chris went up to the mound, threw it. he described it himself as a ball about three inches off the right side of the plate to a righty. he wrote on twitter, crucially, didn't bounce it. god bless you, chris hayes, may the baseball gods always smile upon you, unless they are playing the red sox. "first look" is up next. >> did i mess your hair up? i'll be gentle. i'll be gentle. >> the answer's yes, but the people in new hampshire where i'm going to be in about an hour from now, i hope they are going to understand. >> you said yeah? >> go ahead. >> yes! donald trump, everybody!

>> that's a new look. donald trump takes to the tonight show to discuss the state of his campaign, but it's not all a laughing matter. he's once again facing heat for once again refusing to say president obama was born in the united states. >> plus, hillary clinton hits the campaign trail once again, ready to put any sign of illness behind her. >> and it's official, a million recalls under way for samsung after reports of fires caused by faulty batteries on one of the most popular phones in the market. good morning to you, it is friday, september 16th. alex is really excited about that. i'm betty nguyen alongside alex witt and louis burgdorf. late last night donald trump

campaign spokesman said his candidate believes president obama was born in the united states, yet donald trump has yet to say the words himself. the new chapter begins with an interview with "the washington post." "i'll answer that question at the right time, trump said, i just don't want to answer it yet." as whether his campaign manager, kellyanne conway, was accurate when she said trump believes obama was born in the country, trump said it's okay, she can say what she thinks, i want to focus on other things. after trump boasted, i've come up with african-american voters like a rocket ship. the birther issue could still hang over his candidacy. trump glared and said i think it hangs over the reporters. then last night trump's campaign said what the candidate will not say, they say hillary clinton's campaign first raised the question and trump's spokesman said, "in 2011 mr. trump was

finally able to bring this ugly incident to conclusion by successfully compelling president obama to release his birth certificate. having successfully obtained president obama's birth certificate when others could not, mr. trump believes president obama was born in the united states." but, donald trump still did not personally say president obama was born in the united states, and last night at a gala for the congressional hispanic caucus institute, his opponent, hillary clinton, responded. >> he was asked one more time, where was president obama born? and he still wouldn't say hawaii. he still wouldn't say america. this man wants to be our next president? when will he stop this ugliness, this bigotry? >> hillary clinton back running at full speed after taking three

days off to recuperate from her bout of pneumonia. yesterday in greensboro, north carolina, a state where she's running neck and neck with trump, she called her time away a gift but also acknowledged her campaign should have disclosed her illness sooner. >> i have to say, it's great to be back on the campaign trail. as you may know, i recently had a cough that turned out to be pneumonia. i'm not great at taking it easy, even under ordinary circumstances, but with just two months to go until election day, sitting at home was pretty much the last place i wanted to be. when i'm under the weather, i can afford to take a few days off. millions of americans can't. they either go to work sick, or they lose a paycheck, don't they? so they toss back some tylenols, they chug orange juice, and they

hope that the cough or the virus goes away on its own. lots of working parents can't afford childcare, which in many states costs as much as college tuition, so for millions of moms and dads, if they get sick, there's no backup. they are on their own, aren't they? that's the story for too many people still in america. my campaign has said they could have been faster, and i agree with that, but i have to say from my perspective, i thought i was going to be fine and i thought that there wasn't really any reason to make a big fuss about it. so i should have taken time off earlier, i didn't, now i have, and i'm back on the campaign trail. >> well, donald trump was pronounced to have a clean bill of health by both his personal doctor in a letter and by dr. oz

on tv. the republican nominee appeared yesterday to reveal the most detailed medical history he's released yet. dr. oz ticked through a series of questions discussing trump's medical history, including his father's alzheimer's, as well as cholesterol medication he takes. when asked trump why not release results sooner, trump didn't fail to contrast himself with clinton. >> cholesterol is 169, the hdl, healthy cholesterol, 63. the lousy ldl cholesterol is 94. those are good numbers. liver function, thyroid function is all normal, you had a colonoscopy july 13th, which is normal, no pollops and your testosterone is 441, which is actually -- it's good. i must say, i would have shared this earlier. why didn't you blast this out?

>> i didn't think it was necessary. you know, the public's known me for a long time, they've never seen me in a hospital, okay. one thing, if i'm in a hospital, it's going to be out there big league. when you're running for president, i think you have an obligation to be healthy. i don't think you can do the work if you're not healthy. i don't think you can represent the country properly if you're not a healthy person. >> together they also discussed trump's exercise regimen while spending days on end on the campaign trail. >> it's a lot of work. when i'm speaking in front of 15,000 and 20,000 people and using a lot of motion, i guess in its own way it's pretty healthy act, and i really enjoy doing it. a lot of times these rooms are very hot, like saunas, and i guess that's a form of exercise. >> besides golf, is that your major exercise? >> yeah, i don't play much golf, though, lately. we have a president who plays so much golf he could be on the pga tour, but i don't --

>> let's focus on our -- we're going to focus on mr. trump. >> well, there's no love lost between harry reid and donald trump. earlier in the week he went after trump about his weight and yesterday in a speech reid showed if there were any punches left, he was unafraid of pulling those, too. >> we face from donald trump, a candidate, a notorious con artist. donald trump is only trying to help one person, donald trump. i don't care if he wants to be president or city commissioner, donald trump is going to benefit donald trump. if given the opportunity, donald trump will turn america into a big scam, just like trump university. let's be clear about donald trump, he's a spoiled brat raised in plenty, who inherited a fortune, used his money to make more money, and he did a lot of it be swindling working men and women. why would he change as president?

trump is a human leech, who will bleed the country and sit at his golf resort laughing at the money he has made. >> new national polls could not be any tighter for trump and clinton. in a fox news poll, trump leads clinton by one point, 46 to 45. when third party candidates are included, clinton has a one-point advantage, 41 to 40. yesterday's "new york times"/cbs news polls are similar, tied at 42 a piece and clinton is leading the head-to-head 46 to 44. voters think trump would be better at handling the economy. they found clinton would be better equipped to handle terrorism, national security, immigration, and foreign policy. new developments in the case of the samsung galaxy note 7 phones that the company has warned can unexpectedly catch fire. the fire danger is so serious, it is issuing an immediate official recall for 1 million galaxy note 7 phones nationwide.

here's nbc's tom costello. >> alex, good morning. there are a million phones here in the united states that are covered by this new recall with the federal government weighing in and the company now says it has 92 reports of phones overheating, dozens of reports of phones actually catching fire. now under official recall, the phone blamed for dozens of fires, destroying a garage in south carolina, gutting a jeep in florida. >> they present a pretty serious risk of fire, especially if that phone ends up near something combustible, you can have death or serious injury. >> reporter: in the nation's skies -- >> it has been known to cause fires and we're trying to avoid any possibility of that happening on the aircraft. >> reporter: the recall means the faa will likely soon ban the use of the phones onboard planes. it was two weeks ago samsung issued its own recall, which critics blame for causing consumer confusion. >> samsung did something that no company that's selling products in america should ever do, they did a product recall without the

cooperation of the consumer product safety commission. >> reporter: nbc news found several phones for sale online. >> we apologize, especially to those of you who were personally affected by this. >> reporter: samsung said it's already bought back 130,000 phones. replacements should arrive wednesday. the data comes from the phone's batteries, which operate at a very high four volts. if they are overcharged or if there's a short, it can generate tremendous heat. >> if it gets warm enough, you engage into what's called thermal runaway, meaning there's nothing you can do, that battery is going to go off. all of a sudden you have fire and barbecue in your pocket. >> reporter: now investigators are looking at other fires. a child burnt handing a galaxy core, a car cutted tuesday after a different galaxy 7 caught fire. the recall means it's illegal to sell the note 7, even second

hand. samsung is offering phones with certified batteries or full refunds. customers can go to samsung.com, type in the serial number for full details. alex? >> thank you so much, tom costello, for that. for more news of the day we're bringing in louis burgdorf. >> what are you following? >> a man that attacked an offduty nypd officer with a meat cleaver in manhattan is in serious condition. the man was trying to remove a boot from the car. as authorities approached, he pulled out an 11-inch cleaver from his waistband and started running. while subduing juda, the officer was struck in the face with a cleaver, leaving a six-inch gash. other officers opened fire and struck juda several times. the detective slashed is listed in serious condition but is said to be in good spirits. that's a crazy story. a settlement has been

reached in the death of sandra bland, who died in a texas jail last year. bland was arrested after a traffic stop turned confrontational. three days later she was found dead in a jail cell. attorneys in the family say they have reached a nearly $2 million settlement with the county. new rules including electronic logging of all prisoner checks, presence of a full-time emt or nurse on all shifts and increased training of personnel at the jail. and finally, we all want to work in a field we love, right? former house speaker john boehner is getting to do just that, it's no secret, boehner is a frequent smoker and is now joining the board of reynolds american. among other brands, the company makes camel ultra lights, boehner's favorite cigarette. he'll stop kids from smoking, that's a good thing. no word if he'll get free smokes, alex, as part of the gig. >> you had to go there. >> it's a job, but i'm so against smoking. >> at least he's doing it to

stop kids from smoking, which is a good thing. >> thank you so much, louis. still ahead, donald trump wasn't the only one to take to late night tv. bernie sanders also hit the air waves and tried to make the case for hillary clinton. plus, it's gone international after megan rapinoe took to a knee last night. those stories and a check of the weather when we come right back.

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welcome back, everybody. let's get a check of the weather now with meteorologist bill karins t. it's friday, that means the pressure is on. >> it's the time of year you have a lot of plans out there, the weather cools off in areas of the country and the kids are playing, too, it's on the weekends. tracking heavy rain in the middle of the country. this is going to move throughout the country through the weekend. abilene, kansas city, the rain is approaching you, st. joseph, and all through iowa.

let's track it throughout the day today. the storms themselves throughout the day will be approaching areas like chicago, so not only is it going to probably rain and thunderstorms, could talk about airport delays today at o'hare airport and st. louis by about 5:00 p.m. then we track the storm through friday night, into saturday morning, the storms aren't that organized during the day on saturday. they are going to be hit and miss. the coverage is not that great. anywhere from cincinnati, columbus, cleveland, detroit, chance of storms on saturday, but they are going to be fast moving and shouldn't ruin your day plans. by the time we get into sunday, more moisture goes into the front and the coverage of rain should increase, especially late in the day from about 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. that could be a line of thunderstorms moving across new york state, pennsylvania, and beginning to approach areas like the big cities on i-95. most of your day it looks like from d.c., philadelphia, washington, all the way up through baltimore and washington should be dry on sunday, but

late afternoon and early evening, that's when the thunderstorms will make their closest approach to big cities of i-95. big forecast, gorgeous day, cool, crisp morning in areas of new england, it will warm up to the 70s, fantastic. hot in the southern half of the country. 90 in atlanta and dallas and san antonio, all of the west looks fantastic throughout the day today. and again, only problems this weekend, guys, is tracking the rain across the country. it's not going to ruin everyone's entire weekend, but will be periods of rain. >> looks pretty good. thank you. >> loving that. senator bernie sanders attempts to woo supporters to get onboard with hillary clinton. sanders said clinton backs one of his key initiatives. >> what do you say to your supporters now? obviously, they are disappointed. >> take a hard look at the issues that impact your life. what hillary clinton is saying she's going to make public colleges and universities tuition free for all families earning $125,000 or less and

deal significantly with student debt. you know what, that is a very big deal in this country. >> senator sanders will join the conversation on "morning joe" later on. still ahead, oakland raiders may be closer to moving to sin city. >> and it's official, we have our first team to punch their ticket to the playoffs. sports is next. n cereal? why does your tummy go "grumbily, grumbily, grumbily"? no more questions for you! ooph, that milk in your cereal was messing with you, wasn't it? try lactaid, it's real milk, without that annoying lactose. good, right? mmm, yeah. lactaid. the milk that doesn't mess with you. everyone thought i was crazy to open a hotel here. everyone said it's so hard to be a musician, but i can't imagine doing anything else. now that the train makes it easier to get here, the neighborhood is really changing. i'm always hopping on the train, running all over portland. i have to go wherever the work is. trains with innovative siemens technology help keep cities moving, so neighborhoods and businesses can prosper. i can book 3 or 4 gigs on a good weekend.

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time now for sports. and the kickoff of week two in the nfl as the bills host the division rivals my new york jets on thursday night football. to buffalo, the jets put points on the board for each of the first four possessions, jumping out to a 20-7 lead in the second quarter, but the bills respond with three straight scoring drives, including a 71-yard touchdown pass by tyrod taylor in the third, adding to his 85-yarder in the first as buffalo went ahead. ryan fitzpatrick, who aired it out for 374 yards in the game, would then lead new york to the goal line two more times, handing the ball off to running back matt forte, who carried the jets to a win with three rushing touchdowns on the night. huge game. the jets snap a five-game losing skid against the bills and avenge last season's terrible 22-17 loss that bounced new york from playoff contention. in other headlines, las vegas is one step closer to luring a pro football team to that city. after the southern nevada

tourism infrastructure committee voted unanimously to recommend a proposal calling for $750 million in money to build a stadium for the oakland raiders, the recommendation will now be sent to nevada's governor brian sandoval and the state legislature there. in soccer headlines, women's national team star megan rapinoe receiving backlash from u.s. soccer after joining colin kaepernick's star-spangled protest. rapinoe, who knelt earlier in the month before a match between her seattle rain and chicago red stars dropped to a knee on the global stage last night before team usa's exhibition win over thailand. u.s. soccer issued a statement during the game saying, "representing your country is a privilege and honor for any player or coach associated with u.s. soccer's national teams, therefore, our national anthem has particular significance for u.s. soccer." "as part of the privilege to represent your country, we have an expectation players and

coaches will stand and honor our flag while the national anthem is played." let's turn now to major league baseball, where in chicago the cubs fail to wrap up the n.l. central on their own after a loss last night, but that party was only delayed as a 6-2 loss by the cardinals against the giants on the west coast clinches the cubs' their first division crown since 2008. and back at the friendly confines, wrigley field marquee lit up with a message reading "2016 n.l. central champions." good for them. now to boston, where willie geist is not happy about this, the yankees needing every win they can in order to continue their chase for the wild card spot, leading the red sox 5-1 in the eighth inning, when boston's david ortiz slugs his 537th career homer. a solo shot to center field to pass mickey mantle on baseball's all-time home run list. big papi would drive in another

run for boston with a single in the next inning and with runners on second and third, yankees find themselves one out away from wrapping up the first of a four-game series against the red sox. >> high deep right to center. backing up, ellsbury, turning around. the red sox walk it off. how about that? >> that's all she wrote. what a comeback, boston's hanley ramirez caps a five-run ninth inning with a three-run shot to winner, walking the red sox off with a 7-5 win. alex, joe scarborough is going to be in a very, very good mood this morning, i think, after that one. >> so cool for big papi, right? it's his year, it's his season. thank you, louis. still ahead, donald trump's children have been some of his best surrogates this election season, but now donald trump jr. is taking heavy criticism for recent comments. plus, remember this moment from the dnc, former president bill clinton got to relive the occasion last night. we'll explain ahead.

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i got to kindly thank you for giving us the material that we're doing. it's been amazing to follow, and exciting, because you say some shocking things. i can't even believe. >> but i'm trying not to. >> oh, yeah. >> well, donald trump says he's trying to turn over a new leaf and be more disciplined, but has he now gone off the rails again, attacking a church pastor? >> plus, new heat on the republican nominee to release his tax returns with house speaker paul ryan now weighing

in, will trump give into the pressure? and the smartphone war heats up today between samsung and apple with the iphone going on sale and the galaxy 7 on fire, literally. hey there, everyone, good morning, it's friday, september 16th, i'm betty nguyen alongside alex witt and louis burgdorf. the polls have tightened the presidential rate and the subject of transparency has been raised in the presidential character test. a new poll from queen quinnipiac university show 54% said trump is more transparent, 37% say clinton. the fact that trump is the only candidate who does not travel on

the same plane with the reporters covering him was highlighted. when he left those reporters behind as their plane was delayed and then mocked them at the top of his rally. >> i have really good news for you. i just heard the press is stuck on their airplane, they can't get here, i love it. they are trying to get here now. they are going to be about 30 minutes late. they called us and said could you wait? i said absolutely not, let's get going. trump breaking tradition by not disclosing tax returns also under scrutiny when the candidate's son suggested releasing them would be a distraction. >> because he's got a 12,000-page tax return that would create probably 300 million independent financial auditors out of every person in the country asking questions that are going to distract from his main message. >> yesterday paul ryan urged trump to release his taxes, while democratic senator

elizabeth warren called for legislation to compel trump and all future presidential candidates to show their returns. >> i release mine. i think we should release ours. i'll leave it to him when to do it. >> it's no surprise that trump thinks the rules don't apply to him. he never does. but the american people are not going to buy a pig in a poke. he should release his taxes voluntarily, but since he won't, then we should pass the presidential tax transparency act and make him release those taxes. >> yesterday, donald trump did talk taxes, focusing on how much americans are paying as he worked to sell his ambitious economic vision. speaking at the economic club of new york, trump said he would create 25 million jobs, cut tax rates for individuals, and eliminate a number of regulations. he also took a page out of jeb bush's book, despite his own team projecting growth of 3.5%.

>> it's time to start thinking big once again. that's why i believe it's time to establish a national goal of reaching 4% economic growth. and my great economists don't want me to say this, but i think we can do better than that. now they are upset, they'll be very upset, but i think we can do substantially better than that. >> trump also used the appearance to hammer hillary clinton on her economic proposals. >> not one single idea she's got will make one american job or create one new dollar of american growth for our workers. the only thing she could offer is a welfare check. that's about it. our plan will produce paychecks

and they are going to be great paychecks for millions of people now unemployed or underemployed. >> donald trump jr. faced more scrutiny when a remark about hillary clinton was taken by some as a reference to the holocaust. >> without the media, this wouldn't even be a contest, but the media has built her up. they've let her slide on every, you know, indiscrepancy, every lie, every dnc game trying to get bernie sanders out of the thing. i mean, if republicans were doing that, they'd be warming up the gas chamber right now. >> the jewish advocacy group admonished trump, trivialization of the holocaust and gas chambers is never okay. we hope you retract. in a conversation with nbc news, trump jr. said in no way was it an anti-semitic remark, saying he meant it as a term of

expression for capital punishment and normally used the term "electric chair," also stands behind the sentiment clinton gets a pass from the media. he believes president obama was born in the united states, and yet trump has still yet to say these words himself. the latest chapter begins with an interview with "the washington post." in it he refuses to say the president was born in the u.s., answering "i'll answer that question at the right time, i just don't want to answer it yet." when asked when kellyanne conway said he believes obama was born in the country, "it's okay, she can say what she thinks, i want to focus on other things." after, saying "i've come up with african-american voters like a rocket ship." the birther issue could still hang over his candidacy, writing, trump glared and said i think it hangs over the reporters.

last night trump's campaign said they claim hillary clinton's campaign first raised the questions and then trump's spokesman said in 2011 trump was finally able to bring this ugly incident to conclusion by successfully compelling president obama to release his birth certificate. having successfully obtained the birth certificate when others could not, mr. trump believes the president was born in the united states. while trump's campaign claimed the president did a successfully compelling president obama to release his birth certificate in may of 2011, trump continued to press the issue in the year since. one year later in may 2012, trump tweeted, "in his own words, barack obama was born in kenya and raised in indonesia and hawaii. this statement was made in writing in the 1990s. why does the press protect him, is this another watergate? in august 2012 he tweeted, an

extremely credible source called my office and told me president obama's birth certificate is a fraud. in december 2013 trump wrote, how amazing the state health director who verified copies of obama's birth certificate died in a plane crash yesterday. all others lived. in september 2014 he wrote, attention all hackers, you hack everything else, so please hack obama's college records. trump continued to question president obama's birth place and recently this year. >> he was perhaps born in kenya, very simple, okay, he was perhaps born in this country. but said he was born in kenya, because if you say you were born in kenya, you got aid and you got into colleges. and people were doing that. so perhaps he was born in this country. that has a very big chance. or, you know, who knows. >> his mother was a u.s.

citizen, born in kansas. was he a natural born citizen? >> who knows, who knows? who cares right now? we're talking about something else, okay, i have my own theory on obama. some day i'll write a book, i'll do another book and it will do very successfully. >> a day after being interrupted mid speech by a flyflint, michi pastor, donald trump is hitting back, accusing the pastor herself of having a political agenda. >> hillary failed on the economy. just like she's failed on foreign policy. everything she touched didn't work out. nothing. now hillary clinton -- >> mr. trump, i invited you here to thank us for what we've done, not give a political speech. >> that's good. okay. >> when she got up to introduce me, she was so nervous, she was shaking, and i said, wow, this is sort of strange. then she came up. so she had that in mind, there's no question about it. she was so nervous, she was like

a nervous mess. so i figured something -- i figured something was up, really. >> his latest target is a pastor in flint, michigan, who respectfully asked him not to use her pulpit for political attacks. he called her a nervous mess. that's not only insulting, it's dead wrong. reverend faith green-timmons is not a nervous mess, she's a rock for her community in trying times, she deserves better than that, and flint deserves better. in fact, so does america. >> president obama's announced creation of the first national marine monument in the atlantic ocean off the coast of new england. it will permanently protect nearly 5,000 square miles of underwater canyons, mountains, forests, all of which are filled with exotic wildlife and endangered marine animals. last month the president expanded an ocean monument in

the pacific near hawaii. let's turn to business. after samsung issued its own recall last week, the galaxy note 7 smartphone is under official recall by the united states consumer product safety commission. dozens blamed the phone for sparking fires, including in a florida jeep. the model has also been blamed for the destruction of a south carolina firefighter's garage. the batteries operate at a high voltage and if overcharged the battery can generate a great deal of heat and catch fire. the official recall means the faa may soon ban the phone on planes, already telling passengers the phone must be off at all times due to a safety risk. and as samsung stumbles, apple is soaring ahead of its iphone 7 release with multiple molds sold out. hadley gamble joins us live from london. apple's stock is up and means good times for wall street. >> it does indeed, louis, basically what we've seen over the last 24 hours is customers lining up around the block from japan to australia, even here in

london, as well, all hoping to get their hands on the new iphone 7. it's the biggest phone launch for apple in the company's history, but the customers aren't going to get their hands on the iphone 7, they are already sold out. big boost for wall street, stocks up over the last two days, getting a major boost from apple. another story we're watching, fiat is apparently recalling 1.4 million cars that could be responsible for three deaths and five injuries. they say there may be a problem with a flawed computer that's keeping airbags from deploying in a crash. another story that we're watching today, as well, is the company that was cofounded by jessica alba, this was a long friendly household products company, the honest company, could be bought out for as much as a billion dollars, that would not only mean a major boost for the company, but it could also, of course, mean this unilever company is going to have access

to many of the different areas, including the u.s. diaper market. guys? >> jessica alba, multitalented. hadley gamble live from london. thank you, alex and betty, back to you. >> what do you think about that? >> good to wake up jessica alba today. >> actress, media mogul, wow. >> one can only dream. still ahead, donald trump hits back at criticism that he likes vladimir putin a little too much, accusing democrats of making much to do about nothing. we'll have his comments just last night. and it's a cease-fire in syria starting to crumble. we'll get a live report on that and why russia accuses the u.s. of not holding up its end of the bargain. we're back in a moment. the microsoft cloud helps us

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let's get a check of your weather with meteorologist bill karins. alex has saturday off. >> that's a rarity for alex, too. >> i'll come bail you out. >> alex looking for a rainy day to sit inside?

>> no. >> no, she's out on the town tonight. >> i'll work on that for her. she has to stay tuned. give me about 30 seconds, i'll tell her her forecast for saturday. problem in the middle of the country, if you're going to have travel trouble in the roads or the airplanes today, it will be in the midwest with all this rain. kansas city, st. louis, chicago, thunderstorms are going to weaken, but they are holding together as of now. we'll watch that over the next couple hours. today's forecast absolutely gorgeous, picture perfect afternoon and evening. friday night football games are going to be ideal to be sitting in the stands watching or playing them. d.c., northwards, even the carolinas should be nice during the day today. typical afternoon storms from louisiana to florida, they should die off around sunset. for the weekend, rain today in areas of chicago and st. louis, then we shift it saturday from memphis, all the way back through southern indiana and into ohio, then by the time we get through saturday afternoon, some of this creeps into new york state.

you will notice much of the immediate east coast will have a fantastic saturday, no problems whatsoever. by the time we get to sunday, that could change as the rain pushes further east, hot and humid on the east coast, sparking afternoon thunderstorms late in the day for new york city, boston, right up the big i-95 corridor. split forecast. won't rain out anyone's plans the entire weekend. >> okay, well, i'm working sunday anyways, so it is what it is. thank you, bill karins, okay. bill clinton had fun appearing on "the daily show." trevor noah tried to recreate the end of the democratic national convention. >> i did notice there was one thing that makes you smile, so i wanted to give you the gift of balloons. thank you so much for coming. to "the daily show." >> yeah! when i saw the film of the end of the convention, i realized it

more than anybody else i was there playing with the balloons and they were going to hook me off the stage. i thought, you know, i really am in my second childhood. >> all right, so before we go to break, let's bring in louis burgdorf for a look at the stories that we are not covering whatsoever today, louis. >> that's right, betty. let's start in georgia, someone's let a woman's 16 pythons out on the loose outside of augusta, so i guess beware of pythons if you live in georgia. let's go to pennsylvania. tour guides have been told not to take visitors and perspective students into a certain dorm because apparently it always smells like marijuana. what a shocker there. that story just sounds like a smoke screen. finally, a new 18 karat gold toilet has been installed at the guggenheim museum and it's not just for show, visitors can actually sit on the throne. i guess sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. we're not covering any of those stories today. instead, we'll be back with real

news when we return.

i think whether or not this works is really up to the russians. it is up to whether or not vladimir putin decides that it's time to do what the russians can do to bring this conflict into a period where there can be the beginning of political discussions. >> that is hillary clinton on

the campaign trail yesterday talking about the serious cease-fire agreement between the u.s. and russia, but that agreement is already showing signs of serious strain. russia is accusing the u.s. of failing to fulfill its portion of the truce. officials in moscow claim syrian opposition groups controlled by the u.s. have ramped up their shellings of civilian areas. meanwhile, a group says it has documented attacks by both rebel and government forces and that the first civilians have been killed since the cease-fire began on monday. so joining us now to talk more about this from london, nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley. looks like the agreement is facing the first test of just how strong it really is. >> that's right, betty. it's really too bad, because this was considered by many syrians to be the last best hope of resolving this five-year civil war. the cease-fire in syria that began earlier this week does appear to be faltering. russian-american diplomats signed the deal, it's the eight

convoys that have yet to reach the embattled side of aleppo and groups have recorded the first causalities since the cease-fire came into effect on monday, as you noted. nearly two dozen were killed on the eastern side of the city, but it's important to know they are not covered in the treaty, but the successful delivery of aid is a crucial part of the cease-fire, but frankly, betty, diplomats and aid organizations have never been all that optimistic that this treaty was actually going to work. it came amid a spike in violence and rebel groups backed by the u.s. had publicly expressed skepticism this treaty would even last, so russian diplomats across the u.s. are covering up violations of the treaty while syrian authorities are not allowing some 40 trucks into aleppo, enough to feed 40,000 hungry people in this war-ravaged city.

betty? >> that's unfortunate. matt bradley, thank you. still answering questions about his admiration for vladimir putin, this time on "the tonight show," where he accused democrats of making it all up. >> you said if he says great things about me, i'll say great things about him. >> look, i don't know him, know nothing about him really, if we got along with russia, it's not a bad thing, we're getting along with other countries. the democrats are trying to say i like him so much. i don't like him, i don't dislike him, i don't have any feelings one way or another. if he says good things or bad things about me, i'm going to make great deals for our country, but they do try to pin me into this and i'm saying to myself, i don't even know him. all of a sudden they make him like he's my best friend, i don't know. >> japan announced it plans to increase its presence in the highly contested south china sea. the country's defense minister announced the move in washington, d.c., yesterday, saying the country will conduct joint training patrols with the

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welcome back. before we toss it over to "morning joe," let's get a check on the stories you'll be hearing about in the day ahead. new york city's police commissioner said to officially step down today. bill bratton. bill bratton was the city's top cop for less than three years, his second time in that position. he's leaving to become a risk and security adviser at a consulting firm, calling it an offer too good to pass up. the current and former first lady are going to come together in washington d.c. today, taking part in a luncheon discussion at the national archives. they'll be talking about the history of first ladies and their support for military personnel and their families. >> speaking of first ladies on the campaign trail head, hillary clinton will be in washington where she'll deliver remarks. her opponent won't be far away, holding a campaign event to honor veterans at one of his hotels in d.c. he'll then head to miami for a campaign rally there this evening. and that does it for us on this friday. i'm betty nguyen alongside alex

witt and louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts right now. >> he was asked one more time. where was president obama born? and he still wouldn't say hawaii. wouldn't say hawaii. he still wouldn't say america. this man wants to be our next president? when will he stop this ugliness, this bigotry? >> hsillary clinton speaking lat knight at a galla for the congressional spanish caucus institute as the birther issue takes new twists and turns. good morning, everyone. it's friday, september 16th. welcome to "morning joe." wow. with us on set we have managing editor of bloomberg politics and co-host of "with all due