on this saturday night, boiling anger and a killing that has gripped the nation. amid a wave of fury over tremendous von martin, what his family says for the first time. family tragedy after a birthday party, at leas eight people are dead, among them six children. another fatal reminder about detecting chain in your home. and the american soldier accused of slaughtering avenue began civilians. and royal wedding crashers.

a blushing bride gets the and royal wedding crashers. a blushing bride gets the surprise of a lifetime. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening. the florida man who convinced local police his killing of an unarmed teenager was an act of self-defense is tonight publicly defending himself through a lawy lawyer. nearly a month after the killing, george zimmerman has still not been arrested. he's tonight being offered up in a new light. ron allen continues to work the story from sanford, florida for us. he starts things out with the very latest. good evening, lester, george zimmerman's attorney is trying to casts himself as the victim. certainly not an argument that

he's going to win in the court of public opinion right now. zimmerman is going to do whatever he can to keep this case from ever getting to a court of law. >> weare -- >> trayvon. >> reporter: the demand for justice for trayvon martin. even a new more recent photo has appeared, a photo from this mortgage company. and an attorney is now telling zimmerman's side of the story. >> i have advised him to stay out of the public eye as much as he can. >> reporter: a black activist has renewed its $10 million

bou bounty for anyone who finds zimmerman. >> the issue is some kind of a scuffle took place and there was a gun that was discharged and now there's a man dead. >> reporter: zimmerman claimed he suffered a broken nose and a cut that required stitches. the homeowner's association -- >> that's what it says, watch, it does not say appoint, arrest, shoot, kill. >> reporter: a watch captain in an orlando neighborhood notorious for high crime. she says the work she was trained for was nothing like zimmerman was doing the night her pursued trayvon martin. >> we utilize 911. >> reporter: the neighborhood watch program has been in

existence 1970s. >> there should never have been a weapon involved at any time. >> reporter: and today we learned from the national association of black journalists is that the martin family intends to file a civil lawsuit. lester? >> ron allen in sanford, florida for us tonight. we want to bring in veteran criminal defense attorney ricky klieman, we know that this local stand your ground law is the basis for not arresting zimmerman. as new prosecutors look at this case, will they look at it through that same prism, that same law. >> we have heard that that may not be his defense. his defense may simply be as self-defense as we always understand it. we do know that stand your ground does not mean chase after. this is a man who called 911,

they told him not to pursue this youngster. however, when you listen to the 911 call, lester, there is reasonable in mr. zimmerman's tone, he does believe that trayvon martin has something in his waistband. what happens in that interval is the question that has to be investigated. between his 911 call, and ultimately when the neighbors heard the scuffle and heard shots, or heard a shot. in other news, at least eight people are dead, most of them children after an early morning fire raged through a home in west virginia w. as the city of charleston deals with what's being described as the deadliest fire there in decades. it's another reminder of the importance of early detection of danger in your home.

>> reporter: flames tore through this west virginia home killing eight children, another child is in critical condition. >> i had got up there and the house was in flameses. >> this is the worst house fire the the city of charleston, maybe in west virginia. >> they say two adult sisters lived in this home. the family gathered together to celebrate a birthday. alicia carter camp celebrated her 26 birthday. >> people were obviously in danger inside. >> reporter: the mayor says there was two smoke detectors in the home but neither were operational. >> the fact that they did not have the proper number of these smoke detect forordetectors, we saved a lot of lives. >> reporter: tonight's incident was an erie reminder of when a

family died on christmas day. 62% of home fire deaths from in building without working smoke detect detectors. back in west virginia, investigators are trying to figure out what started this fire and how a birthday celebration turned into a tragedy. tonight we're learning some chilling new details about the night an american soldier is accused of leaving his base in afghanistan and slaughtering 17 afghan civilians. >> reporter: all along there's been consistent reports that staff sergeant bale serks carried out this attack in to

ways. just a little bit ago, his defense attorney, john henry brown told nbc news that this has been the government allegation all along, that this is something that the government has been telling him at least from the beginning. he says this is nothing new to the defense. now john henry brown has earlier said that john henry bales has only spotty memory of that night, remembers things before, remembers things after, but does not remember the event itself. the military investigation, even though charges have been filed, is not likely to be complete for several months. >> and a program note, monday on "today," sergeant bales' weave karilyn will speak of behalf of her husband. the pope will take jose diaz

bellard is in mexico for us tonight. >> reporter: lester, on his second day in mexico, pope benedict xvi has been meeting with mention tan president felipe caldron will be coming here to the plaza of peace to give his blessing to thousands of children. earlier today, the vatican said the 84-year-old spent the day in seclusion after his long flight. he's being made to feel welcome. thousands lined the streets as he passed by in his pope mobile. benedict will continue to speak firmly against the drug related violence that has consumed the nation and killed 50,000 people in the last six years. tomorrow the pope will celebrate an open air mass before thousands of people and then on

monday morning, he heads to cuba where he intends to see raul and the ailing captain, but not meet with the head of the dissidents as they requested. president obama is in south korea for a summit of dozens of leaders to discuss the threat of loose nuclear materials around the world. our own kristen welker is traveling with the president, she joins us with the latest. >> reporter: president obama heads to the demilitarized zone, it comes at a time of heightened tension over north korea's nuclear program. as south koreans protest, mr. obama is here for an international security summit in an effort to keep nuclear

materials out of north korea's hands. a missile launch is overshadowing the meeting. republicans have accused the president of being soft on korea and iran who has rebuked efforts to inspect its nuclear facilities. obama is expected to press the european officials. president obama has also expressed concern about the planned rocket launch urging everyone involved to exercise restraint. today louisiana primary comes after a wild week on the trail, after a delegate match and an etch-a-sketch. >> reporter: mitt romney is taking the weekend off the campaign frail. meantime rick santorum is

hosting what he hopes will be a louisiana victory party right here in wisconsin. like those two gulf states he has already won, alabama and mississippi, alabama is largely evangelic evangelical. it's been a big part of rick santorum's base so far, carried him to ten victories so farris. but he's not nearly been as successful. a lot of eyes will be on the race here in wisconsin, on april 3, rick santorum hoping to travel around wisconsin this week. >> white house senior advisor david plouffe will be among david gregory's guests on "meet the press." here's something you don't see that often, protests marching there on saturday, protesting one of the most contested cases in year.

on monday the judges hear three days of arguments about president obama's health care overall, a decision that could have major ramifications on the fall elections. . later, the dog that's not only a little girl's constant companion, he's also her lifesaver. in the first place.n lovr and why you still feel the same. but your erectile dysfunction -- that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache.

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alarming reported on our school, the possibility of widespread cheating on achievement tests on tests designed to see how well our kids are learning. the report out tonight by the atlanta journal constitution builds on the paper's earlier investigation of that city's schools. our story tonight from nbc's chief education correspondent rehema ellis. >> reporter: last year, the atlanta struggling school -- it published a series of reports including claims the strides were too good to be true and as extraordinary as a snowstorm in july. a state wide investigation by georgia's governor, discovered systemic cheating. 178 teachers and principles from dozens of schools were implicated. the atlanta scandal prompted the

newspaper to look further, analyzing 1.6 million standardized tests, from 6,000 schools nationwide. 200 districts were found to have tainted scores. >> in some districts the scores change some -- >> reporter: in its report out today, the paper says nine districts show inconsistent cities so extreme the odds that they occurred without an intervention are more than 1 in a billion. according to the report, in patrick lewis downtown academy, 42% of fourth graders passed the state math test just before investigators began looking into possible cheaters. the following year, less than 4% of fifth graders passed. district officials acknowledged the strangeness of score

changes. the paper also found as many as 20 mistakes were corrected on some exams, often in a lighter shade of pencil. the district issued a statement saying it has been zealous in our attack on cheating and places independent monitors in every school during state testing. charges the ajc's report had errors in methodology and that . secretary of education arnie duncan says the findings are unclear. >> this encourages further explanation of these unusual patterns, but it doesn't necessarily mean that there's widespread cheating. >> reporter: the atlanta journal constitution points out and we should too that most educators don't cheat and there is value

in testing data that could help teachers determine if students have basic skills. still some experts charge that high stakes testing that links funding and jobs to student performance can lead to abuse. up next, she looked like a queen, a surprise guest at a wedding today. ople here sure ary but some have had a hard time understanding my accent. so to make sure people get every word of the geico savings message i've been practicing how to talk like a true chicagoan. switching to geico could save you hundreds of dollars on car insurance... da bears. haha... you people sure do talk funny. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief.

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wilson. yesterday queen elizabeth and prince phillip decided to pop in on a pair of newlyweds. >> reporter: another city, another adoring crowd, but when you've been queen for 60 years, it's hard to pull a surprise. unless of course you drop by a couple's wedding. know their names, know where they're going on honeymoon and leave them stunned. >> it was like proper shock. it was only a few minutes, but to be so closeup to someone you see so often on the tele. >> john and frances were told that the queen would be at the city hall. they invited her and they received a polite decline.

and a fellow guest knocked something over. the queen inquired if they were okay, and then after wishing the newlyweds well, she and prince phillip left. >> it was a special to get married. >> but i never would have forgot it. it was such a bonus. >> reporter: no word whether the queen gave the couple a wedding present. perhaps they don't get better than this. more than a year after the tsunami in devastated japan, a boat swept away in the waves has been spotted off the coast of canada, slowly drifting towards british columbia. when we come back here tonight, a little girl and her best friend, always beside her when she needs them most. ♪

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snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve with snapshot from progressive. finally tonight, the story of a young girl and her best friend in the world. he follows her everywhere she goes and is right beside her when she needs him. in fact he's really lifesaver. >> reporter: he's just like any other puppy, but mr. gibbs is here to work. >> all right, let's go. >> reporter: his boss,

3-year-old anita. this special little girl suffers from neurohyperplasia in infancy, or nehi for short. nehi is an extremely rare breathing disorder. only 500 children in the united states have ever been diagnosed with it. >> debby was able to look up all the tests that they were doing. the first one, she would have made it to 24 months. >> once the nehi diagnosis was made, the doctors told the family they would need to move to a lower elevation and that elida would need an oxygen tank to continue breathing. a toddler catched to ten-pound oxygen tanks. >> we saw a show on tv about

service dogs, and that's when it clicked. >> enter mr. begins. -- enter mr. gibbs. >> reporter: he was trained to carry the oxygen tanks. so far mr. gibbs has passed the test and elida has a newfound freedom. what's your favorite thing to do outside? >> swing. >> does mr. gibbs get to stay by you. >> he gets hit in the head. >> reporter: but lucky for mr. gibbs, he's resilient and has a whole lot of patience. what do you say to mr. gibbs. >> down. >> reporter: what else do you say to how many? >> at ease. >> reporter: now her parents can be at ease because of elida's

new friend. that's nbc nightly news for this saturday. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today" and right back here tomorrow evening. "today" and right back here tomorrow evening. good night. captions paid for by nbc-universal television