claims that he used his son's death to rally support behind a potential presidential bid. and the largest mass release of federal prison inmates in u.s. history expected later this month. it's just the beginning of the obama administration's prison reform plan. it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. yep, this is "way too early." good morning, it's wednesday, october 7th, i'm jonathan capehart. vice president joe biden's office is forcefully pushing back against a report that he used a story of the dying wish of his oldest son to bring attention to his potential presidential candidacy. the report in politico cites anonymous sources claiming biden personally told "new york times" columnist maureen dowd that beau

biden pleaded with his father not to let the white house, quote, revert to the clintons, and that the country would be better off with biden values. the report says people read dowd and started reaching out to those around the vice president would say by way of defensive explanation he was just answering the phone and listening. but in truth, biden had effectively placed an ad in "the new york times" asking them to call. a biden aide says the story is, quote, categorically false and the characterization is offensive. but didn't deny that biden spoke with dowd. this, as new york magazine reports that hillary clinton's campaign is readying opposition research against biden if he joins the race. the project is reportedly exploring the vice president's ties to wall street, reluctance to support the 2011 raid that killed osama bin laden, and the treatment of anita hill at the 1991 clarence thomas confirmation hearings, while he was chairman of the senate judiciary committee. in an interview yesterday,

top tier republican presidential candidate ben carson appeared to suggest that the victims of the school shooting in roseburg, oregon, could have done more to resist the attacker. >> dr. carson, if a gunman walks up and puts a gun at you and says, what religion are you? that is the ultimate test of your faith. >> i'm glad you asked that question. because, not only would i probably not cooperate with him, i would -- i would not just stand there and let him shoot me. i would say hey, guys, everybody attack him. he may shoot me but he can't get us all. >> take action. take action. >> absolutely. >> carson was criticized for the comments. but said he was speaking in general terms, and not criticizing the students. >> of course, you know, if everybody attacks that gunman he's not going to be able to kill everybody. but if you sit there and let him shoot you, one by one, you're all going to be dead. >> in a time of great stress like that, one might not know

exactly what to do. and, to -- to judge them, to sound like you're judging them -- >> not judging them at all. but, you know, these incidents continue to occur. i doubt that this will be the last one. i want to plant the seed in people's minds so that if this happens again, you know, they don't all get killed. >> in a facebook q&a monday night carson wrote that he had operated on victims of, quote, breathtaking gun violence, but, quote, i never saw a body with bullet holes that was more devastating than taking the right to arm ourselves away. carson also appeared yesterday on "the view" where he talked about his ideas to improve school safety. >> this morning you said that you'd be very comfortable if kindergarten teachers had guns in the classroom. why do you think that's a good idea? >> not all kindergarten teachers. i said people who are trained. >> okay. >> and understand all the implications. and you obviously are not just going to have a weapon sitting on the kindergarten teacher's desk. and i know that's -- >> where would the weapon be?

>> it would be secured in a place where kids could not get to it. >> so if a gunman comes in -- if a gunman comes in -- if a gunman comes in with an ak-45 or an ar-15 how fast can that teacher go to the locked drawer and get that gun? >> well, i want that teacher trained -- >> you want that teacher trained. >> instead of -- >> i want that teacher trained in diversionary atactics and whatever needs to be done to get there. i want there to be other people in that school who also know -- >> nor marco rubio is responding to criticism for missing more than half of his votes on capitol hill since entering the race for the white house. >> the majority of the job of being a senator is not walking onto the senate floor and lifting your finger on a noncontroversial issue and saying which way you're going to vote. the majority of the work of a senator is the constituent service, the committee work, and that continues forward unabated. >> now that differs from what rubio said as recently as april on the senate floor. >> vote on things, don't run for the senate.

fl you don't want to vote on things, don't run for office. be a columnist. get a talk show. >> and jeb bush seems to be directing barbs rubio's way with a call to punish absentee legislators at a dinner last night in iowa. >> we should cut the pay of elected officials that don't show up to work. i don't know about you, but this idea, this idea that somehow voting isn't important. i mean what are they supposed to do? they should go to the committee hearings. they should vote. the idea that somehow the private sector, when you don't show up to work, you get a pay cut, why shouldn't that exist in state capitals as it does, and why shouldn't it exist in washington, d.c.? >> in a move that seems straight out of donald trump's playbook, hillary clinton has sent gift packages to some of her republican rivals. apparently tired of gop candidates questioning her accomplishments as secretary of state, clinton sent them each a copy of her book, "hard choices," along with a personalized note.

>> you know, i hear the republicans talking from time to time in their debates and elsewhere, and they say things like, oh, i don't know what she accomplished as secretary of state. she didn't accomplish anything. i listen to that for awhile. and then i thought, you know, maybe they just don't know. so i have now sent each of them a copy of my book "hard choices" about what we did during those four years. so, you know, there are -- there are so many of them, they could have a book club, and they could -- if they want to know how you put together a coalition that imposes international sanctions on a country like iran, they can read about it. because that's what i did. >> and while touring an outdoor market in iowa yesterday, clinton also told reporters that she'll reveal soon her opinion on the newly finalized tpp trade deal. >> talking to people about it, they're giving me all the information they can gather, so

that i can make -- >> do you have a position soon? >> oh, yeah, i will definitely have a decision. >> on the issues clinton finds herself caught in between her former boss, president obama, and labor unions that oppose the deal. vermont senator bernie sanders has already come out against it, calling the agreement, quote, disastrous. let's turn to south carolina, where the death toll has risen again. 15 people are dead in the wake of those storms. but residents in columbia, south caroli carolina, saw their first dry day in almost two weeks yesterday. but breached dams could bring more flooding and evacuations, and some rivers still haven't crested. the national guard is now using sandbags to form a temporary dam that should help the water treatment plant, but officials say many residents could be without running water for three to four more days. nbc's kerry sanders has more. >> reporter: water levels are still at record highs, with ten

dams already breached. >> we're not close to being out of the woods. >> reporter: officials say more than a half dozen dams are in danger of giving way. >> with these types of natural disasters, it does require the entire nation to come together and to make sure that we come back. >> reporter: too much water. but not enough clean water to drink. contaminated city lines were drained. with a boil water alert in effect. >> there's no water nowhere around here. i looked all morning. >> reporter: the toll from this still-ongoing crisis seen across the state. dozens of rescues, hundreds of impassable roads. and 911 inundated with more than 2400 calls. >> i think it's the human thing to do. >> reporter: in a charleston cemetery, a pastor retrieved a casket that floated to the kur fast. >> if that was my momma or my dad i'd walk through hell and high water. today it happened to be high water. >> reporter: back in columbia -- >> a lot of families who could use our help. >> reporter: after huddling, the football players started

helping. >> one, two, three --. >> i think the lesson is that this is way more important than football. people. and i think that we have an opportunity here to teach our kids something that transcends the sport. >> reporter: within minutes, they found themselves in the house of the athletic director, from their crosstown nemesis. >> this is the arch rival to your team and here you are doing this. >> we're still -- we're all from columbia. so, even though they're arch rivals they're still family. they're still our family members. this is our brothers, our sisters. we need to help in any way we can. >> reporter: the cleanup here is not without danger. and the threat of more flooding, not yet over. >> there is also an emotional moment for meteorologist at our columbia affiliate wis. the mere sight of sunshine got tim miller all choked up. >> well, how about that. boy, i tell you, i -- i don't know what to say. whew. sunshine.

that's amazing. whew. wow. forgive me. flood warnings until 6:45. tomorrow. and through thursday. come on, tim, get with it. >> you're all right, tim. of course we'll get the latest from our meteorologist bill karins in just a few moments. now, to the latest developments surrounding that u.s. airstrike on a hospital in kunduz, afghanistan. "the new york times" reports that general john campbell, the commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan, believes the u.s. probably did not follow their own rules in calling this -- calling in the strike. the paper reports that under the rules, airstrikes are authorized to kill terrorists, protect american troops, and help afghans who request support in battles that can change the military landscape. officials with direct knowledge of the general's thinking tell

the "times" that he believes the operation most likely did not meet any of the criteria. yesterday, in testimony before the senate armed services committee, general campbell made no such admission, but did call the strike a mistake, and said the united states takes full responsibility. >> on saturday morning, our forces provided close air support to afghan forces at their request. to be clear, the decision to provide aerial fires was a u.s. decision, made within the u.s. chain of command. a hospital was mistakenly struck. we would never intentionally target a protected medical facility. even though the afghans request that support. it still has to go through a rigorous u.s. procedure to enable fires to go on the ground. >> but there was no forward air controllers, american forward air controllers on the ground? >> sir, we had a special operations unit that was in close vicinity that was talking to the aircraft that delivered those fires.

>> but how exactly the mistake was made, the general didn't say. investigations by the u.s. military, nato, and the afghan government, are ongoing, but doctors without borders is saying they aren't enough, and that they want an independent investigation. in syria, gruesome details of attacks on civilians by isis militants have emerged. "the new york times" reports one family's struggle after their home was attacked by chemical warfare in august. the family suffered weeks of excruciating pain brought on by burning and respiratory complications. their newborn didn't survive the attack. this is only one of many chemical attacks, including chlorine bombs, reported by victims and person officials since the spring. as attacks by isis show no sign of stopping on civilians, russia and the united states have agreed to meet to discuss plans to prevent midair disasters while each power has aircraft over syria. it comes as new video released to a social media site claims to

show more russian jets conducting airstrikes over the syrian province of idlib. and now, "the wall street journal" reports shiite politicians in iraq have praised moscow's efforts, and have asked that prime minister allah abadi invite russia to launch airstrikes against the islamic state in their country. a major development in the obama administration's prison reform plan. the justice department says it will release some 6,000 nonviolent federal inmates later this month. the largest mass release in u.s. history. it's part of a plan to ease overcrowding, and to roll back harsh sentences for drug offenders. about a third of the inmates are undocumented immigrants, whom the justice department says will be deported upon release. we should also note that the move will do little to help the issue of overcrowding, since federal inmates are just a small percentage of the entire nation's total prison population. still ahead on "way too early," the controversy

surrounding the two biggest names in fantasy sports catches the attention of one of the nation's top prosecutors. we'll have the latest on the scandals that some liken to insider trading. and what's old is new again on "the tonight show," as jimmy fallon tags in jay leno. >> you know a lot of people think when the republican field begins to clear it will be down to jeb bush and donald trump. kind of like the race between the tortoise and the bad hair. you know. is your head so congested it's ready to explode? you may be muddling through allergies.

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i think that instills in you character. that you can't always expect things to turn out as you wish them to be. but this time, it might actually happen, and so we're all holding our breath and crossing fingers and toes, and sending some prayers skyward. so thanks for wearing that. it gets my blood going. >> that was democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton, weighing in on the mlb playoffs at a campaign event in iowa yesterday. the cubs visit the pirates tonight in the national league wildcarl game. the one game playoff will decide who advances to face the cardinals in the n.l. division series. last night the new york yankees hosted the astros for the win or go home american league wild card game. yankee ace tanaka gave up a pair of solo homers in the contest. houston starter tossed six innings of three-hit ball. and the astros shut out the

yanks 3-0 advancing to face kansas city in the a.l. division series. new york attorney general eric schneiderman has demanded from two major daily fantasy sports companies, fan duel and draft kings, a range of information as he looks into the prospect that employees might have gained advantages to win money by using insider data. the inquiry comes after a draft kings employee won big money on rival site fan duel last weekend. but draft kings says an internal review showed the employee could not possibly have used insider information to make decisions about his fan duel lineup. regardless, sports network espn has since limited its association with the site, announcing that it will eliminate any individually sponsored segments and only air regularly scheduled advertisements. meanwhile in washington, congressman jeffries has asked the judiciary committee to look into the industry. while senator menendez and frank

pa loan asked the ftc to regulate safeguards in daily fantasy. she should mention that nbc's parent company comcast and nbc sports are investors in fan duel. let's get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. how you doing, bill? >> not bad today, jonathan. quiet in my world compared to how it's been over the last week or so. we're finally getting rid of the cutoff low that caused all the problems in south carolina. you can see it up here. it's following hurricane joaquin out into the open atlantic so it's no longer cut off from the flow. it's actually beginning to move. we do have another cutoff low that's bringing some heavy rain to the areas of new mexico. that cutoff low is located over arizona. this one is going to be with us for a couple days. it's going to spread some isolated flash flooding in areas of west texas and in areas of new mexico. as far as the flooding goes the pictures still continue to be amazing. we have a lot of helicopter aerials and drone aerials now. you can really see the extent of the damage and just how widespread it is and the infrastructure alone is going to be a huge challenge as you get that rolling back together. and imagine all the cars that are -- that were ruined and

washed up. don't go buying any used cars, right? probably be dealing with those issues. like we did after hurricane sandy. as far as the forecast goes the only story in the eastern half of the country is the warmth. it's actually very warm. it's very beautiful. no problems athe all. leaves are changing quickly through the northern great lakes. temperature near 90 in dallas. 86 in memphis. louisville up to 83. temperatures continue warm all the way to the east right through the end of this week. 80 in charlotte. even new york city is going to be up there in the mid 70s today. the three-day forecast continues to be pretty dry, jonathan. it's good, because people in south carolina, they get about four or five days here of dry weather before the next chance of rain. and even that will be light. >> that's good news for south carolina. bill, thanks very much. still ahead, bill clinton tries to set the record straight about that phone call between him and donald trump. "way too early" is back in a moment.

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now let's get a check on the morning's other headlines and for that we head to the control room to louis bergdorf. >> thanks, jonathan. last night the secretary of explaining stuff bill clinton was on stephen colbert. he asked him to explain a few things. the rise of bernie sanders. the rise of donald trump. and the nature of his relationship with the donald. >> why do you think trump is doing so well? >> because he's a master brander.

and he's the most interesting character out there. and because he says something that overrides the ideological differences. you look to the first debate, a lot of those guys were competing for who could be the most politically correct in the answers. trump says okay, i supported democrats, i spored republicans, yeah i used to be friends with bill clinton, who cares. i run things, and i build things, and we need somebody that will go in there and fix it. >> there's a rumor out there, and you feel free to dispel this, did you call donald trump and ask him to run for president of the united states? >> no. no. >> no? >> because that would be pretty smart. >> yeah. yeah, i get credit for doing a lot of things i didn't do like that. but, i -- >> credit. credit. >> now, familiar faces return to late night when former tonight show jay leno tagged in for jimmy fallon, delivering his opening monologue.

>> apparently, apparently we do go back. ooh, ooh, i think i pulled a hampymy on that last one? >> you all right? >> i don't think i can continue. of course here's "the tonight show," the monologue has to go on so i think i'm going to have to sub out. can someone tag in for me, please? thanks, buddy. >> thank you, thank you very much. the election's getting nasty. see ralph nader called hillary clinton a corporatist and a militarist. isn't that unbelievable? ralph nader is still alive? >> nice to see leno up there. by the way, leno joins us later on on "morning joe." one more story before we hand it over. this one about tom hanks. the oscar winning actor went the extra mile to return a fordham university student's lost possession tweeting this picture with the caption, lauren i found your student i.d. in the park. if you still need it my office

will get it to you. signed hanks. as you would imagine, that got a lot of responses from people who were not lauren. a person named renee tweeted i never wanted to be another person so much till now. jonathan, i'm sure lauren has probably gotten the message by now. it's pretty cool, though. >> yeah, that is pretty cool. pity she can't meet him, actually, just his office. >> that's right. i guess so. still pretty nice -- pretty nice of him to do. >> all right, louis. that does it for me and "way too early." coming up on "morning joe," we'll break down new focus groups in early voting states and why there may not be appetite for a third joe biden bid for president. plus, republican presidential candidate carly fiorina will join us live. "morning joe" is just moments away. whatever you're doing, plan well and enjoy life... ♪ or, as we say at unitedhealthcare insurance company, go long. how you plan is up to you. take healthcare. make sure you're covered for more than what just medicare pays... consider an aarp medicare

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