meeting with china's new leader. an nbc news investigation reveals for the first time how the chinese hacked into the obama's campaign for president. storm threats. high winds and torrential rains. and tonight andrea takes aim at a much broader area with tens of millions in its sights. and hollywood's mermaid. tonight, remembering the one and only esther williams. "nightly news" begins now. now. good evening, i'm ann curry in for brian tonight. as new details are breaking about widespread government surveillance of americans. it turns out every time you pick up the phone, the government has known what number you you were dialing. a secret surveillance program is collecting the telephone records of every single one of us.

and late today we learned of a separate and what could be a far more explosive tapping into e-mails and computer traffic. we have both stories covered tonight. and we begin now with andrea mitchell. andrea, good evening. >> and today's leak was only the tip of the iceberg. nbc news has learned that the government has been collecting records on every telephone call made in america, not only foreign calls. that is causing lots of outrage on twitter and by members of congress. it's an enormous collection of data over the last seven years. logs of telephone calls and their durations. not names and not recordings of what's said unless the government has a specific threat and ask permission and then go back and check a number. all approved reepdly over the

years say congress. >> within the last few years, this program was used to stop a program -- excuse me -- stop a terrorist attack in the united states. we know that. it's important. it all became public because of a leak in "the guardian" a british paper. which published this top secret report in april. telling verizon to turn over telephone records. officials confirm it was a three dash month renewal. >> i'm a verizon customer. it doesn't bother me one bit for the national security administration to have my phone number. because what they're trying to do is find out what terrorist groups we know about and individuals and who they are calling. >> in the hot seat again, eric holder. they want details. >> i would be more than glad to come back in a -- in an appropriate setting to discuss the issues that you have raised. >> the correct answer would be

say, no we stayed within our reign and i'm assuring you we did not spy on members of the congress. >> the speaker of the house raised civil liberty concerns. >> and i trust the government will explain why the american's citizens consider this a -- >> we have debated this several times. more than a dozen times, in the intelligence committee. it has been the subject of judiciary committee hearings, it has been the subject of extended floor debate and votes. >> reporter: the entire senate was hastily called to an intelligence meeting. but ron wyden treated this exchange in march. with when the director of national intelligence denied such a program existed. >> does the nsa collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans? >> no, sir. >> all of this created a furor today. >> our civil liberties are too important of an issue to just

push off to the side and not ask a lot of questions and get a lot of answers. >> al gore tweeted, privacy must be a priority. is it just me or is it extremely outrageous. and can you hear me now. hash tag, nsa, yes, yes we can, hash tag verizon. >> tonight james clapper is explaining he did not intentionally mislead senator widen in march. indicating he was referring to emails not phone records. >> thank you so much for your reporting on this. and now what we are learning about how the u.s. is tapping into internet companies and emails. nbc justice correspond ent pete williams joins us now with this developing story. what are we learning? >> sources familiar with this separate government program, one that monitors the internet for suspicious e-mail and other traffic, confirms its existence, first reported this afternoon by the washington post and guardian newspapers.

the papers and these officials say that it allow s the nsa and fbi to tap directly into the computer -- servers of some of the largest internet providers. glochlt analysts can then monitor that traffic in realtime using special programs to watch for suspicious messaging or postings. it's the equivalent of watching for specific envelopes that go by in the post office, says one source. now, this is different, they say, from the phone program, which andrea was talking about, which stores records of past calls and allows the government to go back to that data later when there's a specific number to check. this involves the ability to watch for suspicious activity as it's happening. as well as to look for stored data. the sources say this is mainly oriented toward communications that originate outside the u.s. or that involve communications from the u.s. to a foreign country.

>> the other developing story we're following, tropical storm andrea is hitting florida tonight and taking aim at most of the east coast. the weather channel's mike seidel is in north reddington beach, florida. hi, mike, good evening? >> reporter: good evening to you. and this storm has been churning toward the sunshine state all day long. it's made landfall in the big bend area in florida late this afternoon. tropical storm andrea came ashore and bringing with it drenching rains and winds clocked at nearly 60-mile-an-hour. and a stern warning from officials. >> it is a fast moving storm, but it will be a great reminder to get ready for hurricane season. >> reporter: this morning a tornado touched down in the palm beach area. toppled trees and crushing homes and downing powerlines.

in sun city, florida, outside of tampa, residents were out surveying the damage. >> most of the roof is gone on the top of the house. it's done a lot of devastation for 15 seconds of fear. >> reporter: from saint pete to cedar key, more than 4 inches of rain that closed businesses for the day. >> the water itself isn't too deep, but the wind is pretty intense. >> reporter: for vacationers it the storm was just part of her getaway. >> we came for a sunny beach vacation but ended up making the best of it. >> reporter: beach goers have been warned to watch out for dangerous rip currents. in gulf shores, more than a dozen people had to be rescued. >> we were just swimming and we didn't think we were that far out. we were all freaking out. >> reporter: it's bringing heavy

rain and 40-mile-per-hour winds to parts of georgia and the carolinas. it's racing off northeast to cape cod on saturday. just since the first part of may, we've covered record setting snowfalls in the midwest and then the twisters in oklahoma city. and now a landfall tropical storm during the early days of the hurricane season. but following that, there's nothing really to worry about on our beaches. we've got a long way to go. the peak of the hurricane season is september 10th. >> thanks for keeping an eye on all of it for us. if philadelphia today, rescuers finished going through the run he will of a collapsed building. tonight, the question is how did it happen. nbc's kristin dahlgren is in philadelphia tonight. >> reporter: good evening. search efforts as you said have now ended here. they found no additional victims here today. but in the midst of this tragedy, there were tears here over night.

a survivor pulled from the rubble just when many were giving up hope. after 14 hours of digging, a sign of life beneath the rubble. >> we heard a noise and we saw her head and it was moving and she was moaning. that was the indication that she was still alive. >> reporter: 61-year-old woman had been shopping with a friend when the building under demolition next door came crashing down. buring much of the store and those inside. her friend was one of the six people killed in the collapse. but somehow, nearby myra survived under four to five feet of debris. firefighters reassured her as they dug her out. >> we just kept saying we're coming for you. hang in there. we're going to be there in a minute. just kept talking to her. >> reporter: earlier in the day, firefighter eddie brown did the same for a woman trapped for more than two hours. >> i kept holding her hand and said we're going to get you out

of here. >> reporter: 14 were pulled from the rubble alive. but as the search continued today, there were reports of concern about the demolition project. this man was working near the demolition. >> the building, the way they were tearing it down, it was inappropriate. you could tell that it was -- they were undermanned. they didn't have enough equipment out there. >> reporter: and others in the neighborhood claim there were no support braces on the walls. officials have launched an investigation. so there are still a lot of questions about what went wrong, what inspections were done when, and what might have prevented this. >> thank you. from london tonight, word that prince philip, the husband of queen elizabeth is in the hospital. we're outside the london clinic with more. >> reporter: good evening. there is concern here tonight for the health of prince philip who is 91 now and undergone

treatment for a number of ailments in recent years. buckingham palace making the announcement that he had been admitted to the hospital. forced to cancel a number of scheduled appearances over the next few weeks. he will undergo surgery for an unspecified abdominal complaint tomorrow. he looked fit and in good spirits at a public event today and he was by the queen's side tuesday as she marked the 60th anniversary of her corn nation. he will turn 92 on monday, it's a birthday he will spend here in the hospital. >> in washington, senator frank lautenberg will the buried tomorrow at arlington national cemetery. he was moved out of the u.s. capitol after lowing in pose all day. he died on monday at the age of '89-year-old. and today governor chris christie pointed jeffrey chiesa to fill his seat until a special

election is held in october. when we return, an nbc investigation revealing for the first time how china hacked into the obama and mccain campaign computer. and later making a difference on a field of dreams that teaches kids much more than just how to play ball. of dream that teaches kids much more than just how to play ball. r choice , he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. ♪ and i've been around the toughest guys in football. and now i'm training guys who leak a little to guard their manhood. with man style protection... whoa... of new depend shields and guards. who are you?

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side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. we're back tonight with an nbc news investigation. when barack obama meets tomorrow with china's new president, cyberattacks linked to the chinese government will be high on his agenda. they've been -- but nbc news has learned that the cyberattacks

have gone further, to the heart of the american political system, including president obama's campaign. our report tonight. >> reporter: months before taking the oath of office. >> i barack obama hussein obama. >> reporter: cyberspies had penetrated the obama presidential campaign. including a direct hit on his chicago campaign headquarters. >> hackers gained access to e-mails from policy position papers to travel plans. >> reporter: but wasn't revealed at the time, is that u.s. intelligence agency quickly traced the attack to the people's republic of china. >> reporter: in the summer of 2008, the fbi discovered that both the obama and mccain campaign computers were under sustained attack.

may contain officials were spook ed when they got a phone call of a top chinese diplomat complaining about this private letter from mccain to taiwan's new president drafted on complain computers. the problem was that letter had not yet been delivered. >> yes, we can. >> reporter: in chicago at obama's campaign headquarters a phony e-mail was circulating among staffer which contained a hidden virus. obama's campaign manager, got an alarming phone call from president bush's chief of staff. >> he says we have reason to believe that your campaign systems have been penetrated, we think by a foreign entity. >> reporter: they hired a private security firm to stop the sophisticated cyberattack. >> it was really designed to get in and stay in and to get data and keep getting it. >> reporter: chinese officials

consistently deny any role in cyberattacks. but the u.s. experts say that it was a wake up call to a persistent and growing threat from china that can no longer be ignored. >> and when we come back, switching gears, remembering a hollywood icon like no other. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ . ♪

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ that's screen legend esther williams making an entrance in 1953's "easy to love." we learned that she died in california today, she was a true movie star and a big box office draw and leading lady in the 1940s and '50s. she began as a star athlete and that helped to find her hollywood career.

♪ the titles of her films tell the stories, "bathing beauty," "million dollar mermaid." but esther williams never set out to be in the movies. >> i always thought that stardom was my consolation prize. >> she was a championship swimmer. and in 1940, she was heads toward olympic gomes. the games were canceled that year because of world war ii. she was discovered by a hollywood actor and became a favorite pinup girl during the war. she swam more than a thousand miles on camera and it took its toll. including a spinal injury that left her in a body cast for months. >> i was in an aluminum crown, and when i dove in 50 feet in the air, i said oh [ bleep ]. >> she once said her favorite leading man was the water. but she also worked with some of the biggest names of her time, frank sinatra, gene kelly, and during a screen test, clark gable kissed her in front of his

wife. >> i heard him say i told you i was going to kiss me a mermaid today. and from then on i was known as the mermaid on the lot. >> reporter: in 1961, she made her final movie directed by the third of her four husbands. >> when he sksds me to marry him. he said, could you stop being esther williams. >> so she left hollywood. but she never really stopped being esther williams. >> esther williams was 91. and from moscow tonight, the kind of stage craft that only vladimir putin can pull off. after he and his rarely seen wife attended the ballet, the couple entered a room and announced to reporters that they were ending their marriage after almost 30 years. he said it will be a civilized divorce. up next making a difference on a field of dreams.

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with the school year winding down, the boys and with the school year winding down, the boys and girls of summer will be taking the feilds across the country. nbc's ron mott has on making a difference report. >> reporter: since 1991, young new yorkers like 14-year-old marlin silva has stretched beyond what they thought possible. thanks to baseball. >> harlem rbi taught me how to be a team player, a person, a positive out going child that i am. >> reporter: harlem rbi which grew from this lot into a premier youth development program, recently attracted royalty, prince harry. and there was another visitor here, who was no prince. >> i'm not exactly a go along,

get along type of kid. fast barred to the jason we knew when he left here, he was self-directed and also was very clear about what he owed to his teammates and community. >> reporter: today's he's one of a shining stars. he's a cop in washington, d.c. named officer of the year in 2011. >> he's a hit on the police force because kids are hitting again on this once infested dug lot here. >> he started a program and funding much of it from his own pocket with a simple goal. >> that's change a life. try to show somebody that there's somebody who actually cares about you that's not from your parents or family. somebody who cares about your well-being, growth in society, growth in life. >> and that growth is a reality. already 72 players strong.

>> it's good because people stay out of trouble and they come out and have fun. >> it's a good community thing to do to keep things from being out on the street. >> reporter: busy transforming lives, one kid, one pitch at a time. >> you good a great job. >> they did do a great job. that's our broadcast for this thursday evening. i'm ann curry in for brian williams. as we leave you on this 69th anniversary of d-day. thank you and good night.