Of rock makes history. Nightly news begins right now. 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. After saying in 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 vast clinton machine thats working behind the scenes to keep him from office. Donald trump is going nuclear. These claims are all fabricated. Theyre pure fiction 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 women coming out to say trump 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 apocalypse that starts with Hillary Clinton in the white house. Anyone who challenges their control is deemed a sexist, a racist, a xenophobe, and morally deformed. Reporter trump is in full crisis mode. As confidants like Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie distance them. Daughter ivanka avoided reporters, describing politics as a vicious sport. Reporter today the Republican Leadership is silent, 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 improceloding. Reporter a new 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 up on virginia. Trumps path to 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 Jessica Leeds tells the New York Times trump groped her on an airplane more than three decades ago. He was like an octopus, with 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 eye just start kissing them. Reporter Natasha Stoynoff describes trump forcing his tongue down her throat during an interview. While melania was upstairs. And then theres temple tag art who says trump kissed her without asking twice. Yeah t made me feel comfortable. Definitely made me feel uncomfortable, but i shoed 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 claims are all fabricated. Theyre pure fiction 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 year. The fact that 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 . Reporte Hallie Jackson, thanks. We heard from first Lady Michelle obama, campaigning for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire and condemning trumps commepts 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 core in a way that i couldnt have 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. Obama exposing an anger rare and 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 hearing these exact same things every day on the 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 ino many of our hearts. Lester . Andrea mitchell, thank you. As the chaos surrounding trump grows, Campaign Sources say its narrowing its focus on 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 Campaign and 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 thea 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 never come forward with any 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 paper trail for their votes, not to have some backup system. Reporter marian sh snyder 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 concerns would be unfounded. 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 said to the private lawyer a 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 jurisdiction . I dont think thats going to go over very well. Reporter no one would disagree about that. 60 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 rises, so does the threat of catastrophic flooding. Showing us a community under water, losing more ground every hour. Get in there. Reporter in griston, 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 coming. Hurricane matthews deluge is pouring downstream. Alice suggs expects to lose her home by tomorrow. The waters coming. Ill 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. Over seas now to a dangerous escalation between the u. S. And iranianbacked rebels in yemen. 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. Reporter a u. S. Strike came at 4 00 a. M. Tomahawk cruise missiles launched at the uss nhtsa, the target, images taken afterward 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 . 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 pushing all 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 nafery and its ships of war yet again and drag america deeper into their conflict . Still ahead, the new headache for owners of Samsung Phones. In a look inside a testing lab, a frightening force unleashed by an exploding battery. Also, the surprise honor its the Phillips Lady anyone ever have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas or bloating . [ simultaneously ] she does. Help defend against those digestive issues. Take Phillips Colon Health probiotic caps daily with three types of good bacteria. 400 likes . Wow phillips. Be good to your gut. Alri was the mommynow slam dunk champion . Really . Yes, really dont sound so surprised. Lets see it oh youre ready. Alright, here we go. Lets hear the crowd. Ahhhh i go to the right. I go to the left. Fake em out. 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Erupting in flames. So just how dangerous can a phone fire be . To find out, weve been granted rare access here at Underwriters Laboratories in chicago, better known as ul. 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 making sure it can withstand that. Okay, lets close the door and get this test going. Lets hit it. Do you see the flames there . 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 chargeer. 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 i knew it was coming. Reporter watch it again in slow motion. Powerful explosion and fireball. This is a rare occurrence. Remember, we overcharged that battery on purpose. Reporter what should consumers do to avoid that happening. Use the proper charger with that battery and charge it in an open area. Reporter simple tips to prevent this from happening to you. Jeff rossen, nbc news, chicago. Were back in a moment with wild moments during a scary moment with wild moments during a scary escape at and youre talking to youro doctor about your medication. This is humira. This is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. This is humira helping me go further. Humira works for many adults. It targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. Humira has been clinically studied for over 18 years. 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