>>> breaking news tonight. health secretary tom price is out, under fire for his use of private jets, resigning after promising to repay a fraction of taxpayer money. >>> lashing out. growing anger over the puerto rico disaster response. >> we are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency. >> local officials furious. president trump insisting his administration is doing an incredible job. tonight millions desperate for help. >>> cuba travel alert. americans warned not to visit cuba. embassy staff ordered out after mystery attacks on diplomats. >>> another violent collapse in yosemite's el capitan. why are climbers not being kept away? >>> and hidden hotel fees. if you're off for a billhidden "nightly news" begins right now. >>> this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. apologies and reimbursements were not enough to save president trump's embattled health and human services secretary who a short time ago resigned over his high-flying travel ways at taxpayers' expense. we'll get to those breaking details shortly, but we want to start with the incred

information has been stolen, are promising lawsuits. tom costello. >> reporter: tonight nbc news counts nearly 50 lawsuits already filed over the historic data breach, including a multibillion dollar class action suit. >> i got an alert. >> reporter: plaintiff jamie mcdon gal says criminals have already used his information to make four illegal credit inquiries. >> i never gave equifax consent to have my information in the first place. took it without my permission and were careless with it. >> reporter: 36 senators called for federal investigations into three executives who sold stock before the breach went public. although the company has said they didn't know of the breach. on equifax's facebook page, outrage, i can't wait to be part is only offering one year of free credit monitoring. do the right thing, lifetime subscription. >> troubles me amount of time it took for them to come forward and let us know we were at risk. that our identities had been compromised. >> reporter: will they be held accountable? credit agencies face fewer regulations than banks. congressional republicans w

are expected to cost. and fema is running low on cash. nbc's tom costello is at fema headquarters in washington to tell us more about it. tom, good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening. to put it bluntly, fema is right now burning through cash. a billion dollars in a week. that is half of what was in its disaster fund. now with irma bearing down, that burn rate is likely to accelerate. with 30,000 people on the ground in texas alone, fema and its budget are maxed out. [000:09:59;00] to delivering food, water and generators for those who have lost everything. >> there's no savings. there's no insurance. we don't know where to go. we're depending on assistance from the federal government. >> reporter: now facing hurricane irma, at fema headquarters in washington, employees are working round the clock seven days a week. fema chief brock long has been on the job since june after a career in disaster management at the state and federal levels. >> the important thing for the american public to understand is that nobody in the united states, regardless of who you are, is immune to

but for years to come. here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: financial and cyber experts warn the equifax hack has the potential to haunt americans for decades, and every adult should assume their information was stolen. names, social security numbers, dobs, addresses, driver's license numbers and 200,000 credit cards. >> it's really disconcerning just because equifax is trusted. >> reporter: across the country today frustration and anger at equifax's security lapse. >> i don't think there's any good excuse, and i think their response is poor. >> you don't know who you can trust, where you can use your information, your credit cards. >> reporter: amid a public backlash equifax said those who sign up for one year of credit monitoring and theft protection will not surrender their rights to sue. but the hack means we could all be at risk our whole lives. >> your name, address, social, date of birth, that information will never change. so it has perpetual value to a fraudster. so in five years the threat is not gone. in 10 years and 20 years the threat is not gone. >> reporter: tonigh

category 4 or 5 can be devastating. we asked nbc's tom costello to demonstrate the power of hurricane-force winds and how well the u.s. is prepared to withstand them. >> reporter: tonight, irma's ferocious winds have the potential to wreak even more havoc than cat 5s andrew, katrina, rita or wilma. to better understand how to protect life and property university of maryland wind tunnel researchers re-create hurricane-force winds. this is now a category 1 storm, 80 miles per hour. we're looking at some damage to unanchored mobile homes, trees and shrubs. this is now a category 2 storm. 100-mile-per-hour winds. there is no way you can stand in this. significant damage to roofs, to windows. this is now a category 3. 115 miles per hour. the wind is pulling my cheeks and my skin back. anything that isn't tied down would be uprooted and torn from its foundation. after just a few minutes in cat 3 winds last year the engineers said enough. it's just absolutely exhausting to stand in those kinds of winds. today irma at 155 miles per hour is among the strongest hurricanes ever recorded. even ho

. more from tom costello. >> reporter: less than three weeks after announcing largest financial data breach in history -- >> i deeply regret this incident. >> reporter: ceo richard smith resigned today, although keeping $18 million in pension benefits and possibly $30 million in stock options. two other senior execs have already left. smith still expected to get an earful on capitol hill next week. >> i think equifax is a travesty, leaving of the ceo is not enough. >> reporter: a cascade of federal and four state investigations. >> going to get to bottom of how the breach occurred, when it occurred and holding equifax accountable for actions since the breach. >> reporter: consumer experts urge all adults to freeze credit reports at all three agencies so it. but americans struggle to get it done over the phone or online. some blocked by error messages. >> unfortunately it's still not working adequately. so at what point are we going to see that solution come to fruition? >> reporter: equifax hack and wall street regulator hack have experts issuing red alert. >> this absolutely undermi

now calling for the ceo of equifax to testify on capitol hill. here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: tonight, more trouble for equifax with seven state attorneys general now launching investigations or suing over its massive data breach. >> this company needs to make sure that it is footing the bill, that it is paying, and that we are not paying for their failures. >> reporter: equifax ceo rick smith still hasn't responded to nbc's request for comment. but in a "usa today" editorial, smith writes, we are devoting extraordinary resources to make sure this kind of incident doesn't happen again. every adult should assume their personal data is now in the hands of criminals, says veteran cyber security consultant teresa payton. >> you got to freeze your credit because otherwise someone could masquerade as you, ruin your credit rating and that day you go to buy a car or a house, you find out you've been ruined by cyber criminals. >> reporter: to freeze your credit go online or call all thre experian and transunion. you can temporarily lift the freeze if you apply for a loan or credit car

months before it was hacked that it says might have prevented the breach. here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: tonight, with reports that mastercard and visa are notifying banks that 200,000 of their customer credit card numbers were among those lost in the equifax breach, public outrage continues to boil. in texas michael whip's information was first stolen two years ago. now with the equifax hack, he and his wife have frozen their credit reports. total cost $40. >> it makes me angry that i have to pay these credit bureaus money to do what they should have been doing to begin with and that's protect my information, my wife's information. >> reporter: credit scores aren't just used for loans and credit cards, they can also affect your ability to get a job, car insurance, rent an apartment, turn on the power, even sign up for a new cell phone. >> i think what this breach points to is we need better control for american consumers over the information in our credit reports. >> reporter: also tonight more allegations of negligence at equifax. in a statement online, equifax blamed the

spectacular images and challenging years of scientific conclusions about saturn. here's tom costello. >> reporter: the final moments came just before 8:00 a.m. eastern time, nasa's beloved cassini space craft in a fatal dive into saturn's atmosphere. >> and this is the place where cassini took its final plunge. >> reporter: cassini first arrived in 2004 after a seven year journey. ever since we've all had a sort of ringside the solar system, the night side of saturn, those radiant rings that have so captured or imaginations, raging hurricanes and images that forced a sign timpg rethink. the moon tighten looks like mars rather than frozen ice. could something be alive down there. >> this is truly been beyond my wildest dreams. >> reporter: then just four months ago, cassini took all of us on a series of deep dives between saturn's rings. >> you feel like you're there and you could reach out and touch the rings. >> reporter: but after 20 years and 5 billion miles, cassini was out of fuel and nasa feared crashing it into a moon could contaminate any potential life forms so it put cassin

and human service secretary tom price, is under fire and facing scrutiny from congress over the number of flights he's been taking on private jets, leaving taxpayers on the hook for the cost instead of flying commercial. we get details now from our white house correspondent kristen welker. >> reporter: tonight, with a firestorm growing over his health and human services secretary tom price for charging taxpayers for private jet travel, president trump unleashing this warning. >> i was looking into it, and i will look into it. and i will tell you personally i'm not happy about it. i am not happy about it. and i let him know it. >> reporter: and asked if he plans to fire pr t only saying -- now the pressure's mounting with politico reporting today price took an august charter flight to an exclusive resort in georgia where he and his wife own property. the stated purpose -- a medical conference, but price arrived a day and a half early. federal travel regulations say an official can only charter a plane if no scheduled commercial airline service is reasonably available. but tonight

nationwide. the question tonight, how long will it take for those refineries to recover? here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: hurricane harvey could not have picked a better place to inflict maximum damage on the nation's oil and gas industry. the latest tonight, that critical colonial pipeline carrying gasoline, diesel and jet fuel is open from louisiana to new york, but shut down in texas. operators hope to reopen the line on sunday, but 15% to 20% of the nation's refineries are still not functioning. corpus christi operations are resuming, but port arthur could be down for weeks. >> if the refineries are down we could see high prices even move up to, let's say, the $3 a gallon neighborhood. >> reporter: tonight, as millions of americans hit the road for the labor day weekend, the national average is now $2.53 a gallon. up 18 cents in just a week. but texas is running low. fuel trucks are pouring in while in dallas -- >> i've gone from one gas station to the next and there hasn't been anything available. >> reporter: long lines with emotions running high. >> now that i've got up here

nurse at the center of it all is giving her side of the story to nbc news. our tom costello has more. >> you're under arrest. >> reporter: four days after the release of that video of nurse alex wubbels being man-handled then handcuffed by detective jeff payne, said it will no longer allow police to interact directly with medical staff involved in patient care. >> we're done. you're under arrest. >> reporter: detective payne became angry after nurse wubbels said it was illegal for her to draw blood from a truck driver involved in this crash involving a car being chased by police. >> there is absolutely no tolerance for that kind of behavior in our hospital. >> reporter: indeed the supreme court ruled last year police must have a warrant or consent to take blood. today nurse wubbels, a former olympic athlete, said salt lake police were slow to take action. only after the video shot in july was released were detective payne and another officer placed on paid leave pending a criminal investigation. >> i'm not here to police the police. the police need to do that if they're going to rega

is facing criticism tonight for his style of travel. health and human services secretary tom price is being investigated for reportedly taking dozens of private planes for government work at taxpayers' expense. chief white house correspondent hallie jackson has more on that for us tonight. >> reporter: the head of the health agency hitting turbulence with the price of his private travel for government business now under review by federal investigators. hhs secretary tom price racked up a bill of more than $300,000 on at least two dozen charter flights this year, according to politico, including one trip from d.c. to philadelphia for a conference on opioids. that's about 300 miles round trip, roughly 90 bucks by car, 550 for the train and up to $725 on a commercial flight. but price picked the private option, hopping a charter for an estimated $25,000. >> he's wasting taxpayer money. and for a group of people who call themselves fiscal conservatives, this is an embarrassment. >> reporter: an hhs spokesperson defended price's use of private planes as more efficient and effective given h

to take the field during the no player from either team took the field. tom brady who has described the president as a friend stood with his teammates today. linking his arm. this comes after the president doubled down on his call to end sports protest. taking aim at players like colin kaepernick who started the trend last year to stand against police brutality. >> wouldn't you love to see one of these nfl owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say get that son of a bitch off the field right now. right now. out. he's fired. he's fired! >> reporter: the president responded today, tweeting, great solidarity for our national anthem and for our country. standing with locked arms is good, kneeling is not acceptable. bad ratings. the administration today saying the protests are an affront to the veterans. fans filed into stadiums across the country. some saying this isn't about disrespect. it's about freedom. >> it's not a protest against the military. it's a protest about the president. >> i understand the freedom of speech, but also this is the player's jobs and i don't get to s

time. late word from health secretary tom price facing a firestorm over leaving taxpayers on the hook for pricey private jet flights. >>> tragedy at yosemite. a sudden slide on the iconic el capitan. climbers with no chance to get out of the way. >>> and cancer diagnosis. julia louis-dreyfus goes public with her battle with breast cancer and sends a message abou "nightly news" starts right now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. and thank you for being with us tonight. so close yet so far. the essential provisions a thirsty and hungry puerto rico has been crying out for for over a week now are reaching the island only to run up against a distribution roadblock. adding frustration on top of misery. think for a moment about living in a world where grocery store shelves are bare, there's no clean water, you can't buy gas to get to work and, of course, no work, no pay. the trump administration today waived rules that prevented some ships from delivering goods, but the root of the problem runs much deeper. n

growing including patriots quarterback and trump friend tom brady. >> i certainly disagree with what he said and, you know, thought it was just divisive. >> this isn't about the president being against anyone, but this is about the president and millions of americans being for something, being for honoring our flag, honoring our national anthem. >> reporter: the intersection of sports and politics dates back decades, from muhammad ali to mexico city, but now fresh battle lines are being drawn. several nascar owners warning they'll boot teammates who demonstrate. while one of the sport's biggest names, dale earnhardt jr., is voicing his support for peaceful protests. tonight the nfl spokesman who says this feud has unified the league and its players is delivering a message to the president insisting if he wants to engage in a positive, constructive conversation, he has their number. savannah. >> peter, thank you very much. >>> also from the white house, news about the new travel ban the administration is hope will pass muster with the weighed in on the issue today as the president's seni

another world so far from our own. tom costello, nbc news, washington. >> pretty fascinating. we appreciate you spending part of your >>> now on "extra." new video. selena gomez in new york as we uncover new details about her health crisis. >> you're going to get through it. >> why she was hospitalized twice before the transplant. how her man, the weekend, got her through the ordeal. >>> heather locklear in the er. what detectives are telling us about the cause of the crash. >>> angelina and rihanna take over new york. >> it is a big night for us. >> "extra" is inside as beyonce, jay-z, jamie foxx party at rihanna's diamond ball. is she in talks to join "american idol"? >>> angelina showing off her tattoo, taking all six kids to the movies. >> like any parent, you want your child to work. >>> breaking couples news. fergie's first words about her surprise split from josh duhamel as he is spotted without his ring. plus. >>> our girl chrissy teigen going off on reports she's in couples therapy with john legend. >>> and final countdown to the emmy's. >> i am forecasting all the fashi