Announcer from nbc news, World Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news, with lester holt. Good evening, the u. S. Is promising to respond after an American Naval destroyer came under missile attack tonight near yemen, the second time in less than a week. Pentagon Officials Say the missiles were launched from territory controlled by iranianbacked rebels. The ship was not hit and there were no but the attacks have raised the stakes in the already dangerous region, and 24re9en to draw the u. S. Into yemens civil war. Nbcs hans nichols has late details. Reporter its just the second time in four days missiles have been fired at the american destroyer. The uss mason. The suspects behind the brazen attack . Militias backed by iran. The latest incident began around sundown tonight. At least one missile was fired from an area in yemen the houthis. In rapid response, the mason deployed its own missiles as defensive countermeasures. The u. S. Officials did not confirm if the u. S. Destroyer scored a direct hit. No missiles reached the mason. The uss san antonio was also in the vicinity. The mason was also fired on over the weekend. No americans were hurt. One possible motive for the targeting of bombing the iranianbacked rebels since last year. 140 people were killed after this air strike on a funeral on sunday. Hours later, the uss mason was attacked. The incidents against the american ships, now a topic at a National Security meeting at the white house. The trigger is going to be when the next missile is fired. That may very well be tomorrow. Reporter tonight the surgeonant question how will the u. S. Respond to an attack to the political war intensifying inside the gop as donald trump suggests a quote sinister deal inside the party to undermine him and now wikileaks has released more purported emails from Hillary ClintonsCampaign Chairman and hes pointing the finger at russia and the Trump Campaign. Lets begin with nbcs katy tur. Reporter hey there, lester. Instead of trying to expand his base, donald substance for insults. And capitalizing on his supporters unsubstantiated fears that the election is rigged. Nothing left to lose, donald trump is going rogue and his supporters are in for the fight. If he doesnt win, i believe it will be because of all the deceitful cheating. Reporter trump rallies, always fraught, now swallowed by fear, anger and misinformation. Trump is reveling in it, driving a gop civil war, accusing paul ryan of disloyalty. Theres a whole it out. I always figure things out. Theres a whole sinister deal going on. Reporter last night trashing ryan and john mccain. I wouldnt want to be in a foxhole with a lot of these people, that i can tell you. But mccains a brave man. Including ryan. Hes a brave man. Including ryan, especially ryan. I got that. Reporter trump is hoping enthusiasm from his base will carry him over the finish line but that strategy is exposing weaknesses, namely in utah, a deep red state where trump and hilly and thirdparty candidate Evan Mcmullen is in striking distance. Hes speaking to his base. Hi really only has one strategy left and its a scorched earth strategy against Hillary Clinton. Reporter Rudy Giuliani often leading the charge of clinton conspiracy theories, today accused her of lying where she was on 9 11. I heard her say one day she was there that day. I was there that day, i dont remember seeing Hillary Clinton there. Reporter but liquiditien never claimed to be in New Washington on september 11th. On september 12th, she stood in the rubble of ground zero, right beside Rudy Giuliani. Katy tur, nbc news lakeland, florida. Im hallie jackson, today wikileaks releasing 1700 new stolen emails, part of a hack seized on by republicans. Especially one email where jennifer palmeri, a top clinton aide, writes of catholic understand if they became evangelicals. They attack catholics and evangelicals. Viciously. And that wont be tolerated, it wont be tolerated by the voters. Reporter the email hasnt been authenticated by nbc news. Palmeri responding. Im a catholic, i dont recognize that email that we saw, and this whole effort is led by the russians. Reporter the u. S. Government has said russia is behind prior hacks. Chairman john podesta blames russia, too, for hacking his emails. Noting ties to Donald Trumps campaign. Podesta pointing to notorious gop operative roger stone. Mr. Stone had advanced warning in the Trump Campaign had advance warning about what assange was going to do. Reporter stone tells nbc news i have Backchannel Communications with wikileaks, but they te going to do. Reporter despite his tweets seeming to preview a damaging document dump stone says he never knew specifics and has never met wikileaks founder julian assange, and while he used to be a trump confidante, said he didnt tell the campaign anything. Im trying to help in the election of the entire republican ticket independently, and therefore i dont coordinate my activities with them in any way. Reporter hallie jackson, nbc news, panama city. Number of states, nbc news has crunched the numbers and as nbcs Kristin Welker explains, Hillary Clinton appears to have an early edge. Tonight Hillary Clinton in colorado, trying to capitalize on chaos in the republican party. Hitting donald trump for what she called his scorched earth policy. Its all they have left. Pure negativity. Pessimism. And were not going to let donald trump get away with it, are we . Reporter now exclusive nbc News Analysis of e news for clinton in seven critical battleground states. In five states, more democratic affiliated voters have cast ballots so far. In florida and georgia, more republicans have voted. Party affiliation is a strong predictor of voter choice, but not a certainty. Today the Clinton Campaign out with this tough new web ad. This was locker room talk. John mccain who has probably the dirtiest mouth in all of the senate. Doubledigit lead, a convincing victory in battleground states like this could help provide an exclamation mark if she wins on election day. But the Campaign Still facing fallout from the continuing release of hacked Campaign Emails by wikileaks, messages not verified by nbc news, today new emails fueling the narrative that clinton is not transparent, avoiding the press. Last year Campaign Chairman john podesta writing, if she thinks we can get to labor day without taking press questions, i think its suicidal. Trump pouncing. Wikileaks is amazing, the stuff thats coming out, it shows shes a real liar. Reporter a bitter battle, with less than a month until election day. Kristen welker, nbc news. Pueblo, colorado. Theres been a shocking turn of events in a Small Plane Crash in a connecticut neighborhood. Federal investigators say the evidence shows it was crashed intentionally. So far, senior Law Enforcement sources say no link to terror has been found. Our tom costello has more. It happened right on main street in east hartford. A twinengine plane engulfed in flames and smoeg. On board a Flight Instructor who told investigators his student pilot intentionally crashed the plane. Local and federal Authorities Say the leading theory is suicide. And the two had been arguing when the student said he no longer wanted to fly the plane. Either one of the two occupants could have at any time the ability to control the plane. The instructor, arian prevalla, of the American Flight Academy was seriously burned. Now in fair condition. The student, Feras Freitekh died. A jordanian national, he had earned his singleengine pilots license a year ago. His name was the not on any terror database. The two were on final approach to the airport yesterday, when the plane suddenly went down near the Platt Whitney aircraft engine plant. It was way too low. As i looked out my a mother and three kids in a minivan escaped unharmed. It was like a movie scene. Like who would have thought that would have happened. Today fbi agents were searching both the student pilots apartment and the Flight Academy offices, but so far, say sources, theres no link toing terrorism. Its not clear what the argument in the cockpit was about or why the student might have used the flight as a way to end his life. Lester . Tom costello. Thank you. Late word of the embattled ceo of wells fargo is stepping down Effective Immediately after a scandal in unauthorized accounts opened by wells fargo employees under pressure to meet sales goals. Compensation analysts estimate john stumpf will walk away with more than 137 million. Across North Carolina this evening, floodwaters that have already 6 destroyed so many homes after Hurricane Matthew are remarkably now rising and threatening even more communities. Nbcs Miguel Almaguer is in the disaster zone tonight. Reporter tonight in kingston, the new evacuations under way. This unfolding disaster is playing out more than 100 miles inland. A network of bloated rivers gushing water that has nowhere to go. Stress dams like this one are crumbling in sections. A lot of water around here. Reporter the coast guard showed us some of the thousands of homes believed to be damaged. What could be a 10 billion loss. For communities like princeville, its back to the future. The scene after matthew today in hurricane floyd 17 years ago. The devastation is widespread, but is measured one home at a time. I look at how the water line is. Reporter the smith family is living in their driveway. Their pictureperfect home of 21 years is now standing in nearly 21 inches of water. No matter how hard we worked to get it where it is. I know what its going but well get it back. Reporter tonight where there is so much pain, small moments of joy. Firefighters in lumberton reach a pack of puppies stranded for days in floodwaters. One small victory in a sea of so much loss. While the damage in this community is bad, its only going to get worse. Rivers all across this area wont crest until this weekend. Meantime, lester, the death toll here in u. S. From Hurricane Matthew now stands at 39. Lester . Miguel almaguer, in North Carolina, thank you. The suspect in the ambush killing of two Police Officers in palm springs, california was just charged with murder. Today Police Revealed disturbing details about the suspects massive arsenal and apparently vicious intent. Heres nbcs steve patterson. Home Surveillance Video capturing the sounds of the gun battle. The officers thought they were responding to a domestic disturbance call. I would describe felix, a convicted felon, illegally in possession of a firearm charged this afternoon with the killing two of palm springs Police Officers. He put on a vest. So that he would be protected so he could kill Police Officers. Thats the motive. Police say without warning, felix opened fire. Armed with an ar15 assaultstyle rifle and armor piercing rounds. Officers 63yearold jose vega and 26yearold Lesley Zerebny were killed. After a 12hour standoff with tear gas and police robots, felix surrendered. Vega was a 35year veteran and father of eight two months away from retirement. Zerebny recently returned to duty after giving birth to a baby girl. Every day will be hard. The shooting comes after targeted Police Killings in dallas and baton rouge. Theres an element in our society thats bent on killing Police Officers. Prosecutors say while the community prepares for Memorial Services next week, steve patterson, nbc news, palm springs, california. And still ahead tonight, help wanted. Hundreds of thousands of job openings for the holidays. Whos hiring and the special incentives offered to workers. Also, are your kids consumed by homework even in grade school . Well take you to one school where homework is a thing of the believe, but Holiday Shopping season will be here before we know it. Americans are expected to spend 656 billion this year, up more than 3 over last year. Nbcs jo ling kent explains why retailers are in a rush and pulling out the stops to hire holiday help. Its not even halloween and shoppers already seeing christmas all over the country. And unlike last year, seasonal job hunt verse their pick of where to wor 90 of employers plan on hiring this season. Thats up 10 from last year. Target hiring 78,000 people. Macys, 83,000 and u. P. S. Has 95,000 job openings. Theyre doling out more, too, retail jobs paid 9. 70 an hour last year this years average, 13. 90 an hour. The. The good news is the economy is better. The bad news, it makes it more difficult to find people looking for a parttime sandy chose to work at sheryls cookies, for the money and 40 holiday discount. The discounts and perks are very important to me during the holidays. Attracting workers in this competitive environment is tougher than ever. Retailers rolling out other perks like cash bonuses, more flexible hours, the choice to wear whatever you want. Even parties for employees at work. Well hire 4500 in new york city. Toys r us is holding its firstever national hiring day. Retails season is like the super bowl for us, with the economy being so strong and frankly the job market being tight we know its a really competitive environment for seasonal hires. Some stores are opening their doors to candidates with no retail work history to fill their slot. My resume isnt for retail, its for customer service. And the opportunities will not end after the holidays. Nearly 90 of employers plan to hire holiday workers full time in the new years. Jo ling kent, nbc in a moment, how would you feel if the person next to you on a plane brought along an uncaged dog, a cat or even a pig . Well tell you about the growing battle over comfort animals authorities in california are investigating the apparent suicide of a Los Angeles Police detective who was among those investigating Sexual Assault allegations against New York Knicks star derrick rose. Detective Nadine Hernandez had argued to protect the anonymity of roses accur. Work had any connection to her death. New focus tonight on socalled comfort animals from dogs to pigs that are becoming a growing part of air travel. At a meeting hosted by the feds today, the airlines argued for limitations on the types of animals allowed to fly. Heres nbcs kristin dahlgren. Turtles, turkeys, even pigs that fly, the debate over has become a dog fight. 100,000 animals fly in airline cabins every year. Flying is already not super fun. Now you add a great dane sitting there beside you. You know, its going to be a little unnerving. Maggie does travel with her dog. But says she pays to have him in a carrier at her feet. I dont like to see how people are abusing it. For as little as 69 it seems anyone can fill out a form and get a letter making almost any animal a service in washington today, a department of transportation meeting, airlines asking to restrict the definition of service animals. To trained dogs and miniature horses, but heidi pagano says she needs her dog, toby. Toby helps to alleviate anxiety especially in situations where i feel uncomfortable such as plane rides where i have no control. Advocates point out emotional support animals may be used for unseen disorders like ptsd. The committee expected to vote this week on which animals may no skies. Kristen dahlgren, nbc news. When we come back, the growing trend at our nations schools. A dream come true for for every kid who spent hours on homework and for the parents who helped them, this might be music to your ears. A growing number of Elementary Schools are doing away with homework altogether. Some experts worry it could have a negative impact on learning. Heres joe friar. For families at cherry park elementary in portland, homework is now history. A new School Policy that surprised the campbell famild nervous at first. Its an experiment. If were honest, but so far, so good. The principal says teachers delved into the research and found little evidence that homework benefits Elementary Students. Our children have the rest of their lives to work. We want to focus on positive play and give the evenings back to our families. Lets go, buddy. Parents and kids are encouraged to spend more time playing outside and bonding as a family. Complaining. We do enough work at school, so we shouldnt have to do any at home. And theyre still finding time to read without logging the hours. Across the country, more schools are adopting no homework policies. But some experts worry theyre an overreaction arguing a little homework can help Elementary Students develop study habits. The important thing is that the homework to success. So far, teachers and parents at cherry park are on board, though on occasion a few kids long for the old days. I miss it a lot. A lot of other students who have homework might look at you and think, im jealous, i wish i didnt have home work. Yeah. What would you say to them . I would say that youre lucky you still have homework. No worries, theyll have plenty of homework down the road. Joe fryer, nbc news. Portland. For all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good ni says it happened on board an airplane three decades ago. Another woman, rachel crooks, said that trump kissed her against her will in 2005. Trump has strongly denied it saying none of it ever took place. Tonights big story, more women coming out to talk about their experiences with donald trump in the past. Now, this is what a former miss arizona usa told the tv station in los angeles. He just came strolling right some girls were topless. Others were naked. A contestant in the 2001 miss universe. It is a pageant donald trump owned at the time. Now 15 years later does she have a point . Is it fair to bring this up now or is it piling on during an opportune time. And team 12 talked with several beauty pageant contestants for reactions. Charlie . Reporter the women i spoke with today said their experience competition was very different from what tasha dixon is claiming happened inside a dressing room. Empowering, supportive and respectful. He is so warm, so welcoming. That is the donald trump she says she got to know when representing arizona in the 2011 miss usa pageant. We met him on stage, fully clothed. We never saw anymore or anyone