nle anbc . tonight, plagiarism bombshell. the trump campaign in crisis, stunning similarities between melania trump's convention speech and michelle obama's speech from 2008. at some points, nearly word for word. tonight, a wild wave of denials and accusations. major news dramawith donald trump set to officially become the nominee. ax attack horror, aboard a busy train, a man goes on a rampage, randomly slashing passengers, calling himself an isis soldier. >> in or out. fox news denies reports its legendary leader, roger ailes was ousted. an alarming rise in one of

the most aggressive and deadliest kinds of cancer, doctors calling it a wakeup call for men to be screened. "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: the republican national convention, this is nbc "nightly news with lester holt" reporting tonight from cleveland. good evening. as we come on the air in the pacific time zone, the melania trump plagiarism controversy buzzing around this convention hall, and we have new elements of the unfo unfolding story whether the speech last night contained the same wording as michelle obama's speech in 2008. this comes the same time as the voting for the republican candidate for president. >> reporter: new developments as there are accusations

melania trump plagiarized parts of the obama speech. they claim they hired matthew scully to draft those remarks, the documents submitted showing none of those. the changes were made after it was delivered to the campaign. some sections striki strikingly similar to michelle obama's to the 2008 convention. >> the values -- >> you work hard for what you want in life. >> that your word is your bond and you do what you say you want to do. >> a senior trump aide tells nbc news scully created an early draft that was rejected and the process started over and discovered certain passages from the original did appear in melania trump's speech but not those in question. and melania -- donald trump not blaming any speech writers. >> we hired speech

wri writers. >> it wasn't plagiarism. these are common values. >> melania trump said you work hard for what you want in life. john legend said, you work hard for what you want in life. "my little pony," this is your dream. >> reporter: struggling to stay on message. >> it w-- the speech itself was graceful and now we're not talking about the speech, the process it was produced. that indicates a campaign not ready for primetime. >> reporter: after night one's grand entrance it was to show trump's softer side highlighting the mother of the victim of the benghazi attacks. >> how could she do this to me? how could she do this to any american family. >> we need to get our country back. we're headed in the wrong direction. he is the man to bring our country back. >> for trump, racing to lock up conservative support, those are the words he'd rather be talking

about. >> reporter: bottom line, it is still not sure who is responsible for the similarities in the speech. two more will take the stage tonight from donald trump's home state, ready for the headlines. lester. >> hat was halle on the floor tonight. and thank you. donald trump was formally nominated this evening as the republican candidate for president. what's the latest? >> reporter: we just moved outside the trump family's vip box and you can see donald trump, jr. and his sister waiting. within the last hour the siblings all stood together for the new york delegation when they put their father on top with the 1237 delegates he needed.

take a listen. >> it is my honor to be able to throw donald trump over the top in the delegate count tonight with 89 delegates! >> reporter: like that, the party began, the trump family enjoying this moment even with the recent controversy. it was the last gasp for the anti-trump movement. any effort to embarrass the candidate, that failed. you can drop presumptive and now donald trump is now the formal nominee for the republican party. >> i will bring in, if i can, chuck todd and savannah guthrie. this campaign has breezed past a lot of controversies, why is this one more difficult to get past? >> i think they are making it more difficult for theirselves. in the best scenario,

somebody made a sloppy mistake and maybe it raises questions nobody caught it. today, to have an array of surrogates say with a straight face they didn't hear what you clearly can hear portions of the speech almost identical word-for-word now you have a question of credibility of the campaign on top of the confidence. people know what they heard and willing to forgive it. for the campaign surrogates to say, this wasn't lifted, this wasn't a mistake, your ears are decei deceiving you. i think they compounded a problem and made a story that could have been over by breakfast time and continue to tonight. >> let me go to chuck. this actual nomination process hasn't gone without conflict. >> it hasn't but it's been smoother today than yesterday. the other issue was this could have been a speed bump, a hiccup and they move on. it's been emblematic of this entire convention and rollout. i call this establishment tonight.

you will see elected republicans quietly make the case for trump. are they making the case for trump or just against hillary clinton. we did not hear a lot of pro trump speeches last night. we heard anti-clinton speeches. he needs pro testimony. >> all right. tonight we're learning about details of an afghan teenager promising loyalty to isis and with an ax and knife killing people at random. >> holding a knife and calling himself an isis soldier, this 17-year-old promised a suicide mission. then, with an ax and a knife, he randomly slashed passengers on a train, shouting god is great. five people were badly injured before he was shot and killed. german intelligence say he made no direct contact with isis.

recently. he lived at this center with other refugees, after apparently traveling alone from afghanistan last year. it's just the latest terror attack stunning europe. from the man near paris, who stabbed to death two police officers last month. to the truck driver in nice, who killed 84 people. killers who appeared from nowhere, for intelligence agencies, attacks that are almost impossible to predict or prevent. bill neely, nbc news, london. back here at home, it is sweltering out there for much of the country, with the heat wave putting some 44 million people under warnings and alerts in 16 states from louisiana all the way up to minnesota. many areas seeing triple digit temperatures and more are bracing as the scorching heat moves to the east. president obama has a new

message for the nation's police officers in an open letter, quote, we have your back after the recent deadly ambushes on law enforcement. it's a dangerous job and just today police captain was killed in kansas. departments nationwide are on alert. tonight our miguel almaguer goes out on the front lines. >> reporter: deputy sheriff brian anderson patrolling the streets of los angeles today. danger is nothing new for this 14-year veteran. but in the wake of police shootings in dallas and baton rouge, these are changing times. >> when something tragic like this happens, it should stren h strengthen our resolve to be mindful, to be safe. >> reporter: just last month, two deputies were shot in anderson's division, now helicopters are launched more often to help. dispatch centers are changing the way they screen 911 calls and fewer officers are working alone. how do you know the next call is not a trap? >> you don't. >> reporter: while we were patrolling today in los angeles,

another officer was shot and killed in kansas city. this has been a particularly deadly year. 32 officers killed by firearms so far. up 78% from this date last year. for their families, sleepless nights. >> my son used to want to be a police officer and he doesn't anymore. >> reporter: in indianapolis, a son and daughter pray for their daddy before his shift. it's the small things that make a big difference. blue lights for blue lives in denver. a lemonade stand for police working the beat near reno. >> thank you. >> reporter: a dangerous job where uncertainty is the only thing that's certain. miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. tonight, 21st century fox news is swirling amid news that legendary roger aisle has been

ou ousted. the company says an ongoing review is being held against ailes who has been a towering force for republican politics for decades, even before the existence of fox news. nbc's cynthia mcfadden has late details. >> reporter: reports circling tonight that fox news chairman and ceo, roger ailes, is on his way out. this in the wake of a highly publicized claim of sexual harassment by gretchen carlson, who says that ailes fired her in june after she rebuffed his advances, a claim aisle denies. ailes turned fox news into the political powerhouse it is today with revenues last year with more than a billion dollars. >> aisle is fox news. there's not a detail of fox news that ailes does not have his fingers on. he is the person who is most central to his organization and the product it produces.

>> reporter: ailes' rise included working as a media consultant with a mt. rushmore of republican presidents, richard nixon, ronald reagan and george h.w. bush. database but as the founder of fox news, he solidified his reputation as a king maker, working closely with rupert murdock, the executive chairman of 20th -21st century fox. >> it's always been a good working relationship. roger ailes provides the one thing that rupert murdock likes most and really can't do without which is money, an enormous amount of money. >> reporter: a year ago murdock put his sons, lakland and james, in charge of fox news. a source with direct knowledge of the situation told nbc news, the brothers wanted ailes out even back then. today, the drudge report posted a document that purportedly appeared to be the $20 million separation agreement between aisle and 21st

century fox. the document was almost immediately taken down. the company followed with a statement tweeted out shortly after. roger is at work, the review is ongoing, the only agreement that is in place is his existing employment agreement. still ahead here tonight, a cynthia mcfaddcfadden, nbc news york. still ahead here tonight, a new warning about an alarming rise in a deadly form of cancer soaring 72% in the last decade. are the screening guidelines that millions trust to blame? also terrifying moments as a crane collapses on a busy bridge that more than 100,000 use daily.

we're back now with a wake-up call about the second most commonly diagnosed cancer among men, prostate cancer. a new report shows a dramatic increase in new cases of the deadliest most aggressive form of prostate cancer. and as nbc's ron mott explains, crazy new questions about the guidelines for screening men. >> reporter: there's alarming news about the deadliest kind of prostate cancer, it is on the move. a new study of 800,000 men in northwestern university found a dramatic increase in advanced cancer cases, a 72% jump in the last decade, the largest surge, men 55 to 69 almost doubled in number. >> the goal is to look at the numbers. >> reporter: study author dr. edward shaffer says the possible reason is the disease may be turning more aggressive and fewer men are getting screened. >> i think the take home message for the study really is that we need to be certain that we're on

the right track and really maybe rethink how we're crafting our guidelines to screen men with prostate cancer. >> reporter: when caught early, prostate cancer is virtually curable, with survival rates nearly 100%. but if it's diagnosed after it's spread, about three-quarter of patients die within one year. psa screenings have dropped. >> in my mind, the data is very clear that screening for prostate cancer saves lives. >> reporter: the american cancer society recommends men with an average risk be screened starting at age 50. age 45 for those with increased risk, a family history or african-american. joseph levinston says a psa test saved his life. he was treated successfully for advanced cancer at m.d. anderson in houston. >> totally shocked, you don't realize how valuable life is until you're faced with the fact that you possibly won't have any more of it. >> a beatable cancer, if only

it's caught in time, ron mott, nbc news, chicago. we're back in a moment with something jaw dropping about the game millions of americans are addicted to.

a scary scene today on a major span crossing the hudson river north of new york city, a crane crashing down during construction on the tappan zee bridge. three people were injured but amazingly no one was seriously hurt. it triggered a traffic nightmare with the traffic shut down for hours. the mobile game where players catch little monsters is a monster hit. nintendo, the company behind pokemon go is now worth more than double than it was before the game was launched two weeks ago. with an estimated 26 million users in the u.s., it's the biggest mobile game in history. big things are in store later this evening when donald trump or someone who looks a whole lot like him returns to

nbc's tonight show, starring jimmy fallon. here's an exclusive sneak peek. ♪ we'll keep on fighting until the end ♪ ♪ ♪ >> anyway, it's been a great convention so far, last night was fantastic, it was huge. did you see melania? she stole the show, literally. how great was scott baio? wasn't his speech great? wasn't it fantastically huge? i loved it so much, i'm going to put charles in charge of the nuclear launch codes. last night you heard from antonio sabado jr. from general hospital. tonight, you heard from

kimberlin brown from "the "young and the restless"" and the rest of the week, you'll be hearing from "all my children." don jr., ivanca, eric? >> if you want to see the rest you have to come back. how social media keeps throwing twist after test into this wild alaska season.

john kasich, and 11 votes for my friend and the next president of the united states, donald trump! >> corey lewandowski announcing the tally for donald trump tonight. finally, we have seen it time and time again in this election, social media, the way the candidates use it and the way it can turn small tremors to fundamental earthquakes and how it can change the course of history. tom brokaw is the self-described old dog learning new tricks. >> reporter: on the second floor of a parking garage, the future is here. >> we have 30 million subscribers. every channel has a different audience. >> reporter: the digital universe, made up of dozens of booths. >> two and three people who are following the presidential candidates on instagram are voting age millennials. >> reporter: in the last 24 hours, 8.5 million americans

have posted almost 30 million upons on facebook alone. >> in the last 30 days, 27 million people have talked about mr. trump. >> reporter: at google, second by second snapshots of what the voters are thinking. >> people are searching donald trump and police, donald trump and race issues. isis. >> reporter: four years ago, data such as this had a 36-hour lag time, now it's mere seconds. what about people who are reading this and say at the end of the day, i'm going to vote with my heart, not with my head. >> that's the one thing that we don't know. >> reporter: much of social media is apolitical. they serve up the mood, you decide. but conservative news organizations use social media to expand their social views. >> we have over 2 million facebook likes, so we have been growing like crazy, mostly because we articulate news and information that people can't get elsewhere. >> reporter: until recently, candidates depending on newspapers, television networks and cable to get their messages out.

donald trump became the first digital intense candidate combining rallies with conventional media, and the new forms, especially twitter. the question is, can he keep it up and tweet his way to the white house? >> our tom brokaw reporting tonight. that's going to do it for us for now, i'm lester holt, i'll see you tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern, 7:00 pacific for prime time coverage of the republican national convention. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching. good night from cleveland.

allegations of ab buys against deputies. the latest case against the embattled puente county share live's office. nbc bay area starts now. i'm terry sweeney in for raj mathai. >> a dash ram ka caught it all. santa clara county accused of roughing up and injuring a woman during a traffic stop. a story you'll see only on nbc bay area. robert handa joins us from the bay area courthouse.

you have the story. >> reporter: this case has been litigated and behind closed doors. even though the deputies are no longer with the department, the case won't be going away any time soon. the dash cam videos from the video of deputy dan harris, he asks loudly about why her car has stopped. >> why are you [ bleep ] stop? forest pulls chang over and approaches the car. chang continues to argue with deputy forest. when her hand makes contact with his flashlight and his hand, the encounter turns very physical. >> reporter: legal analyst stephen clark analyzes the video. >> when you start with the way the citizen contact was it