Franklin aims for a big come back. Nightly news begins right now. Back. Nightly news begins right now. Announcer this is nbc nightly news with lester holt, reporting tonight from the olympic summer games in rio. Good evening from the olympic park in baja. Americans with a chance to increase their medal count in just a moment. Lets begin with what police in florida are calling an unimaginable accident, the Fatal Shooting of a civilian volunteer as she took part in a Police Academy training drill, the 74yearold woman seen moments before she was killed when real bullets were somehow fired in what was supposed to be a demonstration. How does Something Like that happen . Keri sanders tonight from punta gorda with late details. Reporter 73yearold Mary Knowlton a retired librarian, married 55 years with her husband, gary, just moments after they attended a Community Event on tuesday, gary witnessed in disbelief as this Punta Gorda Police officer dressed as a criminal during a role playing exercise shot garys wife, first in the shoulder and then a second fatal shot to her chest. Marys son, steve, describes what her father saw. It was surreal. At first we thought she just fell down and the turned her over and thats when they saw the bullet holes. Total pandemonium trying to do cpr and keep her alive. Reporter by all accounts, it was tragic accident. The revolver was not supposed to have live ammunition. They had gathered at a public complex for a citizens safety class much like this one. Get your hands up. Reporter demonstrating a shoot dont shoot scenario, mary was cast as a cop witnesses say chaos ensued after a Police Officer playing the bad guy aimed a loaded firearm at her and fired. I know chen when she hit the ground i looked over at the police chief and saw the anxiety and panic and horror in his face and thats when i knew this was serious. Reporter tonight, the officer, lee cole, a twoyear veteran is on paid leave. Earlier this year, controversy surrounded officer cole after a man sued the city, the Police Department claiming cole and his k9 seen in this video went too far after a traffic arrest. Reporter her son said he attended partly to show support by the police, like officer cole. We forgive you. I know that my mom forgives you and nobody means for this to happen. Nobody. Reporter tonight, everyone who witnessed the shooting is being offered grief counseling including the officer who fired the fatal shot. A state investigation is now underway to determine how bullets instead of blanks wound up in that pistol. Lester. Hard to imagine how it happened. Keri sanders tonight in florida, thank you. Lets turn now to rio, a little wet weather, not dampening the mood after another golden performance for team usa. Before adding to the medal count today, it was an historic night in the pool, the biggest stars, Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky both solidifying their spot in olympic history. Michael phelps the most decorated olympian of all time and theyre both back in the pool tonight. Nbcs Miguel Almaguer has the latest for us. Reporter today on the road, the gold rush continues for team usa. Thats a gold medal for kristin armstrong. Kristin armstrong, the time trial her third consecutive win. The third one by far was the hardest journey. Reporter on the beach the games went on in the rain but in the water, conditions too windy and postponed for the day. For all the concern of rios water in the boy, bay, it was the pool that looked like a swamp after chinese divers dove for gold in water that was green today the chemical balance blamed for a murky pool and olympic organizers say its safe. Ranked number one, Serena Williams was bounced out by number 20, the queen of the court out in a stunner. The socalled final five, twisting, turning, vaulting to gold. Its so amazing, especially to share it with al these girls, they are like my old er sisters, like i won a gold medal with my olympic family. Looks like she will win another gold and she does. Reporter for Katie Ledecky, back to the top. Gold in the 200 and gold in the 400 and now the 800 meter free. For Michael Phelps, redemption in the 200 meter butterfly. A win after losing to rival, chad le clos in london. There was so much emotion and build up to that race after four years. I dont want to say it was revenge but thats kind of what it was. Reporter the night cap was a victory lap for phelps and his team. Gold in the relay, the 21st of his career. A moment in history, one his son wont remember but one this father will never forget. Tonight, Michael Phelps and ryan lochte will be swimming in a semi final event and a busy Aquatic Center and meanwhile security was stepped up, media hit with rocks and theyre urging people to be cautious as they leave this beautiful venues. Miguel almaguer, thanks so much. After five days of competition, we want to take a quick look at the leaderboard, team usa holding the top spot during the day leading with gold medals, 10, total medals with 28. China, 20 total medals so far and japan winning 17 medals overall. To president ial politics now, donald trump was out on t campaign trail today as was Hillary Clinton the day after trump sparked an uproar with comments quote Second Amendment people could act against Hillary Clinton. Trump is now defending those comments and clinton herself is weighing in for the first time as she faces a new email controversy. We have it all covered with nbcs katy tur, katy, good evening. Hey there, lester. Donald trump is on defense. The report out today, the secret service spoke to him about those comment, both trump and u. S. Officials denying that, but those words are not going away. 89 days before the election and donald trump isnt making life easy for himself, forced to clarify his own words again, denying he was inciting physical harm against Hillary Clinton. If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks, although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, i dont know. Reporter tonight, he was saying he was talking about votes, not violence. You look at power they have in terms of votes. Thats what i was referring to, obviously thats what i was referring to. Everybody knows it. Reporter the campaign took to the air waves to push back. With a crowd like that, if thats what they thought he meant they would have gone wild. Reporter trump said he doesnt insight violence. Knock the crap out of him. Try not to hurt him. If you do, ill defend you in court. The audience hit back and thats what we need a little more of. Reporter the audience growing weary and the poll showing College Educated whites are moving overwhelmingly to clinton in ohio, pennsylvania and iowa. Clinton argued today trumps words matter. Yesterday, we witnessed the latest in a long line of casual comments from donald trump that crossed the line. Reporter tonight, the gop is in a bind. Stick by a flailing candidate or cut him off by redirecting funding to senate seats. Cutting loose your president ial nominee can cause a lot of more damage as a free agent untethered from the rnc. Katy tur, nbc, sunrise, florida. Im Kristen Welker in iowa where Hillary Clinton is trying to cut into Donald Trumps turf working class voters. Friends dont let friends vote for trump. Reporter a conservative Advocacy Group raising fresh questions about the relationship between the Clinton Foundation and secretary clintons state department, one dated 2009, a Clinton Foundation executive emailed secretary clintons top advisors, huma abedin and cheryl mills requesting they setup a meeting between a millionaire donor and ambassador to lebanon. This is very important they said. And critics have pounds on the foundation whether that bought access to the state department. Its called pay for play. Reporter last year, bill clinton defending the foundation to cynthia mcfadden. We have never done anything knowingly inappropriate in terms of taking money to influence any government policy. Reporter tonight the Clinton Campaign telling nbc news, these new emails dont relat to the foundations work and say the donor never met with the ambassador. The campaign also on defense tonight about why the father of the orlando nightclub shooter was seated behind clinton at an orlando rally. He is a very radical islamic extremist, whats drawing him to Hillary Clinton . Reporter the Campaign Says clinton disavows his views and support. Behind the scenes a lot of clinton advisors know these are the kind of controversies that can put the spotlight back on Hillary Clinton and away from donald trump. Reporter the Clinton Campaign is trying to keep the spotlight on donald trump today announcing a new initiative aimed at recording republican and independent voters, secretary clinton writing an oped in red utah and in it she cites former mitt romney former republican nominee. Lester. Kristen welker in iowa tonight, thank you. There is a jawdropping spectacle catching the nations attention this evening, a man scaling the trump tower in new york with suction cups, many watching it player out on television. Police on the scene trying to coral him inside. Rehema ellis there live for us. Rehema, what can you tell us . Reporter lester, i can tell you moments ago, that man was corralled inside a window of trump tower by members of the Emergency Service unit. I know weve got some pictures to show you. The members of the Emergency Service unit called the navy seal of the nypd, this mans name unknown motives unclear, got about onethird of the way of trumps 60stories was captured by authorities this afternoon and memorizing people from the city of new york for hours also snarling traffic in the area. Authorities tried to bring him inside the building when he was around the 16th floor but he evaded authorities by moving from one side of the building to another. They broke out windows of the building and saw he tried to get through to duck authorities but again, he was able to be commandeered and brought into the building just moments ago, lester. Glad it ended safely. Thank you. High anxiety in new york. A scathing new report out tonight from the Justice Department says police in baltimore have lost the trust of the community and they say its because of a history of Racial Discrimination and how the law is enforced. The city is now responding and our justice correspondent, Pete Williams has details. Launched in the aftermath of Community Outrage over freddie grays death in police custody, the civil rights investigation found that officers in the baltimore Police Department routinely stop, search and arrest africanamerican residents for no good reason. These violations have deeply eroded the trust between bpd and the community it serves that is essential to public as well as to officer and public safety. Reporter over the past five years police have stopped over 300,000 pedestrians in africanamerican neighborhoods on little or no suspicion of law breaking often frisking them, and even stripsearching some in public. One man in his 50s was stopped 30 times but never given so much as a ticket. This man says he tried hard to avoid interacting with police. Despite that i had a couple dozen instances with Law Enforcement im pretty sure were predicated on the fact im a young black man. Reporter the report says police too often resort to Excessive Force even when theres no danger to officers or other. The mayor, who asked for the civil rights investigation says it will help lead to reforms. I believe transparency is the only True Foundation upon which we can rebuild community trust. Reporter city Officials Say it could cost up to 10 million a year to change the way police are trained, equipped and supervised but say they are willing to make the changing this blistering report calls for. Pete williams, nbc news, baltimore. Still ahead, she was an olympic darling four years ago, can Missy Franklin pull off an amazing comeback in rio . Were back from rio, where Missy Franklin, one of the biggest stars of the london games has struggled here. Some disappointing results, helped team usa clinch a spot in the 200 relay. And we caught back up with her since we last saw missy on the olympic podium. Its going to be a world record for Missy Franklin. Reporter in london, it seemed like Missy Franklin never got out of the water. Her first individual, yes reporter competing in a record seven events, winning gold four times. I still wake up and im like, did that really happen . Are you sure . Am i just dreaming about it . That pride and honor, its with me every single day. Reporter this day, dick and Deanne Franklin get choked up thinking about it. Your childs face is on the jumbotron and the flag is going up on the rafters, you cant imagine how much that pulls at you. I saw the tears starting to roll down her cheeks. Thats when we lost it. Reporter the last four years began with college, studying at uc berkeley, swimming and sometimes dancing with her team. Missy turned pro and was back in colorado two years later, trying to recreate the same magic formula that prepared her for london. Coming back to my coach, my family, having all these things kind of reminded me what i was able to do before and helped me believe in myself i could do it again. Reporter it hasnt been perfect. Missy injured her back in 2014 and struggled at olympic trials. Franklin will finish second and punch a ticket to rio. Reporter shes had a rough start in rio as well. Missy franklin in trouble, second from the bottom, has to close some ground here. Reporter after not qualifying for the 300 freestyle she tweeted so heartbroken by my results last night, doing everything i can to keep my head up and keep fighting with all i have. Its a determination and discipline we saw first hand in colorado. Is it hard for you to come to lunch and have people mmm thanks for that. You know what . This cucumber, all right . Reporter dont let that lighthearted laugh fool you. This fierce competitor even as a kid, wouldnt settle for second, is not giving up yet. Stephanie gosk, nbc news, rio. Were back in a moment with a new treat from the girl scouts. There is sad news tonight from the world of sports and broadcasting, the loss of longtime espn broadcaster John Saunders who hosted Sports Reporters for the last 15 years, a cause of death was not announced. Saunders was just 61 years old. Espns president called his accomplishments among the most impressive this industry has ever seen. In happier news, a Sweet Surprise unveiled by the girl scouts that will leave you wanting smore, the brandnew flavor in their brand new irresistible line of cookies coming to a doorstep near you next door, next year, i should say. Next, 21 gold medals and counting, how we watched Michael Phelps grow through the years. Well be back. Finally, he is arguably the biggest star in rio. Michael phelps, the most decorated olympian ever through five olympics america has watched him grow and change into a dominant athlete, think about this, whose achievements may never be topped. A look at his remarkable journey. Reporter in a sport thats unforgiving, Michael Phelps has become unforgettable. Michael phelps resume gets even more incredible in this night on rio. Reporter far from that 15yearold who first stepped on the blocks in sidney and in athens only dreamed of dominance. Phelps at 31 just became the oldest swimmer to win an individual olympic gold, one of 25 medals around his neck, 21 gold. Hes been growing that collection more than a decade and remarkably keeping pace with his younger self. His butterfly last night only about a second behind his time eight years ago. One of phelps teammates sharing the podium with him last night was only 3 when the icon made his olympic debut. Its incredible. Its so hard for me to put into words. Reporter with a legacy built on speed, phelps now relies on power and endurance focusing on shorteder races and acknowledging his Recovery Time is longer than it was. It will take time for him to do that. Reporter for a young boy with ahdd, from london and rio, americans watched phelps stumble in the spotlight. You have four years to build up and youre at this peek and you kind of roll down the hill. Reporter those dizzying heights giving way to depression and unflattering headlines. Every time, phelps came back stronger, as memorable as his victories at rio, the heartfelt celebrations that follow, phelps being a father greeted his son. I wanted to be with him more. Being able to share that one moment i had with him something very special. Reporter delivering a statement about staying power as an athlete and maturity as a man. Nbc news, rio. We are watching history here. That is going to do i