nbc's tom costello reports. >> reporter: the numbers speak volumes. every day, worldwide, there are 93,000 commercial airline flights. 3 billion passengers a year, and yet, not a single fatal commercial airline accident in the u.s. in nearly four years. and worldwide, 2012 is going down as the safest year ever, with just one accident to every 5.4 million flights. safety expert john cox. >> we're improving over 50%. it's an incredible feat. >> reporter: why the improvement? pilots have never been better trained. computerized cockpits monitor every aspect of flights. alert systems warn pilots. and simulators for air traffic controllers train them to realize an emergency before they face one. >> we have learned from accidents, we've plugged all of those lessons back in. they've been embraced in many cases and we're not seeing repeats of those aim accidents. >> reporter: but experts say two accidents in which human failure was to blame. underscore that the biggest reason for safety. in 2009, killing 228. that same year, colgan air flight 437 crashed in bu

tom costello covers aviation for us. he's in our washington newsroom tonight with this still-developing story. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. this action essentially ground all 787s around the world, because other governments generally follow the faa's lead. the faa's emergency air-worthiness directive says before any other 787 can fly, the operator on the boeing must prove the batteries are safe. >>> on the runway in western japan, an evacuation after the captain of a 787 got a warning light and thought he smelled something burning. the incident comes just a week after the fire in the belly of another 787 in boston. now investigators are taking a hard look at the 787's electrical system and lithium batteries. >> we've had two incidents involving batteries, involving charging circuits, that are under question that have resulted in one case a fire, one case of smoke. >> reporter: today's problem was located near the lithium batteries in the forward bay, underneath the flight deck. behind the nose. last week's f

tom costello covers aviation for us, he's with us from san diego tonight. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. this actually occurred in boston today, japan airlines 787, japan airlines yesterday as well, but today they were just about to depart fully loaded with passengers when they developed some sort of a fuel leak and they lost 40 gallons right there on the ramp. they went back to the gate, fixed the problem, the plane did, in fact, leave for tokyo but we can tell you that this follows yesterday's incident also involving a japan airlines 787, that was a belly, the fire in the belly of the plane, i should say. investigators now think that's tied to an auxiliary power unit, a battery pack and there have been other emergency landings and problems with electrical systems over the last few months or so. united airlines has ordered inspections of all of its 787s. most aviation experts believe that these are problems with a high-tech plane but they could also start to undermine confidence in the 787. brian? >> tom costello on the latest problem from san d

tom costello covers aviation for us. he's with us from dulles airport outside washington. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. in fact, the faa chief and secretary of transportation both say they believe this plane is safe, and yet they have ordered this thorough review of the plane of its mechanical system, power system, electrical system, battery system, after these seemingly unrelated events. we had another one just this morning in japan, an al nippon airline 787 developed a crack in a cockpit windshield. tuesday, a japan airlines 787 had a fuel leak minutes before takeoff. on monday, a fire in the belly of a parked 787, traced to the lithium ion batteries in this brand-new plane. last month, a united 787 made an emergency landing in new orleans after an electrical panel problem, and they had a similar problem on a qatar airlines plane. and two years ago, there was a fire on a test flight 787. boeing modified the plane after that. boeing insists, these are unrelated incidents, and most analysts say they are nothing more than teething problems for this new state-of-

our report tonight from our man in the field, nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: ever had one of those days when you're sitting around and you just don't know what to do? >> what do you think, kiddo? you want to try it out? >> reporter: turns out at the national zoo, there's an app for that. >> you got to be gentle. >> reporter: lots of apps. 16-year-old battang uses her long arms and fingers to tap. she loves the drums and cymbals. ♪ 36-year-old bonnie prefers playing the keyboard or scrolling through photos of other animals. the program is called "apps for apes," one of many ways that 13 zoos, including the smithsonian national zoo in washington are trying to enrich the lives of these endangered animals. >> it engages their sight, their touch, sound. they can choose to sit here and participate or they can walk away. >> reporter: but they're not. they're painting, fishing, playing instruments, and coming back for more. this is lucy, she is 39 years old. and like all orangutans, she has her own personality and she is very curious. and so researchers say the challenge is to keep her and

nbc's tom costello is in a pharmacy in maryland, where they have been busy there. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. this pharmacy, like most, say the medicines to treat the flu and its symptoms have been selling very fast, especially tamiflu. leah wasn't supposed to be at home with a confirmed case of the flu. she got the vaccine and thought she'd be fine, but she's a teacher. >> there's always kids that are sick. it's just part of being a teacher, you're exposed to a lot of things. >> reporter: now with the flu spreading, clinics nationwide are reporting spot shortages of the vaccine. in new york, karen goodson finally got her flu shot. >> thank you. >> reporter: after the first clinic she visited ran out of the vaccine twice in one day. >> we had been waiting there for 20 minutes, they said, oh, no more flu shots, sorry, we have to go home. >> reporter: everyone older than six months get the flu shot, but during the last two flu seasons, fewer than half actually receive the vaccine. last year, south dakota had the highest vaccination rate, 51% of the stat

nbc's tom costello joins us now from our washington bureau to tell us more. tom? >> reporter: hi there, lester. kind of a ho-hum report, but many economists say there are several indicators the economy is poised to pick up steam. the question is how much steam. the latest snapshot of the american jobs market suggest the country treaded water in december. adding nearly the same number of jobs that were added in november. the unemployment rate, unchanged. not good enough, say economists. >> we need to see much more robust job growth to really whittle away at the unemployment rate in a more meaningful way and have more fundamental improvements out there in the labor market. >> reporter: through all of 2012, 1.8 million jobs were created. where are the jobs? in december, the health care field added 45,000. construction added 30,000 with hurricane sandy rebuilding and new home construction helping out. manufacturers added 25,000. the most in nine months. but retailers cut more than 11,000 jobs and assigned the holiday shopping season may have been weak. delta air lines

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> the budget deal leaves a lot of questions unresolved, but for today, anyway, the financial markets seemed to love it. the dow soared more than 300 points, its best day since december 2011. the nasdaq and s&p 500 were also sharply higher. >>> late news tonight that secretary of state hillary clinton, hospitalized since sunday for a potentially dangerous blood clot, has been released and is heading home from the hospital. nbc's andrea mitchell is in our washington bureau with more. good evening, andrea. >> reporter: good evening, kate. it is all good news to report tonight about the secretary of state. her staff reports that her medical team advised her she is making good progress on all fronts. and they are confident she will make a full recovery, according to their statement. she says she is eager to get back to the office and was already today on the phone with her staff. this afternoon, a smiling hillary clinton walking on her own steam was seen coming out of one of the many buildings in the hospital complex, the harkness eye institute, accomp

our report tonight from nbc's tom costello. >> looks like the south 5 is miserable still. >> reporter: it's the morning rush hour, but is that driver in the lane next to you fully awake? the fda says it's received more than 700 reports of driving-related mishaps and terrible accidents related to common sleeping aids like ambien. drivers too drowsy to concentrate the morning after taking a sleeping pill. in carey kennedy's case, she claims to have taken ambien in the morning and crashed into a truck. >> i remember getting on the highway, and then i have no memory. >> reporter: now, with research showing sleeping medications can remain in the bloodstream longer than previously thought, especially in women, the fda has ordered the makers of ambien and other medications that contain the drug zolpidem to cut in half the dose for women from 10 to 5 milligrams. also cut extended release formulas. and suggested similar doses for men. >> i have seen everything from them nodding off while they're talking to me to them talking like in tongues. >> reporter: dr. daniel eisenberg is the chief of ca

nbc's tom costello reports. >> reporter: the numbers speak volumes. every day worldwide, there are 93,000 commercial airline flights. 3 billion passengers a year. and yet not a single fatal commercial airline accident in the u.s. in nearly four years. worldwide, 2012 is going down as the safest year ever, with just one accident for every 5.4 million flights. veteran aviation safety expert john cox. >> what's significant about that is that we're improving by 50% over last year, which was the aviation's safest year previously. it's an incredible feat. >> reporter: why the improvement? pilots have never been better trained. computerized cockpits monitor every aspect of flight. alert systems warn of a potential mid-air crash or mountain ahead. hd simulators for pilots and air traffic controllers train them to handle emergencies before they face a real one. debbie hersman is chairman of ntsb. >> we've learned from accidents, plowed those lessons back in, they've been embraced and we're not seeing repeats of those same accidents. >> reporter: experts say tw

tom costello, nbc news, bethesda, maryland. >> dr. tanya benenson is our chief medical officer here at nbc. tanya, you were telling me before air you have handed out about 1,000 inoculations just to our employees here in new york. you're reporting a lot of first-timers this year. but to that question, is it too late to get the inoculation? >> it's not too late. we still hear the flu is spreading. if the flu is spreading, new people are getting the flu and that could be you if you haven't had it. it's definitely not too late. it takes two weeks to kick in so the earlier the better, still can get one. >> people who hear this efficacy rate of 60-some odd percent, is it still worth it? >> it's still 62%. which is better than zero percent. if you get the flu shot, even if you got some form of the flu that wasn't covered by the flu shot, you could have a milder flu if you don't get the flu shot. and that's important. because if the real flu knocks you out, it's not a subtle thing. >> this is not the last time we'll be asking of your advice,

our report from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: 25-year-old kory wilson can tell you, it's not easy looking for a job. she has applied for 200 since earning a masters degree in public relations last may of the. >> being a post graduate, either i'm overqualified or i'm underqualified. >> she is looking for work, but the economy seemingly poised to either take off or take a stumb stumble. today new applications brought employment benefits jumped by 38,000. but they hit five year lose the previous two weeks. personal income and spending both grew in december. the housing market seems to be improving, and while the economy actually shrank in the fourth quarter, many blame government spending cuts and the fiscal cliff stalemate. >> we have removed the financial panic and now we're waiting to kind of take a look at the dust and see how it's settled and see how much destruction there's really been. >> reporter: through it all, wall street has been on a tear. up nearly 6% this month. meanwhile, on main street -- >> i'm filling up once a week so $50 a week, $200 a month. >> gas prices are he

here is nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: the numbers speak volumes.ry day, worldwide, there are 93,000 commercial airline flights. 3 billion passengers a year. and yet not a single fatal commercial airline accident in the u.s. in nearly four years. and worldwide, 2012 is going down as the safest year ever, with just one accident for every 5.4 million flights. veteran aviation safety expert john cox. >> what's significant about that is that we're improving by 50% over last year, which was the aviation's safest year previously. it's an incredible feat. >> reporter: why the improvement? pilots have never been better trained. computerized cockpits monitor every aspect of flight. alert systems warn pilots of a potential mid-air crash or mountain ahead. and hd simulators for pilots and air traffic controllers train them to handle emergencies before they face a real one. debbie hersman is chairman of the ntsb. >> we have learned from accidents, we have plowed all of those lessons back in. they have been embraced in many cases, and we're not seeing repeats of

it was nice while it lasted. >>> tom costello is right, it was nice while it lasted. in with tom kierein right now for the latest on the forecast. he's outside. pretty nice out there right now, huh, tom? >> yeah, but we've got strong winds coming in. the clouds are raising over a couple thousand feet. they're moving at 60 miles an hour. there's a live view from the nbc4 city cam. you can hear the wind there. it's cloudy now. one of the nbc4 viewers checked in from manassas where it's around 70 degrees. she said her son dylan scott stepped outside this morning and said it's not winter, it's not spring, it's sprinter. i love that. we got a severe thunderstorm watch in the west until 4:00 p.m. that may extend east where we do already have a flash flood watch going in effect this afternoon into tonight. and look at those counties in green, could get fast, flooding winds and rain coming through. right now, radar with the storm there on the leading edge of that is moving our way, and it could begin here between 3:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. back to you. >> tom, it's really blowi

tom costello from our l.a. bureau this morning, thank you so much. we want to head back to new york where natalie morales is at the news desk with a check of the other top stories. good morning to you. >> good morning to you, savannah. good morning, everyone. americans are in the midst of a long and tough season of the flu virus that could last for another two to four months. nbc's chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman is here with the latest. good morning, nancy. >> good morning, savannah. we're counting over 2,000 people in the united states who have died from influenza-related complications. we are not even to the 50 yard line of what is being called an epidemic. take home right now is if you're sick please don't go to work. for those who haven't had vaccinations, although there are spot shortages around the country, still enough vaccine for people to get it. go out and have the immunizati n immunizations on board. and please, please, please, lots of hand washing. that's the best way to protect yourself. >> thank you so much. >> you bet. >> sus

. >>> nbc's tom costello is in washington, d.c. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this has been a week of strange weather. normally 44 degrees as ahigh here in d.c. this time of year. an ice storm monday, today it's supposed to get up to 74 and a lot of the country has been enjoying this short reprieve from ice and snow. would you believe this is january in chicago? shorts, t-shirts and no shirts. >> into january, in the heat of winter, be out here running without a shirt, it's great. >> reporter: in fact, it was warmer in the windy city than it was in phoenix tuesday. chicago broke a 99-year record for this date, in the low 60s. >> it's a little weird, but nice. >> reporter: for the east in washington, it was even warmer. the white house, capitol and national mall all basking under 70-degree skies. >> it's one amazingly nice, yummy day out here. >> reporter: across a large section of the country, the mercury is riding the roller coaster this week from the low double digits to the high 60s, then back to the 20s and 30s by the weekend. this isn't normal. two years a

for "today," tom costello, nbc news at washington-dulles airport. >>> once again here's erica. >> thanks. turning from planes to trains, specifically london's underground system known around the globe as the tube, it is the world's first subway system. and it is now celebrating its 150th anniversary. here's chatman bell. >> reporter: close to 250 miles of track. transporting more than 1 billion people a year. and in service since 1863. this week the london underground, the oldest in the world, celebrates its 150th anniversary. >> london was very crowded in the 19th century. so the idea came to try to unblock the london streets with an underground railway. >> reporter: considered a radical idea at the time, the tube eventually paved the way for cities like new york and paris to create their own versions. it's almost seen it all. during world war ii, the station served as some of london's biggest bunkers with more than 100,000 londoners seeking refuge in the tunnels. talk show host jerry springer was born in one during the war. in 1969, it was given the royal seal of approval when the quee

we sent nbc's tom costello out on a nighttime fishing expedition. good morning, tom. did you catch the big one? >> reporter: yes, i did. you might call this the great california squid rush or calamari rush because fishermen have never seen these jumbo squid out on this ocean in years. now it seems the whole ocean is full of them. a beautiful picturesque sunset over the pacific and the hunt is on for the ink-spitting humble squid or what we know in the restaurant as calamari. >> oh, yeah. hoping to catch some big ones. >> reporter: after word spread last week that hundreds are being caught at a time, fishermen up and down the california coast have been trying to get in on the catch. >> welcome to squid fishing. >> one of my co-workers is a fish guru and watches this like a religion and told me they're biting like crazy. >> reporter: it didn't take long. within minutes, the squid were hitting the deck, lots of them. katie mason brought along her kids, including 5-year-old catalina. >> well, i warned them, it's wet, it's dirty, it's crazy. so i wanted them to kind of hav

tom costello covers aviation. tom, to up. >> reporter: united is the only airline that flies the 787 dreamliner in the united states. and they are complying with the faa. all 50 787s worldwide are now grounded. a dramatic action, by grounding the troubled 787 fleet, boeing's problems have been elevated to an all out safety emergency. the action coming after wednesday's full evacuation of an ana 787 after the pilot thought he smelled smoke. last week, a fire in the battery rack of a parked 787 in boston. the emergency air worthiness director. before further flight, operators of boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the faa that the batteries are safe and in compliance. >> it is serious. we've had two events where there have been smoke and potential fire on board. and so i think everybody is responding appropriately. >> reporter: wednesday's problem, located near the lithium batteries in the forward bay, underneath the flight deck, behind the nose. last week's fire, located behind the wings in the 787s a.t. electri

tom costello has more on this story. tom, good morning to you. >> savannah, good morning. by many standards, apple is a world leader. it is the world's most valuable tech company if you've been invested in their stock the last few years, you made some money. it is also a leader in innovation, but the competition is very tough and there's a perception out there that perhaps things are slowing a bit. is it possible that the coolest brand on the planet with its cool stores and cool products -- >> the bigger screen goes from here to here. >> reporter: is starting to lose some cool? one of its biggest competitors certainly wants customers to believe it. >> samsung. >> next thing, man. >> reporter: turns out wall street is also wondering about apple. apple stock now at $502, has dropped $200 since september. it came after "the wall street journal" reported that apple cut orders for parts on its iphone 5 because of weaker than expected demand. >> we look at it as a bit of a letdown, obviously. it's not great that this has happened. we thought this device would be the biggest sell

thought for nbc's tom costello is here in n. nbc's to los angeles with more on this story. good morning to you. >> good morning.mo savannah. women seem to be more women seem to be more affected.. americans will americans will take about 60 m million sleeping pills this ye. year, 13 million more than six years ago. more than six years ago. the the fda says they do such a good job, some people are job, some people are too drowsy. to drive the next morning. those ambien commercials promise >> reporter: those a good sleep. commercials promise >> it's the only sleep aid with two layers to help treat both two layers to help treat types of sleep problems. >> reporter: but for some it may problems. be too good.>> after getting reports of e be too good. after getting r hundreds of driving-related incidents and accidents hundred involving sleeping aids like ambien, the fda has ordered the involving sleeping aids like ambien, the fda has ordered t makers of ambien and other hef makers that contain medication that contain the drug zolpidem to cut it in half from zol pa -- zolpidem to c

nbc's tom costello covers aviation. tom, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, matt. united is the only airline that flies the 787 here in the u.s. it is complying with this order and says it is rebooking passengers onto other aircraft but because other governments followed the faa's lead on safety actions, all 50 787s worldwide are now grounded. it is a dramatic action. by grounding boeing's troubled 787 fleet, the faa has elevated boeing's problems toon all-out safety emergency. the action coming after wednesday's full evacuation of an ama 787 after the pilot thought he smelled smoke. last week, a fire in the battery rack of a parked 787 in boston. now, the faa's emergency air worthiness directive. before further flight i prifrts boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the faa that the batteries are safe and in compliance. >> is serious. we have had two events were there have been smoke and potential fire on board and so i think everybody's responding appropriately. >> reporter: wednesday's problems of located near the lithium batteries in the forward bay underneath

>> tom costello if washington, thank you. here's matt. >>> lance armstrong may finally be coming clean about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, but his confession may not be enough to reduce his lifetime ban from competitive sports. nbc's ann thompson is here with the latest fallout on this story. good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. the anti-doping agency says if armstrong wants to return to elite competitive sports, he has to tell the truth under oath before that process can even start. and that is what one of his fiercest critics wants as well, the absolute truth. she went from friend to foe. the effect betsy andreas says that performance-enhancing drugs had on her relationship with lance armstrong. >> my husband, his teammate, rode the 2000 tour clean. what was his reward from lance? not getting his tour bonus and getting fired off the team. >> reporter: relentless on the bike, andreas says armstrong was just as relentless off the bike, going after her, her husband and anyone who claimed they knew armstrong do

here is nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: preschool teacher ashley caldwell has been downright miserableying to see a doctor in the middle of a flu outbreak? not easy. >> it was a three-hour wait there. i thought it would be a little while but not that long. >> reporter: in crosses, 22-year-old lisa ingrid has been in bed with the flu talking via skype. >> i ended up having 103.8 degree fever. >> reporter: already in every state across the country, thousands of people have been affected with 31 states hit the ha hardest. one of the earliest and worse flu seasons in years. >> this season follows the pattern of other seasons, we can expect 5% to 20% of the population to contract the flu this year. >> reporter: in some cases the flu can be deadly. in texas, 17-year-old high school senior matt shwolert died after the flu turned into pneumonia and then a deadly staph infection. it can start one to four days after exposure. fever or chills, cough, sore throat and runny nose, muscle aches, headaches and in some cases diarrhea and vomiting. 200,000 people are hospitalized every year with the flu