tom brokaw is here tonight with that part of the story. tom, welcome. >> brian, the harsh truth is, the american education system is simply not preparing workers for the modern factory, which is much more complex. requiring workers with computer literacy, math, reading and reasoning skills. so some companies in the industrial midwest are stepping up with money and programs. even in the dead of winter, joe snyder doesn't mind heading to work at 5:15 a.m. he's happy to have a job. he lives in the cincinnati area, which lost a quarter of all its manufacturing jobs in just the last ten years. as a 33-year-old apprentice at mag industries, he works under the watchful eyes of mag's most senior employees. many of whom will retire soon and need to be replaced. >> i do feel a sense of pride here. at the end of the day, it's because of the team effort. >> reporter: mag, which grew out of the old tool and dye business, now ships fuselages wind turbine blades and other high-tech products from here around the world. just as manufacturing has changed, so

tom brokaw, thanks. our series will continue tomorrow night. >>> when we come back, something else is disappearing. one of the last surviving perks on an airplane. >>> first it was snakes on a plane, now it's spider in cars. recalls come and go, but this one's unique. mazda is recalling 52,000 cars because of a yellow spider that likes to crawl up mazda vents and then spin webs there. that can clog up the line, prevent vapors from escaping from the fuel tank, result in a crack and all create the risk of fire. all of this because of a spider. the recall applies to mazda 6 series model years 2009, 2010. >>> it was one of the things you used to be able to count on when flying coach on continental. and that made it one of the last perks in the back of the plane. continental served free snacks, at least they did until tuesday. it's all over now. and they've actually made it sound like a good thing. in a statement continental, which is merging with united, said the snacks are going away, quote, in an effort to

and tonight following the death this week of bud lomell at the age of 91, tom brokaw takes a look back at his life. >> it was perhaps one of the most important missions of d-day. >> reporter: june 6, 1944, d-day. leonard "bud" lomell is one of the first ashore at pointe du hoc. >> it was horrible. blood was running in the surf. >> reporter: lomell was wounded as he landed but he pressed on, straight up the 100-foot cliffs with german fire all around him. with another ranger they managed to knock out the german artillery trained on the beach saving an untold number of lives. >> a day doesn't go by i don't think about it. >> reporter: lomell won the distinguished service cross for that mission, fought for another year, was wounded again, and earned the silver star. he returned to new jersey, married charlotte, a nurse, and went to law school at rutgers. bud rarely mentioned his war-time heroics as he became a civic leader, church leader, prominent lawyer, and father to three daughters. but on the 40th anniversary of d-day, sergeant lomell and the rangers were famously celebrated by presi

tom brokaw on an american city that is dealing with just that. later, what wild animals have been doing this whole time when night falls and no one's been around to watch. >>> we're back. our series of reports continues tonight on "america at the crossroads." tonight, a city that was hit hard even before this last recession came along. tom brokaw is here with us just back from pennsylvania with that story tonight. tom, welcome. >> brian, redding, pennsylvania, was once a thriving manufacturing center turning out everything from steam engines to knitted goods and then it was a destination for big discount stores. but now reading's proud past is only a memory as it struggles like so many cities in this country to just stay alive economically. >> in a classroom at reading high school there is an energetic debate on the city's economy. >> 15 years ago we were the number one outlet center of the world. >> reading was once a destination city, buzzing with factories, overflowing with retail stores. today, it is a far different place. >> i was giving a s

i don't want to give it away, but there were a few -- [ imitates tom brokaw ] >> jimmy: "why would yout star on the show, jimmy fallon." >> jimmy: "it's going to be classic, classic --" >> "yeah, little lucy lost her locket --" [ laughter ] "hey, tom, maybe you shouldn't do nursery rhymes." "no, i'm going to do it again. little lucy -- toy boat, toy boat, toy boat. a skunk sat on --" [ speaks gibberish ] all right. well, we've got to go to commercial. >> jimmy: can i ask one thing? are you going to bring back the church lady this saturday? >> "well, jimmy, i'll just say it this way. [ laughter ] sometimes in life, we don't know if there is going to be mr. surprise." [ laughter ] >> jimmy: we've got more with dana carvey when we get back! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ curtis: welcome back to geico radio, it's savings, on the radio. gecko: caller steve, go right ahead. steve: yeah, um, i just got a free rate quote on geico.com, saved a ton, and it only took me 5 minutes and 12 seconds! steve: i was wondering, is that some sort of record? gecko: that's a good question. let's have a look. curt

. >>> if you are searching for >>> today on "oprah" at 4:00 tom brokaw and the first lady introduce us to the bravest families in america living with the wounds of war. and then at 5:00, what a girl is doing to inspire. and she is lifting the spirits of troops overseas. that and more on abc7 news at 5:00. >>> from jimmy hendrix reimagined to a classic musical. dawn sanchez has what is hot. >> the jimmy hendrix version of "hey joe" played by this quartet. the 27th floral extravaganza has designers em blazed in color through saturday. it is tradition. "fiddler on the roof" is a time less music classic. they offer up a guarantee of laughs. they bring their comedy show to the art gallery on saturday evening. they present a vision of the future in a match up of athletic dance. drama between a middle eastern high school student and his vice president, theater works presents "the north pool" a psychological thriller. and enjoy the family fitness fair at fisherman's wharf, part of the embarkadero will be closed to traffic and your chance for a leisurely walk. and the award-winning "the fighter

various -- bay other cities are not in the top >>> today on "oprah" at 4:00 tom brokaw the first lady introduce us to the bravest families in america living with the wounds of war. and then at 5:00, what a girl is doing to inspire. and she is lifting the spirits of troops overseas. that and more on abc7 news at 5:00. >>> from jimmy hendrix reimagined to a classic musical. dawn sanchez has what is hot. >> the jimmy hendrix version of "hey joe" played by this quartet. the 27th floral extravaganza has designers em blazed in color through saturday. it is tradition. "fiddler on the roof" is a time less music classic. they offer up a guarantee of laughs. they bring their comedy show to the art gallery on saturday evening. they present a vision of the future in a match up of athletic dance. drama between a middle eastern high school student and his vice president, theater works presents "the north pool" a psychological thriller. and enjoy the family fitness fair at fisherman's wharf, part of the embarkadero will be closed to traffic and your chance for a leisurely walk. and th

then at christmas time i got one check for $100 from tom brokaw and then i saw my climbing ger and i sold it and i sold my car for $500 that i got from my grandfather in a seedy area in oakland. by string i o spring i had only $2,400. my mother invited me to come and talk to the kids. when i got ready to leave, a fourth grader named jeffery looked me in the aye and he said i've got a piggy bank at home and i'm going to help you build that school. west side school raised 65, 300 pennies. it wasn't the celebrities or the sports heroes or movie stars or if i lan throw pears but children reaching out to children half way around the world to help them build a school. what can you buy with a penny the bay area? probably nothing. in montana you can buy 1/2 tootsie roll. but in afghanistan you can buy a pencil. it's not that's so important but education gives a child hope. you know, if you fight tear riz her rorism it's based in fear but the real enemy is ignorance that bleeds hatred. here in america, afghanistan, africa or pakistan. the way to overcome that i think is through education and

. >>> tomorrow night as we continue along these lines, tom brokaw takes a look at the skills that areoing to be needed in the workforce and how to go out and get them. >>> late word of the death of a hollywood legend. >>> we learned late tonight the actress jane russell has died. she started her hollywood career as a bombshell in the howard hughes movie "the outlaw," which shocked 1941 audiences so much it was pulled from some theaters. her career went beyond her sex symbol image. she appeared in a lot of films over the years, starring with marilyn monroe in "gentlemen prefer blonds" and a lot of bob hope musicals. a later generation knew her as a bra pitch woman on tv. she called herself a full figured girl. veteran actress jane russell was 89 years old. >>> america has also lost the last of a breed. the last of the doughboys. frank buckles has died. he was the last american survivor of world war i. he wanted to serve his country so badly in the war that end all wars that he lied about his age. first tried to join up at 16, and served as an army driver and guard in england, france an

think of that tom brokaw said, that the 1% shouldn't have to carry us all. would for any relative, i am hopeful that you will reach out in whatever way you can, give of yourself to those who are serving us in the name of our freedom. i already know what i'm gonna do, and i want to hear what you're gonna do, too, so go to oprah.com as well as serve.gov and tell me all about it. so thank you to our first lady. >> thank you so much. oprah: thank you, tom brokaw, bob woodward, and all of our military families. thank you for being here. thank you. [applause] oprah: really good. [captioning made possible by king world] [captioned by the national captioning institute www.ncicap.org--] [ male announcer ] nature is unique... ...authentic... ...pure... and also delicious. ♪ like nature valley. granola bars made with crunchy oats and pure honey. because natural is not only good, it also tastes good. nature valley -- 100% natural. 100% delicious. for the design -- >> as a person wearing the dress now. looks like a fish net, really, you know? >> i strangely have no probl

tom brokaw is here with his take on president obama's address and what comes next in libya. tom, good to have you as always. so much was made over the eight years of the bush presidency, bush 43, about the bush doctrine. was last night the laying out of the obama doctrine? >> i think it was. i think that what he did in a very restrained speech was say to the american people, this is why we got involved. these are the terms of our involvement. and where we can expect to go from here. it does open a lot of other questions. ambassador rice was saying these other countries are different. but it's not hard to imagine that things can get wildly out of control for example in syria, which is in the back yard of israel, and we have lots of interest in that part of the world as well. >> let's play a sound bite from the speech last night. you tell me if you think it puts the president in the box or in a box in the near future. take a listen. >> some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. the united states of america is different. as president, i refuse

. >>> now let's bring in tom brokaw. what's your reaction to this ruling? >> it is outrageous. those people who are protesting out there are pathetic. there are ways of dealing with it. you have to get local permission. i think the american legion ought to have counterdemonstration. members of the community ought to show up to honor the families, to honor the fallen and do it ibmuch greit in much numbers. don't pick a fight, but get between the mourners and those people who for reasons that i'll never understand are out there doing what they're doing. >> there's also a debate about the federal budget. the president signed a resolution funding the government for two more weeks, but america is living payche paycheck-to-paycheck. what can we expect biden to do? >> it's a delicate game. the republicans remember what happened in 1994, then the government was shut down. john boehner doesn't want that to happen. he has to deal with the tea party people on his right. he has to deal with his tradition traditionalists in the middle. and he has to deal with vice president biden. at the en

brokaw. she's the beloved daughter of tom. your mother married a beautiful person. 40, 50? >> right. i think that's an excellent question. i think that it has a lot to do with internal and external factors. i think that the internal factor for women who are hitting their mid-30s has a lot to do with fertility. that the ability to get pregnant at 28 versus 35, if you can imagine, is a lot higher than it is when you're 35. >> and the risks as well. >> and the risk is much higher. that's number one. i think number two, 35 is the age where we have our first mammogram. most likely we have all known someone who's been diagnosed with breast cancer. at that age. and i think that's just another reminder of our mortality. >> and when you think about being a life span of 70 years, that's mid life. sort of a midlife crisis. >> absolutely. there's also the external factors that occur. you know, a number of women, there's going to be the woman who develops a great career for herself. she reaches the corporate ladder, the top of the corporate ladder and realizes that the glass cei

none of this would have been possible without the nbc news president, brian williams, and tom brokaw,he executive vice president. they had the vision and the commitment and they had expanded nbc be on the network to other -- beyond the network to other platforms, becoming a leader in cable and giving me the opportunity at msnbc to have a daily program and to work with so many colleagues. now to be able to work with our new colleagues and collaborators at comcast represented here by david cohen. here tonight, might tenacious, -- my tenacious, unstinting executive producer and the heart and soul of our little team, michelle perry. here with us tonight, our bureau chief and nightly news producer. they lead us every day to greater achievements with my good friends, pals, and colleagues. of course, are rooting for me every day in every possible way, the most patient man -- allen. through every adventure and every phone call -- i have a today show assignment, i will be home some time. heat up some dinner. thank you for this honor. it means more to meet then i can ever express. to our most l

tom brokaw coined the title for americans of the 1930's and 1940's who defeated the depression, the japanese and the nazis simultaneously. but i would add a fourth largely unnoticed victory that brokaw missed. after three great victories for freedom, our grandparents then spent the next 20 years paying the debts that they incurred to win the contests with the depression and in the pacific and in europe. their accumulated debts of 1946 totaled over 120% of our national income. economists report that between economic growth and some inflation, the greatest generation reduced the crippling world war ii debts that secured our victory during the late 1940's and decade of the 1950's. the return to a more fiscally responsible government sparked an economic boom that built a superpower called the united states of america. the history lesson here is clear: each generation has faced conflict, war and debt, and each generation is tested. the looming debt crisis facing this government is our generation's test. while some government officials and bankers may counsel ineffective action, saying we owe this