live team coverage at 6:00. hope to see you then. meantime nbc "nightly news" is next. tonight, unraveling obamacare. president trump cuts off critical payments, a sweeping move that could send premiums soaring for millions of families. what happens now? another major story. confronting iran. the president blasts the nuclear deal but doesn't kill it, pushing congress to act while others argue the deal is working and that he's creating an international crisis. deadliest week. a tragic new turn as the winds intensify in california. families unable to escape the fires. new revelations about those first moments of terror in las vegas when a killer took aim inside the hotel then opened fire on the crowd below. up, up and away. a kaleidoscope of colors. come along for a

spectacular ride. also, tonight, why millions of you are about to see more money in the mail. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. good evening to our viewers in the west. thank you for being here. in a flurry of announcements and signings over the last 24 hours, president trump has taken dramatic steps to unravel two major obama era initiatives. the president making his most aggressive move yet to pull the legs out from under obamacare. the white house, in a late-night statement, announcing an end to subsidy payments to insurers. the president taking matters into his own hands after congress' failure to repeal and replace the law, one of mr. trump's signature campaign promises. and also today the president took a big step toward abandoning the iran nuclear deal. more on that in just a moment. but first, to the big news that could affect healthcare for millions. our kristen welker has details. >> reporter: the move could be a

dagger to obamacare, scrapping a key subsidy to insurance companies. >> so we're going a little different route, but you know what? in the end it's going to be just as effective and maybe it will even be better. >> reporter: so now the u.s. government will no longer provide money to insurance companies to help pay for healthcare for low-income americans on the obamacare exchanges, some 6 million people. the nonpartisan congressional budget office says the move could leave a million fewer people insured and increase obamacare premiums by 20%. >> that money is going to insurance companies to prop up insurance companies. >> to help lower income people. >> that money is going to insurance companies to lift up their stock price. >> reporter: baltimore graduate student jess willhelm who suffers from chronic asthma, has obamacare and worries his premiums will skyrocket. >> my biggest concern is losing the subsidies in the next year and potentially having premiums go up. >> reporter: democratic leaders blasted the move as a spiteful act of vast pointless sabotage and even some

republicans lashed out. >> low-income people are going to have a very difficult time. in fact, for some it may be impossible. >> reporter: the president appears to be getting closer to his campaign promise to repeal obamacare, but still no sign of a replacement. yesterday afternoon issuing an executive order that will allow insurance companies to sell cheaper policies with less coverage. >> to be absolutely irresponsible to blow up the insurers markets, pull healthcare away from citizens who currently have it without making sure there's a replacement plan in place. >> reporter: but for some of mr. trump's supporters, the move is a campaign promise kept. >> he's doing the right thing. you know, obamacare has hurt so many people. >> kristen, no matter what you think of the law, if you're on obamacare, you've been on a roller coaster ride these last several months. what happens now? where is this going? >> the subsidies won't be sent until the next enrollment period. which starts november 1st. but 15 states have already sued the federal government trying to block the move. and adding to the urgency,

bipartisan negotiations on capitol hill aimed at finding a fix. lester. >> kristen welker at the white house tonight, thank you. now to the other major move by the president announcing in a fiery speech he's refusing to certify the iran nuclear deal brokered during the obama era saying it will lead to more violence, chaos and iran's nuclear breakout. but he is stopping short of withdrawing from the deal for now. nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more. >> reporter: in a blistering indictment of iran's terrorism, starting with the hostage taking at the u.s. embassy in tehran in 1979, the president tonight threatening to quit the iran nuclear deal unless congress and the allies fix what he sees as serious flaws. >> in the event we are not able to reach a solution working with congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated. >> reporter: the president ordering new sanctions against iran's hardline revolutionary guard.

instructing the intelligence agencies to reinvestigate reports iran is dealing with north korea. demanding congress restrict iran's missile program and make all restrictions on the nuclear program permanent under u.s. law. all very doubtful. >> our congress is highly unlikely to be able to resolve this issue. >> reporter: the reaction immediate. iran's president rouhani calling the trump language cursing. nbc's ali arousi. >> here in tehran, there's a mood of anger. a senior revolutionary guard commander saying iran has buried many like trump and knows how to fight against america. >> reporter: and in an unprecedented joint rebuke, america's closest nato allies, the leaders of britain, germany and france, saying they are concerned about the possible implications in the president's decision not to recertify iran is complying. >> he's trying to renegotiate a prenuptial agreement after the marriage. >> reporter: tonight the u.n.'s nuclear watchdog confirmed that

iran is living up to its nuclear commitments. former secretary of state john kerry who negotiated the deal accused the president of creating an international crisis. >> andrea mitchell tonight, thank you. we have to tell you about a grim turn in the wildfire disaster raging through california. the death toll now at least 32 which makes it the deadliest week for wildfire in that state's history, there's no sign of a let-up coming. in fact, the winds are shifting, bringing new fears about the weekend ahead. nbc's joe fryer is there for us. >> reporter: with dangerous winds ramping up tonight, the fight to save wine country is intensifying. vineyards are working overtime to save grapes while the town of geyserville has a front-row view of the battle. >> i'd rather be looking at the mountains right now. >> yeah. it's very anxiety producing. >> my house right here. >> reporter: many of those who died in the fires were in their 70s and 80s, but one victim was 14-year-old kai shepherd, killed while trying to escape. his parents and sister were severely burned. >> we will pool our collective

hope and strength and we will rebuild the shepherd's. >> reporter: in santa rosa more than 2800 homes were destroyed including the house that belonged to the late charles schulz, creator of the peanuts comic strip, but the museum that pays tribute to him is still standing. >> it was a treacherous night for all of us. >> reporter: the fire came so quickly, john and jane pasko say their only option was to jump into their neighbor's pool where they stayed for six hours. >> most terrifying part was when that tree went up, then this tree that went up because the heat was pretty intense. >> we've got jambalaya already prepped. >> reporter: celebrity chef guy fieri lives in santa rosa. he rounded up friends to make thousands of meals for evacuees and first responders. >> we give them comfort food. at a time like this, i think comfort food makes people really feel good. >> reporter: a new red flag warning takes effect tonight. wind gusts could top 50 miles per hour at higher elevations over the weekend, which has everyone here on high alert.

meanwhile, investigators say they're still looking into what started all these fires. >> they just can't catch a break. joe, thanks very much. to that other disaster impacting americans. the president tweeting today he'll always be with the people of puerto rico after warning yesterday that fema and federal responders couldn't stay there forever. and tonight new questions about how some of those relief workers are using time and resources as desperation grows around them. nbc's gabe gutierrez is there. >> reporter: the three-star general in charge of the military relief effort here says this is the worst disaster he's ever seen. >> we have far more federal troops here and have been here for many weeks. >> reporter: as for fema, it has 1100 workers in puerto rico compared to 3,000 for hurricane irma and almost 4,000 for hurricane harvey. >> we have the right amount of people here. we're bringing more people in. >> reporter: tonight new questions about what some volunteers are doing. a senior leader with the federal disaster medical assistance team

is upset volunteers pay for spa treatments inside tents meant to treat noncritical patients. >> my team members who have come to puerto rico to help these poor people are having spa day? it's beyond comprehension. >> reporter: the department of health and human services says one example of poor judgment should not overshadow the life-saving work being performed by the more than 500 hhs personnel on the island. today a bipartisan congressional delegation including house speaker paul ryan visited puerto rico touting a $36 billion aid package the house just passed. >> our fellow citizens, we're all in this with each other for the long haul. >> reporter: at san juan's airport, heartbreak. this woman clutching her 5-month-old daughter as she leaves for the u.s. mainland. her message to congress -- we need help. gabe gutierrez, nbc news, san juan, puerto rico. now to a powerful new installment in our series, "one nation overdosed." it's estimated that our country

now has nearly a million heroin users, and the death rate associated with the drug is skyrockets. but the smallest victims of this crisis don't often get counted in the statistics, the children. kate snow went to one of the hardest hit parts of the country, dayton, ohio, to see how one hospital has had to change everything to help children. >> are you hiding? >> reporter: jude seidler is the unlikely face of a crisis. the precocious 2-year-old was born to a mother who used heroin throughout her pregnancy. at 9 days old he went home with adoptive parents ashley and jay, and ever since they've been bringing him to dayton children's hospital. >> we've been able to chart his progress and where he is on the scale. >> reporter: what do you think? how's he doing? >> doing great. >> reporter: at the newborn follow-up clinic five specialists have been checking jude's development to make sure his speech, movement, coordination are all on track. >> can you say open? >> reporter: it's just one corner of a children's hospital

that's had to adjust the a new reality, the impact of an opioid epidemic. >> she said that before smoking and drinking in the car -- >> reporter: an army of doctors and social workers meet every week to coordinate. their mission, do whatever it takes to save kids. one of the hospital's biggest success stories is the place where babies like jude start out, the newborn intensive care unit. >> hi, gorgeous. >> reporter: ashley hudson is feeding her 12-day-old alaysia determined to learn from what happened last year when her newborn son passed away. can i ask what happened? >> he was born very early. just had a lot of problem. >> reporter: was that because of drug use? >> that was because i was in active addiction, yes. >> reporter: that must have motivated you to want this pregnancy to be different. >> yeah. right away, i was like, you know, contain live through that again. >> everything is kind of falling into place. >> reporter: ashley stopped using heroin weeks into this

pregnancy and is doing well, but alaysia still went through withdrawal. >> we want to maximize the things that we can do that don't involve giving them medication. that's holding, it's cuddling, it's a darkened room. it's mom being present. >> reporter: and that bonding is working. the average hospital stay here for a baby born dependent is down from 58 days to just 17. down in the e.r., there's another pressing issue. the number of kids 14 and under who accidentally ingested drugs has more than doubled in recent years. >> kids are exploring at the age of 2, 3, 4. they find a baggie on the floor. smells good or looks interesting. i'm going to put some of this in my mouth. >> reporter: how do you know if a child is out of it because they're on opioids? >> autopsy. >> reporter: jude is a success story so far, but dr. eileen kasten, who heads the follow-up clinic, worries for kids who were exposed to opioids in the womb. >> i think we're going to have

to see what they're like as adults. are they going to be able to work? are they going to have families? are they going to have problems with addiction themselves? i don't know those answers. >> reporter: they're also seeing a lot of kids at the hospital who were abused and neglected. lester, this summer a 13-month-old baby came in with an overdose. >> i can imagine a lot of hospitals on this learning curve right now. >> yeah. they're all learning from each other. >> kate, thank you very much. now to an nbc news investigation uncovering new evidence about the flow of money from russia to the one-time chairman of the trump campaign, paul manafort. tonight exclusive new information revealing millions going to companies linked to manafort from a russian billionaire with ties to vladimir putin. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel has all the details. >> reporter: tonight, with paul manafort, a key focus of investigators looking into connections between russia and the trump team, our nbc news investigation reveals new evidence of the money trail connecting manafort, president trump's former campaign

chairman, to moscow. $26 million more than has been reported before. money loaned to manafort before 2012 by this man, oleg deripaska, a russian billionaire with close ties to vladimir putin, which may explain why, according to recently leaked e-mails, manafort offered the russian a private briefing about the trump campaign. >> they were unsecured loans. >> reporter: right. so we don't know if they were paid? >> you can call it a loan. you can call it mary jane. if there's no intent to repay it, then it's not really a loan. it's just a payment. and money launderers frequently will disguise payments as loans. >> reporter: using official company records from several countries, we were able to trace two loans, one for $26 million and another for about $7 million made by a company owned by deripaska to two companies linked to manafort in cyprus. they sent $27 million to a delaware company named after manafort's two daughters. in total at least $60 million in

loans from deripaska landed in accounts connected to manafort. now those transactions are part of the investigation that led special counsel robert mueller to send agents to manafort's home, a raid the president said he found surprising. >> i've always found paul manafort to be a very decent man. he's like a lot of other people, probably makes consultant fees from all over the place. >> reporter: but most consultants don't receive tens of millions of dollars in loans from their clients. we asked manafort's spokesman to explain the loans. he didn't answer our questions but said that mr. manafort, quote, did not collude with the russian government. richard engel tonight, thank you. still ahead, major new details in the las vegas mass shooting. police revealing what happened in that hotel in the critical minutes before the gunman began firing on the crowd below. also the brazen carjacking that didn't go as planned.

police in las vegas this evening are giving their most detailed account yet of what happened the night the las vegas killer opened fire on a country music concert, and they have once again revised their timeline about those first moments of terror. our justice correspondent pete williams has the new details. >> reporter: 9:59 p.m. police now say a hotel security guard checks a blocked stairway door leading to the 32nd floor. just before 10:05, he gets to the hallway outside stephen

paddock's room when he's wounded by gunshots. just seconds later paddock opens fire on the crowd below. the previous timeline put that hallway shooting six minutes earlier. that was based on a hotel security log. >> i provided you the information as i knew it, and everybody in here knew it was going to change. >> reporter: investigators now believe paddock broke out one of the hotel windows to shoot at airport fuel storage tanks 700 yards away, but there's little chance of an explosion from a gunshot. sheriff lombardo choked up today praising the heroism of his officers. >> excuse me for my emotion. >> reporter: he said arriving patrol cars drew paddock's attention away from the crowd. >> he adjusted his fire and directed it toward the police vehicles. so the response of those individuals, i believe, saved lives. >> reporter: while an autopsy revealed no obvious abnormalities in paddock's brain, it's now been sent for

microscopic examination. but the fbi says after chasing nearly 2,000 leads, still no idea of motive. pete williams, nbc news, washington. there's more to tell you about. up next, why millions of americans are about to have more money in their pockets. are you one of them?

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♪ ♪ we're back now with new fallout for movie mogul harvey weinstein. he could now face punishment from the academy behind the oscars when its board of governors, which includes names like tom hanks, steven spielberg and whoopi goldberg, holds an emergency meeting tomorrow. and accusations of sexual harassment now link the worlds of entertainment and tech with the chief of amazon studios, roy price, suspended after a producer alleged he sexually harassed her in 2015. price has had no comment. millions of you are about to notice more money in the mail. social security recipients as well as disabled veterans and federal retirees will get a 2% bump in benefits next year. that's the largest increase since 2002. it comes out to about $25 more a month.

eye-opening new numbers tonight about america's obesity epidemic hitting a new high. the cdc now says 40% of american adults are obese and nearly 20% of children. doctors are particularly concerned about the rise in obesity among kids, which is linked to a higher chance of early death in adulthood. scary moments for a michigan woman after a brazen gas station carjacking attempt. a man slips into her car while she fills up, but she jumps in as he takes off, yanking the hose off the pump. seconds later another man grabs the suspect, struggles with him, but the suspect runs away. tonight police are still searching for him. when we come back, up in the air. a colorful fall tradition delighting kids and those who want to feel like kids again.

finally tonight, we're taking you to an annual fall tradition families love, and it's guaranteed to raise your spirits. nbc's gadi schwartz takes us up, up and away. >> reporter: for two weeks every october dawn in new mexico means a dance of balloons painting the albuquerque sky. >> it's beautiful. >> reporter: they rise with a roar from a field filled with

families. and being so close can be overwhelming. >> oh, my goodness. it's a blast. >> reporter: balloons here are launched by zebras, volunteers whose whistles bring cheers. >> have a good trip! >> reporter: our balloon rises into the crisp fall air with a lift of pilot ken walters' finger. >> this is like a pilgrimage. we come from all over the country, all over the world. >> reporter: as soon as you leave the park, the sun comes up. you start to see it hit all the balloon. ken's family tracks us on the ground. when we come down, they literally catch our basket. even the youngest of our crew, max, knows this balloon like the back of his -- well, back. >> i'm just rolling all of this air out of the balloon. >> reporter: he's an expert in the art of balloon appreciation. how long have you been crewing? >> about five years maybe? >> reporter: five years? how old are you? >> 7. >> reporter: and max's favorite part comes after sundown when

the gentle giants stand side by side to create canyons of color, warming us tiny humans with their glow. gadi schwartz, nbc news, albuquerque, new mexico. >> starting our weekend with a lift. we appreciate you spending part of your evening with us. that's "nightly news" for this friday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good nightt now: emergency is not over. and we continue to work at it but we are seeing some great progress. we are still at it full tilt and will get ahead of the flames. it's just so unfortunate. we understand that lives have been change forever. we're going to get through this, however. the news at 6:00 starts right now. good evening everyone and thanks for joining us on this friday. janelle wang sitting in for jessica aguirre. >> raj mathai. within the past hour a red flag

warning has been issued. even more danger in the multiple fire zones. we are also standing by, about to hear from the sheriff of sonoma county with key updates. let's start with the latest. the death toll has risen to 35. more than half of victims are sonoma county. now the most recent evacuation order was issued late today near healdsburg, another spot of concern is the oakville area near a wintry in napa county. here is a map of all the fires. the largest is still the atlas. the tubbs fire you see in the middle of the skren has caused the most destruction. primarily in the santa rosa area. the nuns fire near glen ellen has merged into two others. the atlas fire has scorched 48,000 acres. and crews have it 27% contained. the tubbs fire, nearly 35,000 acres. it is 25% contained. and the nuns