>> mason: the price was wrong. the health secretary is forced ou for taking costly flights. also tonight, puerto rico in crisis. >> we have done an incredible job. >> the scale was too small and too slow. >> reporter: everyone was given a bag with four bottles of water and three snacks that the mayor says may have to last them two days. >> this is an island surrounded by water. >> they should be evacuating everybody off that island. >> big water, ocean water. >> mason: a hate message at the air force academy brings an angry response. >> if you can't treat someone with dignity and respect, then get out. sh mason: and steve hartman--

>> she hit mear h ad,nd i was like, "all right, maybe she should be playing football." ( laughter ) captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news."

congressman, had tried to do damage control, backing an internal review of his private flights, more than a dozen of them since mairk including one from d.c. to philadelphia, a trip so short, most people drive. >> there will be no private air charters at h.h.s. going forward. >> reporter: but the president was apparently unsuede by price's promise to reimburse the government $52,000, a fraction of the more than $400,000 price tag. >> that's unacceptable to me. >> reporter: price's relationship with the president was already strained. as secretary of health and human services, he was a point man on the failed attempt to repeal obamacare. >> by the way, you going to get the votes? otherwise, i'll say, "tom, you're fired!" >> reporter: price's travel problems have led to new scrutiny of other cabinet members, including steven mnuchin, scott pruitt, and ryan zinke. >> every time i tl

the travel plan to the ethi department that evaluates it line by line to make sure that i am above the law. >> reporter: price becomes the ninth top trump administration official to either step down or get fired. and going back to congress is not an option for him, least for now, because his replacement was chosen, anthony, in a superb election this summer. >> mason: nancy cordes. thank you, nancy. now to the crise in puerto rico, where the recovery from the hurricane is slow, at best. today, omar villafranca saw some of the worst in yabucoa, where maria made landfall. >> reporter: the tiny fishing village of playa el negro was the first to feel the wrath of hurricane maria. many of the homes are now unlivable, but families here have nowhere else to go. yasmine torres is trying to survive after losing everything, including the roof over her

sleeping. she's sleeping-sid tent. that's all she's got, but it got wet because it's still raining here. today, the first government relief finally rolled into the southeastern part of the island, nine days after the storm. residents were evacuated. they returned home hungry and thirsty. >> gracias. >> reporter: manolo morales was grateful to receive squash to eat. he's been eating canned sardines, capturing rainwater in barrels and pots, just to have something to drink. >> no. >> reporter: no? we met this young and desperate couple begging for supplies for their six-month-old baby. ( speaking spanish ) i asked if they have any milk for the baby. they do not. so this is the first help they're seeing. hopefully there is some milk for the baby. residents here hope there are more relief supplies on the way and that the government does not forget about them. with more on

colleague, david begnaud. >> reporter:n a place that is surrounded by water, people in aguadilla are desperately looking for a drop to drink. some stood patiently at the fresh-water truck, hoping to get enough for today. many more cast their buckets here. at 8:00 a.m. friday morning, young children started lining up with their parents to get food. everyone was given a bag with four bottles of water and three snacks that the mayor say may have to last them two days. marie alda stood in line for hours. she left with four 16-ounce bottles. how badly did you need this water? "for my baby granddaughter, a lot. i have two more little girls at home," she said. mayor carlos mendez is begging for more. >> this is an emergency for god's sake. the food has to get into my people's hands. >> reporter: we met jimmie morales in line. maria ripped off the roof of his house and hundreds of thiz

theay they collected their water only thing they had. many of the roads are still impassable, and the u.s. military is using helicopters to deliver water supplies to rural areas, but they haven't yet reached aguadilla, and that's left residents like blanca reyes boiling with frustration. >> we need help. we don't need money, just we need help. that's it. >> reporter: today, the acting head of the department of homeland security praised puerto rico's recover effort as a good news story to which the mayor of san juan later responded, "we are dying, and you are killing us with the bureaucracy and the inefficiency." >> mason: david begnaud who crisscrossed puerto rico today. the president said today his administration is doing a very good job in puerto rico, a view not shared by retired general russel honore. he led relief efforts in new orleans after katrina. michelle miller spoke with him. isrt

you found here afterh, yeah. the number one priority is saving lives, and when you're saving lives you have to figure out what rules you're going to break palm the rules we live by are designed for peace time. >> reporter: and this is what? >> this is like a war. >> reporter: what was their first mistake? >> not giving the mission to the military. look, we have army units that go do port openings, not called. we have special forces that could have been in every town, not employed. >> reporter: has the u.s. government done anything write? did they learn any lessons from katrina? >> they did the predeployment. that was good. they got an all-government approach, that's good. but they don't understand scale. >> reporter: lieutenant general honore, called president trump's response sploa and small. he was hailed a hero after he went into the gulf states post-katrina-- >> weapons down, damn it! >> reporter: and the put the relief efforts in murder. >> i said, look, y

looking at a damn calendar in washington and i'mch >> reporter: who you clear roads first? would you get the power grid up, or is it all simultaneous? >> this is not a sequential operation. i would tell the local mayors to start hiring people, get a yellow pad out, and we clear the damn roads. so you got 80 men with hand tools going to clear a road. they'll clear five miles a day. >> reporter: after returning from his fact-finding mission in puerto rico next week, the general says he's going to washington. >> i'm going to see senator mccain and senator graham, and we're going to write some (bleep) in the defense authorization bill that every hurricane come will have a task force follow it in. >> reporter: honor honore says lessons learned must lead to a better response. michelle miller, cbs news, new orleans. >> mason: along with food and water, medicine is in short supply. dr. jon lapook is following the medical crisis in puerto rico.

>> reporter: ricardo revera has diabetes, and this is the fourth drugstore he's been to today. >> i need it to stay alive. >> reporter: yet again, he came up empty. >> they don't take my insurance. >> reporter: many people have run out of medicine or lost it in the hurricane, so local doctors are now setting up very special house calls. they're doing checkups at clinics and shelters, then going to get the medicines people need and delivering them to wherever the patients are. robert alsina is vol teerlg his time and car to take walgreens pharmacist ileana rivera on the road, setting up a makeshift dispensary at this shelter in catano, outside san juan. >> antibiotics, insulin-- you name it. >> reporter: this is a full-service house call that i have never seen before. luis rivera has high blood pressure. when was the last time you took a blood pressure pill? nine days ago. wow. so you need these pills right now. >>

>> reporter: chris oquendo got d immediately tested her blood sugar. >> it's high. 174. and that's really high for her. >> reporter: unlike the physical devastation obvious all over the island, the medical devastation is often hidden. what's going on inside those apartments, so a major challenge remains, anthony, figuring out who is suffering and what they need. >> mason: dr. jon lapook in san juan. in florida, a 12th patient died last night after being stuck for days in a sweltering nursing home after hurricane irma. the facility in hollywood, florida, lost air conditioning in the storm. a criminal investigation is under way. the trump administration today slashed the u.s. diplomatic presence in cuba and warned americans not to visit. this is in response to mysterious acoustic attacks on

markaise sharp about-face in u.s. rat had been improving during the obama years. >> some very bad things happened in cuba, very bad things. >> reporter: the trump administration warned americans that it is not safe to travel to cuba and yanked more than half of u.s. personnel from the embassy. the actions come almost a year after 21 u.s. diplomating stays at this and other havana hotels reported hearing loss, dizziness, ht aches, and difficulty sleeping. some suffered traumatic brain injury. the attacks were first reported by cbs radio's steve dorsey. >> most of the victims that have come forward with symptoms from these attacks are men. only six are women. most have been in havana for just less than a year. >> they did some bad ningz cuba. >> reporter: investigators have not determined who "they" are or what those bad things were, but are considering whether some sort of sonic weapon was involved. secretary of state rex tillerson did not bla

restored just three years ago by president obama. republican senator marco rubio of florida called today's embarrass draw-down "weak." he wants tillerson to shutter the u.s. embassy, something the secretary said earlier this month he was considering. >> we have it under evaluation. it's a very serious issue with respect to the harm that's thaad certain individuals have suffered. >> reporter: canadian diplomats suffered similar attacks, but their government is not warning against travel to could you ba. today, a cuban official josephinea devalue said cuba protects all diplomats without exception. >> mason: margaret brennan at the white house. thank you, margaret. coming up next on the cbs evening news, a military leader's powerful message against racism. and later, rock slides hit one of the country's most popular climbing spots.

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>> mason: there's a possible motive in the nashville church shooting last sunday. the associated press quotes law enforcement today as saying a note written by suspect emanuel sam son makes reference to the revenge for a massacre at a black church in south carolina by a white supremacist. samson is accused of killing a woman and wounding seven others. african american cadet candidates at the u.s. air force academy in colorado were targeted this week with racial slurs. the lieutenant general in charge, a combat veteran, responded with a lesson in leadership and a powerful message against racism. here's barry petersen. >> reporter: the words, scrawled on message boards outside the rooms of five black cadets in the prep school, were blunt, "go home," and then the n.word. just as blunt, the words from air force academy superintendent lieutenant general jay silveria. >> if you're outraged by those words, then you're in the right place.

as an airman being. >> reporter: he talked to cadets, faculty members, and senior officers. silveria, a bronze star recipient, who once commanded bagram airbase in afghanistan, insisted that cadets tackle america's racial issues head-on. >> we would be naive to think we shouldn't discuss this topic. we would also be tone deaf not to think about the backdrop of what's going on in our country, things like charlottesville and ferguson, the protests in the n.f.l. that's why we have a better idea. the power that we come from all walks of life, that we come from all parts of this country, that we come from all races, we come from all backgrounds-- gender-- all makeup, all upbringing. that's a much better idea than small thinking and horrible ideas. >> reporter: as for silveria,

crystal clear. >> this is our institution, and no one can take away our values. if you can't treat someone with dignity and respect, then you need to get out. if you can't teach someone from another gender, whether it's a man or a woman, with dignity and respect, then you need to get out. if you demean someone in any way, then you need to get out. and if you can't treat someone from another race or a different color skin with dignity and respect, then you need to get out. >> reporter: the academy is conducting its own investigati investigation, and, anthony, whoever wrote those racial slurs could face a court-martial for conduct unbecoming an officer. >>

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>> mason: there were two massive rock slides this week at el capitan. the formation in yosemite national park that draws hikers and climbers from around the world. one person was killed. carter evans is there. >> unbelievable. >> reporter: without warning thursday, on one of el capitan's most popular climbing routes, massive chunks of rock tumbled, sending out huge plumes of duive. >> oh, my gosh. >> it was really scary. >> reporter: veteran climber pete zobrak was on his 58th trek up el capitan and captured this video yesterday. what was that like? >> i certainly felt it long before we heard it. the dust cloud went straight across the river. the whole road was obliterated in dust. >> reporter: two rock slides occurred this week on the southeast side ofhe

during peak climbing season. wednesday's granite chunk that fell killed 32-year-old british tourist andrew foster. it measured 130 feet tall. thursday's slide was almost 400 feet and injured a man when a rock smashed through his car's sunroof. does what happened here scare you? >> it's utterly pet riifying. we also had this immense sense of relief that, you know, we really dodged a bullet. >> reporter: now, geologists believe the break could have been caused by heating and cooling of the granite face. and despite these two incidents, yosemite park is still open, and climbers have not been deterred. anthony. >> mason: carter evans at yosemite. thanks, carter. up next, steve hartman with the littlest linebacker. there's only one egg that gives you better taste and better nutrition in so many varieties.

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>> mason: we end the week with friday night light, about 130 pounds light. here's steve hartman "on the road." >> reporter: the brandywine bulldogs in wilmington, delaware, have one of the most unlikely football players in america today. and not just because this guy is so little. but because this guy is a girl. >> i knew that i wanted to play football. >> and knew that i wanted to start on varsity, and nothing stood in the way from it. >> reporter: at 4' 8", senior felicia perez is one of the shortest kids in her school, and she's not a kicker, like many girls who play high school ball. no, coach isaiah mays says felicia came to him with a different position in mind. >> a girl could technically play anything, but most of them don't say they want to play lne

right away. >> reporter: that's right,>> a , you know, it's a physical position. you get hit every play. and she's gotten rocked a couple of times but she gets right back up. >> reporter: felicia says it's everything she ever dreamed. for as long as she can remember, she's wanted to play football. but it took a while to convince her parents. >> i kind of kept pushing for it. i was like, "mom, dad, i really want to play." and they were like, "okay, well, let's go sign you up." and i was like, "let's go!" >> reporter: they thought you were bluffing that you really didn't want to. >> year, they thought i was bluffing. >> reporter: so you called their bluff. i did. i think i still do. ( laughter ) >> reporter: and it wasn't just her parents who were skeptical. when she went to sign up, felicia was directed, at first, to the cheerleading table. it was the beginning of a lot of false assumptions, and some bullying. >> came to weight training, and everybody started laughing. >> reporter: the guys say it was just hard to believe that this little girl could actually contribute. >> it was just like, you shouldn't be playing football. then, you know, sh

and i was like, all right, maybe she should be playing football. ( laughter ) >> reporter: and that was the end of that. >> that's not a girl playing. that's a football player. >> reporter: they say no one dare laugh now. >> you got to protect yours. she's family to us, so. >> reporter: that means standing up for felicia when the other teams target her, and by all accounts, they do target her. she's had more than a handful of broken fingers and they try to bruise her ego, too, with insults. so when you're going through all that stuff, why not just take the easy way out-- >> we never take the easy way out. >> reporter: ...and not play. but you would have avoided all that pain. >> you're right, i would have. but would i be here today? no. >> reporter: short girl, long view. steve hartman, "on the road," request in wilmington, delaware. >> mason: that's not a girl playing. that's a football player. that's the cbs evening news. i'm anthony mason in new york. thanks for watching this week. i'll see you first thing tomorrow on "cbs this morning saturday." good night.

breaking news on this friday night. another high-ranking official leaving the trump administration. health and human services secretary tom price resigning after days of criticism for his use of private aircraft. "politico" first revealed that price billed taxpayers for more costly flights, flying private instead of commercial, which obviously would have been cheaper. yesterday he announced he would pay taxpayers back. our question, should tom price have been fired over his use of a private jet charging the taxpayers. vote on wusa9.com/votenow or on our wusa9 app. we will have the results in a couple of minute