Nightly news begins right now. From nbc news World Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening. 29 days until election day, and our new poll numbers out tonight speak to the urgent crisis exploding inside the Republican Party from the top down. With Donald Trumps fortunes fading over his lewd comments about women, a gop civil war has broken out. Versus selfsurvival. The crisis underscored by a new nbc news wall street journal poll taken after the controversy broke and before last nights debate. It Shows Hillary clinton now with an 11point lead over trump nationally among likely voters. Nbcs Hallie Jackson has late details. Reporter tonight, abandonment and astonishment as the countrys Top Republican walks away from the top of his ticket. His colleagues on a conference call, he wont defend donald trump anymore, Wont Campaign for him. Essentially conceding trump wont win. Sources on the call revealing ryan was forced to reiterate he wont unendorse trump after facing backlash from angry house members. I think we came away pretty united. How do you talk about unity when the House Speaker isnt going to campaign with or defend the partys nominee . Hes still endorsing him, very unusually and i think paul ryan is trying to make the best reporter ryans making official what it appears hed been doing all along. Focusing only on gop control of congress. Even as trump today tweeted ryan shouldnt waste his time on fighting the republican nominee. Senator richard burr, up for reelection in North Carolina, wont betting its better to stick by trumps side. If we dont allow somebody to be forgiven, whos going to forgive us . Reporter all of it illustrating the gop dilemma. Or back him and hope to hang on if he loses. Now growing fears it is not just the senate in danger, but the house too. Its time for republicans to hit the panic button, because trump could drag them into the political abyss. Reporter the Republican National committee, silent so far, but outside its headquarters, a graphic display of the gop divide. At a small protest, a reference to trumps 2005 comments about grabbing womens genitals. Each member each candidate is running for him or herself. That may include embracing donald trump or not embracing donald trump. Reporter ryans republicans and trumps, a coalition now crumbling. Our new polling shows more voters want democrats to control congress by the widest margin since 2013. But the Republican Party is Still Standing by his nominee. Late tonight, nbc news has learned, privately reassuring relationship with team trump. Lester . All of this following last nights second president ial debate, which was perhaps the ugliest weve seen in modern political history. Trump unleashed some of his harshest attacks yet to his opponents face, while clinton continued to try and stay above the fray. We have got it all covered, starting with nbcs katy tur. Katy, good evening. Reporter good evening, lester. The line to get into trumps event is in wilkesbarre is thousands of people deep. Supporters willing to stand by trump and against anybody who stands in his way. Last nights debate was largely seen as trumps best chance to make amends with the Republican Party, but he proved he had no interest in that, staging a political stunt that some operatives believe could cost him the election. Fueled by a fevered crowd in pennsylvania, donald trump was on the attack. Special prosecutor, here we come, right . Reporter a day after turning the debate stage into a side show, putting Hillary Clinton face to face with accusers from if you look at bill clinton, far worse. Mine are words, and his was action. Hillary clinton attacked those same women. And attacked them viciously, four of them here tonight. Reporter the gop nominee was going for a vicious counterpunch, backed into a corner by a 2005 audio leak. Grab them by the [ bleep ]. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that . No, i didnt say that at all. I dont think you understood what was said. This was locker room talk. Havu and those women have respect for me. And i will tell you no, i have not. Reporter the candidate hitting new political lows, calling clinton the devil, confirming he did not pay federal taxes, casting conspiracy theories, fighting with the moderators. Nice, one on three. Reporter and throwing red meat to his base. Threatening clinton with jail time for her use of a private email server. I am going to instruct my its just awfully good that someone with the temperament of donald trump is not in charge of the law in our country. Because youd be in jail. Generally do not have candidates for president threatening to jail or prosecute their opponent. Thats the kind of thing that you might expect from a third world country. Reporter after a cold introduction trump spent 90 minutes stalking the debate floor, at times hovering behind clinton. He didnt take notes. He barely smiled, and at times he ignored the facts. On yet another hack into the Clinton Campaign emails she doesnt know if its the russians doing the hacking. Maybe there is no hacking. Reporter but a senior u. S. Intelligence official tells nbc news trump has known about the evidence of russias hacking since mid august when Security Officials briefed him on the direct link to putins government. Katy tur, nbc news, wilkesbarre pennsylvania. Reporter this is andrea mitchell. Tonight Hillary Clinton in michigan bolstered by a growing did anybody see that debate last night . Reporter and newly confident after that verbal slug fest with donald trump. Trumps biggest mistake, the clinton team believes it was not giving a stronger apology for those lewd comments. He just doubled down on his excuse, that its just locker room banter. Reporter the debate, stunningly personal, including clintons decision in the opening moments not to shake trumps hand. A choice she didnt signal to anyone beforehand. Clintons strategy throughout th i am reminded of what my friend Michelle Obama advised us all. When they go low, you go high. Reporter even with trump hovering behind her while she answered questions i would go back and lean up against my stool, but he was very present. Reporter in michigan and ohio, clinton is trying to register students before tomorrows deadline. But a new challenge, what may come out from thousands of wiki leaks, even today, from Clintons Campaign chairman. When clinton was asked last night about a one email summary of a paid wall street speech in which she confided that in order to get anything done in washington, you need both a public and a private position. She explained last night she was talking about the Steven Spielberg movie about abraham lincoln. President lincoln was trying to convince some people, he used some arguments, convings other people he used other arguments. Lie. Now shes blaming the lie on the late great abraham lincoln. Reporter tonight the Clinton Campaign believes they took trumps roughest shot. And their strategy of staying above the fray has worked so far, with one month to go. Andrea mitchell. Nbc news, detroit, michigan. A lot to digest here, lets bring in our political director, the moderator of meet the press, chuck todd. Chuck, weve never seen anything like the past 72 hours. The civil war in the Republican Party, a flood of gop lawmakers abandoning their nominee 29 days what happens now . I think the Republican Party was about to leave trump en masse, with the assumption that last night was going to where he would have a meltdown on stage that would have looked like the first debate where even supporters were going to be ready to throw in the towel, and it would have been easy to walk away from trump. The problem is, trump has made it harder for these guys to walk away, because he threw so much red meat at his base, that there will be retribution to any republican, sa y toomey, the republican senator struggling in a reelection in pennsylvania, if he wants to unendorse trump, he needs trump supporters, but he needs those folks who dont like trump too. So hes caught in this vice grip. I think a bunch of republicans woke up today, stepped outside and thought it was like stepping outside in the eye of a hurricane. Assuming everythings okay, when they dont realize the worst may be yet to come with trump. Collapse of the party by election day. All right, chuck, thanks for your analysis. Now to the state of emergency in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. Towns left under water and residents left trapped as rivers overflow their banks. The epicenter of the danger is in North Carolina. Thats where we find our National CorrespondentMiguel Almaguer. Reporter tonight in North Carolina, this is the desperate race to save lives. The town of lumberton, drowning in a deluge. Neigs thats what we should do, come together and help one another. Reporter who cant wait for rescue teams trying to reach them. 1,500 people trapped by flood waters. We was helping whoever needed the chance to get out. Thank you, thank you. And weve been doing this since 9 00 this morning. Reporter North Carolina is in a state of emergency. 1,400 rescues in 24 hours. Some levies cant hold back all the water and rivers are rising. Reporter levander clark and his fiancee lost everything. I walked through the house and everything we own in there was floating. Reporter First Responders are still flooding in, pulling children and their parents to safety. And i walked through water all the way up to my stomach, with my kids, it was horrible. Reporter Hurricane Matthew dumped over a foot of rain. At least 23 were killed in the u. S. , nearly half of those in North Carolina. After plowing through haiti, where matthew killed hundreds, outbreak. The u. N. Says over a million there need help. Shredding the coast of florida, knocking out power across much of georgia, in the carolinas, matthews wrath left roads swamped and buried in debris. The moore family home, hit with five feet of water. Amber, an iraq veteran, losing her purple heart in the flood. We never thought it would be this bad. Never thought. And i dont think anyone else did either. Estimated at up to 6 billion, tonight in communities like lumberton, the water continues to rise. The storm gone, but its wrath still being felt. With water rescues still unfolding at this very hour, we are told some rivers could crest 17 feet above flood stage. Meantime, the president has declared a disaster in multiple states. And over in florida, a federal judge even extended Voter Registration because of this slowmotion ongoing crisis. Lester . All right, Miguel Almaguer in North Carolina tonight. Thank you. In california, a man accused of killing two Palm Springs Police officers is expected to be formally charged in court tomorrow. John felix was arrested over the weekend for the shooting deaths of officers Jose Gilbert Vega and Lesley Zerebny in the community. A huge outpouring of emotion for these fallen officers. Officer zerebny was only 27 and officer vega was 63 and due to retire in december. Still ahead tonight, more bad news if you own one of those samsung phones recalled over risk of bursting into flames. Why even the replacement phones are not considered safe. Also, the unlikely critic going on offense against nfl player protests. The big name calling them, been involved in a string of fires and smoke incidents over the past week. Tonight the Consumer ProductSafety Commission and samsung say customers should stop using the replacement phones. This announcement late today as federal investigators are looking into whether the replacement phones may pose the same risk as the originals, which were blamed on more than 100 fires. He problems have gone from bad to worse. At t, sprint, tmobile, and verizon, all telling us theyve stopped selling or offering the new replacement galaxy note 7, after a string of new fires involving the very phone meant to replace the model that was recalled last month for catching fire. In minnesota, 13yearold abbey was at school, burning her thumb. It felt like pins and needles, except a lot more intense. It burnt like you were getting burned from hot metal or something. Reporter the owner of this phone in houston tells us it caught fire in a restaurant. Last week in louisville, a Southwest Airlines plane was evacuated after brian greens phone caught fire. I kinda looked around to see what was going on, and i had smoke billowing out of my clothes and out of my pocket. Reporter tonight, samsung is suspending all sales from the galaxy note 7. And even though there are a limited number of reports, we want to reassure customers we are taki e seriously. Consumer reports said its very unusual for a replacement model to have the same defect as the original model. Consumer reports seems to think you should take advantage that the carriers are willing to replace the phones or refund your money. Just take the phone in and stop using it. Reporter tonight samsung and the Consumer ProductSafety Commission say customers should stop using the note 7, turn it off, and return it for an exchange or refund. Meanwhile, both the cpsc and Consumer Reports say theyre not aware of any other phone makes or models involved in a tom costello, nbc news, washington. We are back in a moment with trumps troubles with women. Did he predict his own campaign back now with more on our top story. And a closer look at donald trump in his own words. In the wake of that bombshell recording of trump making lewd comments about women, we went back into the archives and found that trump may have been foreshadowing for many years, what threatens to be his undoing as a president ial candidate. Our Senior Investigative correspondent Cynthia Mcfadden explains. Reporter for decades donald trump has flaunted his life with beautiful women. For an older person, hes very attractive. Reporter in fact, he himself predicted his history with women could be a problem if he ran for office. Chris matthews asked him about it in 1998. Can you imagine how controversial i would be . You think about him with the women. How about me with the women . Can you imagine . Although last night he made a point of saying his own bad behavior paled against clintons. If you look at bill clinton, far worse. Mine are words, and his was action. Clearly donald trump has recognized for decades that his comments to women are inappropriate and wrong. Its a lot more selfawareness in the past than hes shown in the present. And i think its telling that he thinks he can get away with these comments about women. Anri it. Im automatically attracted to beautiful i just start kissing them. Its lake a magnet. And when youre a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Reporter back in 1992 it happened to faith daniels. Then an anchor and talk show host at nbc. She told us today, she expected a kiss on the cheek. I saw you at the celebrity chef dinner in new york. You kissed me on the lips in said, that will cost you, im booking you on the show. Daniels asked trump whether he would ever consider running for president. I dont necessarily think so. Im so controversial. I love beautiful women. I love going out with women. I love women in general and people would say thats a horrible thing. What would people say if they said you love women . I would say i agree. Reporter but as of now, trumps version of loving women doesnt seem so lovely to a majority of female voters. His own prophecy perhaps coming true. Cynthia mcfadden, nbc news, new york. During the national anthem, one member of the Supreme Court is not a fan. In an interview with yahoo, Justice Ruth Baden Ginsburg weighed in on Colin Kaepernick and others protesting Racial Injustice by refusing to stand for the anthem. I think its really dumb of them. Would i arrest them for doing it . No. I think its dumb and disrespectful. Its not the first time ginsburg has made waves by after insulting donald trump. When we come back, why a husbands heartfelt letter is striking such a chord across the that is moving millions all across the country. Its a love letter of sorts, written by a husband with a touching expression of gratitude towards those who dont often hear the words thank you. Heres kristen dahlgren. Reporter when 34yearold laura levis died from a massive asthma attack, husband Peter Demarco could have easily melted into grief. What he did instead is inspiring. A simple act, a thank you letter sent to the doctors, nurses, everyone who helped care for his wife. So extraordinary it was published in the new york times. He writes, how many times did you hug me and console me when i fell to pieces . Or asked about lauras life, and the person she was. Amanda morris was their social worker. Despite such tragedy, i think that there was a lot of beauty in that room. Reporter like the time hospital staff looked the other way when peter smuggled in their physical support you give, its about that emotional support. Reporter or when this nurse jennifer pollies, helped peter climb into his wifes bed to spend one last hour at her side. He called it a gift beyond gifts. But what hes now given them is a public expression of his appreciation, so powerful it hangs in the intensive care unit at cha cambridge hospital. We all needed to be able to walk by it and look at lauras picture and remember, even in is why we do what we do. Reporter the sentiment struck a nerve online. Stories like this make me remember why i practice intensive care medicine. Sometimes you need a letter to restore your faith in humanity. Gratitude from a grieving husband, now teaching the power of saying thank you. Kristen dahlgren, nbc news, new york. And that will do it for us on a monday night. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, thank right now on news 3 li ve at 6 00 kickoff in carson city. Lawmakers meet in special session to consider the plan to spend tax money on a new football stadium to bring the raiders to las vegas. Election student brawl caught on camera. Police are now involved trying to find the students who sparked this vicious fight that sent a girl to the hospital. As the country reacts to last nights debate, we get ready for the next one. All eyes will be on las vegas biggest gaming leaders told lawmakers to pass a tax hike. Good evening. Im Marie Mortera in for reed. Im jim snyder. That tax money would build an nfl stadium and expand the convention center. Supporters say it would change the future of tourism here in southern nevada. The first day of the special session up north is our top story. Jeff gillan has has been he joins us live. Reporter good evening. Good to see you. Highpowered persuasion behind me. The truck laborers union. They parked it up front. What you saw today was supporters pulling out the stops. For lawmakers wondering if we can afford this, the message here was we cant afford not to. Remain in your seats. Reporter at that table,