sometimes how it works even after bad things happen, particularly after bad stuff happens. "first look" is up next. this is very big and frankly it's unbelievable. what was just found out is that the department of justice, the state department, and the fbi colluded, got together, to make hillary clinton look less guilty and look a lot better than she looks. >> donald trump's campaign is seizing on newly released fbi documents related to the investigation into hillary clinton's private e-mail server. his campaign claims they show quid pro quo. melania trump appears in her first major interview since the release of a 2005 "access hollywood" tape in which her husband made lewd comments about women. she backs his claims that the election is rigged, putting senators down-ballot in a tough

spot. with 21 days until the leak, hillary clinton is going after trump's turf. her campaign is expanding into states the democrats haven't won in decades. breaking news, russian and syrian forces have halted air strikes in aleppo, syria, at least temporarily. this move comes ahead a pause this thursday when the russian defense ministry announced yesterday. that pause is meant to allow syrian rebels as well as wounded and sick civilians to leave the city safely. russia's defense minister says the extra time is intended to prepare safe corridors and to plan for the evacuation. the humanitarian pause was

announced less than a day after the syrian observatory for human rights says air strikes killed at least 50 civilians in aleppo, including 18 children. donald trump's campaign is calling for a top state department official to resign immediately. as revelations from the fbi's investigation into hillary clinton's private e-mail server creates new headaches for her campaign. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: hillary clinton heading out to practice for wednesday's final debate. and now facing yet another unexpected firestorm over her private e-mails. first, notes released from the fbi e-mail investigation quoting an fbi agent accusing a top state department official of proposing a quid pro quo to resolve a dispute over whether a clinton e-mail should be classified. the notes say, in exchange for marking the e-mail unclassified, state would reciprocate by allowing the the fbi to place more agents in countries where they are presently forbidden, specifically iraq.

in rare agreement, donald trump and speaker paul ryan jumped all over the charge. >> this shows corruption at the highest level. and we can't let it happen as american citizens. >> reporter: the problem with that storyline in the fbi and the state department say it never happened. >> there's no quid pro quo. absolutely not. >> reporter: in fact, both sides say it was an fbi official who brought up the question of placing agents overseas, separately from the negotiation over classification. no linkage, no quid pro quo. second, and the real challenge for clinton, another set of e-mails. those stolen from her campaign chairman, john podesta, released by wikileaks, the u.s. says with help from russia. the wikileaks trove not authenticated by the campaign or nbc news include alleged transcripts from her speeches to goldman sachs revealing clinical changed her position on issues like trade, immigration, wall street when she became a candidate, exactly what bernie sanders suspected. >> you've got to release the

transcripts, let everybody see it. >> reporter: now clinton says she'll be tough on wall street. >> we still have to crack down on the big banks. >> reporter: but as a highly paid speaker, clinton appears to have told the bankers, the people that know the industry better than anybody are the people who work in the industry. but for all this, clinton is 11 points ahead of trump in our new poll. now expanding her campaign to red state like utah, texas, georgia, and arizona, where michelle obama will campaign this week. the democrats hoping to win decisively and try to put to rest trump's talk of a stolen election. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. you heard it, donald trump seizing on the fbi's document release after hillary clinton's e-mail investigation, calling it proof of corruption at the highest level. trump tweeted, crooked hillary colluded with fbi and doj, media covering up to protect her, rigged system, our country deserves better. trump kept up his attack before and during his rally in green bay last night. >> what's taking place is

illegal between justice department and the fbi and secretary of state and the state department. i think it's crazy what's going on, it's totally illegal. it's a criminal act, it's a crime. i hear the republicans are going to hold hearings after the election. why would you hold them after the election? you want to hold those hearings before the election. this is a i didn't mean natural act and it's incredible that they can do this and get away with it. >> newly released fbi documents made public just today reveal just how deep this corruption goes, you saw it. the under secretary of state, patrick kennedy, illegally pressured the fbi to unclassify e-mails from hillary's illegal server. that's a lot of illegality in that one statement, isn't it? that's just one after another. in other words, the state department was trying to cover uphillary's crimes of sending

classified information on a server our enemies could easily access. >> meanwhile, trump was on the campaign trail ahead of the third and final debate, in wisconsin on paul ryan's home turf. just a day after slamming the house speaker on twitter as "a man who doesn't know how to win." and throughout the day on twitter, he was critical of the party and concerns of voter fraud tweeting, of course there is large-scale voter fraud happening on and before election day. why do republican leaders deny what is going on? so naive. here's he and his running mate on the trail. >> truth is, there's a lot of talk about rigged elections out there today. and i have no doubt the national media's trying to rig this election with their biased coverage in hillary clinton's favor. but in terms of the actual vote itself, you know, if you're here at a rally and you've not yet volunteered to participate in the electoral process, by respectfully providing accountability at a polling

place come election day, then you haven't yet done all that you can do. >> the media's trying to rig the election by giving credence, and this is so true, by giving credence to false stories that have no validity and make it a front page -- they take a story with absolutely nothing, that didn't exist, and they put it front page news. because they want to poison the minds of the voters. they even want to try to rig the election at the polling booths. and believe me, there's a lot going on. you ever hear these people? they say there's nothing going on. people that died ten years ago are still voting. illegal ilgrants are voting. where are the street smarts of some of these politicians? you look at certain cities, i won't name them right now, they're cities -- >> you've mentioned philadelphia quite a bit. >> i think romney got no votes, mccain got no votes. like, no votes. philadelphia certainly is one.

you look at what's going on in chicago. you look at what's going on in st. louis and many other cities. this tremendous voter fraud. how republican leadership doesn't see that is beyond me. >> meanwhile, senators in his own party locked in tight re-election battles face those same questions, including pat toomey whose state home is philadelphia. >> our elections may not always be completely perfect, but they are legitimate. they have integrity. and everyone needs to respect the outcome. i don't know how this race, my race, the president's race, or any other race is going to turn out but we all need to respect the outcome because that's going to be necessary to pull us all together on november 9th, the day after the election. >> this election's not being rig the and let me explain to you why it's not being rigged in florida and yes hope he stops saying that why he should stop saying that. we have 67 counties in this state each of which conduct their own elections. i promise you there is not a 67-county conspiracy to rig this election. second, the governor of the state of florida is a

republican. who appoints the people that run the division of elections. third, there's no evidence behind any of this. so this should not continue to be said. this is a state that literally has millions of people who came here because they couldn't vote in the nation of their birth. it would be a tragedy if they gave up their vote here as well. >> donald trump's wife melania trump speaking out publicly for the first time since allegations of sexual misconduct against him were revealed. in an interview ms. trump echoed the recent revelations are part of a broader conspiracy to keep her husband from winning the election. >> the other thing that's being talked a lot about on the campaign trail that your husband is saying he believes the election is rigged, that there's a lot of forces trying to rig it. do you feel that as well? >> well, i see it how the media is portraying. i see how they are reporting and what they want to say and what they don't want to say. they going -- just for example, he makes a speech 45 minutes long. they take a sentence out.

and they going on and on and on about that sentence. nothing else. and he talks about the issues. and that's what american people want to hear. >> in a sign of growing confidence, hillary clinton's campaign is advancing into several traditionally red states. campaign manager robby mook says they are dramatically expanding efforts in nevada, dispatching surrogates there this week. senator bernie sanders will hold two rallies today. chelsea clinton will be in tempe tomorrow. first lady michelle obama will host a rally in phoenix thursday. the campaign will also funnel an additional $1 million into missouri and indiana, each of those states have senate seats up for grabs in tight races. in texas the campaign has brought a week's worth of digital and tv advertising to highlight an endorsement from the conservative "dallas morning news." former president bill clinton highlighted some of his wife's recent endorsements on the

campaign trail. >> the other day i called a friend of hillary's and mine who's working hard for her and loves her and working in texas, where we're only three points behind now. texas. go figure. "the dallas morning news" hasn't endorsed a democrat in 75 years, they endorse her. in arizona the biggest newspaper was found in 1890, 126 years ago. they made their first endorsement ever of a democrat. and they got death threats for it and they doubled down and said, this is proof we were right. >> new national polls released show a difficult but not impossible path for donald trump. a cbs news poll taken wednesday through sunday gives clinton a 9-point lead in a four-way race. a five-point swing toward clinton since early october. a monmouth university poll taken over the weekend shows clinton at the 50% mark, 12 points ahead of trump who's at 38%. a george washington university poll shows clinton an 8-point lead, 47% to 39%.

a spate of national polls conducted in the last week have shown didn't ahead with varying margins, her lead as small as 4 points and within the margin of error, the abc/"washington post" poll. most polls show the battleground states remain a tossup. florida, quinnipiac puts clinton 4 points ahead of trump, barely outside the margin of error. ohio, quinn pe quack has that race tied for trump and clinton at 45% each, clinton on an upswing there. a cnn poll in the state shows trump in the lead there, 48% to clinton's 44%. quinnipiac also finds clinton's lead has grown to 6 points in pennsylvania, 47-41. cnn shows with 1 point for north carolina's 15 electoral votes, 48% clinton, 47% trump. nevada also has the race essentially tied. clinton 46%, trump 44%. colorado, clinton has taken a

7-point lead, 45-37. gary johnson coming in at 10% are all of this as the trump campaign is putting serious resources into a state they appeared to have given up on. announcing a plan to spend $2 million on tv advertising in virginia over the final three weeks. last week the trump campaign parted ways with the state cochairman who said the campaign was shifting focus elsewhere. white house press secretary josh earnest was asked about donald trump's suggestion he and hillary clinton be drug tested before tomorrow's presidential debate. here's how earnest responded. >> you're telling me the candidate who snorted his way through the first two debates is accusing the other candidate of taking drugs? that's a curious development in the campaign. >> are you saying just now that you think the sniffling or snorting as you described it might have been related to -- >> not at all. >> okay. so what were you saying? what were you trying to get across when you said that? >> trying to have a little fun. a retired marine general

pleads guilty to lying about leaked classified information. the arizona cardinals post a dominant win over the new york jets. we've got all the highlights from monday night football. as we go to break, a look at president obama who has about three months left in the white house, sharpening interview skills with the "late show" host stephen colbert last night. >> 55, tough time to start over for a man, okay. can you tell me about some of your accomplishments? and keep in mind it's important to describe them in such a way that it highlights how your experience might be relevant to a potential employer. >> okay, well i brokered international deals that slowed the impact of climate change and prevented iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. >> okay. let's change that to "proficient in microsoft excel." anything necessarily. >> i reopened relations with cuba for the first time in 50 years. >> hm, i'd call that one "conversational spanish." see? okay. it says here -- let me see -- it id here you saved the american auto industry. >> yeah, but -- nobody believes it.

change that to "dried stick." >> that's good. i'm beowulf boritt and i'm a broadway set designer.

sort of fallen in love with this computer, i can flip it... ...around and flip through images, and then i can use it... ...as a tablet. go in and work on the details. i could never do that with a mac. we've been hearing so much about how you're a digital company, so you can see our confusion. ge is an industrial company that actually builds world-changing machines. machines that can also communicate digitally. like robots. did you build that robot? that's not a robot, that's my coworker earl. he builds jet engines with his human hands. what about that robot? that is a vending machine, ricky.

john, give him a dollar. intercom: the library [ kis now closing.] ok kid, closing up. goodnight. the hardest part about homework shouldn't be figuring out where to do it. through internet essentials, comcast has connected over 3 million people in need to low-cost internet at home. welcome to a brighter future. comcast.

retired four-star marine general james cartwright pleaded guilty to making false statements to the fbi. this sells from the bureau's investigation into leaks of classified information about a computer software program called stuxnet ka signed to attack iran's nuclear program. cartwright was questioned in 2012 after a book written by a "new york times" reporter exposed stuxnet. he confirmed classified information to a reporter for "newsweek" according to the plea. cartwright faces a maximum prison sentence of five years, although he's expected to get no more than about six months. a florida man heading to prison for 20 years after being sentenced for a road rage altercation involving george zimmerman. last year matthew apperson opened fire at zimmerman's truck, the latest in a string of

issues for zimmerman who was acquitted of second-degree murder after the shooting death of trayvon martin in 2012. apperson, who was convicted of charges including attempted second-degree murder, claimed zimmerman was the first to point a gun and he reacted in self-defense. zimmerman disputes that claim. a check on the weather with bill karins. so what exactly season is it right now? >> a lot of people had heat on, now the ac back on. an amazing heat wave for this time of year. our friends in the the boston area, waking up to wet weather in the next half hour. it's about to end. you've got maybe a half hour, 60 minutes left. there have been unexpected showers and wet weather. that's good, we need the rain in that area. let's get back to the record heat. yesterday it was 100 degrees in goodland, kansas, in the middle of october. 44 areas set record highs. we're going to have more record highs throughout the day. this cold front eventually will cool people off but not yet. potential records today, louisville very close, 87 predicted high, record is 86.

nashville, you're expected to break your record high, a chance at 90 in the nashville area. birmingham should be near 90, a record high. atlanta's going to be close, memphis will be near your record. the northeast, the warm air will not make it into new hampshire and maine. albany's going to be a near record high. new york city, close, 82 is the record. baltimore, you're expected to break your high with 84 degrees. we cool off some areas on wednesday. we still have a chance in philly of a record high and nashville once again near 90. nashville got two 90-degree days in a row in the middle of october. the record heat wave didn'ts. we cooled off a bit chicago, minneapolis. the only really bad weather is the northwest, we continue with the rainy weather and also on the cool side. alex, this is a lot of areas setting the warmest temperatures ever so late in the season. >> i know, and i'm still thinking about skiing there. you've got to hook that up. snow. >> you've got to go west, some of the mountain areas are starting to pile up the snow. >> good, okay. we'll talk during the break.

>> i'm not complaining, i like the warm weather. still ahead, after a brilliant effort from the bull pen, the cleveland indians are just one step away from heading to the world series. we've got the game highlights next in sports. ♪ using 60,000 points from my chase ink card i bought all the framework... wire... and plants needed to give my shop... a face... no one will forget. see what the power of points can do for your business. learn more at chase.com/ink see what the power of points can do for your business. americans are buying more and more of everything online. and so many businesses rely on the united states postal service to get it there. that's why we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. the united states postal service. priority: you

ebecause the ultimate expression of power is control. get up to $5,000 customer cash on select 2016 models. see your lexus dealer. we'll play something besides video games. every day is a gift especially for people with heart failure. but today there's entresto®- a breakthrough medicine that can help make more tomorrows possible. tomorrow, i want to see teddy bait his first hook.

in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto® was proven to help more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto®. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto® with an ace inhibitor or or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto®. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. tomorrow, i'm gonna step out with my favorite girl. ask your heart doctor about entresto®. and help make the gift of tomorrow possible. time for sports. blue jays taking on the indians in game three of the american league championship series. to toronto, trevor bah over the mound for cleveland after having his schedule pushed back from game two, recovering after

cutting his hand repairing one of the drones he enjoys flying as a hobby. that injury still an issue as the pitcher is forced from the game in the first after blood begins dripping from the bound on his right pinky finger. six relief pippers would do it for the indians and get the job done, recording 25 outs while limiting toronto to two runs and seven hits. cleveland's bats did the rest of the work, including a solo homer from jason dkipnis and mike napoli. indians take a 3-0 series lead after the 4-2 victory, one win away from the world series. cleveland will try to wrap things up this afternoon against the jays in game four. tonight lefty rich hill and the dodgers will host jake arrieta and the cubs in game three of a tied national league championship series. meanwhile, charlotte hornets forward frank ka minute tee back at home. the steve bartman jersey refers

to the cubs fan who appeared to interfere with the foul ball in game six of the 2003 nlcs, often blamed for costing the cubs a world series appearance that year. kaminsky is an avid white sox fan. let's turn to the nfl and the cardinals hosting jets on monday night football. i don't want to do this story. to glendale, the arizona ground game was no match for the jet -- the jets no match for the arizona ground game. running back david johnson rushed for 111 yards and three touchdowns including a 58-yard score in the first quarter. the new york offense mustered only 33 yards on the ground and settled for just a field goal in the game. the cardinals improved to 3-3 handing the jets their fourth straight loss after the 28-3 victory. college football's big 12 conference will be sticking with ten members after deliberating over a decision to add schools to bolster its position among the power five conferences,

they've decided not to expand coming as a blow to schools like houston and byu among others hoping for a chance to join. >> sorry about your jets. >> it's tough. >> we won't talk about it anymore. thank you very much. still ahead, donald trump surrogate chris christie weighs in on the state of the republican campaign with less than a month until election day. plus senator john mccain is promising a supreme court confirmation fight if hillary clinton wins the white house. we'll have those stories and much more when we come right back. boost

it's about moving forward not back. it's looking up not down. it's feeling up thinking up living up. it's being in motion... in body in spirit in the now. boost. it's not just nutrition, it's intelligent nutrition. with 26 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. all in 3 delicious flavors. it's choosing to go in one direction... up. boost. be up for it.

my lan early morning mode.de. and a partly sunny mode. transitions® signature™ adaptive lenses... are more responsive than ever. experience life well lit®. ...upgrade your lenses to transitions® signature™

the election is being rigged by corrupt media. the corrupt media is trying to do everything in their power to

stop our movement. >> oh, donald trump. the media is not rigged against you. they're just recording what you say and playing it back. donald trump, the media has given you billions of dollars of free air time, you realize that. billions of dollars. how are they rigging it against even your empty podium has been on tv more than gary johnson and jill stein combined. although at least your podium knows where aleppo is. >> with the election exactly three weeks away, donald trump ramps up his talk about a rigged election. and now his running mate, who on sunday downplayed those claims, is also sounding what many are calling a false alarm. the trump campaign seizing on more bad headlines for hillary clinton. did the fbi and state department strike a deal to make the e-mail controversy seem less severe than it actually was? breaking news from syria, a deal to stop some of the violence in aleppo, at least for now.

good morning. it is tuesday, october 18th. i'm alex witt alongside louis burgdorf. donald trump's campaign is calling for a top state department official to resign immediately. this comes as revelations from the fbi's investigation into hillary clinton's private e-mail server creates some new headaches for her campaign. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: hillary clinton heading out to practice for wednesday's final debate. now facing yet another unexpected firestorm over her private e-mails. first, notes released from the fbi e-mail investigation quoting an fbi agent accusing a top state department official of proposing a quid pro quo to resolve a dispute over whether a clinton e-mail should be classified.

the notes say, in exchange for marking the e-mail unclassified, state would reciprocate by allowing the the fbi to place more agents in countries where they are presently forbidden, specifically iraq. in rare agreement, donald trump and speaker paul ryan jumped all over the charge. >> this shows corruption at the highest level. and we can't let it happen as american citizens. >> reporter: the problem with that storyline the fbi and the state department say it never happened. >> there's no quid pro quo. absolutely not. >> reporter: in fact, both sides say it was an fbi official who brought up the question of placing agents overseas, separately from the negotiation over classification. no linkage, no quid pro quo. second, and the real challenge for clinton, another set of e-mails. those stolen from her campaign chairman, john podesta, released by wikileaks, the u.s. says with help from russia. the wikileaks trove not authenticated by the campaign or nbc news include alleged transcripts from her speeches to

goldman sachs revealing clinical clinton changed her position on issues like trade, immigration, wall street when she became a candidate, exactly what bernie sanders suspected. >> you've got to release the transcripts, let everybody see it. >> reporter: now clinton says she'll be tough on wall street. >> we still have to crack down on the big banks. >> reporter: but as a highly paid speaker, clinton appears to have told the bankers, the people that know the industry better than anybody are the people who work in the industry. but for all this, clinton is 11 points ahead of trump in our new poll. now expanding her campaign to red states like utah, texas, georgia, and arizona, where michelle obama will campaign this week. the democrats hoping to win decisively and try to put to rest trump's talk of a stolen election. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. trump was on the campaign trail ahead of the third and final debate and he did not take his foot off gas on asserting the election was rigged. he unveiled a five-point plan to try to "drain the swamp in washington," calling for five-year bans on all executive branch lobbying for the

government and congressional staffs. throughout the day he tweeted about what he described as shady behavior from the clinton campaign in the media "voter fraud, crooked hillary clinton even got the questions to a debate and nobody says a word, can you imagine if i got the questions?" here's he and his running mate making the case. >> elections happen one precinct at a time. the right to vote is the bedrock of our democracy. voter fraud cannot be tolerated by anyone in this nation because it disenfranchises republicans, independents, democrats, conservatives, and liberals in america. >> the media's an extension of the clinton campaign as wikileaks has proven. and they don't talk about wikileaks, they just keep talking about trump, trump, trump. [ audience: tell the truth ] >> we need some truth. we need truth, we do need truth. you know, to make america great

again, we do need some truths from these people, i will tell you. they're poisoning the minds of voters. the following information comes straight from pew research. "approximately 24 million people, one of every eight, voter registrations in the the united states, are no longer valid or significantly inaccurate." one in eight. more than 1.8 million deceased individuals right now are listed as voters. oh, that's wonderful. well, if they're going to vote for me, we'll think about it, right? but i have a feeling they're not going to vote for me. >> bernie sanders is stepping up his campaign appearances for hillary clinton as the election draws near. yesterday he spoke at a rally in colorado for the democratic nominee calling on trump supporters who feel like the system is rigged in favor of the wealthy to vote for clinton.

he spoke about campaign finance reform and the way that donald trump has taken advantage of america's corrupt tax system. >> i say to mr. trump's supporters, most of you understand that the system is rigged in favor of the wealthy and the powerful. think about voting for hillary clinton on this issue alone. and what donald trump said is, yes, i am a multi-billionaire, one of the wealthiest people in this country. yes, i have mansions all over the world. yes, i live in the lap of luxury. and i, a multi-billionaire, don't have to pay a nickel in federal income tax because i got you to pay the taxes. so i say to mr. trump's supporters, if you're out there today and i know you are, and you're hurting, and you're making $9 or $10 an hour, ask yourself which candidate is going to raise the minimum wage

and the answer is hillary clinton. not donald trump. >> donald trump's wife melania trump is speaking out defending her husband against allegations of sexual misconduct. in an interview yesterday mrs. trump speaking for the first time on camera since revelations of a 2005 tape in which her husband made lewd comments about women called the accusations against him, which he denies, lies. >> as you c see from the tape, the cameras were not on. it was only a mike. and i wonder if they even knew that the mike was on. because they were kind of a boy talk. and he was lead on, like egg on, from the host to say dirty and bad stuff. >> you feel the host billy bush started egging him on? >> yes. yes. i believe my husband -- this was

all organized from the opposition. and the details that they call. did they ever check the background of these women? they don't have any facts. new jersey governor chris christie is standing by donald trump over the recent revelations of his 2005 comments on women, speaking exclusively with nbc news' kelly o'donnell, christie said he didn't feel trump's apology was sufficient, he also weighed in on whether he's satisfied with the campaign. >> i'm supporting donald, that's what i've said before. i also was very clear on tuesday about the comments on the billy bush video and that i wouldn't defend them, can't defend them. and that i feta his apology was inadequate. listen, for me, the person who needs most to be concerned about the kind of campaign they're running is the candidate. it's the candidate's campaign. it's not my campaign.

it's not jeff sessions' campaign, it's not rudy giuliani's campaign. we're surrogates. and i'm proud of everything i've said. and that's all i can control. the rest of it i can't control, kelly. >> donald trump's remarks in the "access hollywood" video took center stage during a debate not between the presidential nominees, rather the two candidates vying for one of ohio's senate seats. republican senator rob portman and democratic challenger ted strickland sales faced off in a fiery second debate. portman forced to play defense over trump's 2005 comments on women that were caught on tape. >> he is the republican nominee, still is. he won it fair and square. i'm a republican. i made an extraordinary decision not to support my own party's nominee because i found his words that came out about a week or so ago to be so offensive and so wrong. i did support john kasich as you know in the primary. and when john kasich lost that primary and donald trump won it, i wanted to respect the views of the voters. but his words were offensive,

they were wrong, they were demeaning and degrading to women. and for me, that was the final straw. >> he stood by as donald trump called women pigs and worse. and he said, well, i disagree with that but i still think he ought to be president. when he mocked a disabled person he said, i disagree but i still think you ought to be president. when he said that john mccain was not a hero because he had been captured he said, i disagree with that but i still think you ought to be president. for months, he disagreed with him but he didn't have the courage to break with him. i think he chose party over country. >> the reason nbc news/"wall street journal"/her ris college poll shows port manned with a lead over strickland. yesterday talking about how the gop would handle any supreme court nominee put forth by hillary clinton if she's elected. >> i promise you that we will be

united against any supreme court nominee that hillary clinton, if she were president, would put up. i promise you. this is where we need the majority. >> a spokesman for the senator later clarified releasing a statement that reads, senator mccain believes you can only judge people by their record. and hillary clinton has a clear record of supporting liberal judicial nominees. that being said, senator mccain will of course thoroughly examine the record of any supreme court nominee put before the senate and vote for or against that individual based on their qualifications as he has done throughout his career. when asked if donald trump would be better at picking supreme court nominees the senator said, "i don't know because i hear him saying a lot of different things." netflix stocks skyrocketed in after-hours trading yesterday after the company released higher than expected sales for the third quarter. cn cnbc's nancy hungerford joins us

live from london. what does this mean for other streaming services? >> good morning, not just blowing past sales expectations which topped $2 billion for the first time ever, but netflix blowing expectations for subscribers out of the water. we're talking about 50% more subscribers on the quarter than were expected. a lot of that down to international strength. but the company also managing t hold on to its u.s. subscribers despite fears over price hikes. the company saying a lot of this down to its original series that are extremely popular including "narc cos." they are stepping up investment in the original series so look for them to become more competitive against rivals in this space. elsewhere we're watching shares of volkswagen because missouri has now become the 17th state to sue volkswagen. this over the diesel emissions scand scandal. the news coming on the eve of a decision expected from a u.s. judge in san francisco on whether or not to move forward

and accept the near $15 billion settlement that volkswagen has struck with u.s. officials, about $10 million of that due to the buy-backs for the vehicles affected with the emissions defeat devices. watch for developments on that one. >> nancy hunger ford live from london, thanks so much. still ahead, more on the breaking news that russia and syria have halted air strikes in the war-torn city of aleppo. we'll have what russian officials are calling a "humanitarian pause." a dramatic rescue caught on tape, incredible pictures here. with time running out a group of strangers band together to pull a driver from this burning car. we'll see the victim's reaction after watching this video for the first time.

oh, look... ...another anti-wrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair works... ...in one week. with the... fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to work on fine lines and... ...even deep wrinkles. "one week? that definitely works!" rapid wrinkle repair. and for dark spots, rapid tone repair. neutrogena®. "see what's possible."

americans are buying more and more of everything online. and so many businesses rely on the united states postal service to get it there. that's why we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. the united states postal service. priority: you if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, isn't it time to let the real you shine through? introducing otezla (apremilast). otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase the risk of depression.

tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ask your dermatologist about otezla today. otezla. show more of you. [burke] hot dog. seen it. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ mr. o-bahm-er, am i pronouncing that right? >> close enough. i have 30 honorary degrees and

the nobel peace prize. >> really, what was that for? >> to be honest, i don't know. >> have you ever had to fire anyone? >> no, i usually let s.e.a.l. team 6 handle that. >> outsourcing, good. social media, very hot. do you have any experience with that, like twitter? >> i have 77 million followers, does that count? >> that's very impressive, how did you get so many? >> executive order. >> really? >> stephen colbert helping president obama prepare for life after office. a check on your weather now. >> being president's probably not that much fun but the last two or three months when you can pretty much do whatever you want? that's the icing on the cake. >> that's pretty good. you're monitoring the next tropical system. >> this could become otto. we've had an active season. southeast of the bahamas, an area close enough to the east coast we have some concerns. all our computer models are pretty much taking this and drifting it to the north and maybe towards bermuda or safely

off the southeast coles. we're hoping some of this moisture gets caught up and heads into new england, maybe towards friday. we need the rain, that's a possibility. otherwise the record heat continues. dallas 92. 81 new york. it's just unbelievably warm for october. kind of back to normal, chicago. as far as when it will end this cold front will be the thing that kicks off the showers and storms that will end the heat wave in many areas. that won't happen for another couple of days. enjoy the warmth while it lasts, everybody. >> absolutely. no coats, it's great, thank you so much. now to a dramatic rescue that's been caught on tape after an accident sent a car careening down an embankment and that is when strangers came together to form a human chain to rescue that driver from his burning car. nbc's kerry sanders has more. >> reporter: cherokee down an embankment, driver is trapped. >> fire extinguisher, somebody! hurry, throw it down to them! >> reporter: a chaotic race by good samaritans to save a life. >> be careful down there!

>> reporter: flames spark fears of explosion. >> you will live, you will not die! >> reporter: despite the danger, tom saez climbs through the smashed window to free the driver. >> when i got to the front, flames on the windshield, smoke in the compartment, he was still in seat belt. >> reporter: the stunned driver was inexplicably combative. police tase and handcuff him, trying to control him. civilians and police officers lock arms. >> make a chain! make a chain! >> reporter: and pull tim motil up the hill to safety. motil says he has no recollection of the accident. seeing it for the first time when we showed it to him this afternoon. >> unbelievable. >> reporter: police investigating what happened. a driver alive thanks to a group of total strangers who just wanted to help. >> god bless you all very much. thank you.

>> wow. our thanks to nbc's kerry sanders for that report. the battle for mosul. iraqi officials gain ground in the fight to take back its second-largest city from isis. live to iraq next. i'm beowulf boritt and i'm a broadway set designer. sort of fallen in love with this computer, i can flip it... ...around and flip through images, and then i can use it... ...as a tablet. go in and work on the details. i could never do that with a mac. my lan early morning mode.de.

and a partly sunny mode. transitions® signature™ adaptive lenses... are more responsive than ever. experience life well lit®. ...upgrade your lenses to transitions® signature™

breaking news out of syria, russian and syrian forces have halted air strikes on aleppo at least temporarily ahead of a scheduled eight-hour

humanitarian pause this thursday when the russian defense ministry announced yesterday. the pause is meant to allow syrian rebels as well as wounded and sick civilians to leave the city safely. russia's defense minister says the extra time is intended to prepare safe corridors and plan for the evacuation. even with the temporary cease-fire, the heavy bombing was felt throughout the city over the weekend. the syrian observatory for human rights says at least 50 people were killed by air strikes on sunday, including at least 18 children. we want to show you one story of heroism. rescuers were able to come to the aid of a young man dangling off the edge of a building, legs trapped in the rubble. using a crane they pulled the young man free and were able to bring him to safety. he received medical treatment and is reportedly recovering. >> at least there's that good news. in iraq, iraqi and kurdish forces with the help of u.s.-led air strikes from above are gaining ground in the operation to retake the city of mosul from isis. iraqi forces from the south freed ten villages while

peshmerga forces were able to take more villages to the east. while isis has retreated from most areas the advancing troops had to brave at least seven car bombs. joining us live from erbil, iraq, matt bradley. good day to you. we know there's resistance but it does feel like progress is being made. >> reporter: that's right, alex. progress was made yesterday. today we're entering the familiar holding pattern, the kind of pattern that tends to develop in fallujah and ramadi, a lot of these recent battles. the iraqi style of attack, especially for a city as large as mosul, which you mentioned is the second largest in iraq, is really kind of medieval. they're encircling the city and the defenses have been built. isis has been occupying mosul for the past two years which means they've created defensive berms around the city. they have a network of defensive tunnel works. they have ieds placed all around the area. we're rear moving into a time where this is going to roach a

pause where the battle is going to just reach an encirclement and we're going to have to wait until the iraqi officials can decide who is going to penetrate is isis' outer barriers and move into the center of the city. right now this is just extending the agony of the 1.2 million civilians who are thought to remain in mosul. >> matt bradley fromm erbil, thank you so much. it's not just a car, it's your daily retreat. the es and es hybrid.

get up to $5,000 customer cash on select 2016 models. see your lexus dealer.

put smeta appetite control. you and temptation with clinically proven to help reduce hunger between meals. new, from metamucil, the #1 doctor recommended brand. ♪ using 60,000 points from my chase ink card i bought all the fruit... veggies... and herbs needed to create a pop-up pick-your-own juice bar in the middle of the city, so now everyone knows... we have some of the freshest juice in town. see what the power of points can do for your business. learn more at chase.com/ink

check out the latest exhibit unveiled on the flight deck of the "uss lexington" in texas. the f9f cougar fighter jet which saw military action in the 1950s was painted pink in support of breast cancer awareness month. it will ob display until the end of this month and the fighter will be restored to its original finish. >> that is so cool. >> a nice little cool. al jets wear pink. before we toss to "morning joe," a check on the stories you'll be hearing about the day ahead. the man accused of carrying out a deadly shooting spree inside a colorado springs planned parenthood last year is set to appear in court. today's proceedings will focus on robert deere's mental health. he remains at an institute since

being ruled mentally incompetent in may. a rally to help bring attention to relief efforts in haiti following the devastation by hurricane matthew. the cat fore4 storm tore through haiti in october killing about 1,000 people and leaving more than 1.4 million in need of humanitarian aid, including 175,000 left homeless. that is a terrible situation there. >> horrible. on the campaign trail, donald trump will be making two stops in colorado today. and his running mate mike pence will attend a pair of events in north carolina. then on the democratic side, tim kaine is in detroit today. former president bill clinton is in battleground pennsylvania and senator bernie sanders has a couple of stops in arizona. that does it for us on this tuesday. i'm alex witt. >> louis burgdorf. >> "morning joe" starts right now. >> mr. oh-bahm-er, am i pronouncing that correctly? >> close enough. >> do you have any awards or commendations?

>> i have almost 30 honorary degrees and i did get the nobel peace prize. >> really, what was that for? >> to be honest i still don't know. >> have you ever had to fire anyone? >> no, i usually let s.e.a.l. e anybody? >> i usually let seal team 6 handle that. >> do you have any experience with twitter? >> i have 77 million followers. >> how did you get so many? >> executive order. >> good morning. welcome to "morning joe." with us, we have veteran columnist, mike barnicle. oh, lord. managing bloomberg politics, and mark halperin, and willie, joe, and me. >> how are you doing? >> should i start with the big picture or small picture? >> i want to