the news nation is following developing news. russia reacting to president obama's tough message, no snowden, no meeting. in the past few hour, they called the president's decision not to meet with vladimir putin, quote, disappointing. the president made his decision official this morning in response to russia granting asylum to nsa leaker edward snowden. here's what the president said on "tonight show" with jay leno. >> i was disappointed because, you know, even though we don't have an extradition treaty with them, traditionally we have tried to respect if there's a lawmaker or an alleged lawbreaker in their country. they still help us on supplying our troops in afghanistan. they're still helping us on counterterrorism work. they were helpful after the boston bombing. but there have been times where they slipped back into cold war thinking and a cold war mentality. >> joining me now, nbc news

white house correspondent kristen welker. we heard rumblings this was happening. the president making it official this morning. a pretty tepid response from russia. any chance this might all be resolved before the meeting next month? >> reporter: well, there's always that chance. russian officials saying that the meeting is still open to president obama if he should change his mind. but it doesn't appear as though that's going to happen unless we see some major change in terms of how russia has decided to deal with edward snowden. you bring up an important point, tamron. the white house has been sort of dangling this in front of russia for a number of days. then when we learned last week that russia did grant temporary asylum to snowden, it seemed all but a foregone conclusion. in that statement today, the white house saying that this decision came about in part because of edward snowden but also because of a number of other issues, a number of tensions that exist between the united states and russia. i'll read you a little bit more

of what white house press secretary jay carney had to say about this decision in a statement that was released earlier today. he says, quote, given our lack of progress on issues such as missile defense and arms control, global security issues and human rights and civil society in the last 12 months, we have informed the russian government that we believe it would be more constructive to postpone the summit until we have more results from our shared agenda. another big issue, tamron, has been syria. they have not seen eye to eye on that issue either. so a number of tensions. the relationship between the united states and russia getting chillier by the day. this really represents a new low in those relations. i've been speaking to foreign policy experts who say that this is indeed a major setback in terms of the relationship between the united states and russia. i can tell you that senior administration officials reached out to their russian counterparts to make them aware of this decision. president obama did not speak to putin directly. we're getting a lot of reaction,

including from russia, which characterizes this as a disappointment. a number of lawmakers supporting president obama's decision, but then house speaker john boehner released this statement saying, quote, the president's signature foreign policy accomplishment from the first term a reset with russia has just collapsed. that is how some on the right are reacting to this. i think it's important to point out, though, tamron, that there will be conversations that go on at the end of the week between secretary of state john kerry and defense secretary chuck hagel with their russian counterparts at the state department. so there are other channels of communication. but again, this is a major statement by the obama administration. >> all right, kristen welker live at the white house. thanks, kristen. and the news nation is also following developing news in the trial of accused ft. hood shooter nadal hasan. court is now in recess after a defense attorney working with hasan told the judge he thinks hasan is intent on seeking the death penalty and he wants no part of it. this sparked an objection from

hasan who told the judge, quote, that's a twist of the facts. today's exchange comes after hasan acting as his own attorney delivered an opening statement saying, quote, evidence will clearly show he was responsible for the shooting. hasan did not cross-examine any of the four witnesses who took the stand yesterday, including a victim of the shooting and a member of the mosque hasan attended. hasan is only planning to call two witnesses to the stand. mark potter is outside the courthouse in texas. he joins me now live. mark, are there any new developments in this? we know court is held off until tomorrow at 9:00 a.m., but this defense attorney, this side attorney attorney, if you will, has taken a very strong stand here. >> reporter: well, yes, he has, and there's clearly a battle between the stand-by defense team, which was put in place to help hasan as he acts as his own attorney and hasan himself. as you said, the attorney stood up in court today and said there

are very serious concerns on the part of that defense team that hasan is actually trying to seek the death penalty, that he is trying to get himself killed in effect, and they want no part of it and should not be required to take part in that. they filed a motion last night after hasan gave an opening statement yesterday in which he admitted to being the shooter. in one of the statements, the defense attorney said today, quote, working in concert with a prosecution to achieve the death sentence is something we cannot do. now, hasan said that's a mischaracterization of his view. at that point, the judge stopped the proceeding and said we're going to take this into a private session. she stopped the session. we'll come back to court tomorrow morning at 9:00 central time and perhaps then we will hear from the judge what her decision is, but it's an open issue right now about what this defense team is expected to do. >> all right, mark. thank you. as this trial enters its third day, victims are still waiting to see if hasan will directly

confront them in the courtroom. victims and relatives also continued to express outrage over what they say is the army's accommodation of hasan, including the thousands of taxpayer dollars being spent on his transportation and security. meantime, victims are not able to receive military combat benefits because the shooting has not been designated a terrorist attack. it's being called an act of workplace violence. relatives of one of the victims says it's the treatment that led to their loved one to take his own life this year. staff sergeant josh berry survived the shooting but then suffered years of post-traumatic stress. he died in february. his father howard berry joins me now live alongside investigative reporter scott friedman from our nbc station in dallas. gentlemen, thank you for joining me. howard, i have to start off with you. first of all, my heart goes out to you and your family for the loss of your son, and thank you for his service. what does it feel like to hear hasan yesterday flat out say

he's the person responsible? and this attorney today saying this is all about hasan wanting to get the death penalty. what's your reaction to that? >> ultimately, i have no control over what happens in that courtroom. ultimately, what i would like to see would be justice for josh. i would like to see justice for the other victims of the shooting and their families. that's what i'd like to see at the end of this. you know, we just have to proceed and hope that, you know, the judge and everyone involved is going to do the right thing. >> what was josh's life like after the shooting? >> oh, my goodness. he was -- he was never at peace. there was never a time that i could say that he was comfortable. you know, he had severe ptsd. it's not like just a light dose. he had it terribly. you know, it affected him

constantly. the army was a safe place. the fact that he had been described to me as a highly effective and a motivated noncommissioned officer that performed very well and, you know, he thrived. he was very proud to serve our country. the shooting on that day just -- it took away a safe place. he had nothing -- he could find no peace after that day. i just wish that more had been done to help him. >> scott, let me bring you in. you heard howard say his son could find no peace. he took his own life february 13th, 2013. there are others who still can't find peace. they're here and they are struggling to get the benefits they and so many others including lawmakers believe they deserve. we're watching this circus atmosphere around hasan and the

trial while they struggle if he'll cross examine them and this continued hardship you've reported on, scott. >> right, tamron. we interviewed howard for our stories. we've interviewed other family members. we hear the same thing. they're frustrated with how long it's taken to bring this case to trial, more than three and a half years. they feel the judges have gone out of their way to make accommodations for delays. they're frustrated with the fact that major hasan remains on the army payroll, has made, as we reported, about $300,000 since his arrest in the shooting. the victims, mean while, have not been awarded purple heart medals and combat benefits that they feel they deserve, the way other soldiers were awarded after attacks overseas and after the 9/11 attack on the pentagon. >> i don't know if you had a chance to talk with any of the families or victims who survived yesterday, but as i asked howard, hearing hasan in court take claim for this and maybe

some of the tactics that he is working under and that he may ultimately just be trying to get his words out and this is all about getting the death penalty here. what other reaction did you hear yesterday, scott? >> well, i think this really highlights one of the challenges of trying this case in a military court. i mean, here you have a lawyer who is still a member of the united states army, a soldier. ethically, it would be very difficult for him to stand up in this case and say my client was justified in doing this because he was fighting a war to protect the taliban as hasan suggested in one of his pretrial statements. so the lawyers are in a tough spot here. they really -- at the same time, they don't want to see this case appealed down the road, you know, on an argument he wasn't represented adequately, but they really can't make the argument on hasan's behalf that he seems to want to make, which is that he switched sides as he said yesterday to protect islam. >> well, scott, thank you again

and your excellent reporting. howard, our thoughts are with you and your family and your continued representation of your son. you're his voice. thank you so much, sir. >> you're welcome. another developing story that is the nationwide man hunt for james lee dimaggio. he's the man who police say killed a woman in her home near san diego and abduct the at least one of her two children. an amber alert is in effect right now for 16-year-old hanna anderson and her 8-year-old brother ethan. now, they've not been seen since their mother's body was found in a burned home over the weekend. next to her body was the body of a child. the body was so badly burned, authorities could not identify, though they do believe it is ethan. now, dimaggio was a close friend of the family and called uncle jim by those two kids. yesterday their father pleaded with him to return his daughter.

>> jim, i can't fathom what you were thinking. the damage is done. i'm begging you to let my daughter go. you've taken everything else. hanna, we all love you very much. if you have a chance, you take it. you run. you'll be found. >> authorities believe dimaggio may be headed for texas or canada. he may be driving a blue 2013 nissan versa with california plates 6wcu986. this is a nationwide man hunt. joining me live now, one of the correspondents of my upcoming show "deadline crime" on discovery i.d. first of all, what do we know about this man, this dimaggio? he was considered an uncle to these kids, so why is he a suspect now? >> well, at this particular point, tamron, from what i've learned from investigators and also from covering this case is that because of the body, christina anderson, who was

found inside of her house along with this other child's body, along with a dog inside the residence. you can look it up. it's a log cabin style. it has a three-car attached garage. it was completely engulfed in flames. but that doesn't mean that all the evidence was burned. i've been a volunteer firefighter for 18 years. so working on the scene of a lot of arson cases, when fire marshals go in there, they work from the least amount of damage to the most amount of damage to dig up all those clues. >> it breaks my heart. investigators say it's a needle in a haystack. this is a guy who runs the a amber alert program. this man could be anywhere with this girl. we heard her father say, if you get a chance to run, you know, do that. she has to be horrified. >> she has to be just beside herself, not sure what to do. this is a man that she trusted, someone she turned to. has even been described as a second father to her.

you know, it's said the children even called him uncle and that he was really there for the family. where his house is located is about 25 miles from the mexican border, but his car was last seen driving north. i believe that vehicle, that is the key to figuring out to where they've been, where they could be going, what's happening next. good news is amber alert, since the system's been put in place,been 656 recoveries. in 2001, out of the 158 issued, 144 children have been found. >> and sadly, as a reporter in dallas, i covered the disappearance of amber. as a result, the amber alert was created. thank you very much, michelle. still ahead, the house of horrors where three women were held captive by ariel castro is no more. plus, the emotional message of strength and hope for one of his victims as the house came down. also, the u.s. military launches two more drone strikes in the last 48 hours against al qaeda militants as president obama speaks out for the first time on the terror threats that shut down dozens of embassies.

>> violent extremism is still out there, and we've got to stay on top of it. and be sure to join our conversation on twitter. you can find me @tamronhall and my team @newsnation. we read your tweets and respond to as many as we can. we've completely redone the house. it's hard to find contractors with the passion and the skill, and that's why we use angie's list. online or on the phone, we help you hire right the first time with honest reviews on over 720 local services. i want it done right. i don't want to have to worry about it or have to come back and redo it. with angie's list, i was able to turn my home into the home of my dreams. for over 18 years, we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today. yeah? then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...safe driving bonus check? every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check.

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it's significant enough that we're taking every precaution. we had already done a lot to bolster embassy security around the world, but especially in the middle east, north africa, where the threats tend to be highest. and whenever we see a threat stream that we think is specific enough that we can take some specific precautions within a certain time frame, then we do

so. >> president obama on "the tonight show" last night. he made his first public comments on the terror threat that has 19 u.s. embassies and consulates in muslim countries closed through the end of the week. and it's led to the evacuation of nonemergency personnel from the u.s. embassy in yemen. and there are new reports today concerning that terror threat. the government of yemen says it foiled a plot by al qaeda to seize two major oil and gas terminals in a provincial capital. meantime, another u.s. drone strike in southern yemen today reportedly killed seven suspected al qaeda militants. that's the fifth u.s. drone strike in yemen in less than two weeks. nbc's ayman mohyeldin joins us live from cairo. ayman, there's been a question of whether or not the join strikes before the embassy closings were announced friday and in these that have followed are all connected to this terror threat. that seems quite obvious. >> reporter: well, there's no doubt about it. it is part of the counterinsurgency efforts the

u.s. has been stepping up in yemen to try and suppress any potential terrorist attack in that country or anywhere across the region. however, that and the statement that came out from the yemeni government that they had foiled this plot in the southern part of the country on oil installations and perhaps an attempt by al qaeda to take over the city, both of those seem somewhat disconnected from the alert the united states issued following that communication intercept. there's no evidence to suggest that plot foiled by the government was directly related to the attack the united states was anticipating happening following their intelligence stream as we heard earlier. it does not seem to be connected. however, we know the counterterrorism strikes as a result of the drone operations certainly inconsistent with u.s. policy in yemen and elsewhere. >> and as i mentioned, you're live for us in cairo. ayman, what is the latest on the developments there as we're hearing yet again that the military may move in on morsi supporters. >> reporter: yeah, that's correct. the government today said that

it has finally lost its patience with and that it would finally break up the sit-in protest. however, those statements have come out of the government before. people here are still taking them seriously. more importantly, what they're looking at is what the government here says is the end of diplomatic efforts. we were talking about this throughout the course of the week. william burns was here. senators john mccain and lindsey graham was here. a lot of foreign diplomats have been coming through cairo over the course of the last week to try and negotiate some agreement between the muslim brotherhood and the interim government. they have all left cairo, and that in the eyes of many people is an ominous sign that the government may now feel it has to move in and try to break up these protests. there is some indication that bo back door negotiations are taking place. so far, it looks like the ominous sign, at least, is that the military and police want to try and break up these protests at some point in the coming

days. it is a major religious holiday here. some people anticipate it will happen in the days ahead. >> ayman, thank you very much. still ahead, more tragedy for singer usher after his son nearly drowns in the family pool. the latest on the 5-year-old's condition and what happened and how it's all setting up a possible custody battle between the singer and his ex-wife. plus, the widow of one of the elite firefighters killed while battling that massive wildfire back in june now taking on the city her husband served. why? the widow says she's being denied the benefits she and her family deserve. ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker every day. ♪

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lealong the jersey shore,g. coca-cola is partnering with local businesses and the seaside heights business improvement district to restore the historic boardwalk, welcoming beach lovers back with a refreshed and revitalized place to get out, get moving, and have some fun in the sun. it's part of our goal to inspire more than three million people to rediscover the joy of being active this summer. see the difference all of us can make... together. welcome back. the house where ariel castro held three women hostage for a decade is no more. the house was demolished today as part of a deal that spared

castro possible death sentence. it took less than 90 minutes to reduce that house of horrors to a pile of rubble. gina dejesus was in the cab of the excavator as it took its first swipe. another one of the victims, michelle knight, was also on hand. she released yellow balloons in memory of missing children and delivered this message. >> why it was important to be here today is because nobody was there for me when i was missing. i want the people out there to know, including the mothers, that they can have strength. they can have hope. their child will come back. >> nbc's john yang is on the scene in cleveland. it's very quiet behind you, john. i'm curious, what happens now to that space? >> reporter: they're going to talk about that. they want it to be a consensus

with the people in the neighborhood about what happens. they're also talking to the three women about what happens to this site. interestingly enough, amanda berry and gina dejesus have said they really don't want to have a say. they want the neighborhood to decide what happens with this site. they simply want to move on and essentially try to forget it. michelle knight, who we heard, does want to have a role. she wants to have some sort of -- to work with the neighborhood about its future. one thing that they all agree on is they don't want it to become a memorial. they don't want it to become a commemoration of what happened here. they want to move on. they want it to become a parkland, perhaps, trees, a green space in this neighborhood. the next step, according to the city councilman who represents this area, in about four to six weeks, they're going to have a block party of sorts to celebrate the fact that this chapter is closed, over and done

with. they want to have the police, the fbi, the people who participated and helped rescue and save these women to come and have it be a celebration that this is over and the house is gone. tamron? >> and castro's son was there as well, right, john? >> reporter: he was actually here a couple days ago. he had come with friends and relatives to clear out things, things that family members might find have sentimental value. he was seen carrying out some musical instruments, carrying a -- some photos, photos of his mother, who also suffered at the hands of ariel castro, according to anthony castro, the son. he is completely behind this idea, the demolition of this house. he said there were so many bad memory, it was time to tear it down. he's hoping this will help him get on with his life as well. tamron? >> all right, john.

thank you very much. developing news, president obama expected to land at camp he pendleton any minute now to visit soldiers and their families. it comes as a new study suggests nearly a third of all iraq and afghanistan vets have contemplated suicide. we'll dig into those numbers and talk about that ongoing problem. plus, two more women come forward to accuse san diego mayor bob filner of sexual harassment. if you are counting, it's up to 13 women now. the latest claim is just one of the things we thought you should know. r ] running out of steam? ♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle. need a little kick? [announcer] there's no hiding the beneful baked delights.from new heartfuls are made with real bacon... ...and oven-baked to crisp perfection.

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iand we're talkingl time with diane about the walmart low price guarantee, backed by ad match. you got your list? i do! let's go! here we go cinnamon toast crunch. yay! a perfect school day breakfast. i know if you find a lower advertised price they'll match it at the register. that's amazing. look at that price. i like that. they need those for school. we're always working to lower costs so you get more savings. now your kids have everything they need. all in one place. more school for your money. guaranteed. ready? wow! that's the walmart low price guarantee backed by ad match. save time and money getting your kids ready for school, bring in ads from your local stores and see for yourself. welcome back. in the past hour, president obama wrapped up answering questions about home buying at the housing website zillow. the president said he would push to have a broad package of housing reform measures passed through congress by the end of this year. it was a follow-up to the speech we saw yesterday regarding the housing market. the president took part in the chat in l.a. fresh off his

appearance on "the tonight show" last night. as we showed you earlier, the president used the appearance to cover a wide variety of topics from the terror threat on u.s. embassies to the diplomatic tensions with russia over edward snowden. joining me now, "the washington post"'s nia milika henderson. wea this housing market, many questions. quite honestly, when you start talking about broad packages, we know the complexity of the housing market already. but the president wants to see movement by the end of the year. any chance he'll be successful? >> hard to see him being successful. he's right to go out and frame these debates and try to highlight the problems that americans are having in terms of refinancing homes. he said himself, i think, that he could benefit from being able to refinance a mortgage on his house. but it's hard to see any movement on any of these things. i think the president is doing

the right thing in terms of trying to frame this debate on his terms. congress is out for the next five weeks. hard to see any movement. >> it's hard to see movement these days, michael, but it's fun fi that jay leno asked president obama about his, quote, bromance with senator john mccain as of late. let me play what was said there. >> you two had that lover's quarrel for a while. now you're best friends. what happened? >> that's how a classic romantic comedy goes, right? you know, initially you're not getting along, then you keep on bumping into each other. he deserves credit for being someone who's willing to go against the grain of his own party sometimes. it's probably not good for me to compliment him on television. >> there you go, michael. the president obviously saying it's probably not good because then you have members of the tea party and other aspects of the republican party who might come down on john mccain.

it seems as of late john mccain doesn't care what his party thinks. he and lindsey graham are in cairo. does it help at all, or does it hurt? >> well, i mean, i think it helps the president significantly. it's not clear that mccain is ever going to run for anything again. you know, i believe he's mid to late 70s at this point. this could be his last term. he won't have to worry about facing primary challengers and the wrath of the tea party. but bromances with the president have failed other republicans who had to have re-elections. look at richard luger in indiana. he got taken down by a taef party challenger. mccain now doesn't have to worry about that. because he's working with the president, he's in the center of the action on a load of issues ranging from immigration now to the situation in egypt where actually mccain is in a different position. mccain thinks we should flat-out declare a coup of egypt.

>> and he used that language while there. you say center of the action. here again, people quite upset with congress not getting anything done and watching many of them on their break, some of them holding town halls. this image of the president on leno talking about trayvon martin, hillary clinton, his meeting, even the john mccain issue and certainly the more important issues of this terror threat. this does still put him at the center of the universe in that people flip on their television and they see him talking about ideas as opposed to not in some cases seeing their member of congress, michael. >> yeah, that's right. you know, the white house kind of reels obama in and out. i think you get the feeling that sometimes they feel like he's overexposed and they pull him back a little bit. we haven't seen that much of him. now he's back. i think it's a great format for him. congress is very unpopular and washington in general is very unpopular. so to have him in los angeles on a show like this gets him away from all that. i think he's at his best when he's joking and smiling. he has that radiant smile.

it's a great setting for him. >> nia malika? >> yeah, he's getting into those suburban homes. it's very different from a stump speech where he brings out a lot of the red meat. on that format, i think it's great for him. i think this is his sixth time being there with jay leno. they have a great little relationship there and some good chemistry. it makes for really good tv. he gets several bites at the apple, right. it runs one time at night. then it runs again on the websites and on this channel. so it's a really good format for him. i think they've been very smart to not only do social media, this kind of media with jay leno and do the speeches as well. >> all right. thank you both for your time. i like seeing you guys on together. well, president obama is expected to land in camp pendleton in a few minutes. his visit comes a week after an alarming new survey paints a grim picture of the stress servicemen and women face returning from war. according to the survey, nearly one-third of iraq and afghanistan vets surveyed have

contemplated suicide. 37% knew someone who has taken their own life while 45% know someone who's attempted to take their own life. the group behind the survey, iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, represents nearly 200,000 people, many of whom are young vets. msnbc contributor bill briggs joins me now with his report on this. bill, we've talked so much about the suicide rate and the problems, though, that these vets cite, sadly, are things that you would think could be addressed by our government, including getting their benefits when they retire and some other things that can be taken care of for them. >> yeah, the backlog on benefit -- receiving their benefits is enormous. that's contributing to this problem and has been for several years. it's such a complex issue, and it involves so many realities of coming home from war,

reintegrating with your family, reintegrating with your community, finding a job, substance abuse. it's a very complex issue that i think some experts are finally starting to get a handle on maybe what's triggering this spike. >> and what do they believe is the key component? and i feel terrible trying to minimize this to one thing because as you pointed out, it's a laundry list of things these men and women face. >> yeah, what's really interesting is a new study came out this week that essentially sort of deflated the notion that combat and multiple deployments are really the key triggers. that folks come home, men and women come home with combat anxieties. that's what's behind this spike and this high rate. really, what the study found and the experts agree with is that there are a lot of causal effects of this kind of

behavior, this thought pattern that folks carry into the military with them. obviously, being in combat, being away from your family contributes to that, enforces that problem of kind of reattaching yourself to society. so it's a bit simplistic to just say it's been the wars that have caused this spike. they've been a contributing factor. they're not the factor. >> well, some of these troops were asked how they feel if the president and congress are ignoring them. 66% bereave the president does not listen enough to iraq and afghanistan vets. 80% of respondents believe congress does not listen to iraq and afghanistan veterans. 80%. the president is at camp pendleton, as we pointed out. we're going to talk more about that. "the cycle" is going to cover that in the next hour. that's disgraceful. this is probably not imagined. when you look at these numbers,

they believe congress and people in washington aren't listening to them, i think, based on facts, to your point about the bag log with their benefits. >> exactly. it's a tangible number. it's a waiting game that has gone on for years for some people to receive their benefits for injuries sustained in combat or just in service. they can't understand why in this day and age we can't fix this thing in a month or a couple months, why it's taking years for these folks to get money that they need to sustain their life, to help basically just equalize, you know, how they're living and keeping their family -- >> and we're not talking lavish lis lifestyles here. >> no, exactly. we're talking about returning to their old life. they need help because a lot of them can't work right now. they've come home hurt, wounded. so this backlog is just this monstrous issue -- >> that hovers over all this. >> why can't the white house fix

this? why can't congress fix this? >> all right, bill. thank you for your time. you can watch live coverage of the president's speech next on "the cycle." it's scheduled for 3:50 eastern time. we'll be carrying it on msnbc. we'll be right back. any last requests mr. baldwin?

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you bet. now if you like that, press the red button on top. ♪ how did he not see that coming? what's in your wallet? a sad custody battle heating up between singer usher and his ex-wife after their 5-year-old son nearly drowned in a backyard swimming pool. usher was not home monday afternoon when his 5-year-old son got his hand stuck in the pool's drain. his aunt and another adult struggled to get the child out. contractors working nearby managed to free him. as a result, usher and his ex-wife are heading back to court over custody of their two sons. she's filed an emergency custody hearing alleging the singer leaves the children with caregivers instead of caring for them himself. joining me now, christopher witherspoon.

this custody battle is heartbreaking. this child, at least as we know right now, will fully recover. can't imagine what was happening at that home yesterday. terrifying. >> we don't really know if that was even at their home. it was a home in atlanta. this aunt was with him. the aunt is like a third-party caregiver. the boy got his arm stuck in a drain. they had to get multiple people down there to pull him out. >> but he's okay today? >> he's in stable condition. both mom and dad are at this hospital by his bedside. >> soon after that happened, usher's ex files for this emergency hearing. what's the history there? >> they have bad blood. she went from being his stylist in 2007 to his wife. they divorced in 2009. between 2009 and 2012 usher asked for full custody of these children. i spoke to her a year ago. she told me it wasn't here that asked for full custody, it was usher. she wanted to do shared, joint custody. over the past year, usher has had full custody of both these kids. >> she's saying her kids are in jeopardy, but another child --

and this is unbelievable -- died in an accident with her. >> yeah, so usher's stepson, her son by a different man, 11 years old last year died in a jet skiing incident. she wasn't there for that. it was another third-party caregiver at a lake in georgia. he was hit by a jet ski, went brain dead and died. so there's a bad story there. they have to come to a middle ground, in my opinion, and find a way to raise these kids together. i think joint custody is something that should be an option. the third-party caregiver thing is scary. >> a judge will determine this. usher has not made a comment on the incident. we'll see what the judge says in this case. thank you very much, chris. great to have you on. jurors in the whitey bulger trial are well into their first full day of deliberations. at this hour, that tops our look at stories around the news nation today. shortly after they began, they sent questions to the judge about the statute of limitations on the charges against the alleged mobster. the judge told them all charges are within the statute.

bulger faces more than 30 charges from the '70s and '80s, including murder and extortion. the cdc says child obesity rates are starting to go down for the first time in decades. a study shows between 2008 and 2011 rates stayed the same or dropped in 40 states and territories. the cdc tracked almost 12 million low-income preschoolers for the study and says campaigns like the first lady's are contributing to the decrease. and the powerball jackpot is getting close to record-breaking levels. it is now worth $425 million. if no one wins tonight's drawing, lottery officials say that will be a world record number for the next one. well, bank of america, the nation's second largest bank, is under fire again for its alleged actions during the financial meltdown. this time it's being sued by the justice department and the securities and exchange commission. they accuse bank of america of defrauding investors when it

sold $850 million worth of mortgage-backed securities in 2008. bank of america denies any wrongdoing. it has already paid billions in fines to settle allegations that it improperly handled mortgages, including a whopping $10 billion penalty earlier this year. joining me now in studio, zachary carabell, columnist for reuters. so does this mean anything to the average consumer, or is this just the big boys battling it out? >> unfortunately, it doesn't mean a lot. bank of america has been under repeated fire. this is the first time the justice department has gone after bank of america as opposed country wide, the big measuring insurer which they unfortunately bought. this is all 2008, right. >> this is at the beginning of the meltdown. >> so we're five years later. this is how slow our regulatory and justice system is to respond to things. it's not going to do anyone any good who was in that position in 2008. much for better, a lot of these

practices no longer pertain, meaning banks have -- they may not have learned their lesson, but they learned there's an awful lot of risk in those procedures. >> they're accused of defrauding investors when it sold $850 million. what does that mean? >> it's the same thing like the robo signing. they were not adequately looking at who was being lent to, what the lending standards were. they were in such a rush to get mortgages out there because it was profitable that they allowed all lending standards to go. they essentially lent money to people they shouldn't with risks that were not sustainable. this is the amount of money that's claimed to be at stake. >> are you impressed with this move by the department of justice here? >> i think five years is a long time for the wheels of justice to move. >> too long. thank you very much. still ahead, the widow of an elite firefighter killed in the line of duty takes on an arizona city over benefits she says her husband earned. it's our "news nation" gut check. ok, here's the way the system works. let's say you pay your guy around 2% to manage your money.

that's not much you think. except it's 2% every year. does that make a difference? search "cost of financial advisors" ouch. over time it really adds up. then go to e-trade and find out how much our advice costs. spoiler alert: it's low. really? yes, really. e-trade offers investment advice and guidance from dedicated, professional financial consultants. it's guidance on your terms, not ours. that's how our system works. e-trade. less for us. more for you. but you had to leave rightce to now, would you go? world, man: 'oh i can't go tonight' woman: 'i can't.' hero : that's what expedia asked me. host: book the flight but you have to go right now. hero: (laughs) and i just go? this is for real right? this is for real? i always said one day i'd go to china,

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there's a lot going on today. here's some things we just thought you should know. former president george w. bush is now home from the hospital. a spokesman says mr. bush was discharged earlier today from the dallas hospital where doctors inserted a stint yesterday to clear a blocked artery in his heart. the blockage was found during the former president's annual physical exam. his spokesperson says mr. bush plans to return to his normal schedule tomorrow. more accusations of sexual harassment against san diego mayor bob filner. two more women, both military vets, have come forward to publicly accuse filner of unwanted sexual advances. the women say filner made the advances last year during a conference that focused on military sexual assaults. one of the women recently retrieved a voicemail message from filner in which he told her he did not want to wait to have dinner with her.

13 women are now in awe kccusin him. time for the gut check. the widow of one of 19 firefighters killed in that arizona wildfire is ramping up her fight for benefits for her family. now, julian ashcraft, whose 29-year-old husband andrew died in june while working an the yarnell fire, held a news conference earlier today. she says she and other widows are being denied full-time benefits by the city of prescott because their husbands were classified as part-time employees. our nbc affiliate kpnx says it obtained personnel records that show ashcraft worked a full-time schedule, but the city released records showing ashcraft was designated a seasonal employee. city of prescott officials say the rules and laws and benefits are very strict and they claim their hands are tied. should the families of the 13 firefighters classified as seasonal who lost their lives be entitled to full-time benefits? what does your gut tell you?

go to facebook.com/newsnation. that does it for this edition of "news nation." tomorrow, we'll talk with amy barnett, the editor and chief of "ebony" magazine about their decision to dedicate four covers of the september issue to the memory of trayvon martin. you see the covers feature the martin family and other famous fathers, including spike lee with his son and dwyane wade as well. that's tomorrow on "news nation." "the cycle" is up next. my insurance rates are probably gonna double. but, dad, you've got...

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diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues... with three strains of good bacteria. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. it's 3:00 here in new york. high noon out at california's camp pendleton, where the president is this hour. our commander in chief is taking time to thank some of the bravest americans, and so are we are. we're winding down two wars but an even bigger battle is far from over. what is the latest global terror threat mean for national security, personal privacy, and for those who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice? i'm abby huntsman. post war means a personal