eeted ouftsu hi everyone. i'm tamron hall. the news nation is following the offer mitt romney's campaign has no problem refusing. another chance to release more tax returns. the obama campaign this morning let it be known it would stop criticizing romney for not releasing more returns if he would just release five years' worth including two returns he released or promised to release. romney's camp replied with a no thanks saying in part it is clear that president obama wants nothing more than to talk about governor romney's tax returns instead of the issues that matter to voters. but it was just yesterday romney made what our first read team calls an unforced error when he remarked he paid at least 13% in taxes over the past decade.

first read says 13% is a very low number for a multi-millionaire like romney and it demonstrates how the current rules and loopholes benefit the wealthy. as romney tries to fend off the tax attacks part of his running mate paul ryan is dealing with issues from his past as well. did he ask for the stimulus money? that is one of the hot ones today. >> a report came out again today in the ap. it was a repeat of "the wall street journal" article from a couple years ago where you had asked for stimulus money for your district. is that accurate? is that report accurate? >> i don't recall. i haven't seen this report so i can't comment on it. i oppose the stimulus because it doesn't work. it didn't work. >> ryan later acknowledged sending letters to the energy department requesting funds for two companies. joining me now the fofrmer democratic governfofrmer -- former governor of pennsylvania ed rendell.

gentlemen, a great pleasure. peter, i want to start with you. it's interesting. we know that paul ryan and governor romney will be in new hampshire on monday but paul ryan is just finishing up this event in virginia where he talked about jobs, talked about perhaps creating 300,000 plus jobs for virginia but he did not mention medicare. he said just earlier in the week that he is ready to have this fight and that they would win it but did not mention medicare according to the information i've received here. >> rest assured we'll hear a lot about medicare during the sunday talk shows. we'll hear about it again this weekend when paul ryan heads to florida. he will be in the villages, america's largest retirement community when he is there with his mom in her late 70s and likely is going to say hey this is my mom. i wouldn't want anything to harm her. obviously not going to harm your medicare. this issue is not going away. another piece of evidence of that is the fact we've learned that paul ryan and mitt romney will be campaigning together on monday. it is romney's 100th town hall of the election cycle.

initially we had been told, advisers told me they didn't think the two would be together again after last weekend's announcement until the convention about a week from now but it appears clear they're going to put the two of them together again for that event to try to get again on the offensive of this issue of medicare. >> let me bring you in, as mentioned in glen allen, virginia paul ryan talking about jobs, the most important issue. anybody would agree with that. he did not discuss medicare. what do you think of this as we end this week and obviously nis hiss name is associated now with this battle over medicare. >> we talked about medicare for a week straight. i think the romney campaign, paul ryan, everybody on the campaign trail, they're listening to folks and what folks are telling them is the number one issue is jobs and the number two issue is the economy. medicare and the entitlement things are important. what they are focused on is bringing their message to the american people about how they'll create jobs and turn the economy around. >> you say there is a new poll out from kaiser and medicare ranks first in voters' minds and considerably above the president's health care

overhaul. this is new information from the kaiser foundation so there's been no shortage of talking about obama care as it's referred to. but here you have the new polling numbers that say people do care about medicare and want to talk about this. >> absolutely. if you ask people do they care about people, do they care about the quality of life issues that come around with health care, of course people are going to say that. i think they've been talking about medicare for the last five days and at some point the campaign has to pivot and talk about something else and what they really want to be talking about is the economy and their plan for turning the economy around. >> governor rendell, if that's the strategy it's not working. obviously the headlines are about medicare. the other headline is this 13% tax that mitt romney revealed yesterday that he paid over the past decade. we know this tongue in cheek offer from the obama campaign of if you show us we will leave you alone came down today. but governor romney is still refusing here. is the strategy to keep him on his heels about taxes and such working here? >> well, any time that the

discussion turns to anything other than the economy it's a plus for the obama campaign. and medicare has been handled brutally badly by romney/ryan. to think they didn't get it straight before they announced ryan as the vice presidential candidate, what the answer was going to be to, well, is it ryan's budget? do you agree with every part of it? or is your medicare different? governor romney says i'm going to take the $718 billion back but representative ryan keeps it in his budget. they never strained out plans like that. it's unbelievably incompetent and they're paying for it. look, i think medicare is a big issue, particularly in swing states in pennsylvania, ohio, and florida, states that have a high proportion of senior citizen voters. i think it's just terrible news for the campaign, the romney ryan campaign that this is exploding in their face. >> i see you nodding your head. i don't know if you're agreeing with what the governor said but here you have the situation. let's talk about the two of

them. the answer to taxes. it seems romney stumbled through this even before the olympics. people thought okay. after we see a more concise answer, yesterday he revealed this 13%. it opened up a whole nother line of taxes and then to governor rendell's point this issue of medicare. whose plan is the plan? first governor romney said i've got my own plan, my own ideas. then yesterday he said their plans were near identical. >> i was nodding actually when he said a day that they're not talking about the economy, the obama campaign is happy. the biggest news today is actually the department of labor report that the unemployment rate went up in 44 states. almost like clock work the obama campaign sent a letter to the romney campaign about tax returns. they did this actually the last time they did a tax return push was on july 9th. it was four days after the last jobs report. it's almost like clock work. they don't want to talk about the economy. they want to find anything they can do to not talk about the economy. that's what happened today. >> governor rendell, how do you

respond to that? >> well, i think he is right about where the campaign wants to be centered but, look. i mean, the facts are -- couldn't be more clear. when president obama became president the economy was so bad that we were losing 750,000 jobs a month so last month we gained 180,000 jobs. that's awful decent progress. it's not good enough and we acknowledge that but certainly they've turned it around. they've had 29 consecutive months of private sector job growth, 4.5 million private sector jobs created. again, not enough and everyone concedes that. but i think americans are pretty smart. they know what the president inherited. they know where we are today. they know that there's been progress. again, not enough progress, but i think economists say that had the republicans in congress including representative ryan voted for the president's jobs bill that he put before them in october, we would have had a million new jobs in infrastructure alone and maybe 2 million new jobs created by the jobs bill, which was turned down

even though republicans approved of every sing component of it in the past. it was turned down purely for politics. they didn't want to give the president a win. >> peter, i'll get you in. jonathan, to governor rendell's point bringing up the $787 billion stimulus, we've got this new conflict from paul ryan. he says he fought tooth and nail against the stimulus but records show he asked for money for two different companies, funds for two different companies. so does that mean he supported the stimulus or not? how do you reconcile this? >> he voted against it. there is always attention with members of congress who vote against something. does that mean you want to keep your district from getting any money? i don't know the circumstances. it's almost like when a democrat votes against a tax cut and then take it. are they hypocritical for doing that? i see some similarities with that line of logic. >> specifically he says he did not ask for money. that is what he said. now records show he did ask for money for two companies. >> tamron, if he had read my

book "nation of wusses" i had the top ten reasons politicians are wusses. the number one reason was when they vote against something and take the benefits or go to a ribbon cutting. i mentioned representative ryan sending the letters. had he read my book he never would have given the wrong answer. >> he would have known his answer and what he did. i have to go back to put you on the hot seat here. again, he says he did not make these requests and records show he was vetted by the romney campaign. did this not come up? >> i don't know the facts of that case. having worked on the hill, i've run a washington, d.c. office for a member of congress. i think a lot of stuff does go on at the staff level that maybe he didn't know about. not knowing the facts of the case i think it is entirely plausible he maybe didn't know. >> he didn't read the letter. he signed the letter. didn't he read it? >> i didn't read it and i don't know enough about the case. >> paul ryan did not sign a letter he doesn't read. >> all right. peter, it's not just the issue of the stimulus but china's

currency manipulation. we learned that paul ryan actually voted against it a 2010 house bill that would have cracked down on china's currency manipulation. very different than what he is saying on the campaign trail. this whole vetting of paul ryan now by the media extends past medicare. >> well, the gist is both sides are trying to accomplish with the other sort of knocking them off there purchase at work. the romney folks were trying to knock obama's likability numbers down. obviously that is one of the biggest assets on the campaign trail. some of the harshest language we've heard from him and his advisers continuing to not chip away at president obama. meanwhile the re-election team for the president going after paul ryan to try to characterize him as a politician like all the others who says one thing and does something differently. to conclude the conversation you were having about taxes just to get back to that, while we talk about the 13.6 or 13.9% number i think the real issue reporters are going to look forward to

asking mitt romney next is does this reveal what we can expect from a romney presidency in that he has been really only willing to give a bare minimum in terms of taxes. there is a political issue not a legal issue. only a bare minimum in terms of taxes, meetings, transparency is that what americans should expect to hear from mitt romney if he were to become president? >> peter, in all fairness, you've been covering the romney campaign. i know this question is not new. it has been asked for many days and weeks now regarding the transparency not just of the candidate running for president but even when he was governor of massachusetts we know there were questions about what kind of information, residency, and even taxes back then. the question of how transparent or what kind of presidency he'd run if he were to win those are questions that have been out there and he still has not answered. >> that's what americans have to decide for themselves. it is very clear the romney family has decided not just his advisers but mitt romney and his wife ann have said enough is enough. we're not going to put out any more taxes.

americans have to decide and i think will be forced to make the choice because the romney folks aren't going to give any more information even if it creates another news cycle or multiple news cycles going forward whether they think this is a presidency or would be an administration that they'd be comfortable with. >> jonathan, peter, governor rendell, thank you all for joining me. great pleasure to have you all on on this friday. i think i have the most handsome panel of the day. that's not me flirting, just being honest. thank you, guys. coming up new details about the deaths of two american special forces members early this morning at the hands of an afghan police recruit. we'll get a live report from afghanistan on what happened there. plus team obama unveils their first tv ad on medicare. >> the ryan plan? aarp says it would undermine medicare and could lead to higher costs for seniors. experts say ryan's voucher plan -- >> a new poll finds medicare is more important to voters than the health care reform law. join the conversation on

twitter. do you agree with that poll? let me know. at tamron hall. we'll be right back. [ maouerleer a n wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ]

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new developments this hour in the shooting of two american service members killed by an afghan police officer. nbc news has learned the shooter had been recruited five days ago and opened fire just minutes after being handed his weapon. he was then shot and killed. it is the latest in a string of attacks by afghan security forces on coalition troops. nbc news is in kabul with the latest details. obviously the details of learning this person had just been recruited and the moment he

was given a hand gun he turned on those american serviceman. >> that's right, tamron. the information we got from afghan officials is it occurred in the western province of fara and happened today as u.s. special forces were there to train the new afghan local police. it's a system created by nato and the afghan government to recruit from inside villages to protect home towns. this man took advantage of the opportunity. right when he got his weapon according to the afghan official he turned the weapon on the americans. the taliban obviously using these insider attacks known as green-on-blue attacks to their advantage. they say they've infiltrated the afghan security forces and according to isaf and u.s. forces they are notd denying there there has been an afghan infiltration but say it is lower than the taliban is saying. they say about 10% of the attacks have been caused by

people that are related to the insurgency and 90% are because of personal reasons, whether personal grievances, stress situations, or battle fatigue. nonetheless, it is the highest amount of insider attacks we've seen since the start of the war, 2007-2008. we've only seen four types of incidents such as these with four fatalities. this year we are more than 30 green-on-blue or insider attacks and 39 fatalities. tamron? >> all right. thank you so much. as atia mentioned there have been six so-called insider attacks in the past two weeks. she also mentioned 37 coalition forces have been killed in insider attacks so far this year compared to four deaths in all of 2008. today's shooting also comes a day after seven american special op forces were killed when their chopper was apparently shot down by insurgents. the taliban claimed responsibility for that attack. joining me now nbc news military analyst general barry mccaffery.

thank you for your time. >> good to be with you, tamron. >> obviously we're talking politics from jobs to medicare. leon panetta brought up the issue the war and the men and women serving this country abroad. let me play what he had to say. i realize there are a lot of other things going on in this country that can draw our attention from the olympics to political campaigns to droughts to some of the tragedies we've seen in communities around the country. but i thought it was important to remind the american people that there is a war going on in afghanistan and that young men and women are dying in order to protect this country. >> general, those remarks were made on tuesday and here we are again, two service members shot, killed by this afghan individual

that they trained. what are your thoughts that we have to be reminded of what's happening here? >> well, it's an unusual situation. we're probably running $8 billion a month burn rate losing a company or so killed and wounded. we got 85,000 troops in combat and we have minimal attention by either political campaign toward this war. by the way, tamron, we're involved in a retro grade operation. we're coming out of afghanistan and we should between now and 2014. we're trying to withdraw out through pakistan. we're 800 miles from the sea. we're in a frightfully dangerous situation underscored by the fragile nature of the afghan security forces. i mean, taliban, yes or no. look, three years ago these attacks weren't taking place. as our combat forces withdraw, our troops are increasingly at risk. we're going to have to rethink the strategy of leaving trainers

spread out all over afghanistan. >> right. congressman patrick murphy, a democrat, said the military is at war and the country is not. let me get your thoughts on those words. >> i think it's quite true. it's not just the military. it's also the cia and selected elements of national power. foreign service officers, usaid, etcetera. we're pushing 57,000 u.s. killed and wounded. a lot of the young troops, mid career officers, have five or more combat deployments. so it is an all out effort and they're doing a magnificent job, at huge risk. we need to take into account that the coming 24 months are the riskiest of the war so far. >> right. >> they need our support both political and financial. i don't want to drag into the political argument over who is right and who is wrong here but there is not a lot of contrast between what mitt romney is saying and what the president has said.

the difference is romney has criticized the president for applying a timetable so to speak but agrees largely with the president's plan to bring the troops home from afghanistan. if these two men are to debate the war, what is the key question for both of them at this point? >> what are you going to do to get us out of there safely and what are the probabilities your strategy will result in a viable afghan state? by the way, i don't think that either candidate wants to talk about this operation. it's a very tricky situation. iraq arguably may make it. it has an outthroat the ocean, educated people. afghan has different circumstances. security forces that are unreliable, corrupt government, and the new strategy of local police is terrific. that's the only way you can get security is to have the local

villagers protect themselves. it also is fraught with risk of renewing the civil war with even greater fervor. that's what's happening in afghanistan. >> general barry mccaffery, thank you very much for reacting to the news of the day and of course how this issue of the war is playing or not playing in politics these days. thank you, sir. coming up. a wave of protests around the world after a judge convicts members of a russian punk band for take on vladimir putin. this story is making headlines around the world literally. plus vice president joe biden already has a person picked as the stand-in for paul ryan as he prepares for his big vice presidential debate showdown. we will reveal the identity of the stand-in for paul ryan. it's just one thing we thought you shouldknow. but first former congressman patrick kennedy pays an emotional visit to his friend and colleague congressman jesse jackson jr. kennedy sent pictures of their meeting at the mayo clinic where

congressman jackson is being treated for bipolar disorder. kennedy says he is confident that congressman jackson is making progress and assured him he does have a political future. jackson has been on leave -- absence from congress since june 10th. the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. ♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8.

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juicy brats grilled up on a thursday. the perfect use of the 7th inning stretch. get that great taste anytime with kingsford match light charcoal. welcome back. there have been demonstrations all over the world today after a russian judge found three punk robbers guilty of staging an anti-putin protest on the altar of moscow's main cathedral. this is just some of the video coming in of the protests that took place. a judge found the musicians guilty of hooliganism and sentenced them to two years in prison. that verdict was heard across the globe sparking protests from moscow to new york. several russian demonstrators were also arrested. the band's attorney says they plan to appeal this ruling. tomorrow marks one week since they made it official.

paul ryan is mitt romney's wing man. what did we learn? our political post script is up next. plus a story that's gotten a lot of attention especially online. you may have read about it. a family is forced to take on progressive insurance after a woman is killed in a car crash. that woman's brother, who took the fight to that insurance company, will join me live. be sure to check out our news nation tumbler page. you'll find behind-the-scenes pictures of news nation. we update it every day. check it out. ♪ spread a little love today ♪ ♪ spread a little love my way ♪ ♪ spread a little something to remember ♪ [ female announcer ] fresh milk and real cream makes philadelphia and the moment a little richer.

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campaign earlier than expected and the race has taken its nastiest turn yet. >> he is going to be the next vice president of the united states. >> congressman ryan has given definition to the vague commitments that romney has been making. >> paul ryan in my plan for medicare i think is the same if not identical, probably close to identical. >> look at what they value and look at their budget and what they're proposing. romney wants to let the -- he said in the first hundred days he'll let the big banks once again write their own rules. unchain wall street. they're going to put y'all back in chains. >> this is what an angry and desperate presidency looks like. mr. president, take your campaign and division and anger and hate back to chicago. >> it's been a wild week. joining me now to break it down our nbc news political editor mark murray. would you have predicted the tone we've seen this week?

>> what a week it's been. you're right. this has been the nastiest turn we've seen so far on the negativity. though it is important to put in perspective that when you -- when i was covering the 2004 presidential election the 2008 presidential election we all had our nasty back and forths where it's hard to say this is any worse than we've seen. >> right. >> but i would say definitively after the ryan pick we have reached the apex in negativity in this current campaign. >> i don't like when people say this is the nastiest ever because it is a cliche' almost. you can name different events in all of these campaigns from the birther movement we all witnessed where you had some republicans even afraid to say the president was born in this country or challenge those who said otherwise and the list goes on on both sides of some of the nasty rhetoric. how do you measure it? i want to switch to the paul ryan thing here and set aside nastiness and ugly words to ideology and facts here.

this medicare back and forth, i've talked to so many people. i don't think most folks like to say they are confused. we were talking to jonathan alter yesterday and he said a lot of it will boil down to credibility because both of the accusations are the same from each side in that they're trying to dismantle medicare or don't care about the future of country and people who will meet the services. >> right. and the specifics are very important for everyone to know. and of course in the political back and forth you're going to hear charges. each side is going to be making their best arguments. it is important for us to know what the ryan/romney plan is as it relates to medicare. tamron, probably the best way i can describe it to you is that what paul ryan and mitt romney want to do is change medicare from a defined benefit. a good example would be like a pension program where guarantees of coverage are guaranteed to a defined contribution. so similar like we have a pension which is the defined benefit, a 401(k) is almost kind of defined contribution where

actually you receive part of your coverage but not all of it and that's the best way to actually look at this and in one respect like the 401(k) defined contributions save you a lot of money but you have a weaker benefit. >> let me switch quickly to what i think we talked about a lot this vetting of paul ryan by the media now from his assertion over the stimulus. it turns out he did seek funds for two companies to what we call the tough talk on china's currency manipulation which you point out in your first read as well. >> right. one of paul ryan's greatest strengths is he isn't seen as your average politician. he is someone who is going to speak the truth no matter how uncomfortable that might be. he has credentials of being a budget hawk. each time those things are dented a bit i do think that hurts his political aura just a little bit so for example on the stimulus where he voted against the stimulus, rails against it, but when he is actual aide mitting i was seeking stimulus

projects at the same time as part of his constituent service there is a little dent in the credibility that he starts looking like your average politician. that is a story to watch as we move forward. >> mark murray, thank you very much. have a great weekend. we'll see you monday. >> you too. >> we mentioned this earlier. a new poll out today shows medicare has become the top health care issue in the presidential campaign surfacing the president's health care reform law. the poll was conducted by the nonprofit kaiser foundation, family foundation. meantime both campaigns remain on the offensive over medicare. the obama campaign in fact releasing a new ad just today. >> the ryan plan? aarp says it would undermine medicare and could lead to higher costs for seniors. experts say ryan's voucher plan could raise future retirees' costs more than $6,000. joining us now richard wolfe white house reporter for "usa today." thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> what do you make of this

kaiser family poll saying for most people it really is about medicare over the health care reform law? >> well, it's interesting that medicare for president obama is inside the health care reform law. that's part of the reason not the major reason we're having this debate because his $716 billion in medicare savings over the next ten years are contained inside the law. but i guess on the broader question it's not at all surprising. the entry of paul ryan into this race has put medicare right on top as at least temporarily it should be. >> what do you make -- we talked about this a little bit with mark murray here. there was also a new poll out that really shows 3% to 5% of the voters out there are so-called truly independent. voters whose minds may be changed in the next 80 plus days. this very small portion and campaigns are going to spend billions courting this ever so slight sliver of our population. when you factor in the conversation of medicare now being the dominant subject matter here at least in this

week, do you believe that will maintain its momentum, this conversation or debate ryan says he wants to have on medicare? >> well, i think, look, it has some momentum for the time being. we're obviously going to go back to jobs in the economy at some point. there are other elements of the ryan budget i would expect to be debated as time goes on. what you mentioned about 3% to 5% independent may be true but i would think with the debate as important as this one on medicare and the future of medicare and deficit reduction and debt reduction you may have people who previously thought they were committed to one side or the other who may now, based on this issue, have second thoughts. you may have people who are aligned with the democrats who say, hey, paul ryan is the first guy to come down the pipe to really take deficit reduction seriously. i am going to look at that. you may have people particularly senior citizens, one of four people in florida who are senior citizens, who previously were aligned with romney who might now say, wait a minute. this whole medicare voucher

thing makes me nervous. i'm no longer independent. you know, you may have people who are switching sides to some degree based on this. >> it's interesting insight. when i saw this number that 3% and 5% are up for grabs and that number range here, the amount of money spent just to narrow in on that group is absolutely incredible. thank you so much for your time. i greatly appreciate you coming on this friday. >> thanks much. after a firestorm of controversy online a family's fight against progressive insurance is over. it started two years ago when kaitlyn fisher was killed by an uninsured driver in baltimore. when her family tried to collect on her policy progressive said it did not have enough proof. the accident was not kaitlyn's fault. progressive attorneys even assisted the defense in the negligence suit against the driver. well, this week after kaitlyn's outraged brother started blogging on the story progressive received an onslaught of negative feedback on its faceback page and a

settlement was finally reached. matt fisher kaitlyn's brother joins us now onset. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you for having me. >> just in the last few minutes we got a new statement from progressive a know they said for the past week they've been in active settlement discussions with the family though there was considerable public interest in the case and many of you saw mention on media news we thought it was inappropriate to share details. they were very vague but now say there is a settlement reached. >> yes. >> would you have gotten to this point without social media if you had not spoken out on this blog? >> i hesitate to say. obviously their hand was forced a little bit by the decision in my sister's case but their decision is based on, you know, how they should act -- >> obviously losing your sister, i have no words that would be able to comfort you. this is the most painful experience for any family. someone you love taken from you but to have to fight for two years after that for your family to be treated in the fashion you felt was right and fair.

>> right. >> i can't imagine. >> well, you know, i think people have a misperception of what insurance is about. when everything goes wrong you think insurance is going to somehow improve the situation. >> i'm sure that's what you thought. >> right. >> that's why it's insured. >> for us it was a nightmare on top of an existing nightmare. >> what was the issue at least in your mind for progressive? as i understand it they actually were in court and they defended. >> yeah. >> the person involved in the accident that took your sister's life. >> right. you know, part of the debate back and forth this week has been about what that role was. i sat there in court and, you know, no matter how you describe it a progressive attorney stood before the jury and told the jury that my sister ran a red light and it was her fault that she died. so that to me constitutes a legal defense that she paid progressive. she paid for that guy's tie, you know, to have them face her that way and my family was infuriated. >> when did you first realize you'd have to take on this insurance company? >> when they decided to not pay

the balance of her policy to my family it became a legal argument. in maryland you need to -- you can't sue an insurance company to have them give you your money if there is a dispute. you need to sue the other driver in the accident and then the decision forces the insurance company's hand. so my family has been going through that process since my sister died. >> one of the excerpts from your blog you said my sister paid progressive insurance to defend her killer in court. at the trial the guy who killed my sister was defended by progressive's legal team. if you are insured by progressive and they owe you money they will defend your killer in court in order to not pay you your policy. what response did you hear from people? >> people i think were shocked by that practice as i was and it has gone all around the world and back. my family and i are incredibly grateful to all the people on the internet and the media who are helping us tell this story because i think if more people knew this was the practice people would think harder about the insurance industry.

>> progressive said to be very clear progressive did not serve as the attorney for the defendant. he was defended by his attorney nationwide and went on with an explanation. some of the comments on facebook, somebody online said that progressive you are shameful. the way you treated the fisher family is just evil. another person wrote dear progressive you have convinced me being state farm's customer for over 20 years has been smart. somebody wrote who cares if you have settled with the fisher family? disgusting what did you here. this is unimaginable. >> to have reached out this way and have all these people defending my family, at the very least looking at my sister's picture is incredibly gratifying for my family. >>e're so sorry for your loss. >> appreciate it. coming up whitney houston's final performance. >> are you still going to be part of the group? ♪ shadows come >> the movie "sparkle" hits

theaters today. we'll get a preview of the much anticipated remake of the 1976 film and why some people have said leaving the theater in tears. first, there is a lot going on today. here are some things we just thought you should know. congressman chris van hollen will play paul ryan in debate prep with joe biden. he is the top democrat on the budget committee which ryan chairs. senator kerry will stand in for romney in president obama's practice. in 2008 jennifer granholm played sarah palin. and president obama first kissed his wife michelle outside a chicago ice cream parlor. today a 3,000-pound granite plaque marks the location and has a picture of the first couple and a quote from the president about their first date. politico reports jessica alba will host and pit bull will perform at the democratic convention closing party after president obama accepts the democratic nomination.

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the revolutionary recharge sleep system from beautyrest... it's you, fully charged. receive up to a $300 beautyrest visa prepaid card when you buy select beautyrest mattress sets. some of those forced from their homes by massive wild fires out west have been allowed to go back home. that tops our story, look at stories around news nation. meantime the idaho national guard has now joined firefighters battling at least nine wildfires burning across the state and washington crews have partly contained one blaze 75 miles from seattle. forecasts warn of more hot, dry weather in the area this weekend. and health officials have confirmed a second case of west nile virus in illinois today after the city of dallas sprayed insecticide after 17 people died from the virus in that area.

the number of people infected could climb even higher as officials look into other reports. mark zuckerberg lost $600 million as facebook shares dropped 6.3%. his net worth is now $10.2 billion. whitney houston's highly anticipated final movie opens today in theaters. "sparkle" is a remake of the popular 1976 movie of the same name and features whitney as a mother of three girls who form a singing group. houston's character also struggles with fame and drug addiction drawing of course parallels to her real life. i'm joined by chris witherspoon entertainment director for the grio.com. thanks for your time. >> thank you. >> obviously when whitney houston died in that hotel room the news came out that she was working on this film. it took our breath away to know this beautiful star we'd sneen "bodyguard" would be back in a film but would never see it come to this point. >> this is her big moment. we've been waiting for this for

six months. she died back in february. this movie has a lot -- i saw it a few weeks ago as i told you and it has a couple big takeaways. one is jordan sparks. this is her first time in a big, major movie. she can really act. she proved she has star power. the other part is whitney houston, her swan song. she delivers an emotional performance in the film. it's so sad, bitter sweet that she is not here. last night they had the red carpet premiere in los angeles. her daughter walked the red carpet. her mother was there as well and made all kinds of sentiments that they wished whitney was there. >> that is the thing about the film and i don't want to give it away. it does deal with the hardships of entertainment, the fast life, drugs, and how you can seccumb to those pressures. we saw that in her life. >> totally. this film kind of looks back at motown in the '60s but has a darker side. it shows a darker side to it. i got a chance to go out and interview the cast in los angeles. i spoke to jordan sparks. one question i asked her, there is an emotional scene in the film where whitney houston says to her daughter played by jordan

sparks was my life not enough of a precautionary tale for you? i asked jordan what did that scene mean to her and was whitn whitney's life a precautionary tale? >> being in that scene and filming it i remember when she said it and she was looking at us and i just remember having chills going, whoa. that's so crazy because it's so applies. now that she is not here, it even holds more weight. >> i heard that people were leaving the screening in tears. >> when i was there in los angeles people were crying. i won't even lie. i got a little choked up too. it's a great film with a lot of highs to the film. >> the music is amazing. >> the music is amazing. a visual treat in a lot of ways. you walk away. you're sad that whitney is gone but she really comes to life in the film. for her fans like michael jackson "this it is" this film is very much a good-bye for her fans. >> if you can't make it to the movie you can get the original sound track which features the queen of soul. >> i love that movie.

>> thank you very much. a fantastic film. this is a heck of a story. a 12-year-old boy banned from peewee football because he is not peewee in size. he is too big. it's news station gut check. ming faster... [ female announcer ] neosporin® plus pain relief starts relieving pain faster and kills more types of infectious bacteria. neosporin® plus pain relief. for a two dollar coupon, visit neosporin.com. neosporin® plus pain relief. juicy brats grilled up on a thursday. the perfect use of the 7th inning stretch. get that great taste anytime with kingsford match light charcoal. chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance.

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news nation. we are at news nation@twitter. so it's time for gut check. not a party for this kid. how big is too big to play peewee football? 12-year-old elijah earnhardt is now 6'1". he is 12 years old. he is also 300 pounds. because of his size the suburban dallas peewee football league has barred him from playing. the league has a weight limit of 135 pounds for seventh graders. he is 300. elijah's mother says his size is hereditary and he is being

discriminated against. the president of the football league said safety is concerned. he said we have little boys that play against him that are 85, 95, and 100 pounds. we have to look out for all of the kids not just him. elijah's mom says isn't bigger better in football? football is a contact sport. if you don't want your son tackled get him off the field. a tough mom. should elijah big e be allowed to play peewee football? what does your gut tell you? as you see there we grow them big in texas. that's why i'm so big. that does it for this edition of news nation. i'm tamron hall. the cycle is up next. era laundry detergent is a black belt stain fighter. it once stomped a stain with such force, the results could be felt around the world. [ explosion ] [ alarm buzzing ] [ rumbling ] [ people screaming ] it was such epic stain fighting, even chuck norris could respect it.

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