that for the animals. nbc nightly news the next. more local news at 6:00. >> see you then. on this sunday night, fire fight, the intense battle against a growing inferno that threatens thousands of homes in california. we're on the front lines. fatal shooting, a police officer killed during a routine traffic stop in memphis. tonight, one person is in custody while the manhunt for the shooter intensifies. in the running, what our new poll reveals about donald trump and the rest of the republican field amid growing speculation that vice president joe biden might challenge hillary clinton. hunting outrage, a second american, a doctor from pennsylvania is accused of illegally killing a lion in africa, as authorities seek to extradite the dentist for the killing of cecil. wedding encore, why one couple decided to walk down the isle again just a year

after they first said i do. "nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news", reporting tonight erica hill. good evening. in less than 24 hours, the size of one of the largest wildfires burning in california, the rocky fire has more than doubled. 73 square miles scorched. two dozen homes are gone. more than 12,000 residents told to evacuate. dry conditions and shifting winds are not helping the nearly 2,000 firefighters now battling just this one immense blaze, which is still only 5% contained. of course, it is not the only fire burning tonight. across the state, more than 20 major fires continue to spread.

nbc's gada schwartz is in clear lake, california for us tonight. good evening. >> reporter: erica, good evening. this is a fast-moving fire that is incredibly unpredictable. you can see the smoke billowing over the ridge and fire crews preparing to hold their lines. >> from the sign and bring it to me. >> reporter: fighting fire with fire, early this morning firefighters taking advantage of a change in the winds to burn a stretch along a california highway on their own terms. >> this is highway 20. you can see the fires burning and that dry brush is the major concern. the concern is that the embers from this dry brush will fly across and hit the dry brush over here, this whole area is tinder. for hours to create a fire break. >> it's very important to create a buffer where fire crews cannot get in so if we create a large buffer between this road and the fire's front, then we accomplished our goal. >> reporter: but this massive fire remains unpredictable. last night enormous

flames, landscapes, the rocky fire doubling in size since yesterday scorching 20,000 more acres in just five hours and it's threatening more than 6,000 structures. sarah workman is one of the 12,000 people forced to evacuate. >> finally smoking us out, and we got to get out of here. >> reporter: fires spreading through the west. now 21 major fires burning in california alone. 8500 firefighters on the front lines facing dangerous conditions and the drought is changing how these fires behave. >> all the vegetation you see around us all the way from our very light grass to our very thick vegetation is very, very dry all the way down to the core, and that's why it makes fire conditions very dangerous and very extreme. >> reporter: on thursday, fire captain david rule was killed while scouting another fire. >> once you get in there and the fire heats up just right, there is no escape route.

we got to be careful. >> reporter: to make matters worse, lightning strikes are setting off new fires daily. >> there's veteran firefighters out there, 30 plus year firefighters that have never seen fire behavior like this. it's beyond extreme. >> reporter: stretching resources even further as more fires burn out of control. fire crews say it is extremely difficult to get ahead of the fire because of the changing winds. they say it is spreading in all different directions and right now this fire has burned an area almost the size of cleveland. erica? >> putting in perspective, thank you. in tennessee tonight a manhunt is underway in the shooting death of a memphis police officer. police have one man in custody but the search for the alleged killer that continues. we get details from kerry sanders. >> reporter: a routine traffic stop turned deadly for memphis police officer sean bolton. >> heard it, bang, bang, bang, bang. >> reporter: the 33-year-old officer was shot repeatedly

and despite a bulletproof vest, later pronounced dead at the hospital. the first call for help came on patrolman bolton's own police radio from a bystander. >> please, please, hurry up. >> they actually picked up the police radio and spoke into it and got the police to come out because all of the neighbors on that side were trying to call 911, but they couldn't get through. >> reporter: the first cop on scene frantically called for help. >> there was a traffic stop and he was armed. the subject bailed out. it was a traffic stop. >> checking, you are advising that the officer is down or the suspect? >> can you call an ambulance? >> ambulance is already in route. >> reporter: sketchy witness reports indicate there may have been more than one person in the car and the gunman may have been in the front passenger seat. >> the only description we have on suspect will be two male blacks last seen running westbound on

summerview. >> reporter: detectives say the triggerman remains at large. this is the second police killed in the line of duty this year. nationwide, 70 officers have been killed this year doing their jobs. >> there is a theme do black lives matter. and at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves, do all lives matter? >> this again evidences the fact that there are so many guns on our streets in the wrong hands. >> reporter: officer bolton had no dash camera or body camera when he was shot. that equipment is budgeted for next year. an iraq war vet, a police officer in memphis for almost five years gunned down in the very city where he grew up. kerry sanders, nbc news. turning to politics, the results of our new nbc news wall street journal poll are out tonight. four days before the first prime time debate among the republicans. only ten of the 17 gop candidates will take the stage in prime

time in ohio, not surprisingly, donald trump makes the cut. our political director and moderator "meet the press" chuck todd has been looking at the numbers. chuck? >> erica, there is a lot of new stories in our new poll. let's look at the republican results. two things jump out at he, number one obviously is donald trump rocketing to the top of the polls. the last time we had him in the poll before he announced was at 1% and leads at 19% and by the way, for those of you that think the trump candidacy is about tea parties or angry white guys, it's not about that. his support is across the board across the spectrum. this really is, he's consolidating the anti political establishment vote which doesn't really have an ideology center. who is in and who is out? who finished in the top ten? guess what? we have three people who tied for ninth. rick perry, chris

christie and john kasich. one will get left out. according to our calculations, that one will be rick perry. so john kasich surging here at the end may take that last spot at the podium, rick perry may fall out of it. it's something to watch by tuesday, erica. >> that's what we will do. chuck todd tonight, thanks. as the republicans jockey for position heading into thursday's debate, there is renewed focus on the democratic ticket tonight with the possibility of vice president joe biden entering the race. kristen welker is at the white house with more for us. kristen, good evening. >> reporter: erica, good evening. democratic sources say the vice president is personally torn. he's getting pressure to run from some democrats who don't think hillary clinton can go the distance but getting in now would mean playing political catchup. he's been a fixture at the president's side. now mounting speculation, could vice president joe biden be eyeing the top spot? biden has been having meetings at his washington residence to explore the idea of

taking on hilary in iowa and new hampshire. >> i'm taking a hard look at this and people close to biden are starting to have conversations about what a campaign might look like. >> reporter: it's no secret biden had been thinking about a run but those aspirations were put on hold when his son beau died in may from a brain tumor at age 46. now beau might just be the inspiration for his father to take the another look. >> beau encouraged his father to run. he still said i think you should run. >> reporter: challenges may be significant. some key biden advisors are now working with clinton. she's captured big party donors and has a strong lead in polls among democrats. >> he shouldn't run. if he was going to run, he should have started a year ago to consolidate support. almost all the biden donors have gone to hillary clinton already. >> reporter: biden has been criticized for getting too up

close and personal. he's run for president twice before and campaigns with stumbles and gaps. >> you cannot go to a 7 eleven or dunkin donuts unless you have a slight indian accent. i'm not joking. >> reporter: there still may be an opening. questions about clinton's e-mails and transparency eroded her trust. 51% unfavorable rating is high compared to biden's 39% and biden has been in this game a long time. >> joe biden was elected to the senate when he was 29 years old and he's been a rising star in the party since. this man is wanted to be president his entire life, so it's not surprising that he would be thinking about whether or not he wants to the make a run in 2016. >> reporter: the vice president's press secretary downplayed the speculation saying he's focused on his family and immersing himself in work. biden is expected to make a final decision at the end of summer. erica? >> thanks. a tragic scene in russia today. at an air show southeast of moscow. it happened by a squad

of helicopters. suddenly, one of them as you see here started spinning out of control losing altitude and crashed into a field erupting in a fire ball. one of the pilots was killed, the other did survive. officials say the hydraulic system failed. the discovery of a wing part that may be from that missing malaysia jetliner set off an intense search for other objects that might also have come from the plane. we get more tonight from nbc's bill neely who remains on reunion island in the southern indian ocean, bill? >> reporter: good evening, erica, from a dramatic coastline, the search for debris has widened from this island today. the authorities from malaysia where mh 370 began its doomed flight, asked everyone in this part of the ocean to look out for aircraft debris. that's an alert to search more than 4,000 miles of coastline. here today people have been handing in objects they found on beaches.

police came to one where they were giving a small object they put in a metal box. there were reports of a door being found. one item was found to be a normal ladder. malaysia search experts saying none of these objects is related to the missing plane. as i discovered, the beaches here are littered with metal and rusting junk. police are taking in what people find but so far the only relevant find are that piece of aircraft debris and a suitcase found nearby. both are now in france. the aircraft part, wing flap from a boeing 777 won't be examined until wednesday. the suitcase is at another lab where they will try to match it to the dna of the missing passengers and crew. well, here there is quite a storm. the ocean very rough. people here hoping that might throw more

aircraft debris on to these beaches. erica? >> bill neely tonight. bill, thank you. another american hunter is accused of illegally killing a lion in zimbabwe. sparking new outrage over big game hunting. >> reporter: cecil may be the most famous lion to die at the hands of an american trophy hunter but today zimbabwe authorities say he wasn't the first. wildlife officials accused a second american, pennsylvania doctor and bow hunter jan seski of killing another lion back in april saying his guide hunted without a quota and a permit. the guide was arrested and officials say he's cooperating. seski is a cancer doctor in pittsburgh. today at his home, no one answered. nbc news has not been able to reach him for comment. meanwhile, the death of cecil and the fate of his pride gripped the world. last night his image lit up the empire state building, a

report that his allyi jericho seen on the left with cecil also had been killed spread across special media saturday. this morning researcher brent went looking for jericho and snapped this picture tweeting he is alive and well. researchers believe he'll take over the pride now that cecil is gone. >> things will be hard for him but he's a mature lion. he's 11 years old himself and been through all sorts of fights and experienced lion. so i think they got quite a good chance. >> reporter: the zimbabwe government has suspended the hunting practice by walter palmer and no more bows and stopped all big game hunting around the park where cecil roamed. >> hunting of lions, leopards and elephant in areas has been suspended with immediate effect. >> reporter: and while zimbabwe's government is seeking to extradite the dentist, it's unclear whether

they will demand the same of dr. seski. when "nightly news" continues on this sunday, what happens when things don't work out between humans and robots? we'll tell you a fascinating social experiment.

in the quest to better understand how man and machine can relate, a social experiment sent a robot on the road. the hope is it would make its way across the country with human help until the plan hit a snag. >> reporter: unlike other robots designed to help people. >> he talked again to me.

>> reporter: hitchbot's mission was to see how many people would help it. >> pick me up. >> reporter: in a huge test of s human kindness, this immobile kid-sized robot counted on strangers to get around. >> it's like walking around with a celebrity. >> i think the opportunity for people to actually engage unsupervised, you know, with this kind of technology was really part of the charm of it. >> reporter: beginning in canada where it was created, hitchbot spent 26 days hitchhiking across that vast country and 18 days in the netherlands and ten days in germany and grabbed a cold beer. >> i can make a cameo appearance in a film when we get to california. >> reporter: two weeks ago, hitchbot hit hiked across america. starting in boston with hopes strangers would take it to times square, mount rush more and the grand canyon. hitch bot did well until arriving in philadelphia where it got no love from

someone in the city of brotherly love. after only two weeks in the u.s., the journey ended. of 46,000 followers, one tweeted i'm sorry your trip was cut short in philly. another, poor innocent hitchbot. >> i didn't expect to happen so many people happy to root for hitchbot and talk about it. that's wonderful. >> reporter: today the grand social experiment has ended but in it perhaps a lesson for all of us. the final message, my trip must come to an end for now but my love for humans will never fade. rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. up next, the results are in for the election we've been watching closely all weekend.

a scary moment this afternoon during the windows 10 400. the brakes lock up as brad keselowski made a pit stop. his car running into crew members sending a tire and jack flying. fortunately, no one was hurt. the crew got up, worked on the car and the driver was on his way. and take a look at this, american pharoh on his first race since winning the crown. in second place behind competitive edge and then turned it on as they came around the bend in new jersey. and there you see american pharoh wins again in one of the last appearances in his racing career. news from space tonight via twitter. scott kelly, one of the astronauts aboard the international

space station was taking questions. the president chimed in. loving the photos, do you ever just look out the window and freak out? kelly's answer, i don't freak out about anything, mr. president, except getting a twitter question from you. an update on the story we brought you last night from tiny dorset, minnesota. the results on the race for mayor are in. 3-year-old james tufts has realized his dream. winning the post after his name was picked from a bucket. he follows in the footsteps of his brother bobby who is 6. with a population of 22, dorset is the home of a dynasty. when we come back, why one wedding this weekend was so memorable.

for most of us memories of the wedding day are the most cherished but what if they were suddenly gone? kate snow on one couple determined to recreate their special day. >> reporter: one year ago yesterday they had the picture perfect wedding. just one problem, the bride doesn't remember a thing about it. 19 days after her wedding day, she was in a terrible car accident. weeks later, she realized she lost about five weeks of memories leading up to the crash. >> i don't remember the wedding. i don't remember getting married to you. i looked down at the ring and was like something is up.

>> reporter: you had no memory of the wedding? >> no. >> reporter: the ceremony? >> like a nightmare, like somebody telling you a bad dream. >> reporter: jeremy was heartbroken. but decided right then and there he had to find a way to throw his wife another wedding. >> if she wasn't happy, i wouldn't be happy so why not create another memory. >> so this weekend >> reporter: so this weekend they started over with the help of total strangers that donated to an online funding site and their small virginia community who pitched in from hair to tuxedos, flowers to photography. >> what was it about his appeal the that made you stop? >> the love for his wife and he would take the time to create something like this for his wife really spoke to me. >> reporter: the carriage entrance was a surprise arranged by the groom. so many details exactly the same. >> consider this as the best gift that jeremy could give to you, the gift of giving you your wedding day back.

>> reporter: they repeated their vows with a nod to last year. >> like i said the first time, anything that happens, nothing will ever tear us apart. >> reporter: the minister making this new ceremony all about the bride. >> and now justice, you may kiss your man. [ laughter ] >> reporter: for jeremy and justice, it was a second chance to say i do and recreate a memory to have and to hold for the rest of their lives. kate snow, nbc news, virginia. that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. i'm erica hill reporting from new york. good night.

== over here we're probably seeing flame lengt in excs of 100 feet nbc bay area news starts now. >> over here we're probably seeing a flame length in excess of 100 feet. >> towering fast-moving flames getting the best of firefighters in lake county. the rocky fire doubling in size overnight, now sitting at 47,000 acres. gheechb good evening. >> that rocky fire has torn through 24 homes and another 5,000 are threatened. but the flames are only 5% contained. evacuees are very worried. the rocky fire just one of more than 20 major fires burning in california right now. crews from across the country are here to help. for the latest on california's state of emergency here's marianne an fabro.