on the broadcast tonight, power struggle. almost a week now after irene, why are so many americans still in the dark? and what is it going to take to get the power back on? also firestorm. the mean season in the southwest. dry, hot and parts of it up in flames. high risk. and what we're learning of the danger to those who just showed up to help. sick and tired. venn noose williams sidelined. tonight the rare condition that

strikes millions of american women. strikes millions of american women. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. tonight, about a million of our fellow citizens are heading into another night in the dark with no power across 11 separate states, one-fifth of the country. remember, the storm hit this past weekend, some of them are being told they'll have power by next week and where it's really bad, it will take weeks still. hard to believe it's happening in the united states in 2011, but we have seen it before, think katrina and it's also hard to believe this storm is now in the top ten costliest natural disasters of all time. august has given way to september and though the nights have actually been mild here in the east. tempers are getting hot. we begin our reporting tonight with nbc's anne thompson in hard hit connecticut, anne, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. i'm here at a staging area for utility crews and there is a significant police presence. believe it or not, these police are here to protect the workers from angry residents who are

frustrated they are still without power. tonight, 60% of ridgefield, connecticut is in the dark and that means some 18,000 people don't have electricity. finally, a sign of progress in power starved ridgefield, connecticut. this is one of 30 crews working to get the lights back on. these men came all the way from denver, colorado. >> three days just to get a crew here. those crews should have been here in 24 hours. >> reporter: rooney marconi is ridgefield's first electman, much like a mayor, is angry, just as angry as residents burning up his phone lines furious about excruciatingly

slow response from the power company. five days later, the story is the same in much of irene's path. 156,000 new york customers are without power, 81,000 in flood swamped new jersey. and nearly 5,000 in vermont. why is it so hard to get the power back? energy experts blame delivery systems straight from the last century. >> the problem is of course the old infrastructure mentality of putting wires on poles. why do you do that? >> reporter: anderson says power lines should go under ground. marconey says that idea is cost prohibiti prohibitive. >> are you ready to double your rates? are you ready for that? >> reporter: this family are living on their deck. >> i'm exhausted. >> reporter: the upper level is the living room, family room and kitchen. >> play games, talk, listen to a small transistor radio. >> reporter: the lower level, the laundry room. they have made the best of it, but patience is running low. how much longer can you be without power? >> when we heard the potential

that it would be next wednesday, we did kind of freak a little bit. >> reporter: you can imagine the reason why, that means a whole other week without power. and, yes, that is a real estimate from connecticut light and power. but with crews now here from colorado, michigan, iowa and north carolina, they hope they can get the lights back on much sooner, brian? >> and just one state out of 11 states still dealing with outages tonight. anne thompson, ridgefield, connecticut. and as we track the new threat out over the atlantic, katia has strengthened overnight. into a full blown hurricane, but tonight, the storm has been downgraded again to a tropical storm. and again tonight, it still too early according to forecasters to tell when, where or if katia will impact the u.s. or if it will hook a right turn and go back out to sea as we're hoping. but there is a more imdiate threat, sadly.

there's a weather system churning tonight over the gulf oflfexico, and it's looking likely it will become a tropical depression or perhaps a tropical storm over the next 24 hours. that could mean heavy rain for days. most important, most immediately this evening, they're already evacuating offshe oil rigs in the gulf of mexico and of coursf we are greatly concerned over new orleans, just days after the sixth anniversary of katrina. now from rain to exactly the opposite. a part of the country where it's been so hot and dry, the problem now is raging and drought-fed wildfires. nbc's janet shanlian is live tonight in oklahoma city. janet, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. they're having a tough time getting a handle on these fires, they're leap frogging through communities. and with this persistent drought, it does not take much. something as small as a cigarette butt can set an entire neighborhood up in flames. for wind whipped wildfires, thirsty oklahoma is an easy target. more than 30 homes in oklahoma city reduced to rubble. one of them belonged to michael

lincecum. >> we had a lot of people and three dogs. >> reporter: they had an hour's warning. as lincecum surveys what might be salvageable, it's clear there's nothing. >> my dad had lived with us his last eight years and he was a world war ii hero and i had his flag and his pictures and his medals and all that. >> reporter: it was a hopscotch assault, one house a pile of ashes, next door, untouched. >> this is the largest wildfire we have had in my 27 years with the department. >> reporter: deputy fire chief says mother nature is working against them. extreme drought, searing heat and gusty winds are seeking to ignite the fires once again. this helicopter is responding to one of the many flare-ups, there are hot spots all over this region and on each pass it drops more than 600 gallons of water. neighboring texas took a hit as

well. at opossum kingdom lake, a fire cut off access to roads fueled by the same tinderbox conditions. >> it's hard because the wind picks up, it can go any direction. >> reporter: in oklahoma, that wind change claimed the home of steve anne and john belick. but what mattered most, their horses were spared. >> they're the kids, all the animals are the kids, so we had to make sure they were safe. >> reporter: firefighters from across the state are pouring in here and this command center is going to stay up and staffed all night long in hopes of preventing any further loss. >> janet, thank you. janet shanlian in oklahoma city tonight. and we have news just breaking at this hour tonight about all those firefighters, those first responders who rushed to ground zero and then continued to work on the pile as they called it after the 9/11 attacks. from the very first hours of rescue efforts at the world trade center site, many feared and common sense dictated that the fumes and dust contained chemicals that could cause cancer and other diseases and

now, tonight a study from the fire department of new york, and several medical schools find the frightening evidence that those firefighters who worked at the scene are indeed being diagnosed with cancer and the experts say the problem is likely to get worse. our report tonight from our chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> reporter: the fire department of new york studied the health of its members and retired members extensively before and after 9/11. in only the first seven years after the attack, firefighters exposed to the dust and smoke surrounding the world trade center site had 19% more cancers than those who were not exposed. >> they made a commitment to us when they ran into those buildings, we made a commitment to them, we are going to continue to collect and study these cancers. >> reporter: he fought the flames on 9/11 and worked on the rescue and recovery effort for another month. in 2007 he developed thyroid cancer and retired from the department soon after.

>> when i found out what i had, i knew right away. and i told them that we were going to have a problem. i knew it was a wave of illness that they had to prepare for. >> reporter: this is the world trade center site today, in the hours and weeks after the attack, the burning pile released many chemicals known to cause cancer and other illnesses. a separate study out today of 27,000 rescue workers finds in excess of many physical and psychiatric diseases. there's no excess deaths yet, but officials expect that will happen. as for the firefighters, the department says it must concentrate on early detection and treatment, and fears the cancer cases will increase with time. >> we can never take 9/11 away, but we can start and continue an aggressive cancer prevention, and cancer screening program. another fallout from 9/11 for new york's bravest, that will continue for many years.

robert bazell, nbc news, new york. >> so tough to watch all these years later. now we turn to a big debate going on in washington, it's really about two things, what's the president going to say next week about jobs? and then there's the fight over when he was going to say it and where. kristen welker is at the white house and kristen, i heard james carville tonight say he thinks the white house might have just screwed this one up? >> reporter: brian, criticism is really coming in from all sides, a lot of people wondering how washington will tackle the 9.1% unemployment rate when they struggled to agree on the date of a speech. white house press secretary jay carney came out swinging today after a debacle over scheduling the president's job speech. >> the side shows don't matter. the economy matters. >> reporter: this after yesterday's dust up when the administration announced the speech would be delivered before a joint session of congress next

wednesday, the same day as the nbc news politico presidential debate. but house speaker john boehner objected. and suggested thursday for logistical reasons. late last night the white house agreed. now they are trying to shift focus to the unemployed. >> they do not give a lick about what day next we can the president speaks before congress. they want to hear from him, they want to know what his proprosals are. >> reporter: today the budget office projected the unemployment rate will continue to hover around 9% into 2012. analysts say the jobs plan needs to be bold. >> he is going to have to offer one or two new ideas that reach out and grab people's attention. >> reporter: under consideration, ideas including investing in infrastructure and job training. the president has praised a georgia program that provides two months of training for the unemployed while keeping their

jobless benefits. also on the table, tax breaks for companies who hire unemployed workers and extending the current payroll tax cut. at a jobs fair in baltimore, joe and priscilla russo both out of work says washington needs to do something soon. >> it's a constant worry on our minds every day, it causes major stresses, major issues. >> reporter: the white house just announced that the speech will take place at 7:00 p.m. eastern time on thursday. that's just before the first nfl game of the season. >> and we will have live coverage here on nbc of that speech. kristen welker at the white house tonight. and up next as our broadcast continues on a thursday, the health condition that has taken a toll on a very tough competitor, millions of other women have the same thing yet some don't even know it. and later tonight, making a difference, one mother's mission to help save children a world away.

back now. as promised, with more on this surprising announcement by venus williams, a tennis superstar by any measure, that she is out of the game at least for now, pulling out of the u.s. open to tend to her health. here she is on monday waving to the crowd after her first round victory at the u.s. open before she made the surprise announcement that as she put it, despite how tough she looks she's been playing with half a deck. pretending she felt good when she felt really terrible, for years in fact, exhausted, out of breath, sometimes it was hard, she says, just to lift her arms. finally last month she received the diagnosis, a rare and chronic condition called sjogren's syndrome. dr. nancy snyderman, our chief

medical expert. we have never heard of sjogren's syndrome, i'm sure you have encountered it along the way. >> i have seen many patients through the years because of the kinds of symptoms that the brings the patient into the office. but they don't know why. it's an auto immune disorder where the body turns on itself. and the problem is like in venus's case it can take doctors years to figure out. sometimes it's mistaken for things like rheumatoid arthritis or m.s. the statistics are pretty amazing, but this week in a statement, venus williams said i am thankful that i finally have a diagnosis and will now be focused on getting better and returning to the court. and obviously that's the hope for all of us. it is not a term that rolls off of most people's tongues, but it affects as many as four million americans in this country. nine out of ten patients are women. venus is in the age group where most women start to complain of the symptoms and the reason it's so hard to diagnose is that the symptoms travel all over your body.

usually something like dry eyes or dry mouth that can also be things like aches and pains. and if you look at a diagram of the body, it can be joint problems, phenomenal tiredness. and if you're on the pro circuit, you might say, my joints hurt and i'm tired, and it may be because i'm playing so hard. so it's really hard to diagnose. the problem is there's no cure. the auto immune illness and the concern is obviously worrisome for someone who is such an elite athlete. >> well, through her we're probably going to learn a lot more about it. thank you, dr. snyderman, as always. when we come back here tonight, the list of the best and worst drivers is out and we'll tell you where it's completely safe to drive and where you should probably stay off the road until further notice.

remember how washington popularized the phrase safety net. well it's actually sadly fitting

that an fall safeity net is going up inside the national cathedral in washington. the earthquake was particularly cruel to d.c., pieces of the great cathedral's spire fell down now they're worried about the ceiling of the world's sixth largest cathedral. and the washington monument also has troubles, cracks and water leaking in, also from the quake, some stones are cracked and it remains during the end of summer tourist season. david reynolds has died and there's a good chance you used the product today upon which he made his mark. that would be david reynolds as in reynolds aluminum. his father founded the company, but david armed with a princeton degree had a consumer's eye, back when soda pop only came in bottles, he championed the aluminum can. and then he realized recycling them would be best for the environment. even though alcoa was the bigger

company, reynolds knew aluminum foil would be big and to this day, nobody ever asks for alcoa wrap. david reynolds was 96 years old. here's hope for all of us, allan moore is the new placekicker for your faulkner university eagles. and al a less than -- allen moore happens to be 68 years old. he started college in 1968 and then the vietnam war came calling. he's a student again, back home in alabama, a junior, though he is senior to everybody else on the team by about 50 years. he's a placekicker, a father of three, a grandfather of five and he's a very happy man. the list, as we said of the worst and safest driving cities is out. let's start with the bad news. washington, d.c. but then you already knew driving was not your strong suit. followed by nearby baltimore and glendale, california and the

very safest drivers are in ft. collins, colorado. my own guess is that because that's where the atomic clock transmits the exact time signal to the nation, the good people there are extra precise. second and third place, the upstanding folks of boise and lincoln, nebraska. when we come back here tonight, another american city with something to be proud of. a woman with four kids of her own who's making a difference for other children she will never meet.

finally tonight here, our making a difference report. it starts in new england and it stretches all the way around the horn of africa where we have been covering this famine, the worst human health crisis on earth right now, which has claimed the lives of at least 29,000 children under the age of 5 this summer. 29,000. but as we saw from our reporting team on the ground there, there are legions of aid workers trying to stop that from happening and one of the tools they rely on most is a silver packet you might have seen on tv. something called plumpy nut. it's a product that comes from a small, nonprofit factory here in the u.s. and it is a lifesaver. our report tonight from nbc's kate snow. >> reporter: providence, rhode island with its postcard images of americana.

but inside this factory, the only one of its kind in the u.s., they're churning out something to help children on the other side of the world. that high energy peanuty taste is called plumpy nut and it's literally saving lives in the horn of africa. in four to six weeks those little silver packets can save a child on the verge of starvation and the hospitals in the refugee camps in kenya are overflowing with kids who need it. at this small hospital at one of the refugee camps about half of the children coming in now are malnourished, they had to triple the number of beds to take care of them all. this 2-year-old was treated for severe malnutrition for two weeks, but the doctor wasn't sure she was ready to leave. so the doctor made her mother a deal, if she could eat a whole packet of plumpy nuts, he would discharge her. back in providence, the plant runs 21 hours a day, six days a week to meet the increased demand.

in one day they make enough to feed 50,000 children for a day. naven salem, a former stay-at-home mom with four daughters founded the company. >> the fact is children are dying from a basic lack of essential nutrients is really shocking to me. >> reporter: now she employs 38 workers from 15 different nations, some of whom know hunger firsthand. a ndra kumara spent two years in an african refugee camp. >> at time i was thinking why doesn't the world think of a way out? >> as a mom, losing even one of my girls is not something to dream out. and if we can prevent that one at a time, then we have done our part. >> and she finally did finish her packet of pumpy nuts, so the doctor let her go home still weak, but healthier than she had

been in a long time. kate snow, nbc news, kenya. >> and that's our broadcast on a thursday night, thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams and we hope to see you right back here to see you right back here tomorrow evening, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening, i'm jessica aguirre. >> i'm raj mathai. a bay area flower shop, marijuana. the mayor had no idea until he walked in the store and stumbled onto the truth. tracy grant joins us from pacifica with details. tracy, what is the legal punishment i