They are known as special operators for good reason. They are the members of the u. S. Armed forces who move around in the shadows and pull off the missions not thought possible. This weekend in two near simultaneous missions almost 3,000 miles apart, u. S. Special operators target the two u. S. Overseas operatives, terrorists that the u. S. Had been following and targeting for some time. The first raid was in libya. The second was in somalia. The target in the first raid was seized by members of the armys delta force. But something happened in the Second Military action. Something unforeseen and members of the u. S. Navy s. E. A. L. Team 6 had to pull out as quickly as they arrived. Our chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel just back from that part of the world is here with us in our studio tonight. A busy weekend for special operators. Reporter it certainly was. We have two very important operations. We have new details about one of them. Lets start with the raid in libya which was the only operation that actually succeeded in capturing its target. One of americas most wanted terror suspects is now locked in the brig of this warship. The u. S. S. San antonio deployed in the mediterranean. Anas al libi will remain there for days, maybe weeks. Interrogated by the cia, fbi without miranda rights. And then brought to the u. S. For trial for his role in the planning of the 1998 bombings of the u. S. Embassies in kenya and tanzania. His capture was a bold snatch and grab in this upscale tripoli neighborhood. U. S. Troops surrounded his car in broad daylight. His son later showing where they smashed the car window and dragged him from the vehicle. Al libis wife says she watched it all from her window. U. S. Officials say the bombings have all the fingerprints of middle east terror. Reporter the 1998 bombings were al qaedas first strike against u. S. Targets, a wakeup call. The Embassy Bombings were al qaedas coming out party. It was al qaeda saying, we are here. We are targeting you. We are going to kill americans. Reporter among more than 200 dead, Army Sergeant kenneth hobson. His widow debra today. It is soothing to know the government is still after them and methodically and deliberately going after them. Reporter its been a long time coming. We will use all the means at our disposal to bring those responsible to justice no matter what or how long it takes. Reporter like israel after munich the u. S. Has hunted down the 22 suspects indicted in the Embassy Bombings. Nine are now dead including osama bin laden. Three are still at large including bin ladens successor ayman al zawahiri. Ten are in custody. Now joining them, abu anas al libi. An arrest 15 years in the making. That was the operation in libya. Almost at the same time there was another raid. This one in somalia. That one was targeting al shabaab. Thats the terrorist organization that carried out the attack on the nairobi mall in kenya last month. This operation in somalia was even more daring. Navy s. E. A. L. S on an attack craft, a small boat did a Beach Landing under cover of darkness. They had three smaller vessels with them. They got onto the shore. They were approaching the compound of one of al shabaabs leaders. As they set up around the edges there was a man. They didnt know who he was. He was smoking a cigarette. Evidently this man saw the navy s. E. A. L. S there, went casually inside pretending nothing was wrong, alerted all of the al shabaab militants who stormed out of the building opening fire, compromising the mission. Suddenly, more people started arriving. The s. E. A. L. S decided it was too complicated. They were overwhelmed. There were civilians. They had to re treat the area and they didnt get their man. All right. Richard engel with all the news from overseas. Thanks. Here in this country, day seven of a Government Shutdown, a growing number of americans are feeling the effects and meanwhile an even scarier deadline faces the nation that could have a direct impact on almost every household. We have two reports on this tonight beginning with our chief White House Correspondent chuck todd. Chuck, good evening. Reporter good evening, brian. The Government Shutdown, it doesnt appear an end is in sight but the ominous deadline has to do with the debt ceiling. Without action by congress it would mean the government couldnt borrow money to pay bills like Social Security or even interest on the debt. Defense secretary chuck hagel ordered most of the civilian pentagon staff back to work today. The catch . No actual paycheck until the government is reopened. When that happens, its anybodys guess with neither side budging today. There is not a subject that i am not willing to engage in, work on, negotiate, and come up with common sense compromises on. We are not going to negotiate under the threat of a prolonged shutdown. Now, the American People expect when their leaders have differences and we are in a time of crisis that well sit down and at least have a conversation. Really, mr. President. Its time to have that conversation. Reporter but the Government Shutdown showdown is nothing compared to the potential economic peril if political leaders dont agree to raise the debt ceiling in the coming weeks. If that ends up stopping because the government doesnt have money to spend or cant borrow, everybodys going to feel that. Reporter heres how it could hurt you at home. Shopping for a car . The 0 or low interest car loans, gone. Thinking about refinancing your house to lower your mortgage payment . Forget about it. Mortgage Interest Rates could skyrocket. And your own debt load could increase. Why . If you pay interest on credit card debt, youll be paying more thanks again to big Interest Rate spikes. Given all that, the president cranked up the debt ceiling rhetoric again today. We are not going to negotiate under the threat of economic catastrophe. Reporter the debt ceiling fight is still down the road. For now its affect ing the lives of americans. Chuck todd, nbc news, the white house. This is john yang in covington, kentucky. Thank you. Reporter where about 90 of skyline chilis workers come from irs workers. Lunchtime now. And we have four tables. What would it normally be like . Packed house. Reporter sharita earns 2. 13 an hour plus tips. On a good day she used to take home 100. It was pretty rough last week. It was really, really rough. I had a day where i made like 9 total. Reporter thats barely enough to support her children, ages seven and eleven. Im not making tips then i im not making bill money. Reporter the shutdown is hitting hard in covington where about 5,000 people work for the irs. Nationwide 90 of the agencys workforce is furloughed. Steve stevens is president of the Northern Kentucky chamber of commerce. Sooner or later somebody has to blink. We have to get a resolve to this issue. Because it affects real people and real businesses. Reporter Goldman Sachs estimates the shutdown is costing the economy 225 million a day. Thats more than 9 million an hour. Its not just money federal employees arent spending. Its work they are not doing. The shutdown is keeping patty spicer sleeping on her sons couch instead of moving into her new home. This is ridiculous. I had all these plans. Reporter her mortgage is backed by the Agriculture Department and there is no one to finalize it. She was to have closed today. I just want it to be solved so i can get on with my life. Reporter two families caught in the crossfire of washingtons budget battle. John yang, nbc news, covington, kentucky. Two american philanthropists are stepping in and doing what the government is not. Their private foundation is providing up to 10 million in emergency funding for head start programs in six states which will allow about 7,000 low income kids to get back to their classrooms. This extraordinary offer comes from laura and john arnold of houston, texas. Shes an attorney and former oil company executive. He is an investor. In a statement they said they believe it is especially unfair that Young Children from under privileged communities and working families are paying if price for the shutdown. They hope government gets back to the work soon. The Supreme Court was at work today. First monday in october, first day of the new term. Among the big cases they are taking on, money and politics. In a case theyll argue tomorrow and it could eliminate all limits on contributions to candidates. Right now the law limits how much a contributor can give to any single candidate. 2600 per election cycle. Now to the frightening crash that shook up the world of auto racing and injured one of its best known racers. Threetime indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti. Tonight we have a new view of the crash from the perspective of someone in the stands at the point of impact. We are learning more about the technology being credited with potentially saving a lot of lives here. Our report tonight from our National Correspondent kate snow. Reporter it was the last lap of the race. The indy car grand prix of houston. And what spectators saw from the stands is nothing short of stunning. This Youtube Video shows threetime indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti rounding the corner at more than 100 Miles Per Hour and coming straight through the glass. The replay on the Nbc Sports Network wasnt much better. That is a thundering blow. Reporter franchittis car is clipped by another and explodes into pieces as it slams into a wall called the catch fence. It leaves you speechless. Reporter 13 fans were injured, mostly with cuts and bruises. Two were treated at a hospital. It went everywhere. It was almost like something exploded. Something im going to remember. Reporter one spectator at the curve said he thought his life was over. Thought the barricade was coming down. The wall held but debris came flying over. This crash with Dario Franchitti shows its impossible to completely protect the spectators using the catch fence as it exists now because its a visible something you can see through. Reporter after the death of dan wheldon, catch fences were improved around the country. Earlier this year in daytona more than two dozen fans were hurt when a car hit a fence. Dario himself tweeted it was time to work on an alternative to catch fencing. There has to be a better solution. Franchittis impact was also cushioned by a carbon fiber drivers compartment. Hes hospitalized tonight with a concussion, two spinal fractures and a broken ankle. But hes alive. Kate snow, nbc news, new york. Still ahead for us tonight, an american success story. You dont hear often these days how some students in this country are outperforming much of the world in math and science. Well find out how they are doing it. Later, defying gravity. After a blockbuster opening weekend, questions about how much the movie got wrong. This week marks our annual summit looking at the state of education in america. We call it education nation. In its fourth year now. We kicked it off over the weekend with a teacher town hall and continued all day today and will tomorrow, talking about what it takes to help students succeed. Tonight weve got a look at a huge change thats coming to americas schools. Its called the common core curriculum. It is not without controversy. Our chief education correspondent rehema ellis has our report. Reporter across the country opposition is mounting against a new set of higher academic standards known as the common core which many teachers say are being imposed too quickly. Here in chelsea, just outside of boston, they are embracing it. We are learning about volume and mass. Reporter massachusetts toughened its own standards 20 years ago and criticism was fierce. We stayed the course. We tweaked the path every so often but we kept the goal of high academic standards in closing the achievement gap. Reporter today massachusetts test scores rank it first in the nation. If it were a country, 8th graders would rank sixth in math and second in Science Behind only singapore. Do you feel challenged here academically . Definitely, yes. Challenged to the extreme. Reporter the 1993 reforms included putting more focus and money on urban schools, requiring everyone to take algebra and pass a state test to get a high school diploma. Its working to change the way we are teaching kids. Were asking them to think differently. We are asking teachers to teach them differently. We need to record the data. Theyre good at helping and explaining things. Reporter given the controversy over how to fix americas schools its what massachusetts did not do thats also significant. There were no vouchers for private schools, no meritbased pay for teachers, and no automatic shutdowns of failing schools. Even in chelsea where students come from 66 countries and speak 35 languages, they are seeing improvement. As i move back, my chart line goes up. So this has to do with math . Yes. Because math is part of science as well. Math is everywhere. Reporter its everywhere. Everywhere. Reporter teachers focus on handson learning. They dont just have to know the science. They have to be able to use it. They give us small challenges and help us learn new things every day. Reporter raising the bar for students in the classroom to promote success. Im here across from the New York Public Library where nbcs education nation has been taking place and theres been a lot of talk about massachusetts. While massachusetts has had a lot of academic success, people say there is still plenty of work to do. But the big lesson here for states struggling with higher academic standards that are coming with common core, massachusetts went down that road 20 years ago and its starting to pay off. Brian . Rehema ellis at our summit headquarters tonight. I will see you back down there tomorrow. Thanks. We are back in a moment with the woman who helped make it possible for americans to always look their best. It was just days ago in greece we watched the lighting of the olympic flame using mirrors to concentrate the heat of the sun. Now the flame has started its long march to the sochi Winter Olympics in russia. But going into the kremlin, a problem. A wind tunnel effect blew out the torch. No problem really, as long as there is an enterprising russian around with a zippo, just like the ancient greeks did it. Its really not that easy at all. An official flame is always kept in a backup cauldron nearby. Ruth benerito has died. The New York Times called her a woman who helped liberate people from hours of household drudgery. Thats because 50 years ago Ruth Benerito of new orleans helped discover Permanent Press and wrinklefree cotton clothing was born. She was a ph. D. A chemist, the holder of 50 different patents, but wash and wear was her game changer. She taught until the age of 81. She was 97 when she died on saturday in louisiana. This new movie called gravity with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock is off to the biggest october opening in film history. Reviewers agree it is a remarkable film achievement in 3d and imax to boot. But when the film reviewer is an astrophysicist with a twitter accounting with look out. Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson tweeted some tweaks to the film makers over the weekend like nearly all satellites orbit the earth west to east, yet all satellite debris portrayed orbited east to west. Also this. Mysteries of the movie gravity, why Sandra Bullocks hair in otherwise convincing zero g scenes did not float freely on her head. And this. Why is bullock, a medical doctor in the film, servicing the Hubble Space Telescope . The easy answer to this is to the rest of us its a cool movie about space. Well take a break. When we come back, checking in with the survivors who gave us the phrase boston strong. Finally tonight if you saw last nights broadcast you saw an event that was held this weekend in boston. It has to do with people we followed in the news. People weve come to know for all the wrong reasons. They are the boston amputees, the brave survivors who keep proving time and time again they are Still Standing and then some. Translator . Reporter we first met them, a group of six women amputees from the boston bombing four months ago at spalding rehab hospital in boston. Back then they were just getting fitted with their new limbs. Back then, still fresh from their wounds, still on a lot of meds, getting used to the idea of getting around again. Women like Celeste Corcoran who we followed from the start who lost both legs in the bombing. We want the to walk and thats the main priority. I loved my legs. I was always told my legs were my best feature, you know. Now theyre gone. So. Reporter and so it was an amazing and public show of courage on an open field in boston this weekend when some of those women showed up to show the world what theyre doing. This was a running and mobility clinic. Its run by the challenged athletes foundation. People of all ages and skill levels, all of them have their own story of illness or injury. Each one at a different stage in their comeback. If you know the exercising you need to do is going to get you your independence then youre going to do it. Reporter Heather Abbott was there as well. She was part of our group that day at the rehab hospital. She received her new running leg at a ceremony this past weekend. Its her fourth prosthetic so far. We watched her take her first steps in it. Shes taking stock of how far shes come. When i talked to brian williams, to think it was only four months ago and now i can walk without crutches, on my own. Im pretty independent. I think im pretty amazed by that. Reporter it helps these women and all of the folks who came to the clinic to have role models. Among them, retired marine Sergeant Gabe Martinez who lost both his legs in combat in afghanistan. He is all about getting back up and moving. His optimism set s exactly the right tone. I tell them, dont push yourself too hard. Take it day by day and live your new life. Reporter its been a long journey for all of them. It isnt over. For most of them, however, it gets better and they know it. It feels like reaching another milestone and getting back to the way things used to be. Its kind of a step in the right direction. We will continue to follow the progress of our new friends in boston and continue to cheer them on. That, for us, is your broadcast on a monday night as we start a new week. Thank you for being here with us. Im brian williams. Well look for you right back here tomorrow evening. Good night. And that breaking news, encouraging news for the hundreds of thousands of commuters who rely on b. A. R. T. Good evening, everyone, thanks for joining us. We could have another b. A. R. T. Strike by the end of this week. However, there has been some Significant Movement within the past 60 minutes. Union leaders have sharp words for b. A. R. T. Management and b. A. R. T. Says it will negotiate through tonight. Nbc bay areas Kimberly Terry is in oakland with the layest developments. Kimberly . Reporter raj, the Union Negotiators came outside an hour ago, made a statement and went right back into the building where they are holding those negotiations on a contract with b. A. R. T. Shortly after that, a b. A. R. T. Representative responded. Antoinette brian, the president of the local transit union, says they have heard from the public and share in their concern about a disruption in service. Therefore, theyve decided not to issue a 72hour notice to strike. She went on to say they want to leave every opportunity open to try and get this deal done and blamed b. A. R. T. Management for the lack of forward movement. She says the unions have pushed, and the b. A. R. T. District has not moved. Right now, our country is being held hostage by a small group in washington, d. C. And here in the bay area, the public is being held hostage as well as the Union Membership by a small group of b. A. R. T. Leadership who have refused to show that leadership. Right now, theres a failure by b. A. R. T. s leadership. The board of directors are holding the area hostage. We are continuing to talk. Were talking tonight, and i dont want to go