janet shamlian, nbc news, ft. leonardwood, missouri. >>> and that's our broadcast for this monday night. thank you for being here with us as we start off a new week together. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> a border war is brewing over some of the most congested commutes in the bay area and you may be the one picking up the tab. good evening, everyone. welcome. i'm tom sinkovitz. >>> there is a fight brewing on the peninsula and everybody who drives a car is going to get hit. san mateo county says if san francisco starts charging a toll to enter the city during peak hours, then san mateo county is going to do the same

here's nbc's janet shamlian. >> reporter: her name is almost synonymous with aviation. amelia earhart, famous for being the first woman to fly solo across the atlantic but also for her disappearance, seemingly without a trace as she was attempting to circle the globe in 1937. it is one of the greatest mysteries of our time. her body has never been found. >> we cannot hear you on 500. >> reporter: but her legend lives on in books, television and in movies, including this one in which earhart is portrayed by actress hillary swank. >> we are running north and south. >> reporter: it's long been believed her plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean. but scientists now have new evidence as documented in a discovery channel special that may help prove earhart landed the plane and survived as a castaway on an uninhabited island in the south pacific. >> if we're right about this, amelia earhart did not crash and die at sea as the government decided she probably had, nor was she captured by the japanese as others have claimed. >> reporter: gillespie's group found a tiny f

in our special holiday "making a difference" series, janet shamlian found some people eager to help. >> where is he at? >> reporter: her husband is in afghanistan. his sixth deployment. and the family will spend yet another christmas without daddy. >> i just wish that sometimes other people know that there's military families out there by themselves. >> reporter: it's loneliness blake smith can only imagine. >> having recently had children, i realized just what a sacrifice it is to be away with them. >> reporter: with a christmas decorating company and a warehouse full of wreaths and ribbons, he figured he was in a perfect position to deck the halls for families separated by war. with his installers across the country, he started the decorate a family program, taking letters of nomination, and decorating the homes of almost all. so in a rural town in southern illinois, volunteers from his local chapter showed up and rolled out christmas. a similar transformation in pittsburgh at the home of ronald sprang. injured by an explosive device in afghanistan. >> kindness goes a long way. i'm

as nbc's janet shamlian reports from ft. len norwood, missouri. >> reporter: it's 0600. new recruits, new rules. and a new enemy. fat. at the morning meal, the bacon is baked, and donuts banished forever. >> that's the problem i have, donuts. that's personally one of my favorite things to eat. >> reporter: and that is the problem, according to the army. >> the type of soldier, the trainee we're getting in from society nowadays are not coming in as good a shape as they should be. >> reporter: gone are fried chicken, french fries, fried everything. soda machines spill out gatorade. ft. len nardwood is the first of five basic training camps overhauling food and fitness. as the army takes aim at better fitness and nutrition, this is the first substantial change to its training regimen in decades. the morning workout has a decidedly yoga feel, more core exercises, fewer pushups. training soldiers like elite athletes. only they're getting ready for war. it's called the soldier fueling initiative, and targets army recruits but it's being looked at by the air force, navy and mar