and allen nelson. >> and my name is gary wiess and i am the president of the heights neighbors and on the planning committee sxim also the owner of a small business on market street, two blocks from the site being discussed. and i have owned and operated my flower shop for 30 years now. san francisco, is a very popular destination and millions of people visit each year and come for the beauty and uniqueness, the castro upper market neighborhood are visited by hundreds of thousands each year, and those people come to see a vibrant neighborhood with the businesses that don't exist anywhere else and they do not come for the same stories. and each formula retail business that moves in, dilutes our uniqueness. formula retail establishment cans and do afford to pay as much as 4 times when the non-formula retail business has been paying at the same location. >> property owners see this opportunity and frequently are content to leave the buildings vacant. as there is no rent control no small business will be able to afford the leases. the rents will remain at a more affordable level and i wan

nelson mandela, who has survived so much, honored today for reaching another milestone. ron allenc news, pretoria. >>> and still ahead for us tonight from new york, it sounds like something out of a mob movie, a potential witness found dead while a trial is under way. it sounds like a mob story. and tonight in boston, it is. >>> and later, history at the emmys, big names in hollywood accomplishing something we've never seen before. >>> we are back, as promised, with the boston mob trial that unfolded today, just like a classic mob story. whitey bulger is on trial in boston. he's a notorious figure in that city. and while there was more colorful language in court today, it was a find elsewhere in the city that got most of the attention. nbc's kristen dahlgren is in boston for us tonight. >> it was quite a day in court. >> reporter: in boston today, shock surrounding a trial many thought couldn't possibly pack in more drama. >> what was the nature of your relationship with whitey -- with mr. bulger? and he says,"strictly criminal." >> reporter: steven "stippo" rakes, a fixture at th

nelson mandela is steadily improving today, which is his 95th birthday. it is a milestone in itself. but it's one that takes on a special meaning this year. ron allen is in pretoria, south africa with more on this. good morning, ron. >> reporter: good morning, betty. this is the scene outside the hospital in pretoria where nelson mandela recovers. day 41 of his hospitalization now. there are hundreds upon hundreds of people gathering here to pay their respects to join the celebration and, of course, to sing "happy birthday" to mandela. it's also his wedding anniversary. the word from the hospital, from his family and others is his condition continues to improve, but he's still listed as critical and stable. the doctors say they were upgraup -- won't uch grade conditions until he recovers for a long time. he's recovering from a severe lung infection. we expect the mandela family to arrive here to have the traditional family lunch. president jacob zuma was here. they sang the national anthem and "happy birthday." everyone singing "happy birthday" everywhere. today is international mandela day around the world and the call is for people to do 67 minut

allen there for all the celebrations. thank you so much and for some progress to be reported on nelson mandela's health.hanks, ron. >>> and in southern california thousands of residents are now scrambling to get out of the path of a rapidly growing wild fire near palm springs. strong winds are fanning the flames and driving the so-called mountain fire towards the desert town of ottawa. it has grown to 35 square miles. more than a dozen homes have already been destroyed. firefighters are combatting the blaze in triple digit temperatures today. the better , he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by

nelson mandela is steadily improving today which is also his 95th birthday, it's a milestone in and of itself. a special meaning this year for a nation praying for its special president. nbc's ron allen is live in pretoria, south africa, ron, what are you hearing about reports that mandela may be going home soon? >> reporter: we'll see. the word from his family, doctors, government officials in recent days has been very upbeat and positive, suggesting that he's recovering from a lung infection that brought him to the hospital some 41 days ago. the scene behind me, there are literally hundreds of people arriving here for what a huge celebration. the national anthem was sung. the words of "happy birthday" resonating across the country wherever you go. mandela is 95 today. it's also his wedding anniversary, by the way, and he's still listed in critical condition, doctors will not upgrade his condition until he shows improvement over a greater stretch of time. they'll have a traditional family lunch later today. everyone wishing happy birthday to the man. >> ron allen live from pretoria. >>> this morning's dish of scrambled politics, new york mayor michael bloomberg is out with his next

. >>> encouraging news about former south african president nelson mandela, today on his 95th birthday. nbc's ron allen is in pretoria, where there's a huge celebration outside the hospital. good morning, ron. >> reporter: good morning, tamron. it's been an amazing day, full of celebration, a day that many feared might not be a celebration. he's still in critical condition, but everywhere across this country the word from the hospital is that he's improving. we understand he was sitting in a clair, fully aware and cognizant when his family came with a huge card and the giant cake. his doctors still have him listed in critical condition, because they want to see improvement over a longer period of time, but there is some talk from relatives he may be going home soon. perhaps sometimes in the not-too-distant future. also international nelson mandela day today, asking people to do acts to help make this world a better place. the celebration here, tamron continues. >>> thank you, ron. >>> today president obama is talking up the health care law, saying it is working. hi comments come one day after the house

nelson mandela, today, his wife took a moment to thank south africans for their support. >> demonstrations of love, of care, of support, of hope i take them to heart every single day. >> nbc's ron allene have been visitors and would include president zplum marks he also visited nelson mandela today? >> reporter: it is day 27 of this hospital stay for mandela. you can hear the concern in her voice, eat motion in her voice. she has spent every day by his bedside here at the hospital. and this is the first time that we know that she's actually left and gone to make a public appearance and has spoken and answered questions about how he is doing. she said at times he is uncomfortable, at times in pain, but he is fine, those were her words, the information we have gotten about nelson mandela. president zuma was here and released a statement saying mandela is critical but stable. that is unclear what that means, where he has been at a week or more. his condition downgraded to that. but one point, family members saying he had improved from stable but critical but those are the words that we continue to hear. we believe that he is on life support, at least as far as his breathing is concerned

allen is in pretoria, south africa, with the latest. good day to you, ron. >> here the hospital in pretoria, the crowds continue to arrive at the hospital offering their prayers, singing hymns and paying respects to nelsondela. the official word from the government is he remains in critical but stable condition, although very little detail has been released about his condition inside the hospital. that's why there's a lot of rumor and speculation. a report making the rounds he is in a persistent vegetative state on life support and his family has been advised to discontinue care. the government flatly denies that and says it's not true. in the past the mandela family has reacted negatively to simpler reports. we heard from mandela's wife graca, who says he is at times uncomfortable but not in pain and in her words doing just fine. meanwhile, here in pretoria, the vigil continues. back to you. >> all right. ron allen in pretoria, thank you very much from there. from now we go to egypt, a lot of developing news out of that country this morningp in in cairo, thousands of supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi are on the move. the republican guard headquarters where he is believed to be held under hou

allen joins us live with the very latest. ron, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, thomas. the crowds continue arriving here outside the hospital, offering prayers, sing hymns and paying respects to nelsondela. the official word of the government is that he remains in critical, but stable condition, but there's been very little detail and that's why there are rumors and speculations about his condition. there's been a report making the rounds that he is in a persistent vegetative state on life support and his family has been advised to discontinue care. the family denies that report and they made a direct statement saying it is not true last night. we also recently heard from nelson mandela's wife, saying he is at times uncomfortable, but that he is not in any pain and to use her word, he is fine. also during this long period of waiting, a number of mandela family squabbles and feuds. some of them quite ugly, for example, one involving the final resting place of nelson mandela and that appears to have been settled. meanwhile here at the hospital, the vigil continues. >> thank you. >>> back here at home, a parade marred by a tragic accident. police say a boy was riding on a flatbed trail