video game. >> thanks for joining us here at 5:00. we'll see you at 6:00. >> good night. on our broadcast tonight, chain of command. facing an epidemic of sexual assaults in the ranks, the nation's top military commanders got grilled today about what some called a cancer in the armed forces. record-breaker. what we learned today about friday's oklahoma tornado that explains the rising toll and the further danger tonight as floodwaters are quickly on the rise in missouri and evacuations are under way. caught on camera. for speeding, and it's a gold mine to the tune of $8 million in fines on one street alone. and as the fines pile up, there are questions about fairness. and is it a fountain of youth? surprising news in the ongoing search to slow down the signs of aging. tonight, what doctors say really works. "nightly news" begins now.

good evening. this day may go down as a pivotal one in the fight to clean up the u.s. military and rid the ranks of the threat of sexual assault. so many of the victims have said the process of reporting unwanted sexual contact must be taken out of the chain of command. but there's been resistance to that. and today in front of congress, we got to see the top of the chain on display. the nation's top military commanders all in a row, just one woman among them. it's gotten so bad that today john mccain, a decorated vietnam veteran, former prisoner of war, said he could not in good conscience advise women to join the service right now until this gets dealt with. it's where we begin tonight with our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian.

you know, it's not so often that you see so many three and four-star generals and admirals called on the carpet all at once, a strong sign that congress is dead serious about tackling sexual assaults in the military. it was a stunning image, all the military's top brass called before the senate to account for the alarming rise in sexual assaults in the military. army chief of staff general ray odierno acknowledged the military had broken the sacred trust with the troops. >> we have violated that trust because we failed to address these crimes in a compassionate, just, and comprehensive way. >> reporter: still, the senators were relentless. >> we need to know how many women and men are being raped and sexually assaulted on an annual basis, and we have no idea right now. >> reporter: senator john mccain said he's disgusted and could not recommend anyone's daughter join the military. >> i could not. >> reporter: the pentagon only estimates that as many as 26,000

service members were sexually assaulted or abused last year, but only 3,600 victims actually reported the attacks. senator kirsten gillibrand claimed when it comes to sexual assault many victims don't trust their commanders. >> they're afraid to report. they fear their careers will be over. they fear retaliation. they fear being blamed. >> reporter: when a female midshipman at the naval academy claimed she was raped by three navy football players last year, she was disciplined for drinking. her three alleged attackers went unpunished. >> the message that was being sent loud and clear was that she was getting in trouble for coming forward and yet nothing was happening to the men that were involved in the wrongdoing. >> reporter: to change that, many lawmakers want to take sexual assault cases away from the victims' commanders and hand them to trained special prosecutors. >> not every single commander necessarily wants women in the force and not every single

commander can distinguish between a slap on the ass and a rape. >> having someone within your direct chain of command handling the case just doesn't make sense. >> reporter: sarah plummer says she was raped as a young marine. her attacker was never prosecuted. despite the injustice, she still advises any victims to report the crime. >> i know that it's hard, but do it. you have to. you have to say something. >> reporter: those military leaders said today they're strongly opposed to taking sexual assault cases way from unit commanders, setting the stage for a drawn-out battle with congress and providing little comfort for those victims of sexual assault. brian? >> jim miklaszewski at the pentagon to start us off tonight. thanks. now to the continuing scandal stemming from the targeting of certain conservative groups by the irs. today some of them got a chance to tell their stories to congress, describing what they say has been years of abuse. our capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell covering for us,

tonight. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this is the first time those conservative groups were able to tell their stories directly, and it come from local grassroots organizations that have small budgets, but they described oversized paperwork and hoop jumping they were required to complete. many spoke of fear and mistrust taking on the irs. on capitol hill, voices of the targeted. >> the questions were chilling. i was shocked that i was being asked those questions. >> reporter: from iowa, alabama and california. >> i had anxiety and i felt betrayed, absolutely betrayed. >> reporter: singled out by the irs for extra scrutiny when their groups had applied for tax exempt status. >> the types of questions asked by the irs included asking me to identify the political affiliation of my mentors. >> reporter: the conservative groups described a nightmare of red tape, questioned about donors, speakers, even how much time one group spent on prayer. >> we never thought we would

have to defend our prayer activities. >> reporter: while both democrats and republicans agree the irs crossed the line, some democrats see heavy-handed bureaucracy and not a conspiracy against conservatives. >> what happened to you was unfair. it was unfair, and incredibly inconvenient, but it was a mistake. >> reporter: republicans say it was intimidation, but congress needs more answers. >> we still don't know who initiated this. we still don't know how far it goes up the chain. >> reporter: today another embarrassment for the irs involving your tax dollars. a new inspector general's report on travel expenses found the agency spent $49 million on 225 employee conferences between 2010 and '12. a 2010 convention in anaheim cost $4 million. among the guest speakers, a happiness expert paid $11,000. this lincoln portrait was part of a leadership through art workshop.

the speaker got $17,000. >> hey, everybody. i saw a ship! >> reporter: and the conference showed three employee-made videos for team building that cost taxpayers more than $50,000. and the new boss at the irs says that kind of spending is an unfortunate vestige of a prior era. they say they've taken steps to tighten that and that conferences like that would not happen today. >> kelly o'donnell on the hill for us tonight, thanks. we learned something today that explains a lot. meteorologists now say the largest of friday night's tornadoes in oklahoma was an ef-5. that's the largest category and more than that, it was the widest ever recorded. it was over two and a half miles wide at the base. this also means oklahoma saw two ef-5s in just the span of 11 days, going back to the twister in moore, oklahoma. tonight the developing weather story is flooding, the worst of it in missouri.

weather channel meteorologist kelly cass was with us during those hours of coverage friday night. she is with us again tonight from headquarters. kelly, good evening. >> good evening, brian. from flooding to severe weather, the midwest has seen it all the past couple of weeks, including that monster ef-5 tornado as you mentioned touched down in el reno just to the west of oklahoma city. we are talking about winds of almost 300 miles per hour, a devastating tornado, if it were to hit any structures. thank goodness it didn't when it was at its worst because, as you mentioned, it was about two and a half miles wide based on doppler radar data. this is a new record not just for the united states but for the world. a very complicated tornado by the way with many circulations or smaller tornadoes within that giant dangerous tornado. and those smaller tornadoes were moving as fast as 150 miles an hour along the ground. flooding is also a concern in the midwest, including along the mississippi river, which is in major flood stage right now at st. louis. a levee breach was reported

along that river causing evacuations of about 43 homes in st. charles county, missouri. the water has so far traveled about two miles inside that levee so a very serious situation as you see there. we're concerned about more severe weather going forward. we've got the red on the map. it does include oklahoma city and moore, on over toward southern missouri and little rock. so, brian, it looks like another dangerous day tomorrow with the threat for high winds, large hail and yes, even the possibility of more tornadoes in this area. brian? >> a lot of folks anxious for a break. kelly cass, weather channel headquarters tonight, thanks. the suspect in last year's shooting massacre at the movie theater in aurora, colorado, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity officially, and the judge today accepted the plea from james holmes, who is charged with killing 12 people, injuring dozens of others. he'll now undergo a mental evaluation at a state hospital. new jersey governor chris christie said today he's calling for a special election to be held in october to fill the senate seat of the late senator

frank lautenberg who died yesterday at the age of 89. a primary will be held in august. some conservatives were unhappy with this announcement today. first of all, they don't like the cost, but they were also hoping for a november general election when christie himself will be on the ballot in the governor's race. the thinking there is that christie on the ballot would give the gop senate nominee a better shot against the widely expected democratic nominee, the mayor of newark, cory booker. there is health news tonight on the topic of slowing down the signs of aging, something americans spend billions of dollars every year trying to do with a wide range of products. but it turns out doctors now say the best anti-aging products appear to be sunscreen, and so this story is getting a lot of attention. we get our report tonight from our chief medical editor, dr. nancy snyderman. ♪ >> reporter: it used to be summertime meant days in the sun

and the quest for a deep, dark tan. most of us grew up believing sun tanning was tops when it came to looking and feeling healthy. since then, scientists have learned a lot about the damaging effects of too much sun. in a new study, researchers followed the progress of 900 white mostly fair-skinned adults under age 55 living in australia. they assigned half to apply broad spectrum spf 15 sunscreen daily or even several times a day. the others were free to use sunscreen as they pleased. >> after four and a half years, those who applied sunscreen regularly to their skin had no detectable skin aging. >> reporter: this study is so important because it's one of the first measuring sun damaged skins in humans, not mice. the researchers measured participants' skin damage by making silicone casts of their hands at the beginning and end of the study. the casts revealed many more wrinkles among those not using sunscreen regularly. >> this is a study which has,

for the first time, shown evidence that sunscreen can prevent aging of the skin. >> reporter: but it's not just the spf or sun protection factor that's so important when using a sunscreen. it's what type of rays it protects against. >> when we're choosing a sunscreen, we're really looking for a broad spectrum that's uva and uvb protective sunscreen. >> reporter: uva rays penetrate the skin more deeply while uvb rays damage the skin's outer layer. but exposure to both types from the sun or tanning booths also increases the risk of developing skin cancer. the amount of sunscreen you should use every day is probably more than you would think. think of a golf ball applied everywhere that you have exposure. and if you workout, run or swim, apply it liberally repeatedly throughout the day. even though this was done in caucasian people, brian, it's a reminder people of all colors can get skin cancer and sun damage, so everyone regardless of color should use sunscreen.

>> all right, nancy snyderman. story surprised a lot of people, story surprised a lot of people, nancy thanks. tonight there is a fight between the feds and chrysler. this affects millions of suv owners. the national highway traffic safety administration has asked chrysler to voluntarily recall jeep grand cherokees from '93 through '04 model years and jeep liberties from 2002 through '07 because of government concerns about the risk of a fuel tank fire in a rear end collision. chrysler for their part said no, a rare refusal, because they say the jeeps are safe and the company's data show a low number of rear impact crashes involving a fire or a fuel leak. we've posted more on this story on our website for you tonight. and still ahead for us this evening, the fight over speed cameras popping up all over the roads, raking in tons of fines and raising a lot of questions. and later, the queen's crowning achievement, and today's royal family affair in london.

back as promised with the story about the exploding number of speed cameras popping up on roads across this country. police departments are turning to them as an automated way to enforce speed limits, while allowing officers to do other things. but the amount of money they are raising for local jurisdictions is raising some natural questions among drivers. our report tonight from nbc's tom costello in washington. >> reporter: it was just a quick drive from one side of st. louis county to the other. >> this is the street that i was on. >> reporter: anna darr isn't sure exactly where the speed camera was. >> well, i admit that i was speeding. i was going approximately 40 miles an hour. >> reporter: her fine, $110. 150 communities in 13 states now use speed cameras. some are stationary, some are mobile. and no city has embraced them more than washington, d.c., where more than 90 speed and red

light cameras are spread across the city. police chief kathy lanier. >> just the shear impact it's had on reducing traffic fatalities in my opinion has made it worth every penny of investment. >> reporter: in d.c., traffic deaths have dropped from 70 ten years ago to just 19 in 2012. speed, say researchers, plays a role in a third of all traffic fatalities. >> it's not just speeding on high speed roads. it's speeding on city streets, arterials, across the board. >> reporter: okay, full disclosure, this speed camera in washington, d.c., got me. according to my ticket, i was doing 38 in a 25. my fine? $92. it turns out this is washington's busiest camera, generating more than $8 million in ticket revenue this year alone, but even though 58% of d.c. drivers admit they, too, have gotten a ticket, 76% of residents support the cameras. still, nationwide opponents argue they've become nothing more than big brother moneymakers for cities.

12 states now ban them. >> the use of enforcement for revenue, and particularly if it involves a for-profit company like a camera vendor, is simply wrong, and the public is waking up to that. >> reporter: back in missouri, anna darr says she'll be slowing down. >> i do not want to pay another $110 fine. >> reporter: neither do i. tom costello, nbc news, washington. we're back in a moment with a big name getting into the grocery business, and hoping to soon come to your home. for our families...

our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created... a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more.. low and no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know... exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks... with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories... america's beverage companies are delivering. well, at least we now know the lightning rod works and the building can take a punch. that is the new world trade center back there in the center of the picture. this was this past sunday night when the weather system that tore up the midwest on friday roared through this area. a visitor from alaska staying at his aunt's apartment snapped the photo out the window at the very moment mother nature unloaded on lower manhattan.

football fans across this country are today mourning one of the greats. deacon jones has died. at 6'5", 270, he put the fierce in the fearsome foursome. the l.a. rams where he played along greer, olson and lundy. deacon jones grew up in the segregated south. he was a gentle man in person, a wild man at defensive end. his signature move a quick slap to make the opponent blink. then he blew right by. he was lightning fast, possessed incredible upper body strength. in nfl folklore he's credited with coining the term quarterback sack back before it was a measured stat. he tried his hand at acting. he was in some sitcoms and was even in the film "heaven can wait." deacon jones was all everything in the nfl including the hall of fame, dead at the age of 74. dr. e. gordon gee, president of the ohio state university, is retiring, and there's no ignoring the timing of this.

he was forced to apologize just days ago for derogatory remarks about catholics. he said they were made in a joking fashion in private, but they were later made public. at the time, he was complaining about big ten college football talks with notre dame. he served two terms as osu president for a total of 13 years. amazon started out life as a book store on the web. that didn't last long. now there are a few things you can't order from them. soon to include milk, bread and eggs. the company has been testing a service called amazon fresh in seattle. reports say they are ready to expand to at least 20 other urban areas initially, coming after the others in the web grocery delivery business. up next for us tonight, there's only been one woman like her in the world, and now that it's been 60 years, that's cause for celebration.

finally tonight, she is unlike any other woman in the world. queen elizabeth ii has been queen for 60 years. she has successors lined up behind her like planes on approach into heathrow, but there are no indications she's headed anywhere.

and today at westminster abbey, they celebrated her 60 years on the throne. the queen and all her family, all gathered at the scene of her coronation back in 1953. we get our report tonight from nbc's keir simmons in london. >> reporter: it was a family gathering. >> today we celebrate 60 years of commitment. >> reporter: held in the same ancient abbey where this royal family gathered 60 years ago. a 27-year-old queen and her 4-year-old heir. charles is 64 now, still a king in waiting, with an heir of his own and another on the way. kate is due next month. the queen, now 87, the family matriarch, her husband prince philip still at her side as he was when it all began. nobody knew on that day 60 years ago what the future would hold. the queen has been a constant presence while the world has been constantly changing.

during her reign, american presidents have come and gone. she's known a dozen of them, but this most public of figures has rarely shown her private side as she did in this 1969 bbc documentary, a relaxed queen joking with her family. >> press the bell, the doors opened and there was grandma. >> reporter: two decades later. >> ow! it's my foot you're standing on. >> reporter: seems almost like home movies, showing her love of grandchildren, dogs and horses. >> that's my horse. >> reporter: mostly over the years the world has seen the woman we saw today, solemn, dignified, utterly devoted to duty. that was the queen the world heard the day she first wore the crown. >> as this day draws to its close, i know that my abiding memory of it will be not only of the solemnity and beauty of the ceremony, but the inspiration of your loyalty and affection. >> reporter: loyalty and affection for 60 years and counting.

>> god bless you all. >> reporter: keir simmons, nbc news, london. and that is our broadcast on a tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams, and we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. with breaking news. >> right now at 6:00 a deadly crash takes the life of a toddler. police are trying to understand what led to this deadly crash that closed down a busy street for hours. i'm janelle wang in for jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. a difficult story involving that young child. a car crash that killed that toddler and left two adults in critical condition. the quash happened on paseo padre park way.

terry mcsweeney joins us from the scene. what are the neighbors saying? >> reporter: the neighbors who saw it are saying it was one of the most amazing heartbreaking things they have ever seen. they are not sure how they are dealing with it going forward. new information from fremont police, this was a family of three on their way to a water park here. if you take a look behind me you can see the burgundy car that came down paseo padre park way and the guesses are 90 to 100 miles per hour. that is the front half of it. to the front that is where the back half of the car ended up. the coroner is on the way out to take the child's body away. it is here under a tarp. police found the honda into the tree, a man