>> saturday night. >> fall back. >> yeah. >> thanks for joining us here at 5:00. as a reminder, lester holt is next with "nightly news". >> we'll see you at 6:00. bye! tonight, a major push five days until the midterms. oprah on the campaign trail a call to action from the queen of talk. >> you get a vote. and you get a vote. >> oprah going door to door trying to help elect the nation's first african american woman governor, addressing her own presidential ambitions and taking veiled swipes at the man in the oval office. a stark contrast to president trump's fear factor. his new threat and his new video that critics are calling flat out racist. a horrific crash at a school bus stop. children hit again for the fourth time in three days. what is going on? a massive walkout across the country. google employees revolt over the treatment of women.

a critical decision over the fate of e-sigs surging among teens. the fda days away from taking some off the market and an amazing rescue. a hump back whale is struggling to survive and a fisherman taking a leap of faith to free it. the rock star captivating new york city and people around the world, a big mystery tonight, how the heck did it get here? >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening. five days until the midterm vote, republicans and democrats are playing their strongest hands tonight. president trump playing the fear card over illegal immigration with a powerful and racially divisive new video. while in georgia, voters answered knocks at the door only to come face to face with oprah winfrey. the talk queen coming off the political sidelines today to rally support for georgia's democratic candidate for governor who could make history next tuesday night. we've got it all covered starting with

kristen welker in atlanta. >> you get a vote. and you get a vote. and you get a vote. >> reporter: tonight the o factor, oprah winfrey electrifying voters in georgia for stacy abrams knocking on doors, hosting a pair of down halls today supporting abrams that could be the first female african-american governor. >> nobody paid for me to come here. i paid for myself and i approve this message. >> reporter: quickly dismissing the question, is her visit a sign she's thinking about running for president? >> i'm not here because i'm making some grandstand because i'm thinking about running myself. i don't want to run. >> reporter: instead, oprah putting the focus on abrams. >> i said stacy, this is oprah. she said girl, let me pull over to the side of the road. >> reporter: and on turning out the vote,

reminding the audience of a painful past. >> for anybody here who has an ancestor who didn't have the right to vote and you are choosing not to vote wherever you are in this state, in this country, you are dishonoring your family. >> reporter: do you see her as someone that helps you energize specifically women voters, voters of color? >> i think oprah energizes everyone. >> reporter: winfrey's visit comes as abrams is in a tight race with brian kemp. they are accusing him to perch thousands of minorities from the voting roles. kemp has vehemently denied any voter suppression. today the vice president stumping for him. >> i'd like to remind stacy and oprah and will ferrell, i'm kind of a big deal, too. >> reporter: oprah usually stays on the political sidelines, endorsing barack obama in 2007 and hillary

clinton in 2016. still, oprah didn't miss a chance to take a not-so-subtle swipe at the trump era politics of division. >> and i know it's easy for a lot of people to feel that you have no power against those injustices, but this is what i'm here to tell you, this land was made for you and me. [ cheers ] >> this land was made for you and me. that's not just a song, that's the truth. >> reporter: hoping that message will help make history. kristen welker, nbc news, decatur, georgia. this is peter alexander in colombia, missouri. president trump tonight upping the ante trying to drive home immigration. as the defining issue of the midterms. the president announcing his plan to sign an executive order next week automatically denying asylum to migrants who try to enter the u.s. illegally between ports of entry. >> under this plan, the illegal aliens will no longer get a free pass into the country by lodging meritless claims in

seeking asylum. >> reporter: that would violate u.s. and international law that allows anyone to claim asylum once they've entered the country, no matter how they got in. the president also delivering this jarring warning. >> anybody throwing stones, rocks, we'll consider that a firearm. >> reporter: it comes as the president is facing sharp condemnation for fear mongering and racism by promoting this web video trying to terrify republicans to vote. the video produced for the trump campaign features a twice deported mexican immigrant sentenced to death last spring for killing two california deputies. >> i killed two and i'll kill more. >> reporter: it's a divisive message blaming democrats without evidence and trying to tar undocumented immigrants as invaders. drawing comparisons to the willy horton act. republican jeff flake calling the ad sickening tweeting republicans everywhere

should denounce it. president trump in a new interview with the christian broadcasting network defending himself against accusations he's a racist. >> the word racist is used by every republican that's winning. any time a republican is leading, they take out the r-word, racist word. and i'm not anti-immigrant at all. i'm all for people coming into the country legally. >> reporter: tonight, president trump is bracing for a democratic surge that could cost republicans the house, largely focussing his attention on keeping the senate. over the next five days hosting ten rallies in eight states. lester? >> peter alexander tonight, thank you. what a horrible t scol bus stops in this country. a series of tragedies involving children on their way to school. there were two more accidents today bringing to four the number of crashes that left five children dead just this week. here is nbc's kristen dahlgren. >> lord have mercy. >> reporter: terror at a school bus stop in tampa this morning. >> i didn't know which

kid to help. there were so many laying on the ground. >> reporter: witnesses say a speeding car slammed into five children and two adults leaving one child in critical condition. the driver now in custody. one of four accidents at school bus stops in the past three days. in central pennsylvania this morning, a 7-year-old killed in a hit and run. the driver never even stopping to help. while in mississippi this man is now charged with aggravated assault after a 9-year-old was struck and killed. and in indiana, a community is mourning three siblings killed this week crossing the road on their way to the bus. that driver also facing charges. some 25 million students nationwide ride a school bus but experts say getting on and off can be st dangerous ti. especially this time of year right before yl canelp street, stay alert and never assume a driver and teach children to will stop. a deadly lesson up ay from the learned the hard way for so many this week. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, new york. >> let's hope this is a wakeup call to drivers everywhere. tonight a massive

walkout across the country and around the world to one of america's most prominent companies, google employees revolting over the treatment of women, including the handling of workplace sexual harassment. we get more from nbc's jo ling kent. >> reporter: thousands of google employees told their bosses today time is up. >> we demand structural change in the name of transparency, accountability and equity. >> we're walking out to support women and to protest the way that this company handled sexual harassment cases. >> reporter: the protest following a "new york times" report google gave android creator andy rubin a $90 million package to leave after a sexual misconduct allegation. ruben denies the allegation and calls the report a wild exaggeration. why did you walk out? >> i walked out because i think it's not acceptable for a lot of upper management to let this kind of thing go.

>> reporter: google ceo says 48 employees have been fired for sexual harassment in the last two years, 13 of them senior managers. >> moments like this show that we didn't always get it right, so we are committed to doing better. >> reporter: today google employees making it clear, respect and safety are not things they should have to search for. jo ling kent, nbc news. divers found one of the two black boxes from the lion air crash that killed 189 people in indonesia. investigators hope the data recorder can reveal why the plane went down shortly after take off. a report claims the pilot of the plane's previous flight had radioed in about technical problems within minutes but was able to complete that trip. tonight, the fda is calling the rising use of e-cigarettes by teenagers a, quote, public health tragedy. the agency must decide to increase regulations on the products that have attracted smokers trying to quit as well as millions of kids who never smoked before. nbc news senior investigative correspondent cynthia

mcfadden has more on the surge in teens and the critical decision to come. >> reporter: olivia gordon is part of what the fda calls an epidemic. 3 million high school students this year using e-cigarettes. up more than 75% from last year. >> she would hide them in their jacket sleeves and pull them up in class and things like that. >> reporter: the fda so concerned about kids using, they are considering taking some e-cigarettes off the market, perhaps banning the flavors kids prefer. one pod of the most popular brand juul contains the same amount of nicotine as a whole pack of cigarettes and a recent study suggestions there could be troubling long-term effects from vaping. >> the five main chemicals we found are either shown to be cancer causing or thought to be cancer causing, either in humans or animals. >> reporter: dr. mark

rubenstein at the university of california san francisco was the first to study chemical levels in kids who said they use e-cigarettes. >> even the fact these were lower levels is still concerning. we don't know these kids will continue to use for many years, but should they, we expect to see some of these same negative outcomes we see with cigarettes. >> reporter: juul labs is valued at $16 billion. chief administrative officer ashley goul concedes they only have three years of data on their product. is it irresponsible to put a product out there for adults or anybody to purchase if you don't know the long-term effects? >> the context is incredibly important. this product was put out there for an adult that uses a product that kills half of them. >> reporter: there is the dilemma, a product that might be helpful for adult smokers is not good for kids period.

you don't want anybody to think the kids juuling are equal to the adults. >> of course not. we need to protect kids from access and use from products like juul and supported 38 million adult smokers in our country, half of whom will die from smoking. >> reporter: juul labs pushed back on the study saying you can't draw conclusions about any one e-cigarette brand from it because the kids in the study were self-reporting the products they were using. the fda will weigh in soon. lester? >> cynthia mcfadden , thank you. the first cannabis-based medication was just approved by the fda available by prescription in all 50 states. it treats severe forms of epilepsy and based on a chemical component found in marijuana that does not get users high. we turn to a story hitting home for so many families, perhaps yours. november is alzheimer's awareness

and family care givers month, where the millions of family members who care for loved ones with alzheimer's are recognized for a job that can take a serious toll on their health. nbc news anchor maria shriver has more on what she knows all too well. >> reporter: for 14-year-old hailey and her mom robin balancing work, school and care giving has become a daily labor of love. their 82-year-old father and grandfather jim has alzheimer's. >> love you, grandpa. >> reporter: a former naval officer who lost his leg, jim was diagnosed with alzheimer's last year so robin had to move him and her mom into the tiny apartment she shares with her boyfriend and her daughter. >> not that shirt, dad. >> reporter: every morning and evening they dress jim, make his meals, give him meds and keep him safe as he slips into the cognitive fog of alzheimer's. >> i worry about it all day when i'm at work. it's draining. it's emotionally stressful. >> reporter: experts say it's a national crisis. of the 16 million family caregivers, nearly 60% suffer from

high emotional stress. 40% suffer from depression. and it's not just adults, 250,000 kids under 18 also care for loved ones with alzheimer's. do you feel like i don't know how to do this? this is too much pressure? this is too much responsibility? i'm going to make a mistake, what's going to happen? >> sometimes it is like that. i don't want to always ask my mom for help because that's putting so much on her plate. >> as her mom, i don't want her to worry about stuff like that. i want her to worry kid and i th it's putting too much more on my plate. >> you had it backwards. >> reporter: the stress is taking a toll. care giving has left robin living paycheck to paycheck. she's lost 50 pounds and can't remember the last time she went to the doctor. you can understand how caregivers get sicker than the people they care for? >> definitely.

>> reporter: but she says the struggle is worth it. every moment with grandpa, a gift before alzheimer's steals him away. >> maria, great to have you here and great to see you. >> thank you. >> this is such an emotional issue that affects so many people. is there any government help for folks? >> lester, earlier this year the government passed an act to develop a strategy to support caregivers. they have 15 months to implement that but polls show voters overwhelmingly think the government isn't doing enough for caregiver, isn't doing enough for older people and want political leaders to step up and say they would reward them with their vote if they made this a priority. >> thank you for doing the story. very good to see you. ahead tonight, the amazing video. a fisherman jumps into the ocean and climbs on a whale in a rescue mission. we'll show you more of that. the colorful mystery viewers are flocking to see. an update on the single mom of five inspiring america by achieving a life-long dream.

newly released incredible video from off the california coast showing a hump back whale in distress tangled and struggling to survive and a fisherman taking a leap of faith to pull off a daring rescue. here is nbc's miguel almaguer. >> get it. right now, get it. >> reporter: this is the wild ride even veteran fisherman wouldn't have believed. >> jump on the whale now and cut it. >> reporter: that is sam leaping onto the back of a 30-ton >> cut it!hale. cut it right now! it's right there! >> reporter: swimming atop out 40-foot beast with a small knife struggling to free it from a fishing line attached to a buoy off california's central coast. >> you can tell he was stressed and being . >> reporter: nicholas turan was recording the

whale's tail as it started the plunge. >> get it before she dies. >> reporter: the while calling out, thrashing alongside the small boat. >> oh! >> we were like screaming at the whale, like this is it, buddy. >> reporter: the catch of a lifetime paying off. >> did you get it? yeah! >> reporter: two fishermen celebrating the one that got away. miguel almaguer, nbc news. >> there is brave and then there is brave. coming up, the rare sight that has everyone talking and halloween costume got the seal of approval from a former first lady.

here are the facts.leading attacks against prop c. the city's chief economist says prop c

will "reduce homelessness" by creating affordable housing, expanding mental-health services, and providing clean restrooms and safe shelters with independent oversight, open books, and strict accountability measures to make sure every penny goes to solving our homeless crisis. vote yes on c. endorsed by the democratic party, nancy pelosi, and dianne feinstein. with a few random city, hardened new yorkers are flocking to see it. the question is what's it doing here? here is harry smith. >> reporter: it is the talk of the town. >> this is so cool. look at how beautiful. >> reporter: a singular sensation. >> never in my life did i think i would ever see one of these in central park. >> reporter: dare we say a bird deserving of top billing. >> it doesn't look real. it looks like somebody

painted a rubber duck. >> reporter: the new manhattan must see. in a quiet corner of central park is a mandarin duck, a bird usually found in asia. he's right down there in that little nook, and he's a sight to see. how it got here is a mystery. local zoos have said not ours. is he lost? he stolen? might this be an example of fowl play? new yorkers are just happy he's here. has the duck lived up to expectations? >> absolutely. the colors on it, details, it looks made up. >> reporter: why he came and if he'll stay are questions this bird has thus far been able to duck. harry smith, nbc news, new york. >> well done, harry. i got to go see that. one halloween costume this year got a thumb's up from a former first lady. we told you about 3-year-old parker curry in march when her reaction to michelle obama's portrait in washington went viral. michelle tweeted today you nailed the look,

parker, i love it. also, tonight a major milestone for a mom inspiring america. a policel

bay area counties ends in a hail of bullets. plus, a barista calls out starbucks... for racism at a south bay store. she says the trouble started with an offensive song. next right now at 6: the worldwide google walkout. an exciting new chapter for the single mom of five we told you about on this program earlier this year. after graduating law school, she got some great news this week. now she's ready for her first case and inspiring america. when this photo went viral back in april, al to celebrate. >> it's always been my dream as a young child to become an attorney. >> reporter: graduating from law school, her five kids by her side. champs is a single mom, a high school dropout. when she was pregnant with her fourth child, she lost her job, her

house, and the father of two of her children to cancer. that's when her pastor encouraged her to go back and get her degree. she did that and much more. enrolling in law school. her kids banding together to help her through. >> the hardest was the crying. i hate seeing my mother cry. sometimes i wanted to cry but i had to stay tough. >> reporter: her son wrote her this letter. >> there is nobody i'd rather have by my side than you. you're my peanut and butter and jelly to my bread, my syrup to my pancakes, i love you. >> reporter: this week, she found out she passed the bar. >> all the hours, all the days, all the tears, all the time i've had to sacrifice, all the time my children had to sacrifice, it was so worth it. >> reporter: now a lawyer, and a role model. i love that, the syrup to my pancake. what an achievement for her entire family. the mess

employees are right now at 6:00, the worldwide google walkout. the message thousands of google employees are sending to their boss. and tonight his response. plus -- >> i hoped it would facilitate change. i think clearly it hasn't. >> accusations of racism at a action for what she says her manager refused to do. but first, we're following breaking news. a car chase spanning three local counties ends with officers opening fire. we're live on the scene. the news at 6:00 starts right now. good evening and thanks for being with us. i'm raj mathai.

>> and i'm jessica aguirre. we've been tracking this for the last 90 minutes. it's a police chase that started in vallejo, but it ended with a crash in oakland. that's when vallejo police say their officers opened fire there in the city of oakland hitting a man we believe was driving the suv. all of this unfolding at the intersection of international and 22nd avenue. >> nbc bay area's melissa colorado has just arrived on the scene and joins us with some answers. >> reporter: raj, it's not entirely rare for there to be an officer involved shooting in oakland. the officers involved are from another pute that's what happ h the officers involved are from the vallejo police department. we don't know exactly when this police chase started. we know it ended right here in oakland around 4:00 p.m. today right here along international and 22nd avenue. you can see thi