Then floods a powerful storm smashes records. And why forecasters fear for whats in store. Nightly news begins right now. Announcer from nbc news World Headquarters in new york this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening. No backing down today by gop president ial contender donald trump whose unfiltered and blunt talk has again ignited controversy. The latest came over the weekend when trump said vietnam war veteran and former p. O. W. Senator john mccain is not a war hero. And while the comments like those trump made about illegal immigration recently have sparked outrage it is worth noting that he leads the latest republican president ial poll though deeper examination suggests the mccain comments may be hurting him. We begin with nbcs katy tur. Reporter donald trump being donald trump today, refusing to apologize for saying john mccain is not a war hero. Telling matt lauer this morning well im not a fan of john mccain. Hes done a terrible job for the vets. I go around matt on the circuit, and im seeing so many vets and i see families crying before me. Reporter this firestorm sparked saturday. He hit me hes not a war hero. Hes a war hero. 5 1 2 years hes a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured. Okay . I hate to tell you. Do you agree with that . Hes a war hero because he was captured. Okay . You can have and i believe perhaps hes a war hero. Reporter mccain responding for the first time today on morning joe. Does donald trump owe you an apology . No i dont think so. But i think he may owe an apology to the families of those who have sacrificed in conflict and those who have undergone the prison experience in serving their country. Reporter and at a convention in pittsburgh veterans weighed in. He never wore the uniform. Hes never served with any of us. So he doesnt deserve the right to say that. Reporter trump has been swiping at mccain since the arizona senator criticized him for his immigration stance and accused him of firing up the crazies at trumps rally in phoenix. I thought it was a term of endearment. Can we get a little more clarification on the crazies comment . Reporter but on the campaign trail trump is taking all the heat. He should just apologize. I think that will probably move it on to the next thing. Reporter next on trumps circuit, voters in south carolina. I do like him because hes done a great job with business. As a republican i would say that ive heard enough out of donald trump at this point. Reporter as the billionaire tries to convince this early nominating state his tough talk is the right talk. Katy tur, new york. This is Peter Alexander in washington. While Lieutenant Commander john mccain was locked in a north vietnamese prison cell surviving a plane crash in 1967 only to endure five years of interrogations and torture, donald trump, the son of a successful real estate developer, was on his way to an ivy league degree. As trump writes in his 1987 autobiography the art of the deal, when i graduated from college i had a net worth of 200,000. I had my eye on manhattan. Like many others trump avoided the vietnam war draft thanks to four student deferments and a medical deferment for what his campaign describes as bone spurs on both heels of his feet. This weekend trump couldnt remember the details. Which foot did you have the bone spur in . Youll look it up in the records. I dont know. Its in the records. Reporter when trump later entered the military draft lottery, he received a high number. Well i got very lucky. We had lottery numbers. And i guess this was my biggest factor of luck in my life. Reporter while mccain followed his father and grandfather, both admirals into the navy trump, who was sent to military school as a teen pursued a different route, telling the New York Times in 1984 two of the men he admired most were were a prominent new york builder and broadway impresario flo ziegfield. At the Vietnam Veterans memorial candid reviews of candidate trump. Nancy rogans brothers plane was shot down during the war. He survived. I think its basically ignorance and probably more than that its arrogance on the part of donald trump. Reporter al colemans been guiding tours here for years. Its donald trump. I mean if anybodys ever watched one second of Celebrity Apprentice its what he does. Hes inflammatory to a fault. Reporter both trump and mccain have been strong supporters of the veterans community. While mccain serves as chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, trump has supported numerous charitable organizations and even gave 1 million to help build a Vietnam Veterans memorial in new york city. Lester . Peter alexander tonight. Thank you. A big change in the relatio. Bitter enemies for longer than most americans and cubans can remember. The two countries opened embassies in each others capitals for the first time in half a century. Thats nine president s ago. Were live at both embassies tonight, and we begin with our chief Foreign Affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell, in washington. Andrea . Reporter good evening, lester. And here at the new Cuban Embassy you can hear the latin beat. Theyre still celebrating in the streets. History was indeed made today when diplomatic relations were restored between the United States and cuba after 54 years. But replacing decades of hostilities with trust, thats going to take more time. Cubas flag flying over washington for the First Time Since 1961. Even as protesters from both sides faced off against each other. Inside cubas new embassy, the starspangled banner. Symbolic changes that began before dawn at the state department where cubas flag was hung for the first time. There is a lot to overcome. A socialist revolution. The bay of pigs. The cuban missile crisis. A flood of refugees. And a tug of war over 6yearold elian gonzalez. Now under president obama cracks in a u. S. Trade embargo that started under president eisenhower. Commercial flights, banking, a fledgling internet service. But cubas foreign minister on his first visit here demanded more. I emphasize that the totally lifting of the blockade the return of the illegally occupied territory of guantanamo are crucial to be able to move towards the normalization of relations. Reporter and no give on human rights. They know were not going to stop raising human rights issues. We made that very clear. Reporter but it was a start. And next month kerry will visit havana the first secretary of state to go there since 1945. Andrea mitchell nbc news at the Cuban Embassy in washington. This is Gabe Gutierrez in havana where like most days hundreds waited in the heat to apply for u. S. Visas. But today was different. Its very good. Reporter this is the u. S. Embassy now and dunil Garcia Rodriguez hopes its reopening will make things easier. Todays news was in the staterun newspaper, on page 4. But the historic washington ceremony was covered live on Cuban Television and there was no mistaking the excitement people feel here. Once unthinkable, u. S. Flags are now in fashion, and more cubans are glued to their smartphones as the government expands public wifi. Is there a lot of hope here . [ speaking spanish ] a lot of hope, this woman said. For most cubans the internet is still unaffordable and unreliable. Very very bad. The speed is very slow. Reporter but miguel abrero thinks it will be a game changer. He already has a website for his dogbreeding business. Internet for me have been a blessing for my business. He wants to connect with customers in the u. S. , and like many cubans he hopes to travel there. At the embassy tonight the new flagpole stands ready. The u. S. Flag will go up during secretary kerrys visit next month. But in many ways its already here. For decades this building has been the site of massive antiu. S. Protests. Not today. Instead, the cuban government pulled back some of its security guards and allowed tourists to get a little closer to take pictures. Lester . Gabe gutierrez in cuba tonight. Thank you. The military has ordered steppedup security measures at recruiting Centers Across the country after that deadly rampage in chattanooga. Where nbc news has learned disturbing new details about the gunman his troubled history, and what happened in his final hours. Our National CorrespondentMiguel Almaguer has the latest. Reporter Mohammad Abdulazeez the gunman who opened fire on two military facilities battled depression since childhood, claim his parents. A family Spokesman Says he also fought substance abuse. And tonight were learning he kept a journal in which he wrote about suicide. After a dui charge and losing his job this year his family believes his personal struggles are at the heart of thursdays attack. Before he unloaded round after round, a senior Law Enforcement official tells nbc news Mohammad Abdulazeez spent time at a gun range. A family Spokesman Says he jokingly called himself a muslim redneck, was broke, deep in debt and spent his last 72 hours before the shooting in a downward spiral. Total shock that anyone in america would do this but especially someone who lived down the street. Reporter abdulazeezs family released a statement, reading in part there are no words to describe our shock, horror and grief. The parents perhaps may be able to put a lot of things together. Perhaps it wasnt as clear to them over the last few years. But after this act is taken, they start to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Reporter over the weekend sailor Randall Smith became the fifth Service Member to lose his life. His mother coming to chattanooga for one final goodbye. My son is a hero. He died doing what he loved. Reporter with the bodies of the victims en route to their home towns for burial there is still no motive for the shootings and no firm link to terror groups. Tonight the search for answers continues in a sea of loss. In the wake of the shooting here a National Directive was issued late last night to help step up security at facilities like this one nationwide. Its aimed at preventing another tragedy. Lester . All right, miguel thank you. A wild convergence of weather has sent rescue crews in the west rushing to save people first from wildfires fueled by scorching heat then raging floods triggered by a powerful system. A rare major storm this time of year in california. And as nbcs Hallie Jackson reports, forecasters are warning this could be just the beginning thanks to the return of el nino. Reporter the recordbreaking storms slamming the west are triggering flash floods. Like the one that wiped out an interstate bridge near palm springs. Another flooded homes near san diego. The mud was coming through right here, and there was water like this. Reporter the storms stranding cars shutting down l. A. Beaches, and for the first time in ages the angels baseball game. They havent had a rainout in 20 years. Reporter baby raccoons their home wiped away forced to ride out the weather somewhere dry. More rain this month than san diego has seen in the last 100 julys. Its california. It never rains this bad here. Reporter it could be a preview of whats to come as el nino picks up strength. Thats when weaker trade winds let unusually warm surface water build up off south america, fueling tropical storms in the eastern pacific. The Ripple Effect stretching to the west coast, which could see a wetter fall and winter. But even that wont put a dent in this historic fouryear drought. Even if we have an abovenormal rain year which is only about 15 or 16 inches of rain well need multiple years and multiple el ninos to get us out of this drought. Reporter the rain is helping firefighters in southern california, now getting a handle on the 4,000acre blaze that torched 20 cars in the cajon pass. But overall, the double whammy of wildfires and drought leaves stretches of burn zones where the lands so dry water rushes right off. Making mudslides more likely. Another risk from wet weather like the west coast hasnt seen in decades. This is one of the places where mud and rocks slid into a residential street. Its sunny out right now, but forecasters predict more rain over the next few days which means the potential for more scenes like this one. Lester . Hallie jackson in california tonight. Thank you. Still ahead tonight, a shocking investigation about thousands of cases across america. Evidence sitting idle not being tested while victims wait for answers and criminals escape justice for years. To folks out there whose diabetic nerve pain. Shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. To everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hear you. Make sure your doctor hears you too i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. If you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands, dont suffer in silence step on up and ask your doctor about diabetic nerve pain. Tell em cedric sent you. How do crest 3d White Whitestrips compare to a whitening toothpaste . Lets see. The paste didnt seem to do much for me. The whitestrips made a huge difference. Thats not fair crest whitestrips work below the enamel surface to whiten 25 times better than the leading whitening toothpaste. Crest whitestrips. The way to whiten get fastacting, longlasting relief from heartburn with it neutralizes stomach acid and is the only product that forms a protective barrier that helps keep stomach acid in the stomach where it belongs. For fastacting, longlasting relief. Try gaviscon®. I dont know if youve ever taken the time to learn a little tiny bit of somebody elses native tongue . That opens up the doors to trust. My name is kanyon. Im a technician here in portland oregon. Every morning, i give each one of my customers a call to give them a closer eta. And when i called this customer, i discovered that he was deaf. Then i thought of amanda. Ive known American Sign Language since i was about 8 years old. Its like music for your eyes. And i thought that was an amazing gift to have, to be able to communicate with the deaf. My friend kanyon asked me to help him explain how todays appointment will go. He was nodding his head and giggling a little bit. I earned his trust that day, i guess. Ballounballoun. We are back with a disturbing investigation into what happens to the dna evidence collected from Sexual Assault victims to catch their attackers. Tonight nbc news has partnered with the usa today Media Network to examine a serious backlog in testing rape kits, leaving a lot of victims waiting for justice. Our National Correspondent kate snow reports. Reporter on an august night in 1998 in detroit, jas asleep next to her infant son when a man broke in and sexually assaulted her with a gun to her head. Afterward, she spent hours at the hospital having dna evidence taken, expecting justice. If he felt that comfortable coming through my window i probably wasnt the first one and i definitely wouldnt be the last. Reporter years passed and no word from police. Turns out that dna evidence kit was sitting untested in this dingy warehouse along with 11,340 others. Up there . Yeah. Third or fourth floor. Reporter we first reported on detroits astonishing backlog two years ago. But tonight we have a better idea just how big the problem is nationally. U. S. Taid Media Network found more than 70,000 untested rape kits based on records from more than 1,000 Police Departments around the country. Kind of like a slap in the face to the victim. You know it makes them maybe not want to report. You think it might make people think why bother . Right. Why waste my time . Reporter phoenix has one of the highest numbers of untested kids over 1,700. They have no evidentiary value left for us. Meaning we already know who the suspect is or we have determined that no crime occurred in those cases. Reporter unlike many cities on the list phoenix does have a protocol for deciding how to process sex crimes evidence. Whats the harm in testing every single kit . Youre taking something that has no evidentiary value to you in a case and youre placing that in front of every other crime that is occurring in the city of phoenix. Reporter but in detroit prosecutor kim worthy a survivor of Sexual Assault herself, told us victims enduring rape kit examinations deserve to have the evidence tested. What my job is is to get to the truth of a matter. And that means we have to look at each and every one of those rape kits. Reporter worthy has raised millions to test around 10,000 of the backlogged kits so far, leading to the discovery of 456 suspected serial rapists. When johnnys kit was finally tested 13 years after her attack there was a match. Her rapist was sentenced to up to 37 years in prison for her attack. I would just like to say to the other survivors out there, dont give up hope seeing the person who did that to you will really make you feel itll make you feel good. Reporter two years ago Congress Passed a law requiring federal guidelines on how to handle sex crimes evidence. Theyre not expected though until the end of next year. Lester a lot of response to this story. The hashtag testthekits is trending. And police potentially could connect a lot of dots if they test them. They could. Kate thanks very much. When we come back sibling rivalries. The outgoing oldest child, the frustrated middle child, and the spoiled youngest . Really . Are those stereotypes about birth order really true . What a new Study Reveals when we come right back. We live in a world of mobile technology, but it is not the device that is mobile, it is you. When there is a game when there is a training when there is a goal, our duty is to bring that information as fast as possible to the people. 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. Microsoft cloud allows us to establish a relationship that is more personal is more direct with the fans. It will help people connect to their passion of living real madrid. When i started at the shelter, i noticed benny right away. I just had to adopt him. Hes older so he needs my help all day. When my back pain flared up we both felt it i took tylenol at first but i had to take 6 pills to get through the day. Then my friend said try aleve. Just two pills, all day. And now, im back for my best bud aleve. All day strong and try aleve pm now with an easy open cap. I take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn. Because it gives me. Zero heartburn prilosec otc. The number 1 doctorrecommended frequent heartburn medicine for 9 straight years. One pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. Do you know who i am . Im moe green. I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders. One of the great character actors has died. His career spanned a half century, but alex rocco will forever be known for his most famous role in the godfather as vegas casino boss moe green, who gets whacked in one of the most famous sequences in movie history. He appeared in dozens of other films and tv shows over the years, winning an emmy in 1990. Alex rocco was 79 years old. A new study may finally put to rest some very old stereotypes about birth order. You know the ones about firstborn children being smarter and better lear the middle children being often ignored and frustrated. Jan brady comes to mind. And the youngest child, lazy and spoiled. Researchers studied 377,000 High School Students and found relatively little difference in intelligence and personality, no matter where you fall in the birth order. A study sure to trigger a few sibling arguments. When we come back one man making a difference, spending his life and a small fortune uniting children with families who want them. But managing my symptoms was all i was doing. So when i finally told my doctor, he said humira is for adults like me who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohns disease. And that in clinical studies the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. And many achieved remission. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb hepatitis b, are prone to infections or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. If youre still just managing your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. Hey terry stop they have a special so, what did you guys think of the test drive . I love the jetta. But what about a deal . Terry, stop its quite alright. Ok, you know what . We want to make a deal with you. Were twins, so could you give us two for the price of one . Come on, give us a deal. Look at how old i am. Do you come here often . He works here, terry you work here, right . Yes. Ok lets get to the point. Were going to take the deal. Get a 1000 volkswagen reward card on select 2015 jetta models or lease a 2015 jetta s for 139 a month after 1000 volkswagen bonus. Introducing the first ever gummy multivitamin from centrum. A complete, and tasty new way to support. Your energy. Immunity. And metabolism like never before. Centrum multigummies. See gummies in a whole new light. Its back to school time you think your car smells fine but your passengers smell this. Eliminate odors youve gone noseblind to for up to 30 days with the febreze car vent clip break out the febreze, and [inhale exhale mnemonic] breathe happy. I called for help as soon as i saw her. I found her wandering miles from home. When the phone rang at 5am i knew it was about mom. I see how hard its been on her at work and i want to help. For the 5 million americans living with alzheimers and millions more who feel its effects. Lets walk together to make an even bigger impact and end alzheimers for good. Find your walk near you at alz. Org walk. Finally tonight, a story of love and generosity. A man whos dedicated his life to helping so many others making a difference by uniting so many foster children with adoptive parents. Growing families including his own. Heres nbcs rehema ellis. Reporter heather haas is about to become a mother for the first time. 54 and single shes adopting 10yearold jamie, her foster child. I found jamie and jamie found me and we clicked, and we understand one another. This is what you wanted for so long isnt it . Mmhmm. I think probably my whole entire life. [ applause ] the court hereby approves this adoption. Reporter hugs for her daughter and her lawyer gene balloun, who has handled for than 1,000 foster care adoptions free of charge. Were on the second 1,000. The next goal is 2,000. Reporter balloun took the state funds normally given to pro bono attorneys and created a scholarship fund. So far over 700,000 has been awarded to more than 500 foster kids to help pay for college. Once you have these children in your home you fall in love with them. Reporter he should know. Balloun and his wife sheila have fostered 29 children. And they adopted two of them. David is now 28. Hannah now 16 and starting to think about college herself. I really want to be a teacher like my mom or a lawyer like my dad. Reporter her 86yearold dad now raising a teenager. Certainly makes me feel younger, i think. Its keeping him young. Its making me old. I order this courtroom to give this wonderful family a standing ovation. [ applause ] reporter back in court gene balloun is helping start another family for 7yearold emily orr. I order him not to stop. Thats a court order. Reporter no objections here. Rehema ellis, nbc news olathe kansas. That will do it for us on this monday night. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. Lights, camera access. Were reading about howi] ky6x our marriage is in shambles. But this time its true. Blake and miranda are getting divorced. Weve got stunning clues as to what