thank you nfor joining us here at 5:00. nightly news is next. we hope to see you back at 6:00. >> bye, folks. a widespread emergency in california. swift-water rescues, neighborhoods buried by landslides with rocks up to the rooftops. nbc news exclusive. after that jaw-dropping lapse in security at the white house, the intruder who ran in the front door. tonight, the first television interview with the man called out of retirement and called in to clean up the secret service. warning signs. an alarming new look at adhd, so often overlooked in young girls because the signs are often much different than in boys. and do all dogs go to heaven? what the pope told a little boy who misses his dog, about the possibility of an afterlife for all creatures great and small. "nightly news" begins now.

from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. good evening. as desperately as they need the rain, these are desperate hours in parts of the state of california tonight. a huge western storm caused the need for fast-water rescues today. rampant flooding, power outages, mud and rock slides. local rain bursts have brought up to two inches of rain in an hour, way more than the ground can handle. some of it falling on land where wildfires have left nothing to hold it together. they're headed for a weekend of cleanup there. and nbc's miguel almaguer starts us off tonight from camarillo, california, where rock slides have changed the grade. they have actually changed ground level in one neighborhood. hey, miguel, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. i want to show you exactly what came down. this path of destruction is both wide and long, roughly the size of a city block. rocks and mud are everywhere. our second camera is positioned

200 feet uphill.e the mudslide began. once it started there was no stopping it. it all came crashing down just after 2:00 a.m. the pounding rain triggering a mudslide, weak soil giving way. >> i heard the door behind me have a loud thump. so i knew i was in trouble by then. >> reporter: inside, mud pouring through windows. no time to put on shoes. a desperate scramble to stay alive. firefighters rushed door-to-door helping those in need. wrnget. >> where is this medication? >> here, let me show you. >> reporter: a dozen mostly elderly pulled from their homes. helen boswell had just enough time to save her best friend. >> it's scary. i want to go back to my house and my little car and my christmas tree. >> reporter: ten homes were buried. many more were damaged. incredibly not a single injury. everyone escaped alive. >> the firemen knocked on my

door and advised me to leave and i told him i'd rather stay here than to get on the freeway. because it was pouring down like cats and dogs. >> reporter: frightening moments captured on home video. >> oh! >> this is a swift water rescue -- >> reporter: in los angeles a day of rescues. many pulled to safety on the river and the road. more than 100 accidents on the freeway, ten times what's normal. tonight, much of california is a mess. a roof collapse at this san jose grocery store, one person injured. floodwaters trapped 53 families at this mobile home park, rescues by boat. the russian river burst its banks, while in san francisco the union square christmas tree went dark. crews scrambled to restore power for nearly half a million people. in the sierras it's beautiful but dangerous. interstate 80 is standstill, three feet of snow. tonight, the brunt of this storm

has passed, but the damage is here to stay. it rained here for hours, but the destruction was over in a matter of minutes. these rocks are at rooftop level roughly 20 feet tall. it's going to take months to do the cleanup here. and tonight, brian, in the forecast more rain. >> what a scene in camarillo, california. miguel amma gar, thanks. up in the pacific northwest police in portland, oregon searching for an assailant who opened fire outside a high school, wounding three students, two boys and a girl. all victims expected to survive thankfully. police say the shooting may have been gang related. overseas a glitch on the ground created a mess in the skies over the uk today. a computer failure caused delays at several airports including london heathrow. where all flights were grounded for a time. air space was restricted over london until the system was back up and running. no word yet on the cause. and now to the other major story about the perils of our

trust in technology. the electronic attack that remains underway against sony pictures. a fresh round of secrets came out just today. all of the documents, stolen from the company. and it's creating another dilemma, one that pits the right to privacy against the right to know. our report tonight from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: gossiping, potentially damaging secrets do sometimes leak out of hollywood. but now sony pictures is dealing with a flood, everyday. the latest revelations published by the website, the daily beast. george clooney is going after rupert murdoch in a movie about the uk phone hacking scandal, a list of actresses who want a role in the remake of "ghostbusters" and sony co-chairman amy pascal's take on movie deals with screen writer aaron sorkin. she already apologized for e-mails exchanged with producer scott rudin that included racially tinged speculation

about president obama's taste in movies. >> i certainly think that the decision ms. pascal made to apologize was the right one. >> reporter: after two weeks little is known about who's behind the cyber attack. sony's not commenting on the investigation. the north korean government angry over the release of "the interview" denies any involvement. and some cyber security experts believe there's a chance a current or former employee at sony could be involved. >> the scope and depth of the data collected as well as the type of data is that that someone in i.t. or in the security team would have access to. >> reporter: hackers are relying on media outlets to publish the documents. creating unethical dilemma for journalists. the editor of "variety" compares the cyber attack to the recent leak of naked celebrity photos. >> i don't believe the public has a right to know. this was private information. however, what has transpired now, right or wrong, has thrust this into the public eye.

>> reporter: in an interview with the website deadline, amy pascal says, can we all make a pact not to read these, whether they're mine or somebody else's? because i'm not the last person this is going to happen to. a challenge a bit like putting the genie back in the bottle. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. back east, the showdown tonight over a possible government shutdown has now moved on to the senate chamber. an extension gives them until wednesday to pass a spending bill that would keep the government funded through much of next year. the house passed its own version in a narrow bipartisan vote last night. and they didn't let the doors hit them as they headed off for their winter break in the dark of night. tonight, we have the first television interview with the man the president brought in to clean up and fix up the u.s. secret service. and between reports of drunken agents, prostitutes and fence jumpers, there is a mess to clean up. on monday an independent commission is coming out with a top-to-bottom review of the

agency that protects the president and over a dozen others. it's expected to be tough. and in the interim to toughen the agency. the president has turned to a man who once protected him. you may have noticed him, maybe not. he was the man looking stern and robust at the president's side as the head of the u.s. secret service presidential protection division, joe clancy's job was to look for trouble. these days he's got all the trouble he can handle. he retired in 2011, but he's been called back in to fix the place. and he couldn't believe what he saw happening to his home of almost 30 years. >> first it was shock. initially you're thinking how did this happen. and then i immediately started thinking about the men and women of the secret service. because i've been there. i know what pain they feel when there's a failure. >> reporter: there were many failures, but the one he's talking about was in september. a disturbed iraq war vet armed with a knife, made it across the

lawn, through the unlocked white house front door and well inside the people's house, way too close to the first family's residence. people used to always assume the president is safe, but we have new reason to ask, are you convinced? do you go to bed at night assured the president and his family are safe and secure? >> yes, absolutely. if you look at our history, we've been very successful at the white house. we failed on september 19th. it was a convergence of failures on that day. but a couple weeks later someone attempted to climb the fence, got over the fence and our canine and their handlers responded appropriately. the plan worked. just two weeks later. >> reporter: they always seemed to look the part. while presidents come and go the members of the secret service always looked squared away, a kind of comforting constant in american life. while their presence and equipment have become massive and menacing in the modern era, they are still haunted by the jfk assassination and the shooting of ronald reagan. and their job is to be perfect every day.

their behavior has been far from perfect in recent years. how did drunken agents and prostitutes in cartagena ever get mentioned in the same sentence with the united states secret service? >> we're an agency of human beings. and some of us lack self-discipline. and, you know, it's going to occur. but we do have zero tolerance with misconduct. and we've got training in place. we've got an integrity board in place. we've got a table of penalties in place to try to address those types of issues so that we're consistent. >> reporter: consistency is tough because of tedium, the long days and nights of standing guard watching their post. and it's complicated by the fact that there are two job categories, secret service agent -- plain-clothed -- and officers, the white-shirted division originally called the

white house police. for them especially morale is a problem. and on september 19th reaction time was a problem. there have been reports over the years of real morale problems. what do you do to and for the uniformed division to bring things up to snuff? >> the second day back on the job here, the first thing we did we had a meeting with all the agents and all the officers at the white house complex together. it's one team. and we continue to stress that, this is one team, we're in this thing together. >> reporter: for now this philly native, former history teacher and one-time west pointer, joe clancy, is the acting head of that team. who these days is using the language of contrition we're not used to hearing from our government officials, especially those who carry guns. >> i'd asked the american people to allow us to earn back their trust and their confidence. we know we've lost that trust because of the events over the past several years. but we've got a good model. we've got a good foundation. give us some time to earn that trust back and prove ourselves. >> before getting called back to the public sector, clancy had the job of running security for

our parent company here, comcast. joe clancy's own son in the uniformed division may or may not be recommended to stay on as the permanent director. the sense among active agents appears to be, they are hoping the new director will be from inside the agency. tonight, our justice correspondent, pete williams, has broken a big story about a highly anticipated decision from the feds. attorney general eric holder has decided not to force veteran "new york times" national security reporter james risen, to reveal the identity of a confidential source. this is a fight that's been going on for years over risen's bombshell book that revealed among other things, a cia effort to sabotage iran's nuclear weapons program. without this decision from the justice department, risen would have faced possible jail time for contempt of court had he refused to comply. still ahead for us tonight, a startling new look at an often misdiagnosis. the signs of adhd, how they can

be so different in boys than in girls, leaving so many girls to suffer alone. also ahead, a dog's life. what the pope told a little boy about the possibility of our pets meeting up with us in heaven.

there are over 6 million children in the u.s. currently diagnosed with adhd. and there's been a lot of controversy lately about the ever climbing numbers of kids who are placed on medication. in fact, a recent study says one

in ten boys is now taking adhd drugs. and while there's worry adhd is being overtreated, overdiagnosed, many doctors say there's growing concern at the same time that when it comes to girls, the signs of adhd are often unnoticed. we get our reporting tonight from nbc's cynthia mcfadden. >> reporter: this is usually what we picture when we think of adhd. a boy bouncing off the walls. but this too is the face of adhd, a girl with a calm exterior, masking inner turmoil. >> they're suffering in silence. but hard to notice because they're not disrupting a classroom. >> reporter: dr. steven hinjar, professor of psychology at berkeley, estimates there are hundreds of thousands of girls going undiagnosed. he's conducted long-term studies of the effects adhd has on girls. >> adhd in girls may have a set of consequences quite devastating. we have found that by early adulthood, girls with adhd back

when they were girls, are now internalizing, likely to engage in serious self-injury, cutting and self-mutilation and serious suicide attempts. >> reporter: diana minton is one of those undiagnosed girls. >> my brain was at warp speed. and i fidget, but i'm not going to run around the room three times in order to pay attention to a lecture. >> reporter: you break the stereotype though, right? >> absolutely. >> reporter: from the time she was in preschool diane knew she was different, but she worked hard and did well in school. so nobody knew she had adhd. but by high school she could no longer keep up. and her life began to fall apart. her mother desperately tried to figure out what was wrong. >> the group of friends she was associating with became smaller. and was spending more and more time here alone in her room. >> reporter: isolated and depressed, diana's self-esteem plummeted. >> it just felt like no matter what i did i couldn't get there. i couldn't be good enough. >> reporter: that's a pretty hard way to spend your childhood. >> no one should have to go

through any amount of darkness like that. >> reporter: in her darkness diana became so riddled with anxiety she made herself physically ill. she started missing school. eventually racked up so many absences she had to drop out. it was only then that doctors finally started treating diana for adhd. today she's a junior at depaul university. and with school support, counseling and medication, her life is turning around. >> it's been a long journey, but i'm just happy to have gotten where i am. >> reporter: cynthia mcfadden, nbc news, chicago. and we are back in a moment on this friday night with a spectacular, rare phenomenon today at one of the consensus most beautiful spots on the planet.

a rare event inside the

grand canyon today. it's called a total cloud inversion. the clouds fill up the canyon and are forced down there by warm air and unable to rise. it's a bummer for those who came to see the canyon and a bummer for those on pack trips in the valley below. michigan democratic congressman john dingle has been hospitalized in washington days after suffering a fall. and one day after casting his last vote in the house to a thunderous ovation. he is 88, the longest serving congressmen of all-time. he has served with one-quarter of the house members ever. he's one of the last two world war ii vets leaving congress this term and marking the end of an era. president obama is on the board, joining other critics of how the nfl has acted of late. he tells espn the recent domestic abuse scandals indicate, "there have been some blind spots. and the nfl like other institutions has been behind the curve in sending a clear

message." he went on to say, "there's an old boys network in terms of how it operates." there are red faces tonight at greenpeace. they have apologize to the government of peru for trampling on an ancient heritage site just to spell out a protest. they're said to have caused long lasting damage to a monument of a humming bird carved into the ground 1,500 years ago. even the peruvian president isn't allowed to walk there. the ultimate insult, the message is spelled out in english, which is not among peru's three official languages. and an unrelated item, a new analysis published in the british medical journal finds men are idiots. specifically they are much more likely to engage in stupid or risky behavior than women, often at risk to their own health or finances. they cite an armed robber who disguised himself by spray painting his face gold and then promptly died of the paint

fumes. an actual quote from this study, "men are idiots and idiots do stupid things." to which men around the world offered a two-word rebuttal. chuck yeager. when we come back, the comforting words the pope had for a little boy who is missing his dog.

if you have ever loved a dog, then you know when the time comes for us to say farewell it is like losing a member of the family. but something the pope said recently to a little boy is giving new hope to believers that there's somehow a big backyard in the sky where all dogs go, a place we can only hope is full of rawhide and tennis balls and slippers and pantlegs. the story tonight from nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: it's a long-held dogma that no one can resist these faces, even the man upstairs. >> not to worry, you'll go to heaven. all dogs go to heaven because unlike people dogs are naturally good. >> reporter: now, official confirmation from no less an authority than pope francis, comforting a boy whose dog died the pope reportedly said,

paradise is open to all of god's creatures. >> i'm not so sure about humans, but dogs definitely go to heaven. >> reporter: it's not surprising when you consider francis took his name from the patron saint of animals, st. francis of assisi. for years blessed god's creatures. got to make you wonder if they've ever seen the dog shaming web page where canine sins are publicly chronicled. but now they can go through the pearly gates. this muddy guy, accepted. the one who really ate the homework, accepted. even those bad to the bone apparently have a shot at heaven. at new york's aspca shelter there's never been any doubt. >> is this of the answer to tina and ricochet's prayers? >> i don't know. now we know as we always did that when they die they'll go right to heaven. >> reporter: it turns out man's best friend has a friend in high places.

anne thompson, nbc news, new york. that's our broadcast on this friday night and for this week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. lester holt will be here with you this weekend. we, of course, hope to see you right back here on monday night. in the meantime please have a good weekend. goodnight. we really worry. because that's our place. that's where we live. >> right now at 6:00, reeling from that storm as the rain is moving out of the bay area, leaving behind some deep wounds. good evening and thanks for being with us on this friday. i'm raj mathai. >> i'm janelle wang. we'll have more on the local impact in just a moment. first what that same storm that hit us did to southern california. take a look at this tornado. it's the only tornado reported in the country today. and it's in south l.a.

you can see the twister rips up rooftops, knocking down trees. this is south of usc. the national weather service says the small ef-0 tornado touched down just before 9:30 this money. wind speeds reached 65 to 85 miles per hour. in addition to this twister southern california is seeing flooding and devastating mudsli mudslides. >> that storm in l.a. left behind serious damage here in the bay area. a trail of swollen rivers, streams, and soaked neighborhoods. in some cases the damage done could take weeks or months to repair. including this. you see down below, two large holes. this is the roof of a safeway in san jose. we have multiple reports on the storm cleanup. chief meteorologist jeff ranieri is tracking tonight's showers. scott budman has the cleanup in san jose. robert handa has the drought impact. michelle roberts in redwood city.