a tanker truck in flames in connecticut, a crash killing five in georgia, one car falling 50 feet. airports packed capping off a record summer. and the dangerous heat this holiday from the central u.s. to the northeast, potentially record breaking and the new tropical threat we're tracking tonight. plus, president biden on the attack using a labor day event to go after former president trump as mr. trump's gop rivals flock to new hampshire can any of them make a dent in his primary lead. remembering the voice behind the hit song "all star" as many fans play tribute to jimmy buf buffett. tonight, the newly revealed video, his surprise performance. ♪ wasting away again in margaritaville ♪ this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt >> ask good evening, i'm tom llamas in for lester tonight we begin with the main gates finally opening at burning man after some festival goers including celebrities defied a shelter in place request and walked for hours to get out of the mud and muck today a line of vehicles stretching for miles, carrying many of the 70,000 trapped there out of the nevada desert many boarding buses, riding on the backs of trucks to make their long-awaited exit after that late summer storm brought some two months worth of rain to the site in less than two days, stranding them in ankle deep mud, police investigating at least one person's death. the view from the air, a sea of tents and rvs, an enormous task ahead tonight getting everyone and everything out safely our liz kreutz is on the ground with the mass exodus. >> reporter: tonight with thousands urgently waiting to leave, signs the exodus at burning man has begun. >> we're making it out >> reporter: after days stuck in this mud-soaked desert, the weather drying up. festival goers known as burners finally getting the go ahead to get out. >> all right, you made it out. >> i know it i'm so grateful. >> reporter: the traffic backing up by early morning, the rush visible for miles. around camp there's still pockets of mud like this, wet and sticky it's what officials are worried about as burners begin their exodus >> reporter: the chaos began friday, an unusual summer storm turning the annual desert campout into a muddy mess, more than 70,000 trapped, some hiking miles to get out but local sheriffs probing the death of one person during the rain event, the cause still under investigation but organizers say it was not storm-related. >> people are going to need to be patient. >> reporter: following calls to shelter in place and conserve supplies, burning man's ceo telling attendees who have been stranded for days to remain calm. >> we've made it clear we do not see this as an evacuation situation. >> reporter: it's a tradition going back nearly 40 years, the counterculture festival in the remote nevada desert, celebrating art, music, and community. >> it's one for the ages, that's for sure. with the line to leave taking hours, some finding it hard to get out. >> there was a taxi he said he can take us through, by the meter it's going to be $500 or more. >> reporter: at the reno airport, others still stunned. >> i was scared. >> reporter: the harrowing conditions. >> you can smell like burning rubber and mud >> reporter: putting even the most self-reliant to the test. >> all right, liz joins us now liz, we can see that long line of traffic there just behind you. any sense of how long it's going to take to get all these people out? >> reporter: yeah, tom, it's been a slow crawl for thousands here today the line looks long here it is even longer back there even under the best of conditions it can take several hours to exit the festival, so it can take days to get this all cleaned up tom. >> days to get out, liz kreutz leading us off tonight here on nightly news we want to turn to another major story, that manhunt for an escaped killer in pennsylvania now in its fifth day police confirming today he's been sighted in the same area multiple times, and get this, now they've enlisted his mother to convince him to turn himself in george solis explains. >> reporter: tonight two days after this doorbell camera video showed escaped inmate danilo cavalcante on the run, police announced additional sightings outside the pennsylvania chester county prison where the convicted killer escaped from thursday morning >> we have secured that area, and continue to actively search it while there are a number of challenges we are confident that if he is in there we will find him. >> reporter: pennsylvania state police are now taking the lead role in the search >> i intend to stress him. i want to push him hard. he'll make mistakes. he'll show himself. >> reporter: local resident ryan drummond said he saw cavalcante in his house on friday. >> what i decided to do was flicker the light switch five times just to let him know that i knew that he was downstairs. and then he flicked the light back that was the terrifying moment where i looked at my wife and i said he's in the house call 911 he stole some of the produce we had snap peas, peaches and apples. >> reporter: cavalcante was sentenced to life in prison for the 2021 brutal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend. authorities say he's also wanted for a 2017 homicide in his native brazil. u.s. marshals are helping in the search. >> this is a heavily, heavily wooded area. it's very, very thick back there. there's a lot of hiding spots. >> police are playing audio recordings from choppers and patrol cars of cavalcante's mother speaking in portuguese pleading for her son to turn himself in as communities are on edge. >> people don't know what to expect you're on high alert. >> i'm not sure if our kids will be back in school tomorrow if they don't catch this guy by tomorrow. >> reporter: today state police reminded residents cavalcante is extremely dangerous. >> he does not want to be caught he has very little to lose at this point >> george joins us now live from pennsylvania i know you have some new reporting on a reward for information leading to the escaped killer's capture it's around $10,000? >> reporter: that's right, tom, and police say if they encounter cavalcante and he's not actively surrendering, the use of deadly force has been authorized. tom. >> george solis for us. also on this labor day, the rush to get home tens of millions of americans on the road and in the air as we cap off a record summer travel season as kathy park reports, this h holiday has seen its share of tragedy on the highway >> reporter: serious traffic accidents adding to log jams on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year in connecticut, a tanker carrying 8,000 gallons of gasoline rolled over and went up in flames sunday night shutting down the interstate for hours. while in the suburbs of atlanta, tragedy early this morning when three cars wrecked on i-85 police say one vehicle went over a wall and dropped from roughly 50 feet. >> five people were found deceased at the scene, and three additional were transported to area hospitals in stable conditions >> reporter: these scenes playing out with millions on the move in the air and on the roads. >> it can be stressful at times. >> reporter: bumper-to-bumper traffic slowing down the post holiday rush home from the beaches in maryland to the great smoky mountains in tennessee the family from detroit said they're looking at eight hours of drive time. >> just something you have to deal with when you go on vacation. >> what's today looking like so far? >> long. >> trying to sleep in the car, get home and start school tomorrow. >> we're prepared. we got the music ready they're filling up with food, so we'll be good. >> reporter: the airport's packed as well with more than 2 million traveling each day around the holiday weekend, an 11% increase over last year. >> traveling has been so much more exhausting than it used to be >> all right, kathy, what about those trying to squeeze out one more day of the weekend and travel home tomorrow >> reporter: well, tom, if that is your plan, keep in mind, millions of americans are heading back to work and school tomorrow, so expect a whole lot of company on the roadways between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. tom. >> a whole new type of traffic, okay, kathy, thank you we're also tracking the dangerous heat this holiday from texas to minnesota to the northeast. nbc news meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking it all for us michelle, what else are you seeing >> that's right, tom, we are tracking record breaking dangerous heat, 35 million americans under heat alerts on this unofficial end to summer. we're going to see temperatures soaring into the 90s, close to 100 degrees. you certainly factor in the humidity, it's going to feel like over 100 degrees. so that summer warmth does continue we could break more than 80 records tomorrow temperatures into the 90s, upper 90s in d.c., probably breaking that record of 97. same story as we go through wednesday, a lot of schools, a lot of kids getting back to work and school and back to reality roanoke 96 degrees, baltimore 99, cape hat rat 87 degrees. the topics, they are hot too tom, we are looking at our next system that will probably be our next named storm it has 100% chance of becoming lee in the next seven days back to you. >> we'll stay tracking that one all week. at some labor day celebrations, a new layer of security, police including the nypd using drones to monitor events but as emilie ikeda tells us, it's also raising concerns about privacy. >> reporter: as labor day celebrations blanket the country, in new york city there's another layer of police eyes now in the sky. the nypd is launching drones to respond to priority and nonpriority calls around the caribbean inspired duvet and west indian american day festivities which in previous years have been marred by shootings. >> large crowd, large party in the backyards, we're going to be utilizing our assets to go up and check on the parties. >> reporter: what police have called an asset, critics are concerned could become big brother. >> what we don't want to see is this bleeding out sort of routine patrols by drones, routine hovering over our homes and communities. >> reporter: on the ground in brooklyn, opinions are split. >> it's a safety precaution, i'm all for safety. >> absolutely no privacy at all. i think it's taking it to the next level >> reporter: new york city has increasingly leaned on drones this year which have scanned shorelines for sharks and helped size the crowd for a giveaway gone awry last month eric adams defended drones as more efficient, especially for noise complaints and in crowded streets. >> they're going to utilize drones from a safe distance up, not down flooig inying in someo backyard to see what they have on the grill >> reporter: according to the aclu more than 1,400 police departments now utilize the technology like in cincinnati santa monica where drone footage helped convict a brutal attacker as growing debate takes flight for perspective, nypd numbers show the department used drones 34 times last year, while in just the first half of this year, that use has more than tripled. tom. >> thank you. now to the race for 2024, president biden going on the attack against former president trump at a labor day event in pennsylvania while mr. trump's gop rivals look to steal his spotlight in another key battleground new hampshire, our dasha burns is there >> reporter: tonight the unofficial end of summer kicking off the unofficial start of primary season >> hello, hello. >> reporter: president biden zeroing in on republican front runner former president trump. >> the great real estate builder, the last guy here, he didn't build a damn thing. >> reporter: but a troubling sign for the president, a new poll showing more voters, 51%, believe mr. trump has a record of accomplishments versus president biden 41%. >> brendan, i'm vice president. >> reporter: republican candidates in new hampshire trying to make a dent in former president trump's lead, that same poll showing he's up 46 points over his nearest rival florida governor ron desantis. the political newcomer vivek ramaswamy frequently praises mr. trump. >> when you're using the trump playbook and embracing trump so much, why would voters vote for you when the original is in the race and way up? >> well, that's a media framing that's just a false characterization of the facts. the truth is i do show 90% plus of politics in common with him that much is something i respect about him. we're going to take the agenda to the next level because i can actually reunite this country. >> reporter: teacher tom jackson is interested in ramaswamy but hasn't yet made up his mind. >> what do you think it's ultimately going to take for a candidate to win your vote >> well, i think i'm going to want to see how they would do in the general election >> reporter: dasha burns, nbc news, milford, new hampshire in just 60 seconds, the college student fatally shot at random his father speaking out to us tonight, his shock and heartbreak as police search for a reason why stay with us welcome back, tonight we're hearing from the father of a tcu football player shot and killed. police say it was a random attack by a gunman looking to kill here's shaquille brewster. >> reporter: tonight the family of west smith speaking out after the texas christian university student was killed. >> it's hard to get your heart around it, to get your head around it. it's certainly been shocking. >> reporter: police say smith was killed outside a fort worth bar friday after being approached apparently randomly by suspect matthew purdy. >> this is just something that was senseless and it shouldn't have happened. >> reporter: according to the arrest warrant, purdy admitted to shooting smith three times in the stomach, shoulder, and back of the head after he fell. the suspect telling police he wanted to make sure he was dead. investigators say purdy also hit a witness with his gun and told officers he would have shot others if he had not run out of ammunition purdy, who was out on probation for aggravated robbery according to police, is now charged with murder >> he's in custody where he belongs. >> reporter: smith was a double major in finance and strategic marketing, a walk-on for tcu football his freshman year, and a student who led bible studies for his fraternity, his family says. >> he wanted to be an encouragement to other people. he wanted to be a friend to other people. >> people just naturally gravitated toward him as a leader and a person who made them feel better about themselves. >> reporter: tonight without a known motive, a family and community is left heartbroken and confused shaquille brewster, nbc news still ahead, the hero in hawaii, how one man took on a raging wildfire. back now with some sad news from the music world the steve harwell founder and former lead singer of the rock band smash mouth died today at his home in boise, idaho the cause was liver failure. harwell had long struggled with alcoholism his hits with smash mouth include "all star" and "walking on the sun." harwell was 56 years old now to the fire zone in maui and an amazing act of heroism that may have saved an entire block of homes it was all captured on video sam brock tonight with the story and the dramatic pictures. >> i want you to record everything when we're leaving. >> right from those first heart stopping moments, jessica and steven pickering knew their time was precious leaving lahaina with flames on their heels. >> oh, my god. >> and a wall of smoke in their rearview mirror. >> we tried to get out of the neighborhood but were blocked by cars. >> reporter: along the way they spot a flash of fire in the bushes. >> oh, my god, it's right there in the bushes. >> what? >> the fire! in the bushes! >> steven leaps from the car to put out the flames threatening a complete stranger's house. >> steven, we're going to get stuck, come on >> were you thinking at all this is crazy, and it could cost us our lives? >> yes >> but what did his actions actually end up doing? >> i think that he saved that area of the neighborhood >> the pickerings say they barely survived without emergency sirens or even a text to warn them. >> i haven't personally heard of a single notification that anybody received in all of my social networks, period. >> out of how many people do you think that you talked to >> hundreds. >> hundreds. >> reporter: maui county's response is under investigation, though officials have maintained that they warned residents through texts and police loud speakers in neighborhoods, but they haven't specified where or when >> always better safe than sorry, lives and safety over structure anytime. >> steve beltran spent 15 years with the maui emergency management agency as a senior safety official. >> i would have said full evacuation. >> in the morning? >> in the morning. knowing the winds are this high. they're super high prepare for the worst and then hope for less. >> reporter: the road to recovery looks long for jessica and steven one of their maui diving shops went up in flames along with about $1.5 million worth of inventory. >> having to say that we have nothing and hold your hand out and ask for help is really humbling and hard. >> still, there's a soulful silver lining across town in the smith household where drew smith recognized something familiar on social media >> i said, honey, come in here look at this, there's a guy saving a house i said, oh, my god, it's our neighborhood, and then we started looking. we're like this is our house >> smith says he's putting the pickerings in his will as for steven and jessica, they have their lives and their love. >> oh, my god, it's right there in the bushes. >> and a whole bunch of neighbors ready to help them out if they ever need a hand sam brock, nbc news, lahaina >> and when we come back, we'll take you to jimmy buffett's final performance, the video of the surprise concert we just got coming right up. ♪ searching for my lost shaker of salt ♪ as we mark the passing this labor day weekend of the great jimmy buffett, it turns out he had one final surprise for his fans it happened over another holiday weekend this summer, and no one saw it coming. mac mcanally was three songs into his set when a figure suddenly appeared on stage behind him the crasher, jimmy buffett to the shock and delight of the crowd. the two old friends, mcanally lead guitarist in buffett's coral reefers band >> mac not ahold of me and said, hey, jimmy just reached out and wants to do a few song, what do you think? >> let's find a way to make it happen just wanted to get out of the house. >> reporter: buffett was on long island when he decided to make the quick trip north to play with mcanally. that 45-minute surprise performance in july, now believed to be buffett's last. >> he was a genuine, sincere, humble. >> reporter: buffett died on friday at the age of 76. >> parrot heads have been dropping off flowers and beer at sunset cove in his honor ♪ some people say that there's woman to blame ♪ >> reporter: just like jimmy buffett would have wanted. ♪ it's my own damn fault ♪ [ cheers and applause >> something special today, ladies and gentlemen. >> it's a great way to remember him. that's "nightly news" for this monday thank you so much for watching for all of us here at nbc news, i'm tom llamas have a great night ♪ wasting away again in margaritaville ♪ right now on "nbc bay area news tonight," finally able to leave burning man. thousands of people trapped after storms turned the nevada desert into a mud pit. >> the first mile was like ankle-deep mud, and we were barefoot because walking with shoes wasn't really an