Little photo magic. Nightly news begins right now. Good evening. If there is a limit to how far donald trump will go with his crude insults and school yardlike taunting, were still waiting to see it. His latest verbal assaults include a public mocking of Hillary Clinton bathroom habits, a vile depiction of her last defeat and declaring his hate for some in the media. Whipping up an angry crowd against the press there to cover him. But of course it is playing well to his core of supports who embrace his boldness. But is that enough . Especially as the new National Poll shows senator ted cruz nipping at his heels. Lets start with nbcs katy tur. Wow reporter donald trump again storming past political decor um. This time to kriz site Hillary Clinton. What happened to her. Im watching the debate and she disappeared. For using the bathroom during the democratic debate. I know where she went. It is disgusting. I dont want to talk about it. No, it is too disgusting. Dont say it. It is disgusting. Reporter and going even further, berating her with a sexual vulgarity for losing to barack obama in 2008. She was going to beat. She was favored to win. And she got schlonged. She lost. Reporter Hillary Clinton fighting back with humor. We should give a few more minutes for bathroom breaks. Im just glad they had one somewhere. And a message to a little girl about bullying. You are looking at a person who has had a lot of things said about me. It is important to stand you will to bullies wherever they are and why we shouldnt let anybody bully his way into the presidency. Trump grand rapids rally, anything before christmas, was anything but merry and bright. The crowd riled up and angry. Trump turned the table on reporters, by the way, i hate some of these people but i would never tell them. No, these people, ill be honest, ill be honest, i would never kill them. I would never do that. Reporter his traveling press corp penned for campaign protocol in the center of the arena as thousands booed and jeered. You are offended. The average american is not. Because the average american was just sitting on their couch saying that exact same thing. Reporter but today a new poll found that half of all americans would be embarrassed to call the billionaire president. And though the same poll finds him atop the gop field, ted cruz is gaining fast. I will donald trump speak for himself. I will speak for myself. Reporter and that strategy is working for ted cruz who is now within the margin of error with donald trump. Meanwhile, if there ever was a line for the frontrunner, it is hard to imagine where it was, lester. Katy tur, thanks. And we want to turn to our political director, the moderator of meet the press, chuck todd. Weve been here before. Another day another controversial comment by donald trump. And i kept thinking when i heard the comments, if most americans say in the workplace what he said, they would be fired. Line does appear to be gone. It doesnt appear to be hurting him. But does it himity his growth and could he win if he doesnt grow his core. You are right about this idea. If any of us said what he said in the Public Square in the media, any other politician, if you said it in the workplace, you would be fired. But we said the same thing about what he said about mexicans and john mccain being a war hero and what he said about fox news host megyn kelly. One of one of those would have get you reprimanded or fired. But it doesnt hurt him. But the thing we miss the most about the donald Trump Supporters is that this is not economic, it is cultural. It is the antipolitical correctness idea. The idea that everything all of the major changes that have happened demographically in this country, he is tapping into into this idea that things are changing fast and dont you miss the old good days. The whole reason for the slogan make America Great again. It is the again. That is the code word of saying the way it was. The way before we pead all of these changes. The way before your culture changed. So i think that is what were seeing. Obviously he is being crude about it. I dont think anything could stop him as far as chasing him out of the race. However, it does hurt him in a general election. There is no way this guy could win a general election if he continues to go down this road. Chuck todd, appreciate your analysis. Were learning so much more about the american troops killed in a Suicide Attack in afghanistan. It was the deadliest attack on u. S. Forces in the country in more than two years. Chief pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski has more on the victims of who they are and who they leave behind. This major adriana vorder bergen is the first openly gay female officer to be killed in combat. She and five other u. S. Airmen were meeting afghan leaders near Bagram Air Base when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle drove into the group and detonated his bomb, killing all six americans. Described as a champion of gay rights she was most proud of her wife and her young song jacob. She said adriana was light of our livers. We his her so much. She has always been me hero. So much more than now. Sergeant lam loved to surprise his wife and two children. This is the first time he came home from afghanistan after a 10month deployment. And as a new York City Police detective in the bronx, lam was well loved. You met him and knew him and he was well loved. Reporter he did three combat tours before being killed this week. The u. S. Airmen include save stargt lewis bona casa. Chester mcbride, a College Football standout and mike an Anthony Cinco of rio grande valley, texas. In washington, d. C. A restaurant was closed. Staff sergeant petter toll b was among the dead. Loyal customers joined in. The good people in america care about you and your son, your loss is our loss. Reporter this, as his wife just learned she is pregnant with their second child. Coincidentally, this week marks the fifth anniversary of the repeal of dont ask, dont tell, lifting the ban against gays in the military. Opening the door for major adriana voder burgen and providing military benefits to her family that would have otherwise been denied, lester Jim Miklaszewski at the pentagon. Thank you. The woman accused of running down a crowd of people on the vegas strip has ore officially been charged with murder, child abuse and felony hitandrun. 24yearold lakeisha plowed into the crowd repeatedly killing one woman and injuring three dozen more, including several now in critical condition. Prosecutors say they are considering a number of other charges as well. Chances are no matter where you live today, you were talking about the weather. Extremes from coast to coast. And across much of the eastern and central u. S. , we are headed for the warmest christmas on record. Temperatures being shattered, headed for the 70s on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. There is also a major storm brewing. Severe weather threatening 38 million americans. And causing trouble for lastminute travelers. Nbcs Miguel Almaguer breaks it all down. Reporter the weather on i49 along the texasarkansas border turned the roadways deadly. Three killed, seven injured in a blinding fog pileup. It sounded like a explosion. Reporter the wild weather system creating havoc is also poised to shatter records. Some spots, 40 degrees above average. Christmas eve in philli, 73. Charlotte, 77. Savannah, georgia, 79. 2800 temperature records already broken in december. In raleigh, where it will be 78, today the roads are sloppy. 2600 pig lets were on this big rig. What they are calling the pork chop overturn. Oh, my god. Reporter across the country, a different extreme fuelled in part by el nino. The jet stream funneling strong Southern California winds powerful enough to rip off roofs and topple trucks. In sierra, this winter whiteout beautiful but dangerous. Major roads shut down. Others brought to a crawl. These things have to be up on the tire. Reporter many here will be lucky to get home by christmas. It was supposed to be a Christmas Eve trip. But i didnt get out of town in time. Reporter in oregon, steve sill has spent 15 hours a day for the last 15 days fighting blizzards so travelers dont get stuck. We cant afford to go down. We have to have everybody on hand. Reporter oregon and Washington State have been hammered continuously. Winds knocking down power lines and trees. A season of extremes from coast to coast. Tonight here in Southern California where we are bracing for 60 mileperhour winds, a cold weather alert has been issued for many of the region. The temperature could plummet well below freezing. In an area, lester, renowned for sunny skies even in the middle of winter. Lester. Miguel almaguer, thanks. Lets bring in meteorologist dylan dreyer. Typically in december, would you be asking where is the white christmas. But all i see is red on that half of your map. It is going to be a warm christmas across the eastern half of the country with temperatures running 30 to 40 degrees above average. Well start to break some records on wednesday. But Christmas Eve is the day were all going to be talking about. We are going to crush records. In boston the old record 61. Were forecasting a high of 68 degrees. In washington, d. C. , the old record 66. We should make it up to 76 degrees. But keep in mind, these warm temperatures come with showers, rain and heavy storms. The best chance of strong storms will be back near memphis. We could see long, track, Long Duration tornados especially as we go into wednesday afternoon. Now out west, that is where were getting the white christmas. Were looking at troubles in the overpasses. Wednesday is going to be a rough travel day. Christmas eve the rain continues up and down the east coast and on Christmas Day still rainy in the southeast. But you have to head to the mountains to get the white christmas. Dylan, thank you very much. And now to the stunning astonishment in cape canaveral. Space skch has contracts to carry cargo and eventually astronauts to the space station managed to launch an unmanned rocket into the night sky and landed back on earth paving the way to reuse rockets, not just discarding them after a single use. Tom costello on how this could change the future of space travel. Reporter the liftoff was like a thousand rocket launches before, but for space x, this was no ordinary mission. Just 4 1 2 minutes into flight, the first stage of the falcon 9 separated and did a uturn, headed back to earth. Then oven seven minutes Later Mission control watched history in the making. For the first time ever, a rocket on a pay load mission had returned and successfully landed vertically back on earth. While 385 miled up 11 kplungs satellites were released no or bit. In california, celebration. The upstart at space x had overcome a challenge that had stood for decades. How big of a challenge . Space x said this was like launching a pencil over the empire state building, breaking it in half and reversing it and landing the pencil rightside up on a shoe box. Recovering and reusing the first stage could dramatically cut the cost of future launches. The space x kre billionaire elon musk. I think it is a revolutionary moment. Reporter six months ago a space x rocket blue up after liftoff. Last month blue origin owned by amazon Ceo Jeff Bezos launted vertal cally in the texas desert. To see private companies doing this kind of innovation in the space realm is exciting and were really at the beginning of a whole new era in space, i think. Reporter an achievement the ran who runs space x said will one day set the stage for a mission to mars. Tom costello, nbc news, washington. Still ahead tonight, it is save the it saved the life of a little girl dying of leukemia. A revolutionary treatment with the power to change human genes. Can it work on others too. And a car spins out of control on a highspeed chase and out of control on a highspeed chase and redid you say 97 . 97 yes. You know, that reminds me of geicos 97 Customer Satisfaction rating. 97 . Helped by geicos fast and friendly claims service. Huh. Oh yeah, baby. Geicos as fast and friendly as it gets. Woo geico. Expect great savings and a whole lot more. advil pain relievers are used by more households than any other leading brand. To treat their aches and pains more people reach for advil. Relief doesnt get any better than this. Advil. But it is not the device that is mobile, it is you. Real madrid have about 450 million fans. Were trying to give them all the feeling of being at the stadium. The microsoft cloud gives us the scalability to communicate exactly the content that people want to see. It will help people connect to their passion of living real madrid. Iits just a cough. Ur cough, youd see how often you cough all day and so would everyone else. New robitussin 12 hour delivers fast, powerful cough relief that lasts up to twelve hours. New robitussin 12 hour cough relief. Because its never just a cough. Were back with what could be a huge leap forward in the battle against cancer. A treatment that changes the genetic makeup of your cells an turns them into cancerfighting weapons. It brought one little girl who was the first child to receive the treatment back from the brink of death. Nbcs rehema ellis has more in our series target cancer chasing the cure. Reporter Emily Whitehead is like most fifth graders, full of energy. But this 10yearold is also a pioneer. We first met her three years ago when she was diagnosed with an acute form of leukemia. The cancer was growing out of control and doctors were out of options. Desperate, her parents turned to an skp experimental treat that only showed promise in a few adults. How sick was she . At one point the doctor came in and said you need to tell your family and because emily wont be here tomorrow. Reporter but emily fought hard. Becoming the first child in the world to test a revolutionary technique, changing a Cancer Patients own dna. It started with doctors at the university of pennsylvania and Childrens Hospital of philadelphia. I think if you ask people back in 22,002, some of this would have sounded like science fiction. Here is how it works frxt a blood sample, a patients immune cells are separated out and injected with a deactivated version of hiv. The virus genetically changes the cells turning them into superfighters that hunt out and destroy cancer cells. Shes cancerfree. And i couldnt believe it. I just i thought it was a dream. Reporter today more than three years after emilys groundbreaking treatment, doctors have seen a 90 success rate in kids like her. The fact that it worked was absolutely miraculous. And it gives hope to so many other people. Reporter and now early Clinical Trials are underway, testing this approach and other kinds of cancers, like pancreatic and ovarian. It is strange but her story is now literally the text book example. If someone were to come to you now and to say, emily, how can we feel hopeful about our child going through cancer, what would you say to them . To never give up. Reporter one little girl winning her battle against cancer, paving the way for so many others to win theirs too. Rehema ellis, nbc news, phillipsberg, pennsylvania. When we come back, dont blink and youll miss. It a very close call. Nexium 24hr is the new 1 selling frequent heartburn brand in america. I hope you like it spicy get complete protection with the purple pill. The new leader in frequent heartburn. Thats nexium level protection. This bale of hay cannot be controlled. When a wildfire raged through elkhorn ranch, the sudden loss of pasture became a serious problem for a family business. 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When you see him it might be hard to contain yourself. As Hallie Jackson tells us, his adorable pictures have earned him viral glory which leads us to this charming story. Reporter twas was the weekend before christmas and in the town of paradise, the elf on the shelf wasnt being very nice. He tiptoed downstairs with wrapping paper and glue. I can go into the bathroom in the middle of the night. He makes mischiefs and messes. Not a role model, just look at that sweet tooth. He drank out of the syrup bottle. But big brother zack knows this is not a toy. He is rockwell, his brother. Yes, he is a real boy. Spreading the magic of the season with a little help from his pop. Im holding him the entire time. And the magic of photo shop. Rockwell sees you when you are sleeping and tells santa if you have been nice. His pictures so popular online, people shared and shared twice. Strangers all over the world clicking photos of this kid. Not really expecting it would go viral and get the attention that it did. Reporter but this family has had a taste of what it is like to spread joy. Look at who is next to rockwell. Do you recognize that boy . That is will. He can fly, as weve told you before. His pictures proof. Kids with Downs Syndrome can soar. These photos all taken for one simple reason. To share the love this family shows. No matter the season. And for the two youngest kids, it is a love that never ends. Were really excited to watch them grow up together and be best friends. Reporter life is not always picture perfect. But one thing is clear. You dont have to wait until christmas to feel this kind of cheer. Its santas best gift, you cant find under the tree. So from the lawrence family, and ours, happy holidays from nbc. Nbcs Hallie Jackson. And i tried, nothing rhymes with that. That will do it for us on a tuesday night. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. Gwen and blake stealing kisses. Their new video diary. Now on extra. Gwen and blake under the virtual mistletoe kissing and telling about their first christmas together. Im going to do christmas. All of todays breaking couples news. Jennifer lawrence grilled about every rumored hookup. You and chris martin never really confirmed whether you were together or not. And the bombshell shes dropping about liam hemsworth. Plus lady gagas fiance taking us in and out of the bedroom. Real housewife jailbird Theresa Guidice counting down to her christmas releasethe topsecret plan sneaking her out of prison. Then oprah on vacation and talking about her lifelong struggle with her weight. If not now, when . How many pounds shes already down on weight watchers. Plus, comedy King Judd Apatow with a curveball confession about his famous wife l leslie mann. Have you been mispronouncing her name . 20 years in she decided shed