. . . tonight on "nightl - tonight on "nightline" -- what lies beneath. after last week's shocking taking hold about the dangers lurking beneath our feet. so just how safe is your fashion forward. it's red, it's white, it's blue but tommy hilfiger, the world all-american clothes, almost lost it all. how has he come back from the deadly fire, being recognized by

soldier since vietnam. we've got an exclusive tonight on "nightline" -- what lies beneath. after last week's shocking explosion flattened an entire street? alarming questions are taking hold about the dangers lurking be good eve good evening, i'm terry moran. we're going to begin tonight with the grim aftermath of that deadly fireball that ripped apart a san francisco suburb last week. as incredible home video and survivor accounts of the blast begin to emerge, residents whose homes were not destroyed began returning, although some are too scared to go back. that is an uneasiness shared by people across the country who are suddenly aware and wondering about the 2 million miles of natural gas pipeline that crisscross the united states. neal karlinsky's in california with our report. >> reporter: in san bruno today, people were doing their best to get back to their normal lives.

something that hasn't come easy. the hanan family came home to a house in pretty good shape today, other than the smell of smoke. the problem is, their daughter, like so many others who ran for their lives to get out of here last week, doesn't want to stay here anymore. >> i feel secure, but she's not, she's not. she's scared. she keeps telling me, i don't want to come home, mom, i don't want to go home. just now, she don't want to go inside the house. we just came from the hotel. >> reporter: it's no wonder. this incredible home video was taken by their neighbor, walter, and gives the closest view yet of the horrific fireball that devoured dozens of homes. >> there's people dead, i know. damn it! what the [ bleep ] happened? >> to be honest, i was not thinking. i was just making sure my neighbors -- i could see my neighbors running up the hill. and i wasn't -- i was just running around the house, make sure everybody was out. >> reporter: you feel safe or

still a little -- >> not 100%, not 100%. >> reporter: the neighborhood, which was ravaged by a natural gas fire, is now under siege by utility workers going house to house to make sure the gas comes on again safely. and there was what some residents considered a less than reassuring sight, technicians with hand-held electronic sniffers checking cracks in the road and manhole covers for more possible gas leaks. beverly has lived here since the neighborhood was built a half century ago. but she won't stay the night. >> holy cow. >> yeah. >> reporter: thursday's explosion sent this meteor-like rock of burning asphalt through her roof. >> i went upstairs. i was upstairs in my bed -- bedroom -- >> reporter: that still -- falling through your roof? >> stuff is still falling through. hallelujah! gee. >> reporter: despite it all, we haven't met anyone in this neighborhood who isn't, first and foremost, just thankful to be alive.

even as exhibit a, the huge chunk of blown-out pipeline, was shipped off their street by investigators today, bound for a lab in washington. it will literally be put under a microscope. >> the detail metallurgical examination will help us determine was it for example, a fatigue factor, or was it a fracture from impact from excavation or just what was the source of the breach? >> reporter: they obviously have some areas of concern. it is old, installed in 1956, with welding points that officials say are no longer commonly used. that includes a long welded seam that runs the length of the line and is potentially susceptible to corrosion. but there is also a section designed to bend under a dip in the road, the exact section that blew, put together by a hodgepodge of smaller pieces. officials say while modern methods are to bend a pipe to fit a curve, this pipe was

pieced together by small sections called pups, each one forging a turn in the pipe, each one offering investigators another decades-old welding job that could have been a weak point. >> the fact that it occurred when it was unexpected, when there's in obvious explanation for it. there was no precursor event. there was no earthquake that we know of. there was no heavy construction in the vicinity that we know of. we don't know of any impact against the pipe. it's very mysterious and it makes it important that we understand the cause of this. >> we've heard reports of residents saying they smelled gas and called us beforehand. we have combed through our records for the month of september, for the nine days of september before the event and we have not found any -- anything in our records that would indicate that people called for that specific area -- >> reporter: today, pg&e officials were anxious to defend themselves against reports that residents smelled gas earlier and nothing was done.

>> and in one instance, there was a small leak at the meter, which we replaced, fixed it right away. in the second instance there wasn't a leak found anywhere. >> reporter: state regulators have now ordered the utility to inspect all of its natural gas lines. we already know that will include at least 99 the utility considers high risk. that's because the line that blew in san bruno was one of 100 highest risk line sections in the company's own 2007 report, adding, the risk of failure at this location is unacceptably high. snapshots of the aftermath paint a vivid picture of destruction and loss. the sort of thing you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd seen before, but this event is different and pipelines like the one that caused it are underground, crisscrossing their way from neighborhoods coast to coast. i'm neal karlinsky for "nightline" in san bruno, >> residents and investigators still waiting to find out just what happened there. thanks to neal karlinsky for

that report. we're going to shift gears when we come back. whole new area. we're going to check out a fashion comeback. how designer tommy hilfiger recovered from the brink of career destruction. on my car insurance. you know, with progressive, you get the option to name your price. is that even possible? uh, absolutely. trade? and i still get great service? more like super great. oh, you have a message. "hello." calculator humor. i'll be here all week. i will -- that was my schedule. the freedom to name your price. now, that's progressive. call or click today. i have twins, 21 years old. each kid has their own path. they grow up, and they're out having their life. i really started to talk to them about the things that are important that they have to take ownership over. my name's colleen stiles, and my kids and i did our wills on legalzoom.

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but for tommy hill figure, it was anything but happily ever after. and sharyn alfonsi has our report. >> reporter: his clothes, his looks, are uniquely american. they've made tommy hilfiger a king of american apparent. last night, at his star-studded 25th anniversary show. >> we've been seeing his pieces for so long, they've been just a part of our culture at this point. >> tommy, happy 25th anniversary. >> reporter: but his story is rise and fall from fashion's good graces, as distinctly american as his clothes. today, tommy hilfiger leads a $4 billion fashion empire. >> we own our own shoe company now so we wanted to make sure the shoe looks like a tommy hilfiger shoe, red, white and blue. >> reporter: but he's seen his way through bankruptcy, a

backlash of bad press, and somehow survived a baggy jean and logo era he'd rather forget. is there anything you designed that you wish you could pull from the atmosphere, bury and never see again? >> well, as you look back, you know, i probably overdid big logos to an exhausting point in the '90s. i mean, the traffic on fifth avenue is incredible -- >> reporter: we visited hilfiger at his new flagship store on new york's fifth avenue. should i be rocking this look? >> well, this -- this shows that it's a fall season, it's football season. this is what you should wear to the stadium. >> reporter: and this is what you should wear when you deal with fashion reviews, right, fashion critics? >> i don't pay attention anymore. >> reporter: in his design studio, before the big show, where he is in every detail. >> we've got this. >> the cool details there. turn around. >> it's got the stripe, which --

>> it looks great, fantastic. >> reporter: it's a long way from his humble beginnings in fashion that started in his hometo hometown, elmira, new york, in the late '60s. >> when the hippie revolution took place, my friends and i wanted to look cool. so we decided to open a store with $150 and 20 pairs of jeans. >> reporter: in under seven year, tommy and his friends had eight stores. >> and i thought that this business was so great, it would never stop. and i had a rude awakening, which was my mba, i guess you could say. >> reporter: at age 25, hilfiger declared bankruptcy. he moved to new york and was working as a freelance designer for calvin klein when he was offered a full-time job designing denim for him. >> i met mojan, and he said, don't go to work for calvin. i'll back you. i'll be your partner. we'll start a company. >> reporter: the indian textile magnet held the licenses for

gloria vanderbilt and coca-cola clothing. >> i said, fantastic, let's call it tommy hil because nobody will be able to pronounce tommy h hilfig hilfiger. he said, no, go by your name because nobody else has the name tommy hilfiger. do you think people can really pronounce yves st. laurent? >> reporter: how old at that point? >> 29. >> reporter: were you intimidated at all? >> not at all. i was just totally, totally confident, to create my own clothing line that would, in turn, compete with the best. >> reporter: so confident was hilfiger and his partner, they created this billboard in new york's times square, comparing the virtually unknown hilfiger to designer greats rauf lauren, perry ellis and calvin klein. would you do that again? >> i looked at -- >> reporter: because you got killed for that, right? >> i looked at it and i said,

oh, my god, is this going to make me a laughingstock? and i went with it and actually it worked. it really worked. >> reporter: so you'd do it again? >> i would do it again. >> reporter: with that first line, hilfiger established himself as a classic american brand. >> i love iconic america. i love hollywood. i love rock 'n' roll. and i wanted to incorporate that inspiration into my design work. >> reporter: and soon he was an all-american success story. his company was generating $100 million in revenues. but then somehow, some where, preppy took a turn. in 1992, you kind of embraced street wear, is that fair to say? >> street wear was actually embracing me because my preppy clothes became so popular amongst kids in boarding schools, colleges, all of a sudden, the youth on the street

started wearing my athletic inspired clothes with the big logos. >> reporter: soon, the brand was unrecognizable to its core preppy customers. and they weren't the only ones turned off by that logo saturated look. 2001, "new york times" fashion critic writes about your collection. you wanted to get in the suv and run them over a few times. >> listen, when you're a fashion designer, a musician, an artist, you have to accept and realize that criticism is just part of the game. >> reporter: but that's just mean. >> well, i really believe it was mean. however, i've become friendly with the journalist now. and she felt at that time that the clothing was too stiff, too bright and looking back i think she was right. >> reporter: hilfiger returned to his preppy roots and expanded them.

creating a $1 billion global brand by selling the idea of american prep to europe. >> this is our family campaign, showing the quirky but real hilfiger family. the mom, the dad, the dog, the big kids, the little kids. >> reporter: hilfiger's own family could fill the pages of a magazine. he has seven kids. we met the youngest, 1-year-old sebastian, at the flagship. decked out in the colors that have come to define his father's clothes and his family's story. >> the american dream is alive and well, where you can have a dream, you can build a big business, starting with nothing. maybe it's a familiar story. but it is true, it can happen, because it happened to me. >> reporter: i'm sharyn alfonsi for "nightline" in new york. >> tommy hilfiger. thanks to sharyn alfonsi for that report. up next, we've got an american story of a very different kind.

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it is a distinction reserved for the most valiant of american warriors. an award of such magnitude it has conferred only six times for the wars in iraq and afghanistan. and in all of those cases, posthumously. but now for the first time since the vietnam war, a living american soldier has been awarded the medal of honor.

martha raddatz has an exclusive interview with the true american hero, satisfy sergeant salvatore giunta. >> you've got eyes on him -- [ gunfire ] >> reporter: they were the tip of the spear, fighting insurgents head to head in a place called the korengal valley, just over the border from pakistan. >> giving him some down low, you're doing good. >> reporter: nearly every day, they faced heavy fire. >> to the left of it! >> reporter: and on this day in october 2007, these soldiers were heading into a village where they suspected taliban weapons were being hidden. >> the lumber yard is where we believe there's a lot of the caches. >> reporter: the men had gone over the planum russ ti numerou. they weren't looking forward to carrying it out. >> i think there's definitely a high probability somebody will get hurt. >> reporter: the operation came to be known as "rock avalanche."

then 22-year-old specialist salvatore giunta would face the greatest test of his life. >> we are the tip of the spear and we're out there doing what we need to do. >> reporter: but what giunta did would make him a hero. the most highly honored living soldier to emerge thus far from the wars in iraq and afghanistan. >> i think when i first went over to afghanistan, '06, i was excited. i was ready for it. this is what i trained to do. this is what i said i was going to do. this is my chance to do something for my country. >> reporter: but by the fall of 2007, things in the korengal, where giunta was posted, were going badly for the u.s. army. >> -- basically want jihad down here in the korengal so we'll see what happens. >> reporter: photographer tim was embed the in the korengal for "nightline" and was there for the "rock avalanche"

operation. >> it was a sense that we were now going to be hunted and that was not a great feeling. >> reporter: heatherington documents the cost of war valiantly borne by very young men. here, a soldier learning his friend, staff sergeant larry rugel, has just been shot dead. >> it's not -- >> very hard sight to digest, where men were in such a state of shock, you know, i think i was in a state of shock too. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: the next day, the firefight was just as intense. and on another part of the mountain, young sal giunta and his fellow soldiers were moving in. can you tell us about that day? >> it was what is asked of us to do every day, but honestly, to tell the story about that day,

hurts me. >> reporter: staff sergeant brett perry was near giunta when they were ambushed. >> i can't even begin to describe how intense it was. i could see the guys -- i could see their muzzle flashes. >> reporter: that is when sal giunta made his extraordinary move. seeing his best friend, platoon leader josh brennan was badly wounded and being dragged away by insurgent, giunta charged right into the ambush after them, under heavy fire. how often do you remember that time, that day? >> i think about it multiple times a day. i think about it every day. all the time. >> reporter: giunta pulled brennan to safety. >> he was putting everything he had to keeping brennan alive. he was talking to him, comforting him, saying, you know, you're -- all you got to do is survive. you're done. you're going to go home.

all you have to do is pull through. >> reporter: but brennan did not make it. and amid the fanfare this past week, it is brennan who is foremost in the heart of the cam r comrade who tried to save him. when you try to remember josh, how do you do that and make it matter and make josh's death matter? >> if i can do something with my life that can -- that can help people, then hopefully i can live a good life and say i lived a good life, knowing that he didn't have the opportunity to carry on the rest of his years. >> reporter: sal giunta does not consider himself a hero. and does not like to talk about what he did that day. all his fellow soldiers, he insists, showed incredible courage. >> to be the recipient of the medal of honor is huge. it's a huge award that i can't accept alone, not by myself, because so much of everything that has put me in this chair talking to you today is and

always has been about all of us. >> he'll say he was just doing his job. but the reality is, you know, there's very few people in the world that would have done what he did. >> reporter: i'm martha raddatz for "nightline" in vochenza, italy. >> thank you to martha raddatz for that report. thanks to sergeant giunta and his comrades. when we come back, we'll talk about the bush tax cuts. first, here's jimmy. >> tonight, david hasselhoff, eric ripert cooks for us, and music from green day.

barbara boxer. she fought to get our veterans the first full combat care center in california. her after school law's keeping a million kids off the street and out of gangs. and she's fighting every day to create new jobs. boxer: i'm working to make california the leader in clean energy, to jump-start our small businesses with tax credits and loans, to create thousands more california jobs. i'm barbara boxer and i approve this message because i want to see the words "made in america" again.