on our broadcast tonight -- crisis in syria. more anger this evening from americans who are against a military strike as disturbing new images emerge of some of the rebels whi s rebels. while many russia, president obama face-to-face with putin. rail danger. with so much oil being shipped by train, how likely is something like this to happen again. tonight, an nbc news investigation. smoke-free. but are they risk-free? the new concerns being expressed about the new e-cigarettes growing quickly in popularity. and to the rescue. the teenagers who saw something, said something, and it was all captured on tape. "nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news with brian williams."

good evening. again, tonight, there is a robust debate going on in this country over whether or not the president should launch a limited u.s. military strike against syria. and overseas tonight in russia, eight time zones away from washington, there's a summit now under way of the world's leading nations, which today at times behind closed doors looked more like a tension convention, as the relationship between president obama and putin of russia and others is under genuine stress. all of this as the civil war goes on in syria, a conflict where it isn't always easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys. it's where we begin again tonight, our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell covering it all from our d.c. newsroom. andr andrea, good evening. >> good evening. polls show the majority of americans oppose military action in syria. but as john mccain found in phoenix, people who turned out

for town hall meetings are totally against it. >> you see the president's policy change almost by the week, the days or the hours, but how much is the life of american servicemen worth? to me, it's worth a whole lot. >> there's no contemplation of putting a single american serviceman or woman -- >> you say that now. >> reporter: people brought signs and props. >> you really realize what you're getting our -- what you're getting our country into? this is what i think of congress. they are a bunch of marshmallows. >> i got your message, pal will. >> reporter: even syrian americans disagreed. this man who supports military action was shouted down. >> this is america. i have right to speak! >> you can do it by diplomacy and negotiation, not bombs, senator mccain. enough is enough! we do not want another engagement in the middle east. >> i would much rather use our taxpayers' money to take care of our vets that are coming home from the two conflicts we've

already been in. >> i don't think i need to be lectured about lectures. >> reporter: across the country in baltimore, house democrat elijah cummings' district loves barack obama but hates talk of war. >> whenever you get into a war there's never a short war. >> they're worried about what's next. they have the backdrop of iraq, and that is deep in the dna of every cell of their brains. >> reporter: not helping the president's case, this picture and video from the "new york times" today. rebels allegedly assassinating syrian soldiers, shooting them at point-blank range. a day after secretary kerry said most of the rebels are not alded ald extremists. msnbc's chris hayes asked secretary kerry about it. >> i guarantee you if we turn our backs today, the picture we all saw in the picture today, on the media, those people being shot, that will take place more because more extremists will be attracted to this. >> reporter: the risk for the white house, this becomes the iconic image of the war, just as

this south vietnamese general came to symbolize america's ally in that conflict. the first senate vote to authorize the strike is scheduled for next wednesday. a "washington post" count shows the administration is losing support in the house with every day. >> andrea mitchell, thanks. as the debate goes on here, as we mentioned, the president far from home tonight. he's attending that g-20 summit in st. petersburg, russia, an event fraught with tension right now and where he came face-to-face as we showed you momentarily with president vladimir putin. our chief white house correspondent chuck todd traveling with the president, with us by satellite, chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. usually in the world of diplomacy, a handshake is simply a handshake. but when it comes to watching a handshake between president obama and vladimir putin, whose differences on syria have completely overshadowed this

economic conference. the hand itshake was friendly enough and even lasted a couple of extra beats. russian president putin welcoming president obama to st. petersburg for the g-20 summit. but the formal gesture could not obscure the fact that it came on the heels of yesterday's tense war of words, the president bluntly describing the relationship with the russians. >> there's no doubt that, as i indicated a while back, we've kind of hit a wall in terms of additional progress. >> reporter: and putin dropping all pretense of diplomacy, calling secretary of state john kerry a liar after kerry denied al qaeda was fighting alongside syrian rebels. mr. obama pressed on the issue of syrian use of chemical weapons today during a meeting with japan's prime minister. >> i also look forward to having an extensive conversation about the situation in syria and i think our joint recognition that the use of chemical weapons in syria is not only a tragedy but

also a violation of international law that must be addressed. >> reporter: but during the first official meeting of the g-20 representatives, putin suggested that any discussion of syria be postponed until the working dinner. >> mr. president, any progress on syria today in the talks? >> we were talking about the economy. >> reporter: walking alone into the dinner in an or naet palace of the russian czar, the president hoped he wouldn't be alone on syria. he conferred with european allies, all of whom he hopes help make his case that a military strike is necessary. but far away from the opulent dinner on the gutted streets of damasc damascus, the fighting continued unabated as described by bill neely. >> reporter: this is the reality of the war in this area, a war of single shots and snipers. and there's nothing unusual about this, but, in fact, the front line here hasn't moved in months. >> reporter: as for that dinner that took place in the palace behind me, brian, it lasted well over four hours. in fact, into the wee hours of

the morning president obama didn't get back to his hotel room until 2:00 a.m. local time. and, remember, it was all about syria. >> chuck todd on the road traveling with the president, st. petersburg tonight. chuck, thanks. in this country this evening, investigators believe they know the apparent cause of that huge fire that burned in and around yosemite national park. it consumed 370 square miles, 111 structures. u.s. forest service said today it started when a hunter built an illegal fire and allowed it to get out of control. there had been some speculation out west that illegal marijuana farming may have been involved in this, but the forest service said there's no indication to confirm that. our nbc news investigative unit has a special report for us tonight. it's about rail safety in this country and a growing part of the freight business we see, specifically the tanker cars that you see go by filled with crude oil and ethanol. about 600,000 of them traveled by rail last year.

that means if you lined them all up in a straight line, it would stretch will all the way across the country 2 1/2 times. the potential problem here is the vast majority of these cars may have serious safety defects. the same kind of cars involved in that deadly accident in canada earlier this summer. our report tonight from our senior investigative correspondent lisa myers. >> reporter: morrissey and his family sleep with one eye open. they live right by the tracks in the chicago suburbs where traffic has jumped from 5 to 20 trains a day. >> even asleep at night we're listening for the trains to go by and making sure that nothing sounds out of order. >> reporter: their greatest fear, that the massive black tank cars that go barreling by filled with flammable ethanol or crude oil will with derail and catch fire or stloed. they're called d.o.t. 111s. 5 times in 20 years the national

transportation safety board has warned that their design is unsafe and that they urgently need to be upgraded. most recently after a 2009 it derailment in which cars ruptured and killed a woman by the tracks. safety experts say there are basically two big problems. it lacks protective head shields at the ends, and the shell is too thin, which means it ruptures too easily in an accident. two years ago, the rail and oil industries agreed to make new tank cars safer and built several thousand of them. but they oppose upgrading tens of thousands of old cars, saying it's not technically feasible and too expensive. >> if we don't start upgrading these cars soon, my concern is that we will have a catastrophic event. >> reporter: in a statement, the railroads say they're constantly working to improve safety and that 99.997% of hazardous cargo arrives safely. but that's little comfort to families in quebec.

47 died when d.o.t. 111 derailed this summer. this is what's left after dozens of tankers full of crude oil crashed and burned, wiping out an entire downtown. one of those killed, kareen champagne. her brother martin now cares for her two children. >> this destroyed us. >> reporter: the railroads say there's only a tiny, tiny chance that anything would ever happen. >> we got the tiny chance here. it killed a lot of good people. >> reporter: steve morrissey's family is taking no chances, preparing an emergency evacuation plan in case of an accident. >> i have told my family that it would be not a matter of if but a matter of when. it's just a matter of how we stay prepared. >> reporter: lisa myers, nbc news, barrington, illinois. and we turn now to news out today on what is both an emerging trend and an emerging health issue, the popularity of e-cigarettes.

we're seeing them more and more, both in ads and out in the public. and new numbers back that up. the cdc said today almost 1.8 million middle and high school students have tried them, even though they aren't real cigarettes there are real concerns about their safety nonetheless. our report tonight from our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: 16-year-old joshua short started smoking this spring to relieve stress, but he knew it was bad for him so he switched to electronic cigarettes. >> a cigarette when you're smoking it you feel dirty, but with this it just seems a lot cleaner and it doesn't seem like such a gross habit. >> reporter: it's called vaiping because the device delivers nicotine in a water-based vapor. >> originally i first heard about electronic cigarettes from one of those blue e-cigarette advertisements i saw on tv. >> reporter: ads featuring celebrities like actress jenny mccarthy. >> here's what i don't love, a kiss that tastes like an ash tray. >> reporter: she's part of a

massive industry campaign which also includes free handouts of events like new york's fashion week. critics say all that marketing may account for the fact that one in ten high schoolers say they've tried e-cigarettes, an alarming trend for health officials who worry these devices could be a gateway to tobac tobacco. >> kids' brains are highly susceptible to nicotine addiction and many kids who start with e-cigarettes will be addicted to nicotine and struggling with the addiction for their whole life. >> reporter: e-cigarettes are a relatively new technology and their long-term health effects still unknown. they contain varying amounts of nicotine and many come in flavors like kiwi and watermelon which critics say are meant to appeal to kids. but the industry insist its products are not for children. >> we must prohibit the sale of these things to anybody under 18 years of age. >> reporter: former surgeon general richard carmona is a consultant for emjoy.

he says they're menlt tore adult smokers. >> we're doing everything we can to encourage people not to start and for children not to be involved. >> reporter: at least 15 states have banned sales of e-cigarettes to minors. >> my fear is there are health consequences that are yet unknown. >> reporter: joshua's dad may worry about his son vaping but for joshua it's a clear choice. >> whether or not it's bad for me, i believe it's better than a cigarette. >> reporter: as it stands today, e-cigarettes are not monitored by a government agency. the food and drug administration plans to change that this fall and govern them just as they do tobacco products. right now, brian, a lot of people are concerned that this is just re-glamorizing the idea of smoking and that one thing may well in fact lead to another. >> as we said, seeing a lot more of them out there. nancy, thanks. still ahead for us, the dramatic rescue caught on tape. and when you look at it now, it's a lesson now in really

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e-cigarette. we are back tonight as promised with a dramatic rescue story where witnesses saw something and said something, and in this example it paid off. it happened near dallas when two young people saw a woman signaling for help after ashe was apparently kidnapped. now she's safe, a suspect is under arrest, and the two teenagers are being hailed as heroes. we get the story tonight from nbc's aamike taibbi. >> reporter: aaron and jamal were just two pals driving in northeast texas when they saw a pretty blonde in the back seat of an adjacent car mouthing the words "help me." arias dialed 911. >> i'm on the highway witnessing a robbery. not a robbery. a kidnapping. >> how did you know she was saying help me? >> we could read her lips. i mean, we turned around to check her out, and my friend

sees her going help me, help me. then while they're driving off she's just like starts hitting at that back windshield. we could see her hand and she looked frantic. >> they stayed on the other car's tail and on the line with the 911 dispatcher for long minutes and it was tense. >> they're far ahead of us, but i can speed up and get it. actually, oh, my god, i'm speeding up to them and they're going faster. >> reporter: the 25-year-old woman had allegedly been forced into the back seat of her own car outside a dallas office building. her abductor getting behind the wheel and speeding off. but that 911 call triggered a quick police response. aaron and jamal watching it all. >> oh, thank god. you guys are awesome. oh, my god, oh, my god, get him. oh, my god. >> the suspect, 37-year-old charles louis, is now jailed on a charge of aggravated kidnapping. a knife and handgun found in the car. sheriff's deputy told nbc news she's lucky she had those guardian angels looking aafter her.

a story whose ending -- >> thank god! you guys are awesome. >> reporter: -- could have been tragically different. mike taibbi, nbc news, los angeles. we are back in a moment with a television moment that millions were not supposed to see. ththe basics, you know. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired. i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there. [ male announcer ] let's go places.

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well, that music can only mean one thing, and that's football. the nfl season starts tonight, while the league has been in the news more than they like of late. tonight they get down to playing ball, the reigning super bowl champions ravens go to mile high to play the broncos. look at that, they say the game's on nbc, this very network, on this very night. in the uk, a terrible pileup early today, 100 cars involved. happened on a bridge in thick morning fog near kent. witnesses said most of the drivers didn't have their headlights on at the time. at least eight people seriously hurt. another 60 with minor injuries. no fatalities.

local cops called that, quote, truly miraculous. if you are a regular or even irregular viewer of the final hour of the "today" show each morning, then you know hoda kotb and kathie lee gifford enjoy a personal, very loose style of broadcast, often sharing the details of their lives with their viewers. but this morning hoda shared something she wished that instant she could take back. they were demonstrating the new samsung watch phone which hoda called from her other phone and it promptly displayed her phone number. we're now able to show it all because it's been disconnected. but as soon as it aired this morning, panic set in and the calls started coming. >> oh, it's happening! >> oh, my god. >> kathy? >> i have 20 voice mails. 22. 23. oh! oh, my god. >> i think it's funny. >> they stopped counting after

about 1,000 people got in touch with her. hoda told us tonight she's had that phone number for 15 years. her friends and family will be notified of her new number. the rest of her viewers will just have to wait until the next phone demonstration. and speaking of great women of television, meet your new all-time record holder. betty white at age 91 is now officially in the guinness book of world records for having the longest tv career of any female entertainer er. in fact, she got her start in show business before there was television, back in 1939. that's 74 years and counting. betty's reaction when the guinness people called her at the house with the news? who, me? when we come back here tonight, the u.s. service members reunited today with some friends they met while deployed ov ov overseas. if you're living with moderate to severe crohn's disease, there are times it feels like

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we get their story from nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: safe at home, you might wonder why these soldiers are so anxious for souvenirs from afghanistan. until you realize the souvenirs have four legs and happy tails. these dogs of war unleashed joy and kisses at new york's kennedy airport. reunited with the army national guard unit that cared for the seven puppies after their birth in afghanistan this past march. >> hey, bud! >> reporter: the pup's mother will sheba adopted the unit, the men say, going on patrols with them, barking at others who approached. but the birth of the litter left her exhausted so the men stepped in to help. >> i fell in love with cadence over there. >> reporter: this is the pose that stole staff sergeant edwin kaub ba's heart. how different will her life be here? >> life here, i mean, from every little thing you can think, you know. it's all dirt, there's no concrete or anything like that.

the dogs aren't treated well. her being here is such a blessing. she can have all the treats she wants. >> reporter: cabo vowed not to leave the dogs behind. he enlisted guardians of ves cue and save-a-pet to bring sheba and her seven pups to the states. the two groups raised $15,000 and added three grand of their own. >> we're in a deficit big-time now, but it was worth it to get these animals here. >> reporter: will sergeant travis burton is taking buckeye to his home in cincinnati. why would you drive 11 hour to pick up a dog? saver jant alex had to convince his wife to add jack and sara to their home. >> i was debating it myself. we already have a dog. i'm going to school and she's working full time. but i told her, you know, i can't leave him behind. >> reporter: the picture is now complete. buddy left behind, two legs or four. anne thompson, nbc news, port

jefferson station, new york. and that is our broadcast for this thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. as for tonight, enjoy the game. good night.

good afternoon and thanks for being with us. >> we're on early this afternoon because of opening night in the nfl. our football coverage kicks off after this newscast, but right now, we begin with new details on the muhr rder of a mother of two. she had been missing since saturday. police say they have suspect in custody, but won't say who he is. farry is live at the police department with new information on her death. >> reporter: we talked the victim's husband today and he tells us he was the first person to find his