in the deep archives tape on those guys? this election, i'm telling you, it's a gift from god. watch this space. tape? this election, i'm telling you, it's a gift from god. watch this space. it's friday, august 14th, 2015. california's level five is the highest fire danger rating in the nation. the rest of us may need to brace for this. this is the godzilla el nino if it matures and comes to fruition. then to iowa and the state fair. gop candidates can descend on ground zero. the this as political buzz is growing over al gore and biden on the democrat side. new details in the massive china blast. nfl is back in full swing including a surprise from tom brady. all on a busy friday.

"first look" starts now. hello to you. thanks for joining us on this friday morning. i'm betty nguyen. nasa is calling it godzilla. some of the strongest storms we've seen in decade, el nino. here's why it's so scary. look what sudden heavy rain can do to an area riddled with drought. yesterday, thousands were left without power. lightning struck a tree that caught fire. for now the big problem is still wildfires. yesterday they maxed out the danger level. miguel reports. >> reporter: this is what they call level five. the highest fire danger rating in the nation, the drastic move signaling is tender box conditions on the verge of exploding. this year of extremes feeding on each other, fire fuelled by crippling drought, exacerbated by the heat wave. now the forecast calls for a

monster el nino this went, storms capable of hay hem. >> spring doubt, late rains and fires firefighters have never seen. >> for now the biggest drought on fire lines, this year proving historic, 30,000 fires torching 6.4 million acres. firefighters from every state mobilized moving west. when fire season is over here, a new threat will begin. drought-stricken hills are ripe for mudslides. scientists say warming ocean waters are surging towards the u.s., with it potential for lifetime size storms. this could be the powerful ever. >> this is godzilla el nino if it matures and comes to fruition. >> reporter: a year of extremes after the explosive start.

the race for the white house is heating up with rumors about former vice president al gore throwing his hat in the ring. buzz feed news gave this article. hours later, the tennessee gore hometown newspaper published this. sources, al gore not exploring 2016 presidential bid. we'll see a how this plays out. it seems iowa will be the center of political universe the next few days. nearly every single candidate is scheduled to appear at the iowa state fair. brian is live in washington. seems like some candidates are getting buzz ahead of the fair. >> yeah, and it's really sort of a free for all along with the butter cal and fried stuff. presidential candidates are big draws right now in iowa. the road to the white house

leads through the iowa state fair. this time 17 republicans are coming to iowa to ask for your vote and support in the caucuses. >> candidates of both parties are taking turns on the soap box looking to break through. appears other s iowa is looking something different. >> i think people are angry. >> there's plenty of time for some campaigns. >> i'm a humble candidate running for president. >> not everyone has that luxury. >> will there are going to be people to get up and say exactly what you want to here. rick perry is running out of money and time but vows he's not ready to drop out. >> someone not ready to drop out by a long run, donald trump. he's still the front runner there in iowa, expected to step on that iconic soap box and meet voters tomorrow. >> i think he's arriving by helicopter. that's an entrance. thank you brian.

this sunday, meet the press moderator chuck todd goes one on one with donald trump in an exclusion interview. rescue crews are searching for survivors of the deadly explosion in china. the second one packed the force of 21 tons of tnt measuring like a small earthquake on the richter scale. it looks like it is an -- is a waste land. there was glimmer of hope overnight. a firefighter found 31 hours after the explosion. it happened after a company that stored chemical materials which raises fear of ongoing toxic threat. all that on top of more bad news for china.

how bad is their air pollution? it's killing 4,000 people a day in the country. roughly 1.6 million people every year. the study blames emissions from burning coal. one researcher says nearly everyone in china experiences air that is worse than the worst air in the u.s. investigators are trying to determine why a school bus packed with children crashed into a liquor store yesterday. look at the right side of your screen. the new jersey bus hit an suv and went head first into the building. 14 were taken to area hospitals, 11 children. remarkably none of the injury appear life threatening. the driver says the brakes failed. six minutes past the hour. let's get down to business. landon, it is friday. >> it is. slumping demand amid worries of

china's economy, world's second largest flrenergy consumer. gas prices fall. not everywhere, they're spiking in the midwest due to refinery outage. the auto maker is ramping up production of profitable big suvs and trucks to meet demand. gm is adding shifts near dallas that makes the cadillac escalade and chevy suburban. hbo will be the host of children's shows. there will be a spin off of other shows on hbo and hbo go. thursday night football, patriots packers tom brady made a surprising start after facing the nfl in court. brady completed one of four

passes playing just two series. on the other side, aaron rogers completed 11 of 19 for 117 yards. packers win 22-11. up next, redskins, browns. robert griffin iii finds garcon. look at this. he drops the potential touchdown pass. that's heartbreaking. redskins get the win 2017. cowboys and chargers, romo sitting this out o. delayed hand off. runs eight yards for the score. chargers beat my cowboys 17-7. not a great way to start there gi guys. jets total of 16 first downs all down. lions demolished jets.

last major of the year in wisconsin. look at that. mcill roy is making his i return to golf after breaking his ankle july 4th weekend. trying to knock rust off hitting the shot from the water. saved par and finished 1 under for the day. not so much for tiger woods. he described the day as one of the worst rounds he's had in a long time. want to show you a touching moment. daughter of indians infielder got the chance to throw out the first pitch with her twin sister yesterday. she was diagnosed with leukemia in may. both threw out the first pitch to their father. the family shared a nice photo opp. lebron james foundation is teaming up with akron to fully sponsor more than 1,000 scholarships for children in his i promise program. he tweeted every single kid who

finishes my program will go to college for free. someone also making a difference, head coach brian kelley. he picked a senior to model the new team uniform for the season. why the celebration? kelly will get a scholarship for his senior year. this is a big year. he's been with the team since his freshman year. teammates were excited for that. good for him. we want to wish a speedy recovery for lindsey vonn. she broke a bone training yesterday and had to fly back to the u.s. no timetable on her recovery. feds okay a powerful pain medicine to kids as young as 11 years old. u.s. gets ready to fly old glory once again. castro has some beef. "first look" is back in three. (vo) what's your dog food's first ingredient?

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welcome back to "first look." i'm meteorologist domenica

davis. we have rain on the radar. still looking at this monsoonal moisture. slight risk of storms in montana and also idaho. other than that, pretty much same scattered thunderstorms across the country basically through the rockies and down are through the south as well over florida. hot today on the northeast. temperatures are going to be heating up through the weekend. this will be the beginning of what is going to be a hazy, hot, humid weekend. the real heat though is sitting out through the desert southwest where actual air temperatures between 115 and 117 believe it or not. that's dangerously hot. heat stays through the south in the weekend. >> going to be a hot one. thank you. a historic day for u.s. cue ban relations for the first time many more than 50 years. the american fly will fly above the u.s. embassy in havana. secretary of state john kerry will attend this morning's

ceremony around 9:45 eastern. msnbc will have it live for you. former leader castro marked his 89th birthday with a message criticizing the u.s. he says quote u.s. owes socialist cuba numerous millions of dollars. isis likely used mustard gas in iraq this week according to intelligence officials. it's the second time isis use chemical weapons. the fda has approved oxycontin for children as young as 11 years old. it's tightly regulated. two months after the u.s. supreme court declared same-sex constitutional, a courthouse in

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"scrambled politics." we mentioned earlier there are rumors swirling about al gore potentially making a white house run. we asked jeb bush what he thought. >> my first reaction was really, i don't know -- look, he's qualified. there's disarray in the democratic party. most of the focus seems to be on our race which is pretty wild as well. >> vice president joe biden is on vacation but reportedly calling advisors about whether to join the 2016 race. friends say he believes he's better qualified than hillary clinton but knows how tough the race will be. rick perry says he's still in it to win it when it comes to the white house race. >> i've been written off, wrote off, all kinds of things.

i told somebody, i said it took me 16 years to talk my wife into marrying me. >> dozens of presidential candidates are heading to iowa over the next several days. some are already there and having fun. for instance, we learned what food former arkansas governor mike huckabee likes to snack on. >> pork chop on a stick. trust me. it's what's for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack. >> we could use one of those now couldn't we? >> martin o'malley took huckabee's advice to heart. he was photographed enjoying a pork chop on a stick. o'malley got the chance to ride down this giant slide with his family. he's not the only presidential candidate that like ace good sli slide. walker is scheduled to speak at the iowa state fair monday.

no word on whether donald trump will take a ride on the slide. can you imagine his hair blowing in the wind on that slide? according to this paper, he'll make a helicopter entrance. it is friday. you know what that means? kevin is here. >> happy friday. >> happy friday to you. we talked about this moments ago, al gore. will he run? >> i've got to tell you, this is the first i'm hearing of this in the past day. i do think the main person to watch is former vice president -- current vice president joe biden. the former vice president, i think it will be interesting to see. it underscores the notion hillary clinton there's a lot of

frustration and concern about the current state of her campaign and the vulnerabilities of her candidacy. >> some of us toyed with the idea of gore-bush competition. that might be interesting. >> yeah. >> you mentioned this brief his. let's get into it now. are we getting close to seeing joe biden jump in this race? he's been speaking with advisors weighing through? how strong a shot would he have? >> it would blow the field open. bernie sanders is surging, drawing huge crowds. it comes as a time hillary clinton has questions about her candidacy, vulnerabilities as a candidate, including the e-mail scandal that plaguing her campaign. he's not forth coming with the media. she has questions surrounding her.

a lot of democratic strategists i talked to the other day, they have concerns about her. you're seeing august recess. a lot of strategists are quite concerned about her. i think joe biden would blow this race wide open. >> it would be interesting. let's see if he does it or not. seems like jeb bush is consta constantly defending his brother's iraq war policy. is his campaign getting lost in this? >> the former governor remain at the top of the polls. he has a unique brand. it's worth noting hillary clinton supported and voted for the war in iraq. jeb bush, still six months before the iowa caucuses remains at top. >> he's not at the top. donald trump is at the top. >> that's a good point.

>> the kind of backing jeb bush has -- donald trump has billions and told us that many times, but the kind of backing jeb bush has. he would be stronger among the top, wouldn't you think? >> i think we're heading towards a battle of board room for the second debate among carly fiorina and donald trump. i think the moderate candidates are where they need to be. jeb bush is playing for long term. i think he's where he needs to be. >> all right. thank you. have a great weekend. >> you too betty. just ahead, from balls to scary crashes, we've got your weekend review. frds before earning 1% cash bk everywhere, every time and 2% back at the grocery store. even before he got 3% back on gas. kenny used his bankamericard cash rewards credit card to join the wednesday night league. because he loves to play hoops. not jump through them. that's the excitement of rewarding connections. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

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(vo) what'scorn? dog food's first ingredient? wheat? in new purina one true instinct grain free, real chicken is always #1. no corn, wheat or soy. support your active dog's whole body health with purina one.

shaking explosions in china to kim kardashian, this is the weekend review. an explosion felt miles away. there's a small group of people out there intent on making sure we don't have peace that prevails. two tractor trailers collided near new brunswick. this is godzilla el nina if it matures and comes to fruition. one of the most extraordinary encounters seen in the deep. rider just before the turn. what a great catch. artist apologizes the for making brady look for lurch. starting without their quarterback. california has got balls. they're betting big on 96 million of them.

nick wallenda, king of high wire completed the longest high rope walk ever. the toxic waste river spill. i don't think we've seen anything like this. kim kardashian may be in hot water from the fda. everyone remembers bambi and th thumper right?" way too early" starts now. we'll have reaction for you. can you spell hbo? sesame street makes a move and confuses people in the process. 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. this is "way too early" show

brought to you by letters msnbc. ♪ good morning everyone. it's friday, august 14th. i'm ayman mohyeldin. is al gore considering a 2016 presidential campaign? the 64-year-old former vice president is talking about whether there's a path financially. he was quote pouring lukewarm water rather than the cold water on the speculation. a spokesman was quoted on the record saying it's extremely unlikely he'll ru