firestorm. the fire dange in colorado explodes overnight. new evacuations from a major city. part of the air force academy trying to escape these for flames. diet pill the first new weight loss prescription in a t questions aut safety? high ones for a proud group of u.s. marines. why it took so long to give them the recognize they deserve. what a life, remembering norah ep, the author, humorist and screen writer who has suddenl lt us with so much material. captio paid for by nbc-universal television >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with

brian williams. gd evening. tonight the situation is grong desperate in colorado. while fires are burning throughout the american west, the effort to suppress a big one moving toward colorado sprgs verging o a combat operation tonight. the conditions sadly are perfect for fires. single digit humidity, 100 degree plus temperatures f the day, high winds at night. the conditions are miserable for the army of firefighters trying low st down, trying to make a an th campus of the u.s. air force acadas bn evacued now because of this encroaching monster. 32,000 peoplere out of their homes, and many of those homes sadly are no longer there to return to. these are indeed desperate times in the rockies. we begin once again tonight with nbc'sig almaguer in colorado springs. guel,eporeveninr: brian, gd evening. it was this time last night when those winds started kicking up again le theare right now.

the situation here on the ground quickly spiraled out of control. tonight it's feared dozens of homes have been lost. in the hills above colorado spring raging inferno devouring home after home. 1,000 firefighters overwhelmed. what they call a firestorm of epic proportions. >> it's asad it gets out there right now. door to door, street by street. firefighters inside outside trying to keep the flames away from buildings. >> with windshippin at 65 miles an hour, flames exploded past fire breaks. >> it jumped two ridges, and it moved three miles in less than an hour. >> the governor toured from the air. said it looked l a movset. >> there weren't trees on fire there were people's homes burned to the ground, block after block. it's almost surreal. >> with toxic smoke spreading and ash across the city of half

a million, mass evacuations were ordered during rush hour. were empty. >> everybody trying to get outi scott collected family heirlooms. sarah felt the flames closing in on here. hours. the air force academy cleared 600 homes, entire subdivisions >> i lived there for 20 years, so many friends. >> reporter: this morning from the air lingering s omocud the damage. more tha 100 planes and helicopters joined the fight. >> it's different when it's your hometown. >> for veteran air force pilot bert fairbanks, this is personal. >> very close to home. veryse home. very close to family,friends, church, schools. >> rr: after a night of destruction, this afternoon a light rain, a brief moment of relief. >> it's like this black thing coming over. rorter: jean escaped the flame. today with our long lens camera, she saw her home still standing.

with the forecast calli for more wind and highheat, one refighter tells meve they seen what this fire can do and they are nowred prepa for a second punch. on friday the president will tour theestruction zone here in colorado. brian. >> miguel almaguers off again tonight. by the way, when we use figures like 32,000 evacuations, try to think about what that means, apply it to your own life. all these people are yanked from their homes and their lives and told to get out now. they are forced to mak split second decisions and they often t kdon'w where to go. we have some of their tonight from nbc's kristen dahlgren. >> oh, my god, this is just not good. >> reporter: if you had just minutes to leave your home, wt would you bring? >>y mom. >> reporter: where would you go? what would you worry most about? >> how d i get to her?

do you kno h i get to her? >> repr: family, pets, for 32,000 decisions are now second. there's no time. bobby romero can't reach his sister-in-law. >> i'm just praying a lot, praying a lot. >> he's going to have to find a new room today. >> for some home back of truck. for others with friends inafe neighborhoods. or if they are lucky to fin a vacancy -- >> right now i just need to be in a hotel because i need to calm my d down. thcertainty is just is my house still standing. >> reporter: do more an watch. >> i have a tv i my room and a radio and a clock. i just miss all my things. >> rorter: clinging to what they do still have. >> hoping that fire will go away. >> reporter: knowing that for some, thatope may be all they have left. >> god is good and it's going to

be okay. >> reporter: kristen dahlgren, nbc news. >> unbelievable. while it's different, there is misery tonight in florida. tropical storm debby is finally and the mess left behind are ge extreme. weather channel meteorologist jim cantore still on the scene and is with us again tonight. hey, jim, good evening. >> reporter: hey, brian forecasts one extreme right to another. you can see a lot of fwaters remain behind me here. trucks and buildings still submerged. here is the latest we've got. four confirmed dead now from tropical storm debby. 6,000 homes in 17 counties without power. hundreds of roads in nth central florida are uer water at thitime. interstate 10, which has been clos sin monday morning at 9:00 a.m. m reopen tomorrow morning. that is a tremendous time for an interstate to be closed. that's because the water is simply not going away here. 300 people had to be evacuated

toy from several cies in northern florida. many people tried to venture out. they have been in their homes a couple of days now and had to be rescued because they ran into floodwater that was way tooep. the rivers are eecd to crest next month, this is a very flat area. it's going to take a long time for water to get in the rivers. oncese rivers do crest, they will recede slowly, possibly toward the end of next month. for the next extreme, we will talk about extreme heat. we're talking several days of 100 degrees or better across at least two-thirds of this country. >> jim, we're thinking of them down there tonight, too. jim cantore, live oak, florida. thanks. just after 10:00 a.m. eastern time tomorrow, we will know if the u.s. supreme court is going to let stand the obama health care law or not. whatever they say will affect all americans. parts of that law are already in effect. children can be covered on their parents policies until the age of 26 and they can't be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. also in effect already,

prepreventive screens like mammograms, colonoscopies. the big provision is the mandate requiring every american to have insurance. by 2014, no adult can be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions and there can be no annual dollar limit on the amerage a person can receive. so having said all that, a lot at stake. our justice correspondent pete williams is at the court tonight. pete, you know as much about the court as anyone i know, so here is the question. they can uphold, they c strike it down, and don't they have a number of options in between? >> exactly right. if they say the individual mandate, the requirement to have health insurance is unconstitutional, then the question is how much of the rest of this 1,000 page long law will stand. fhe obama administration says the mandate goes aw, that's a big revenue stream for insurance companies, then likely the things that will cost the insurance companies moreill have to go, uch as

pre-existing condition coverage for and things the insurance companies can't vary rates based on ason's e or sex or medical condition. >> pete williams we'll be speaking with you tomorrow night as we review what the court has tosa pete iamsll a long ovdue other than, as the government took a step to rectify an injustice over african-american marines received when they were first allowed to join the corps in the 1940s. today some 400 survivors received the congressional gold medal, an hor many of them could not have imagined back then but an honor their nion owed them. a report from our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: at 87 george michelle and oscar culp put in a six-day week at their furniture store in oceanside, california. atmarines. s it'sk ethic

>> made a man out of me. >> reporter: but it was a painful journey. at the height of world war ii, culp and were the first in the marine corps and immediately segreged. 20,000 went through, built specifically for blacks, little more than a mosquito, nak in st infestedswamp. >> what was that like? >> terrible. smells. >> ate and slept without seeing a white marine. once out of boot camp mitchell be a target for racial taunts. when he refused to step to the back of the line, teehe took a beating. but in the pacific, that racial divide disappeared. >> being shot at over there, the bullets, they don't have no colo on them, really. you become closer. >> reporter: the marines joined a marine corps that really

didn't want them. to fight for their country that had denied them their civil rights. when the war had ended, their battle was farrom over. they came home to a still segregated america. >> that hurt inside. you tried not to show it but it hurt. rep>>ter: mitchell and culppee marines, helped break that color barrier. this afternn, who years lar, th mon fort marines got the recognition the congressionald dal, one of the nation's highest civilian honors. nk god i lived long enough to see it. >> i went through hell but it was worth it. >> reporter: jim miklaszewski, nbc news, the pentagon. still ahead along the way on wednesday night, a new prescription for losing weight. is this latest pill the answer to an american epidemic? also a handshake making history tonight. lot of people thought they would never see this. later a genuine woman of

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ask an allstate agent about the value plan. are you in good hands? over a decade, the fda has approved a new diet drug. it's meant to help people who are obese and suffering from additional health problems related to their weight, but there are critics who are questioning whether this new bill is really safe. our report tonight from our chief science correspondent

robert bazell prosecutor the drugrovided only modest weight gain for most volunteers. the fda decided theenefitas worth putting it on the market despite some concernsbout its safety. many weight loss doctors agreed. >> i think it's goingoake it a little easier to have a tool for chronic weight loss management for those individuals that areobese, struggling to lose weight with diet and exercise alone. >> clinical trials, participants lost 3% more thanse on a placebo over a yearfo 220 pound, a drop to 21 4pounds. just over fifth of those in the study shed at least of their body weight. the reason the fda has taken 13 years to approve a new diet drug, it s forced pull the popular appetite suppressant fen-phen in 1997 because it caused heart problems.

this latest drug caused heartpr humans. they say it's going to be a mistake. >> the idea there's a diet drug that's going to press a magic button for hunger is delual. the history of dietrugs is a history of one drug after another being approved causing damage te t, causing strokes and heart attacks and being taken off the market. >> the fda ordered that the manufacturer continue studies to look for possible dangerouside effects. robert ba, n news, york. still to continue a day that aew in the uk or elsewhere thought they would ever see. kep with this horrible rash on my right side. an intense burning sensation like somebody had set it on fire. and the doctor said, cindie, you have shingles. he said, you had chickenpox when you were a little girl... i said, yes, i did.

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you. over the years just a few handshakes went down in history, this time in northern ireland.

this one not only - this one did not look likely our fetime. nbc's michelle si more on the een's history visit. >> reporter: a simple handshake that meant so much. the queen of england and martin make -- mcginnis, a frieny meeting in beast. unctures aed b no nce o would have been unthinble. for decades troublenern ireland, catholic and protestants, separatnd loyalists. the i.a. led a bloody fight ai rule, man died cluding the queen's cousin killed on his boat in 1979. the the queen vis yesterday, a 1937 bombing killed 11, including marie wilson, who died in her father's arms. >> she said, daddy, i love you very much. those were the last words she

spoke. >> reporter: he forgave the bombers, what began a long process of reconciliation. today's handshake mattered. >> absolutely clear evidence the political process is here to stay. there's no going back. >> reporter: still security was tight a society for yeas been divid for republicansnd unionist, the remained defiant. something rare happened i northern ireland. a moment of peace and goodwill wort o this queen's jubilee year. michel kosinski, nbc , >>on. for a momenthile we're focused across the pond, look what andacross the river thames, olympic rings on the gateway to the city. they will be a glowing centerpiece during the games which begin in one month july 27th, 2012. barry becher died, better known as the man who brought tv

viewers the amazing ginsu knives. they cut through everything plus cans. they had a 50 year arantee. we can thank him for the cookware and mir .slicer the brooklyn born becheras 71. his family says they are coidering a tombstone that res, but wait the's more there's very little that can't be helped by humor. when we come b tonight, a woman who bved in that and made our lives a little bit better for it. remembering norah ephron. a party? [ music plays, record skips ] hi, i'm new ensure clear. clear, huh? my nutritional standards are high. i'm not juice or fancy water, i'm different. i've got nine grams of protein. twist my lid. that's three times more than me! twenty-one vitamins and minerals and zero fat! hmmm. yoll bring a lot to the party. [ all ] yay! [ fele announcer ] new ensure clear. grams protein. zero fat. enty-one vitams and minerals. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach.

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call or click today. norah was necessary and indispensable. she also may be irreplaceable. she died last nig at the age of 71. she was, of course, an extraordinary write and humorist. while she hed cliche she liked a surprise ending hi exactly what it turns out she left us with. it turns out not even close friends knew she was so sick with leukemia until yesterday's first bulletin that she was gravely ill. she was both poignant and funny. for example, when asked about her own religion, she answered,

you can never have too much butter. that is my belief. if i have a religion, that's it. well, tonight nbc's anne thompson has a look back at one of the very best. >>eporter: as a screen writer, norah ephron had a dicious way with words. >> i better go deliver this. i have a very thirsty e' camel. >> reporter: it was her obseations about men and >> you're goingo a gymnast. >> journalist. >> reporter: when harley met sally. >> there's two women high maintenance and low maintenance. >> which one am i? >>he worst kind you're high maintenance and think you're low maintenance. >> i'll have what she's having. >> reporter: sally was more or less her. >> i am as big a nightmare when ordering in a restaurant as she was. >> reporter: that nightmare was an inspiration to women.

>> she paved the way for people. >> reporter: ephron broke into the boys club with directors with "sleepless in seattle", you've got mail" julia and julia. >> you're book is going to change the woterld. laughing a life. >> don't be frightened, you can always change your mind. i know. i've had four careers and three husbands. >> reporter: the daughter of screenwriters, ephron started as a nap writer and went to a magazine. it was during the break upf her marriage to carl bernstein she p tse her lesson a humor. people laugh at you.banana peel, but if you tl people you slip on a banana peel, you're a joke. >> rter: she wrote "heartburn" a best selling novel withrecipes. the movie starred meryl >> i'm never getting marri again. rrgelieve in ma. >> i highly recommend having meryl streep play you. >> reporter: whether writing about aging or divorce, ephron

had this mantra. >> be the heroine of your life not the victim. >> she was never the victim. tom brokaw. >> she went out on her own terms. it was a terrible illness. she kept it to herself for the most part. when we lost her, she had lived a very complete life professional and personally. >> reporter: in her final book ephron wrote a list of what she'd miss, kids, her husband nicholas piggi, butter,oming over the bridg to manhattan, pie. what we'll ss, norah ephr. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. that's our bcast tonight. thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you back morrto. we hope to see you back morrto. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

xxxx coming up toni a nine percent water hike to take effect tomorrow in baltimore. why the water department says its necessa. and, a cop accused for the death of a teenager, indicd. tonight at 11 [515]740pm live 15 sevideo 1