breaking news tonight, six days until the midterms. president trump doubling down on his immigration rhetoric threatening to send up to 15,000 active duty troops to the border, but is this a manufactured crisis? a reality check tonight caravan of migrants and refugees over 900 miles away. also tonight, the president goes on the attack against house speaker paul ryan over birthright citizen ip. >> the oprah factor. her surprise announcement, can she help elect this country's first ca afamerican woman governor and is she reconsidering a potential run for president? a growing mystery, two sisters found bound together by duck tape in the river hundreds of miles from home. authorities tight lipped on a chilling the final moments

caught on camera, passengers seen boarding that doomed jetliner as tonight investigators make a big discovery. the startling new s arning causing doct start changing the way they treat one of the most common cancers in women. fighting back against an avalanche of robocalls. >> this is iane. ey are all ringing. all from the same number. >> tonight, nbc news is the first inside the war room leading the chge to stop the calls. and a supreme secret for nearly 60 years. the revelationonight that stunned eve their own children. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening, everyone. we're six days from the midterm election but millions of americans are having their say now. 24 millily or absentee votes have been cast already eclipsing the total nationwide early vote of four years ago. the enthusired up by several house, senate and governor's races that are virtual dead heats tonight and with control of congress at stake and his agenda, esident

trump is embarking on a campaign blitz hoping to tip momentum toward republicans wi a closing argument that starts and ends with immigration. the president threatening to send thousands more active duty troops to the southern border and attacking the republican speaker of the house who said the eresident can't simply order to birthright citizenship. hallie jackson has the story. >> reporter: tonight, the president is pulling a page from his 2016 pook threatening to triple the numbers troops he's sending to the boarderd>>. ill go to 15,000 military personnel on top of border patrol and i.c.e. nobody is coming in. reporter: that wo d be more troops than in afghanistan. terms, the president

is zeroing in as he fires away at fellow republican paul ryan who is not on the ballot. the president is tweeting the house speaker ould focus on holding the majority rather than giving opinions on birthright citizenship, something he knows nothing t. ab why are you attacking paul ryan? >> birthright citizen citizenship is a very, very important subject. in my opinion, it's much less complex than people thing. >> reporter: that comes after ryan pointed out the president can't over ride the constitution iv with an exec order to prevent babies born in the me u.s. to undocued parents from becoming citizens. >> you obviously cannot do that. you cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order. >> reporter: the president is not backing off, betting his base will turnout if he keeps the border battle front and center. the president tonight here in florida is

hoping to boost the ce chof the republican candidate locked in a tight race for governor in a rl state where voting by republicans has outpaced democrats but democrats are hoping for their own shot in the arm when a different president, former president obama at visits this later in the week. both parties in a final blitz to election day. >> hallie jackson in florida, thanks. from that let's talk about the oprfa or and her surprise announcement of her last-minute campaign push to elect this country's first afcan american governor. it's got a lot of people asking is oprah also reconsidering a potential run for president? apparently those very close to her are keeping up the pressure. ore, here is nbc's kristen welker. >> reporter: tonight, oprah, off the sidelines and entering the 2018 fray. >> vote! >> reporter: the queen of talk poised to lend her voice and star power to stacy abrarms, the georgiamo at running to become the country's first female african american governor.

abram is locked in a tight race. oprah has stayed out of politics but in 2007 she endorsement candidate barack ob a. >> i believe the now is the time for somebody like barack obama. >> reporter: also backing hillary clinton in016, but now oprah is generating the buzz of a potential run after this speech at the golden globes. i>> that is new d on the horizon. >> reporter: she was quick to dismiss the speculation telling british "vogue" i would not be able to do it. it's not a clean business. it would kill me. in an article out today, telling "the new york times" her best friend gail king is urging her to do it. winfrey says you of pe alle are supposed to care about my life.

king replying, the country is bigger than your life. an president trum former president obama will also stump in georgia. lester? >> kristen welker, thanks. as funerals continue for the 11 killed in the synagogue mass shooting, the suspect has been indicted by the grand jury and charged with 44 counts including hate crimes. prosecutors said they planned to seek the death penalty. i want to talk about a growing mystery. this is a strange one. two sisters found bound together by duct tape in new york city's hudson river. their bodies hundreds of miles from home. authorities are being tight lipped on this case while asking th public for help. we get me from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: tonight, new york city police want the publis help. anything anyone may know about two young sisters from sdi abia. the bodies of 22-year-old rotana and her 16-year-old sister were found in the hudson river off a manhattan pier. bound together by duck

tape with their ankles and waist and dressed in similar clothes, black leggings and fur lined black coats. the younger sier had been reported missing. their deaths remain a mystery. according to multiple sources briefed on the investigation, there are no signs of foul play. suicide is leading theory, but nothing has been ruled out. >> there has been, i will call it significant progress, trying to get the complete picture of what ultimately led to the two young ladies being discovered. >> reporter: according to the saudi embassy, the young women were studentsccompanying their brother in washington. nbc news confirmed that the sisters lived and attended schools in virginia. the family appears to have had financial troubles. public records show two liens on their apartment in 2016. before the bodies were discovered here on the hudson river, officials say the sisters hadn't been heard from since august 24th.am g the many unanswered questions

is why they ended up 250 miles from home in w york city. lester? >> stephanie gosk or tonight in new this evening video emerged of passengers boarding the doomed jetliner that went o the coast of indonesia killing all 189 people on board. it comes as investigators made a big discovery searching for the black boxes. >> reporter: they found more debris but oeo answers, more bags gend shfrom passenrs on board but for families, few clues to how their loved ones died. one missing passenger nt this haunting video to his wife as he walked the jetway.bo hiding pass for seat 24 b. for search teams, a breakthrough finding what they believe is part of the fuselage. they detected 100 feet down on thed an object 72 feet long. under water, microphones heard pings they say are

from theght recorders. the two black boxes divers will now try to recover. for clues as to why a brand-new plane suddenly plunged minutes after take off. as more body bags were brought ashore, the rlines technical director has been fired. s the big question, wa mechanical failure the cause? bill neely, nbc news, london. there is growing anger at the university o ronight where the board ions voted to reinstate the head football coach five months after the death of a player after practice. sitting well with some of his players. nbc's tom costello is in college park maryland with more tonight. >> reporter: back on the practice field today, maryland football head coach, five months after 19-year-old lineman jordan mcnair over heated, collapsed and later died.

today mcnair'samily called it a personal a front. >> it feels like a total slap in the face, a total la of gard of no accountability for losing my son's life. nobody is accountable. >> reporr: the university president suspended the coach after learning his staff failed to take emergency steps to fe save jordan's ut now the board of regions reinstated the coach saying he was unfairly blamed. e instead, it's university president who is out. credited with building maryland's academic reputation while bringing it into the big ten. >> this will be my ear as president of the university of maryland. >> reporter: meanwhile, several players walked out of the team meeting when the coach returned. mne tweeting every saturdteammates and i have to kneel before the memorial of our faen teammate yet a group of people do n have the courage to hold anyone accountable for his death. today "the washington post" sally jenkins wrote don't send your kids to maryland to play football. lester, in the last few minutes, we received formal word from the university president's office that the coach is out agai the university bought

the contract for d.j. he's out of a jo after the governor, state legislature and members of the university system demanded an explanation from the board of regions, anw e coach is out. back to you. >> tom costello with the late word for us. thank you. > there is a disturbing discovery at the vatican embassy in rome and many hope it can solve a baffling 35-year-old cold case mystery. our kelly cobiella is at the vaticto ght. >> reporter: behind the walls of the vatican embassy, an old mystery brought back to life. workers found human bone fragments while re vating a building. the italian media can't stopsking if it's the daughter of a vatican employee that disappeared 35 years ago when was 15. her story one of italy's most increasing cold cases with countless eo thes and rumors, among them she was kidnappein a plat to free the man that shot pope john paul, ii. his brother believes

she's still alive and the vatican has answers. the vatican always denied involvement. as for the bones, police forensic experts are trying to determine the age, sex and date ouf death. that take at least a week. lester? >> kelly cobiella, thanks. a new health alert, two major studies in a widely orsed treatment for a commonof cancer in women could cause the cancer to come back. nbc news medical correspondent dr. tohn ez. >> reporter: when je drine anderson had cancer, she chose an r pproach with a smallecision. >> i wanted to be back to my family as quick as possible and as a physician, i wanted to get back to my patients. >> reporter: 16 months back and she's r came fighting for her life. two major studies in a new england journal of medicine find

minimally invasive surgery for cervical cancer doubles the risk of death compared to tditional surgery. study author dr. pray droe -- padro ramirez sayramirez s >> the study resul are so stunning, researchers say it could mean scrutiny overusing less invasive surgery for other types of cancer. dr. john torres, nbc news. how many times has it happened? the number on the d caller i.d. looks familiar so you answer. they are known as robo calls. some of us have more colorful names for them but how to stop them?

tonight, inside the t including the app that lets you thwart those annoying calls while exacting a little bit of payback. here is nbc news jeff rossen with rossen reports. >> reporter: robo call scammers hitting so many of us at once, day and night. more than 30 billion robocallst ear alone. how easy is it for them? we asked ellie to show us. you created a program on your opla >> that's right. in just under an hour i made a program to dial these phones. >> reporter: you can make it come from whatever number you ? wa >> whatever i choose. >> reporter: we have a couple dozen phones from the nbc colleagues. i walked around the office and said can i borrow your phones? you're going to hit a button. >> i'll hit a button and the calls should start hitting. >> reporter: all at once. this is insane. they are all ringing. >> yeah. >> reporter: all from the same number, this

weird 407 number >> and i'm one guy dialing a few dozen phones. this could have been anyone dialing ls thousands of c >> reporter: but now there is an app to stop the robocalls called robo killer. here is how works. every scam goes into a robo call database and the number flagged so when the scammers call you, robo killer automatically intercepts the call. your phone never rings. it toys with the scammers answering the calls and programmed to speak nonsense to waste their time. >> got to hit them in the nose. just block them but put them out of business. >> reporter: the company granting access to the war room tracking robocls in realtime nationwide. >> there is over 264,000 robocalls being made in the last minute. >> repter: what does this map show? >> this shows you how at bad the situion is. this 855 number is a itting southe

floridmost 7,000 times. texas, this 201 number, this part of texas has seen 4,000 calls in the last minute. >> reporter: tho numbers added to the back list. the app costs $39 a month. >> i think i speak for many when i say go get them. also ahead, chaos in the streets in a major american city. why is violence breaking out there every week>> the supreme secret about the romance between two justices.

next tonight, the violence breaking out over and over again in portland, oregon among opposing protesters and the mayor under fire for a plan to restrict who is allowed protest and where. nbc's miguel almaguer has more on the controversy. >> reporter: these aotic street brawls in portlan oregon began as planned protests but spilled anto violence between leftnd right extremists groups as they often dw the mayor wants the power to restrict when and where demonstrators can demonstrate if they have a history of violence.

responsibility to protect the public and bl protect the puic's property. b >> reporter: there is protest over the proposed ordinance. the aclu says it's a violation of the first amendment. >> they the tools already on the books to hold people accountable and simply aren't doing so. r eporter: with the bl oody battles leaving so afraid to venture into downtown, soon the city will decide on the mayor's plan. alrey sparking protests over protests. miguel almaguer, nbc news. >> next, supreme romance, the secret between two justices revealed after decades.

the washington post endorses jennifer wexton for congress... saying barbara comstock's "promise has turned to dust." she's trump's "unquestioning foot soldier." jennifer wexton is the "clear and convincing" choice. "smart, serious and substantive" ... "ms. wexton would be a breath of fresh air" in congress. i'm jennifer wexton and i approved this message because i've worked across party lines to get things done. that's how we can fix congress and make it work for us again. back now with that supreme secret reveal. two former members of the supreme court, justice sandra do o'connor and william k wewn to be close friends in law school but turns out they had a secret even their own children didn't know about. li here is pete ws.

>> reporter: san dre day o'connor and her husband john were married 57 years after meeting in law school. she graduated number three in her class, number one was william requist. he would become a ic juand chief justice for the supreme court. she would then join him there. it's long been known they were more than just friends at stanford and dated for a time but now, authan homas working on on o'connor biography discovered rehnquist's interest for her went further. when he left law school to become a supreme court clerk, he wrote to her. >> i think he was lonely in washington writing her. then he went on to say sandy, will you marry me? >> reporter: there is no record of her response, but it was clearly no. she married john o'connor a few months later at the family rehnquist married another. woman he met at law school, natie

cornell.woman he met at law school, natalie cornell. children of both marriages had no idea about the early proposal. >> they gave me permissi to see the box but hadn't read what was in the box. >> reporter: they remained the best of friends united in a on different way he supreme court bench. pete williams, nbc news, washington. coming up next, trick-or-tre, the best kids' costumes that caught our eye this hloween. >> announcer: "nbc nightly news" is brought to you by pacific life, pr otecting generations of families for 150 years.th at's the power of pacific. but you can game plan for them. for 150 years, generations of families have chosen pacific life for retirement and life insurance solutionsrey for li generations of families fe leads.chosen pacific life that's the power of pacific. ask a financial advisor about pacific life.

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e best kids' costumes we've seen this year. kevin bbles has the snapshot tonight. >> reporter: ghouls and goblins, costumes at the minnesota zoo. >> pumpkins and kitties. >> reporr: pumpkins and kitties. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: some lose their heads seeking the best getup. via store bought or hand made, stephanie's mom made masterpieces have the internet howling. >> i usually give myself about two weeks to spread out about 25 to 40 hours of work. t >> reporter: wu see. >> dinosaur. >> reporter: may depend where you live. pirates, popular in a alaska, florid south dakota. rhode island and louisiana love their princesses, and unicorns. >> everywhere. >> reporter: it's unicorns from coast-to-coast. volunteers in california spent two months helping 5-year-old wheelchair mount eliza transform. scary? maybe but sometimes oh, so sweet.

>> kids have fun out there and be carefulat "nightly news" for this wednesday. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thanks for watching and good night.

lights, camera, "access." so excited. it's in. >> so private for so long, just wait till you hear the most romantic revelation of all from justin's new book. >> i'm holding your hand, look e you. god, i l >> when s