and some of them can't do anything about it. ♪ [ continues ] [ gasping ] on our broadcast tonight, secret service scandal. what happened inside that hotel in colombia? the investigation is growing tonight. more agents may be involved. was there a breach of security? the outbreak. deadly tornados hit hard in four states. over 130 funnels in one day alone, as the weather continues to make news. under fire. government officials at the center of a lavish, taxpayer funded trip to vegas. they get hauled in before congress to explain the story behind the take. and making a comeback, bald eagles coming home to nest in some unlikely places. "nightly news" begins now.

good evening. mention the u.s. secret service to most americans, and it will conjure up an image of the brave and silent protecters of the president. the men and women wearing suits and earpieces and sunglasses. they're sworn to take a bullet for the person they're protecting if it comes to that. after this weekend most mentions of the u.s. secret service have to do with an unfolding scandal. the members of a joint secret service military advance party who were in cartagena, colombia, prior to the president's trip there this weekend. they were sent home after allegations of an altercation involving prostitution. and as we'll report here tonight, it's getting worse, it's widening, and it's triggering questions about the very culture of a special organization. we begin tonight with our white house correspondent kristen welker, who accompanied the president to colombia and back. kristen, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. investigators, the secret

service and the pentagon are trying to find out how this could have happened. all 11 secret service personnel have had their security clearances pulled. according to u.s. officials, at least 11 secret service and more than five military personnel are involved in the widening prostitution scandal. nbc's national investigative correspondent mike isikoff has been working the story. >> sources tell us, among those involved, were two secret service supervisors, three members of the elite counter assault team, whose job it is to repel attacks on the president's motorcade, and three members of the counter sniper team. those officers with rifles who scout for threats from the tops of buildings. >> reporter: they were all a part of the diplomatic team for the president's trip to colombia. >> we're told all of those involved had hard copies of the president's day by day, minute by minute schedule. and if the prostitutes had

access to that, they could have potentially given it to a foreign intelligence service, a drug cartel or even a terrorist group. >> reporter: it happened last wednesday night, when the advance team allegedly brought prostitutes back to their hotel, just a few minutes from where the president would eventually stay. the hotel learned about the incident the next morning, after one of the women fought with an agent over money. the hotel alerted local authorities, and eventually it went all the way to the white house. >> we're representing the people of the united states. and when we travel to another country, i expect us to observe the highest standards. >> reporter: sources tell nbc news, the military officials under investigation include bomb disposal experts and dog handlers from the army, navy and marines. >> we're embarrassed by what occurred in colombia. we let the boss down. >> reporter: in a statement, the secret service said, these actions have had no impact on

the secret services ability to execute a comprehensive security plan for the president's visit to cartagena. >> this certainly could have compromised the president's security, it could have compromised national security. >> reporter: the scandal is the latest incident that has fuelled the agency's most vocal critics questions of effectiveness. >> there's a culture of the secret service, fostered by management of nodding, winking, favoritism. >> reporter: now, prostitution is legal in parts of colombia. all the agencies involved say the alleged misconduct is a clear violation of their standards. brian? >> kristen welker starting us off at the white house. kristen, thanks. we should add, for the good men and women of the u.s. secret service, this comes as quite a shock. we have more perspective on this tonight from dan bongino, a former agent with the presidential protection division of the secret service, who these days, by the way, is a republican candidate for u.s. senate from maryland. hear now, his view of the scandal in his own words.

>> the secret service is not just a job, it's a calling. and it was devastating to me, along with the fraternity of secret service brothers out there, this was hard to take. i was 12 years in the secret service, five years in the presidential protection identification. two years with president obama, three years with president bush. i was an instructor in our academy. i've seen the totality of the secret service, this is a national embarrassment. he's our president, he's overseas. he's not a democrat president, he's our president, and this was an embarrassment. i know everyone in the case. i'm not apologizing for anyone's behavior, and they aren't either. but lives are changed permanently, the ones i've talked to. their families are beaten up by this. the service, always adamant accent the point constantly, the consequences for your behavior. everywhere from the firing range, advanced work, that goes for everyone, the white house staff. the military. the entire military protective apparatus. that's emphasized over and over.

i think unfortunately that lapsed that there were going to be consequences for this. no one saw that, it was a very myopic view of that night. let's just have fun, and again, it's not indicative at all of the service i knew. they are a proud group of guys who every day sacrificed children's communions, birthday parties. i spent 300 days on the road one year. we're not asking for anyone's sympathy, we do it. we would gladly take a bullet and sacrifice our lives for a president of any political persuasion at any time. so i really hope america at some point can forgive the agency for this, and we can get past this. again, this is devastating to me professionally and personally. >> former secret service agent, dan bongino. he left the secret service last year. no one would blame you for wondering about our weather these days. it's back in the news tonight. we were two degrees shy of 90 degrees here in new york today. up near the canadian border, some temperatures fell by 40 degrees in just hours over this weekend. and, of course, sadly as you

know, in the plains and parts of the midwest, this is a day of recovery after a violent weekend. on saturday, there were more than 130 reports of tornados acss four different states. some of the storms had winds clocked at over 150 miles an hour. nbc's jay gray is in woodward, oklahoma, for us tonight. they took a direct hit there. jay, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. yeah, and the most tragic number tonight is six, that's how many people were killed in the tornados over the weekend. all those victims living right here in woodward, oklahoma. we've all seen the weather radar and the maps, but for survivors, this is what a tornado looks like up close and personal. >> look at that. >> reporter: the images are frightening. >> go, go, go. >> reporter: the power, the intensity. the devastation left behind. >> you're just overwhelmed by everything. you're overwhelmed by the situation. >> reporter: a situation,

forecasters say, could have been much worse. first responders believe lives were saved when 24 hours before the first strike for only the second time ever the national weather service warned of a potential "high-end life threatening event." the violent storm delivered on that threat. a string of more than 100 tornados ripping through four states, the most vicious attack in oklahoma. >> i wrapped my arms and legs around him and i said, please don't let me go, don't let me go. please, just hang on to me. >> reporter: now the town of woodward is trying to hang on. after a massive twister targeted the city of 13,000 in the middle of the night, the funnel only revealed by a flash of lightning. when most everything is gone after a tornado, help often comes from family. >> we're tight. we're a real tight-knit family. >> jimmy, your truck made it. >> reporter: today, this family is searching for memories and a

special gift. >> today is her birthday. >> reporter: this year her presents are family treasures, saved from the splintered wood and shards of glass that used to be their home. >> my husband is fine, my children are fine, my grandkids are fine. i can build another house. i can't build another man like that. >> reporter: despite their surroundings, their spirit and resolve, unbroken. >> i'm not leaving, if that's what you're asking me. this is my house. this is our home. >> reporter: homes like this one, there are 89 torn apart here in woodward, and hundreds more scattered along the path of the violent storms. brian? >> jay gray in oklahoma for us tonight. jay, thanks for that. weather channel meteorologist jim cantore is in thurmond, iowa, tonight where they estimate about 50% of all the homes in town were heavily damaged by a twister. jim, what caused an outbreak that, when you think about it, was so large we were able to talk about it, predict it, friday night's newscast for saturday night? >> well, two things, brian,

instability and wind sheer. when we see those things present it's like a five alarm fire. and let me just show you with the pieces of debris, what happens. when the wind sheer happens, you create a horizontal roll in the atmosphere. so here's the atmosphere rolling like this, the instability allows for the cumulus clouds to build up. and what you essentially end up with this rotating tube in the atmosphere, these big clouds. we still don't know exactly what causes the tornado, but that was present, certainly, in a big way with so many tornados. damage here, extensive in the town of thurmond, iowa. we're talking about winds at 125 miles per hour here. and as we mentioned, 50% of the homes definitely dealing with heavy damage here. >> and jim, in the meantime, how about these high temperatures in the eastern half of the country? >> reporter: well, that's the instability, it's been shifted to the east. we had 87 degrees today in boston. unbelievable. the average high in boston is 56

degrees. we started the boston marathon at 70 degrees, and that, of course, created horrible running conditions. as a matter of fact, the winner last year, who set the record at the boston marathon, actually had to drop out because of cramping by the 18th mile. so it was the second shortest boston marathon since 1985. >> all right. jim cantore, thurmond, iowa, tonight. jim, thanks, as always. now we turn to presidential politics. mitt romney revealed today he started the search process for a vice presidential running mate but he will not say when he will make that decision. and some controversial comments romney made at a fund-raiser are getting some attention. comments he did not intend for the whole world to hear, at least not yet. we get our report tonight from nbc's peter alexander. >> mitt romney in the house today here at fenway park, on this patriots day. >> reporter: the former massachusetts governor was chatting up fans this afternoon in the boston heat. but it was his comments during a private fund-raiser this weekend

in florida out of the view cameras that have caused a stir. while he's resisted offering specifics publicly, mitt romney says one of his top priorities as president would be cutting the size of the federal government. >> i look forward to eliminating government programs. >> reporter: but he revealed more details to donors sunday. comments overheard by an nbc news producer, standing in an area approved by police. romney said he might "cut things like housing and urban development, which my dad was head of. that might not be around later." romney also said he would is shrink the department of education. and on taxes he said he would likely eliminate the mortgage deduction on second homes for the wealthy. and limit or cut state income tax deductions to pay for his across the board tax cuts. and the romney campaign is still trying to capitalize on anne romney's remarks, the mother of five boys, said she can't face

the problems facing cash-strapped mothers because she never worked a day in her life. at the time romney supporters insisted they were offended. but this weekend, mrs. romney, who turned 63 today, cast the gaffe in political terms. it was my early birthday president for someone to be critical of me as a mother. and that was really a defining moment and i loved it. her husband called the episode a gift. peter alexander, nbc news, washington. violent couple days in afghanistan, the worst in months. widespread coordinated attacks across kabul. they hit nato headquarters, the u.s. embassy and two others. it went on for 18 hours, it was ferocious. the taliban said it was in retaliation for the accidental burning of the koran. back in february and other recent incidents involving the u.s. military. by the way, they are calling this the start of the spring offensive. two airline incidents today, and the first one, passengers on board a virgin flight from london to orlando had to slide down the chutes to safety when

the aircraft made an emergency landing back at gatwick, after a fire in the cabin. 15 injuries, by the way. and a delta flight from istanbul to new york made an emergency landing in dublin because of something the crew thought might be suspicious. later, turned out to be a cell phone charging in a lavatory power outlet. still ahead, as we continue on a monday night, government waste under fire. officials at the center of a lavish taxpayer funded trip to vegas, get summoned to capitol hill to explain themselves and their behavior. the incredible comeback of the american bald eagle. the only issue seems to be where they've chosen to raise a family.

now to our ongoing series of reports "the fleecing of america," keeping an eye on waste, fraud and abuse your tax

dollars. the former head of the general services administration, a low profile agency normally, that manages federal government buildings and purchasing, apologized for a lavish conference in las vegas. and today it was congress' turn to get involved. lisa myers has our report. >> reporter: today, what happened in vegas ended up on capitol hill. and the gsa official in charge of the lavish conference jeff neeley asserted his right to remain silent six times. >> mr. chairman, i respectfully decline to answer any questions here today based upon my fifth amendment constitutional privilege. >> reporter: but neeley seemed less reticent about his vegas experience in these photos posted on his wife's google plus page. they appear to be enjoying a luxurious suite at the m resort, which hosted the conference during a scouting trip a year before. the conference cost taxpayers almost a million dollars.

it drew bipartisan scorn. >> when you see this widespread abuse of money, that's where there's frustration just steaming out our ears. >> it's not your money. it's the taxpayer's money. >> reporter: taxpayers paid for black jack vests for conference leaders, and a commemorative coin and vegas book for all 300 attendees. today, former gsa administrator martha johnson, who resigned over the scandal, took responsibility. >> i personally apologized to the american people. >> republicans question the $9,000 bonus neeley was given last year while he was under investigation. >> how can you justify a bonus for somebody that you knew at the time of his bonus was at the center of this misconduct? >> reporter: johnson said neeley had performed well in other key areas, and she didn't want to interfere with the investigation. neeley's now on administrative leave, but still getting his $179,000 salary. the inspector general, whose

report triggered this spending scandal, says he is also investigating possible bribes and kickbacks at gsa, the agency supposed to save taxpayers money. lisa myers, nbc news, washington. back in a moment here tonight, with the loss of a huge piece of movie history.

there's been a terrible fire in the catskill mountains of new york state, 85 miles away from new york city. the loss of property made even worse considering it's a piece of film history in its own right. while most recently it was condos, it opened during world war ii as the old browns hotel. considered a classic catskills resort. it was the inspiration for the movie "dirty dancing." it took 40 fire companies many hours to get control of that fire. space shuttle "discovery" is loaded up, and affixed to the

top of a boeing 747 for its final flight tomorrow morning from the kennedy space center in florida to washington, d.c., heading to the smithsonian. and it's scheduled to take a nice low pass over the space coast of florida as it departs tomorrow. prior to a nice low flyover of d.c. before landing. "discovery" is a veteran, it went into service when reagan was president in '84, flew 39 missions, not counting tomorrow's suborbital final mission. pulitzer prizes were announced today, and they contained some surprises, including "the huffington post" writer, david wood, wins for national reporting for his superb work on wounded veterans of iraq and afghanistan. "the philadelphia inquirer" won for public service, for coverage of violence in city schools. "tuscaloosa news" won for its tornado coverage. notably no pulitzers were given this year for editorial writing or in the fiction category. up next here tonight, american bald eagles on the comeback trail.

finding their way back home, not on the range, really. but in the windy city.

finally tonight, bald eagles, the symbol of america, came close to being totally wiped out in america.

but they've made a comeback, as you may know, in recent years. so much so, they're not just showing up in the wilds of maine and montana, they may live a lot closer to you than you think. our report from nbc's kevin tibbles. >> reporter: some new neighbors are raising a family in st. paul, minnesota. in the 50 years stan's lived in this house, he's seen many come and go, but never any like these. >> this is a gift of nature. >> reporter: the bald eagle is returning to areas urban sprawl and pollution forced it to abandon decades ago. >> ddt was a really big problem for the bald eagles. bald eagles in particular were not able to form appropriate shells. since they were not able to reproduce, their numbers plummeted. >> once on the endangered species list, this majestic symbol of american pride is spreading its wings. and many can see them in a setting that doesn't involve a trip to the zoo.

>> i think bald eagles are majestic creatures, it will be exciting to see them right in our backyard. >> reporter: when this pair nested at the alcoa plant in davenport, iowa, the employees set up a webcam to share these images of the eaglets with the world. it's had five million views this year alone. this secluded forest preserve sits hidden from the roughly ten million people who call chicago home. yet here, not far from the skyscrapers, is something that hasn't been seen in 100 years. an eagle's nest. the fact that they've come back, does that tell us anything? >> i think it tells us a lot. it tells us we're doing the right thing. >> reporter: and it was a close call. by the 1960s, just 450 pairs of eagles remained in the lower 48 states. today those numbers have soared to more than 9,000, giving hope these treasured icons can once again live side by side with the humans who cherish them. kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago.

and that is our broadcast on a monday night, as we begin a new week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. and as usual, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. good evening, everyone. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. we begin with breaking news in oakland. our nbc chopper above the scene, at least one person is dead after a shooting that shut down the mcarthur boulevard off ramp off 580. two people were shot. that's what we know. one is dead, the other rushed to a nearby hospital. let's bring in bay area's cheryl hurd who joins us live from the scene. >> reporter: you can see the turnoff westbound is clo