the maze. >> it's not a full moon. >> opening november 11th. have a great weekend. >> good night. evening starting with the disaster in colorado. dramatic rescues from record flooding, evacuations, people stranded and more rain coming. burned down. the inferno that wiped out a famous part of the jersey shore already knocked down once by sandy. now facing a huge struggle to come back yet again. is in syria. a developing story about the potential use of force as the u.n. gets ready to deliver a verdict on the chemical massacre. and fast and loose. america's most popular spectator sport is dealing with a cheating scandal heading into its equivalent of the super bowl season. "nightly news" begins now.

good evening from seaside heights, new jersey, on the boardwalk. the rubble behind us represents one of the disasters we are covering as we come on the air this friday evening. we'll have more in a moment on what happened here behind us and this compound tragedy now along the new jersey shore. first tonight, however, our attention is focused to the west in the rocky mountains. a desperate situation truly in and around boulder, colorado. a rising death toll, rising water. people both stranded and listed as missing. sadly, no stop to the water. nbc's miguel almaguer is in boulder tonight to start us off from there. miguel, good evening. brian, good evening. this is the boulder creek. tonight it is a raging river. it is torrents like this that claimed at least four lives. some 80 people are unaccounted for. while the rain here has stopped for now, the threat, the danger

has not. surrounded by surging rapids, several communities along colorado's front range are islands. locals pleading for help any way they can. >> an hour ago that road was there. >> reporter: a harrowing rescue at big thompson canyon. emergency teams used a zip line to bring this woman to safety. the national guard deployed to evacuate the town of lions. 1600 people trapped by rising water. are you happy to be on dry land, safe? >> yeah. >> reporter: 9-year-old alexandria, her mom and three siblings will sleep in a warm bed and have a hot meal for the first time in two days. >> scary. you never think something like that -- you would be in that situation. all of the sudden you're trapped. >> reporter: with damage as far as the eye can see, many remain trapped, some unaccounted for. holly stetson is worried.

she hasn't heard from her father. >> we are anxious to get any word and see if he's okay. >> reporter: this is the reason why the national guard can't reach so many residents. roads have literally been washed away. this afternoon, helicopters became air buses. the governor says the flood stretches 130 miles. >> even just a foot and a half of water can knock people over. if possible, stay off the roads. >> reporter: in a university town, not everyone listens. with nearly a year's worth of rain in a single day, cities like longmont face an historic and catastrophic flood. at least a dozen dams are overflowing. some creeks and rivers are running 50 times above normal. evacuees got out any way they could. >> i had three boat rides, one surfboard, motorboat and a canoe. >> reporter: we found lindsay reader and her two girls watching a river that cut off their road out of town. >> we have lived in this neighborhood almost nine years. i have never seen anything like this. i mean, it was absolutely terrifying.

>> we were lucky to get out. my neighbor two doors down is still missing. >> reporter: they rounded up molly, mr. fin and dr. watson as he took a last look at his home. what do you do now? >> well, one step at a time. >> reporter: tonight flowers is safe but he's still worried has new storm clouds move in. miguel almaguer, nbc news, boulder, colorado. >> reporter: this is joe friar in commerce city where rising flood waters forced an entire neighborhood to quickly flee yesterday, leaving a modest pile of sandbags to protect bonnie van skoyak's home. >> we had to carry the kids out on our back. we took maybe a set of clothes, panties and socks. we were just saturated. trying to get dried out. >> reporter: when she returned today her worst fears were realized. >> that much. >> reporter: that much water? >> yeah. >> reporter: the flood drenched so many of her things, including precious family photos. >> gone through a lot here. my kids, grandkids, yeah. no flood insurance.

wasn't even in a flood zone. >> reporter: across town a dam breach prompted more evacuations. after the dam broke, this berm took over. this is what's keeping a massive amount of water -- 20 feet deep -- from rushing into the town down below. still, as a precaution, one neighborhood remains off limits. a similar scene in other communities where the weber family briefly returned home to salvage a few items. >> what's weird is being told you can't go into your house. >> reporter: businesses are under water including david hayes auto body shop which employs ten people. >> my blood and guts are in here. so i'm a little worried. >> reporter: usually homecomings are a reason to celebrate. >> i don't know. i don't know. >> reporter: tonight across colorado, too many homecomings are filled with a flood of heartache. joe friar, nbc news, commerce city, colorado. >> a big problem for those folks tonight.

it's not like the source of the water is just going to turn off. weather channel meteorologist mike seidel is among our team members in boulder tonight. mike, i have to say, i saw you first thing this morning. the water behind you was much closer to the roadway on that overpass. that has to be at least a small victory. >> reporter: yeah . it has come down, brian. this river, this creek -- boulder creek in the middle runs at one to two feet. much more tranquil, like a trickle. it crested at eight feet. it has come down, brian, a few feet today, but it's roaring through town. this is what happens in a city that averages about 20 inches of rain in an entire year. picks up 75% of that in just a few days. now, there are more showers and thunderstorms in the forecast over the weekend across new mexico, hard hit today, and colorado. some of these rainfall totals could be another two to three inches. rain chance is pegged at about 50%. there could be localized flash flooding. early next week the atmosphere will dry out, the pattern will dry out. good news here. a state that's gone through

horrible fires in recent years it snuffs out the fire danger and puts a big dent in a horrible drought. brian? >> mike seidel in boulder, colorado, tonight. mike, thanks. let's bring it back to where we are standing tonight. you hear perhaps the off and on drone of television helicopters above us. for those of us who can trace childhood memories to this boardwalk and this stretch of shoreline generally, it was hard to watch pictures of yesterday's fire and not think we were watching the death of something great, at least a small piece of a great american summer tradition. we are in seaside heights tonight, just over the border from seaside park. behind us the scene of yesterday's inferno which at its height looked like a fire from another era, back how they used to burn before the days when firefighting equipment was invented. once it started there was little to stop it.

it tore through the boardwalk like a blowtorch, whipped by 30 miles an hour winds, fuelled by old timbers and the tar on rooftops. it burned for hours, destroying more than 50 businesses. governor chris christie rushed to the scene and upon arrival said what a lot of people here were thinking. >> i feel like i want to throw up. >> reporter: it's a visceral feeling because of what they have been through here. >> we are now overlooking some of the damage. >> reporter: this was the place the whole world saw after sandy. it's where the jetstar rollercoaster ended upstanding alone in the water. it was ripped to pieces, but they launched a huge public works project and they rebuilt in time for this past summer. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: governor christie was here to cut the ribbon. he showed us around and was proud to show off a place getting up and running. >> i'm focused on rebuilding. >> reporter: the very spot we stopped to talk with the governor back then was destroyed yesterday. tim hussy re-opened his french

fry stand after sandy and last night was forced to watch it burn. >> it is flattened, wrecked, gone. it's a goner. there is nothing left. >> reporter: after sandy, john vertarosa put out a sign reading boardwalk open. after the fire, the sign was all that was left. >> it also makes me wonder if i was bragging too much about being lucky after sandy. >> reporter: police chief tommy boyd who was a local hero during sandy for the number of people he rescued told us today the fire was a body blow. >> we're taking a beating. this isn't fair. i'm waiting for the frogs and locusts to come. it feels like something out of the bible. it's heart-wrenching. >> reporter: everybody here had a story and remembrance today, even if it was reminiscing about a favorite grandson and his favorite ice cream order. >> he gets orange sherbet and vanilla mixed from the ice cream place. you know, it's just a piece gone. >> reporter: the fire started

near the kohr's ice cream stand. the cause is not the yet known. it could have been far worse. this fire was stopped only after a hail mary pass by firefighters. >> we had a lot of very brave people risking their lives. >> reporter: they used heavy equipment to cut away a 25-foot section of the new boardwalk, a fire break just like fighting a forest fire. but the fire was moving too fast. it skipped over it, so they cut another fire break a block away. that one held. >> they had drawn a line in the sand and said this is where we are going to stop it. >> reporter: this storied place now faces another season of rebuilding, another mountain to climb. >> seaside is strong. we have been through so much. we have to rebuild. >> it's going to be hard. it's going to be hard. you know, how many times can you get knocked down? >> reporter: by the way, volunteer firefighters in this part of the world were all equal in this fight. 400 of them last night. and the rallying cry in this area, we are stronger than the storm.

as you will see later in the broadcast, nobody mentioned a storm and then a fire. turning overseas now, we continue to follow the syria story. president obama made it clear today that any agreement on syria's chemical weapons must be verifiable as the u.s. and russia continued their work on this plan to remove those weapons from syria somehow. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is in geneva for us again. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. after two days of talks, some of it tense and lasting until midnight just before we came over here tonight, officials claimed progress. specifically, they have narrowed differences over the amount of chemical weapons that assad has in his stockpiles. now, heading over here on the plane, a top official said that would be a critical test of whether the russians were serious. it's important they agree on how much there is and where it is before inspectors can collect and destroy it. the president said again today

that any agreement has to be verifiable and enforceable. but the administration knows the russians will veto any u.n. resolution that threatens force. officials say there are other ways the u.n. can punish assad, and they point out the president is not taking his military option off the table. kerry and lavrov are expected to agree on a shorter timeline for u.n. action on assad's chemicals. weeks not months as assad has been demanding. on monday the u.n. inspectors report back on the chemical massacre with circumstantial evidence, i'm told, but no hard proof tying it to the regime. brian? >> as they say, the whole world is watching. andrea mitchell in geneva again for us. andrea, thanks. still ahead for us this evening, some people are shocked. others are just pretending to be. nascar has a scandal on its hands with all the thrills and chills you would expect. and up and away. one man's flight of fancy. the goal -- europe on 300 balloons, just like in the

movies.

the sport of nascar likes to call itself the most popular spectator sport in the country. they are in the news now for reasons they are not entirely proud of. the earliest nascar drivers remember were moonshiners. while the sport is now a big shiny multi billion dollar enterprise, there is an old expression in racing you still hear to this day. if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying. nascar is dealing with a cheating scandal and the problem with this is it was pretty much right out in the open for all to see. our report tonight from nbc's kevin tibbles at chicagoland speedway. >> reporter: it's fast and loud and wildly popular. but many of nascar's fiercely loyal fans are angry. >> nascar was built, you know, mainly rednecks and integrity and all that. you know, it was just a bunch of bullcrap that happened.

>> reporter: he's referring to last week's race in richmond, virginia. in the final moments clint boyer suddenly lost control. >> i bet it's hot in there. >> reporter: some suggest team leaders sent coded radio messages signalling him to do it. teammate brian vickers number 55 was told to make a pit stop. radio communications seem to suggest vicker is confused. >> i don't understand. pit right now? >> reporter: vickers is congratulated when he pits. >> oh, yeah. pit. >> reporter: nascar's governing body has ruled it was done to allow a teammate to move ahead and win a spot in the chase. nascar's playoffs. >> stuff goes on a lot. i think people are more subtle about it. >> reporter: nascar levelled the largest fine in the history of the sport -- $300,000 -- against the michael waltrip racing team and deducted points from each driver. >> there was no master plan to manipulate the race. >> reporter: owner michael waltrip says deals have always been a part of racing. do you consider it cheating?

>> there is not a rule that says you can't pit your car. there is not a rule that says you can't help your teammate. >> reporter: for nascar's legion of fans a little bumping for position is all part of the excitement. many here today say the waltrip team went too far. >> yes, i do think it was cheating. >> when you're making big money, i guess you do whatever you need to do. >> there's bending the rules and there's breaking the rules. do you think they got too close to the edge? >> i think they went over the line, yes. >> reporter: citing unfair tactics by other teams, late today nascar said fan favorite jeff gordon, who didn't make the chase, would be reinstated. still as the crowds gather at the chicagoland speedway, some maintain it's all part of the game. a game in which billions of dollars are at stake. kevin tibbles, nbc news, joliet, illinois. >> we're back in a moment with a story about your money, more than a billion in federal

benefits that may have been paid out by mistake.

as promised some of the other news on this friday night. in afghanistan the taliban attacked a u.s. consulate in the western part of the country. five suicide bombers set off a vanload of explosives and continued to fire on the compound. they were not able -- all of them -- to get past the gate. seven people reported killed. none of them americans. the attack underscores continuing security issues as the u.s. mission in afghanistan winds down. back in this country, a new report, as we mentioned, by the gao says the government may have paid out almost $1.3 billion in social security disability payments over just the last three years, all of it to people who weren't supposed to get that money. some of them received tens of thousands. 36,000 people may have received payments in all. the gao says the recipients

worked too many hours to qualify for the money when they look at it now. the gao says it will investigate and try to get back improperly made payments. here's something lighter. a lot of fans of the movie "up" were cheering for this guy. after all, it's not often in real life and nonanimation life that a guy takes flight holding onto a bunch of multi-colored balloons. jonathan trapp lifted off yesterday from maine. he hoped to cross the atlantic ocean to france. things seemed to be going well for a while until he ran into trouble controlling the more than 300 balloons above him. he was forced to land in newfoundland and did so without injury. so all in all, well done there. when we come back, around here, as we mentioned, they like to say they are stronger than the storm. how about a storm followed by a fire? we'll look at the resilience of a father and son who lost a lot and a lot of it together.

we are back here tonight in seaside heights. and by the way, we are right here in front of the fire break that ended up saving much of what is left here. and one more time, you don't have to be from here to have a summertime memory from here.

this has been a vacation spot for ages. nothing fancy here and that's what's great about it. it's all pretty basic. from the now destroyed funtown pier to the now destroyed carousel. it was a landmark over 50 years old. we caught up today with its owner bob stewart and his son kevin who were among those fighting the fire last night. >> how we doing, fellas? look at this place. unbelievable. my arcade is on the other side of this building. i have been here all my life. i love this business. i used to kid my kids and say when i die, pop a couple boards up and slide me under the boardwalk. i love the boardwalk. a lot of kids took their first spin on that carousel. >> reporter: i think i was on that carousel starting at the age of 4. it's been a staple here. >> yeah. you know, after the storm, so many people all summer long came

and said, oh, the carousel. so happy. everybody loved that carousel. >> reporter: you were all back and up and running and -- >> i lost two-thirds of my building with the storm. i had a third left. i had that thing going. you know, right after labor day i thought, i've got this here. it's going to be all right. well, no more. as you can see, it's all gone. me and my kids were on the roof back here on top of my arcade, you know, trying to slow it down. >> when i was at my father's, you could feel the heat coming off the buildings. i was here for the hurricane. that was pretty scary. i had to call my mother and tell her the arcade was gone. it really wasn't. we had to call her this time. it's really gone. >> reporter: how much is one town supposed to take? >> that's what i want to know, brian. it's very hard. i have been up heron the boardwalk 49 years. in this past year, i have seen devastation like i have never seen, you know? this is the love of my life. i never worked a day in my life because i worked on the boardwalk.

i say if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. that's me. i love the boardwalk. it's been pretty much everything to us. my father, my mother. that's where they met. you know. where it all started. there's no giving up here, you know? bunch of fighters on the boardwalk. when something bad happens, there's no turning back. you know, you've got to make it happen. we're jersey strong here in seaside. we're going to have to rebuild. we're going to have to put everything back together like we did after sandy. you know, we can do this. we can do this. >> reporter: tough place, tough guy. think of bob's situation. he both fought the fire and suffered such a great loss, all at the same time. as we said, one of these two tragedies we are following tonight. this and the natural disaster out west in colorado because our viewers often ask how they can help, we have put information on our website for you tonight. that is our broadcast for this friday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. again reporting tonight from seaside heights on the jersey

shore. lester holt will be here with you from new york this weekend. we hope to see you back on the broadcast on monday night. have a good weekend in the meantime. have a good weekend in the meantime. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening, thanks for joining us on this friday. i'm raj matthai. >> we begin with breaking news. a cabbie caught by a stray bullet during a shootout in oakland a few hours ago. it happened in front of the marriott city center on broadway. where the football team the ohio state buckeyes are staying ahead of their game with cal tomorrow. one man is in custody and they're searching for another. nbc bay area joins us with the latest. >> reporter: it happened in front of the marriott hotel in downtown oakland.

a cab driver in front of the marriott possibly waiting for a passenger, maybe waiting to pick up someone. shots were fired and a stray bullet hit the cabbie. no one else was injured. once the cabbie was hit, the shooter took off. he was detained two blocks away on martin luther king boulevard. oakland police spokesman jonna watson picks up the story from here. >> we have one person detained who may be connected to the shooting and that's largely in part to witnesses who stayed on scene when they heard the shooting. they stayed and worked with the police. >> reporter: he was an ohio state fan and they're from sacramento. they say they take the good things about oakland, they also take the bad things about oakland. i also talked to a staff member of the team. he said he's heard things about oakland, knows it a tough town but says, hey, things like this happen in