on this sunday night, striking distance. hillary clinton suddenly with a major reason to worry in iowa as new polls show what many thought was unthinkable not so long ago, her nearest rival closing in. search for motive. the texas deputy killed in an ambush at a gas station. why was he targeted when there's no evidence he ever crossed paths before with his alleged executioner? paballpark tragedy. a man falls to his death from the upper deck of the stadium raising more questions about safety at america's favorite pastime. double threat. florida braces for flooding from killer storm erika while hawaii is hoping for a near miss from hurricane ignacio. and found alive. a hiker missing for nine days in the rugal

wild crawling with broken bones to find water. how she finally managed to signal for help. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news." reporting tonight thomas roberts. good evening. we begin tonight with fresh insight into the 2016 race for the white house. new iowa poll results put senator bernie sanders within seven points of a once comfortable democratic front-runner hillary clinton. donald trump's big splash in iowa seems to be paying off. he remains at the top of a crowded field. but neurosurgeon and washington outsider ben carson comes in second place. if you consider the margin of error, they're virtually tied. kristen welker has more on the surprise of nontraditional candidates. >> reporter: two front-runners, two very different fortunes in a poll

today. wild donald trump surges, hillary clinton is struggling. today secretary clinton is out raising money as a new iowa poll catapults vermont senator bernie sanders within striking distance just seven points behind clinton. her support plummeting 20 points since the last poll was conducted. sanders, who is also catching up to clinton in new hampshire, weighed in today. >> this is not anti-hillary clinton. this is pro bernie sanders and pro a message that says enough is enough. this country and our government belong to all of us, not just a handful of very wealthy people. >> reporter: while the poll is showing 61% of iowa democrats say the e-mail issue is not important, republicans are latching on to the controversy. >> with hillary clinton it just seems to be one scandal after another. >> reporter: the wild card for democrats? vice president joe biden who made a surprise appearance at a democratic party event in delaware saturday. he hasn't even announced but comes in third place with 14% support in iowa. >> this is a movement.

>> reporter: donald trump's lead spikes to 23% support in iowa. this weekend trump courting voters in nashville. >> i don't want it tot be about me. this is common sense, it's about doing the right thing. >> reporter: another gop surprise? neurosurgeon ben carson is a close second to trump at 18%, ahead of ted cruz, scott walker and jeb bush. carson has been much less visible on the stump and on the tv circuit than donald trump, but like trump, he's also seen as nontraditional and a washington outsider. >> i will never go and lick the boots of rich people and special interest groups. >> reporter: and analysts say the sanders, trump and carson bumps show voters want a nonestablishment candidate. >> whether democrats or republicans, they're tired of politicians. they distrust politicians. they're looking for somebody who is authentic, genuine, will tell you the truth even if you don't like it. >> reporter: now, tonight the clinton campaign brushed aside the latest iowa poll

telling me they've always expected and prepared for a competitive race. next weekend clinton turns her sights to new hampshire where she'll get a big endorsement from senator jeanne shaheen at an event rallying women. >> kristen welker, thank you. the motive still a mystery tonight between the execution-style shooting of a compute at a gas station in the houston suburbs. the suspect remains in custody, and the sheriff has questioned whether the victim was targeted just because of the uniform he wore. janet shamlian is at the scene outside houston for us. good evening. >> reporter: tom a good evening to you. with no known reason for what's been called an execution-style murder and with the suspect due in court on monday, tonight this has become a gathering for grief. the crowds have been building here all day. a community at a loss in the aftermath of a senseless murder. tonight, trying to channel its heartache. near the pump that's become a flower-filled memorial for deputy darren goforth, people

dropped fives and tens into a container for his family. it topped $40,000. as a peace officer, how does this touch you? >> oh, it's awesome. i mean, something we do every day. >> reporter: shannon jay miles is charged with capital murder and will be in court monday. the 30-year-old has several misdemeanor convictions including resisting arrest and disorderly conduct with a firearm. the sheriff says goforth may have been targeted solely for wearing the uniform of an officer. >> as far as we know, deputy goforth had no previous contact with the suspect, and it appears at the outset to be purely unprovoked. >> reporter: witnesses watched it unfold and screamed to the gas station manager who saw the gunman from a window. >> and keep shooting five, six times. >> reporter: in and around houston tonight flags fly at half staff. on saturday a vigil attracted a community

united in grief. >> i wanted to demonstrate that all lives matter irregardless of color. >> reporter: deputy goforth was 47 years old. he leaves a 5-year-old son, 12-year-old daughter and a wife who spoke to her friend about the man she loved. >> all the language that i know is inadequate for what i want to express. my husband was an incredibly intricate blend of toughness and gentility. he was always loyal, fiercely so. >> reporter: across the country 80 law enforcement officers have died this year, 25 of those have involved handguns. and thomas, no state has had more than texas. >> janet shamlian reporting in houston for us, thank you. a shaken community came together at a mel moral service for two journalists murdered on live tv in roanoke, virginia. alison parker and adam ward were gunned down

on the air by a disgruntled former employee at the station. pope francis offered prayers for the migrant crisis. it's a desperate situation as so many flee their homelands and often don't survive the journey. richard engel has that story from the hungarian border. >> reporter: the mass exodus continues. thousands of desperate migrants mostly from syria, iraq and afghanistan are seeking refuge in europe. in serbia, we met this man from aleppo, a syrian city devastated by the war. >> all the killing, war. >> reporter: a pharmacist, his shop was destroyed in an air strike. >> it was destroyed. >> reporter: he left home two weeks ago and is now trying to get into hungary, a member of the european union. but it could be his biggest challenge yet. europe's borders have largely been reduced to reminders of a different era. the migration crisis is changing that.

hungary was the first country to start to tear down the iron curtain. now, a quarter century later, it's taking the most extreme measures in europe to put up razor wire border fences again. hungary is building a fence along its entire border with serbia. when finished, it will be 12 feet high and 100 miles long. so the migrants are in a hurry to cross while they can. for now, hungarian police seem happy to pick up those who are willing to cooperate, load them on to buses and encourage them to move on to the next country. the locals are watching all of this with great concern. at the sunday dirt track race, hungarians say they want the fence and more. >> translator: before soldiers used to shoot at anything that moved at the border, he says. >> reporter: once in hungary, many of the migrants wander the streets hoping to be

smuggled to wealthier countries in europe. we don't know if he made it, it's getting more and more difficult every day. richard engel, nbc news on the hungarian border. back at home an incredible story of survival. a woman missing for more than a week after she set off alone for a hike in the sierra national forest. but her will to live carried her with broken bones to find rescue. gadi schwartz has her harrowing detail. >> reporter: a search area filled with heavy smoke and so remote it took military helicopters to airlift rescuers deep into the sierra nevadas. and then the call, after nine days of searching with aircraft, forces and even a drone, 62-year-old miyuki harwood found alive blowing a rescue whistle. >> she was at the end of the time period that we thought she could survive. >> reporter: she was camping with the sierra club when she decided to go on a hike alone. somehow she broke several of her bones

and surrounded by thick haze from a wildfire burning less than ten miles away, she pulled herself down the mountain for water. >> she basically crawled from where she was injured down to a creek. took her two days to do that. >> reporter: she had a water filter but no food. suffering through scorching days and cold nights. >> she had pants on, a north face jacket on. the temperatures were in the low 30s from what i understand. >> reporter: tonight she's recovering after a surgery to set several bones in her leg back into place. her family ecstatic when they heard she was found alive. >> she couldn't stop screaming and crying and yelling amongst themselves. they were all in a car on their way up. >> reporter: rescuers relieved, some saying this is the longest case of survival they've ever seen. gadi schwartz, nbc news, los angeles. president obama leaves tomorrow for alaska where he will push for sweeping action on climate change, but even before his arrival he's managed to provoke anger at his administration on both sides of the issue.

our senior white house correspondent chris jansing explains. >> reporter: in one of the most beautiful places on earth, mike and kelly bender run a glacier tour business. but those glaciers are melting. >> we had 80-degree summer. we really watch the glaciers change and dramatic changes. >> reporter: scientists say this year alone the average glacier will lose 30 inches in thickness. >> there's about 25,000 glaciers in alaska and almost all of them are retreating, losing mass and shrinking. >> reporter: that's why president obama is making alaska the last leg of a 14,000-mile trip focusing on climate change in advance of a critical international meeting in paris in december. a white house video previews his unprecedented visit to the alaskan arctic. >> the state's god-given natural treasures are all at risk. >> reporter: we found noufrs the middle of a pod of orca whales. even in this remote,

majestic place, you're never far from a complicated political question. a debate about how to balance environmental protection with economic development. not everyone is putting out the welcome mat for the president. native alaskans are running a tv ad against any new environmental restriction. >> and they certainly don't know how vital arctic resource development is for th thousands of alaskans. >> i think is hypocrisy. >> reporter: last weekend the administration gave the okay to drill for oil while fossil fuels are possibly to blame for climate change. >> for somebody like president obama who understands the science and the numbers, it's effectively like drill, baby, drill. >> reporter: the administration argues unprecedented safety measures are part of the shell drilling and want to keep the trip focus on climate change. >> inaction is no longer an option. that these families, these communities, their way of life is being threatened. >> reporter: families like the benders.

watching melting glaciers turn into waterfall waterfalls. what does it mean to you? >> business as we know it is going to change. >> reporter: changing along with the spectacular scenery that's the brackdrop to the ongoing debate. where we're standing was once covered in ice. part of the glacier behind me. scientists say this sort of visual tells a story no statistic can and why alaska is on the front line of climate change. chris jansing, nbc news on prince william sound, alaska. on the eve of his trip, the president says he's renaming alaska's mt. mckinley. the tallest peak in north america. or rather he's changing its name back to denali, that is the alaskan native name for it. a move that's sure to rile some in mckinley's home state of ohio who have fought for years to cope his name on that peak. the u.s. is facing a rash of extreme weather. now threatening to cause major flooding in florida while

hawaii is nervously eyeing hurricane ignacio hoping to avoid a direct hit. dylan dreyer joins me with the forecast. >> reporter: even though it doesn't have an official name any longer, the remnant of erika will continue to stream in these heavier downpours. they could produce several inches of rain. flash flood watches are in effect through monday. all week long we could end up with 1 to 3 inches of rain. out in the pacific ignacio is now a category 3 hurricane. it will continue to weaken as it stays to the north of hawaii, but waves will be extremely high. in the northwest these photos out of olympic national park. several trees were knocked down and the park was actually closed for a time. winds have been gusty, but they are starting to ease. however, the rain will continue streaming in off the pacific and will last all week long in the pacific northwest. also lasting all week long, the extreme heat from the midwest back to the plains and over into the northeast,

temperatures will remain in the upper 80s and lower 90s all week long without a break until possibly the weekend. >> thank you very much. still ahead for everyone tonight, the shock at the stadium. a fan falls 50 feet to his death. will major league baseball make changes to greater protect baseball make changes to greater protect ...and tkind of like you huffing sometimes, grandpa. well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. it can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. so i talked to my doctor. she said.. doctor: symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung function. symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. you should tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it.

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the season. >> someone just fell over the upper deck right below us. oh, my gosh. >> reporter: witnesses say the man identified today as greg murray fell head-first about 50 feet to his death as he was yelling at yankees star alex rodriguez. at first, many fans were oblivious and the game went on, but several jumped into action including a surgeon sitting nearby who performed cpr. >> he just came down like a thud. it was pretty nerve-racking. people were pretty much in shock. >> reporter: paramedics then carried the 60-year-old out on a stretcher. today murray's family said he was a season ticket holder with the same seats for 23 years. >> the night greg passed away, haddy was doing one of his favorite things, watching the braves play. >> reporter: this was the third death at turner field since 2008. across the country two dozen fans have fallen at the stadium since 2003. this season major league baseball is taking a closer look at safety after a broken bat struck one

women at fenway park and a foul ball another fan at wrigley field. current regulations which were first adopted in the 1920s may be outdated. right now railings in front of seats must be at least 26 inches high. in front of shatairs 42. public entertainment in 1927 was a lot different than in 2015. americans were shorter and smaller. the types of entertainment that the building exits code was designed to address included going to opera, attending vaudeville. >> reporter: in atlanta, it's not clear if outdated codes were a factor, but it appears to have been an accident. police are still venting. >> everybody here, yes, sends along our condolences. >> reporter: this afternoon a moment of silence as both teams remember a lifetime fan. gabe gutierrez, nbc news. we're back in a moment with a close encounter in the waters off of california with a massive hammerhead shark. you're down with crestor. yes! when diet and exercise aren't enough,

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finally tonight, it's back to school season, but many of our kids are returning to classrooms where teachers don't have even the most basic tools to help them succeed, and that's where a breakthrough charity comes in. with more, here's our rehema ellis. >> let's turn cot into cuts. >> reporter: at this elementary school outside new orleans, these second graders are excited to begin the new school year in this class. >> we learns lot of math and science. >> i get to learn stuff on the computer. >> reporter: but across the country, so much of what happens in classrooms like this one goes beyond the budget. >> you have to decide where they go. >> reporter: charles best remembers it well. he struggled to get

basic resources for his students in new york 15 years ago. >> there were lots of times when i wanted to make photocopies for them and there was not enough copy paper. >> reporter: that's when best decided to try an experiment and create a website where people could help him raise money for his classroom. he convinced 11 other teachers at his school to post project requests for their classrooms. >> i had to fund it myself because i didn't know any donors to fund those projects. but i did so anonymously, which made my colleagues mistakenly think that the website actually worked. >> reporter: fast forward 15 years. best now runs a nonprofit called donors choose, which funds educational projects. it's raised $340 million helping about 250,000 teachers and 15 million students across the country. projects on the website range from basic school supplies to classroom libraries and field trips. even science experiments and sports

programs. back in louisiana, the computers, ipads and many books in the classroom were funded by donation. >> financially it's not something i could have afforded to do on my own. >> reporter: she's received more than $22,000 worth of teaching material. >> i don't have the words to express what donors choose has done for me as a teacher and what it has done for my students. >> reporter: all from the kindness of strangers. rehema ellis, nbc news, louisiana. that is "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. lester holt will be here tomorrow. i'm thomas roberts reporting from new york. for all of us here at nbc news, thanks for watching and have a great night.

the 101 closed again, less than two days after a major accident. why this second shutdown is needed and what you need to know if you have to drive in the area. a loud bang sparks and then a brush fire. where police are turning their attention to tonight in order to solve the mystery behind the initial explosion. good evening, everyone. i'm terry mcsweeney. >> and i'm peggy bunker. thank you for joining us this afternoon. a major shutdown tonight on a freeway in the bay area. starting at 10:00 a stretch of 101 through burlingame will be completely shut down in both directions. you will not be able to drive between this section southbound from mra