in the low 70s in san jose, hotter by the upcoming weekend but no 100s. >> thanks for joining us here at 5:00. brian williams is next with "nightly news" 0. 5 history. the house majority leader goes down. tonight, the fallout, the future, and the scramble for power. out of control, what just happened in iraq after so many americans fought and u.s. forces left, now in a violent new wave major cities are falling to insurgents. >> where were you 20 years ago this week? tonight oj simpson, the bronco chase and the sensational murder case that had millions of people glued to their televisions. and kicking and screaming, and that's just the start of it as the world cup gets under way. "nightly news" begins now. >> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. good evening.

the leadership in congress has a lot of power but only if the folks back home keep sending them back to congress. and what happened last night, the defeat of a majority leader in congress never happened before. "the new york times" called it one of the most stunning primary election upsets in congressional history. the associated press called it an upset for the ages. eric cantor, the number two ranking republican in the power structure, is gone, beaten by a college professor with a simple message for the folks back home in cantor's virginia district. those folks last night had a big voice in national politics. it's where we start tonight with nbc's kelly o'donnell and glen allen, virginia. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it's stormy here outside the challenger's headquarters. this is not the history eric cantor hoped to make and when he came before reporters today, he repeatedly declined to offer any sort of political analysis about

his own sudden fall. jolted by his unexpected defeat, late today eric cantor announced he will soon give up the republican leadership role that made him a national figure. >> i will be stepping down as majority leader. it is with great humility that i do so, knowing the tremendous honor it has been to hold this position. >> reporter: as political parables go, as the 14-year eric cantor was gogh lie yoth with his $5 million war chest, then the newcomer, dave brat, the economics professor who raised a fraction, just under $200,000. >> this is a miracle of god. >> reporter: today, at brat's sparse headquarters, the shock of winning is still settling in. for brat's sleep deprived 23-year-old campaign manager. >> it is fantastic. >> reporter: and supporters. >> i felt like mr. brat was finally listening to people, and that's what really attracted us to him. >> reporter: on tuesday knowing

his advisors had predicted a double digit win, he spent the morning at a dc coffee fundraiser with lobbyists, not in his virginia district. today, some voters said cantor had lost touch with home. >> he's really not representing our views, he's putting on a very national portrait of himself. >> reporter: one clue surfaced last month when opponents recorded cantor being booed while at a district gop event. >> my family is here -- >> boo! >> reporter: jeff shapiro says conservative anger over cantor's past effort to craft some immigration reform was only one costly factor. >> immigration certainly was a focal point in the closing hours of the race, and the perception that cantor was trying to have it both ways on this issue i think took root, as well. >> reporter: you thought he was a shoe-in? >> i personally thought he was a shoe-in. >> reporter: others blamed low turnout saying voters were

simply turned off by washington and tuned out of this race. kelly o'donnell, nbc news, glen allen, virginia. this is chuck todd in shell shocked washington where key republican leaders were keeping mum and trying to regroup to digest the cantor news. >> we'll get through this like we get through everything. >> hold on. you know i'm not going to talk to you so just disappear. >> reporter: eric cantor broke his silence late this afternoon. >> i'm going to leave the political analysis to y'all. >> reporter: but while republican leaders struggled, rank and file conservatives declared the message from virginia voters was obvious, it's time for new blood across the board, not just cantor. >> for conservatives across the country, they've been frustrated for a long time. american people, they want leadership, they want vision. >> reporter: cantor's loss is causing a shakeup well before he resigned ambitious conservatives began campaigns to replace him. two are texas republicans jeff hensarling and pete sessions and the third is california's kevin

mccarthy. and while here on capitol hill today, members of congress were consumed with the question who would become the next majority leader, but the implications of cantor's loss go well beyond the corridors of washington power. for the republican power, how it handled the immigration issue, particularly as the 2016 presidential race begins. this could mean trouble for pro-immigration reform republicans like jeb bush and marco rubio. two potential 2016 winners? ted cruz and rand paul. both have successfully tapped into the popular anti-wall street wing, the wing that topped cantor. for democrats, the loss is a mixed bag if immigration remains divisive for the gop campaign, it would help hillary clinton trying to woo hispanic voters. brian, for president obama, believe it or not, cantor's departure could be bad news. cantor is someone the white house could do business with and now all bets are off when it comes to a whole host of issues, let alone, of course, immigration. >> chuck todd rounding out the

reporting in our d.c. newsroom, chuck, thanks. overseas tonight, a big story got bigger today. this is happening with unbelievable speed. the government of iraq is in a state of shock because of violent islamic group has launched an invasion, takeover or major cities and territory. they've seized army facilities, including some american-made equipment and armaments. the iraqi military retreated where this group swept across the country. they also control parts of neighboring syria. they have taken some big cities in iraq with them, including mosul, tikrit, ramadi, and fallujah so far. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel who lived in iraq and covered the war for years, has our report. >> reporter: the iraqi government is losing control of large parts of northern and central iraq. some iraqi security forces are fighting, but most appear to be stripping off their uniforms,

leaving them in the streets, and abandoning their posts, weapons and vehicles. they are retreating from islamic extremists, who today, consolidated control of iraq's second largest city mosil and advanced much further. thousands of civilians are fleeing the area, living in tents. the u.s. fought a nearly decade-long war, costing thousands of american lives and a trillion dollars for this not to happen. the radicals are from an al qaeda offshoot. many are the same insurgents u.s. troops battled for years. now they've allied with militants from syria, creating a single front. why is this happening? sunnis ruled iraq for 13 centuries until the u.s. invasion toppled saddam hussein, ushering in a shiite regime.

sunnis want their government back. they hate the shiite government and there are no u.s. troops around anymore to stop them. we could be witnessing the start of a long civil war in iraq, and this is not just a problem for iraq and syria, these militants are also very anti-american. tonight, brian, one former commander of all u.s. troops in iraq said what is happening is tragic. brian? >> richard engel on the fighting in iraq for us tonight, richard, thanks. the firestorm over the prisoner exchange involving u.s. army sergeant bowe bergdahl had defense secretary chuck hagel on the defensive today. hagel got into a heated exchange over why bergdahl remained in a u.s. military hospital in germany for 11 days. >> you're trying to tell me he's being held in germany because of his medical condition? >> congressman, i hope you're not implying anything other than that. the fact -- >> i'm just asking the question,

mr. secretary -- >> i'm going to give you an answer. >> answer it. answer it. >> he's being held there because our medical professionals don't believe he's ready until they believe he is ready to take the next step -- >> have you ever seen a traumatically injured service member brought to the united states immediately upon being stabilized? we do it all the time. >> this isn't just about a physical situation, congressman. this guy was held for almost five years in god knows what kind of conditions. >> also today, we learned new details about bowe bergdahl's history. turns out he enlisted in the coast guard two years before joining the army but was discharged after only 26 days. tonight, investigators are painting a chilling picture of what was the latest deadly school shooting in our country in oregon. a plan of attack by the teenage gunman that included riding on the school bus, heavily armed and how so many more could have

been killed in this. we get our report tonight from nbc's miguel almaguer in troutdale, oregon. >> reporter: before the bloodshed, before the police arrived, detectives say the 15-year-old gunman identified as jared michael pajit arrived on a school bus carrying a duffel bag and a guitar case. inside, an ar-15 rifle, a handgun, and nine loaded magazines carrying several hundred rounds of ammunition. >> he spent a period of time in the locker room and during that time, he murdered a fellow student. we have not established any link between the shooter and the victim. >> reporter: emilio hoffman, a freshman soccer star, is killed. p.e. teacher todd responds and

is wounded. many calling him a hero. >> he made his way to the office where he was able to notify administration and release the lockdown. >> reporter: the shooter exchanges shots with police before turning the gun on himself. like many schools, reynolds high practiced for a situation just like this and that may have saved lives. since the mass shooting in newtown, there have been at least 74 shootings across the country, roughly one every week. >> sometimes the perpetrators have studied previous mass murders and sometimes imitated them or sort of been inspired by them. >> reporter: in oregon, a scene now all too familiar, heartbreak and tears for a 14-year-old innocent victim. miguel almaguer, nbc news, troutdale, oregon. as you heard tonight at the top of our broadcast, it was a big factor in the colossal defeat of the house majority leader eric cantor last night,

but as the politics of the immigration issue play out, there's a very real human dimension to this crisis, in places just now like south texas across the border with mexico, and even as voters were going to the polls in that race in virginia, a wave of immigrants were trying to get into this country. mark potter is there for us tonight. >> reporter: in the hour before sunset, keeping close together as they cross a dam near the rio grand, three women and 14 children arrive in the united states illegally. they have come a thousand miles from el salvador. all are tired and thirsty including the youngest, a five-year-old girl turning themselves into u.s. authorities, they say they are fleeing drug violence back home. the gang is killing our children, that's why i escaped with my son. a relative of one of the children says his parents paid more than $8,000 to a smuggler. since october, more than 47,000 unaccompanied children have been caught at the border, most from central america arriving in

texas. another sign of the surge can be seen here at the bus station in mcallen where as many as 300 people a day, already processed by the u.s. border patrol, are catching rides to join family elsewhere in the united states. among them, lopez, who came with her son from guatemala. she says she paid smugglers everything she had after hearing widespread rumors, the u.s. is letting women and children into the country but there is no guarantee has been nothing to slow the surge at the border. mark potter, nbc news, mcallen, texas. and still ahead here on a wednesday evening, the night that changed this country, the infamous crime and the chase, where were you 20 years ago this week?

we are coming up on the 20th anniversary that in its own way changed us forever. it changed television, especially cable, and the definition of what passes for news. it changed how we looked at

number 32, the heisman winner, the nfl hall of famer, the man later famous for running through airports in those herz rental car commercials. it's time to look back at that night when the phones lit up across this country with people asking each other, are you watching this? our report tonight from nbc's josh mankowits in los angeles. >> i have oj in the car. >> reporter: 20 years ago, two murders started us talking about two uncomfortable topics, from domestic violence, to whether money can buy justice. >> this case had everything. it had celebrities, lawyers, it had science, it had everything. >> reporter: so quickly, it became so much more than the sum of its parts. oj simpson was accused of brutally killing his ex-wife nicole and ron goldman, a friend of hearse who had the ultimate

bad luck to be doing nicole a favor at the exact wrong moment. evidence pointed at simpson, he denied guilt, leaving what sounded like a suicide note. >> don't feel sorry for me. i've had a great life. >> reporter: and then he ran, arrested after a nationally televised chase, all of it seen by more americans than viewed that year's super bowl. it was surreal, especially if your son was one of the victims. >> they are all yelling and screaming and for all we knew, he was a murderer. >> reporter: and that was just the first act. ♪ soon, the nation found itself fixated on the televised spent call -- skeptical of a celebrity on trial. it was america's first reality show. in court, prosecutors counted on dna evidence, but simpson's expensive attorneys but the lapd's investigation on trial. >> if it doesn't fit, you must

acquit. >> reporter: there was never any proof evidence was planted or of any conspiracy to frame simpson, but the theory worked on jurors who acquitted simpson in just hours after an eight-month trial. >> simpson, not guilty in the crime of murder. >> reporter: the not guilty verdict split the nation along racial fault lines. simpson's freedom came with his promise to find the real killers. a search that seemed to focus primarily on america's fairways. this was criminal trial as entertainment, a collision of legal drama and popular culture and just like a collision on the highway, sometimes you can't look away. josh mankowits, nbc news, los angeles. and tonight, this network will air a long look back 20 years and the case that it spawned. it's called "the people versus

o.j. simpson, what the jury never heard." it airs tonight at 9:00/8:00 central here on nbc. when we come back, living on the edge. the unbelievable image of the day as a luxury home teeters right there on the brink.

the health news item tonight is about eating a lot of red meat and a possible link to breast cancer. the study from harvard analyzed data from women ages 26 to 45. it suggested women who eat a lot of hamburger, steaks, other red meat, may have a slightly higher risk of developing breast cancer. doctors have warned for years ability a diet heavy in red meat being linked to colon cancer and pancreatic, but specifically when it relates to breast cancer. we showed you this earlier. incredible images out of central texas today, a home teetering over the edge overlooking lake whitney. it's about 60 miles south of fort worth.

they spotted a crack a year ago, the home owners finally evacuated about a couple of weeks ago, and then as the unstoppable march of erosion continued, another chunk of cliff broke off last night. debris falling 75 feet down, now all eyes remain on the house. it looks like the new president will be getting a new ride. the folks at aviation week and space technology report in this latest issue that an unspoken rule between presidents is starting to play out already. the wheels are turning towards the expected order of a new air force one, which will likely go into service starting with the next president. the current 747's big and gleaming as they may be are outdated and costly to fly. they were ordered under reagan, first flown by bush 41 back in 1990. it is widely expected boeing will get the order for the latest 747-8 series, which is both larger and more efficient than the aircraft in the current

fleet. when we come back here tonight on the eve of the world cup, america catches the fever.

finally tonight, for the rest of the world, it's what the

nfl is here, it's the world's most popular sport, and tomorrow, the super bowl of soccer played out over a series of games, the world cup gets under way in brazil, which may or may not be quite ready to host the event, but tonight, there is no question the fans are, include iing a lot of thosn this country. as we hear from katy tur. >> reporter: they've got the fever, world cup fever. as tourists and die hard fans from around the world descend upon brazil for the start of the world cup, a sleeping giant is starting to open its eyes here in the states. sports bars across the country are prepping for the crowds. >> we're expecting the whole month to be just crazy with soccer fans. >> reporter: sales of u.s. jerseys are up 300% from the last world cup in 2010. >> better than christmastime. >> reporter: but it's been a long road. it was july 1999, nearly 15

years ago when brandi chastain's winning kick took the women's world cup, launching a generation of players in youth leagues across the u.s. >> football player or soccer player? >> soccer! >> the popularity escalated beyond belief. >> reporter: proving even in a country where baseball is legend and football is king, sometimes you can teach an old dog new tricks. do you think you can teach me how to play soccer? oh, no. now a new generation of players is ready to take center stage in brazil. >> decided to get on the field and get the show on the road. >> reporter: but tomorrow, as the first matches get under way, there will be one thing missing, the official noise maker of the 2014 world cup has been officially banned, no matter u.s. players and fans, are ready to make noise of their own. katy tur, nbc news, new york. that is our broadcast on a wednesday night.

thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams, and, of course, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. nbc bay area news starts now. right now at 6:00, gay marriage started in san francisco and spread across the country, but tonight, a san francisco religious leader is making a move that many are calling a giant step backward. thanks for joining us. >> new at 6:00, a showdown in san francisco between politics and religion with gay marriage squarely in the middle. mayor ed lee and other same sex supporters are urging the archbishop to attend a

controversial rally against gay marriage. they accuse them of advocating hate. >> reporter: the mayor says he understands there's a difference of opinion regarding same sex marriage, and he says he respects the archbishop's opposition, but he feels that the organizers of the june 19th march in washington, d.c. are extremists. >> to determine our course for ourselves -- >> reporter: this ad for the june 19th rally calls on opponents of same sex marriage using images from civil rights marches and talking about pro tenting freedom. >> calls for tolerance and acceptance. but it's come clear that tolerance is not the real goal. >> reporter: the ad's goal is to drum up support for another march against same sex marriage. >> it will usher in the final doom of this nation. >> reporter: and in his letter to san francisco ar