on the broadcast here tonight, outrage growing still over 17-year-old trayvon martin's death as the president chooses to get personal. making the case against the american soldier now charged with murdering innocent civilians in afghanistan. >> on the home front, the women military spouses reaching out to help each other when the unthinkable happens. and the blockbuster, the hit, the hype the huer at the box office this weekend. "nightly news" begins now. good evening. as crowds gather in florida and for that matter, in cities and towns across the country, brought together in their

outrage over the killing of an unarmed teenager in florida, named trayvon martin, today, at the white house, the president was asked about the case that this nation has now come to know so well, and he responded personally and as a parent himself. >> my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. if i had a son, he would look like trayvon. >> the president earlier at the white house. the pressure to pursue the arrest of the neighborhood watch volunteer is intensifying. so are the questions about the case they would make against him. all this while the crowd grows again tonight in florida, and once again, nbc's ron allen starts us off from sanford, florida, tonight. ron, good evening. >> good evening, brian. tonight, the community is gathering in prayer after another day and night of protests here. also today, a special prosecutor just named by the governor has taken over the entire investigation. as the pressure continues to

intensify, to learn the truth about what happened to trayvon martin. today, hundreds of students walked out of more than a dozen schools in trayvon martin's home town of miami. his initials emblazoned on a football field. more of the unrelenting demand for justice that brought some 25,000 people, the largest gathering yet, to a park in sanford last night. >> i am! >> a national uproar over the police conclusion that george zimmerman acted in self defense when he shot and killed the unarmed teen. president obama addressed the case today. >> when i think about this boy, i think about my own kids, and i think every parent in america should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this. >> many listener were struck by the president's personal tone.

>> when he was 17, if you think about it, he could have been trayvon martin. he was a black kid that could have been out in the world being looked at as a suspect. >> zimmerman remains in hiding, but local officials said they can get in touch with him. today, one of zimmerman's neighbors who has been supportive of his fellow crime watch volunteer played this phone message from zimmerman. >> i wanted to thank you for you doing everything you've been doing. um, i know you don't have to, and i appreciate it. i'll talk to you soon. thanks. >> and the online groundswell continues to build. 1.2 million people have signed the martin family's internet petition, demanding zimmerman's arrest, perhaps the largest number ever for a website, and there have been more than 600,000 twitter mentions of martin, including by some big name stars. meanwhile, martin's father has been searching the crime scene for himself.

>> the police never actually walked me through the crime scene. all they pointed out basically is where he was -- where he ended up dead at. >> looking for clues. hoping for justice. the martin family said they're deeply humbled by the president's concern about their son's death and they hope all of the attention insured that no other young child is never the victim of such senseless tragedy again. >> ron allen starting us off again tonight. sanford, florida, ron thanks. i'm joined by our legal correspondent, savannah guthrie, and by joann reed, who we just saw in ron's report. she's the manager editor of our companion website and a contributor on msnbc. savannah, beginning with you, this case, if they're going to put one together, has now lost several weeks. what is the legal consequences of that? >> it's the lost hours after this crime happened because there may have been forensics that were there that police

didn't identify or pursue. this person was able to walk away in the clothes he was wearing. if there's any kinds of ballistics or forensics, gunshot residue, that's lost forever. police didn't do a pointed interrogation that may have elicited some statement that could ultimately have been used. there are lost hours, lost pieces of evidence. it doesn't mean they can't build a case. it's probably now on a better track. you have an independent prosecutor who has come in who has all of the ability to use the state investigators who are very experienced in florida, and you have the federal government watching this very closely. very unlikely there will be a federal case brought here. the statutes really just don't apply here. but they can watch it. the fbi is out there, canvassing witnesses. so i think ultimately, what we're going to see is the special prosecutors bring some kind of charge. >> as a colleague we see here every day and as a journalist and a parent, you have been banging the drum on this story for a long time. two-part question for you. why do you think it took so long? but secondly, why do you think

it resonated so much finally when it did get attention? >> well, i think that the police in this community, they had made a conclusion very early that george zimmerman was the victim here, and then i think they walked away from the case. had it not been for social media and the ability for this case to go global, i think police wouldn't have responded in the way they have, even the little bit that they have, the statements they have made. they have been very closed about it. i think the respond really in this community is that they're making progress on getting at least some movement. having the police chief step aside temporarily. and now people want more. they're determined to see george zimmerman arrested. that's of course now in the hands of a grand jury, what happens with him, but there's a sense when the tens of thousands of people who came out for that protest that was organized by reverend sharpton yesterday, when all of the people go home, the people in this community are determined to fight on. they want to see an investigation of the police department. they want to see, you know, justice as they see it for

trayvon martin, and people here aren't giving up. >> our thanks to our friends joann reed and savannah guthrie. thank you both. now to another story we've been following. tonight, it's official, the u.s. army staff sergeant accused of killing now 17 civilians in afghanistan has been charged. our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski on duty tonight to pick up details. good evening. >> we knew from the start this was a horrific crime, but today's charge sheets that were released are devastating. they show for the first time that out of all of the civilians targeted in the shooting spree, more than half, 13 of them, were children. for a crime of such magnitude, the military statement today was brutally blunt. alleging that army staff sergeant robert bales did with premeditation murder 17 afghan civilians and attempted to murder six others. a charge sheet documents all 23 shootings in grisly detail.

he's accused of trying to murder one afghan girl with a gunshot wound to the head. bales received the charges today at the ft. leavenworth prison. where he's being held in solitary confinement. in seattle, his civilian attorney, john henry brown, said bales has been in rough shape, even before today's charges. >> he's kind of in shock about the whole thing, he's emotional, very emotional. >> in a preview of a possible defense, the lawyer also claims despite these horrific scenes, the military doesn't have much of a case. >> it's really going to be an interesting case from a defense lawyer's standpoint, no crime scene, no dna, no ballistics that we know of. >> but military officials claim there's plenty of evidence. shell casings gathered at the scene. surveillance video of bales outside his base. bales' bloodied uniform and the six victims who survived, living witnesses to the crime. they also suggest that four

combat tours and a traumatic brain injury has put his client under tremendous stress, but he showed signs of behavioral problems even before he saw combat. a 2002 police report said bales was intoxicated when he attacked a casino security guard, and today, military officials report that bales was drinking with other soldiers the night of the afghanistan massacre. even after today's charges, it's not likely that bales will see the inside of a courtroom for months and the entire legal process could take years. now, according to a military official, this charges today also make it very clear that if convicted, bales could face the death penalty. >> thank you, jim miklaszewski at the pentagon. to talk more as a veteran, we're joined by our nbc news military analyst, jack jacobs, a combat veteran in the vietnam war and a recipient of the medal of honor. considering the fact 2.5 million

americans in uniform have cycled through the dual wars, you have expressed a concern about a broadbrush caricature emerging. >> a large number of people have been down range in afghanistan and iraq. before, and have no problems. lots of people have had more tours, many more tours, in fact, than he did. i -- one s.e.a.l. had 12 combat tours, no problems. lots of people have been wounded, seen their friends wounded, seen their friends killed, no problems. to say that everybody who puts on a uniform automatically becomes a candidate to do something heinous is very, very silly indeed, and can't be demonstrated by the facts. >> it's a danger to keep in mind as we continue covering the story. jack jacobs, always a pleasure. with the announcement of these 17 murder charges today, military spouses are sharing

their support for karolyn bales, the staff sergeant's wife and their two children. housed on a military base right now for the family's protection. while she might be isolated physically right now, as we hear from nbc's miguel almaguer tonight, she and other military spouses are not alone. >> when news broke an american soldier was accused of killing civilians in afghanistan -- >> dear kari. >> lori felt compelled to write >> i can't fully imagine the fear and the shock -- >> an open letter to kari bales, wife of staff sergeant robert bales, accused of the killing. >> when i thought of my own husband and children and how devastating it would be, i sat at my own dinner table with my mother, another military wife, and we cried for you tonight. >> lori wanted to console kari. >> that's what military spouses do, they rally around each other, especially in difficult times. >> military wives are the silent

rank, strangers with much in common. separation from spouses, raising children alone, and fear of that knock on the door. lori volkman watched her husband deploy three times, like karolyn bales, she has two young children and also kept a blog. a deployment diary. after posting her letter to kari, a network of military wives rallied to support one of their own. >> the spouses are here for you. we have your back. there are many out here supporting her and praying for her and her family. >> volkman believes bales read them all. >> i received an e-mail from a friend of hers, a couple different friends and asked them to relay to me that she felt the outpouring of support and she was grateful for it. and that she cried. >> allison is a fellow military wife, author, and blogger. >> i see over and over again on the internet people saying this could have been me, this could have happened to me. i could have had a husband in this situation. >> to the victims in

afghanistan, karolyn bales felt compelled to write. their families are all in my prayers as is my husband who i love very much. >> we're part of our husbands' service and we do sacrifice. >> the silent ranks who with their husbands forever live with the burden of war. miguel almaguer, nbc news. still ahead here tonight as our broadcast continues, if they try to tell you that the gulf of mexico is somehow cleaner today than it was before the oil spill, don't believe them, and there's new evidence of that tonight. and later, "the hunger games." it will win the weekend at the box office before the weekend really begins.

we mentioned this before the break, new findings by government scientists that show the bp oil disaster has left parts of the dolphin population in the gulf of mexico damaged and sick. our chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson who spent so much time covering the story, is with us tonight. good evening. >> good evening. this comes from louisiana and it's not good news. federal scientists say the dolphin population there is severely ill compared to dolphins elsewhere in the gulf of mexico, and their health problems are consistent with exposure to oil. you'll remember the bay was one of the areas hit hardest and longest by the bp spill. we went out with scientists last summer when they conducted their tests on the dolphins. a total of 32 were examined, and

the most pervasive problem they found were abnormally low levels of two hormones. that can lead to weight loss, heart and kidney failure, and ultimately death. several of the dolphins were underweight and one washed up dead in january showing severe signed of malnutrition. ultra sounds showed moderate to severe lung disease. they won't fill with air properly, the scientifics say. and several had liver disease, which is found in studies in animals ingesting oil. >> beyond heartbreaking to watch. you say consistent with oil. how do we know? what is our evidence? >> the scientists say they can't definitively link these problems to oil or even a dispersant, but when they look at studies done on other animals who have ingested oil, specifically in the wake of alaska's exxon valdez spill, they mirror these problems.

that's why they think oil is linked here. there are more test results to come, including tests in the dolphins' blood for contaminants, and they should further prove that link. but right now, the best hypothesis is it's the oil. >> this story goes on. thanks for being with us. when we come back, did a gop candidate for president say something that sounded like an endorsement of barack obama?

this is the scene a few moments ago in central mexico where pope benedict has arrived for a weekend visit. thousands of people lined the route from the airport to leone. where most businesses schools were closed today. on his plane on the way from rome, he called for mexicans to stop idolizing money, which he said feeds the nation's violent drug war.

on monday, he heads to cuba. on the presidential campaign trail, rick santorum today tried to walk back a remark he made earlier in the week which made it sound he was suggesting republicans should just vote for president obama if mitt romney is going to be the nominee. here's what he said and then today's explanation. >> we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk on what may be the etch-a-sketch candidate. >> what i said was clear, i was saying if we don't have a choice, a lot of voters are going to vote for what they have. that's why we have to have a choice. >> santorum went on to add, quote, i have always said i would vote for the nominee of the republican party no matter who it is. there is breaking news tonight that is rocking the financial world that concerned jon corzine, former governor and u.s. senator from new jersey and the former chief executive officer of the now defunct firm mf global. according to a memo released

today, another executive claims days before the firm collapsed last fall, corzine issued direct instructions to transfer $200 million from customer accounts to a brokerage account to cover a shortfall of funds. it's an allegation corzine has denied under oath. it's the latest piece in a complicated search for over $1 billion of customer money that is now just gone. >> while big ben has never really been his name, he may be renamed in honor of queen of england and in celebration of her diamond jubilee. the tower beside westminster bridge is officially called the clock tower. some members of parliament want to rename it in honor of queen elizabeth, but even they know it's always really going to be big ben. when we come back, the movie that had millions up all night.

finally tonight, here's the next big one, "the hunger games" has finally arrived in theaters. it took in nearly $20 million from just last night's midnight screening. the big opening is calling new attention to the source material, as they call it. a series of books that have

already taken teenagers and quite a few adults by storm. and threatened as of tonight to do the same at the theater. nbc's chris jansing has our report. >> before the midnight screening capped with rabid fans. >> mind blowing, exciting beyond words. >> i could not stop talking about this all day, all week. >> before the red carpet premier, shopping mall tour, and overnight camp outs to see the stars. >> i got here at 11:00 yesterday morning. >> and long before predictions that "the hunger games" movie could explode at the box office. >> this could be $130 million, $140 million, $150 million opening weekend. >> there was a book. "the hunger games" trilogy may seem risky for a children's publisher, scholastic. >> make sure they remember you. >> telling a violent story of the ultimate reality show. a country riveted by a

competition where teenagers fight to the death. >> there's 24 of us and one comes out. >> but book sellers, feeteacher and librarians love the book. fan sites popped up, social media and word of mouth created a sales juggernaut. >> it real a was something that we had experienced very rarely before, something so captivated people. >> and now teens who have lined up at book signings. >> it was seriously the best moment of my life. >> have been lining up for tickets. even before the movie opened, fandango was selling three tickets% second, the third largest resale in history, and 62% of ticket buyers said they plan to see the movie again. this midnight show among more than 2,500 sold out in advance. >> it was awesome. >> it's good for kids to think about the issues. it doesn't promote violence. >> you're a wizard, harry. >> and like "harry potter" and "twilight," "the hunger games" has young people reading again. >> it's the best book we've ever read. >> that may be the biggest victory of all.

chris jansing, nbc news, new york. that's our broadcast for this friday night and for this week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams, lester holt will be here with you this weekend. we, of course, hope to see you right back here monday evening. in the meantime, please have a good weekend. good night. good friday evening, everybody, thank you for joining us. i'm janelle wanning in for jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. one week ago she disappeared. today the fbi huddles inside of her home and met with sierra lamar's mother, set up a roadblock and questioned several drivers. nbc bay area's marianne favro joins us