that area. nbc news correspondent miguel almaguer is in colorado springs with the latest on the damage as well as the president's visit. bring us up to speed. local firefighters are coordinating with agencies such as fema. correct? >> reporter: correct. fema has been involved the last couple of days offering not just support here on the ground but also federal funds and as you mentioned, with the president arriving here today he'll tour the devastation and take a firsthand look and by declaring this area a disaster that opens up the door for more federal funds. the fire has already cost multimillion dollars just to fight, not even discuss the damage. you mentioned, well over 340 homes destroyed here. that number could go up later on today as fire officials get a better look at the ground and the damp. some 18,000 acres have been destroyed. this fire is only 15% contained. it's a blaze that has more than 1,200 firefighters on the ground fighting. air attacks going on all day. the big concern has always)bee the weather here. it's bone dry.

the conditions out here. we have gusting winds which have not been an issue today and likely in the through the weekend but could kick back up. the reason that's a concern, this fire won't take days to put out, potentially weeks even months. this fire is actively burning, still threatening homes. some 20,000 people at this hour are still evacuated. >> miguel, as the fire is labeled a deadly fire, because of the one death, there are reports that two other people are missing. what is the status on that search and rescue investigation for them? >> reporter: yeah. we do know at least one person is dead. the police originally gone up to this neighborhood to look for two people reported missing. they then discovered a body. also we're told by the sheriff's department dozens are unaccounted for. that may mean they're in shelters, maybe have come down off the hill and not notified anybody. dozens are still unaccounted for. police sorting through that. that's fluid at this hour trying to track down the people. many of these people were forced out of their homes with just minutes to leave.

may not have been able to get in contact with folks. police are sorting through the numbers. you mentioned, one confirmed fatality and others still missing today, thomas. >> miguel, has anyone talked about where fire investigators trace the source where the blaze began and what caused it? >> reporter: investigators pinpointed where the fire began. the investigation is still very in its early stages. because that area is so hot and so dangerous, investigators have not been able to actually get to the pinpoint of where the fire breek out. right now are saying the cause of this investigation is still wide open. arson is, of course, part of their investigation. they've made no deter the cause of this blaze and are looking at multiple factors. may be days if not weeks before there's a cause for certain. >> thank you, reporting from colorado. miguel, thanks. now back to the supreme court's blockbuster decision to uphold the president's health care law and what it could mean for the fall election. republicans are continuing their assault on the court opinion

labeling the penalty for not buying health insurance as attacks and therefore it is constitutional. the "new york times" writes -- gop vowing to take battle over health care law into november. politico writes, the down ballot, golden supreme court decision. and mish mcconnell, just this morning. >> we have a model that worked. one state in america, my state, was able to put in place a plan -- >> unfortunately the wrong tame. that was mitt romney. not the senator. we'll bringing in our panel for this friday. jimmy williams, misnbc news contributor, "newsweek" contributor in the studio with reporter for politico. great to see you all. let's start out talking about this jimmy with the white house and eric cantor responding on "morning joe" this morning. take a listen to this. >> there's no question that they've -- the court's decision underscores now and delineates

what's at stake in november. >> we're going to continue to try and fight and repeal this bill. >> panel stand by. a sense of what mish mcconnell, what everyone else is saying on the hill on right. take a listen. >> that was a central play. failing to buy health insurance did not result in a tax but the court has now spoken.ç it is a tax. >> jimmy, let's talk about this, because the right and rhetoric has been spinning over the last 24 hours. >> sure. >> it appears to be that the right wants to continue this fight. what do they have to gain besides firing up the base? what do they have to gain going forward especially when they're backing a guy that is the godfather of what is the affordable care act? >> this is going to create one heck of a dichotomy because mitt romney is not going near this issue and shouldn't, frankly. as you said, the godfather of obama/romneycare.

and that's not a winning message for him. talking about the economy is. now, politico is right about the headline -- that's right. that is a winning message. now that chief justice roberts called it tax, congress can raise and lower taxes, then this is, in fact, a tax and they have the supreme court's signature on that. the problem with that. down ballot cannot run separately from the top of the ballot and the top doesn't care wab down ballot. in translation terns, the down ballot people, congress people, senators up in cycle are not going to, you know, put romney in a bad placened romney just wants to win. he could care less about what happens within the states as long as he wins the presidency and the white house. so you have two messages comes out in my opinion. for the building behind us, all about the taxes and whether or not barack obama is raising taxes. mitt romney, it's all about theç economy. at some point those have to

collide and that presents a problem wore republicans, in my opinion. >> republicans are seizing on the crossroads gps, the superpac linked to karl rove, launching a campaign next week seizing on that issue. team romney releasing it today calling the health care tax the biggest and releasing numbers how much they've raised since the ruling yesterday. that is in campai funds. reportedly $4.6 million for more than 47,000 different donors. do you think the decision is going to pay off for the republicans in the long run to beat this? >> i agree with jimmy on this in that there are going to be house republicans and some senate candidates in states where the anti-tax argument of the tea party is incredibly resin it and viable and will add fuel to flames already burning brightly. it's an additive, not a transformative. the other problem, though, there are other states like massachusetts where the senator is running a tough campaign

guess elizabeth warren. he voted for affordable care. becomes an impossible argument in massachusetts. in general, voters in ohio, swing states where it's really about jobs, obamacare what they call it, health affordable health act, may be unpopular. hard to see a lot of people swarming to the polls slid changing their minds that the economy is the thing that matters going, oh, my god. this was upheld and i'm going to vote for congress, which can't overturn this act anyway under any scenario of next year's election. >> fawnunny,ç saying this law unpopular. congress is unpopular but everybody loves this congressman. this bill is unpopular -- >> talk about that. the provisions in it, people like. they don't want to lose certain things. allowing young people to stay on their parents insurance to age 26 making it easier for pre-existing conditions to get

coverage. and drug prescriptions for seniors. do republicans want to talk about getting rid of popular measures that people like and are already using? >> no. republicans are in a focus on the big picture. repeat two words over and over. one is tax. the other repeal. they're going to keep it on the big picture. they want to repeal this law. they said they're going to talk about the tax, that if this ruling, if it gave them anything it gave them a tax to talk about. democrats are going to stay focused on those key individual pieces that are super popular. like keeping kids on your insurance until their 26. closing the medicare doughnut hole. already seen the president change his message when he talk answer health care. instead of keeping it on the big picture, he talked about during the campaign, he's focusing on the tangible benefits that are popular and people like them. >> the funny thing is, mitt romney will defend the health care law that he instituted in massachusetts saying what works on the state level doesn't

always work nationally. i want to play for everybody what mitt romney said on "meet the press" just three years ago. take a look. >> we have a model that worked. one state in america, my state, was able to put in place a plan that got everybody health insurance. the right way to proceed is to reform health care. that we can do as we did it in massachusetts. as it's being propose at the national level we can do it for the nation, get everybody insured, get the cost of health care down. >> you hear him phrasing an individual mandate, also the "usa today" op-ed from 2009 which mitt romney writes about his massachusetts plan saying "our experience demonstrates getting every citizen insured doesn't have to break the bank." first we established incentives for those uninsured, to buy insurance using tax penalties as we did or tracks credits, as other proposed. encourages free riders to take responsibility for themselves rather than pass the medical costs on to others. jimmy, with all that's out

there, does mitt romney have a leg to stand on when criticizing the president on health care when all he has to say back, you're the godfather, the guy that gave us this? >> this is not something new to the campaign trail and you would think that the obama campaign would be out there shouting this to the rooftops. listen i don't think that mitt romney has any possible deniability on this issue. his problem is this makes him once again over and over again, a remarkable hypocrite. he's a huge, massive hypocrite on this issue. i respect the guy, because i think he did a great job passing health insurance for all the people in the commonwealth of massachusetts. and if it was so good for massachusetts, why the hell isn't it great for the other 49 states? i'd ask that question. secondly, here's the theory of freeloaders. sounds awfully conservative a liberal congress and a liberal

>> my thanks to the panel. thank you so much. coming up right here on "news nation" -- there's a framed letter that hangs in my office right now. it was sent to me during the health care debate by a woman naked natoma canfield. >> she is the cancer survivor who president obama said inspired him to pass health care reform. next, she'll share her story with me live. plus, we continue to follow developing news in the george zimmerman case. just within the past couple of hours his bond hearing ended. coming up, why the judge says he can't make a decision on that just yet. news we want to go back to, we take you to colorado. live pick k34ers where air force one touched down. president obama will tour the devastation in the region left

behind from the deadly wildfires. another live report coming up right after this. [ sighs ] forget it. [ male announcer ] there's more barbeque time in every bag of kingsford charcoal. kingsford. slow down and grill.

you know. there's a framed letter that hangs in my office right now. it was sent to me during the health care debate by a womany named natoma canfield. for years she did everything right. bought et insurance, paid prem yums on time. 18 years ago she was diagnosed with cancer and even though she'd been cancer-free moreç tn a decade, her insurance company kept jacking up her rates year after year. >> a woman who benefited from his health care law. the president says he's kaured her story with him every day of this fight to pass the law and

yesterday the ohio woman was solidified as a national symbol of this president's signature legislative achievement. natoma canfield joins us to talk about this. it's great to have you. we first heard of you when the president invited your sister to an event two years ago. you were too ill to make at that time. update us on your condition now. how are you doing? >> i'm doing fine, thank you. the cancer is gone. and i'm just recovering now. it's going to take a long time, but i'm doing well, thanks. >> natoma, you are certainly a fighter. it has to be certainly a validation and inspiration to hear that your letter you wrote to the president appears framed on his wall. i want to read part of it to everybody here pup say, in letter, that i need your health reform bill to help me. and how much credit do you give the president's law for your improved held, for the improved life situation that you've seen?

>> oh, i give him a lot of credit. >> natoma, specifically, explain to all of us, how did it change for you? the outlook, at least, for hope, to recover from what you were facing. >> well, it was very uplifting, an experience, to receive both of his letters. and to know thatç my letter ha been heard. so -- those things were very important. >> natoma, you're one of the millions of american whose have already benefitted from this law. what goes through your mind, though, when you hear people on the right. people across this country that may not understand exactly what the affordable care act does, and they want to repeal it. they're angry about it. what is your message to them? >> well, first of all, i hope they never firsthand understand how important it is. to be able to have insurance if you've been laid off from a job or something like that.

that you can afford. or you've had a pre-existing condition. but i think that, i guess my message is, that it's going to help a lot of people. and i think people need to look at it and give it a chance. >> for people that may not have an opportunity, certainly, to walk a mile in your shoes, and the medical heartbreak that you've gone through whip the diagnosis and the battle that you've waged since then do you think that the president, do you think the democrats, need to be on the front lines are trying to explain this better so that americans can understand more so that there's not a policy of fear that's coming out of this as we've been hearing so much over the last couple of years, trying to scare people into not wanting this? >> i think explanations are always good. people have to listen, also. >> if you had the president's ear, which i think you did after he got the ruling coming downç.

what did you say to him? he called you. correct? >> yes, he did. >> would you mind sharing with us what you guys discussed? >> he asked how i was. and i told him what a wonderful president i thought he was. and he asked about my sister connie who hb introduced him, and said to say hi to her and he asked if i'd got an pen from the signing of the health care bill, which we hadn't. they were all gone bip the time my brother and sister had went up there, and then he told me that i was welcome anytime to come and see my letter on his wall. >> natoma, i'm sure in somebody's watching at the white house they can get a pen and send it to you. may not be from the signing bill, but they can find you a pen lying around the white house. you are an inspiration for those with a diagnosis of cancer and the fight to come back. we wish you the best of health as you move forward.

thank you. >> thank you. the supreme court strikes down a law that would make it a crime to receive a military honor. coming up, medal of honor recipient weighs in and you may be surprised by his reaction what he has to say about that. plus our "news nation" political postscript. what a week in the world of politics from the arizona immigration ruling to eric holder to health care, we take you on a look back. first, developing now, the senate just gave final congressional approval to a massive bill that extends federal funding for federal highway and infrastructure praumping for more than two years saving an estimated 3 million jobs. funding was scheduled tomorrow/ç this measure keeps federal student loan rates from doubling tomorrow to 6.8%. instead, rates remain at 3.4% for another year. the house gave its approval of that bill in just the past hour. [ mannouncer ] eligible for medicare?

that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you.

so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. a farewell long awaited. goodnight, stuffy. goodnight, outdated. goodnight old luxury and all of your wares.

goodnight bygones everywhere. [ engine turns over ] good morning, illumination. good morning, innovation. good morning unequaled inspiration. [ male announcer ] the audi a8, chosen by car & driver as the best luxury sedan in a recent comparison test. olaf's pizza palace gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! pizza!!!!! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! put it on my spark card! [ high-pitched ] nice doin' business with you! [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve the most rewards! awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? developing now, george zimmerman is back in jail now with the judge making no

decision at the end of this morning's bail hearings. zimmerman's attorney asked the judge to let him out on $150,000 bond. zimmerman's original bond was revoked after his wife was accused of misleading the court about their finances. both sides made very sharp statements when laying out they are cases with the defense blaming the victim, trayvon martin. >> he got shot and he was killed because of his own doing. and that's why you need to be aware of a self-defense presentation apparent in mrs. zimmerman's statement and wipe the state's case is so weak. >> banging? there's no evidence of that. nobody testified to that effect. i would submit that the injuries are inconsistent with being his head bashed. >> nbc's kerry sanders joins us now. an interesting statement there by o'mara in court about trayvon martin. i know trayvon martin's parents

were in that courtroom as well, along with his brother, and really it did sound a lot more like a trial today than a bond hearing. >> reporter: it did. and it was -- they said, extremely difficult for them. the parents sitting in the second row listening to effectively the defense blame trayvon martin for what happened that day, and there was a point at the trial, yes, a bond hearing, but it dissml,jeuz a mini trial is because of an order that the judge initially said, there was strong evidence in this case. that gave the defense the opportunity to seize on the word strong and question that evidence, and that's exactly what they did including showing this re-enactment videotape. now, this videotape was shot by the police with george zimmerman, the day after the shooting. they took him back. he retraced his steps and during this presentation on camera, he described what he says happened. now, there are some witnesses in this case, but they're witnesses

to before and after, and ear witnesses as well as recordings on 911 tapes to the actual gunshot, but nobody actually saw what really happened other than george zimmerman and trayvon martin. of course, trayvon martin is dead. so george zimmerman's presentation on this re-enactment tape is hard to sort of be challenged, other than by looking at the forensic evidence. so there was a discussion today about whether there is strong evidence or not. it was a real interesting peek at the two styles of the defense and the state, and while it's not really germane to the question here on the court which ultimately is whether there should be a bond or not, it was entered in as the description of what should the bond be set at? the judge has not ruled on that, as i said. he likely will rule sometime maybe as early as monday. he's got a lot of stuff to go through before he comes back and determines one, whether george zimmerman will get a boond to be free until trial, and, two, what amount to set it at. >> kerry sanders reporting from

florida for us. thanks so much. coming up, going the distance. to man walking 100 miles tomorrow to raise money for military kids who lost a parent in the combat. he's calling it 'the hell walk." plus a youth hockey coach under investigation accused of tripping a 13-year-old player on the opposing team. did you catch that? we'll show it to you and it is our "news nation" gut check. check out our facebook page. behind the scenes pictures. [ music playing, indistinct conversations ] the charcoal went out already? [ sighs ] forget it. [ male announcer ] there's more barbeque time in every bag of kingsford charcoal. kingsford. slow down and grill.

 in every bag of kingsford charcoal. high schools in six states enrolled in the national math and science initiative... ...which helped students and teachers get better results in ap courses. together, they raised ap test scores 138%. just imagine our potential... ...if the other states joined them. let's raise our scores. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. more now on the breaking out of colorado. the most destruct iran wildfiivn colorado. the president has declared the site a major disaster and made federal funding available to help in the recovery efforts

there. we'll go now to jinah kim who joins us to tell us more about the president's schedule and what's taking place there in colorado. bring us up to speed, the president's events schedule as he tours the disaster area. >> reporter: as you mentioned, had he has already touched downed here in colorado springs. his first and possibly only stop here in colorado. we were under the impression he might tour other fire area here's in state, but after arrives here he's supposed to speak any minute now. he was specialed to begin speaking at 12:30 local time, right about now. address the people here, thanking firefighters. offering up federal support. he declares th d this area a fe disaster zone. 30,000 acres have burned so far this year in the state. dozens more across western states in general. as you said, evenç though the

fire yot look keeps getting better, the numbers just keep getting more grim. one person was found dead in a house that was burned to the ground. officials discovered this late last night. and we are just learning in the past few minutes that dozens more could be missing at the briefing this morning they said up to ten people could be missing. even that was fuzzy. now a couple minutes ago we were hearing that it's possibly dozens, as many as, maybe even 70, but they're hearing all of this secondhand from family members. so we're hoping to get an update on that later this afternoon, thomas. >> as fema has been working the last couple of days with local officials in trying to coordinate, let's talk about the evacuees and what's being done for them and when they're being given the green light when therapy allowed to return back to their homes? let's point out, only 15% of this fire has been contained. >> reporter: well, as the fire yot look keeps getting better and better, i mean, the threat is pretty much we're on the

other end of that. on the other side. we've gotten through the worst is what firefighters believe. last night they actually started releasing some evacuation orders. they weren't able to give a percentage. are half of those 32,000 people april lewed back? 20%? they couldn't tell us for sure. but a big chunk of the fire zone was 4ri69ed last night. so they started going back. the people who are the hardest hit. those 34 streets where the houses burned, those people are not allowed to go back in and it might be a good thing. a meeting where the residents were told what happened to their homes, and as you can imagine, it was very emotionally charged and the people here are notç quite ready to absorb all of the devastation that is coming in. >> nbc's jinah kim reporting from colorado springs. thanks so much. time now for our political postscript. it's been a wild week in washington, d.c., to say the least. the supreme court kicked off its ruling on immigration ended with the historic decision on president obama's health care law which dominated the d.c.

chatter. >> this is a day that we've been waiting for, and make no mistake, arizona is ready. >> if you're in arizona, and you speak with a little accent or your skin color is brown, you better have your papers with you. >> whatever the politics, today's decision was a victory for people all over this country. >> we're going to continue to try and fight, repeal this bill. >> but through all of the chaos was another political story that probably would have been the big headline of this week if not for the supreme court decisions. the historic stroet hold attorney general eric holder in contempt of congress happened yesterday. 17 democrats siding with republicans. nbc's mark murray joins me now. mark, let's look at the drama surrounding all of that this week. >> reporter: well, right. it's important to note that that eric holder story probably was maybe the third or fourth biggest story of the week. it probably shouldn't be a coincidence that the vote was actually held at the very same

time, at the very day of the health care ruling by the u.s. supreme court. people arg gured that this was politics. that's what democrats have been contending, and that is a little bit backed up by the fact, thomas, thatç the national rif association, which is one of the most powerful lobbies in washington, d.c., ended up putting out a score record where they wanted people -- they were going to score people's votes, yes or no, on the holder cont t content. when that was going on it flagged to a lot of people that this was politics. >> let's listen to some of the d.c. chatter again about this being not politics, but it's hard to cut through it all. take a look. >> i don't take this malter lightly, and i would frankly hope it would never come to this. >> they have just gone after attorney general holder like an obsessi obsession. like ahab going after the great whale. >> lied to. we were lied to repeatedly and over a ten-month period.

>> shame on you. shame on you. shame on you. >> this criminal content goes on to the u.s. attorney in washington, d.c., coincidentally enough, the boss is the attorney general eric holder of that person. how is this all supposed to play out, if that's the way that it's supposed to go up the chain? >> reporter: well, another example of just the politics involved here. this story probably isn't going to advance beyond what happened yesterday, thomas. and, again, one thing that actually is going on is this conflict between the executive branch and the legislative branch and we've seen when two parties are actually controlling the two different branches, that these fights happen. when bill clinton was president, he duelled often with that republican congress. sometimes in similar battles over the executive privilege, over whether the administration

saying we were working on this, this was a political side show and checking boxes ahead of an election. >> this sunday on "meet the press," david gregory will have an exclusive interview with house minority leader nancy pelosi. also on the show, former dnc chair and vermont governor howard dean and louisiana governor bobby jindal. that's sunday on nbc's "meet the press." while the supreme cortal rucortal -- court's rule was making headlines, an emotional issue. pitting military honor against freedom of speech.ç the justices struck down a federal law making it a crime to lie about receiving the medal of honor and other military awards saying the so-called stolen valor act violated free speech rights. now, the case involved xavier alvarez, a former local elected official in california. he publicly claimed he was a 25-year marine vet and was awarded the medal of honor. the nation's highest military award for heroic actions during

the vietnam war. it was later reveal head never serves in the military at all. joining me, retired army colonel jack jacobs who were receive the medal's honor for heroism during the vietnam war. great to have you here. this is a story someone like you, my dad, a vietnam vet, following this closely to see how it would come down. when he look at the way the justices wrote their opinions, 6-3 ruling. the majority opinion, few mind find respondent statements anything but contemptible, his right to make the statements is protected by the constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech and expression. you share that sentiment, basically that this is totally off the wall to do something like this, but you can't go against their freedom of speech? >> more than off the wall. i'm only speaking for myself, but there are tens of millions of veteran whose also followed this very closely and find alvarez to be a contemptible,

despicable revolting creature who isn't even worth the effort it would take to walk across the street and push him on his backside, toç be honest with y, and there are plenty of he'll who would like to do that right now. the fact of the matter, he has a right to be a fool and within certain parameters to say whatever he wants to say. this is a first amendment court. time and time again, this court, even as conservative as it appears to be in many respects, has time and time again come down in favor of free speech, and nobody should be surprised that it did so this time, too. >> jack, proponents of the 2006 law including the 2.4 million american legion and the vet, a book "stolen valor" inspired this law. he said, the medal of honor, the vat majority of the people awarded in a were killed in action in thes of of their country and we can't protect

that declaration from disrespect. he has a valid understandable position of how he feels about this, and given the fact that it was posthumously given to most of our american heroes. >> most of the recipients were posthumously awarded and-of-but lots of soldiers and sailors killed in action. nobody saw what they did. people saw it, when they themselves were killed and were not recognized for valor. not because they didn't do it, but because people didn't see it. there are lots of people, including me, upset by all this. a simple fix and the congress should have seen it coming. when you try to butt up against the first amendment you run into big problems. in order to turn the stolen valor act into aç federal frau act, it's very simple to do. if somebody does something to achieve a gain of some find kind, as alvarez did, that's

puni punishable. lie on your income taxes. talk to a cop investigating and lie, you'll find yourselves behind bars quickly. we have to get the statute right, and we'll be able to prosecute properly. >> when you talk about that, because it is a federal crime to wear the unearned medals, but the claims of like alvarez did, that isn't. when we talk about the gain of something, of wearing those medals and what that gains you, the respect of people or the thought -- >> ah, gaining respect is one thing. material gain is something else again. alvarez made these comments, got elected to a water board in california. for which i assume he was compensated in some way. any time you do something personal, not just self-grandizing as alvarez did certainly, also to get material gain as alvarez did you ought to be able to be prosecuted.

i believe congress will act quickly to amend the law. >> thank you, sir. up next, new details about an army soldier who allegedly shot and killed his commander at fort bragg. why he was facing a possible discharge before the shooting, tops our stories around "news nation." first -- there's a lot going on today and here are some of the things we thought you should know about. actor george clooney goes international in his efforts to get president obama re-elected. politico reporting the aqtor will attend tuan events in switzerland coming up in august. according to the group americans abroad for obama, clooney will speak at a reception and attend a high-priced dinder doubles as an obama campaign fund-raiser. the casino billionaire who practically bank rolled the sup super pac newt gingrich in the primary. expecting to donate to the coke brothers. the billion naras behind the conservative superpac americans for prosperity. adelson already pledged to give

to the superpac supporting mitt romney. congressman ron paul says he plans to rally supporters on the eve of the republican national convention in tampa. paul is sortedly secured the university of pla, 11,000 seat sun dome. the texas republican urged backers to use the convention as a chance to get their voices heard and those are the things we just thought you should know.

all right. we're watching wall street for you. the markets are surging this friday. about an hour and 15 minutes before the closing bell. we see the dow is up almost 240 points. the s&p and the nasdaq are up at well. green arrows across the board. the reason for the rally, new measures to deal with europe's debt crisis. strong way to close out the week. new information on the

deadly shooting at fort bragg. that tops our look at stories around the "news nation" today. military official sas the army soldier who shot and killed his battalion commander was facing court-martial and possible discharge. the unnamed shooter stood accused of stealing a toolbox from fort bragg worth about $1,700. according to officials, the soldier walked up to his commander and shot him several times resulting in his death. otherç soldiers rushed to him d the suspect was shot in the struggle. he is critically wounded. the brother of ponzi scheme mast per mind bernie madoff pleaded guilty to charge hess covered up his brother's fraud. he said he didn't know about cheating billions of dollars until 2008. this is expected to result in the a ten-year prison term. his appearance in court come tlees years to the day after his brother was sentenced to 150 years in prison. we want to take you now out to los angeles where one man is about to attempt an extraordinary feat all for

charity. his name is josh tate, and tomorrow he will walk the city of los angeles for 100 consecutive miles. josh is trying to raise $50,000 to create scholarships for sons and daughters of military personnel who have died in combat. josh tate joins me now from los angeles to talk more about this. josh, it's great to have you here, and this is the second time, as i understand it, that you performed hell walk. explain how you came up with -- or how you decided to come up with this idea and your basic inspiration for wanting to do it. >> sure. what actually happened was i was doing a lot of charity work that i wasn't particularly enjoying and i was literally sitting at bar with a friend of mine explaining this, and feeling i was a terrible person. she told me, you should do your own charity. i laughed it off at the time. the more i thought about it the more i realized that was something i could enjoy doing, but i knew it had to be something a little crazy. what i did last year was, i walked for 24 hours around a 100

foot circle to race $25,000 for a charity called childre'z hope chest, and it was a great success, and i realized i had to do something even bigger this year. i figured, what would be sort of the best challenge and there was something about 100 miles through los angeles that i thought it was just crazy enough are and exciting enough and just enough of a challenge to motivate me. so we decided to do that for a charity called the special operations warrior foundation, and as you just mentioned, that's what they do. they give scholarships to the children of special forces warriors who have been killed in action. >> josh, talk about this, because the goal you set for yourself is $50,000 this year. that's double the amount that you were able to raise last year on your first time out doing your own inspired charity mission. so how do you hope to achieve this goal, and then explain to all of us the route that you're going to take. so for people familiar with los angeles, they can look for you tomorrow. >> they can, yeah. follow us on twitter at hell

walk 2012. testify 12 minutes it will tell them exactly where i am. we'll be wear kg orange t-shirts. should be easy to spot. wind our way through the city and end up actually at the exact same spot where we did hell walk last year. the station in santa monica. the reason i decided. i figured i would-of-could raise more money, i wanted to be motivated to ask more people to help just to make it more of a national charity than a local charity and bring more people in hell walk to try to expand our circle of donors incrementally. >> where are you right now in the effort to raise $50,000?ç >> we are just over $16,000. so we have about -- the walk will go about 35 hours and we have a little under $35,000 to raise. so we kind of are looking at it as $1,000 an hour. that's our goal during the walk and i think we're going to reach it.

>> we wish you the best of luck. hollywood love as sequel. hell two perform. hell walk three next year. wish you the best of luck. >> thank you very much. a kids' hockey coach suspended after he allegedly trip as player on the opposing team. have you seen this? police deciding whether to charge him with assault. what does your gut tell you about that? tell me you have good insurance. yup, i've got... [ voice of dennis ] ...allstate. really? i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. [ normal voice ] nope, i've got... [ voice of dennis ] the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance -- and you still get an allstate agent. i too have... [ voice of dennis ] allstate. [ normal voice ] same agent and everything. it's like we're connected. no we're not. yeah, we are. no...we're not. ♪ ask an allstate agent about the value plan. are you in good hands?

i got it, i'm sorry. these people, huh? you know i've found that anger is the enemy of instruction. you don't know the egos that i have to deal with. you're probably right. thank you! whoever you are. i'm pretty sure that was phil jackson. he's quite famous... million championships... triangle offense innovator... [ male announcer ] the audi a8. named best large luxury sedan. nice wheels zen master. thank you...todd. ♪

make sure the juoin the "nes nation" on twitter. under investigation, a hockey coach caught on camera apparently tripping a 13-year-old player on the opposing team. this was all during the postgame handshake. a young player reportedly broke his wrist in that pileup. police questioned the coach then released him however are now considering filing assault charges against him. take a look at this once again. all right. so the man has been suspended from coaching. what does your gut tell you

about it? should the coach be charged with assault? go to facebook.com/newsnation and cast your vote there. thats does it for this edition of "news nation." have a great weekend. i'm thomas roberts. catch "news nation" with tamron hall every weekday at 2:00 p.m. eastern. don't go anywhere. "the cycle" is coming your way, up next. [ male announcer ] research suggests the health of our cells plays a key role throughout our entire lives. ♪ \ s health concerns as we age. ♪ it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day men's 50+ healthy advantage.

that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about. and which aarp medicare supplement plan works best for you. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. there's a range of plans to choose from, too. and they all travel with you. anywhere in the country. join the millions who have already enrolled

in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. call today. remember, medicare supplement insurance helps cover some of what medicare doesn't pay -- expenses that could really add up. these kinds of plans could save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs... you'll be able choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. and you never need referrals. so don't wait. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you.

the charcoal went out already? [ sighs ] forget it. [ male announcer ] there's more barbeque time in every bag of kingsford charcoal. kingsford. slow down and grill. i'm toure at 3:00 here in the new york. 2:00 in st. louis and 1:00 in colorado springs. what's in the "the cycle" today. massive wildfires tearing across the west. the most aggressive, colorado's waulgd oh canyon fire which turned deadly. president obama is there touring damage and will speak live in about 30 minutes. >> i'm s.e. cupp. fighting for repeal of the health care act.¿ c1 here to tell us about that. i'm steve kornacki. congress finally sends the bill to keep student loan rates from doubling to the president's desk. what took so