tonight the inspiring story of kevin pierce back on the slopes. tonight the inspiring story of kevin pierce back on the slopes. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. in every poll every day of this political season we asked voters about the number one issue and every day the answer comes back jobs and the economy. everyone looking for shreds of evidence of a turnaround or any good news on the horizon. yesterday was auto sales. people are buying cars these last few months. that can't be bad but today brought better news -- a surge in the number of jobs in the private sector just as 2011 came to a close. it's enough for a lot of folks to pin their hopes on as 2012 gets under way. it's where we begin tonight. >> i have been looking for a job for three years. >> reporter: in ontario, california, job hunters lined up early for 6,000 jobs at retailer dollar general. >> i saw the big ad in the paper. i figured it was worth a shot. >> they are looking for forklift operators. >> reporter: walmart is look

the accident happened in the same exercise kevin pierce suffered traumatic brain injury in 2009. kevin survived and continues to recover. not only was sarah a huge success, she was actively involved at the grass roots. she enthusiasticry taught camps and clinics to hundreds of children. sarah wanted to see freestyle skiing grow. in 2010 she married fellow freestyle skier rory bushfield. they recently starred in a documentary film called "winter." a fund has been started to fund her legacy and support the causes she championed. for more information and to do nate, giveforwarden come/sarahburke. she was always smiling and wanted to see others do the same. i'm joined by luke van valin. you were not competing along her, you were very close with sarah and her husband. put this in perspective for the free skiing community. >> luke: well, it's really just created this very pervasive feeling of shock and grief to all of us. to put it in perspective, sarah was like our queen from the very beginning she was the girl that just was always smiling, was always communicating to people. just a re

as we saw with kevin pierce, there was a lot of damage early on. but he just went snowboarding. everyone is hoping she'll have a similar outcome. until we know more, it's hard to say. >> kevin gives us great hope. just saw him recently. to have him back. and sarah's husband said, she'll fight to recover. george? >>> now to the latest on joran van der sloot, the man so many believe was responsible for the disappearance of natalee holloway seven years ago. he's now facing a sentence in the death of a young woman in peru. >> reporter: a lot of people are finding this outcome outrageous. joran van der sloot's attorney said he has a post dramatic stress disorder, hoping to get him a lot less than 30 years behind bars. what made him snap? is the stress associated with the natalee holloway investigation drove him to murder. slowing no emotion, he admitted to killing 21-year-old stephany flores, telling a pack eed courtroom. yes, i want to plead guilty. i'm sorry for this act. i feel very bad. >> protesters outside the courthouse called for a harsh penalty. the attorney said the extreme

as we saw with kevin pierce, there was a lot of damage early on. but he just went snowboarding. so it's very hard from what we know now to predict. everyone is praying that she's going to have a similar kind of outcome. until we know more, it's hard to say. >> kevin gives us great hope. just saw him recently. to have him back. and sarah's husband said, she'll fight to recover. rich, thanks very much. george. >>> now to the latest on joran van der sloot, the man so many believe was responsible for the disappearance of natalee holloway seven years ago. has now confessed to the 2010 murder of another woman in peru. this comes a day before he's sentenced in the case. abc's andrea canning is here with the details. good morning, andrea. >> reporter: a lot of people are finding this story outrage use based on his defense. joran van der sloot's attorney said he has a post-traumatic stress disorder, hoping to get him a lot less than 30 years behind bars. what made him snap? joran claims the stress associated with the natalee holloway investigation, drove him to murder. showing no emotion

in 2009, another snowboarder by the name of kevin pierce, he had a traumatic brain injury.was actually out of the sport for quite awhile. he's only just now getting back to it. he was in the hospital for five months. he said he just couldn't get back to the sport. then he was sort of hesitant to get back to the sport. but he now is actually back into it. you know, when we talk to folks about this sport they said it's not an incredibly dangerous sport. it doesn't have the injury rates that other sports might have. but still, injuries do happen. she was using all the safety equipment that she was supposed to be using, we're told, but she didn't land on her head so her helmet didn't help her. it may have been just sort of this strange kind of flukey way that she landed. but certainly a community now is in mourning for this very beloved skier. >> elizabeth cohen, thank you. >>> a bit earlier we told you about our breakfast meeting with some voters near charleston, south carolina today. you heard from two undecided men who say they worry a bit about speaker gingrich's baggage fr

now two years later kevin pierce is back. his inspiring story for you tonight on "nightly news."anks, brian. >>> now for a look what is trending today. our quick roundup of what had you talking online. mariah carey's husband is a top search on google. mariah tweeted this visit to nick's hospital room saying please pray for nick as he is fight tog recover from a mild kidney failure. >>> nothing prepares for this. sinead o'connor is burning up twit wer posts about her on again/off again marriage to husband number four. they got married in december then broke up over christmas then got back together this week inspiring a slew of tweets from o'connor that are way too naughty for morning tv. >>> and a red hot story on today.com. a chicago area police officer gave a woman a speeding ticket then tracked her down to ask her on a date. instead of a romantic dinner she slapped him with a lawsuit. more than 5,000 of you have voted on our online poll on today.com. 67% of you thought the officer's behavior was creepy, not cute. it is 8:04 right now. let's go back outside to ann and carl. i gu

paul pierce, he's going to find himself open beyond the three-point arc. he'll bury the jumper. kevin garnett getting into the act. will hit the mid range jumper. the lost art in the nba these days. we're tied at 76 hfr 76. the celtics are not going to come back from 27 points down, are they? brandon bass says, we are. 91-83, celtics win. >>> to the college game. women's college hoops that is. top-ranked baylor traveling to oklahoma. this is a block party for britney greiner. that's number one on the game. greiner with the air ball. she headed to the bench, frustrated a little bit. this was all about her defense here. blocking the shot. that's block number 498 on her career. 499 there. watch how easy she makes this look. block number 500. third all-time with 501 career blocks. you're up to day. tune in to espn news for more. >>> sticking with the sports theme. you have to see this. it all happened down under in the men's semifinal between roger federer and rafa nadal. >> watch the ball boy on the left. right there by the net. a great one-handed grab by that youngster. the crowd let hi

pierce. >> te gusta el bÁquet? >> sÍ me gusta. >> y cometen falta, faltaba a el tercer tiempo. hace tremendo clavadaso. >> pero kevineso los rockets ganaron. >> buen partido de basquetbol, y hay mÁs actividad de la nba, phoenix visi a dallas. >> maryland tuvo una gran noche, y aquÍ conectÓ una desde la zona de tres. >> un partidazo. >> se van de gira y? >> vamos a estar aquÍ toda la semana. >> maÑana juega mÉxico y venezuela, por quÉ no apostamos maÑana? >> me gusta. >> le entras a la puesta? >> sÍ, seguro, si perdemos i compadre serÁ -se la tiene que poner. >>m iren, maÑana por galavisiÓn panamÁ vs. estados unidos y en el otro televisor... >> por univisiÓn mÉxico contra venezuela. >> cuÁndo? >> hay que ser conservadores, creo que dos a uno, a favor de venezuela. >> nos damos la mano. >> te va a tocar poner las arepas. >> hola, les mando un gran saludo desde chicago a despierta amÉrica. ♪ >> quÉ belleza de ciud! ahorita estÁn todos con un friazazo. >> debo de confesar algo, acÁ en el estÓmago tengo . -lo de mÉxico y venezuela. no te preoces, no hay enemigos pequeÑos nunca, a mÍ tambiÉn siempre que ega mi selecciÓn e