you do something about it. why not. this is "way too early". good morning, everybody. brian shactman here. thursday, september 19. we is a lot of mother nature to deal with this morning from an update in colorado to the deadly storm in mexico. but we want to start with oklahoma. firefighters have been battling a gigantic fire all night. it's at a chemical plant. it broke out around 10:00 p.m. local time. no one was working there at the time and the dozen or so people living nearby were vehicevacuat. crews are letting the fire burn down. we'll bring you any updates as we get them. in tehran, ann curry the

first western journalist to speak to the new president of raf iran, rowhani. >> we have never pursued or sou sought a nuclear bomb and we won't did so. >> can you say that iran will not build a nuclear weapon under any circumstances whatsoever? >> the answer to this question is quite obvious. we have time and again said that under no circumstances would we seek any weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. authorize will we ever. >> rowhani also was asked if he thought president obama looked weak because the united states backed off air strike against the assad regime in syria. >> we consider war a weakness. any government that decides on war, we consider a weakness. and any government that decides on peace, we look on it with respect for peace. >> speaking of syria, president

assad also talking publicly and he reminds defiant that his government did not carry out a chemical attack on its own people. a newly released u.n. report found conclusive evidence an attack took place last month and officials say all evidence points to assad's regime. the report stopped short of blaming anyone but assad did not. >> second, we know that all those rebels are supported by go. s. we have evidence that the wrists groups has used sarin gas and those evidence handed over to the russians. the russian sichnce the beginni of the allegations they said that their information that the rocket launch from another area.

so why to ignore this point of view. the whole story doesn't hold together. it's not realistic. >> syria is, quote, fully committed to getting rid of its chemical weapons which could take up to a year's time. with mounting scrutiny on the security clearance and mental state of the that he have yard shooter aaron alexis, there are new signs that indicate a breakdown in communication within the military chains of command. alexis told new port rhode island police that he was hearing voices. the police there then told local navy authorities, but the navy says that information was never september sent up the chain of command and they couldn't arrest him just because he was hearing voices. alexis also twice sought treatment from the va hospital for insomnia but didn't mention hearing voices there. when asked said he was not depressed and not thinking of harming others. top military brass acknowledged

short comings in the reporting and also said personnel with mental health issues should have the opportunity for treatment. >> men and women should have the opportunity to overcome their mental disorders or their mental challenges or their clen cinica health challenges and shouldn't be stigmatized. >> obviously there were a lot of red flags. where there are gaps, we will close them. where there are inadequacies, we will address them. and where there are failures, we will correct them. we owe the victims, their families and all our people nothing left. >> capital police are investigating reports that one of their s.w.a.t. teams just blocks away from the location was told to stand down and september to the capitol instead and there is new information about alexis' arsenal. he scratched the phrases better off this way and my elf weapon into the stock of his remmington

stock gun. officials not sure what the elf refers to. he bought the shotgun just two days before the shooting and the attorney for the shop in virginia says alexis also tried to buy a handgun, but happenndg sales have special federal guidelines that prevent sales to people who live out of state. the gunman's mother spoke saying her son's motives will never be fully known. >> i don't know why he did what he did and i'll never be able to ask him why. aaron is now in a place where he can no longer do harm to anyone and for that, i am glad. to the families of the victims, i am so, so very sorry that this has happened. my heart is broken. >> two surviving shooting victims are still in the hospital expected to make full recoveries. as for the navy yard, it reopens today with the exception of building 197. sticking to washington, d.c.,

house republicans revealing a new plan to fund the government and avoid a shutdown later this month. however their proposal includes language to defund obamacare, something the white house as you might imagine unwilling to consider. the house is expected to vote on the plan this friday, but it is unlikely to make it way through the senate. same old song and dance here, folks. john boehner has been criticized by the far right for attempting to broker a deal with democrats and not embracing the effort to defund obamacare, but he reportedly told his caucus yesterday, people say a lot of things about me, people outside this room, people inside this room. i just let that stuff roll off high back. as far as american voters are concerned, their views on the federal deficit, pretty mixed. a new abc news/wall post poll finds 46% of americans are in favor of raising the debt limit. 43% are opposed. but 73% believe there would be serious damage to the u.s.

economy if the debt limit is not increased. when it comes to who americans trust handling the debt negotiations, take your pick. president obama, a slight edge over congressional republicans. 43% to 40%. now to business where after months of saying september would be the month that the fed would begin backing off its $85 billion a month bond buying program, the central bank basically blinked. they decided to keep the stimulus program in place in full for the time being. that september mnt markets soare up side. dow and s&p 500 both at record levels. let's check in with lynn done. karen, good morning. >> yes. the two reactions on wall street also playing out here today. if you look at what investors now know, being told quantitative easing will continue for now, perhaps especially until the end of the year. that's had the knock on effect

of pushing out interest rate expectations. the first hike seems to not be on the cards until late 2015. so right across markets you can see the buy signal has been hit. record numbers on the u.s. indices, record on the german market early on this morning. the ftse is one of the best performers. and on the periphery, risk trades in italy are also seeing buying out there, as well. gold stocks responded yesterday, spot gold price rise #% on wall street. here in europe, stocks in the gold space are on a tear.4#% onl street. here in europe, stocks in the gold space are on a tear.% on w street. here in europe, stocks in the gold space are on a tear. we have seen a drop in some of the yields in the u.s.. here in europe, those same trades are also falling because if the fed is not moving, then europe and the uk are definitely not moving anytime soon. >> thank you very much, care. yeah, basically people without everything yesterday and the underlying theme here, why did they not do it.

still not enough trust according to the fed. so good news if you're an investor, but might not be for the u.s. economy in terms of what they decided. we'll talk more about that on "morning joe". now the latest on colorado. the first estimate on how much the damage will cost is staggering. total property losses already close to $2 billion. you break it gowdown, that's ab $900 million for residential properties. another $1 billion for commercial and government property. i can tell you they will spend a lot more money fixes roads out there. that number will probably rise. and this morning, it's actually a little bit of good news. you fewer than 200 people still unaccounted for. hopefully they will all be found and found in good health. there is also widespread destruction from flooding in mexico and it's proven more deadly than colorado. this morning hurricane manuel is moving up the pacific coast of mexico. at least 80 deaths are now being

blamed on that storm and hurricane ingrid which hit earlier this week. there is also dozens of people missing after massive landslide in a small village. an important consumer story that pretty much impacts every american household. a new report by harvard and national resources defense council reveals that food expiration date labels are confusing. sometimes i don't know if it's consume by date or sell by date. and they're defendant byproducts. meats, it's usually sell by, but dairy consumed by. as a result, an extra ordinary a food is being wasted each year. >> reporter: americans are wasting food, 160 billion pounds a year. that means an average family of four spends more than $1500 a year on food they never eat. a report released today blames in large part a confusing and

unregulated labeling system. food is actually still good after the sell by date and often still safe well after the use by date. a co-author of the report gave us some shopping tips. >> you absolutely can eat something past its sell by date. >> how many days? >> it depends on the product. sometimes they say use or freeze by and i think that's useful information to deliver to consumers. >> reporter: study authors want the federal government to regulate food labels. until then they say use common sense. if it looks good and smells good, don't toss it. >> i don't want to give my kids something that is past the date for fear it will make them sick even though you can do it. so what do you do? sometimes i'll arbitrarily just throw it out because it's past the date. so i don't know how to handle it. any way, i'm still here. barnicle's tell here. generalje jen jen's still here. so we didn't win the power ball.

it's a single winning ticket. and i'm glad. i want one person to get it. it was in south carolina, lexington, at a gas station. ticket holder can claim an annuity valued at 400 million buck, but who will do that? you shouldn't do that. take the lump sum. after taxes, ends up being $134 million. just take the total number basically, a third of that total number will be your take home check, okay? i've been over this a long time. our twitter question by the way, barnicle, this is for you. cassette tape. 50 years old. >> i still use it. >> you use vinyl, i'm sure. so we want to nknow -- we used o have elvis presley lps in my house actually do you have any cassettes lying away the house?

what are they? my wife has some mix tapes from high school she will not throw out. #way too early. best answers later in the program. and still ahead, taking team spirit to a whole new level. the play that saved the day for a brazilian soccer team, but it had unintended consequences. plus the controversial moment a wheel of fortune that cost the comes ten tapt a chance at a million bucks. words of a terrorist appear in one of america's most distinguished news papers this morning. the publication of the unabomber's manifesto is the work of the "washington post" and the "new york times". the document calls for worldwide revolution against industrialized society.

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race for the a.l. wild card is getting interesting. royals and red sox tied in the twice. chris davis gets enough of one. orioles win it 5-3. tampa, rangers and rays tied in the 12th, as well. jennings lines one to right. a play at the plate. the throw, not in time. rays walk off with the 4-3 win. kansas city, indians. alex gordon getting caught trying to steal. he's in the rundown. he ends up avoiding the tag. i can't believe the catcher didn't get him. that could be the difference.en. i can't believe the catcher didn't get him. that could be the difference. almost got him on the head will, but he stayed in the base path.

so the rays take over the top spot. cleveland a half game behind. and you have baltimore a game back. royals s and yankees trailing b 2 1/2. brazil, a trainer for a soccer team taking a hands on approach to helping his team win. see him on the post. and just whoop. a good save. he just literally picks up and runs away. other team not happy. there he goes. i absolutely love that. how can you not know that something will happen? but they end up getting disqualified for the playoffs. so short term gain, long term pain. but don't you know there's a camera everywhere. >> yeah, but he's a hero. >> he's not.

they can't play in the playoffs. >> would have lost anyway if the goal would have went in. as far as the storms go this morning, people in indiana watching us weren't planning on being up. thunderstorms have rolled from the northern portion of the state all the way down through indianapolis. we're up to almost 5,000 lightning strikes in the last hour. so that means probably downed trees and most likely power outages, too, throughout the region. so if you're in indianapolis, just wait inside another 20 to 30 minutes, let the storms go by and then the rest of your morning will be fine. we will see numerous strong storms today, almost like a springtime situation. damaging wind and hail likely milwaukee, graeen bay down to wichita. not tornados, though. and this hurricane manuel on the west coast of mexico, it continues to rake the coastal areas. and that won't get any bernie time soon. and by the way, a plus today in the northeast mid-atlantic. >> looking forward to it.

coming up on "morning joe," the leaders of iran and syria take to the airwaves to spread their messages to an american audience. what they said and how it may impact american strategy. when we on back here, howard stern, howie mandel, reflect on an intimate moment from "america's got talent". is this the bacon and cheese diet? this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups.

at the top of the show, we talk about the possibility of a government shutdown. it if you want to sound smart, tell your friends when the u.s. government was shut down in 1995 and 1996, it cost a total of $1.4 billion.your friends when government was shut down in 1995 and 1996, it cost a total of $1.4 billion. so it's not saving anybody any money. and in 2013 dollars, i can guarantee it will be more than that. let's head over to the cooler. >> we'll start off with the wheel of fortune where you can take a c for controversy. >> how about a c. >> there are three. you can pick that up. turn it away, see the big million bucks. right down there if you would, please. you have $2350. spin or solve? >> i'm going to solve.

corner cure i don't cabinet. >> lewis, your turn. >> i'll solve. corner curoi cabinet. >> yeah, that's it. >> learning the hard way proceed newspape pronunciation definitely counts. sony pictures television didn't comment. i feel bad for him.sony picture comment. i feel bad for him. "america's got talent" season 8 finale last night. performances by the rockets, earth wind and fire and luke bryan rounded out the night. in the end, the miami mime and dancer won.

i caught up with the red carpet after the show. >> the winner of the $1 million! >> i congratulate everyone who competed. he's a special entertainer. i said at the beginning let's find a superstar. he is a superstar. >> we're here with the million dollar man. >> very, very surprising. >> you can show me a little something? that is why he just won "america's got talent". >> it tastes of cherry. >> i don't wear cherry. that's so weird.

i don't know -- >> joe, watch out, pucker up, my friend. >> where is my "morning joe"? >> incredible night last night, brian. just a lot of fun. >> i'm surprised howie mandel let howard stern touch his lips. if i was that guy, item put pat sajak in a headlock. >> no kidding. >> i think he got a raw deal. thank you, lewis. still ahead, we are celebrating 50 years of cassette tapes. we want to know what you still have in your wabasement. my customers can shop around-- see who does good work and compare costs. it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay.

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the cassette tape is 50 years old. so what tapes do you still have in your basement? >> yanna says i found an old mc hammer tape that i used for my second grade talent show that i refuse to throw out. and another one of our viewers

actually said just bought six cassette holders for 55 cents at the salvation army. treasure hunt score. >> i think they overpaid. >> and jordan says, insync, back street boys. i still have them all. >> i have purple rain in the basement. "morning joe" starts right now. are you interested in speaking to our president? >> that depends on be the content. >> if you wanted to send him a message right now, what would you say to him? >> tell the people follow the common sense of your people. that's enough. >> wow. bashar al assad interviewed by dennis kucinich. >> oh, yeah. >> of all people. >> good morning it's thursday, september