Whole new way. The video bringing so many to tears. Nightly news begins right now. Announcer from nbc news World Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening. New case of russian cyber meddling was alleged today, but in this case, it was personal. What federal prosecutors are describing as a russian sponsored computer hack that targeted a half billion everyday email users, and the feds are naming names, identifying two rush intelligence agents as a pair of hackers accused of orchestrating the massive hack of yahoo accounts in 2014 predating the suspected russian interference in the 2016 election. But unlike that case, for the first time, russian spies have been criminally charged with hacking by the u. S. Government. Justice correspondent Pete Williams has details. Reporter it was one of the largest data breaches ever. Yahoo is dealing with a massive security breach. Yahoo is working with Law Enforcement. Yahoo claims the hack was on it by a state sponsored actor. Reporter the massive cyber attack on yahoo launched three years ago made off with information on 500 million user accounts. Now the Justice Department says it was directed out of here, the moscow headquarters of the fsb, the successor to the cold war kgb and run by the very russian unit responsible for investigating cyber crimes. The involvement and direction of fsb officers with Law Enforcement responsibilities makes this conduct that much more egregious. Reporter federal prosecutors charged two fsb officers with running the attack and accused them of hiring two known crim malhackers to do the fuel actual intrusions. One of the hacker a canadian was arrested in toronto. The fbi says the russians were in it for intelligence, so they could spy on specific yahoo users, russian journalists and politicians critical of the government, and u. S. Diplomats and government officials, including unnamed Obama White House employees. The fbi says the hackers were in it for the money, paid by the russians, and allowed to exploit credit card numbers and other data they stole to launch fraud schemes. Cyber experts say ru russia is depending more on hackers to dot dirty work. They have better skills, better technology, better training and second t gives the russian intelligence agencies plausible deniability. Reporter Officials Say no decisions have been made about whether and how to retaliate. The u. S. Could kick out Russian Diplomats as happened in december, or impose more economic sanctions, as it has already over ukraine. In an exclusive interview for tomorrows today program matt lauer asked Ambassador Nikki Haley about russias hacking. What should the president do . Take it seriously. We should not trust russia. We should never trust russia. The yahoo hacking case revealed has no connection with the longrunning investigation of russias attempts to influence the election. Thanks. See more of matts interview tomorrow morning on today. With the serious Cyber Breaches happening more and more often how can you protect yourself from criminal hackers after your personal information . Gabe gutierrez has strategies you need to know. Reporter theres no indication the Russian Hackers used the stolen user information to commit mass Identity Fraud and they only spied on specific high valued targets. Instead they launched spam marketing schemes which may have caused some people to see unwanted ads. But its all raising questions about the safety of all email servers. But at its core i dont think hoo is necessarily any more vulnerable than any other email service. Reporter more than 205 billion emails are sent every day, thats expected to grow by 3 a year. Cyber security expert adam levine says the threat goes beyond email, social media, like pictures people post, tagged with locations are easy tools for criminals. These photographs can lead burglars to your home or stalkers into your life or kidnappers to your kids. Reporter so how can you protect yourself . Not just the basics, yuz long, complicated passwords and Keep Software up to date but turn off gps Location Services and automat automatic icloud backups and complete old emails you dont need. They preserve information hackers can use to access your other accounts. Lester, another tool to protect your email, twofactor authentication. Go to your email settings, whether it be yahoo or gmail, input your mobile phone number and the next time you login the Security Code is sent to your phone, you need your password and that Security Code to login, another added layer of security to protect your personal connection. Even if i get your laptop im not getting that code. You put in that information simultaneously, much harder for hackers to get in. Gabe gutierrez, good information, thing. Tonight a republican and Democratic House leaders say they still have no evidence to support President Trumps claim that president Obama Wiretapped him and now mr. Trump is speaking out publicly about his claim for the first time. We get more on the story from nbcs White House Correspondent hallie jackson. Reporter tonight a new suggestion from the president that it wasnt simply a wiretap president obama had installed at trump tower, like he originally claimed, but maybe more surveillance, hinting at more to come. Wiretap covers a lot of different things. I think youre going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next two weeks. Reporter its another interpretation of his explosive tweet 11 days ago, still providing no proof. Now you have to decide are you going to take the tweets literally and if you are, then clearly the president was wrong. Reporter thats the house intelligence committees Top Republican revealing he has seen no evidence of the president s claim. So he wants congress to keep investigating. So whats the president basing his accusation on . Its still not clear. But his attorney general says it didnt come from him. Reporter did you ever give him any reason to believe that he was wifetapped by the Previous Administration . Look, uhm, my answer is no. Reporter now time is running out for the fbi director on capitol hill tonight to either back up his boss or admit the president s wrong, with some lawmakers out of patience, warning the administrations out of time. Well issue a subpoena to get the information. Well hold up the Deputy Attorney generals nomination until congress is provided with information to finally clear the air. Reporter senator Lindsey Graham wants james comey to confirm publicly the fbi is looking into whether russia got involved in the 2016 election announcing today comey promised answers but didnt say when. Comey himself is in the hot seat monday as at least four congressional committees are now investigating any interference from the kremlin. It is very much a drip, drip, and the problem with drip, drips is that they create puddles that then become pools. Reporter no matter what happens, it will probably be politically significant, either the president made a serious accusation that turned out to be false or he revealed surveillance on an unprecedented level. Lester . Hallie jackson at the white house tonight, thank you. President trump is on the road again appearing at a rally this evening to sell the gop plan to replace obamacare. Days after a nonpartisan report projected it would result in 14 million more uninsured americans by next year, and the president , also responding to the leak of his 2005 tax returns. Nbcs Peter Alexander has more. Reporter tonight for the first time President Trump making his pitch on health care, arriving in nashville to deliver a booster shot to the gops obamacare replacement plan that one Top Republican says is mortally wounded. My whole life i have heard people say we need a businessman to run this country, and for crying out loud, here is our chance. Reporter tonight House Speaker paul ryan says he and the white house are on the same page. We jointly drafted this legislation, house, senate and white house, so we are working on this together. The president s all in on this. Reporter but the bill faces fierce resistance from conservatives. Here in music city, songware Amanda Paige Cornett doesnt like obamacare or the replacement plan. It needs a lot of work. Reporter recovering from double wrist surgery after a car wreck shes worried about losing coverage next year. What they given us for the proposed reform is like moving chess pieces on a broken chess board. Reporter earlier in michigan the president made no mention of health care, instet touting jobs. Breaking news, General Motors announced theyre adding or keeping 900 jobs right here in michigan. Reporter most of the new hires will be workers readded after 100100 gm layoffs announced last week. Also tonight President Trump is reacting after Msnbcs Rachel Maddow reveals part of his 2005 tax returns obtained by dcreport. Org. I have no idea where they got it but its illegal, and youre not supposed to have it and its not supposed to be leaked. Theyve done it before. And i think its a d disgra disgrace. Reporter trump paid 38 million in federal income tax on 15 million of reported income. After writing off more than 100 million in losses. Tomorrow the white house will unveil its budget blueprint for the upcoming year, with massive cuts to both the state department and Environmental Protection agency. Congressional staffers familiar with the plan tell nbc news it includes 54 billion in additional defense spending and significant new spending on immigration enforcement, and veterans care. Lest lester . Peter alexander on the road with the. The tonight, thanks. Amid an improving economy the Federal Reserve is hiking Interest Rates for the second time in three months. That means the cost of borrowing is going up. It affects every american thinking about buying a house or a car or paying off that plastic. Nbcs business so correspondent jo ling kent has the new headed home. Reporter tonight the Federal Reserve taking action that affects your credit card, mortgage and car loan. Janet yellen announcing the benchmark Interest Rate will rise a quarter of a point. What message are you trying to send consumers with this particular rate hike . The simple message is the economy is doing well. We have confidence in the robustness of the economy. Reporter this growing confidence in the u. S. Economy has some impact on consumer, not much at first but a sign of higher rates to come. For credit cards a 16,000 debt for the average american means paying an additional 40 a year. The average car loan of 25,000 will cost an extra 36 a year. The biggest impact on people shopping for a new home, a 200,000 mortgage could cost an additional 353 a year, and if the fed raises rates two more times this year as expected, that mortgage could cost 720 more per year. That expectation has already sent home buyers rushing to secure a lower rate. Mortgage applications jumped more than 3 last week. Samantha good is glad shes already locked in. My realtor told me that rates are going to be going up so that i should act quickly. Her decision saved her over 2,000 a year in borrowing costs. I didnt just save money right away. Im saving money throughout the whole future of my home. Reporter as for Interest Rates on your savings account, retail bank rates wont move up dramatically for now. The Federal Reserve is weaning the economy off of this medicine of low Interest Rates, and what that means for borrowers is that that cost is going up. Reporter the price we pay for a growing economy. Jo ling kent, nbc news, washington. Tonight, the big dig is on as cities and towns across a huge part of the country try to get back up and running, some places buried under more than two feet of snow, and for many, it is still dangerous going on the roads. Nbc News National correspondent Miguel Almaguer has it covered. Reporter buried in snow and covered in ice, tonight no sign of spring as much of the northeast is in a deep freeze. Im ready for it to be con. Reporter today, 19 million face Winter Weather advisories, after 150,000 lost power or heat. I thought we were in the clear but you know, living in new england you know better. Reporter bonerattling chill comes the day after a blistering storm. Massive waves pounded the coast. 70mileanhour winds tore through the region. In d. C. , the famed Cherry Blossoms are frozen and may never reach peak bloom. In pennsylvania, a school bus loaded with children slid off the road. In total, four lost their lives. For nearly 70 million people, the problems persist. Amtrak trying to get back on track, and after more than 7,500 flights were canceled, now the scramble to get back in the air. Tonight, the storm is gone, but hardly forgotten. In neighborhoods hit hard by blizzardlike conditions many of the major roadways have been plowed but for folks that live inside homes like this one, walk outside your front door, youre facing two to three feet of snow, on top of it all the conditions out here are freezing. This wont melt any time soon. Lester, its all happening five days before the start of spring. Lester . Miguel almaguer tonight in the snow, thanks. Still ahead, midair horror, a passengers headphones explode during a flight while she was wearing them. Is a type of battery that so many of us have in our devices to blame . Also the boy whose story touched a lot of folks with a camera capturing the moment then we wad it up to make it nice and soft. But grandma, we use charmin ultra soft so we dont have to wad to get clean. Mmm, cushiony. And we can use less. Charmin ultra soft gets you clean without the wasteful wadding. It has comfort cushions you can see that are softer. 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I grabbed them off and flew them on the floor. They were sparking and had small amounts of fire. With passengers choking on the fumes with burned plastic flight attendants doused the fire with water. Still no confirmation on the type of batteries involved but lith yom ion batteries are a Global Safety concern. Were getting rapid calls and reports of kids trapped on the third floor. Reporter in pittsburgh saturday a 3yearold died from a far investigators say started with lithium ion batteries in a hoverboard. Other fires and ing are is from exploding ecigarettes and laptops ablast year galaxy 7 cellphones. There was the brown green gray ugly stuff. Reporter researchers at Underwriters Laboratory show us the dangers the batteries pose. They have a flammable solution that will burn if it gets too hot or internal failure of the battery. Reporter under recall half a million hoverboards and over a million galaxy note 7s. 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