From nbc news World Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening, facing a host of women accusing him of unwanted physical contact, donald trump launched into an angry tirade today, lashing out at his accusers, the media, the clintons and decrying what he calls a conspiracy to undermine the will of the voters. Sundays debate hes not done the lewd things to women that he described in that infamous audio recording, several women have stepped forward to say he, in fact, had, to them. Adding further turmoil to his troubled campaign. Nbcs katy tur joins us from philadelphia with the latest. Katy, good evening. Reporter good evening, lester. Donald trump is blaming everybody but himself for the type of behavior that he bragged about both in private and on howard stern. Now hes pointing to a keep him from office. Donald trump is going nuclear. These claims are all go again tion and theyre outright lies. Reporter facing down his accusers with an angry denial. We already have substantial evidence to dispute these lies. And it will be made public in an appropriate way. Reporter in 24 hours, five behaved inappropriately, groping, kissing, or forcing himself on them. Accusations nbc news has not been able to independently verify. With no clue what could come next, trump is accusing the media, the democrats and the establishment of working together to tear the country down. This is a conspiracy against you the American People and we cannot let this happen or continue. Reporter a vision of social house. Anyone who challenges their control is deemed a sexist, a racist, a xenophobe, and morally deformed. Reporter trump is in full crisis mode. His inner circle, shrinking. As confidants like Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie distance themselves. In pennsylvania, daughter ivanka avoided reporters describing politics as a blood sport. Vicious, vicious. Reporter today the Republican National committee is silent, while leaders like paul trumps name. Time magazine is calling it a total meltdown. He just appears to me to be a candidate that has come completely unhinged. Hes somebody that seems to have lost his grip on reality, which is that this campaign is imploding. Reporter a new nbc news wall street journal poll shows trump isnt teflon, down five points in North Carolina, and now tied with clinton in ohio. This, as sources tell nbc news, the campaign has given washington is narrowing, as more accusers threaten to come forward. Katy tur, nbc news, philadelphia. Reporter im Hallie Jackson in cincinnati. Donald trumps accusers all say he did what hes bragged about before. When youre a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Whatever you want. Grab them by the [ bleep ]. You can do anything. So when he started putting his hand up my skirt, that was it. That was it. I was out of there. Reporter si trump groped her on an airplane more than three decades ago. He was like an octopus, it was like he had six arms, he was all over the place. Reporter more recently after the taping of access hollywood, a show owned by nbc universal, also said this. Im automatically attracted to beautiful i just start kissing them. Reporter natasha stoynoff, a writer for People Magazine, now describes trump forcing his tongue down her throat during an interview while a pregnant and then say, you know were going to have an affair. And then theres temple taggart, who says trump kissed her without asking twice. Yeah, it made me feel uncomfortable. Definitely made me feel uncomfortable, but i shooed it off and went along. You know. Reporter Trumps Campaign says that isnt true. Trump himself denying all the allegations which nbc has not independently verified. These clas and theyre outright lies. Reporter trump taking aim at his accusers like the People Magazine writer. Look at her, look at her words. You tell me what you think. I dont think so. Reporter some supporters like in his evangelical base, still back trump. Back in the primaries, that wouldnt have been my pick. But thats what im given now. I have to be real. This is it. Im voting for trump. Reporter but sarah hickey whos never voted for a democrat, will this republicans and even evangelical christians can still stand behind him when hes so clearly not a good man, much less a godly man, is just beyond me. Reporter trump and his campaign are now demanding the New York Times retract its article. The newspaper today says it wont. All but daring trump to take it to court. Lester . Hallie jackson, thanks. And right before donald trump took the stage today, we heard campaigning for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire and condemning trumps comments about women in a raw and powerful takedown. Declaring enough is enough. We get her message tonight from nbcs andrea mitchell. Reporter the first lady speaking with emotion and moral outrage about Donald Trumps language on that tape. I have to tell you that i cant stop thinking about this. It has shaken me to my predicted. Reporter Michelle Obama pointedly refusing to use trumps name. And i cant believe that im saying that a candidate for president of the United States has bragged about sexually assaulting women. Reporter perhaps the toughest political attack from a first lady. It wasnt just locker room banter. This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior. Reporter mrs. Personal. The shameful comment about our bodies, the disrespect of our ambitions and intellect, the belief that you can do anything you want to a woman, it is cruel. Its frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. Reporter a case aides say the first lady has been wanting to make for some time. Here we are, 2016, and were campaign trail. We are drowning in it. Now is the time for all of us to stand up and say enough is enough. This has got to stop right now. To dismiss this as everyday locker room talk is an insult to decent men everywhere. Reporter as she was at the democratic convention, Michelle Obama once again Hillary Clintons most powerful advocate. Im with her. Reporter especially with millenials. I think shes the best messenger you can have for this, and she put it in such personal terms. Reporter Hillary Clinton has struggled to make that connection with millenials, tweeting tonight to Michelle Obama, im in awe. Thanks for putting into words whats in so many of our hearts. Lester . Andrea mitchell, thank you. As the chaos sources say the trump team is narrowing its focus to four key battleground states. Ohio, North Carolina, florida, and pennsylvania, which is one of the states where there are now concerns about the machines voters will cast their ballots on should there be a very close vote. Nbc news Senior Investigative correspondent Cynthia Mcfadden explains. Hello, pittsburgh we love the state of pennsylvania. Reporter polling experts say pennsylvania is critical to this years election. Both the trump the Clinton Campaign know, if donald trump wins pennsylvania, hes almost certainly going to be the next president of the United States. Reporter clinton is currently leading in the state, but donald trump has not given up. Campaigning there this week at a massive rally. We have to make sure this election is not stolen from us and is not taken away from us. Reporter the seeds of doubt he started spreading this summer, though hes specific evidence of fraud. The only way we can lose pennsylvania is if cheating goes on. Reporter experts say largescale fraud is unlikely. But if there are claims of cheating or other irregularities in pennsylvania, that could be a big problem. Because pennsylvania is one of 15 states that uses some electronic voting machines, without a paper record of the vote. Which means if challenges are raised, theres no way to do a recount by hand. I think really its negligence for a secretary of state anywhere in the country now not to have a to have some backup system. Reporter Marian Schneider is in charge of pennsylvania voting. She says shes not been told of any specific threat by homeland security. If donald trump does raise concerns about the vote in pennsylvania, what are you gonna do . You cant go back and recount in twothirds of the state. I think that he would have to have some evidence. I think that those because the risk of that happening is very low, as ive described. Reporter is that a satisfactory answer to you . These machines need to be swapped out at some point, dont they . Theres a lot of legacy systems in use in the United States, and they will all probably reach the end of their useful life at about the same time. Thats why we need to invest in the election infrastructure. So i still think that voters can have confidence in the outcome of the election. Thats not what she decade ago, when she sued the state of pennsylvania on behalf of a group of citizens, claiming machines without paper backup, violated the pennsylvania constitution. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court disagreed. At the risk of being gloomy and doomy, if you end up in a close election and you have a jurisdiction where there is no paper ballot of record, what will you do . What do we do . Decide were just not going to count that reporter no one would disagree about that. Cynthia mcfadden, nbc news, harrisburg, pennsylvania. In North Carolina tonight, a state of emergency remains in place, the threat of more massive flooding will peak over the next 24 hours. Officials fear thousands of homes have already been damaged as the death toll in the state has risen to 22. Nbcs Miguel Almaguer is in the flood zone. Reporter tonight as North Carolinas tar river catastrophic flooding. This search and rescue team looking for the stranded, showing us a community under water. Losing more ground every hour. Get in there. Reporter in grifton, bobby bowen lends a hand as his home is threatened. Sandy langston leaves her dogs on dry ground. If the water keeps rising, im coming back to get them. Reporter with thousands of homes believed to be water logged, the next wave of destruction is slowly record level. Hurricane matthews deluge is pouring downstream. Alice suggs expects to lose her home by tomorrow. The water come, im gonna lose everything. Reporter the governor said it will crest by tomorrow, but when the water recedes, the cleanup will just begin. Miguel almaguer, nbc news, along the tar river in North Carolina. Overseas now to a dangerous escalation between the u. S. And iranianbacked rebels in yem the military launching a counterattack after a pair of incidents this week in which missiles were fired at u. S. Navy ships in international waters. Nbcs hans nichols has more on the unfolding drama. Reporter a u. S. Strike came at 4 00 a. M. Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from the uss showing the impact. Retaliation after iranianbacked rebels unsuccessfully fired missiles twice within four days at a United States destroyer in international waters. Whats to prevent this from becoming a tit for tat situation . Hopefully the message has been sent to those who fired the missiles. Reporter all in a part of the world where u. S. Ships face real danger. 16 years ago, the uss cole was bombed while it was refueling in yemen. 17 american sailors, killed. And in a region with a resurgent iran. We see tehran around the middle east and we have to be responsive. Reporter the question u. S. Officials are asking, will the rebels seek to provoke the navy and its ships of war yet again and drag america deeper into their conflict . Hans nichols, nbc news, the pentagon. Still ahead, the new headache for owners of those recalled Samsung Phones. And a look inside a testing lab like weve never seen before, a frightening force unleashed by an exploding battery. Also, the surprise musician has received before. . The answer is blowing in the were back now with more trouble for owners of the recalled Samsung Galaxy note 7. Because of a fire risk from faulty batteries, the postal service, fedex, and ups, are now refusing to ship returns by air. In tonights rossen reports, Nbc National Investigative Correspondent Jeff Rossen gives us an upclose look at what can happen when a battery reporter this is what it can look like when a phones lithium ion battery explodes. New Surveillance Video capturing the moment a Samsung Galaxy note 7 started smoking in this womans hands. Heres all thats left of her phone. Another device allegedly left charging inside this car. Erupting in flames. So just how dangerous can a phone fire be . To find out, weve Underwriters Laboratories in chicago, better known as ul. You probably recognize the logo. Were inside their special battery testing lab. You have to wear safety glasses in here and youre about to see for the first time what it really looks like up close when these batteries explode. First up, the crush test. What are you going to see in this test . Youre going to see it explode, because were putting a high crush force on it and okay, lets close the door and get this test going. Lets hit it. Do you see the flames there . Reporter all this from a small phone battery. Did you ever realize you had that much energy in your pocket . Reporter then comes the overcharging test. Were deliberately overcharging this battery, which is something you can do if you use the wrong charger. The other thing that happens here, the battery has no internal protection. Reporter this is the reported cause of many Samsung Phone fires. Within minutes, you can see the heat and pressure building. Our battery puffing up and then that frightened me and motion. Powerful explosion and fireball. This is a rare occurrence. Remember, we overcharged that battery on purpose. Reporter what should consumers do to avoid this from happening . They can follow the instructions that the manufacturer gives them. Use the proper charger with that battery and charge it in an open area. Where you have ventilation, because heat is generated when youre charging a battery. Reporter simple tips to prevent this from chicago. Were back in a moment with wild moments during a scary more trouble in paradise tonight after haiti and cuba took a terrible hit from hurricane matthew. Today hurricane nicole slamming bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour. The good news, a late wobble in the storms path spared the island of the worst of it. The storm is now moving away out to sea. Scary moments today at the silverback gorilla escaped his enclosure. Here he is in this exclusive video obtained by daily mail. Com. Officials say he was contained and never made it into public areas, but visitors were told to get inside buildings before the gorilla was eventually subdued. Hes only played one game and hes already in the record books. Nhl rookie Auston Matthews debuted with the Toronto Maple Leafs last night and an incredible start for matthews, though the leafs did end up losing by one goal in overtime. When we come back, grammy winner, oscar winner, and now an award like no other for the immortal bob dylan. Finally tonight, hes won several grammys, an Academy Award and the president ial medal of freedom. But even for a singer often called the voice of a generation, this one came as a surprise. Bob dylan was awarded the nobel prize for literature. The first musician to win it in the prizes history. Heres harry smith. . Like a Rolling Stone . . That bob dylan was awarded the nobel prize in literature touched a nerve on the internet. There was celebration. President obama, congratulations to one of my favorite poets. And consternation. Novelist jody picoult quipped, im happy for bob dylan, but does this mean i can win a grammy . Reporter the nobel prize of literature is given for a lifetime of work. Bob dylans words, his poetry, more than stand up. I wrote the songs to perform the songs, and i needed to sing in that language. Which is the language that i hadnt heard before. . Come in she said ill give you shelter from the storm . . Reporter dylan wrote and writes of injustice. . . Reporter of war and yearning. . For the times they are a changing . . And love. . Lay lady lay . . Reporter Roger Mcguinn of the byrds once said that working with bob dylan was like knowing shakespeare. . The answer is blowing in the wind . . Reporter bob dylan, a bard for the ages. Harry smith, nbc news, new york. Congratulations to bob dylan. Thats going to do it for us on this thursday night. Im lester holt. Good evening. Welcome to 12 news at 6 00. Were seeing a war over the airwaves now between those who want to see small amounts of Recreational Marijuana legalized in marijuana and those who are against it. But who should we believe. One of the more aggressive commercials ag paint as bleak picture of what happened in colorado since that state passed the law back in 2012. We asked team 12 to fact check that ad and, joe, what did you find . Well, first we found a couple of major flaws with this commercial. It suggests a sky is falling scenario with our neighbors to the northeast. But the ads creators appear to have cherry picked some statistics and with another claim, we dont know where they got their evidence. Colorado voted to legalize recreational weed. But theres a red flag right from the start. His first claim doesnt credit a source. Colorado now leads the nation in the teen use of marijuana. Not only could we not find facts supporting that claim, but the latest survey reported one in five teens reported using marijuana in the last month which is on par with the national average. Another claim in the ad and marijuanarelated traffic deaths have increased that statement does cite a source, colorados Highway Safety department. Here is what we found in its studies. Last year there were 115 road deaths related to, but not necessarily caused by marijuana. Compare that with the last year recreational poll was illegal, 2012, it represent as 47 increase. No, sir as high as the ad claims, but a jump nonetheless. Another claim in the ad comes from denvers former mayor. We were prompted new money for education. Denver schools got nothing. Here is what we learned