dry out there on campus. >> major damage. more at 6:00. nightly news is next. good night. on our broadcast tonight, front lines. in the fight against the largest ebola outbreak ever. news tonight that an american is among the dead as more americans race to get out. an urgent warning tonight from the u.s. surgeon general. it's about skin cancer. a dramatic rise in cases, especially among the young. relentless attacks in gaza, as rockets continue to fly toward israel. both sides now refusing to let up. and now tempers are flaring between the u.s. and israel. and the great escape caught on video. how two young women survived a close encounter with an oncoming train, trapped on a bridge with nowhere to go. "nightly news" begins now. good evening.

and we begin here again tonight with the spread of this ebola virus. it's devastating in the countries where it's breaking out. of course it can travel by air right along with an infected passenger. we learned today the first american to die in this outbreak was a diplomat. a man who flew while sick from liberia to nigeria, and was exposed presumably to a lot of people. the disease is now officially out of control. and because of fear and people fleeing, the security situation in western africa is now dangerous. the other americans who are ill are aide workers in grave condition. we begin tonight at the headquarters of their organization in north carolina, where they've ordered the evacuation of some of their own people. nbc's stephanie gosk is there. >> reporter: a lead organization fighting ebola in liberia says the situation on the ground has become too dangerous. the disease is spreading, civil unrest is growing. >> when the disease progresses, people get afraid. they can get afraid and it can

be manifested by relief agencies vehicle going up the road and being attacked. >> reporter: roughly half of samaritan's purse 50-person staff will be pulled out. nancy and kent cannot leave. now in isolation, fighting the deadly virus hour by hour. the 33-year-old doctor's condition has worsened. >> last night wasn't a good night for him. >> reporter: dr. brantly's mother jan says she's doing the only thing she can. >> we will continue to focus on praying for kent. >> i had to tell eva, my 5-year-old that her daddy's in heaven. >> reporter: in minnesota, one family is already in mourning. patrick sawyer, a liberian finance minister and a u.s. citizen was supposed to return home to them this summer, but contracted ebola and died on a trip to nigeria. >> ebola came this close to coming. it missed us this time. it might not miss us next time

if we don't do something now. >> reporter: now officials in nigeria say they are tracking 59 people so far who may have had contact with sawyer, who flew through two airports. just an example of the outbreak jumping borders in the air, and raising concerns here in the u.s. there are 84 flights a week leaving these affected countries that fly to cities with direct connections to the u.s. >> i don't think it's realistic to expect that nothing is ever going to slip through the cracks. the issue to global health security is a shared international responsibility. >> reporter: directors here at samaritan's purse say they're going to closely monitor their staff and family for any signs of ebola over the next few weeks. they will be on the lookout for fever, headaches, and ax and pains. brian? >> stephanie gosk in boone, north carolina to start us off tonight. stephanie, thanks. the health news story that's making news in this country.

in the 143 year history of the office of the surgeon general, this has never happened. it's an urgent warning about skin cancer, prompted by a 200% increase since the 1970s. the sharpest rise is among young people. that's what led the surgeon general to declare today, for the first time ever that uv radiation is bad for people. and all people need to take immediate action. we get our report tonight from our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: along miami beach. >> i decided to embrace the sun and look like i'm dark. >> it brings out my eye color and makes my hair look blonder. >> reporter: getting a golden tan now means paying for it later. according to the surgeon general and the nation's dermatologists, skin cancer is an epidemic striking younger people. >> i remember when i saw my first patient who was in their mid-20s with skin cancer, and people saying i've never seen someone that young with skin cancer. now i've seen people in their teens with skin cancer.

it's happening earlier and earlier. >> they've gotten their skin checked -- >> reporter: former television reporter stacy escalante admits she spent too much time in the sun and tanning beds. >> i was diagnosed with melanoma, and it spread to my lymph nodes. >> reporter: a young mother in her early 30s, she survived and is now an advocate for early detection. doctors warn, just one sunburn as a child significantly increases the chances of getting skin cancer later in life. for the best protection, here's something you might not realize about using a sunscreen with an spf higher than 50. >> once you get above an spf 50, the increase in sun protection is minimal. however, to get full protection of the spf listed on the bottle, you have to put the sunscreen on very thickly. >> reporter: use at least an ounce. that's about a shot glass full. apply every one to two hours, especially after swimming. and make sure it's water resistant and offers broad

spectrum protection. skin cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the united states. and a reminder that black americans have a poorer survival rate than whites, proving that no one is safe from the sun's damaging rays. brian? >> urgent message today. dr. nancy, thank you as always. overseas today, israel continued delivering crippling blows in gaza. among the targets, the only power plant in gaza. meantime, the barrage from both sides is unrelenting still, and we are seeing for the first time tonight video of a dramatic attack by hamas on israeli soldiers. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in gaza. >> reporter: good evening, brian. israel's offensive into gaza is as intense as ever. medical officials here say 150 palestinians were killed just today. and a new video released by hamas could escalate things even

further. gaza's only power plant burned today. its fuel storage tanks palestinians say targeted by israel. the plant knocked offline. israel pounded gaza overnight. the most intense bombardment in and around gaza city since this latest fight began. striking the home of a hamas leader, and hamas tv and radio stations. they were empty at the time. both israelis and palestinians are trying to force the other side to give in. but feelings among israelis and here in gaza seem to be hardening. in israel, many don't want this war to stop, not until the threat of hamas rockets ends, 2,670 fired at israel so far. israelis do want this war to be the last one. this man lives in a kibbutz just across the border from gaza. just last week, hamas militants launched an attack there, climbing out of a tunnel dug

under a fence. he walked kate snow through the mostly empty kibbutz. he and his wife nina are among the few who have not evacuated. >> you're not that far from these tunnels that they're discovering. >> these tunnels would help terrorists to go under the border and reach the kibbutz. >> reporter: this is exactly what they're afraid of. hamas released this video today. they say it shows a group of militants emerging from a tunnel yesterday in southern israel. they approach an army position near a kibbutz, open fire and go through the gate. more shooting. they struggle with an israeli soldier, apparently trying to kidnap him. he resists, they shoot him and escape back in their tunnels. the attack killed five israeli soldiers. hamas doesn't want this war to end either. that video you just saw, brian, was released by hamas. it was edited by hamas.

those black spots on the video were put there by hamas to protect the identities of its fighters. and to give you a sense of the mood here in gaza, when the video was broadcast, we heard people cheering. brian? >> richard engel on another violent night in gaza. richard, thanks. tempers have now flared among allies. the u.s. and israel specifically. secretary of state john kerry is getting criticized for how he went about trying to get both israel and hamas to cease-fire. today he hit back. we get our report tonight from nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: john kerry after a week of nonstop negotiating for a cease-fire. in cairo, israel, the west bank, paris. back home without a cease-fire. and battered in the israeli press. >> i will not take a second seat to anybody in my friendship or my devotion for the protection of the state of israel. >> reporter: the attacks are everywhere. one leading columnist quoting very senior officials in jerusalem, calling kerry's

cease-fire proposal a strategic terrorist attack. another writing, that if the war escalates, kerry will be responsible for every additional drop of blood that is spilled. is it hurting your ability to be a mediator here, to have israel -- with these blind posts from israeli officials attacking you so vociferously? >> prime minister netanyahu himself said to me, can you try to get a humanitarian cease-fire for this period of time? either i take his commitment at face value or someone is playing a different game here. and i hope that's not the fact. >> reporter: israel's ambassador to the u.s. denies government leaks to undermine kerry. >> the attacks are unwarranted. >> reporter: the blowup comes at a tense time. two phone calls from president obama to prime minister netanyahu in the last week, expressing serious and growing concerned about the rising number of palestinian civilian deaths. kerry was overheard last week sarcastically calling israel's

bombings a hell of a pinpoint operation. and later, accusing israel's cabinet of sabotaging his negotiations. >> there's always mischief from people who oppose certain things. >> reporter: the president was not asked about israel today, but if he had been, aides say he was prepared to vigorously defend his secretary of state. this as he was announcing big decisions on another front. europe hit vladimir putin with the strong he was sanctions yet against putin's banks, his oil industry and arm sales. all because of damning evidence that russia is firing into ukraine and preparing to rearm separatists, who are still blocking investigators from the malaysia airliner crash site. when asked if this was a new cold war, the president said, no, it is not. brian? >> our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. covering it all from the state department tonight. andrea, thanks. in the american west tonight a huge wildfire is burning in

yosemite national park. one of more than 200 of them firing up in just this last week in california alone as this drought emergency continues to get worse in some places, the firefight is now a year round event. it's costing a ton of money, to say nothing of the exhausting and dangerous work in the heat. we get our report tonight from nbc's miguel almaguer at yosemite. >> reporter: tonight, a view of yosemite no one wanted to see. the iconic half dome, safe from flames but shrouded in smoke. the blaze exploded on the edge of the forest over the weekend. >> there is a lot of fuel available for the fire. the fire because of the heavier fuels. they're holding heat a lot longer. >> tonight most of california is a tinder box. 216 wildfires scorched the state just last week. the cost to fight wildfires here could top a record $1 billion here. a d.c. ten hits fires as hard as they can.

one drop of retardant $60,000. >> it's an expensive proposition, when you balance that out with the loss of homes or the loss of life, it seems a whole lot less. >> reporter: the fire season not just expensive but historic. nationwide so far this year, more than 32,000 wildfires have burned. 1.6 million acres charred, most of them in the west. feeding the fires, drought crippling 60% of the west, intensifying across the region. creating what's called mega fires. burning faster, hotter and more explosive than ever before. crews call this the front lines of climate change. a longer, more destructive fire season. >> we have the potential for year round fire activity now anywhere in the state. >> reporter: tonight, firefighters call this the mean season.

but the most dangerous months for wildfires are still ahead. the view here may not be picture perfect, but behind the smoke, crews are making progress. the blaze at 3,000 is roughly 20% contained. and firefighters tell us tonight, the worst of the damage may be behind them. brian? >> miguel almaguer at yosemite for us tonight. miguel, thanks. still ahead for us on a tuesday evening, caught on camera, trapped on a bridge faced with an on coming train with nowhere to go. what two women did without jumping that saved both of their lives. and later, to the rescue. how an 8-year-old boy is helping save the lives of those who protect and serve.

we are back now with this video we mentioned earlier, and the back story. two women who were trespassing on a railroad bridge high above the water when a train came right at them. what they did next without jumping saved their lives. we get the tale of all of it

from nbc's peter alexander. >> reporter: from the train security camera it looked like their final moments. two women caught on the tracks with a 14,000-ton coal train bearing down. >> they were running for their lives. >> reporter: by then they had no good options. too far to run, too high to jump. trapped on an 80-foot high indiana railroad bridge with shallow water below. >> the one almost trips, almost falls off the bridge. the other miraculously gets down. >> reporter: the engineer hit the emergency brakes, but the engine was already across the 500 foot long bridge before he could stop. >> he thought he had killed two people on this bridge. >> reporter: incredibly, the two women had ducked down between the rails with seconds to spare. this youtube video shows what it might have looked like. in indiana, the women had at most 11 inches between the rail ties and disaster. >> train! >> reporter: a terrifying experience, just like this

famous scene in the '80s classic "stand by me." almost every three hours in this country a person or vehicle is hit by a train. >> oh, damn! >> reporter: too often because they ignored warning gates or trespassed. amazingly in indiana, these women made it out untouched. one complaining of only a stubbed toe. >> those are the luckiest human beings alive. >> reporter: now they have a bigger headache, facing criminal trespassing charges after a survivor's story few live to tell. peter alexander, nbc news. when we come back, have they found a way to make everybody's device last longer?

our nation has lost a medal of honor recipient. john cavaiani was born in

england, came to the u.s. when he was 4 years old. he joined the army during the vietnam war, he was a special forces staff sergeant when his platoon was overrun by heavy fire. most were evacuated, he volunteered to stay behind in the end. badly wounded and complete disregard for his own personal safety, delivering supres ing fire so that all of his men could be airlifted out. he was a p.o.w. for two years until the end of the year. john cavaiani was 70 years old. his death leaves us with 79 living recipients of the medal of honor. dutch van kirk has died. the last surviving member of the air crew that dropped the atomic bomb on hiroshima. he was the navigator of the b-29 bomber enola gay. he set the course that led to the release of the bomb august 6th of '45. in later years he believed nuclear weapons should be abolished. theodore "dutch" van kirk was 93. with head injury awareness on the rise, in ways that could change the game of football, the ncaa has reached a preliminary

settlement in a class action lawsuit by former athletes. millions would be monitoring what the sports world now calls concussion management. sooner or later, i guess we can rely on science to solve most of our problems. researchers at stanford have taken a big step toward designing a lithium anode battery that would triple or quadruple battery life in all of our electronics. it could also help with some big ticket items, like all electric cars and storing power on municipal grids. when we come back here tonight making a difference. and a young boy on a mission to protect and serve.

>> announcer: making a difference, brought to you by pfizer. our final story here tonight is about a boy who happens to be the son of a police officer. and he worries about what his dad does on the job and in the line of duty, like millions across the country. so this boy made a wish and set out on a mission to protect them. and he's making a difference along the way. we get his story tonight from nbc's kevin tibbles.

>> police! on the ground! >> reporter: police in indianapolis constantly train for the time they may need to pull their guns. tragically, in the last three years, three officers have been killed. ♪ >> reporter: this month, thousands mourned the loss of officer perry wren shot with a highpowered rifle. his kevlar vest could not protect him. >> hi, guys. >> hi, dad. >> reporter: detective andy troxel was a friend. he too has been shot in the line of duty. one day his 8-year-old son jason announced he had a dream. >> these officers would not get killed. >> reporter: with his mother's help, jason started a website to raise money for special bulletproof plates. >> at the time my dad was working on the streets. so there was a possibility he could have been shot and killed. >> reporter: the new plates fit inside the standard issued vests. >> this has the ability to stop a higher level of threat. >> reporter: and that protects heart, lungs, liver? >> correct. >> something good is going to come out of this, in keeping

everyone else safer on the streets. >> reporter: today, jason's dream has raised more than $13,000. >> he's done a remarkable thing that most of us as adults, we've never even done something this good for people. >> the first plates will go to those on the front lines. >> you can't make the job safe, but you can make it a little bit safer. and that means a lot. >> reporter: as they head out on patrol, jason wants every officer to return home safely. >> i think they're good for people who want to protect other people. >> reporter: an 8-year-old boy doing his best to serve and protect. kevin tibbles, nbc news, indianapolis. and that's our broadcast on a tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we, of course, hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

nbc bay area news starts now. right now, at 6:00, the eyes of the world turn to the ebola outbreak just as we learn of a tool that could help stop the spread that's being developed right here in the bay area. good evening, and i'm jessica aguirre. >> i'm raj mathai. for the first time, the disease is hitting the united states. the first american has died of ebola. patrick sawyer who worked in liberia collapsed at an airport

in nigeria nine days ago and then died on friday. we're also learning that two aid workers are gravely ill, fighting for their lives. here in the bay area, a lab is helping to prevent the spread of ebola. michelle roberts is live with details. >> reporter: the symptoms of ebola can be similar to the flu. fever, nausea and headache. here at the lab they are working on a test that can defect ebola virus along with thousands of others all at the same time. and time is crucial for people who need treatment now. the ebola virus has killed more than 600 people and has a variety of strains. scientists say the current tests aren't capable of recognizing mutations. >> our sample gets labeled. >> reporter: scientists at the livermore lab have created a new test that can recognize t