raising tensions and fresh worries about the dark consequences of such talk. nbc's peter alexander has details. >> reporter: in donald trump's arsenal of accusations, it's become one of his most potent claims. >> it looks to me like a rigged election. >> a totally rigged election. >> it's a rigged election. >> this is a rigged system, folks. >> reporter: now facing a growing sefit in the polls and amid reports his family explored a trump tv network for after the on his incendiary allegation. on twitter, claiming large-scale voter fraud, questioning the fundamental fairness of the election. do you think there's large-scale voter fraud in this country? >> yes. absolutely, positively. >> i would question it, whether it's 100% valid or not. >> reporter: but congressman peter king is among republicans pushing back. >> is it legally rigged? no, it's not. >> demand that our public officials are upholding the integrity of the vote, but do all you can to respectfully participate in the process. >> reporter: the democratss' take -- >> he's a big bully who's getting beaten and now he's starting to whine. >> reporter: highway secretary of state john husted who overseas his battleground state's election results is slamming trump. >> it's irresponsible to say the election is rigged. you shouldn't sew seeds of doubt unless you have >> reporter: just 31 incidents out of one billion votes cast. >> the rhetoric that mr. trump is using goes beyond just what's happening in the polling place. i think what he's trying to do is to send a message to his potential voters. >> reporter: the question tonight, will trump's message motivate enough voters in the key states that he needs to win? and tonight for the first time since donald trump's mike, we're hearing from his wife melania trump here tonight with cnn. >> i said to my husband that, you know, the language is inappropriate, it's not acceptable. and i was surprised because that is not the man that i know. and as you can see from the tape, the cameras were not on, it was only a mike. and i even knew that the mike was on. because they were kind of a boy talk and he was lead on, like egg on from the host to say dirty and bad stuff. >> reporter: that clip melania trump is referring to was recorded on an access hollywood press tour bus in the presence of others. access hollywood, of course, is owned by >> peter alexander, thank you. tonight, police and federal agents are investigating the firebombing of a republican party office in north carolina over the weekend. as the ton of the presidential campaign becomes even more divisive and corrosive with 22 days until the election. we get more on that from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: tensions have been rising all year in a campaign that's seen undertones of violence. the fbi and atf a night's firebombing of a county republican party office in hillsborough, north carolina. no one was hurt, spray painted on a nearby wall, nazi republicans, leave town or else. and a swastika. the president of the arizona republic newspaper says after it endorsed hillary clinton last month, the staff's been getting death threats, even the students who sell subscriptions. >> people are spitting on them, calling them vile names. today somebody called on his door, he would pour boiling water on him and sick his dogs on him. >> reporter: the sheriff of milwaukee county wisconsin, david clark, lit up social media over the weekend, tweeting that instead of complaining about big government and media, it's pick forks time. some talk this year has been ambiguous. the "wall street journal" interviewed a trump supporter last week in ohio who said if hillary clinton is elected, she should be, quote, taken out. >> it snd would be acceptable to assassinate a president? >> if she's corrupt, why should she be able to stay in office? answer that question. >> reporter: the secret service won't talk about specific cases, but says it investigates all incredible threats. ald baldasaro said ages investigated him. on sunday, an online appeal asked for donations to help republicans re-open that fire-bombed office. democrat. pete williams, nbc news, washington. hillary clinton is facing new trouble of her own tonight on two different fronts. both of them involving e-mails. one is the continued leaking of e-mails illegally hacked from her campaign manager. a new batch published by wikileaks late today. the other separate situation involves continued fall-out from her use of a private e-mail server. >> reporter: hillary clinton heading out to practice for wednesday's final debate. and now facing yet another unexpected fire storm over her private e-mails. first, notes released today from the fbi e-mail investigation, quoting an fbi agent accusing a top state department official of proposing a quid pro quo to resolve a dispute over whether a clinton e-mail should be classified. the notes say, in exchange for marking unclassified, state would reciprocate by allowing the fbi to place more agents in countries where they are forbidden. in rare agreement, donald trump and speaker paul ryan jumped all over the charge. >> this shows corruption at the highest level. and we can't let it happen as american citizens. >> reporter: the problem with that story line, the fbi and the statement department say it never happened. >> there's no quid pro quo. absolutely not. >> reporter: in fact, both an fbi official who brought up the question of placing agents overseas. separately from the negotiation over classification. no link aj, no quid pro quo. second, another set of e-mails. those stelen from her campaign commarm john podesta and released by wikileaks, the u.s. says, with help from russia. the wikileaks trove, not authenticated by the campaign or nbs sachs. revealing she changed her positions on trade, immigration, and wall street. exactly what bernie sanders suspected. >> you gotta release the transcripts. let everybody see them! >> reporter: now clinton says she's be tough on wall street. >> we still have to crack down on the big banks. >> reporter: clinton appears to have told the bankers, the people that know the industry better than anybody are the people who work in the industry. but for all this, clinton is now 11 campaign to red states, like utah, texas, georgia, even arizona, where michelle obama will campaign this week. the democrats hoping to win decisively and put to rest donald trump's talk of a stolen election. lester? >> andrea mitchell tonight, thank you. overseas now to a major assault under way in the fight against isis. american forces assisting iraqis in a long-awaited offensive to take back the city of mosul. the center of the islamic state's power correspondent richard engel is in iraq, taking us inside the command center for this major operation. >> reporter: the battle to drive isis from its iraqi stronghold mosul got off to a raucous start. hundreds of iraqi armored vehicles race to the front lines. in most places isis pulled back. but not always, sending at least seven car bombs to attack iraqi and kurdish forces. this is the defining and it's being coordinated here in this joint operations room. iraqi officers on one side, their american advisers on the other. the americans control the skies, have about 5,000 troops in country, and have been launching artillery and air strikes to back up the iraqi advance. while the americans weren't authorized to talk to us, the iraqi ground commander says so far coordination is working well. the iraqi, one team. >> reporter: this base, keyara west, is now home to hundreds of american troops. they're working hard to fix the runway dug up by isis back hoes as soon as the holes are filled in, american planes will land here, to support iraqi troops in mosul. taking mosul is such a high priority because mosul is isis's last stand in iraq, the biggest city it holds. a symbol of isis power, would-be terrorists. we will liberate mosul, god willing, a soldier told us. but there are signs this won't be easy. isis is very literally pursuing a policy of scorched earth. iraqi commanders say today they don't plan to actually enter mosul itself, but to take a village nearby. here isis set an oil well on fire. it was a deliberate act of sabotage. and many commanders fear that isis may itself. isis torched the oil fields it used to fund its terrorism. rather than see them go back to the iraqi government. isis could fight to keep its capital in iraq, or just burn it down. the iraqi government said in all today was a successful first day. what we saw was a tightening of the noose around mosul. the worst violence could come when troops reach the built-up areas i no sign exactly when that could happen. lester? >> richard engel, thank you. staying overseas for a moment, as we see new and shocking images out of syria. the video shows a boy hanging from the side of a building that had just been hit by an air strike in aleppo. his legs pinned in the rubble, his yellow t-shirt with the words "don't shoot" written on the front. back at home in kentucky today, three today for a shoot-out that tragically left an olympic sprinter's daughter dead. police say 15-year-old trinity gay, daughter of tyson gay, was hit by a stra bullet when gunfire was exchanged in a lexington parking lot. they asked for prayers and privacy. we turn now to a dramatic rescue caught on camera in florida when an suv went off the road and burst into flames. police and several complete strangers the driver inside. nbc's kerry sanders now with the riveting details. >> reporter: cherokee down an embankment and the driver is trapped. >> is there a fire-extinguisher? throw it down to them! >> reporter: a chaotic race by good samaritans to save a life. flames sparked, fears of an explosion. >> you will live. you will not die! >> reporter: despite the danger, tom climbs the very front with the flames on the windshield, smoke coming in the compartment, there he was still in his seat belt. >> woo! >> reporter: the stunned driver was inexplicably combative. police tase and handcuff him, trying to control him. >> come on! >> reporter: civilians and police officers lock arms. >> make a chain! >> reporter: and pulled tim o'teal up moat eel says he has no recollection of the accident, seeing it for the first time when we showed it to him this afternoon. >> unbelievable. >> reporter: police tonight investigating what happened. a driver alive thanks to a group of total strangers who just wanted to help. >> god bless you all very much. thank you. >> reporter: kerry sanders, nbc news, miami. >> an incredible moment. still ahead to diagnose you from hundreds of miles away. now even when you're back now with what's being called a big leap forward in health care. last year alone about 20 million people received some form of telemedicine. it allows doctors to diagnose patients from miles away, by computer. and it's being offered by more and more workplaces. but is it good medicine? our rehema ellis has the details. >> reporter: this is the future of medicine. >> how long that's been going on? >> there's something "star wars" about all this. >> this is very "star wars." >> reporter: dr. jack heads up a telemedicine command center at miami children's hospital, where they treat hundreds of adults and computer every month. is it good medicine? >> in appropriate cases, telemedicine is exactly what's needed. >> and now even where you work, inside a private booth at school district headquarters in west palm beach. a technician connects an employee with a nurse practitioner, 80 miles away at that command center, using high definition scopes and cameras to check ears and throats, temperature and blood christiansen. >> i would have tried to ride it out. >> reporter: when she was nauseous on the job and reluctant to leave, she walked down the hall for a telemedicine visit, covered by insurance, she paid $15. she was told to get to a hospital right away, there diagnosed with a severe infection. >> if it wasn't for them, it could have been a lot worse for me. >> reporter: it's expected by next year, 75% of large companies will offer some kind of telemedicine. doctors say it's meant >> there is absolutely no substitute for the primary care physician. i see telemedicine as an adjunkts to the care you're going. >> reporter: it's modern medicine. the doctor can see you now, even when you're not there. rehema ellis, nbc news, miami. when we come back here tonight, what's that falling from the sky? the major american city that nearly forgot what rain is, tonight the white house is touting good news on american education. president obama today spoke at a high school in washington, to announce high school graduation rates have reached a record high of over 83%. the continuation of an upward trend and improvement across all ethnic groups. a major american retailer says enough is enough of the creepy clown craze. until halloween, target has pulled many clown masks from stores and its website. this as scares involving people dressed up as clowns continue to keep communities across the country on edge. now to a big event making a lot of news in los angeles. as you know, traffic here is nothing new. people are used to that. it's not national news, except when the reason behind it is that it rained here today for the first time in 165 days. may, making for slick roads and disbelief on social media from angelinos who couldn't believe it was actually raining. and by the way, it cleared up after a few hours. when we come back, are you feeling stressed out over the election? why you definitely aren't alone, and how you can cope. "nbc nightly news" is brought to you by pacific life. helping generations of finally tonight, have you been feeling more anxious as this seemingly never-ending campaign season drags on? a psychologist recent coined a term election distress disorder. if you're suffering from it, like millions of americans seem to be, harry smith has some ideas to cope. >> reporter: if you feel like the presidential election is driving you nuts, you're right. >> day in and day out, constantly. it will drive you crazy if you pay attention to all of that. >> i'm concerned hillary will win. very stressed. >> we have a trump running in 2016 in america, that's very stressful and worrying. >> reporter: really? psychological association says fully half of us say the election has been a very, or somewhat significant source of stress. a pough poll says more than half of americans are disgusted with the campaign. disgusted. >> if you use things like social media, facebook as a distraction, you go to your facebook feed, people are posting go the election. so you're never, ever getting away from it. >> reporter: no wonder a hotel in boston is offering an election escape channels from your room and snip the election coverage from your newspaper. >> whether you're for trump or hillary, you'll feel refreshed either way. >> reporter: in des moines, it's clear the election has gone to the dogs. online, people are pleading for it just to be over. >> used to be halloween was my worst fear of the scariest day of the year. now the election is. >> reporter: for those who are truly stressed, the good news, the election is the bad news, even when it's over, it won't be over. harry smith, nbc news, new york. and that is going to do it for us on this monday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for >> announcer: his weight was so severe, he hid it from his own family. >> they didn't know how bad i had gotten. >> announcer: how ... he's stepping on the scale ask facing the facts. >> you are at 6 times increased risk for dying. >> the new drink, it helps you >> roseanne bar, on bed rest for 3 months. >> health officials tell you what you need to look out for, that's today! >> dr. travis: hello, everyone! here to help us out today, internist and nutritionist, dr. molina janpolis. >> i match the set. >> this is your color, took into consideration by the way. >> -- this is your color, too, by the way. >> i fashionista. >> dr. travis: you are always a fashionista. we are all physicians and i want to ask you this. you are your own boss, but, have you ever thought, or have you had a boss and you thought: that boss is a psychopath? [ audience oohs ] >> audience: yes! >> dr. travis: you might be right. i will you have tell me the story in a minute. get this, a recent study of corporate professionals found