on our broadcast tonight -- security breakdown. tsa troubles at a busy american airport. dozens of screeners fired or suspended. what we are learning about the air security breakdown. fighting cancer, a new weapon against one of the common deadly forms of cancer. plus has science finally gotten the upper hand on melano? the war next door, drug smugglers taking to the high seas at high speed to bring drugs into the u.s. tonight, exclusively, we are riding along with the feds in hot pursuit. royal scare -- some one important is missing from the picture on the queen's big day during the celebration of her jubilee, a member of the royal family is hospitalized. jubilee, a member of the royal family is hospitalized. nightly news begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. it is not just the first line of defense, it is the last time a passenger gets checked before boarding an aircraft in our post 9/11 era. everybody has their own opinion about the blue-shirted tsa inspectors at the airport they have a big job, they don't always do it well. case in point -- fort myers airport in florida where tonight over three dozen tsa personnel, officers, supervisors have been pulled from their jobs for the failure to conduct the kinds of secondary inspections that are supposed to keep terrorists off-guard. this will send a shock through the national system. it is where we begin with nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: it happened at southwest florida international airport, fort myers, five front line security officers fired.

another 3 suspended for two weeks including supervisors and the federal security director, the person responsible for the entire airport security. government sources say a large number of tsa officers on the late shift were no longer conducting random passenger screenings after passengers went through the checkpoint. critics say it is more evidence of trouble at the tsa. >> you have 14,000 administrators, 65,000 personnel. and they don't need to have tsa in that personnel business. they need to get out of it and get into the security business. >> reporter: in a statement to nbc news, the tsa says, accountability is an important aspect of our work and tsa takes prompt and appropriate action with any employee who does not follow our procedures and engauges in misconduct. fort myers is a small airport, but the tsa troubles here come after a series of high profile embarrassments. in honolulu, 48 fired or

suspended amid allegations they improperly screened baggage. in charlotte, 12 accused of botching inspections fired. in newark, eight suspended for sleeping on the job or theft. >> tsa is a giant organization, tom. it has tens of thousands of employees. those folks are doing a very mundane, day in, day out, high volume, high stress job. >> reporter: 50,000 officers work at more than 450 airports screening 1.7 million people each day. security experts acknowledge the monotony of the job can lead to fatigue and complacency. this happened over a two month period last year. tsa insists security was never compromised because what the officers stopped doing was additional random screenings that many of us get selected for from time to time. but the tsa says that randomness is a critical part of its security approach and it cannot have groups of officers deciding

on their own that they're simply not going to do it. brian. >> tom costello in washington. tom, thanks. we turn to what may be a history making brutal wildfire season out west. it already turned deadly with the crash of a tanker aircraft yesterday. there are two new major fires burning tonight. one in california's sequoia national forest, threatening a stand of the giant trees that haven't been touched by fire in 140 years. nbc's miguel almaguer starts us off from the front lines in new mexico. >> this morning i have some unfortunate news. >> reporter: just before hundreds of fire fighters returned to battle on the front line tuesday. >> if you would please join me in a moment of silence. >> reporter: a tribute to two pilots who died sunday in the line of do they. when rescue teams reached the wreckage of the air tanker along the nevada/utah border, the bodies of the pilots were recovered. the plane had dropped a load of

fire retardant when more unknown reasons the pilots crashed near the head of the fire. >> these guys in the air keep the fire fighters safe. they protect them. never in our wildest dreams did we think we would bury him. >> reporter: 500 miles away outside reno, nevada, a second air tanker crash landed. the landing gear malfunctioned but the crew walked away. the fleet of 11 air tankers, now nine has been called a workhorse for fighting remote wildfires that ravage the west. but today as blazes across the region multiply in size and numbers, the effectiveness of these aging planes has been called into question. meantime, in new mexico, an aerial assault on the largest wildfire burning in the country. 255,000 acres scorched, a burn zone bigger than the city of dallas. >> it is very challenging terrain, very dry conditions. >> long days. >> reporter: with fire fighters

working 16-hour shifts, crews are making progress. in the historic mining town, ground teams say the town once surrounded by fire. >> they probably have saved this town from burning. >> reporter: brian, like other fires burning in this region this one in new mexico will likely burn for weeks if not for months. ahead, containment is roughly 18%. for the men and women battling so hard tonight on the front lines their thoughts are with their colleagues who they lost this weekend. brian. >> miguel almaguer in new mexico for us tonight. miguel, thanks. the political fight between wisconsin's republican governor and the state's public employees' unions coming to a head tonight. there were tremendous protests last year after governor scott walker stripped some of those unions of their collective bargaining rights. tomorrow, he faces a recall election. and nbc's peter alexander has our report. >> reporter: in wisconsin, the final hours in what some have called the second most important race this year.

an intensely polarized fight ahead of the fall's presidential election. fueling passions on both sides. polls show voters are deeply divided ahead of tomorrow's recall election on the state's republican governor scott walker. it is a fiery local campaign that analysts say high lights the country's nasty political landscape where demonization often drowns out discourse. >> it is give no ground, fight to the death, pursue your opponent, demonize him, that's the way it is in wisconsin. and unfortunately that's the way it's become nationally. >> reporter: shortly after taking office, 18 month as go to combat a swelling budget deaf sishlgts walker stripped workers of collective bargaining rights making them pay more for health insurance and penning benefits. protestors descended on the state capitol, a battle of the competing views of the role and size of government. >> believes more government is the answer. that is two very different

positions. >> reporter: milwaukee's mayor lost to walker in 2010. >> governor walker has the courage to do what is right for wisconsin. >> reporter: wisconsin has been flooded with a record $64 million in campaign spending much of it from out of state. with walker out raising his opponent 7-1. many voters have had enough. >> it is going to be nice when it is all over. i would like to see wisconsin get back to the calm, friendly place that it used to be. >> reporter: anticipating a very tight race scott walker and challenger, tom barrett have recall lawyers standing by. the fight could drag on even after tomorrow. brian we have seen how recounts divided americans before. >> peter alexander in the d.c. newsroom tonight. thanks. there is more encouraging news out of the convention of cancer

specialists under way now in chicago. tonight, it concerns a new type of drug for melanoma. which can be very difficult to treat once it spreads beyond a skin lesion. our report tonight from our chief science correspondent, robert bazell. >> reporter: pamela maddox, a retired teacher that loves to garden at 57 is quite healthy. two years ago she was close to death from advanced melanoma until he got an experimental drug that targets cancer genes. >> like being given a second chance. you don't know houw long this i going to last. hopefully a long term thing. >> reporter: results at the cancer conference today, show her drushgs trametinib cut melanoma in 300 patients by 55%. also at the conference, a different drug that enhances immune response to melanoma and cancers showed promises results. both drugs will head to the fda for approval. in the wake of two drugs okayed for advanced melanoma.

>> now we have multiple new treatments we know can be game changers in a profound way. >> reporter: doctors recognize the success stories like the increasing ability to fight advanced melanoma, they know there are big challenges fighting lung cancer, advanced breast and colon cancer. another challenge, a continuing shortage of many cancer drugs. while new drugs often cost $100,000 a year or more, the successful older drugs that many patients like 15-year-old rely on cost only hundreds and they remain in critically short supply. >> these drugs that are in short supply are primarily drugs that are older, fairly cheap in terms of purchasing them and not much of a profit margin for the companies. >> reporter: the fda has no authority to tell drug companies what to make. cancer doctors want legislation so the government can stem the shortages. robert bazell, nbc news, chicago. after a big couple days in

london, this is a big night there. the queen's 60th anniversary on the throne, her diamond jubilee. today was overshadowed a bit by word that prince philip, has been hospitalized and his wife the queen has been forced to go on about the celebration without him. while we'll have more on the celebration later tonight, we do want to real quick check in with stephanie gosk in london for an update this evening. stephanie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the palace announced prince film had been taken to the hospital with a bladder infection and likely to stay over the next few days. he was seen in public yesterday at the queen's side as part of the flotilla celebration. he looked good at one point even dancing. this is not his first health scare in recent months taken to the hospital over christmas with chest pains and treat ford a clogged artery. he turns 91 this sunday. at that age any medical condition is going to be treated seriously. >> i know we will have more from you later in the broadcast.

still ahead for us as we continue along the way, while it is some times hard to tell it sure appeared the queen enjoyed that massive celebration. there was a lot to enjoy. and we'll show you all of it coming up later. but first, maybe it is a sign that stopping mexican drug smugglers on land perhaps may be working. now all eyes are on the high seas. over the south pacific in . i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan.

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we mentioned this earlier, the drug war on our southern border shifted from a fight on land to a campaign at sea. smugglers are now moving their product across the open ocean in the dark of night coming ashore in southern california with the same boldness and force they have always shown. tonight nbc's mark potter is in the thick of it. his latest report on the war next door. >> reporter: just before dawn near a luxurious malibu beach, a team of suspected mexican smugglers offloads bales of marijuana from a wooden boat trying to elude u.s. authorities.

another smuggling gang speeds through the open ocean. these souped up fishing boats are the latest threat from mexico's notorious drug cartel. >> we are seeing 4 and 5 tons of drugs come in per run. we are seeing dozens of runs. it is almost one or two per week at this point. >> reporter: to smuggle marijuana and immigrants into california, the cartel is using mexican fishing boats. federal agents say the boats leave from mexico's baja peninsula, and offload all along the california coast. in a recent case, 300 miles north of the mexican border. some times they will go 100 miles out to sea before turning inland to evade american patrols. the boats are ideal for smuggling, they have a low profile, makes them hard to see, they can carry a big load and with multiple engines they move really quickly. the problem is the boats can be very unsafe in rough seas. if they make it, they usually land on remote beaches near

highways. >> there is usually an offloading team that will have, you know, like a rental boxcar, u-haul or something of that nature to take the payload and transport back to a stash house. >> reporter: to protect the coastline, federal, state and local agencies have formed a task force. and in the dark of night, on the hills overlooking the ocean, california national guard surveillance teams keep watch with sophisticated night scopes. >> what are you looking for? >> blacked out vessels and any suspicious activity. >> reporter: despite these efforts and many arrests this latest smuggling trend is not slowing down. one more threat to u.s. border security. mark potter, nbc news, los angeles. up next, what an american kid wrote home in letters from vietnam. never sent, never read until now. down here, folks measure commitment by what's getting done. the twenty billion dollars bp committed

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70 years ago today the united states turned the tide in the world war ii pacific campaign with the battle of midway. just six months after pearl harbor. while our naval flelt was outnumbered four to one we had great code breakers and brave pilots and the u.s. destroyed four japanese aircraft carriers more than 200 planes in that battle which then changed the course of the war. today veterans gathered across the nation to remember and pay their respects. defense secretary leon panetta on a history making trip to vietnam. he and his counterpart exchanged artifacts. panetta handed over the diary of a vietnamese solder in the u.s. hands and they gave him an american soldier's letters home never sent prior to his death in combat in 1969. our report from our pentagon correspondent, jim miklaszewski. roipt was the spring of 1969 during some of the bloodiest

fighting in vietnam. today, 43 years later, the horrors of the war are dramatically captured in the long lost letters from army sergeant steve flaherty. in a letter written but never delivered to his mother he wrote of dangers no parent would ever want to hear. if dad calls, tell him i got too close to being dead. but i am okay. i was real lucky. even to his mother, flaherty held nothing back. we couldn't retrieve the bodies of our own men or ruck sacks. his mother didn't live to lead his letters but to his sister his words hit home. >> when i read them i immediately was in tears. because you really can't grasp the seriousness of it until you read it from the handwriting of your own family member. >> reporter: he shared the worst of his fears in a letter to a

young woman named betty. we dragged more body of dead and wounded than i can ever want to forget. i felt bullets going past me. i have never been more scared in my life. flaherty was killed shortly after writing those letters taken from his body by the north vietnamese. before finally released to u.s. officials today. jim miklaszewski, nbc news, the pentagon. word from texas tonight, joe haggar has the died. long remembered in dallas for being a civic leader, city council member, but it was during his time running the family business, haggar slacks that joe was immortalized on audio tape. he was at home one night in 1964, when president lyndon johnson called him to order six pairs of khakis. lbj loved haggar's slacks and gave meticulous instructions during the call which features burping and barnyard language. the recording became a cult favorite on radio and the web when the lbj library released

the tape. here its the president calling joe haggar. >> these are almost -- these are the best i've had anywhere in the united states. >> fine. >> but when i gain a little weight, they cut me under there. so leave me -- you never do have much margin there but see if you can't leave me about an inch from where the zipper -- ends around under my -- back to my [ bleep ]. >> lyndon johnson, joe haggar, 1964. up next hereafter the break, when you are the queen, you can ask the very best to perform for you. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at nissan, our ideal is innovation. 5 all-new models over the next 15 months, including a completely reimagined altima. welcome to our most innovative year ever.

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advaircopd.com. finally tonight, back to london where this was a big night. britain's very best entertainers came out to salute the queen's 60th jubilee and celebrate their country before the world. again, nbc's stephanie gosk was there. >> reporter: without prince philip at her side, queen elizabeth lit a diamond jubilee beacon. thousands more lit all over the world in honor of her 60-year reign. tonight the royal family said thank you with a star-studded concert on the front steps of buckingham palace itself. annie lennox.

♪ must be talking to an angel must be talking to an angel ♪ >> reporter: sir elton john. ♪ i remember when rock was young ♪ >> reporter: stevie wonder. ♪ this moment is lovely >> reporter: sir paul mccartney. ♪ close your eyes and i'll kiss you ♪ >> reporter: 10,000 spectators lucky enough to win a ticket lottery watched it in person. prince charles took to the stage to honor his mother and father. >> for inspiring us with yourselfless duty and service. >> reporter: this is the monarchy at its most modern, a nimble turn after a weekend of century's old tradition.

on the river thames sunday, a 1,000 boat flotilla. the queen with her family including prince philip sailed past central london as the nation saluted. from the top deck of the "spirit of chartwell" a throne was built, but the monarch never sat down. prince philip looked healthy even dancing. despite the driving rain. the queen was visibly thrilled to seat british public turn out in her honor. more than a million on balconies, bridges and river banks. after 60 years the monarchy is more popular than ever, still rooted in tra dishgs but not afraid, every once in a while to kick up its heels. at one point, his speech, prince charles turned to the crowd and said if you shout loud enough my father will hear you. the crowd erupted in cheers and repeatedly shouted prince philip's name, maybe he did hear them. >> stephanie, you got to witness something great there.

thank you very much. a reminder for us, this continues tomorrow morning on "today" matt and meredith live in the morning from buckingham palace. that's our broadcast on a monday night. thank you for being here with us. i am brian williams. of course, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.