A former Camp Pendleton Marine who served his country is now fighting the U.S. government to bring his deported father back home from Mexico.

“I drive a little ways, but it’s worth it. I'm glad he's still alive and still with us,” Jorge Alvarez told NBC 7 of visiting his father at the border wall. Alvarez said it’s extremely frustrating his family has to meet him there.

Alvarez is the oldest of six children. His father, Jose Alvarez, was deported earlier this year after being pulled over by police in Long Beach. Jose Alvarez was a legal resident in the 1980s, but a drug conviction in the 90’s changed that. After serving time in prison he lived in the country as an undocumented immigrant.

“He committed a crime, he did his time,” Jorge Alvarez said. “And now he paid for a broken tail light. In 20 plus years he hasn't done anything wrong.”

“It’s ironic. I thought serving the country would be good for me. I did so much and now they're separating my family,” Jorge Alvarez said. 

Lawyers have been trying to convince U.S. courts to give the Alvarez case special consideration.

“We're not excusing anybody,” Congressman Alan Lowenthal told NBC 7. “Everybody should be held accountable. But it should be considered in context ... He was a model American.”

As lawmakers in Washington fight over which immigrants get to stay, the Alvarez family will keep fighting to bring their father home.

“One non-violent crime that happened so many years ago should define who you are,” Jorge Alvarez said.

The already nasty presidential race got even nastier as Donald Trump's crass comments about forcing himself on women dominated the start of the second presidential debate Sunday night.

The release of the 11-year-old "Access Hollywood" video in which Trump describes himself sexually assaulting women was the first topic addressed as CNN’s Anderson Cooper, one of the moderators, repeatedly pressed him on whether he had indeed kissed and groped women without their consent.

"This is locker room talk," Trump said. "I'm not proud of it. I apologized to my family. I apologized to the American people. Certainly I'm not proud it but this is locker room talk."

He tried to turn the conversation to the beheadings and other barbaric behavior of ISIS and the control of the U.S. borders, but finally said, "No, I have not."

Despite his denials, two women have publicly accused him of touching them — kissing and groping without consent. 

His Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, took the opportunity to attack Trump's lewd remarks and to argue that he is not fit for the office. 

"I think it's clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is because we've seen this throughout the campaign," she said. "We have seen him insult women, we've seen him rate women on their appearance, ranking them from one to 10, we've seen him embarrass women on TV and on Twitter." 

Trump has not only insulted women, but also African-Americans, Latinos, Muslims, immigrants, Hispanics and others, she said.

Relations between the two candidates are so bitter that they did not shake hands before the town-hall style debate, which also was moderated by ABC News' Martha Raddatz. They did shake hands at the end.

The tape has prompted a growing list of Republican party leaders to withdraw support for their nominee and left Trump defiantly rejecting calls to leave the race.

Trump tried to turn attention to Bill Clinton's infidelities instead, tweeting Sunday about Juanita Broaddrick's accusation that the former president had raped her. The nursing-home operator later signed an affidavit saying there was no assault, then recanted the affidavit. Bill Clinton denied the allegation when she first made it and he was never charged.

And immediately before the debate, Trump appeared on Facebook Live with Broaddrick and two other women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct, Paula Jones and Kathleen Willey. The accused rapist of the fourth woman in the group, Kathy Shelton, was represented by Hillary Clinton.

"Mr. Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me and I don't think there's any comparison," Broaddrick said.

The women were in the audience with the Trump family during the debate, when Trump again said that Bill Clinton's behavior was worse than his words.

"Bill Clinton was abusive to women," he said. "Hillary Clinton attacked those same women."

Trump was already struggling with women, suburban women in particular, who were appalled by his stream of insults. He called Rosie O’Donnell a "big, fat pig," attacked Miss Universe Alicia Machado, for gaining weight after she won the contest and said of his former Republican primary rival Carly Fiorina: "Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?”

But for many it was the "Access Hollywood" tape that proved a tipping point. An uproar erupted Friday when The Washington Post and then NBC News published the 2005 recording in which Trump is heard demeaning women.

"I'm automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them, it's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything," he tells Billy Bush, then an Access Hollywood anchor and now on the Today show. "Grab them by the p----. You can do anything."

NBC News obtained the tape from Access Hollywood, which is owned and distributed by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News and MSNBC.

Trump, who was newly married to Melania Trump, is heard talking about pursuing a married woman, saying, "I moved on her actually, she was down in Palm Beach and I failed. I'll admit it. I did try to f--- her, she was married ... and I moved on her very heavily."

Trump responded with a statement in which he apologized if anyone was offended and a video in which he said he was wrong and again apologized. Both times he referred to Bill Clinton's affairs and in the video threatened, "Bill Clinton has actually abused women, and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims." 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are warning people who illegally buy drugs and painkillers on the street or in Tijuana, Mexico, that drug cartels are selling lethal doses of fentanyl disguised as counterfeit OxyContin pills and street heroin.

The cartels are substituting fentanyl for heroin because they can produce it more cheaply, and is much stronger and more deadly than pharmaceutical fentanyl that a doctor would prescribe.

Authorities confiscated over 70 pounds of fentanyl and 6,000 counterfeit pills just in September.

Just a small amount of the drug can be deadly – even for law enforcement confiscating it at the border. Two New Jersey police officers nearly fatally collapsed just from sealing a bag they had seized.

“It just really felt like that was it,” one of the New Jersey officers said. “It felt like I was dying. If I could imagine or describe a feeling where your body is just completely shutting down and preparing to stop living, that's the feeling I felt.”

The DOJ and DEA say just a few grains of fentanyl as small as a grain of salt can be lethal.

12 people died and more than 50 people overdosed in Sacramento recently when they used fentanyl, thinking it was OxyContin.

“I see this as an experienced prosecutor as like a death sentence for someone who thinks that they're buying oxy but really they are buying fentanyl because it's cheaper,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Walker Hobson said.

“It’s extremely profitable for the cartels. They aren’t having to wait for harvest. They aren’t having to harvest the poppy plants. They’re not having to manufacture that paste into heroin. They are literally just getting a chemical from China,” U.S. DEA spokeswoman Amy Roderick told NBC 7.

The cartels purchase fentanyl chemicals in China, mix them with a few other chemicals in places like Sinaloa in Mexico and smuggle most of the country’s supply through our borders.

Relatives of people killed in the March 2014 Oso, Washington, mudslide reached a $50 million settlement Sunday with the state. It just one day before their lawsuit was scheduled to go to trial, lawyers for the families said, NBC News reported.

The settlement, which must be approved by the judge overseeing the case, would dismiss almost all claims only hours before the civil trial was to have begun Monday in King County Superior Court.

One defendant in the case, a timber company accused of contributing to the danger of the slide zone, wasn't included in the settlement, meaning the civil trial was still scheduled to proceed Sunday night. The families are seeking unspecified damages.

Forty-three people were killed when the mudslide covered a square mile of Washington's Stillaguamish River Valley, destroying 49 buildings and closing a state highway for six months.

Two missiles were fired Sunday at a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Red Sea from territory occupied by Iran-allied Yemeni rebels, but they missed, the Pentagon said.

The attack began about 7 p.m. (noon ET) as the USS Mason was conducting routine operations in international waters, the Pentagon said in a brief statement shortly before midnight.

The two missiles were fired over the course of an hour and "impacted the water before reaching the ship," according to the statement. No injuries or damage were reported in the attack.

The Houthi rebels, who are Shiite, are currently fighting the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

A group of San Diego voters met at the Angelika Film Center for a debate watch party Sunday night, and after the contentious face-off, there was a mix of opinions.

Voters who watched the second debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton said it was clear there was tension in the air from the very beginning – when the candidates declined to shake hands at the top of the debate.

For Trump supporter Morgan Brown the debate lived up to the hype. 

“He did a better job tonight. When he looked at her and said he was going to open up a special cabinet to prosecute her – that really shocked me,” he said.

But Clinton supporters like Erika Luna-Pewitt weren't satisfied with Trump's apology over his 2005 comments about sexually assaulting women.

“Frankly, I don't want a dirty old man as president,” she told NBC 7.

For some voters the debate only confirmed what they already believed.

“[He] does not care to prepare, does not care to learn the policies, he does not care to prepare what he is talking about,” Luna-Pewitt said.

Still, others found they couldn’t stomach either one.

“The decorum in this debate has been disgusting,” Johnson supporter Jake Schaible said. “I started out as a life-long Republican. I cannot vote for Donald Trump ... There is no universe that exists that I would vote for Hillary."

The third and final debate will be on Wednesday, October 19 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

A 22-year-old terror suspect from Syria was nabbed after a nearly two-day manhunt in Germany after being found tied up by a fellow countryman, according to reports.

Jaber Albakr, 22, vanished Saturday morning as police moved in on an apartment in Chemnitz, where they found "several hundred grams of highly explosive materials," NBC News reported.

Germany's Spiegel Online reported that Albakr had approached another Syrian national at Leipzig train station on Sunday and asked him whether he could stay at his home for the night. The man later called police after hearing about the manhunt, Spiegel Online quoted police sources as saying.

Officials were trying to determine the target of the thwarted bomb plot, The Associated Press reported.

Albakr had entered the country last year as an asylum seeker. 

An early morning shooting in El Cajon has neighbors on edge. The area has been a hot spot for crime over the past couple of weeks. A bullet hole now pierces the sign for Parkway Club apartments in the  1200 block of Graves Avenue in unincorporated El Cajon. Another bullet hole hit a car nearby.

Both are from the aftermath of an early morning shooting. San Diego Sheriff's Deputies responded to multiple calls of shots fired around 2:00 a.m. Sunday. Two people were rushed to the hospital. Neighbors are concerned about this happening so close to their homes. "It makes me concerned because seeing how close that is to my actual apartment, one false move and that could've went in my window," said El Cajon resident Jon Fundingsland.

The area of El Cajon has seen an increase in crime in past couple of weeks. Just down the street about a half mile, 21-year-old Brandon Deguzman was shot to death outside his home in the middle of the night. A suspect has been arrested, but nervousness still lingers for neighbors nearby. "I think all of El Cajon has been a hot bed lately. It's just a little bit uneasy," explained Fundingsland.

Up the street on the 8200 block of Graves Avenue, there has been an up-tick in vehicle thefts. Four vehicles were reported stolen in the last couple of weeks. Loyal residents of El Cajon eager to see some change for their city. Fundingsland added, "just this frequently especially in the last two, three weeks now, it's getting a little out of hand."

The two people who were shot are expected to survive. Witnesses tell NBC 7 they were very young, possibly in their teens. So far no arrests have been made.

A local Red Cross team is heading to the Eastern Seaboard to help feed the victims of Huricane Matthew. 

The two volunteers said their goodbyes Thursday after packing up at their Red Cross Kearny Mesa headquarters. 

The team is driving San Diego's Emergency Response Vehicle cross country to Columbia, South Carolina, where they will be part of a national response providing emergency shelter and food to flood victims.

Ron Clagett, of North Park, says this is why he signed up several years ago.

"So you build a bond with these people," he said. "And the gratification we get is the appreciation people have for us."

Local Red Cross workers say that, for the first time since Superstorm Sandy four years ago, all American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles nationwide will be deployed, due to the large amount of devestation caused over the past few days.

The NFL’s biggest comeback story happened before any games were even over on Sunday. Before the Chargers and Raiders kicked off, J’Ron Erby walked on to the field at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Erby is the 23-year-old Chargers intern who was struck by a hit-and-run driver in early August while he was out celebrating a friend’s birthday party in Pacific Beach. Erby suffered a skull fracture and brain trauma. Doctors were unsure if he would live and if he did, if he would ever make a full recovery.

But on Sunday, October 9 … three months and two days after the accident … Erby roamed the sidelines and said his recovery is well ahead of schedule.

Erby told NBC 7 that even he is somewhat surprised at how quickly his body has healed. He says he still has hearing loss in his left ear and his energy level ebbs and flows. Sometimes he has trouble remembering things.

“Like the other day,” said Erby,” I couldn’t remember the word for airplane. Simple things like that. But I’m getting better.”

Erby says he still has work to do but doctors have told him, if he progresses as he has been, he will be back to 100% healthy in a year. After that, would he be willing to come back to San Diego and continue his budding career with the Chargers?

“Absolutely,” Erby said with a smile that, had this been a night game, would have been enough to light up the entire stadium.

In a debate filled with accusations and insults, America found hope in one man: Ken Bone.

With the help of a red "Christmas" sweater, black-framed glasses and a disposable camera, Ken was propelled to social media fame during the second presidential debate Sunday night.

"It was a surreal experience," he told NBC DFW Monday morning by phone.

Bone was one of eight audience members who posed questions to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at the town hall debate. His question focused on energy policy, an issue close to his community.

"I work in coal fired electricity and it's a big concern where I live in southern Illinois, the St. Louis metro area," he said. We have a lot of coal workers in power and coal mining and the perception is we're putting money ahead of the environment, and that's not true."

And when it was his turn to speak in front of the candidates, America noticed.

A parody account soon surfaced alongside a Facebook fan group, which quickly earned thousands of likes.

"I take it all in stride," Bone told NBC DFW of the attention. "I'm just glad many people are paying attention to the political process, even if their favorite part of the political process is a ridiculous Christmas sweater."

Bone said that he planned to reserve his decision on who to vote for until after the final debate on Oct. 19 "because anything will happen." 

"Secretary Clinton I thought had a very impressive performance," he said. "I was leaning more towards Trump before but the whole experience has left me I think with more of an open mind."

So, what's next for Bone? A photo shoot with that red power sweater, apparently.

"I am sure that I will have it back on at some point today," he said. "Even if its just for my grandmother to take my picture."

Snap away, sir.

Pennsylvania-based Turkey Hill Dairy is recalling a bunch of ice cream that had been labeled as Dutch Chocolate but is actually Rocky Road, which has almond and egg ingredients that could be dangerous to people allergic to those items.

The dairy is recalling all 48-ounce packages of Dutch Chocolate ice cream that have Rocky Road lids and have a sell-by date of May 23, 2017. The mislabeled ice cream was sent to stores in 25 states, including New York, New Jersey.

All stores have been told to remove the affected products from shelves, Turkey Hill said.

The company said it has not received any reports of illness related to the mislabeled ice cream. Anyone who purchased one of the recalled products can return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. 

A third grade teacher who nicknamed her pumpkin "Orange Crush" won the 43rd annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay.

When her gourd clocked in at 1,910 pounds on Monday, Cindy Tobeck clasped her hands to her face, and she waved to the adoring crowds while sitting on top of her massive gourd.

"I am over the moon," Tobeck said. "This is my ultimate pumpkin fantasy."

According to the weigh-off organizers, Tobeck is the third woman to have won the contest, since it first started in 1974. The last time a female farmer won was in 1997, and then 1991 before that.

As farmers lined up, fingers crossed, before the sun came up at the annual folksy festival, Tobeck of Little Rock, Washingston, felt pretty confident.

"I'm going to crush it," Tobeck said. "I just did everything right this year. There wasn't a weed in my patch."

Tobeck also took no chances. She uses science to aid her in her growing techniques. She regularly sends off pumpkin samples to the lab to test it for nutrient levels, and she adjusts her fertilizer accordingly.

But while Tobeck wins $6 per pound for a grand total of $11,460 — and of course bragging rights in the tight-knit pumpkin world — her pumpkin did not break a world record.

The world record was set on Sunday with a 2,623-pound pumpkin that won the Giant Pumpkin European Championship in Ludwigsburg, Germany. Before that, the world record was set in 2014, with a 2,323-pounds pumpkin grown by Swiss grower Beni Meier during the same annual contest.

She also didn't beat least year's Half Moon Bay winner. That honor, and prize money, went to Oregon farmer Steve Daletas, whose gourd clocked in at 1,969 pounds during the 2015 contest.

The first weigh-off was held in 1974 when leaders from Half Moon Bay including then-Mayor Melvin Mello challenged Circleville, Ohio, to a weigh-off competition to determine the world's biggest pumpkin, according to contest organizers. John Minaidis of Half Moon Bay won the first weigh-off. His pumpkin weighed only 132 pounds.

Donald Trump trails Hillary Clinton by double digits among likely voters, following revelations about his sexually aggressive comments about women in a 2005 recording, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Conducted on Saturday and Sunday but before the second presidential debate, the poll shows Clinton with 46 percent support among likely voters in a four-way matchup, compared to 35 percent for Trump.

Libertarian Gary Johnson's support stands at nine percent, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein garners two percent. In a head-to-head matchup, Clinton's lead over Trump grows to 14 percentage points (52 percent to Trump's 38 percent.)

Clinton's lead among all registered voters is 13 points, her largest over Trump since the poll began testing the pair last September.

The poll of 500 registered voters has a margin of error of 4.4 percent for all registered voters and 4.6 percent for likely voters.

Nestle USA, Inc., is recalling a slew of its popular Drumstick ice cream cone desserts over concerns about possible Listeria contamination, which can cause serious and sometimes deadly infections in young children and the elderly.

There have been no positive test results for Listeria monocytogenes in the Drumstick cones themselves, but the company did get positive results for the bacteria from equipment contact surfaces at a location on the production line, it said. The products impacted by the voluntary recall were put into national distribution inadvertently, according to Nestle.

The Nestle recall is limited to the Drumstick Club 16 Count Variety Pack and 24 count Vanilla Pack, made at the company’s Bakersfield, California, ice cream production facility. The product identification codes can be found on the back of the packages and on the individually marked vanilla cones from the 24 count pack. The two packs being recalled carry distinct UPC codes, as well as a “best before” date and production code.

The following products are subject to recall:

No illnesses have been reported to date, and the company initiated the recall as a precaution. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to infection.

Anyone who purchased the affected products can return them to the place of purchase or call Nestle's customer service for replacement at 1-800-681-1676.

Warren Buffett says Donald Trump is no oracle on his taxes.

In Sunday night's presidential debate in St. Louis, Trump defended not paying federal income taxes in some years as a result of a $916 million loss in 1995 by saying that Buffett was among other wealthy people who also took a "massive deduction."

But the Oracle of Omaha, who is supporting Hillary Clinton, countered that Trump "has not seen my income tax returns."

"I have paid federal income tax every year since 1944, when I was 13. (Though, being a slow starter, I owed only $7 in tax that year.) I have copies of all 72 of my returns and none uses a carryforward," Buffett said in a statement to CNBC.

Buffett said he is now under audit and has "no problem in releasing tax information while under audit."

He added: "Neither would Mr. Trump — at least he would have no legal problem."