richard engel shows us who gave the orders? "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc world headquarters in new york. this is nbc nightly news with jose diaz balart. >>> a fire storm is raging in the republican party and beyond. over comments about women donald trump was heard saying in the 11-year-old tape that came to light. trump's demeanoring lang have sex with them has lead to a growing coerce of republicans calling on the candidate to get out of the race. as of this afternoon at least 19 gop elected first names called on trump to drop out. others saying they will not vote for him or condemning his comments. on twitter vice president joe biden said donald trump's words are demeaning and such behavior is an abuse of power. it's not lewd said biden. it's sexual assault. the new uproar comes one day before the today he'll never get out of the race. we've got it all covered tonight beginning with katy tur here in new york city. >> reporter: good evening. trump is inside trump tower now. we're told he's doing deba

richard engel with the american commander ading the air war on the isis center of power in iraq. his warning to the west, victory there could unleash terror here. >>> assassinated. shocking footage as a judge in the el chapo case is gunned down while jogging in broad daylight. >>> and a killer new drug, taking young lives, twice as powerful as heroin and legally available on the web. a warning for parents "nightly news" begins right now. >>> this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening, there are exactly three weeks to go until election day. and with donald trump continuing today to sew seeds of doubt about the integrity of the voting system, president obama jumped into the middle of things, advising trump to stop whining. trump's conspiracy theories and mantra define much of the home stretch of the campaign, along hillary clinton's daily e-mail embarrassments. if there's a shake-up in the state of this bitter race coming, it could come tomorrow night when the two meet in las vegas for their final debate. that's where hallie jackson leads us off tonight. hallie?

richard engel inside the underground bunkers in iraq where isis fighters lived before they fled for their lives. >>> hunt for a serial killer. chilling new 911 calls as police ask for help in a new murder spree. >>> and scrambling nightmares. a billion dollar disaster for families watching their houses crack apart. an alarming wake-up call for homeowners everywhere. "nightly news" begins >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. donald trump who has repeatedly decried negative media coverage of him, as part of a rigged system, has once again made himself the top of the news cycle for going where no presidential candidate has gone before. at a rally in ohio today, trump first mocking and then trying to qualify his jaw-dropping night's debate, about whether he would accept the outcome of the election. his refusal to say managed to irk even some of his most ardent supporters, while shifting the focus from what many believe was his best debate performance. nbc's katy tur leads off our coverage. >> ladies and gentlemen, i w

richard engel reports from iraq. iraqi forces are closing in on mosul, pushing toward the city today from three sides.the american ground commander assistant with airstrikes, artillery and advisors told us mosul will fall, and with it isis's so called "caliphate" in iraq. "when they lose mosul and when they lose the territory they have in syria, i think that really puts a knife in the heart of volesky said some leaders from isis, also know as daesh, have been fleeing the city."there are a lot fewer daesh today than there were yesterday. there will be fewer tomorrow than today"but isis leaders aren't the only ones trying to escape this offensive. we saw an entire village south of mosul up and leave. all the families.. their animals too. they walked for miles through the war they want no part of. the un said it expects an initial 200,000 people to be displaced once fighting reaches mosul... and perhaps more waves after that. "europeans officials said today that isis foreign fighters could try to escape the city of mosu

richard engel inside the command center as americans and iraqis open a massive offensive on the islamic state's center of power in iraq. >>> olympic star's tragedy. an american medalist's teenage daughter killed in the crossfire. tonight charges after a fatal encounter in a will see you now. instead of going to the doctor's office, they virtually come to yours. the future of medicine at work. "nightly news" begins right now. >>> this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. we expect to hear diametrically opposed views at the height of a presidential campaign but usually not from the same sides. tonight that's what's happening as donald trump ramps up his fiery and unsupported predictions of large-scale election fraud, even as other key republicans, including his running mate, say it just isn't so. nonetheless, a rigged election has become the central theme of trump rallies as we head into the final three weeks of the campaign. whether it's meant to fire up the base or provide an excuse in case of defeat, it is raising tensions and has details. >> reporter: in donald tr

>> richard engel, thank you. >>> staying overseas for a moment, as we 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 men pleaded not guilty today for a shoot-out that tragically left an olympic sprinter's daughter dead. 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 leapt into a race against time to save the driver inside. nbc's kerry sanders now with the riveting details. 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,

lets go to nbc's richard engel, he's on the front line in iraq. what can you tell us about how this is progressing. >> reporter: well, i am not at the flight attendant right now. i am back of the city of erbil. we were on the front line earlier today, we were watching iraqis troops who are pushing those front lines right through the edge of mosul. they have been advancing quickly and this operation is just a few days old and already iraqis troops have taken over and pushing out a number of villages and arrived at the doorsteps of mos mosul. the iraqis prime minister today celebrated that this is a success. getting to mosul is one thing and clearing the city which had a million of people in it right now. there were concerns of isis waiting for a last stand. it is going quickly for the last few days and we won't know how tough this fight is until they reach mosul. it does look like how they'll reach the edge of mosul and how they'll push into the city relatively soon. >> all right, richard engel following all of that for us. thanks so much. up next

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richard engel reports. >> reporter: i.s.i.s.' so called caliphate is under attack from kurdish troops who pushed towards mosul and iraqi counterterrorism forces, trained by the u.s. to be the tip of the speer of the operatio , assists at times a few mile from the front line are around 500 american strike and coordination. there are 5,000 more troops on bases. ash carter visited them this weekend. >> we're going to get better at combating isil. even as they change, we'll get better. >> reporter: with every village lib rated, there are more signs of the group's radical intolerance -- in particular, persecution of christians who lived in this part of iraq since the earliest days the biggest battles are likely to begin once they reach mosul itself. a senior official said there are some 5,000 fighters in the city, among them 1500 foreign fighters, most from europe. richard engel, nbc news, iraq. >>> there is still no word of an official cause but it appears speed was a factor in a deadly tour bus crash near palm yesterday morning when

tonight, richard engel is on the front line. 23 days to go. where the issue stand against the sexual conduct against donald trump. testing the limits. exclusive reporting from inside north korea. free of pain, the new treatments offering patients none drug alternatives to conquer their story. this is nbc nightly news with kate snow. good evening, a pivotal moment tonight in the fight against isis. the northern city of mosul has been a symbol of isis strength of a place of more than two years now. now, with from the u.s., isis could be pushed out of that stronghold. richard engel is live tonight, good evening. >> reporter: we are on an iraqis military base south of mosul. the offensive to drive isis from the city of mosul could begin very soon. this will be an iraqis defense with iraqis troops actually at a supporting role providing air strikes and artery. with that extra fire power, it is not an easy mission. there is 1.5 million civilians are trapped in mosul. isis is not allowing people to leave and preferring holding them as human shields.

tonight our richard engel is on the front lines with iraqi forces and brings us an extraordinary look at the underground tunnel network isis used to prepare for this battle. >> reporter: iraqi and kurdish their biggest push toward mosul. the main offensive was from the east and to the town of bartella, just over ten miles from the city. we climbed into one of the iraqi special forces old american humvees. it's battle-worn, shot up, and the driver said damaged by an isis suicide bomber today. then it was on foot. quickly, because rounds whizzed by. this predominantly isis's main defensive positions leading towards mosul, and they're fighting hard to keep it. isis sending out car bombs. but iraqi troops are advancing faster than u.s. commanders anticipated. we'll be in mosul in two days, a soldier boasted. but isis has had two years to prepare for this fight. the soldiers showed us a tunnel they had just found. this was an isis escape route. also seems to be like isis fighters lived here, safe from u.s. warplanes. just based on the number of mattresses we've seen, this could have held,

our richard engel is on the front lines inside iraq with a look at the american role in the offensive. >> reporter: american jets launching in the mediterranean from the uss eisenhower. they're headed for mosul, the mission is extremely difficult. finding isis fighters among the some one million civilians. >> it's a bustling city, just like we would have back home. it just show happens that the city is run by isis. >> reporter: and this is not just a ground war. for the first time today, we saw american soldiers in full combat gear, clearing a bomb. one of the most dangerous jobs in a war zone. it's the same job 34-year-old chief petty officer jason finnan had, he was killed yesterday near mosul when an i.e.d. went off by his vehicle. we traveled with them to one of their forward positions east of mosul. the closer iraqi troops get to the center of mosul, the harder isis has been fighting back. there's been fighting in this front line village today. isis has been using mortars and snipers, as a vehicle approached the soldiers, they drew down on the driver and shouted for him to identi

our richard engel inside iraq shows us the destruction they found when they returned. >> reporter: this wasteland is what's left of the town of cara kosh. once home to 50,000 iraqi christians. along with everyone else, two and a half years ago, when isis started closing in. now he's back for a brief and dangerous visit. >> we want to see the city, and we want to be sure that the people can return back. >> reporter: the offensive against isis has made that possible, but father amin first wants to see his church. or what's left of it. here. >> reporter: this church was the largest in all of iraq where christians have lived for as long as there have been christians. iraqi fighters used the pews for fuel to spread the flames. and the courtyard for target practice. >> i want to hurt them, but to pray of course. >> reporter: for now, the only christians members of the christian defense unit, volunteers who have taken up arms, like jamil, a poet. this is one of the proudest moments of my life, he said. proud, because jamil and his men were among the first to arrive, driving in sunday, initiall

>> richard engel, thank you very much. >>> in the united states a massive fire at a recycling plant in ontario, california prompted a smoke advisory for the region. it sent a huge plume of black smoke into the air. it could be seen for miles. the fire was fuelled by card board. no word on the cause. no serious injuries reported. >>> heavy rain in pennsylvania could be to blame for a ruptured pipeline threatening the of thousands. an estimated 55,000 gallons of gas spilled into a nearby creek. there's no indication that the water supply has been affected but they're monitoring the break to make sure that the water remains safe. >>> huge corporate merger appears set to take place. at&t agreed to buy time warner for more than $80 billion. a merger joining two media and telecommunications giants and their wireless broadband and announce the deal as early as tonight. >>> and there are great expectations tonight in chicago where fans of the cubs have two chances this weekend to see their team make it to the world series. for the first time in seven decades! all they have to do, all they have

richard engel, nbc news. >>> the winner of this year's nobel peace prize has been revealed. colombian president juan manuel santos is for his efforts to end half a century of conflict with leftist rebels. a peace deal with the revolutio revolutio revolutionary armed forces of colombia ia, or farc, was signed last month, but voters later rejected it. now this nobel win brings new hope of salvaging an agreement. >>> and the video today that proves leaders of the free world are just like us. here's president obama strolling out of the white house to board marine one, when suddenly he did a quick body search and turnaround and headed back into the oval office to grab his phone. the way you see it happens to other people and to the president as well. maybe i got that backwards. you know what i meant. >>> when we come back, >>> back now from the storm zone in florida. before we go, we want to get a quick update on what's happening further up the coast in jacksonville beach, which is getting hit with that storm surge that poses the greatest threat to life and property. our gabe gut

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in the region and spoke exclusively with the general leading the american effort. >> reporter: how's it going? >> it's going well. >> reporter: in his first interview since the offensive to push isis out of began, major general gary valesquey said his troops are providing air support and heavy artillery, but not leading this charge. >> the iraqis have the momentum, they know it, and they want to get there as quickly as they can. >> reporter: we followed iraqi troops to the front line to see for ourselves. we made our way to the newly liberated village of hud. she's happy said a man she's happy to see the soldiers. but why were these people carrying white flags? because iraqi troops have moved on, even though villagers say there are still isis fighters here. and what we saw next was a war planner's worst nightmare, entering this sunni village were shi'ite militias. in a country that's seen civil war between these two sects of islam, it's a dangerous mix. could have international consequences as well. general valesquey is concerned that i

our chief foreign 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 battle of president obama's war on isis, and it's being coordinated here in this joint operations room. iraqi officers on one side, their american advisers on the other. 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 american and 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 are filled in, american planes will land here, to support iraqi troops in mosul. taking mosul is such

thank you very much courtney and richard engel.ok as we head into the dessert with the first lady. the chance of whether or not that they can swing in the favor of hillary clinton come election day. will the first lady make the difference there? we'll talk about that in a second. the reason to get you in line at the apple store nearest you. the tech giant is doing something they have not done in the last election cycle. >> after weeks of speculations apple is hosting the next big echt event on october 222ndnd. it is the first time that apple updated the model of 2012 mac book. that's the update, be sure to catch live coverage of the event on theverge.com. [accountant] my job is to manage and grow businesses. and i've never seen a rocket ship take off like this. [owner] i'm lindsey. i'm the founder of e