on this sunday night, the trump factor. our new poll puts the candidate at or near the top of the republican field in two key states as the race tightens for hillary clinton. desperate search off the florida coast for two teenage boys missing in a small boat. tonight, growing concern and a big reward offered by an nfl legend. warning signs about the gunman in that deadly lily movie theater shooting and why the governor said he should not have been able to buy a gun. inside syria. our keir simmons is with the people caught in the middle of a widening war with terrorists. and the hunt for a lion on the streets of milwaukee. new sightings reported and there might even be a cub. "nightly news" begins now.

>> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york this is "nbc nightly news." reporting tonight, kate snow. good evening. in a crowded republican field and with a long way to go one man is showing a lot of strength in the polls no matter how inflammatory his rhetoric may be. two new nbc news/marist polls out today show donald trump running strong in the early nominating states. the poll conducted over a period when trump made those controversial comments about senator john mccain. in new hampshire, trump leads the pack. and in iowa trump places a close second in our poll. in the democratic race hillary clinton continues to lead big in iowa but her margin over bernie sanders is smaller in new hampshire and tighter than it was just five months ago when clinton led sanders by 56 points. clinton spent the day in iowa and that's where we find kristen welker tonight. kristen?

>> reporter: kate good evening. a lot of people thought donald trump had sunk his chances when he criticized senator john mccain's service last week. that doesn't seem to be the case right now. in fact he drew big crowds here in iowa this weekend and, of course lots of fire fireworks. >> there's a movement going on and it's a very strong movement. >> reporter: donald trump is surging awording to nbc's latest poll. in new hampshire he tops the republican pack with a seven-point lead over jeb bush. and in iowa he's just two points behind scott walker but 44% of iowans republican voters view him unfavorably. that number jumps to 53% in new hampshire. >> i believe in what we're doing and what we have to do. >> reporter: and today democratic front-runner hillary clinton again tried to turn the page away from her e-mails and back to policies. >> we need to have a democratic president in the white house. >> reporter: but on saturday she was forced to defend the

use of a private e-mail account when she was secretary of state. but secretary clinton, doesn't the fact that we're having this debate underscore the fundamental problem of using a private e-mail? >> not at all. >> reporter: when you were secretary of state? >> no because this would be the same debate if it were -- the vast majority of everything that i sent and received was already on the state department system the unclassified state department system. >> reporter: and the new marist poll shows the e-mail flap could be taking a toll. while clinton still has commanding leads topping ingping sanders by 29 points in iowa and 13 points in new hampshire, 20% of iowa's elm diddic voters view her unfavorably, and that number gets even higher in new hampshire, 23%. to what extent do you worry what hurt secretary clinton in a general election? >> i think with republicans, it would hurt her a lot. >> i don't see it hurting her at all. >> reporter: trump has reportedly slammed clinton for the e-mail issue but today set his sights squarely on his republican

challengers. >> i'm not thinking about hillary right now. i'm thinking about a man who's in favor of common core weak on immigration, jeb bush and a guy like walker frankly whose state is having tremendous difficulty. >> reporter: meanwhile, clinton ignored a chance to take a swipe at him. for you, here in ames earlier today, clinton joked that the united states has the, quote, longest presidential campaign in the history of the universe a reality check the iowa caucuses are still more than six months away. kate? >> and we looked it up, 470 days kristen until election day. thanks kristen. late developments tonight from central florida where rescuers have been searching the ocean since friday after two teenage i bos on a small fishing boat disappeared. their worried parents pleading for help. we get the latest from nbc's gadi schwartz. >> reporter: somber news off the florida coast after two days of searching, a 19-foot fishing boat found capsized near cape canaveral, but

the search continues for 14-year-olds austin stephanos and perry cohen. >> our focus right now is finding those boys and we've got an awful lot of resources out here and we're going to continue to saturate this area and hit this really hard. >> reporter: the boys were last seen friday in jupiter filling up with $110 worth of gas. this morning the families describe the boys as strong fishermen who regularly went out on the water together. >> they've been through rough water, thin water. it doesn't matter. >> reporter: their neighbor football legend joe namath was there also offering his support. he and the family offering a $100,000 reward for the boys' safe return. >> they're so fine these two young fellas we just keep on praying, man. >> reporter: austin's family says the boys were not allowed to leave the jupiter inlet. that's where the search started. today they expanded 30 nautical miles out to sea and found the boat near the ponce de leon inlet over 130 nautical miles north. tonight the community

is still praying that they might be found safe and brought back home. gadi schwartz, nbc news. three days after a gunman opened fire at a movie theater in louisiana, the governor of that state said today the shooter should never have been able to buy a gun because of his history of mental illness. we get more on the warning signs tonight from nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: today in lafayette, prayers, tributes and questions. >> every parent has dropped their kids off at the movies. >> not thinking something like that is going to happen. >> reporter: as the community remembered the two women killed thursday night, a clearer picture emerged of the gunman john "rusty" hauser. investigators are working to confirm eyewitness reports that he visited at least three other theaters in baton rouge, lake charles, and lafayette in recent weeks. but they're still not sure why he settled on this one. writing in his journal the exact date time and movie "trainwreck"

where he would carry out his rampage. so far no clear motive. >> he seemed to be an individual who was just ranting and raving about things going on in the government and around the world. orr on message boards he appeared to have posted dozens of radical comments some praising adolf hitler he also wrote about lone-wolf acts of violence several times. after he lost his house to foreclosure and his wife filed for divorce, hauser borrowed money from his mother and checked into this lafayette hotel on july 3rd. >> he was just being polite about stuff, saying good morning as he passed by basically a normal human being. >> reporter: atf investigators say hauser legally purchased his gun last year in alabama, but in 2008 court records show his family had him involuntarily committed to a hospital in georgia. >> obviously, somebody with this kind of history never should have been able to buy a gun. >> reporter: following the 2007 mass shooting at virginia tech many states strengthened their mental health reporting

requirements. now 40 states including georgia authorize or require the reporting of mental health records to a federal database for background checks. five states use an in-state database only. it's not clear why hauser's involuntary hospitalization in georgia did not turn up in the federal database. >> there's still more that can be done and there's absolutely no reason we can't have all of these records in the system. >> reporter: all this comes as a shock to his family. >> when you're dealing with mental illness, which we've been dealing with for a long time you know, there's no clear answer. >> reporter: tonight three of the people who were wounded at this theater remain hospitalized. the funerals for both women who were killed are now set for tomorrow. kate? >> gabe gutierrez on the story for us in lafayette. overseas turkey has launched a new major offensive in the battle against isis. that nation now fighting on two fronts joining the u.s. coalition against isis and also targeting kurdish militants across its borders with syria and iraq.

caught in the middle of all the fighting, ordinary kurds who have been terrorized by isis. nbc's keir simmons has spent most of the last week inside syria. >> reporter: good evening, kate. we've spent the past five days here inside syria, the front line is just an hour's drive away. we witnessed kurdish forces on the offensive against the islamic state. but this weekend, turkey joined the fight and began bombing both isis and kurdish militants in syria and iraq. turkey is getting tough. for the first time its f-16s pounding isis targets across its border in syria, rounding up over 500 alleged militants. part of an ongoing operation, turkey says after an isis suicide bomber killed 32 early last week. turkey also bombed the kurdish organization in iraq viewed by it and the u.s. as terrorists.

but on the ground in syria, it is the kurds who are forcing isis back. backed by coalition airstrikes and many have lost their homes. we found kurdish women guarding a school where families have taken refuge from isis. this woman we met lived under isis rule for two weeks but somehow managed to escape. she told us she saw a man beheaded on a bus and a group of seven sisters forcibly taken away by isis fighters. she was threatened with beheading if she didn't cover up. another woman says her entire family and people from four surrounding villages fled together, terrified. there are 12 families who have taken refuge in this school. 73 men, women and children some of them living in these rooms are too terrified to talk to us. they say if they do their family members back in isis de facto capital, raqqa, will

be killed. in another community, the christians are arming themselves. this morning we attended a service in the language spoken by jesus. but in the past five years, in a region where christianity was born huge numbers have taken flight. >> 40% immigrate. >> reporter: 40% are gone gone. many now wondering what turkey's intervention will bring. the front line against isis here is 250 miles long according to the kurdish military. and they say they have 35,000 fighters but the tension between turkey and the kurds who are confronting the islamic state may further complicate the syrian civil war and the fight against isis. kate? >> keir simmons inside syria. and i know we'll see more of keir's reporting from inside syria tomorrow morning on "today" and

tomorrow night right here on "nbc nightly news." president obama arrived in ethiopia today on the second and final leg of his historic trip to east africa. as he wrapped up his visit to neighboring kenya, the president once again spoke of his personal connection to that country as we hear from our senior white house correspondent, chris jansing. >> it is great to be back in kenya. >> reporter: president obama felt the affection of the nation of his father today. tens of thousands of people screaming his name. unwilling to let his motorcade just pass, they ran along. and in a speech before a standing-room-only crowd, he described himself as one of theirs. >> and, of course i'm the first kenyan-american to be president of the united states. >> reporter: and the president used that bully pulpit to call for change an end to treating women and girls as second-class citizens. >> those are bad traditions. they need to change.

they're holding you back. >> reporter: and with kenya's president listening, a man once indicted on charges of crimes against humanity mr. obama pushed for an end to rampant corruption. >> corruption holds back every aspect of economic and civil life. it's an anchor that weighs you down. >> reporter: but he also promised to help lift kenya up. >> i'm here as a friend. who wants kenya to succeed. >> reporter: much has changed since a 27-year-old barack obama first came to kenya and the airline lost his luggage. >> that doesn't happen on air force one. they always have my luggage on air force one. >> reporter: the grandson of a cook son of a man who once herded goats, returning as the leader of the tree world. free world. after the speech barriers could barely contain the surging crowd. president obama leaves a country at a crossroads as he describes it between peril and progress.

firmly pushing kenya toward a more democratic future. tonight president obama is here, the first u.s. president to visit ethiopia it's also been a key ally in the war on terror. and both of those topics are on the president's agenda tomorrow. kate? >> chris jansing traveling with the president in east africa thank you. when "nightly news" continues on this sunday night, dramatic results from a unique program to reduce teen pregnancy in colorado. but controversy over whet my constipation and belly pain have my stomach feeling all knotted up. i've tried laxatives... but my symptoms keep returning. my constipation feels like a pile of bricks... that keeps coming back. linzess can help. once-daily linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. linzess is thought to help calm pain-sensing nerves and accelerate bowel movements. linzess helps you proactively manage your symptoms.

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among teenage girls. the increase coincides with a move by the fda two years ago that allowed use of the emergency contraceptive without a prescription. and in colorado another move to make it easier for young people to obtain birth control is producing dramatic results, reducing teen pregnancy, but it's not without controversy. our report from nbc's hallie jackson. >> usually most women don't have any issues. >> reporter: when this counselor talks to young people about family planning -- >> haven't had any babies at all. >> reporter: -- it's not just a job. >> that's you right after you were born. >> reporter: -- it's personal. >> i was 17. i was probably maybe four months out of high school when i got pregnant. >> reporter: now her daughter is 17 a basketball player with a serious boyfriend, and while selena hopes tyra will wait to have sex, she helped her get on birth control just in case through one of the country's biggest experiments with long-term birth control. >> because i'm really not that good like remembering to get up take my pill. >> reporter: so tyra

had a contraceptive implanted in her arm, long-acting reversible birth control that can prevent pregnancy between three to ten years. it costs up to $900 but in colorado, teens can get it free. the results, a dramatic drop in teen pregnancies. down 40% since the state program started in 2009 compared to about 30% nationwide. colorado's abortion rate also down more than 40%. >> in the past birth control has not been readily available. right now we're kind of in a semicrisis i guess, if you will. >> do we have any family planning coming in? >> yes, we do. >> reporter: that's because the private grant that pays for the birth control initiative is running out. state lawmakers have rejected funding, and some argue that's the right move. >> it has reduced teen pregnancy, at least in colorado. what's the drawback? why is that a bad thing? >> it is for the a bad thing to reduce teen pregnancy. it is a bad thing to have taxpayer taxpayer-supported funding.

they should be used for appropriate and balanced sex education. >> reporter: but supporters say long-term birth control can help teens whose immediate plans don't involve kids. >> i want to be a state patrol officer. >> i want her to be able to follow her dreams and do what she wants to do in life first, and she can plan her family later if she'd like to. >> reporter: for her it's not just birth control, it's giving her more control of her future. hallie jackson, nbc news. and when we come back an update on that lion on the loose. there may be more than ♪ every auto insurance policy has a number. but not every insurance company understands the life behind it. those who have served our nation. have earned the very best service in return. ♪ usaa. we know what it means to serve. get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life.

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do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision or any symptoms of an allergic reaction stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. why pause the moment? ask your doctor about cialis for daily use. for a free 30-tablet trial go to cialis.com the city of milwaukee is still dealing with an animal problem tonight. not a stray dog or a housecat but a big cat, a lion on the

loose. there's been a second sighting and this time it may have had company. here's nbc's john yang. >> reporter: milwaukee police went big game hunting this morning after fresh sightings of a lion along a creek. they staked out the area armed with rifles joined by wildlife officers with tranquilizer guns. milwaukee's been on lion alert since this cell phone video surfaced this past week. >> they were like oh no this is a real lion. and then something really could have happened to me. something bad could have happened. >> reporter: the latest report started saturday night from people cooking out. it turned this doubter into a believer. >> i thought all the pictures was fake. i really seen it up close now. >> reporter: and it wasn't alone. >> first there was one, and then a baby came out. you know then it just looked for a little bit. i was really scared scared as ever. >> reporter: residents are being warned to keep their pets indoors. someone was so worried they accidentally shot this dog in the paw apparently having mistaken it for the

lion. the milwaukee zoo says all its lions are present and accounted for. >> it's either going to be the wild mountain lion cougar whatever that came down from our northern part of the state or potentially a mail-order exotic pet. >> reporter: that sort of thing is legal in wisconsin. police say they last saw the big cat early this morning. they closed in but the lion outfoxed them again, remaining on the prowl. john yang nbc news, chicago. and up next we'll join the kids on a hunt for turtles with a pan who makes science come alive. frustrated with your overactive bladder medicine not working? can't handle the side effects? botox® treats symptoms of leaking going too often, and the strong sudden need to go. ask your urologist if botox® can help calm your bladder and reduce your daily leakage episodes. the effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing speaking, breathing, eye problems loss of bladder control

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finally tonight, fair to say summer school is not kpktsly the way most kids would choose to spend their summer break, but if you live in apple valley near the twin cities there's a class that kids find irresistible and we think you will too. here's boyd huppert of our minneapolis station, kare. >> reporter: the retiree in the house on gantry lane is clearly not the type to yell. >> mine's colorful. >> reporter: get off my lawn. >> i'm making a smiley turtle. >> reporter: but despite appearances, the draw is not the front yard -- >> this is where the turtle man lives. >> reporter: but the back. >> so are you ready to go? >> yeah! >> he's asked the kids if they liked turtles, and we were like yeah. what kid doesn't like turtles? >> there's a turtle ready to come in. >> for the longest time we didn't know what his real name

was. >> reporter: but one glimpse of an army of tiny heads trooping toward him from across the lake and ken wilson earned his nickname. >> we just called him the turtle man. >> you want to go around and see where they sit in the sun? >> reporter: now for the third summer ken is piloting his turtle love boat. >> i'm the king of the turtles. >> five six, seven, eight, nine. >> reporter: gantry lane's own floating summer science class. >> do they have teeth? >> no. they have a big jaw and, like a bony flat. >> plate. >> he's got a connection with him. there's no way around it. >> reporter: could be referring to the turtles. >> we have a pink turtle here. they're a neat little species. >> reporter: definitely talking about the kids. >> we have painted turtles. >> you know why they're painted? because on the belly, there's a rainbow style.

are they eating your hand? >> reporter: two daughters of his own now grown. and two years past his sales career retirement. >> oh. >> reporter: ken wilson is finding there's still plenty to give. >> girls, girls, girls. >> on my grave stone, it's going to say "turtle man." >> reporter: a testament to the wonder of nature and the beauty of sharing it. >> come here little one. >> reporter: boyd hup either nbc news apple valley minnesota. >> i'm headed to minnesota tomorrow. where do i sign up? that is nbc news for this sunday night. lester holt will be here tomorrow. i'm kate snow reporting from new york. for all of us here at nbc news, have a great night.

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. (male announcer) welcome to hollywood game night... where each week, jane lynch invites six celebrity friends over to play games... where are you going? back on the couch. you know that wasn't right. (announcer) have some drinks... i pressed my buzzer. traveling teams compete. i'd love to turn the channel on and just come on that happening. ♪ please lend me your hand lotion ♪ that's how you play. pop! pop! pop! [people shouting] (announcer) and hopefully send one contestant home with... (jane) $25,000. (announcer) celebrities in jane's house tonight are: thank you for dressing up for tonight's event. i'm like, "what?" that's all i got. i got nothing else.