tonight richard engle with the service men and women on board the first flight to safety. >>> and making a difference. the woman who quietly saved up a fortune and did something that surprised the entire town. nightly news begins now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with brian williams. >>> good evening. if you're watching us from the dallas ft. worth area in texas you can be prepared to watch. temperatures dropped 40 degrees in just about 24 hours. if you're to the east of there, this may be a preview of what to expect. and if you live where it's warm, you'll be the envy of the rest of the nation over the next few days as a big cold and crawling weather system is about to cause a whole lot of trouble as the weather is due when winter takes hold. it's already bad in the rockies. and we'll begin there in denver. good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. it never rose above 10 degrees in denver today. early this morning with the wind chill, it felt like it was negative 106789 bone chilling temperatures. and although it was bad here, there ar

and nbc's richard engle reports from nelson mandela's childhood home. >> the service marked the end of nelson mandela's extraordinary live from political activist to prisoner to president. the man who helped end apar tied and become an icon internationally. for his stance on reconciliation, racial integration and harmony. there was a private ceremony today. only about 4,500 guests included royalty and members of mandela's exteblded family. and celebrities. and they eulogized his country's first black president and stressed how important it is to carry on his tradition and uphold his moral standard. >> we must lead by example and do something for people of south africa. >> perhaps the country's president and current president said it best, mandela's long twuk freedom in a physical sense has now come to an end. >> it is the end of 95 million tears. of the freedom fighter and humble servant of the people of south africa. >> and many south africans in his home village said for the first time, nelson mandela is finally free. richard engle, nbc news, south africa. >> and coming up next at 11

tonight richard engle with the service men and women on board the first flight to safety. >>> and makingrence. the woman who quietly saved up a fortune and did something that surprised the entire town. nightly news begins now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with brian williams. >>> good evening. if you're watching us from

richard engle, thank youo much. was by myself with him and i thought this is nelson mandela's birthday what a great birth right. >> and richard is right. he could have gonene of two ways. he could have taken the anger that built up over 27 years and used that in a negative way. instead, he was grateful to say the very least. >> it's a huge history lesson on w freedom can prail. >> for a lot of us of a certain age, we lived that history but for a younger generation, he's a pop culture icon for good and for positive message. >> he is. a lot of people know the film n invictus. morgan freeman in the movie. mandela striding on to the field in the rugby world cup wearing south african colors and bringing t overwhelmingly white crowd, more than 60,000 people to its feet. they cheer nelson, nelson, nelson. there's another film out now. mandela, long wa t freedom. he's a celebrity to a lot of people. it's important to look back at w he became one. >> the great actor pying nelson mandela who got rave reviews and william and k

christine o'donnells that he pushed and supported and, of course, you can talk about richard mooredock, todd aiken, shaern engle. you can talk about all of these candidates that were just unelectable in general elections. they are seen by many republicans in the senate and across the country as basically the creations of jim demint. >> right. now, christine o'donnell is the perfect example of the self-enflicked wound -- self-inflicted wound. murdock, aiken and also sharon engel he never backed in the primary. many people kind of remember it that way. tech nextally, he didn't -- owe technically, he didn't back those candidates. there were a number he backed in 2010 and 2012 didn't make it. you know, the demint people wi note many of the candidates were seen as the establish. candidates also didn't when in those seekleles. and if you do look, if you keep score in terms of which askeds from the establish him and from the tea party law, i think, you can point at some blame in both direction. it's not as one seemed as it often seems. >> very good. >> jonathan strong, thank you very much. glad to have you on this sho