bob bazell, thank you, as always. >>> now we turn to a federal courtroom in greensboro, north carolina, where john edwards, a veteran trial lawyer, is facing the trial of his life on corruption charges. and in the process, of course, airing all of the family laundry and pain and suffering in a very public way. including what his wife elizabeth edwards went through as the end of her life neared. and tomorrow, kate edwards, who's been in the courtroom with him each day of this trial, may be on the witness stand. our report tonight from nbc's lisa myers. >> reporter: 30-year-old kate edwards has been by her father's side every step of the way. >> good morning. >> reporter: and the defense says she may take the stand tomorrow. she's expected to say that despite all the lies and betrayal her father still cared for her mother elizabeth. and that the alleged cover-up of the affair with rielle hunter and edwards child with hunter was to protect the family. >> taking the stand, talking about her father, how much family mattered, i think it can be powerful evidence for john edwards. >> reporter:

lester. >> robert bazell here in new york with us. thanks. >>> president obama is starting a diplomatic marathon tonight. his first mission, hosting world leaders at camp david for the g-8 economic summit. topic number one, the debt crisis in europe. earlier today, the president met for the first time with france's new leader, francois hollande at the white house. tomorrow, all eyes will be on the president's home town of chicago, which is hosting the nato summit this weekend. when it comes to security for all of the visiting heads of state, chicago is going all out. the protests are already under way. about 3,000, many dressed as robin hood, gathered in daley plaza and marched through the loop business direct, and there were no clashes with police, just two arrests reported. because the rest of the weekend could be another story, parts of chicago will be on a virtual lockdown. nbc's katy tur reports. >> as dozens of heads of state and their staff members and security details descend upon chicago, the opposition is already gearing up.

robert bazell, nbc news, philadelphia. >>> when we come back, we're going to hear from the soon-to-beride and groom about a song and dance proposal being called one of the best ever. >>> if all the world's a stage, the title of the production you're about to see might be called "the proposal." it's about a young couple and how he decided to pose the big question in a unique way. this being 2012, it was all recorded on video, and it's already been watched by some 2 million people on youtube. nbc's kerry sanders has more tonight on what some are calling the best proposal ever. >> so -- >> reporter: in portland, oregon, amy frankel was lured into the back of her hatchback, a second camera recording her every reaction. two friends, then more, and even more joined in the ever-growing elaborate production, which by now you realize has a deeply personal meaning. isaac lamb enlisted more than 60 friends and relatives in an admittedly over-the-top proposal and as amy listened to the song on headphones, her friends lip-synced. those who couldn't make it were still there via a laptop screen. the

robert bazell, nbc news, new york. >>> still ahead as we continue along the way, a quiet epidemic. a concussion crisis involving girls who play soccer. >> and later, a classic american success story. he came to the country with nothing, he worked hard, and tonight, we get to show you what he accomplished. >>> there has been a lot of attention focused on concussions, but most of it regarding pro athletes, nfl players. tonight, we're shedding new light on a much more common pursuit for millions of american kids and their parents. this is about girl's soccer in this country because it turns out they're second only to football players in terms of reported concussions. nbc's kate snow has done some exhaustive reporting on this subject for tonight's "rock center." she found girls in suburban philadelphia with a remarkable story to tell. >> there's a steep price for going all out for this generation of girl warrior athletes. how many of you have had a concussion? how many of you have had more than one concussion? how many of you have played through a concussion? you had a concussion and k

the story from our chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> zach witt is an active 6-year-old. but 18 months ago, he was struck with a rare form of lymphoma. the disease usually responds to a harsh chemo ththerapy regime,d at first zach got better, but the cancer returned. >> he would literally sleep all day. he had a constant fever. >> his bicycle, leaning against the barn. i just thought, you know, he might never ride that bicycle again. >> doctors administered an even stronger combination of drugs, but they didn't work either. then suddenly, there was a glimmer of hope. doctors here at children's hospital of philadelphia realized zach's tumor had a genetic mutation and that was the target of a drug that was already on the market to treat lung cancer. that drug only helps about 10% of lung cancer patients. >> can i feel your tummy? >> this doctor and her team were already using it to treat another rare childhood cancer. they got funding to try it in eight lymphoma patients, including zach. three days into the treatment, a remarkable change. >> he ran down the hall to the play

we get more from our chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> how have you been feeling? >> good. >> reporter: dr. robin golan is on the front lines of the obesity epidemic. and sees its consequences every day. >> our pediatricians are seeing obese 2-year-olds and 4-year-olds, we have 5-year-olds with impaired glucose tolerance. we have 8-year-olds with type ii diabetes. this is a catastrophe. >> most of you are familiar with the shocking statistics. >> reporter: today's recommendations from the prestigious institute of medicine signal a sea change in how we perceive obesity. no longer a question of individual responsibility, but a need to change what's called an obesity promoting environment. calling on corporations, government and individuals to act. among the panel's recommendations, requiring at least 60 minutes a day of physical activity in schools. public and workplace policy that encourage people of all ages to exercise more. industry wide guidelines on marketing food to children. including healthier choices for kids in restaurants and having healthy food available

robert bazell, nbc news, new york. >>> up next, family vacations where every view is a postcard. push to attract a whole new crowd to some wide open spaces this summer. never missed openin. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better, and that means... game on! symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. [ whistle ] with copd, i thought i might miss out on my favorite tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today i'm back with my favorite team. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first pre

robert bazell starting us off. thank you. >>> in chicago tonight the nato summit wrapped up without the billy club-swinging fight we saw yesterday between protesters and police in the streets of chicago. a smaller march to boeing headquarters came off without incident today. and a news conference from the president who was host here who showed off his hometown even as most residents of chicago kept a very low profile. our coverage begins tonight with nbc's john yang who is with us from chicago's famous michigan avenue. john, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the world may have come to chicago, but today it seemed like nobody was here to welcome them. the loop was a virtual ghost town. rush hour a fraction of what it is normally. it had the feel of a sleepy, peaceful day. but yesterday? not so much. the scene was quite different just 24 hours ago as police and protesters clashed two blocks from the nato summit. after a larger peaceful march, a small group tried to crash the meeting, pushing past police

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robert bazell, nbc news, new york. >>> still ahead as we continue along the way, a quiet epidemic, a concussion problem. involving girls who play soccer. >> and lat, a classic american success story. he came to the country with nothing, he works hard, and tonight, we get to show you what he accomplished. show you what he accomplished. sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns double miles on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. and these come together, one thing you can depend on is that these will come together. delicious and wholesome. some combinations were just meant to be. tomato soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can d

robert bazell, nbc news, new york. >>> up next, a family vacation where every photo is a postcard. attracting a new crowd to wide open spaces this summer. >>> thousands of people will spend this holiday weekend taking in the history own beauty of america's national parks. but now the parks find themselves competing for the business of younger americans. the average age of visitors is climbing along with worry of the future of these national treasures. >> hi there. welcome to rocky mountain national park. >> reporter: in the mountains of colorado, park rangers are seeing more than green this spring. they're also noticing a whether itle more gray. the average visitor to national parks is getting older. cyclist john o'malley has enjoyed the trails for almost half a century. >> you do get close to nature. >> reporter: apparently that love of nature isn't what it used to be. back in 1996, death valley national park, almost a third of visitors were in their 20s. but in the last few years, that number has dropped to just 11% at yosemite and 6% at yellowstone. here at rocky mountain nation

robert bazell, nbc news, new york. >>> and the time now is 11:50. there's a new "the voice." meet the champion of nbc's hit show coming up. >>> and tom kierein will be back with a >>> nshs nbc's "the voice" has a new champion. >> the winner of season two of "the voice" is -- jermaine paul. >> after years of being a back-up singer for stars like alicia keyes and mary j. blige, jermaine paul will have his shot at becoming the next big star. paul won a recording contract with universal republic, after the show, he told reporters that he thought he was going to lose. >> i couldn't believe that they actually voted for me. it was -- it's a dream come true and honestly, i didn't see it coming. 26-year-old rocker juliette simms was the runner-up, only four percentage points behind jermaine. then tony luka and then classical singer, chris mann. >>> well, some people like waking up to the crow of roosters in the morning, but some roosters are crowing at all hours of the day, disturbing a quiet montgomery county community. news4's shamari stone reports. >> reporter: what would you do if

our report from our chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> michael collins, a former trader on the chicago commodities exchange, is in constant pain from rheumatoid arthritis, an auto imine disease. every treatment he has tried has failed. >> i'm looking and hoping for that, maybe there's a miracle out there that takes these symptoms away. >> it may not be a miracle, but for first time in a decade, an fda advisory committee approved a new drug, called tofacitnab. they're expected to give final approval in months. it affects three times as menies women as men. >> at first, the medication was hard. it has some side effects. >> in the past, many patients were left severely disabled. then biological drugzs including embrill and humira came on the market, allowing many but not all patients to live normal lives. 30% to 40% of patients don't respond to the drugs currently available. >> the fda panel decided the dangers of the new drug, including an increased risk of lymphoma was outweighed by the bftds. >> colin and thousands like him are hoping the new drug will relieve their agony.

it's where we begin here tonight with robert bazell. >> roughly every hour another american develops alzheimer's disease. glen campbell is one of them. today his daughter spoke about it. >> it's really hard to come to the realization that eventually he's going to look at me and i'm going to be nothing to him. >> reporter: today the government announced the details of a national plan to confront the affliction that threatens to overwhelm the nation's health and social services. >> the breakthroughs leading to treatments have been slow in coming. we've yet to harness the right formula for drug development. and clinical trial results continue to be disappointing. >> the goal is to find a way to stop or at least slow the progression of the disease by 2025. as part of that effort, the government is pumping millions of dollars into two studies. one study already underway in the u.s. will test to see if a drug can prevent progression of the disease. the family in iowa is in the study. their members have a 50/50 chance of having a gene that puts them at risk for alzheimer's at a young age. >

. >> i'm bazel. i have the good fortune of working for ambassador volker a few years ago in the state department. my question is, i hesitate to ask it after miss tauscher's last comments but you would think that will everyone wants to prevent a recurrence of the lehman brothers event that it is a worldwide financial crisis. so is there no hope that the issue of contributing to a european fire wall couldn't be explained to the american public in those terms we want to prevent a worldwide contagion after a greek exit? no? no hope? >> professor harris? >> stephen hill. it's been a fascinating discussion. thank you. in terms of the issue of debt, i think that a couple of points very quickly. one, most countries in europe, most member states are actually not in that much debt. it's just really a handful that you're talking about. if you look at the euro zone as an aggregate, it doesn't have that much debt. it has less debt than the united states has. it doesn't have much of a trade deficit. many of the ec

robert bazell explains. >> under the proposed cdc guidelines, those in fourttle, 50s, and 60s, should get a hepatitis c test at least once. more than 3 million americans already have hepatitis c, a liver illness contaminated by contaminated needles, blood transfusions prior to 1992, and possibly sexual contact. and 75% of those are baby boomers, born between 1945 and 1965. according to the cdc, 1-30 boomers has been infected with hepatitis c and most do not know it. it can cause serious live diseases, including scirrhosis and live cancer. people can remain without symptoms for decades. cdc officials estimate that the new recommendations could detect hundreds of thousands of cases. the need for testing is more pressing now, because new drugs are on the market. if people know they have the virus, serious complications can be treated or even prevented. for "today," robert bazell. >>> a funeral held this morning for mary richardson kennedy, the estranged wife of robert kennedy jr. hanged herself earlier in week. a wake is held near the home in bedford, new york. >>> a day after his father