good evening, i'm lester holt, in tonight for brian. sarah palin's short royse from obscurity to a source of analyst's fascination reached a new level as reporters lined up to scour thousands of pages of e-mail from her time as alaska governor. looking for insight and clues into her political ambition. nbc requests the state of alaska release 24,199 e-mails covering 2006 when she was sworn in as governor to 2008 when she was john mccain's presidential running mate. can her foes try to use them to find her candidacy? michael has been examining some of those e-mails. he joins me now from juneau, alaska, with more. >> reporter: good evening, lester. news organizations have waited three years to get access to the docume documents. stacks of e-mails from palin's time as governor in alaska. she fought having to make them public. now that they are, a palin spokesperson said she was a very engaged governor and everybody should read them. a media frenzy alaska hasn't seen since 2008. journalists jockeying to get their hands on hundreds of thousands of pages of e-mails. sent by sarah palin to officials of top aides in alaska. the 250,000 pounds of documens s have e-mails from sarah palin's first week as governor and continue to 2008 as she was john mccain's running mate. she was a frenetic blackberry user, firing off e-mails but using her personal yahoo e-mail account rather than state accounts to conduct business, all in an attempt to keep hr business private. nbc.com first reported the e-mails in 20008, but prying them loose from the state archives hasn't been easy. >> the state archives call for a ten day release of records. we waited longer for these records than sarah palin was governor, almost 1,000 days. >> among the e-mails, this exchange from palin to an aide. he gave a great speech in michigan, obama. mentioned alaska. adding, we need to take advantage of this and write a statement saying he's right on. then in a later e-mail telling an aide, he did say yay to our gasline, pretty cool. wrong candidate. she later became one of obama's fiercest kritdices on energy policy. she said the e-mails won't be a distraction. >> i'm sure people are going to capitalize on this opportunity to go through 25,000 e-mails and go through the context. they'll never know the real context or what each one of the issues were that i was working on that day. >> the e-mails have lots of redactions, and so far, there are no bombshells, but they show palin's irritation with what she called the drainstream media. she wrote in one, it's driving me crazy to catch all the corrections. in an earlier e-mail, i feel like i'm at a breaking point with hurtful gossip. >> michael, thanks. one day after his prengsal campaign imploded, newt gingrich vowed to carry on. >> i am a candidate for the united states because i think we're in the early stages of the obama depression. 14 million americans are out of work. 1 in every 4 american families haa mortgage which is more expensive than the house is worth. >> nbc's david gregory, moderator of "meet the press" joins me with more in a busy week in presidential politics. you have the reset button pushed in this case, and the reporters poring through e-mails of sarah palin. where does this leave the republican race? >> still unsettled. you have sarah palin treated like a presidential candidate, and she's not. here we are goingover her e-mails as time as governor and a vice presidential candidate. at the time, she's a political figure and commentator who is not in the race. we're finding not a lot of bombshells. irritation with the media, concern with her image, and yes, working through the daily rigors of being an office holder as a governor. might we have learned that whale she was on the campaign ticket? probably so. to the point of gingrich, interesting, he's still in it, trying to talk about substnls, but all of the attention is for the wrong reason. a lot of backtalk about his wife, saying she controlled his schedule with an iron fist. this kind of backfighting is going on at the wrong time, when he's not been able to get off for work. >> we get you to the end of the week, congressman anthony weiner has survived so far. >> status quo, but there was a development today, the leader of the house, nancy pelosi, i have talked to her, she's quite upset about what happened, but she said it's up to his constituents whether he should resign or not, and he's looking at polling, and it shows the majority of support for him staying in the seat. we'll see if it changes. >> you have aric santorum coming up this weekend. thanks very much. >> now to arizona and the huge wildfire, up to a stunning 640 square miles now with more than 50 structures destroyed, including 29 homes. fighter crews have been attacking the blaze with all they've got, but the weather forecast for this weekend is not encouraging. nbc's george lewis is in springerville, arizona. >> lester, the firefighters are awfully worried about the forecast, calling for a return of the high winds that fanned the flames and caused so much devastation. tonight, they're trying to get ready. by night, it's a monster inferno, lighting up the new mexico and arizona skies. by day, a path of destruction in its wake. 22 houses have burned in greer, arizona. >> this is hard to watch. >> reporter: harder to watch if you see your destroyed home on tv. >> ours was the first home that we saw that was burned. rrtd at a meeting for people forced out of the fire zone, connie tried to count her blessings. >> we're thankful no lives were lost. our prayers are for the firefighters. >> reporter: those firefighters face a difficult weekend ahead. if the wind picks up as expected, it could drive the flames into the communities that have been calm so far. firefighters have been busy building backfires and barriers to protect the homes. they have been lucky today, but tomorrow will be a battle. >> it will have all of the conditions for a fire growth. >> reporter: and as the fire grows, it's not affecting just people. these elek are on the run from the heat and smoke. and then all are domesticated animals like this dog that was found wandering in the fire zone and got rescues by the arizona humane society. >> she had a strong odor or smoke. she was a stray, for now, she's okay, so we'll resee how she does. >> reporter: there's a psychological toll for those who flee. this deputy's family found the town of eager. >> it's hard for me to see all these people put out of their homes, with this pain. i can feel their anxiety. >> and it's not going to end soon. when it is all over, it's probably going to go done as the biggest fire in new mexico. >> overseas tonight, the uprising against syria's government took another deadly turn today as protests across the country were met with a fierce response from a regime determined to hang on to power. western reporters are banned from syria, but john ray made his way to the border with turkey and filed this report. >> reporter: defiance despite all attempts to crush their uprising. tens of thousands went to the streets. new internet video not emptily verified appeared to show the response, a fierce crackdown. much of it too graphic to broadcast. scenes of government forces brutalizing civilians near the capital. dead and wounded in cities across the country today. here in the suburbs of the capital damascus, pictures show stones being thrown at police. this town was abandoned ahead of the biggest military crackdown killi killing 120 police and soldiers earlier this week. tanks and troops were destroying entire boavillages. and now people are swelling. among them, aman who fled his home. he's too scared to reveal his name or face. if they catch me, they will kill me, he says. we are paefrl, but the army comes and shoots and kicks down doors. syria's refugees are housed behinds iron fences. they stage their own protest, confident that the regime will fall. the seyrians have found sanctuay that is not exactly freedom. and that's going to be a key sensitivity. the turkish are wanting to offer them some sort of safety, but they don't want to offend their syrian neighbors by letting these people speak out. the world watches, but this is a struggle that needs to be settles on syrian streets. john ray on the syrian border. back here at homoon wall street today, stocks were crushed, wiping out yesterday's bounce and then some. the dow was down more than 172 points. closing below the 12,000 mark for the first time since march. it was the sixth straight losing week for the blue chips. worst performance since 2002. the stock market is reflecting an economy looking increasingly shaky. nowhere is that more important than in the jobs of the state and local government. they're getting a lot of criticism and that's leaving them to call it quits. >> you're left with three -- >> for 30 years, judy has loved being a high school math teacher. getting up, coming to work, feeling that i'm doing something valuable. >> reporter: she's won awards and the affection of students. >> she's probably the most dedicated teacher i have had. and younger colleagues. >> judy has taught me beyond just teaching the subject matter, we're really teaching to these childrens' hearts. >> reporter: she never thought about retiring until new jersey governor chris christie cut school spending and pensions while mocking teacher benefits. >> have any of your children come home, any of them, and said mom, dad, please, just pay for my teacher's health benefits and i'll get as, i swear. >> so when the school year ends, so will her career. >> all of a sudden, the teachers are the enemy, and i don't want to feel that way. having dedicated my life to this job, i don't want to feel that way. >> from new jersey to california, police, firefighters and teachers head to the door targeting the effort in an attempt to stem the red ink. new jersey said public worker retirement last year jumped nearly 60% and doubled for teachers. california and colorado each reported a 20% rise. as more states consider benefit cuts, more workers a putting in for retirement. in ohio, there was a 34% increase. ipwisconsin, almost double, up 96%. >> it's been very stressful to work in state and local government these days. so people who feel they can afford to retire are just going ahead and doing so. >> reporter: for judy, it's a with a sense of satisfaction. >> i don't think it's easy to make 30 years in teaching. it's a hard job if you do it correctly. >> reporter: one more experienced teacher gr eer join growing number of teachers calling it kits. we hope you stay with us. we have a lot ahead tonight. it may be heaven on earth for skiers, but what is going to happen when this year's snowpack melts wroorb. >> and finally, a milestone in the royal family for someone who can't resist speaking his mind. resist speaking his mind. remember when you had more energy for 18 holes 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[ female announcer ] ask the doctor about your loved one trying the exelon patch. visit exelonpatch.com to learn more. the government added styrene and seven other chemi l chemicals to its list of possible human carcinogens, it's found in coffee cups, foam materials, and building materials. but much of these support comes from industrial settings where large amounts are there. spokes pm people for the company said it would appeal the designations. the navy's blue angel team announced they're resuming their schedule after being grounded may 22nd in an air show in virginia. in that show, four of the f-16 hornets flew way too low ing a maneuver, forcing two to abort the fly-by. all of the teams landed safely. the team was put under investigation. the team will fly again june 18th in davenport, iowa. an out pouring of emotion along the route of the miracle on the hudson. it arrived at the aviation airfield in charlotte, the city that was its original destination when it took off from new york in january 2009. the airbus a-320 hit a flock of birds as it took off, but captain sully sullenberger's perfect landing in the hudson river averted disaster. many of the passengers and crew will reunite tomorrow for a reunion at the field. up next, he may not be exactly prince charming, but at age 90, prince philip is still going strong. philip is still going strong. 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[ male announcer ] should've used roundup. america's number one weed killer. it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back. guaranteed. weeds won't play dead, they'll stay dead. roundup. no root. no weed. no problem. finally tonight, lots of families have one, that lovable but eccentric relative who seems to lack an edit switch and whose comment you can count on to turn a family orsocial occasion into an uncomforteble but memorable family moment. britain's royal family is no exception. they celebrated the birthday of prince philip. >> they are the new face of the royal family. the duke and duchess of came bridge stepping out last night at a london fund-raiser, taking center stage, so far without a single misstep. ♪ happy birthday to you >> the thing cannot be said of the family patriarch, prince philip, william's grandfather woo turned 90 today. always at the queen's side and in her shadow, except, it seems, when he opens his mouth. he's famous for putting his foot in it. in a trip to australia, he offended an aboriginal leader by asking if they still threw spears at each other. in china in the '80s, an insulting remark by philip caused an uproar. and just last year, she asked a navy vet what she did. i said, i worked in a club, he said, strip club? i said no, and he said, it's a bit too cold, anyway. >> reporter: his off color comance have made the headlines for years. >> he comes from a different era and he believes in speaking his mind. in the world of politicians we don't trust and media spin doctors, he's terrific. now the brits see philip as something of a beloved but cranky uncle who will say somebody interesting at dinner. >> i don't change my way, it's part of somebody's style and it's too bad. >> another year older and still the unapologetic master of the royal blunder. janet shamlian, nbc news, london. >> that's our broadcast for this friday night. coming up at 8:00 eastern, game five of the stanley cup finals. i'm lester holt. brian williams bill we back here on monday. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today." have a great weekend. good night, everyone. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com [ woman ] this icelandic mud was working wonders on my skin. but if it was going to do the same for my spa, i had to figure out a way to get it back to the states. so i called my citibank small business expert. he got me a line of credit to make it happen and even improved my cash flow. now, my spa has more business than ever.