tom costello covers aviation for us. he's with us tonight from reagan national and one of the tsa checkpoints. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. good evening. the tsa says it confiscates 2,000 small pocket knives like this every single day. it says it delays checkpoints, takes up time. it says they should be more stridently, more intently looking for explosives. many people say there shouldn't be a trade-off. on capitol hill today unions representing air marshalls, airline employees and flight attendants demanded the tsa drop its plan to allow small knives on board commercial flights. >> a knife like this is a weapon and it doesn't belong on an airplane. >> reporter: the unions claim to represent 90,000 flight attendants but the tsa chief conceded to lawmakers he never consulted with any flight attendants before changing the knife rule. >> i could have done a better job of bringing them in earlier. >> reporter: the backlash of the knife policy has grown to include nearly every player in aviation safety. three maj

tom costello, nbc news, columbus, ohio. >>> we're back in a moment with a big women's clothing brand caught up in a big recall tonight. >>> she'll soon be ready to accept your tired, poor and huddled masses again soon. we learned today the statue of liberty is re-opening for visitors by july 4th. it's been closed for months after it was damaged by hurricane sandy. >>> a rare alignment tonight will result in a huge power shift in this country that most americans will not feel at all, but it's worth noting anyway. if all goes according to schedule there will be a 20-minute period tonight during which house speaker john boehner will be the ranking u.s. official on american soil. president obama will be in the air en route to israel. vice president biden will be en route back from rome. while this confluence is a first for the obama administration, the white house today reminded reporters the president is the president wherever he goes. >>> it was a glittering night at the white house. 1985, princess diana and john travolta on the dance floor. her midnight blue gown was an instant sensat

nbc's tom costello is at dulles international airport outside d.c., which got about 5 inches of snow. tom, good evening. >> reporter: yeah, brian, good evening. not so much. they call this heart attack snow. it is wet and it is heavy. the expectation that washington was going to get hammered caused the airlines to cancel flights, schools, government offices all closed. and while washington was largely spared, out west it is a different story. what a difference 70 miles and a little elevation can make. front royal, virginia, covered in 17 inches of a wet, heavy march snow. enough to turn roads dangerous, sidewalks impassable. >> our car is actually stuck so we're trying to move it. >> western maryland and virginia both got buried. power outages up and down the mid atlantic. nearly 200,000 without power in virginia alone, where the governor declared a state of emergency. in chicago today, a roof collapse under the weight of yesterday's snow. ohio and pennsylvania also hit hard. more than 2,000 flights cancelled from the east coast to the midwest. d.c.'s national airport, a ghost town. d

>> tom costello on this big day for the markets. tom, thanks. changing coming soon to an airport near u. ever since the 9/11 hijackers used box cutters to force down aircraft, the tsa has banned passengers from using knives from boarding the planes with them. now it's changing course, allowing some, but not all knives, and larger items, like golf club and ski poles, and if you must, pool cues, whiffle ball bats and lacrosse sticks. nbc's pete williams has more on all of this from washington tonight. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. tsa says this will relieve the screeners from having to search for small knives and other objects that cannot do catastrophic dame to an airplane and to focus instead on the much more serious hazards. starting next month, tsa will partly lift the restriction that's been in place for 11 years, blocking passengers from bringing knives on board. it's an effort, says tsa, to devote more attention to the most serious threats. >> we are trying to focus on the highest risks, that being the non-metallic i

nbc's tom costello following the story for us. >> we're talking about small knives, keep in mind.ore than 3.2 inches or so long, very small folding knives. but tsa chief john pistol will be before capitol hill in just a few minutes to defend his plan. and you said it, he has got a tsunami of protests coming out against him. his own tsa's officer's union, the screener's union, has come out against this. also, 90,000 flight attendants have come out against it. several pilots organizations have come out against it. the ceos of american, us airways, and delta have come out against it. it is a growing with backlash against the tsa's plan. and he's now in a position to defend it. his argument on this is that the tsa spends entirely too much time looking for these small knives. it's a waste of time and they pose no threat to the cockpit, because now we have a hardened cockpit door. you can't get through the door to get into the cockpit. and they need to instead be focusing on explosives that can, in fact, bring down the plane. the flight attendants argue, listen, we're the ones in t bhe

. >> tom costello in our d.c. newsroom starting us off on a friday night. tom, thanks. >>> when a senior white house aide visiting our studios for an interviewed in another broadcast this week, with six people in tow, including a security detail, it got us to thinking about government spending in the era of this so-called sequester budget cut package. today, for example, tours of the white house will stop due to a lack of funding. while all kinds of other things go on. this has led to charges that the white house is picking its targets. looking to make its point in a big, showy way. our report tonight from our senior investigative correspondent, lisa myers. >> reporter: today was the last day of white house tours for a while, because of budget cuts ordered by the secret service. >> i'm very sad for the people that will not be able to see the inside of the gorgeous white house. >> for a lot of people, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to go in the white house. >> reporter: yet earlier this week, a 20-car motorcade with tons of security took the president

. >> want to go to tom costello for the latest on this.m the tsa chief there, he's not backing down on this. but what's their evaluation over the last 12 years that makes them feel this is a nonissue anymore? >> i think this is an important point. i don't know pistole who is widely respected and admired is arguing that the real threat posed to airlines is in the form of explosives and biological agents. that al qaeda is determined still to bring down an aircraft and that's the only way they can do it because we have hardened cockpit doors now. the problem for the tsa is that just about everybody else who was involved in aviation safety has come out against this. their own union representing the tsa officers is against this. the flight attendants represented by ed markey and behind him are some of the flight attendants, they've come out against this. many pilots' organizations have come out against it. u.s. airways, american and delta against it. the list is growing. on capitol hill this afternoon, the tsa chief john pistole who you saw the

nbc's tom costello standing by to start us off. tell us what it all means.orked and hourly wages also increased. good signs. the question is whether the economy has truly started to turn the corner for kerri jolowski outside seattle. >> hi. is there anything i can help you with today.

tom costello joins me live now from washington. good to see you, sir.chief today on the hill? >> well, he will defend this policy. and here is why. john pistole who is a well respected law enforcement guy, a veteran of the fbi, now running the tsa. he says, listen, the threat is not from knives. we know what al qaeda's intentions are and they are intent on blowing up or bringing down an aircraft. and now that the cockpit door is hard yepped, it is impossible for someone to get in and attack the pilots with a knife. that said, you've got just about every single member in aviation safety coming out opposed to this. you said the flight attendants, the airlines, three of them any way, you've got pilots coming out opposed to it. you've got major players including the air marshals opposed to this plan. and now this bipartisan effort on capitol hill to perhaps pass legislation that would not allow tsa to go forward with this. but the administration here has some strange bedfellows and it is in the republican party. some republicans think that the tsa is absolu

. >> nbc's tom costello reporting. >>> an american drone had a close call with an iranian jet over the persian gulf. american officials say the drone was over international waters when an iranian f-14 came in at 16 miles. the fighter ended the chase when american escort planes made radio contact. separately, the use of drones is making political waves here at home. on tuesday, president obama met with senate democrats, some voiced concerns about being left out of the loop on the administration's secretive policy, when it comes to using unmanned aircraft to target terror suspects abroad. president obama responded by telling them, this is not dick cheney we're talking about here, insisting his administration is more open to oversight than that of his predecessor. >>> wall street looks to finish off in another impressive week of gains. the dow extended its winning streak to ten days. longest since 1996. in a new report credits the booming market for the creation of 300,000 new millionaires. for more on the markets and the latest on the jpmorgan trading scandal, let's check in with steve l

. >>> developing news, nbc tom costello is reporting backlash towards the tsa for its decision to allow board. tsa union now speaking out against the plan. we have a lot of developments to report. >>> google settled a place where it is accused of collecting private info. but the deal now allows google to police itself when it comes to privacy issues. it's our "news nation" gut check. even if she gets a stain she'll wear it for a week straight. so i use tide to get out those week old stains and downy to get it fresh and soft. since i'm the one who has to do the laundry. i do what any expert dad would do. i let her play sheriff. i got 20 minutes to life. you are free to go. [ dad ] tide and downy. great on their own, even better together. love your passat! um. listen, gary. i bought the last one. nice try. says right here you can get one for $199 a month. you can't believe the lame-stream media, gary. they're all gone. maybe i'll get one. [ male announcer ] now everyone's going to want one. you can't have the same car as me, gary! i'm gettin' one. nope! [ male announcer ] volkswagen sprin

let's bring in aviation correspondent for us tom costello. thank you for coming in on this. we have this leer jet believed to be carrying about eight people and as we have reported time and time again on these sich weigh situation, they have a landing gear problem. >> it's a leer jet 45 is what we're told and that means it's probably at least 15 or 20 years old at the oldest. not necessarily an old plane at all. it's used widely in corporate america and for those who travel by private plane, and what we are told is that there appears to be a landing gear trouble with the nose, with the nose gear. and so, the pilot is trying to ascertain how serious that situation is with the gear or the door to open up and allow the gear to come down. his or her challenge now is to determine whether that gear is solid enough to make that landing and put pressure on the nose gear and then come in for a landing. if it is not, if he or she determines it is not, that's okay. they're usually very good at landing on the back landing gear if you will, the back tires and then gently putting the nose

but first, tom costello at reagan national airport this morning.ood morning. >> hi, savannah, good morning to you, the tsa continues to insist it will allow small folding knives about 2.36 inches on the blade no bigger than that because the tsa says they pose little risk because looking for them clogs up check points like this one and because the tsa says it needs to be looking for explosives. but the agency is also now facing a tsunami of protests. first, it was the frequent fliers who found the new knife policy unsettling. >> i don't know why they would allow people to carry knives on the plane. it's ridiculous to me. >> reporter: now mounting opposition from all of the key players in aviation safety. the union representing the 45,000 tsa officers. >> we are opposed to it. we believe there is no place for knives on airplanes. >> reporter: the union representing air marshals also opposes the plan. and five unions representing the nation's flight attendants. wednesday, they took their concerns directly to the tsa chief. >> every single day, we expe

. >> that was tom costello, then a correspondent for cnbc talking the day after the nasdaq peaked inin six weeks the tech index had dropped almost 2,000 points. 13 years later, the nasdaq still has not regained those losses. and it was on this day in 1969 that the man who was convicted of killing dr. martin luther king jr. found a way to escape the electric chair. james earl ray cut a deal to plead guilty. many believe he did not act alone. in june 1977 ray escaped from the tennessee prison he was being held only to be recaptured days later. in 1978 a house committee con clulded that james earl ray did act alone when he killed dr. martin luther james. he died in 1998. >>> susan rice, could she be up for another appointment, but this time without taking the hot seat? more ahead on that. this is msnbc. ♪ the middle of this special moment and i need to run off to the bathroom. ♪ i'm fed up with always having to put my bladder's needs ahead of my daughter. ♪ so today, i'm finally talking to my doctor about overactive bladder symptoms. [ female announcer ] know that gotta go feeling? ask

nbc's tom costello went to ohio state university to see this firsthand. heimer's is now the sixth leading cause of death in the u.s., and nearly 5.5 million people have it. the new treatment for young patients with alzheimer's is getting parts of the brain to reconnect and communicate with one another. it's a heartbreak so many families know all too well. >> how old is this? >> reporter: in this case it's not just joe or peggy jester who is coping with alzheimer's, it's their daughter, kathy. she's only 57. >> it's just difficult sometimes, you know? >> reporter: the words don't always come easily. >> it's sad for peggy and i to go through this with a daughter, you know, especially when it should be us and not her. your heart just aches when you think about it, and what, you know, what she's going through, because she does have these frustrations and she doesn't want to be like this. >> reporter: so the family decided to do something never before tried with an alzheimer's patient. >> be nice and loud, we're listening to your brain cells. >> reporter: at th

tom costello covers aviation for us. he is at regulagan national airport.ood morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, matt. tsa every day screens 1.7 million passengers at 455 airports. every day it comes across weapons and replicas. we're talking guns, knives, swords and spears. 11 years into the tsa checkpoint routine, most travelers have it down. shoes off, laptops out and carry-ons through the x-ray machines. but you won't believe what those machines are finding. >> that came into a checkpoint. >> came into a checkpoint. someone is traveling with that. it's amazing. >> craze. >> at dulles airport, laying out for us some of the weapons and look-alikes his officers come across every day. >> nunchakus. >> you find those every day. >> reporter: power saw blades, lots of ammunition, stun guns and objects hidden inside combs, lipstick, even deodorant. a sword? >> ugly looking knife. >> you can't make up some of the things people bring to checkpoints and say what were you thinking in terms of trying to get this on a plane, given this post 9/11 world we live

like, you'd walk down the hall and there would be like elvis costello, paul simon, tom hanks. >> jimmyerson that i got super starstruck that i saw was lily tomlin. >> jimmy: yeah. >> she's the coolest. and so, in the movie, she plays my mother who is this kind of like crazed feminist author who just, like, lives alone in a house in the woods and hates everyone. >> jimmy: i want to show a clip. here's tina fey and lily tomlin in "admission." take a look at this. >> mom? it's me. >> who? >> how many people call you mom? >> why didn't you tell me you were coming? >> i left a message. i was visiting a school nearby. >> i never check my messages. >> that's a good policy. thought i'd spend the night, if it's all right with you. i've got to get up very early, and then, hit a few schools and race back for mark's department lunch. >> how can you stand those english department gatherings? what could be more dull? >> sometimes, you make sacrifices for the person you've been living with for ten years. that's what a healthy relationship is, mom. >> oh, thank god i'm not in one of those. >> yes, tha

tom and we will do the best we can. >> you'll do a terrific job. thank you so much. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me today. i do appreciate it. cnn newsroom continues right now with ashleigh banfield. >>> thanks very much. hello, everyone. nice to have you where me today. let's begin here. shall disasters we can prevent. others give us some kind of warning that they're on the way. and then there is the kind of nightmare that we're following this hour in brandon, florida. just east of tampa. and i do mean a nightmare. a sinkhole opened up beneath a man's bedroom while the man was in bed last night.pan panicked the last anybody will heard from help and he's presumed dead. the sinkhole is literally under the house and probably far bigger and far wider and even deeper than the opening through which jeffrey bush fell. jeffrey's brother even tried to jump in and save him, but then himself had to be rescued by the police. this morning he spoke with wfts. >> i have a second job, i went to work, came home at 10:00. and -- >> what did you hear? >> well, we left and came back.

costello. it is a busy wednesday morning. the search is on for whoever shot and killed colorado's prison chief. tomnts, the man in charge of all the colorado prisons, was shot in the chest, at his house, outside of colorado springs last night. there was a knock on the door, he answered the door, and then somebody shot him in the chest. clements was rushed to a hospital where he later died. right now police do not have a suspect description even. clements was the executive director of the colorado department of corrections and he spent 30 years with the missouri department of corrections before moving on to colorado. this morning, colorado's governor has ordered all state flags to fly at half-staff today. today is also a big day in colorado where the governor is set to sign three gun bills into law. one limits magazine capacity to just 15 bullets. the other two deal with background checks and how to pay for them. lieutenant jeff cramer of the el paso county sheriff's office -- actually, we're going to get to lieutenant jeff cramer in just a moment, once we get him on the phone for sure. and also, go

costello. unbelievable news out of colorado this morning. the executive director of the colorado department of corrections, the man in charge of all colorado prisons, has been killed. tomo springs in his upscale neighborhood. now, across the state the governor has ordered all flags to be lowered in his honor and the search is now on for whoever it was who is responsible for this. but so far there are no suspects. jim spellman joins us by phone, he's in colorado. jim, do you have any more information for us? >> reporter: well, here's what we know at this point, carol. it was around 8:00 -- rather 8:30 last night local time when a knock came at the door of tom clements' home in an area called the black forest north of colorado springs. it's a pretty rural area, heavily wooded. and the initial information that the sheriff's office has is that he was shot in the chest as he answered the door. he was then declared dead on the scene. they immediately began a massive manhunt. it is again a heavily wooded area. they were not able to find anybody overnight in the initial parts of the investigation. now, kusa, our affiliate here, is reporting that the colorado bureau of investig