tonight, god waits. the apology by pope francis, as he meets with victims of sexual abuse by the clergy and others. a day of painful realities and joyous moments as hundreds of thousands come to see and hear the pope on his final day in america. heating up. tough questions and changing fortunes as hillary clinton once again defense her e-mail use, and carly fiorina comes on strong. tonight the new number in our latest nbc news poll. lifesaver. it reverses overdoses of heroin and other drugs. one big pharmacy chain is making it much more available over the counter, but not everyone thinking that's a good idea. and the francis effect, how he is energizing the church, prompting more people

to answer his call to serve. "nightly news" begins right now. pope francis in america. this is "nbc nightly news with lester holt." reporting tonight from philadelphia. good evening. within the next hour or so, pope francis is expected to board a plane and fly back to rome. his extraordinary six-day three-city journey to america concluding with a huge outdoor mass that wrapped up a short time ago here on philadelphia's benjamin franklin parkway. the pageantry of the moment in sharp contrast to a painful meeting the pope had earlier today in which he sat down with victims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests and others in positions of trust, expressing to them his pain and shame, with victims advocate groups urging the pope to follow up his kind words with action. anne thompson starts us off tonight.

>> reporter: philadelphia reveling in the francis effect. at the pope's final day of his first-ever trip to the u.s., a mixture of the joy of faith and the still painful business of the church. francis telling the bishops he met with five sexual abuse victims this morning, harmed by priests, teachers or family members. francis says he's overwhelmed with shame by the actions of some priests. >> translator: god weeps. >> reporter: promising all would be held accountable. does this close the door on the sex abuse scandal here in the u.s.? >> absolutely not. this scandal is a long way from being closed. there's so much healing that has to happen. >> reporter: a pope went to a prison, telling some 100 inmates he comes as a pastor and brother, greeten each one personally, encouraging them to get back on the right

road. for thousands attending mass, today patience is a virtue. >> those items cannot go. >> reporter: to survive the epic security lines or epic road trips. was it worth it? >> oh, yeah. >> 500 students from notre dame endured a 13-hour bus ride. >> reporter: what do you want most out of this experience? >> i feel like getting to know mo are about him, getting to know more about what he wants from us. >> reporter: ought on the 80-plus acre site in the middle of the city. the jumbotron is the way many will sigh, and for some that's just fine. being here is the important thing, finding strength in numbers to celebrate their faith. >> wherever we are, what is important is we're listening to his message and translating it into our lives. >> reporter: at mass he said holiness is tied to little gestures. his gestures here

further defining his papacy, stopping hi motorkay to meet a boy with cerebral palsy, blessing an injured philadelphia policeman and 2-year-old jack. >> when he looked at the pope, we had a beautiful moment together. >> reporter: whether up close or far away, francis and america are strangers no more. anne thompson, nbc news, philadelphia. as the pope concludes this remarkable day and week, i'm joined by our nbc news vatican analyst beneficiary hop robert barron. thank you for being with us. we saw huge crowds through dramatic pictures. we would expect tens of thousands of catholics to come out for any pope. what did you see that this was different. >> pope benedict was a man of ideas. john paul was a dramatic figure, but this man knows how to use a provocative gesture to symbolize

kindness. you've seen the steady line of babies, the pope reaching out to those who are disabled. they see in those gestures christ. you've seen it for about three years, from the very beginning when he bowed down, saying pray for me, paying for his own room, those are the ways he preaches the gospel. >> we think about the airport in philadelphia the other day, reaching out to the young child in the wheelchair, but again, that is something we would expect, that sense of compassion. what did we see in terms of moments? >> one that staying in my mind. i teared up, i'll confess, when he appeared before congress. here is an event that would have been unthinkable in the 19th century, probably the first half of the 20th century, calling us the land of the free and the home of the brave, and calling upon our best civic principles that align

with catholic teachings. as a proud catholic and american, i found that moment deeply moving. >> bishop, good to have you here. >> thank you so much. returning to politics that shows the new poll tightening for donald trump and hillary clinton, as democrat clinton spoke at length today about the e-mail issue that continues to follow her in this campaign, and republican carly fiorina defending what she has said about planned parenthood. kristin welker is at the white house to tell us more on all of this. kristin, good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening, exclusive interviews on "meet the press" the only two female president yap candidates answered tough questions about recent controversies and defended their record. >> let me make a couple points. >> reporter: still embattled, secretary hillary clinton acknowledged on "meet the press" today the issue isn't going away anytime soon. >> there is a drip drip drip, and like i said, there's only so much i can control.

>> reporter: new signs that the drips are hurting. the latest poll of democratic primary voters shows clinton has lost ground to bernie sanders. she leads him by just seven points, 43 to 35%, a big drop from previous polls. >> i have done all that i can to, you know, take responsibility. >> reporter: but today clinton struggled to explain the discoveries of a string of work e-mails sent on her personal account, earlier than she said she had used the address. >> you said in march that the e-mail system began in march of '09, yet we have the same e-mail address in january. explain that discrepancy. >> there was a transition period. i wasn't that focused on my e-mail account, to be clear. >> reporter: she brushed aside the notion that she set up the account to esaid oversight, calling that story ridiculous. she said it was done out of convenience. >> it is the system that my husband's personal office used when he got out of the white house, so it was

sitting there in the basement. >> reporter: meanwhile, carly fiorina is rising, while the latest poll shows donald trump still in the lead on the gop side, fiorina has jumped from the bottom rung to third place, tiewood marco rubio at 11%. today fiorina continued to stand by her accusations that planned parenthood officials were caught on camera keeping a fully formed feet actual alive to harvest its brain. >> its heart beating, its legs kicking. >> reporter: several fact checker had determined that the account is not true. >> are you willing to concede that you exaggerated that scene? >> no, not at all. that scene absolutely does exist. >> reporter: still fiorina continues to gain traction, a reversal of fortunes for the two female candidates in this race. >> i think it means that carly fiorina is doing a lot of things right at exactly the time hillary clinton is either doing things wrong or the things

they're trying aren't sticking yet. >> reporter: fiorina also stood by her record as ceo of hewlett-packard which has come under fire because 30,000 people were laid off on her watch. she said those layoffs were necessary to save the company. clinton will spend the first part of the week fund-raising while fiorina will be back on the campaign trail on tuesday. lester? >> kristin, thank you. president obama arrived in new york today for three days of meeting at the united nations on a range of issues, including a highly anticipated meeting with president putin. today the president attended a summit on reducing poverty. chris jansing is at the u.n. took. >> reporter: this has been often you called the greatest geopolitical show on earth, but also dismissed as no more than that, a show. however, this year world leaders have a number of pressing issues to talk about to the escalating refugee crisis in

europe. president obama arrived today for the first of three days, and committed the united states to an ambition 15-year plan to fight poverty and disease. >> we cannot be complacent. many children are just within mosquito bite away from death. that is a moral outrage. it's a profound injustice. it is literally a matter of life and death, and now the world must act. we cannot leave people behind. that speech just a prelude to tomorrow morning when five of the most powerful men in the world will be speaking in a period of two hours, with often conflicting views of how they see the world. there's anticipation tonight when mr. obama meets fate to face with russian president putin. he hasn't shown up here in a decade and has profound differences over the

buildup in syria. also getting buzz tonight, the white house just announced the meeting with a president and raul castro's, castro as first time at the u.n. no shortage of drama this year. one more note. each world leader gets 15 minutes to speak, then a red light goes on, but they often ignore it. moammar gadhafi once famously went six time longer than he was supposed to. lester? >> thank you, chris jansing. at the airport the pop about to leave rome, thanking the organizers here in philadelphia, specifically those who organized the world meeting the families, which was the centerpiece of his trip to the united states. we'll continue to watch that, and certainly as he travels wherever he goes, pope francis tends to compel listeners to look outside themselves. he challenges them to see their fellow man through a compassionate -- a more compassionate and

humble lens. it certainly preceded his american visit and reshaped the way many view and act on their faith, as we found out. even before pope francis set foot in the seminary this weekend, his influence had already made a profound impact. among young men who had answered not just the call of the priesthood, but francis' call for humility and simplicity. some say he walks the walks. >> yes, he does. he is serves others. i want to embody that. >> reporter: phil tran is an 18-year-old immigrant from vietnam who turned down a full engineering scholarship. eric tamney is 20. he enrolled shortly after pope francis was named in 2013. >> in grade school and high school, that was the furthest thing from what i wanted. today their paths cross, products of what some have labeled the francis effect, an increase in young men inspired by pope

francis psyching to become priests. >> it's a great thing to look up to someone, seeing their characteristics and wanting to apply them to yourself to make you a better person, a better leader. >> reporter: after years of scandal, the seminary head -- >> have you seen it? >> i have. people get excited about pope francis, ying, almost as if s ng heard for the same time. >> reporter: enrollment is up 20% this year, to men from the archdiocese of philadelphia alone, the largest spike in a decade according to bishop senior. nationwide nearly 600 will be ordained in 2015, an increase of more than 100 men last year. is it cool to be catholic again? >> i would say so, yes. >> definitely. >> reporter: while

it's impossible to attribute all of it to pope francis, the fascination his visit has generated only reinforces the notion that he is a transformative figure. and one who certainly has raised the bar for these acceseminaryians. >> i wanted to serve the pope in this way. >> reporter: and eager to serve for him. the st. charles seminary has served as the pope's official residence during the philadelphia portion of the visit. there's more to tell you about when we continue on this sunday night. reversing an overdose. a big store chain reversing an overdose. a big store chain makes a this bale of hay cannot be controlled. when a wildfire raged through elkhorn ranch, the sudden loss of pasture became a serious problem for a family business. faced with horses that needed feeding and a texas drought that sent hay prices soaring, the owners had to act fast.

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>> reporter: next to the family pictures -- >> this was her first time she got clean. >> reporter: heather shows us the type of injection that saved her date catherine's life. >> this is where i keep it. >> reporter: catherine was a heroin addict faced by paramedics with the drug known as narcan. >> i think it should be available to anybody who needs to have it on hand. it should be easier to get that than it should be to get heroin. >> reporter: for years it's been hard to get without a prescription. as nbc's kate snow reported last year, parents of heroin addicts often keep it on hand. how many people are here are because someone they love has used heroin. pretty much everybody. how many have narcan in your house? wow. >> reporter: a growing

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finally tonight, as the pope wraps up his visit to the u.s., you see him here at the airport in philadelphia minutes ago, greeting people personally on his send-off before he heads back to rome, ending his sixth-day visit to the u.s. as he ends his trip, many are ending a pilgrimage of their own. the faithful have come from around the country and around the world. one group made the journey on foot. we get the story from miguel almaguer. [ chanting ] >> reporter: for these 25 pilgrims. >> we are started in baltimore. >> did you? >> reporter: it's as much about the journey as the destination. there's faith in every

footstep here. this isn't the way most teenagers spend the week. >> no, it is not. >> reporter: a walking pledge to see the pope. >> it's been really awesome. i thought i was going to be so sore, but it's actually been really, really fun. >> reporter: the mission isn't for the masses. this dedicated team pounding the pavement for eight days, their trek starting at the baltimore inbasilica to the benjamin franklin parkway. he brought his children, too. >> i just think it's so cool what you're doing. >> i wanted the kids to see this group. that way they'll understand the importance of what is happening in philadelphia. >> reporter: crossing small towns and big cities. >> when you'ring with 25 people 24/7, you learn to bond. >> reporter: sleeping in churches and in schools as they go, raising money for the

archdiocese and collecting shoes for the needy. >> we've been given a lot of gifts, food, shelleder. >> reporter: the oldest is 69, the youngest just 9. to keep pace there have been bumps and bruises, but they've always had their faith. and today on this holy day, the experience of a lifetime. >> hey, we made it. all right! rurp a journey worth every step. miguel almaguer, philadelphia. that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. coming up next, the broncos versus the lions. for all of us here at nbc news, thank you for watching, and good night from philadelphia.

in downtown detroit, sunday night football comes to ford field, as the lions look for their first win of the season against the so far undefeated broncos. matthew stafford and his team lost their first two games on the road. now they hope they can win one at home. to do that, they'll have to defeat the broncos, who despite some rough spots and a new offense have won two straight to open the season.