on our broadcast tonight, on the trail. president obama cashing in the day after his gay marriage announce 789. tonight, mitt romney responding to a story about his behavior back in high school. >> blind ambition. more stunning testimony at the john edwards trial. what the candidate wanting even during the cover up. >> the mystery. t is killing all of the honeybees and threatening our food supply in the process. >> and the weather channel, with prince charles. the television moment of the day. "nightly news" begins now. good evening. tonight, it is clear president

obama is hoping at least to become the first american president to come out in favor of same sex marriage. while he believes it's a matter that has to be decided by the individual states where the tide has been against it, the president none the less is appearing before a sympathetic audience tonight, one that may not have been so sympathetic to the president before the gay marriage announcement. it's where we begin with our white house correspondent kristen welker in seattle. good evening. >> good evening to you, brian. in fact, this is a state that has passed a law to legalize same hch sex marriage. tonight, an enthusestic roughly 200 supporters turned out to see the president speak. a day after his endorsement of same-sex marriage, president obama arrived in seattle for three big ticket fund-raisers in friendly political territory as his campaign tried to capitalize on the issue with this political

ad targeting mitt romney. >> i indicated my view, which is i do not favor marriage between people of the same gender, and i don't favor civil unions. >> the democratic national comty said called have been pouring in from donors, and the president, who is already expected to break a record at a fund-raising hoeszed by george clooney, may bring in an even larger haul. >> it will make the presidential's financial supporters double down their support of him. but for the electric at a whole, this is an economic election. >> the president's supporters aren't the only ones using the issue to raise money. former arkansas governor mike huckabee sent this e-mail to his supporters calling same-sex marriage a defining issue of this election and asking for $10 donations. romney also raised big money today. >> they told me it was the most

successful fund-raising event in the history of nebraska. >> and he said this. >> i hope the issue, as tender and sensitive as marriage is, is not a source of fund-raising for either of us. >> romney also said he intends to keep the focus on the economy, which he sees as his strongest argument. >> it's the economy, which is the focus of what they're talking about. obviously, the president does want to talk about that. >> we learned that vice president biden apologized to president obama for those comments that he made this past sunday on "meet the press" in which he essentially endorsed same sex marriage and jumped the gun on this issue. >> kristen, thanks. >> before we get into this neck item, ask yourself if you remember everything you did in high school, and more important, would you be willing to defend everything you did in high school? that's what mitt romney was facing today, and spent much of the day trying to explain and

apologize. our chief white house correspondent political director chuck todd with us tonight from the d.c. newsroom with that part of the story from the trail today. chuck, good evening. >> good evening, brian. what is fair game in presidential politics? today, mitt romney learned thal running for president means every aspect of your life is open to inspection, including high school days nearly 50 years ago. campaigning today, mitt romney found himself having to respond to a washington post story posted online this morning about his high school years at the prestigious cranbrook school outside of detroit. this article quotes some of romney's classmates describing his history of high school branchs including an incident from 1965 when he was a senior where he and a group of boys accosted a boy with bleach blond hair over one eye, tackled him and pinned him to the ground, and romney repeatedly clipped his hair. one of his classmates confirmed

the story saying the boys grew into a distinguished group of men and we look back on it now and it's a back mark on the character. >> is the incident troubling to you? >> governor romney doesn't remember that incident at all. >> romney responded to the allegations on several interviews on fox. he denied the specific charges were issued a blanket apologize. >> i had no this idea might have been gay, and as the article points out, i participated in a lot of hijinx and pranks in high school, and some may have gone too far, and for that i apologize. >> later on tv. >> i don't rarm the incident myself, but i have seen the reports and i'm not going to argue with that. there's no question that i did some stupid things when i was in high school. >> i think it's going to be very difficult to criticize mitt romney for what he did when he was 18 years old.

he's had a whole life to grow up and growing up is growing out of these irresponsible things. >> in 2007, then candidate obama faced supercriticism. >> i kept playing basketball, attended classes sparingly, drank beer heavily, and tried drugs enthusiastically. >> as you know, brian, the romney campaign has been in damage control mode, and late this afternoon, they have been sending out statements from other high school statements of mitt romney serving as character witnesses saying he was not a mean guy. this is not his character. >> chuck todd in d.c., thanks. >> there was some disturbing news from this nation's largest bank, jpmorgan chase. ceo jamie diamond held a hastily called conference call to announce the company has lost $2 billion in its own trading portfolio and the losses were a lack of internal controls, errors, sloppiness, and bad judgment. diamond said the company could

still lose more money on the trading positions. jp morken and other stocks fell in after hours trading. oerb seas tonight, a bloody day in syria. arguably the wus day in the capital since the struggle started 14 months ago now. at least 55 were killed, some 372 injured by two powerful car bombs that exploded today in damascus. our chief foreign correspondent richard engle has our report. >> the first bomb drew in the crowds. then a second killed them. this doesn't look like a pro democracy uprising, but like baghdad on a bad day. two suicide bombers in vehicles targeted an intelligence compound in damascus with a ton of explosives. the crater, ten feet deep. many images too graphic to show. the attack bolsters the government's claim that it's fighting terrorists, not pro

democracy campaigners. just after the bombing, supporter of al assad took to the streets to back him. in this chaotic mix, u.n. monitors. >> this is going to create more suffering for women, children, the city, and people. it is not going to solve any problems. >> by phone, an activist in hiding denied that the so-called legitimate opposition was responsible. >> the free syrian army made an announcement and declared clearly it's not behind these explosions. >> who did it? experts believe it was the work of islamic militants. they have been pouring into syria to fight the government, but today's bloodbath may have played right into assad's hands. the uprising in syria has been going on for over a year, brian. and attacks like the one today completely undermine the opposition's credibility, and the syrian government isn't

showing signs of cracking. >> there's no way to know whou this inends, but what is going ? >> the opposition wanted weapons, military support, and they didn't get it. the opposition doesn't control any territory. they don't have a strong hand. what they did get was islamic militants responding to a call, rushing in to try to help this opposition, and it's only made the situation worse. >> our chief foreign correspondent richard engle here with us in new york. back in this country, prosecutors at the john edwards corruption trial rested their case today with new evidence about the money trail to cover up this affair, and some stunning testimony about the candidate's seemingly blind ambition. again tonight, lisa myers has our report from greensboro, north carolina. >> prosecutors closed their case with a portrait of john edwards as a man so full of deceit and hubris that he tried to broker a deal as president obama's running mate even as his

pregnant mistress, rielle hunter, was being spirited around the country to keep her out of sight. leo hendry, a former edwards adviser testified that the day obama won the iowa caucuses in 2008 -- >> thank you, iowa. >> edwards had him approach the obama campaign about joining the ticket as vice president. mr. edwards believed it important that mrs. clinton not be the nominee and said that would be a disaster, hendry said. hendry also said a few weeks later, shortly before rielle hunter gave birth, edwards was weighing whether to endorse obama or clintb inspied of his disdain for clinton and had him convey hismousage that edwards would like to be attorney general and he had him discuss an elaborate long term goal to be a supreme court justice. >> it came across as john edwards was detached from reality. whether it was because of hubris or he was deluded can be

debated. >> prosecutors played for the jury edwards' interview in 2008 in which he admitted the affair but lied about other things, including his own daughter. >> i know it's not possible that this child could be mine because of the timing of events. >> edwards stared at the video, sometimes closing his eyes. some analysts believe there's still a gaping hole in the government's case. and that it is not presented clear evidence, that edwards knew that expenditures to hide his mistress were a violation of campaign finance law. lisa myers, nbc news, gree greensboro, north carolina. still ahead for us here tonight, what is killing so many honeybees and what does it mean for the american dinner table? tonight, a new theory in a stubborn and very troubling mystery. >> later, let's say you're waking up in scotland, having your tea, and you thought you saw prince charles doing the werthd on the bbc. you would be right. emily's just starting out... and on a budget.

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now to an environmental issue we have been covering here. it's as big and urgent as any other. a story we have been talking about for a while. something has bib causing honeybees to disappeu peeappear 2006. beekeepers estimate their colony is down 30%. given all that bees do in the natural world, this could be catastrophic. theories have centered on mites and viruses, but now there's a new clue in the mystery. our report from anne thompson. >> near elbow lake, minnesota, steve ellis tends his honeybees that help pollinate one third of u.s. crops that end up on our dinner tables.

>> they're as fundamental to food production as is water or sunlight. >> but honeybees are under attack, victims of colony collapse disorder where they disappear from hyphens and now this. >> normally, in the spring, do you see this many dead bodies? >> wetient see this kind of mortality. >> some of the bees are incapacitates or stunned. >> these bees are not capable of flying. >> five miles away, this farmer sees fewing bees around his corn fields. >> if there was a dand line, there was a bee on it, they have gone down in numbers. >> now, peer reviewed research suggest honeybees may be victims of neoneck atunoids. when corn is planted by machines to help keep seeds from sticking together, it is in the insecticide and it's released in the air. >> it's an environment

ostal to a honeybee. >> he said there's enough toxic material on one colonel of corn to kill hundreds of thousands of honeyb honeybees. of the 200 million acres planted with coated seeds, the larger manufacturer said there's not enough toxins in the dust to cause widespread deaths or colony collapse disorder. >> it doesn't cause colony collapse dish order. there's just not a link there. the evidence isn't there suggesting these products are causing widespread colony losses of honeybees. >> minnesota officials are looking into the deaths at steve ellis' hives along with other beekeep beekeepers, heetz. asking the epa to investigate, in an effort to keep alive these workers so crucial to our food supply. anne thompson, nbc news, elbow lake, minnesota. up next here tonight, some news about close encounters way up above, and a new effort to

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talk about a close encounter. nasa's dawn spacecraft is flying along a massive asteroid named vesa and has sent back information about what it looks like on the giant rock that started out as a small planet. vesta is roughly the size of arizona. it's located in the asteroid belt between mars and jupiter. it has a deeply pock-marked surface. here on earth, scientists have confirmed the bright light over nevada and california a few weeks back was indeed a visiting meteor the size of a minivan that broke up just over our atmosphe atmosphere. >> at washington's national cathedral today, debuting the sculpture of rosa parks whose refusal to give up a seat on a montgomer

montgomery, alabama, bus trugerred a wave of protests and chav changed the debate on the issue. tonight, an unprecedented effort to help america's men and women return to their families and some semblance of a normal life at home. with combat operations starting to bind down, more than 1 million veterans will be returning home to their communities. which brings us to a new campaign we here at nbc universal are very proud to be a part of. it takes its name from a military phrase. i've got your 6. >> got your 6 is a military term that means, i've got your back. the 12:00 is your front, your direction of travel. 3:00 and 9:00 are right and left, and 6:00 is to the rear. >> keep doing what you're doing. i have your back. i'm able to watch the dark spots, the places you can't see. >> through jobs, education, housing, and more, we can support returning military veterans and their families.

>> the first step in bridging the civilian/military divide is having each other's 6. changing the conversation in america so the veterans and military families are seen as civic assets and leaders and not as charity cases or problems. >> my daughter is 11 years old. i went to a meeting of parents a few months back. and in walked a couple who were both in fatigufatigues, and thi couple went and sat down. no one talked to them. it wasn't that people were rude or mean, but it was as if there was a discomfort, they didn't know what to do. we haven't figured out how to have this dialogue. >> civilians absolutely have the desire to share in the sacrifice or express their appreciation in a meaningful way. we as a country have lacked outlets for that appreciation sometimes. we, through these wars, haven't been buying war bonds or recycling tin. >> i've got your 6.

>> show your support and prove to a veteran you've got their 6. >> going to war in many cases is the easy part. what we do to take care of people and the ones and warriors we ask to do the job, that's the tough part. the work begins now. >> a great campaign. a lot of great people are involved. and if you're interested in joining in, getting involved in the work, we've put more information on the website, nbcnightlynews.com. >> the countdown to the summer olympics in london is in its final turn now with the lighting of the torch in ancient olympia grease. 490 torchbearers will carry the flame across 18 miles before it's handed over to london organisers in athens on the 17th. the torch will reach its final destination in london during opening ceremonies july 27th. up next here tonight, look who's predicting a few fleurys over balmoral. food,

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or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbaa.lt dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. a change in the weather. viewers of the bbc this morning did a double take when they saw who was delivering their forecast. while it was not al roker, it might have said a lot about britain's modern royal family. in london, our story from nbc's

stephanie gosk. >> prince charles will likely be king some day, but should that job fall through, he may have stumbled on a fallback. >> cold, wet, and windy. >> filling in as a weatherman on british tv. >> the rain will be heaviest over the borders and around edinboro where it could lead to difficult conditions on the roads. >> relaxed and regal, even while tracking isobars off the coast. >> in the west, rain will be lightser and perhaps here, there will be drier interludes. >> the dituchess of cornwall wod not be outdone. >> to be honest, just about anyone can be a meteorologist in britain this spring, cold, wind, rain, on and on. the much trickier job is getting the fickle british public to like you, and the royal family has been getting that right for a while.

the highest popularity in a generation is being driven by william and kate. their marriage. and charity work. her fashion, his military service. >> just the newfound affection for members of the royal family from briprinls harry to the que and beyond. >> prince harry was honored in washington, d.c. for the work he and prince william have done with injured veterans. >> to be introduced by such a world renowned soldier and statesman is truly humbling and a little terrifying. >> as the queen prepared to commemorate 60 years on the throne, a tell-tail sign her support is strong. sales of corgis are going up. for the moment, the scandals that'sriddles the royal family are a thing of the past. and being enjoyed by the whole family. knl. >> the potential for a few fleurys -- who wrote this

script, as the afternoon goes on. that's our broadcast on a thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams, and of course, we hope to see you rights back here tomorrow evening. good night.