sherwood reports. >> reporter: news 4 last week reported that the shadow campaign was part of the focus by the u.s. attorney's office probing the 2010 campaign and its possible use of unreported cash. prosecutors sent out a flurry of new subpoenas to gather information on any cash or contributions that came from businessman jeffrey thompson, a key financial backer for gray and other campaigns. the post reporting new details of the alleged shadow campaign had sources pointing to long-time political operative vernon hawkins seen here in the hat and overcoat on the day gray filed formal papers to run. hawkins, who has worked on field operations for campaigns since the 1970s did not return telephone calls. gray's office had no comment.

. >> right to nbc's jim maceda. he's in toulouse, france, this morning. jim, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt, on a very rainy day here in toulouse. this story of terror, man mustnhunts and standoffs has riveted france and much of the world. it ended today in a blaze of gunfire. mohammed merah told police he would die with his guns in his hands. in the end he has grant t his wish. several explosions followed by gunfire. the 30-hour siege was ending. according to police eyewitnesses, merah was holed up inside his bathroom when they entered the premises. he then burst out through the door, firing weapons from both hands. the police fired back and saw merah jump through the window, still firing as he landed on the ground below. he was confirmed dead when police got to him. police officials say merah was determined to kill to the very end. members of the assault team who have done this many times before say they've never seen so much violence. two policemen were also injured, but not seriously. merah has bragged to police on wednesday he ki

jim maceda is in moscow. good day to you. >> reporter: hi, natalie. a huge win for vladimir putin who is usually an unemotional guy but was seen teary-eyed last night when he claimed victory. with the counting now finished he's won almost 64% of the vote. his closest rival came in some 50 points behind him. you would think that kind of knockout blow would give the government a confidence boost. it looks like the opposite has happened, natalie. thousands of riot police have been brought into months row. they are bracing for trouble tonight as the opposition has called for another one of those mass protests. the opposition says there was fraud. there is an independent watchdog who admits there was a lot of fraud, but not enough to change the outcome of the race. they are really protesting against a system which doesn't allow for real candidates to emerge. they are middle class protesters. they say they are fed up and as leaders, they are determined to keep the protests going. back to you. >> thank you, jim. president obama meets with israeli prime minis

>> jim maceda in toulouse. they tracked this man down after an owner of a cycle shop noticed he was asking unusual questions after he went into the store. more on the story but right now, here is ann. >>> here at home, mitt romney scored a sizeable victory in the gop presidential contest in illinois, won 47% of the vote, 35% for rick santorum, 9% for r paul, and 8% for newt gingrich. so where does the race go from here? we've got david gregory, the moderator of "meet the press," joining us this morning. hey, david, good morning. >> good morning, ann. >> so a sizable win. a decisive win for mitt romney. so the question of the morning is, was it big enough for mitt romney to finally now be called the presumptive nominee? >> well, the only asterisk here is that he's not uniting the party. he's not breaking in to the demographic that rick santorum still has, and that is the heart and soul of the party. more religious voters, working-class voters. aspects of the republican base that has continued to stay away from m