hi, everyone. i'm kate snow f. you're just tuning, in big news. he is out. vice president biden officially ruling out a 2016 run. we have every angle on that political story covered today. the reaction on the trail, what it means for the race and he will run but how are paul ryan's demands met by the freedom caucus and when's speaker boehner saying today? also going back in time and we are not talking about 2008 or 2012. we are talking about "back to the future" mania taking over this october 21st, 2015. but we begin with the news that we have been awaiting for months now. vice president joe biden officially making it final that he will not run for president. >> i've said all along what i've said time and again to others, that it may very well be that

that process by the time we get through it closes the window on mounting a realistic campaign for president. that it might close. i've concluded it has closed. beau is our inspiration. unfortunately, i believe we're out of time. the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination. but while i will not be a candidate, i will not be silent. >> you see him flanked there by president obama, his wife jill biden. in the white house rose garden. biden said he'll continue to fight for the issues he believes in and said democrats should not only defend but run on the obama record. >> this is what i believe. i believe that president obama has led this nation from crisis to recovery and we're now on the cusp of resurgence. i'm proud to have played a part

in that. this party, our nation will be making a tragic mistake if we walk away or attempt to undo the obama legacy. the american people have worked too hard and we have come too far for that. democrats should not only defend this record and protect this record, they should run on the record. we've got a lot of work to get done. >> for the very later, we go to nbc's chris jansing at the white house. chris, the announcement today, when did he make the decision? >> reporter: we understand it came very late and throughout process, took months, the president sufferved as a soundi board. they have lunch every week and heard from the vice president yesterday they spend five to seven hours a day together and this was an ongoing conversation

between two men who know obviously politics very well and more importantly whose personal relationship has grown over the course of the seven years since they began a campaign together back in 2008. you heard the vice president talk about the timing and clearly this was something that it was an agonizing decision for him to make. everyone knows that's long wanted to be president an enthis would be the last opportunity that he would have. but he said that the window had closed and, in fact, there is a political reality that you have to have staff on the ground and an organization and money and fund raising. those things he did not have. there was another timing issue and that was the pressure that was coming even from a lot of democrats some of whom had spoken publicly in the last several days, high-profile democrats, who said that the time had come to make the decision and not drag this out and hillary clinton has a very critical benghazi hearing

tomorrow. so now the second part of what you heard the vice president say and that is what he does moving forward over the next 15 months. we heard from senior white house staff that the president says that his agenda as he continues his presidency is going to be made a lot easier by the fact that joe biden will continue to be by his side. kate? >> thanks so much. joining me now, the host of "hardball" chris matthews. he didn't say that he didn't want to run. he said that the window had closed. >> right. he wants to run. clearly, this speech described by andrea i think and others he would have given had he announced today. the nicest possible way to say, he didn't enforce hillary clinton for president today and warned her and other democrats not go out there and trim as we say in politics the obama record. he wants the record defended down the line and warning others he's an irish wolfhound making sure that nobody goes knocking

the democratic record of the president's during this campaign. it was pretty tough on hillary going after her on things like treating republicans as the ene enemy, raising big money, looking down at regular joes like him as unsophisticated. >> i want to play a sound bite you referenced there and went after hillary clinton for something she said in the democratic debate. let's play the sound her in the debate and him today. >> in addition to the nra, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the iranians, probably the republicans. >> i don't believe like some do that it's naive to talk to republicans. i don't think we should look at republicans as our enemy. they are our opposition. they're not our enemies. and for the sake of the country,

we have to work together. >> chris, the question that was asked in the beginning of the debate was, who are your enemies? that's what she was answering. is joe biden trying to dig at her a little? >> well, she shouldn't have said iranians either. they're good people. an enthe iranians are a good number of the people on our side and the government are not. i think that wasn't very diplomatic but calling republicans enemies is stupid. they control the house of representatives, the senate. until you get 60 votes you are not getting anything passed. if you want to get anything done. so you don't wall people on the other side enemies. i think he was right and maybe telling a joke, maybe not. maybe pandering to a partisan audience. probably that. i mean, he does have a lot of friends who are republicans. i have a hard time with him saying dick cheney is a pal of his. that's a hard one. that's a real reach across the aisle for most people.

>> did you expect this today in your all your years and experience, did you think he might still run? >> i thought so. i think that he wants to be president. and that's a -- i mean, you know that. we all know that. don't we? he wants to be president and he ran in '29 for senator. he ran now third time if he'd run this time and clearly every way wants to be president to this day and won't be president barring tragedy of some kind. so it was hard for him to say no and he ran out the clock. that was the way of making the decision. i think he ran out the clock and realized now it was too late. i thought rachel was right. it's too late to win well said by rachel this afternoon. >> 38% of democrats did not want joe biden to run. >> i don't know what that means

exactly but that the hillary people don't want her harmed in any way and why wouldn't you want a larger field? you want more options as a voter, more options to vote. okay. i'll vote for hillary over biden. the only reason you wouldn't want him hurting the chances and so i think that's pretty obvious the purpose of that answer. i think it would have been better for the media, better for a bigger ring, a bigger competition. always better with more debate an now her against if you look at wit a little tough eye, her and bernie sanders. that's not going to look like an even match right now. had biden gotten into it, he would have chipped at her vote a bit and perhaps grown or not. and not that really threatened sanders. clearly more options for the voter and i think always think that's better. >> chris, i want you to pause for a moment. stay with us. bring in democratic strategist

and media matters and james carville with me in the studio. you have been flinching at some of the things that chris matthews is saying. what do you take issue with? >> first of all, from just as a hillary supporter, this is my view and not the cam pain's view, she would have been better off with him in there and defeated a strong opposition and makes you better. >> that is not the conventional wisdom. >> and not what people think. >> looking at the poll numbers, drawing a few weeks ago support away. >> vice president getting 15%, 16% and one of the things is that when you have a bigger field or a stronger field, you look stronger in winning. but, you know, obviously, he's not going to run because i think it will be there and this is not the opinion of clinton campaign. >> this is your opinion. >> my personal opinion. >> what now? do you agree that this is a boon for hillary clinton now that

he's not in the race? >> look. i think that she is barring something unforeseen as she is way more than likely to be the democratic nominee in 2016. had -- i think the vice president's rational was i would be more like obama than anybody else in the race and i think to some extent a strategy for a third term is what the democrats are asking for. you have to say, look, the next four is somewhat different than the last eight. >> have you had a chance to speak with hillary clinton secretary of defense? >> i have not. >> okay. do you think there's any chance joe biden endorses her? >> i don't know. it's a better question to ask the vice president. look. i do agree with chris. he wants to be president. he's run twice before and knows what it takes to run for president and knows the job entails. he was next to president obama for seven years and had all the information he needed and

decided not to. >> donald trump already coming out this afternoon with a tweet saying i think joe biden made correct decision for him and his family. personally i would rather run against hillary because her record is so bad. >> i would rather run against him. i guess we kind of -- you know? you don't get to run against who the democrats pick. she will have to run against whoever the republicans pick. you know, he fails to fade. everybody sits around and chin scratches and oh well geez he's going to fade. he's going to fade. >> he is the top of the poll again this week. james carville -- >> thank you. >> chris matthews, thank you, as well. appreciate it, guys. reaction pouring in from all over the political world. so much we can barely keep up with it. donald trump plus the other candidates out there. we'll bring you that coming up. other big political story today, will paul ryan get the full support of the party for

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the lgbt community, immigration reform, equal pay for women and protecting their safety from violence, rooting out institutionalism racism, at their core every one of these things, every one of these things is about the same thing. it's about equality. it's about fairness. it's about respect. as my dad used to say, it's about affording every single person dignity. it's not complicated.

every single one of these issues is about dignity. >> joe biden's decision in the to seek the presidency already having ripple effects on the campaign trail and beyond. our reporters are all following reaction to the news. katy tur donald trump, kasie hunt in washington, sarah dallof from biden's hometown in delaware. we'll do a whip around in the business, go to each one real quick. alex, you have some news on hillary clinton and biden. >> that's right, kate. hillary clinton called joe biden after his speech congratulated him or acknowledged his decision to drop out of the race and probably feeling pretty good herself. hillary clinton will see almost certainly a big bump in the polls according to nbc poll, biden with about 15% of support and like allot go to her without biden in the poll.

she was very gracious in her statement. she praised joe biden, she believes history is not yet done with the vice president. >> katy tur, following donald trump, we mentioned the tweet that's already getting traction out there. what's the genre action? >> so far that's the only reaction we have gotten from the trump campaign. he is not hitting joe biden at all on the campaign trail and swiping at hillary clinton at every chance he gets saying that she is a flawed candidate and looks forward to going up after her. it's been 82 days of biden speculation. donald trump has been leading in the republican polls. in fact, there's a new poll out today of "the washington post" 32% and leading carson by 10 points and the trump campaign is feeling strong and soaring high in their words and they don't believe that the news hurts them and think they it hurts themselves because as they say

they look forward to running against hillary clinton. >> i don't know if you heard james carville but he said that as much as the democratic establishment thought that donald trump would be sort of a fly by night quick, quick thing in the summer and never last, it's lasting. >> it keeps lasting, keeps going. much to the surprise of analysts out there and talking to the people coming to the events, they're not surprised by it. it's the same thing telling you over and over again. they like that he's honest. they don't mind that they don't agree with him on everything. will these people showing up to the events actually show up to the voting booths, to the caucuses here in iowa, to the primaries in new hampshire and other early states? the poll numbers unprecedented and someone to maintain this lead for this long and this early on and there's a lot of news out there and cnbc, carl icahn interviewed today and he mentioned he's starting a $150

million superpac and he says to stop the fighting in congress but he has endorsed donald trump and donald trump invoked his name on the trail repeatedly and interesting the find out how much influence he has on donald trump and whether or not he's directly raising money for the campaign. >> thank you. kasie hunt, you have been following the other reaction on social media and bernie sanders and had an on-camera event. what are you seeing? >> he's the first one of the candidates republican or democrat that we have seen come in front of the camera. take a listen to what he said about the vice president. >> joe biden is a man who has devoted his entire life to public service and to the wellbeing of working families and the middle class. i want to thank joe biden and president obama for the work

that they have done over the last seven years. >> joe biden, of course, just one of the best liked politic n politicians in washington and talked of republicans a warning shot to hillary clinton and named republicans as one of the enemies she's made in the many years in public life. joe biden saying that it's naive to say republicans are the enemy and he's become known for working with republicans over the course of the past several years. we have had a lot of gridlock here in washington and i covered events on capitol hill and he negotiated with mitch mcconnell to back away from the fiscal cliff and something that's not a common thing in recent years in washington but, you know, one thing to say, kate, republicans are trying to spin it, donald trump, reince priebus at the rnc they're excited about the idea of running against hillary clinton because she's flawed. if joe biden got into the race, you would have potentially seen a protracted democratic primary

and someone in there talking a lot about president obama, which is something that, you know, potentially would have pulled hillary clinton into defending the president who is in many ways a polarizing figure. now she has a clearer path to the nomination and complicated for republicans fighting the process out likely for much longer than she will be whether it's donald trump, marco rubio, if you have an establishment versus conservative fight which we have seen in the past and all the way into april, if that's the kind of thing what happens again and i don't think the establishment is going to give out to donald trump without a very aggressive fight, this ultimately is something that benefits hillary clinton and the democrats overall, kate. >> thanks. sarah dallof out in wilmington, delaware. what are you hearing there? it's got to be positive. >> reporter: it is positive, kate. a lot of disappointment.

joe biden very well-known in the state of del we are and represented in the u.s. senate for more than three decades and working in washington and living here, taking the train every morning, every night to fill those dual roles as father and politician and earned him respect and people today said if he'd run he had their vote locked down and others saying he wasn't the right fit. her's a little of what people had to tell us. >> i have mixed reactions. i mean, he's done so much good as just the different offices that he's had. so i'm happy for him and maybe he's just decided that this is it and he just wants to relax from it. he would have made a wonderful president and i would have liked to see him move forward. >> hillary, joe, all part of the established democratic, you know, machine. >> if he would have run, would you have voted for him? >> no. i'm a registered democrat and my vote will go to bernie sanders.

>> reporter: and delaware's governor previously said he supported a biden run for the white house and released a statement reading in part, quote, joe biden connects to people on a personal level. and is provided tremendous leadership of u.s. interests around the world, all of which would have made him a formidable opponent. back to you. >> thank you. we had alex, katy, kasie and sarah and we just got in some new comment of jeb bush just asked about joe biden's decision not seek the nomination. to quote him in part, i thought he was going to run. the guy started at 29 being the attorney general of the state of delaware. i disagree with him on

philosophy, on policy but he's clearly a great guy and served with distinction. jeb bush going on to say i thought he would have been a competitive candidate in the nomination. up next, how might the decision of joe biden impact hillary clinton and the democratic race? also paul ryan meeting with the freedom caucus. will they endorse him for speaker of the house? and president obama takes on the prescription drug and heroin epidem epidemic, meeting with west virginia families. the state with the nation's highest rate of overdose deaths. plaque psoriasis...

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presidential candidate and said he'll be house speaker if conditions are met includining full support of the house. john boehner said they'll vote next wednesday and he expects congressman ryan to be elected speaker. >> listen. i think paul will get the support he is looking for but he laid out a clear vision of how he would run the speakership and i thought the members responded very well to it. >> joining me now from the center of the action, nbc news correspondent luke us effort. i see the finger to the ear. can you hear me okay? >> reporter: i hear you great, yes. just loud in here. >> what do we expect out of the meeting about to happen? >> reporter: so, right behind me, the house gop conference is meeting right now about rules

and what i mean by rules is how they would govern themselves. paul ryan did go into this meeting and not emerged yet and this is a conference wide meeting and preplanned, figuring out maybe a way to take a little bit of the power, the leadership has gotten over the years and back to the committees and the members. the next meeting he is going to, the 4:00 one with the house freedom caucus, very important one because the group to decide whether or not paul ryan becomes speaker is that house freedom caucus. they are the ones that so far have said that they're not completely on board with paul ryan because they're worried about, number one, him not willing to work on the weekends to be with his family. they believe the speaker is traveling the country promoting the message. past support of comprehensive immigration reform and perhaps most importantly for them, he want it is see some rule changes, specifically those regarding the motion to vae kate the chair which is a

parliamentary tool to take out a speaker. i speaked to a -- >> the only concern i have right now is it appears he's asking for more power to be in the speaker's office instead of less power. now, i may have misunderstood what he was asking for. that's why i want to hear more from him and talk to him more. >> reporter: labrador will have the meeting with ryan soon and that kaucaucus is very importan. they only endorse if 80% agree on a candidate and if they don't agree on ryan, they don't enforce him and ryan says he wants the endorsement of the tuesday group, the moderates, the republican study committee, the normal conservatives and the house freedom caucus. i talked to other republicans saying if they were to stop paul ryan, the freedom caucus, they

would be completely marginalized and despised amongst the rest of the me believes. >> wow. luke, i'm loving as a former capitol hill correspondent you're saying the motion to vacate the chair. these are all really intricate sort of things that people don't usually think about and it matters because it get it is freedom caucus on board. do you think they're there? have you talked to enough me believes of the freedom caucus to know whether they're there yet? >> reporter: well, some of them are completely not there. mo brooks of alabama who i spoke to fairly distrusting of ryan and more to do i think with immigration reform than ryan's past support for that than anything else. another said there would not be enough change to move their support of webster to ryan. the question, though, becomes, kate, is let's say the freedom caucus takes out paul ryan and

is essentially throwing the entire conference into this chaos, they would be expected to put forward another candidate for speaker because the election is next thursday on the floor. they can't get their support behind someone to get the support of 218 so i personally think from what i've heard today that while they might not be comfortable with ryan, maybe they cut themselves free and cut him loose and then see how ryan responds to that. if ryan is all in on an endorsement from them, tough to see how that happens right now overtly, kate. >> all right. luke russert right outside the door. keep us posted on what happens there. joe biden is out and team clinton can re-evaluate their path to the nomination. steve kornacki is crunching the numbers up next. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time...

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announcement today, vice

president biden didn't specifically mention hillary clinton but he did make a comment that seemed to refer to her claim that republicans were her enemies. she said that at last woke's debate. >> i don't believe like some do that it's naive to talk to republicans. i don't think we should look at republicans as our enemy. they are our opposition. they're not our enemies and for the sake of the country we have to work together. >> i'm joined by steve kornacki. this is now the big question, right? what impact does it have? >> that's right. with joe biden in the race, hillary clinton still would have been the favorite, would have been the strong favorite, but without joe biden, with a hillary clinton versus bernie sanders race, essentially what we are looking at right now, she becomes an overwhelming favorite. we'll show you what that is.

let's start. what i want to do is show you the biden scenario would have looked like. if biden had gotten in this race, what the scenario for victory for him would have looked like it. it would haved with this. this is our most recent nbc news poll from iowa. lead-off caucus state. hillary barely ahead of bernie. bernie sanders has been giving clinton a real run in iowa. and in these early states and looking at joe biden and the support in the polls, it was coming from hillary clinton. so the biden scenario obviously ideal from third to first and wins iowa but what the biden scenario was was he drains enough votes from hillary clinton in iowa that it allows bernie sanders to win iowa. so the story coming out of iowa next year is, whoa, here's a huge up sit. hillary clinton, the big front-runner, the overwhelming favorite is beaten by a socialist in iowa.

then it would move to new hampshire. so the second step, look at this. bernie sanders, a recent poll, bloomberg poll, five points ahead of hillary clinton. we have seen some with her up there in the last few days and some with sanders up but roll into the state that's right next door to vermont and he is co competitive with hillary clinton and the scenario for biden draining the votes for hillary clinton, wounded from losing iowa, bernie sanders wins new hampshire and now imagine a world of hillary clinton lost those first two primary states. the mood around her campaign, the mood of the coverage would be, panic, chaos. she is on the verge of losing this. then the action shifts down south to south carolina. now, right now south carolina looks like hillary clinton's firewall. watching her against all three candidates, she has a comfortable state in the lead.

why? because of her overwhelming support among african-american voters. now, bear with me, the biden scenario would have been this. hillary clinton loses those first two states to bernie sanders. the action shifts to the south. now hillary clinton is in some kind of a free fall but african-americans are not showing an inclination to bernie sanders but joe biden doing better running as the loyal, two-term vice president of barack obama, the country's first black president, the close personal friend of barack obama could beat her in south carolina, beat bernie sanders in south carolina and then the party is forced with a choice. joe biden and bernie sanders? establishment rallies around biden. that was roughly what the biden road map looked like but bernie

sanders struggled so much. take joe biden out of the race. we have a poll last week of south carolina, just hillary clinton versus bernie sanders, look at this. 84% to 7%. she leads by 77 points in south carolina. what does that mean in south carolina poll? this is it. a 50-point lead. joe biden is out of the race. this means in south carolina, hillary clinton is now 50 points ahead of the nearest rival. that means if sanders goes into iowa and pulls off the upset next year, he has to make up 50 points in south carolina. and what that really means is eat into a 77-point gap among black voters. that's a big problem for bernie sanders so far. he's not shown any sign to make significant inroads with black support. really right now hillary clinton, the campaign talks about south carolina as a firewall, it is.

that's the biggest thing she gets out of biden getting out of the race ian the big question to james carville earlier in the show, do you think joe biden will endorse hillary clinton any time soon? >> my understanding is that the president will not endorse in the early stages. >> the vice president? >> will not either. they'll wait until it's resolved and then say we support her as the nominee. >> thank you so much. president obama is in west virginia tackling an epidemic the white house says kills more americans than car crashes. we'll talk about that up next. proud of you, son. ge! a manufacturer. well that's why i dug this out for you. it's your grandpappy's hammer and he would have wanted you to have it. it meant a lot to him... yes, ge makes powerful machines. but i'll be writing the code that will allow those machines to share information with each other. i'll be changing the way the world works. (interrupting) you can't pick it up, can you? go ahead.

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rate of drug overdoses in the whole country. more americans now die every year from heroin overdoses and drug overdosing than car crashes, the majority of those with prescription drugs. moments ago, president obama addressed the scope of the problem. >> this crisis is taking lives. it's destroying families. it's shattering communities all across the country. an enthat's the thing about substance abuse. it doesn't discriminate. it touches everybody. from celebrities to sledge students, to soccer moms to inner city kids. >> the president announcing federal, state and private sector efforts to curb the epidemic with additional training for doctors who prescribe drugs and improved access to treatment. let's turn to cathy milliken at dartmouth hitchcock medical center. thank you for being with us.

>> thank you for having me. >> let me ask you about what the president is doing here. he's focused on training doctors so they're not writing too many prescriptions for painkillers. i couldn't believe reading today, 259 million tremendous skripgss for pain medications in 2012. that's enough for every single american adult to have a bottle of pills at home. so why is it so important what he's doing today? why is it important to cut back on the number of prescriptions? >> that's a great question. what we're seeing at dartmouth and what weer what from the patients is many of them entree into struggles with substances started with a prescription pain medication. resulting perhaps from an injury and then progressing into a serious addiction and oftentimes into heroin addiction. so the limiting of these very

powerful medications and proper training of the medical staff is essential. just essential. >> from one doctor to know what another doctor has done. you have a system of a database to tell if someone has gotten pills elsewhere. >> prescription monitoring is an essential part of the solution. >> you and i met in july. i did a report about the program that you run, working on at dartmouth hitchcock and a program focused on women who are pregnant. i want to run a clip. we met with 26-year-old shay. she was using heroin when she got pregnant and she was in recovery with you all. >> you ran out of money eventually. >> yes, ma'am. >> lost your jobs? >> yes, ma'am. i lost my home. >> how many women do you know who are using heroin? >> i could name 20 off the top of my head. >> it almost seems like it's become kind of normal to use

heroin around here. >> normal, yep. very normal. yeah. you almost don't feel like you're doing anything wrong. you don't. we have moved. we have slept in a car. we have been homeless. and for him to be here and healthy and kicking and just a good, joyful little baby in there all the time, it is just very -- it is an empowering feeling and keeps me from turning back. i don't want to go back. >> and i'm so happy to to say that shay is doing great, still sober, she gave birth to a little boy. look at him. blake, 2 1/2 months now. healthy and doing great. i want to ask you about the white house talking about breaking down barriers to treatment. it is hard to find a place to go for someone like shay. >> absolutely. access is such a critical issue coming to substance treatment. resources, resources, resources.

from proper screening to help identify people with struggles and enough programs, to workforce development. anything that we can do as a community to come together to beef up the resources on a community level and then also the resources for our patient who is are really kind of letting us know what their needs are as we walk with them from housing to financial support and resourcing is key and doing that in partnership. >> are you happy to see the white house take this on? does it mean something to have the president say, we got to work on this? >> it is so meaningful any time leadership brings the country together. for such a critical issue. and the public health issue like this. absolutely. we have gone from denial to empathy to actually solutions. it's really exciting. >> cathy, thanks so much for your time. your program is a real role

model program. we appreciate you sharing it with us once again. >> thank you so much. up next, a touching and emotional new documentary of a high school dance. ah! come on! let's hide in the attic. no. in the basement. why can't we just get in the running car? are you crazy? let's hide behind the chainsaws. smart. yeah. ok. if you're in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. it's what you do. this was a good idea. shhhh. be quiet. i'm being quiet. you're breathing on me! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. head for the cemetery!

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1 in 68 children in america has been diagnosed with some form of autism and those kids grow up and they face all the same social struggles that all teenagers face. well, now, there's a touching new documentary about that issue. nbc's cynthia mcfadden joins me with more. we have both seen this film. it's really pretty incredible. >> it really is incredible, kate. and we had the opportunity to sit down with the director of the film and some of the stars. it takes place in ohio, where a really talented therapist challenges a group of kid on the autism spectrum to, well, go to the dance. take a look. >> how many of you guys are comfortable --

>> no. >> reporter: spring prom say right of passage that makes most teenagers nervous. >> in my mind, i'll screw up a lot, or it's just not know what to say. >> reporter: but it's especially challenging for these kids in columbus, ohio. they're all on the autism spectrum. a disorder that impairs their ability to communicate and interact. >> have you asked anybody? >> no. >> do you plan on asking anybody? >> well, i guess. >> reporter: but rather than hide in the shadows, their counsellor, dr. emilio invites them to attend their first ever spring formal. >> it requires them to understand a lot of social cues. >> like life. it's complicated. y >> jessica sullivan is one of the stars. >> high functioning autism. i've had this all my life. i'm not sick. i'm just challenged in different

ways than most people. >> reporter: the film follows jessica and her friends as they get ready for the big night. picking out dresses. >> do you like it, mom? >> i felt like a queen, like i was worth something. >> reporter: and then, there's the dancing. >> we had a guideline that everyone was able to ask whomever they wanted to, to dance, and that individual would say yes to at least one song. no one was going to be rejected, because it happens so much in other parts of their life. >> so when people watch, what do you want them to think? what do you want them to know? >> we want them to understand that we're more like you than we are different. they make the world a better place, and they add spices to your spice rack that you can't ever imagine knowing unless you know someone. >> i wish you had been looking at jessica's face when you said that. >> really? yeah, it's -- they're my favorite people in the whole world. they say what they mean and they mean what they say.

>> you're gonna make me cry again. i cried during the whole film. >> yeah, it was incredible. the documentarian spent three months filming all of this preparation up until the dance. 240 hours of film, kate, to cut down to this documentary. >> people forget that, we see kids with autism, we talk about children all the time, but we forget they grow up and they need support in their 20s. >> right. and they'll face all the same things as everybody else, which is, you know, going to the dance, metaphorically. >> right. and that's what i think is so special about this film. it sheds a light on a population that maybe we don't know that much about. >> right. >> someone said it's great to watch to learn more about autism. and my take, it's great to watch about learning how to be human. >> well put. cynthia mcfadden, thank you so much. i know you'll have much more tomorrow morning on "today." that's the full story. and be sure to tune in for the

premiere of how to dance in ohio on hbo, minute october 26th at 9:00 p.m. coming up, a big day of news. joe biden, paul ryan, a secret meeting in moscow, all ahead. ers to achieve more. it pushes us to go further. special olympics has almost five million athletes in 170 countries. the microsoft cloud allows us to immediately be able to access information, wherever we are. information for an athlete's medical care, or information to track their personal best. with microsoft cloud, we save millions of man hours, and that's time that we can invest in our athletes and changing the world. as we age, certain nutrients... longer than ever. ...become especially important. from the makers of one a day fifty-plus. new one a day proactive sixty-five plus. with high potency vitamin b12... ...and more vitamin d.

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with a non-insulin option, ask your doctor about once-weekly trulicity. and click to activate your within. >> hi, everyone, i'm kate snow on a busy day here at msnbc live. he's out. vice president joe biden saying he will not run for president in 2016. we have team coverage on all angles on that story, from what led to his decision to reaction on the campaign trail. paul ryan meeting with the freedom caucus this hour. will they endorse him for speaker of the house? and it's "back to the future" day, the die marty mcfly visited when he traveled in time. my interview with star leah thompson. we begin with vice president joe biden announcing he will not run for president. >> while i will not be a candidate, i will not be silent.

i intend to speak out clearly and forcefully, to influence as much as i can, where we stand as a party, and where we need to go as a nation. >> let's go to nbc's ron allen at the white house. what do we know about when this decision was made, how it was made? >> reporter: unclear exactly when he made his decision. we know that there was a frantic moment this afternoon around noon when he were told that the vice president was going to make a decision -- announce a decision in the rose garden, and we had no idea which way he was going to decide. it all happened very quickly. the president was about to leave town for a trip to virginia where he is now. so unclear, it's been some 82 days that the vice president has been going through this deliberation and obviously it's been a very emotional time for him. it was a very emotional day for him. today you could see that. there also seemed to be some sadness on his part that he was not going to be able to do this. but as he said there, the window

had closed and it's clear as well that his family and he are still going through the grief process because of the loss of his son beau. but the vice president was also certainly aware of the realistic political calculus that he faced which was very difficult. to get into the race at this time, to take on hillary clinton, and to a lesser extent, bernie sanders. it was a very difficult thing to do. and most people looking at this said that he did not really have a very realistic chance of winning. although, of course, the vice president probably felt very strongly that he could pull it out if he got into it. he's been thinking about this for decades, you could say, because he's been in the political game since he was 29 years old or so. and this essentially felt like the end for him, the end of his career. he made a speech that he probably would have made had he been announcing for president, but as he said, the next 15 months or so, as the obama administration ends, you'll hear more from joe biden as he tries

to finish the work here that's gotten started already. >> ron, thanks so much. i want to bring in msnbc host and correspondent steve kornacki and host of the last word lawrence o'donnell is with us as well. thank you for being here. surprised, not surprised? >> no, not surprised, because it was a 50/50 decision. it could have gone either way. so you can't be surprised by either outcome. and what ron is right about is that this is -- basically it's the announcement of the end of a career. because this career was based entirely on running for elective office. >> he got that sense as he was speaking today that there was sort of a sense that this is his last big moment. >> he doesn't have the option of four years from now. this was it. this was the final moment. and so it was filled with all that. it was poignant because of that, because we knew that, because this is the final chance and he made the choice that he's not going to go for it. >> i found myself looking at joe biden a lot during this, steve.

obviously they've lost beau. they're still very upset about that and mourning. but beyond that, i wondered whether he was upset by the decision, or upset that this is the last, this is it. >> well, he's had an unusual number of these moments too. remember, this guy got elected to the senate at 29 years of age. you're a plausible presidential candidate pretty much from the day you get there. it's been more than 30 years. it was christmas time 1983, joe biden and his wife went away for a weekend to decide if he should jump into the 1984 race for president. that's how far back this chatter goes with joe biden. he ran in 2008, he couldn't get 1% in iowa. he'd been in washington too long to really be -- to break through in a race against barack obama and hillary clinton. then he caught what i think he thought and probably still believes, was the break of a lifetime, to get on the ticket with barack obama, to become vice president. i think he thought this would

give him one more crack at running for president. i think there was a frustration of feeling boxed out by hillary clinton, even though he got to be vice president. >> so did he wait -- did he get to the point, lawrence, where he just knew that he couldn't win? >> yes. he said exactly that. >> not that he couldn't run, he couldn't win? >> that's what he said. he said the window closed on running a realistic campaign. that was his phrase. realistic campaigns were never that important to joe biden when running for president. when he ran eight years ago, it was hopeless from the start. you had a giant front-runner in hillary clinton and second place was barack obama, and he had a huge number too over the third place candidate. and joe biden never had a chance of getting up there. and so he didn't care about running a realistic campaign last time around. no the stakes are much higher. he's served as vice president. the only conceivable reason to get in there is to win this, and

he didn't see, starting today, how he wins this. and that's why he didn't run. >> what if he'd gotten in sooner? >> according to his description of the process, he couldn't have gotten in sooner. the family had to go through what it had to go through. i don't think anyone doubts that. so this was the moment where he could do it. and as of today as he stood there, he couldn't see the way to win. because coming in second was not worth it for joe biden at this point. >> we know he's had a phone call with hillary clinton this afternoon. anyone want to guess what that phone call was like? >> i'm sure it was short. i'm sure -- these phone calls are very arm's length things. and they don't really say anything genuine to each other. i mean, sure, hillary clinton's saying, you know, thanks for making this announcement, all that. >> very, very complimentary things about him.

>> all that. you could release the transcript of it, there would be nothing controversial or interesting in it. >> let's listen to more sound from joe biden, in case people missed it, talking about what he's going to do now for the party. >> through personal triumphs and tragedies, my entire family, my son beau, my son hunter, my daughter ashley, jill, our whole family, and this sounds corny, but we found purpose in public life. we found purpose in public life. so we intend, the whole family, not just me, we intend to spend the next 15 months fighting for what we've always cared about. >> so, steve, does that mean that he helps the party move forward now, he helps a hillary clinton candidacy, what does that mean? >> i think my expectation right now is you're not going to see a formal endorsement of hillary clinton from barack obama or from joe biden in these next few

months. and assuming she does win the democratic nomination, then sometime late in the spring or next winter, there will be some event from the president, the vice president, hillary clinton will all get together, i'm sure there will be a moment from at the convention next summer. there will be a send-off to vice president biden. he'll have a speech, give a big endorsement of hillary clinton there. the thing i'm interested in, after 2016, where does he go? he's going to miss this. this is a guy who's been in office since 1968. i already saw somebody floating this today, i have no idea if there's anything to it. but tom carper is up for re-election -- >> wait a minute. >> hubert humphrey was the vice president, gave it up to run for president, lost, missed it so much, he came back two years later and reclaimed his senate seat. >> could he do that? >> hubert humphrey was able to get his old job back. joe biden's old job doesn't exist.

whether he was in the minority or majority, spent most of his time in the majority, he wouldn't be in the majority there. it's a completely undesirable job. the interesting thing in this campaign now is that joe biden is going to be campaigning against hillary clinton and bernie sanders on the pacific trade deal, which is the single biggest obama administration agenda left. and he was saying that to them today, without saying pacific trade deal. he was saying very clearly to hillary clinton in that speech, i am going to be out there, i am going to be pushing this, along with the president, and every time you say something about it, i will be there. and so this is going to be a fascinating fight to watch. and they can't possibly think about endorsements until after the pacific trade deal is done. because he can't endorse a candidate who's opposing the pacific trade deal. >> and as steve said, typically, one would wait. the president and vice president would wait until after the process has run its course. >> the vice president's a little freer on this than the president, but not much. >> lawrence o'donnell, good to see you at this time in the

afternoon. >> this is early morning tv for me. >> that's right. and steve kornacki. and of course you can watch lawrence tonight on the last word, that's 10:00 p.m. eastern time on msnbc. right now, paul ryan's behind closed doors, trying to convince the conservatives on the house freedom caucus to spd support him for speaker. plus, the secret meeting in moscow between syrian president assad and russia's putin. one day before hillary clinton's testimony at the benghazi committee, we'll talk to a member of that committee. guys, i'll be writing code that helps machines communicate. (interrupting) i just zazzied you. (phone vibrates) look at it! (friends giggle) i can do dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs... you name it. i'm going to transform the way the world works. (proudly) i programmed that hat. and i can do casaba melons. i'll be helping turbines power cities. i put a turbine on a cat. (friends ooh and ahh) i can make hospitals run more efficiently... this isn't a competition!

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for the first time in more than four years, president

bashar al assad of syria left syria, making a surprise visit to moscow to meet with russian president vladimir putin. that meeting reinforced russia's support for the syrian government with talks focused on synchronizing military efforts. russia's air force stepped in weeks ago with air strikes after it appeared rebel groups were gaining ground in damascus. joining us now with the least and nbc's keir simmons in london. keir? >> hey, kate. soon as those pictures emerged and they were so striking, simply because it was so surprising to see president assad outside of syria, president assad had already traveled back to syria. so it was clearly a very sensitive operation to get him into moscow, to get him to have that meeting with president putin and his senior team, and then back into syria. it was choreographed, it was carefully thought about. and while russia says that the conversation was mostly about tactics on the ground, it was

also clearly aimed at sending a message, not least to washington, that these are two sides, that are very closely aligned and that the u.s. hope that in some way they might persuade russia to encourage assad to step down does not look very likely. president assad himself saying when they met to president putin, the terrorism that is now spreading today, could have, without your decisions and actions, spread to even more territories and states, not just in our region, but to other regions too. so he was clearly indicating that he believes that the russian intervention was a good thing, and clearly he would think that, because what the russian intervention has done, has shored up president assad's position. much speculation that without it, that president assad government may have fallen. >> keir simmons, following all of that for us in london. thanks so much. hillary clinton will be in the spotlight tomorrow, probably

all day tomorrow, as she testifies before the house benghazi committee. with emotions high on both sides, what can we expect for the former secretary of state? our latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows that 44% of the americans are not satisfied with clinton's response to the attack. joining me now is one of the five democrats on the benghazi select committee. congresswoman linda sanchez. congresswoman, thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> so tell me what you expect tomorrow. we've heard eight hours. we've heard a long day for hillary clinton. what kinds of questions will she get? >> sure. well, i expect that the republicans on the committee will try to salvage the credibility of the committee by asking her questions regarding the events of that evening, something they've been hesitant to really look into the entire 17 months that we've been looking at this issue. i expect that secretary clinton will push back on the half truths and the outright fabrications of these crazy

conspiracy theories that have been cooked up by right-wing conspiracy theorists about what happened that evening and i think she'll finally have an opportunity to set the record straight. >> but we did just show a poll that shows 44% of americans are not satisfied that she's explained herself, her handling of the attack. so with that in mind, doesn't she need to answer some critical questions tomorrow? >> well, the thing to remember is that hillary clinton has already answered these questions. she did it two years ago when he testified in front of the senate, but it's not accidental that 44% of americans are not really sure because admittedly, by the republican leadership, the benghazi committee was specifically formulated to try to drive her poll numbers down. that is to try to attack her credibility. and they've been doing that over 17 months. the longest running special investigation in the history of the u.s. congress.

longer than the assassination of jfk, longer than pearl harbor, longer than hurricane katrina. they have done this purposefully. they've had a steady drip of all these allegations and they've leaked parts of testimony out of context to make it seem as though -- to make it seem as though secretary clinton has done something wrong, when in fact, nothing new has been garnered in those 17 months. nothing new to declare with regard to the events of september 11th, 2012. >> i know the chairman would say there are new things they want to ask about tomorrow. i also want to know that the top super pac backing hillary clinton, priorities usa, they released an ad today on this subject, appearing to try to get a political advantage for clinton. so politics are being played on both sides. >> well, he's having to respond to these outright fabrications and these crazy conspiracy theories that the republicans

have been generating in the last 17 months. she's finally going to have an opportunity to come and face the folks that have been inventing, you know, these fabricated stories about what happened that evening. chairman gowdy can say they've discovered new evidence, but essentially the evidence that's been discovered fits the narrative of the eight previous reports that were generated by bipartisan committees in both the house and the senate, and the accountability review board, which basically said that evening, the attacks were unexpected, the people that responded did so heroically and to the best of their ability, there was no dereliction of duty. there was no gross negligence. they did what they could to try to respond to the attacks. the fact remains throughout all the distractions, that republicans have thrown out there, there's no new information that changes that narrative. they may have new pieces of information, but it doesn't change the fundamental facts of what's been agreed on in eight prior investigations. so you have to come to the

conclusion, why are we spending almost $5 million in taxpayer money to rehash all of this, that's already been thoroughly investigated when there's nothing new to report? >> congresswoman linda sanchez, democrat on the benghazi committee. we should note that the chairman has said there will be no cheap shots, and they will stick to the facts tomorrow. you can be sure to tune in here, msnbc will have complete coverage of the benghazi hearings, starting at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. and on friday, rachel maddow will interview hillary clinton at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. and one final note on this, we have requested interviews with any of the republicans on the benghazi committee and would still love to have them here on the broadcast. developing on the hill right now, paul ryan, behind closed doors, trying to win over the freedom caucus. will he be the next speaker? we go there live. and today is the day "back to the future" fans have waited for for 30 years. we catch up with one of the

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as we speak, paul ryan meeting with the conservative house freedom caucus in an effort to win their support in his bid for house speaker. hours ago, speaker john boehner announced that republicans will officially vote next wednesday and that the full house will vote next thursday. he also threw his support behind paul ryan. >> listen, i think paul is going to get the support that he is looking for. he laid out a very clear vision of how he would run the speakership. and i thought the members responded very well to it. >> joining me now, nbc news capitol hill correspondent luke russert. luke, you've been planted outside waiting to see what happens in this meeting that was supposed to start at 4:00 with the freedom caucus and paul ryan. what's going on?

>> reporter: hey there, kate. yeah, members of the freedom caucus just walked into the meeting. we're now in the capitol building and they walked into paul ryan's ways and means chairman hide away office just off the house floor. david brad, he's famous for knocking off eric kanter in a prime minister last year. i said, what are you looking for in there? he said i want to talk to paul ryan about what he put forward in his demands. he did seem, though, to me, at least to be willing to compromise on a few issues, specifically the idea about the motion to vacate the chair. paul ryan, we had heard moving the threshold from 218 votes to depose a speaker to perhaps 2/3 of the house, they seemed to be receptive to that. what i did say, are you going to hold steady on this idea that in order to make an endorsement, 80% of your caucus has to agree?

he said that's a bylaw, we'll hold steady to that. so if paul ryan doesn't get this freedom caucus endorsement, then he does not want to be speaker. so i think this is the meeting of all the ones that paul ryan is having over the course of these few days ahead of friday that is certainly the most important, because he has to convince them that he's willing to play paul in some capacity in the future, but he's not going to cow tail to all their demands. >> and i know you talked to speaker boehner earlier. i want to play that sound. >> you see the mobilization new on the right against paul ryan, he's not conservative enough, just another mccarthy, just another boehner, how does that feel? >> i've got pretty thick skin, and we all know paul ryan, right? he's a very good member. he works hard. he's very bright.

and he has good relationships i think with all wings of the party. so that's why i think he'll be doing fine. >> but, luke, it speaks to what a tough job this is going to be, whether paul ryan takes it or someone else. >> reporter: absolutely. what was most telling there about john boehner, i gave him the opportunity to tee off on the freedom caucus who he despises at this point, he'd love to kick them in the stomach if he could, but he didn't take that opportunity because he realized if he did that, it would hurt paul ryan's chances. they would say that paul ryan's another john boehner. but i do think you touched on another important point, kate. if ryan turns this down, if he doesn't get the endorsements from the caucuses that he wants, then it's total chaos. then we go into wednesday, possibilities of 30 ballots in a conference meeting trying to figure out who could emerge from that. that is something that i don't think anybody's prepared for. we might just have to be if this doesn't go well at the freedom

caucus meeting about 20 feet away from me right now. >> thanks, luke. joining me now, republican congresswoman from neets, marsha blackburn, a member of a conservative group of lawmakers who met with paul ryan earlier today. congresswoman, thank you for being with us. >> sure. >> when you met with him earlier, what was your sense? is this going to come together? is he going to be able to convince the freedom caucus? >> i think paul is making every effort to bring everybody together. what we have, kate, is a classic growing pains problem in the republican conference. we have moderates, we have the freedom caucus, the liberty caucus, conservative opportunity society, republican study committee. so a lot of members from a lot of different components of the conservative block, if you will. and paul is one of those members who will work diligently to try to bring everyone together.

and i think it's an important thing to do. you know, most parties would like to have the problems that we've got right now, where we have grown, our tent is so big, that you have the individuals trying to find a way to come together. so the freedom caucus is a great group of guys. they are going to meet with paul and we'll see what that group has to say once they finish that meeting. >> i take your point that you've got a big tent, but a lot of people would say, this is more than growing pains. this is nearly chaos, if paul ryan doesn't get the speakership. what are you going to do if he doesn't get it? >> well, what you will see if he says no, he decides not to run, and he's going to make his decision on friday, then you will see other individuals step up. we've got a very talented conference. and the challenge right now is to find someone who can unite people, bring them together, give all the different groups a seat at the table and say, come

on, let's focus on how we get the job done. how are we going to make certain that everybody has an opportunity to participate, and that all voices are heard. i think that that's going to be the challenge for the next speaker. >> all right, congresswoman marsha blackburn, thank you for being with us. >> good to be with you, thank you. 2016 candidates react to the news that joe biden won't be joining them on the campaign trail. and some republicans are trying to cash in on "back to the future" day. yes, today is the day marty mcfly and doc brown traveled to. and actors leah thompson traveled here to talk to me about the amazing fan following the movie still has 30 years later.

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good friend and a great man. today and always inspired by his optimism and his commitment to change the world for the better. clinton sort of emphasizing this theme in a statement she put out, a little bit of a longer statement in which she called joe biden a fighter, saying he will always be on the front lines fighting for us. our nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows that clinton would be up about 20 points over bernie sanders if biden were to have gotten into the race, 25 points without him. so it's likely clinton will see a bump in the polls after this. she's obviously got the benghazi hearing tomorrow, that's going to be a big moment for her campaign. it will be interesting to see how her polls look next week, given the biden and benghazi news. >> and we're not seeing her today because presumably she's studying and getting ready? >> correct. although we did see her husband, the former president taking a

quick walk outside their home today. >> thanks so much. katy tur is following reaction from the trump campaign. >> trump tweeted saying joe biden made the decision for his family and basically he's happy to see him not get into the race because he wants to see hillary clinton as his contender for the general election. he's always been swiping at hillary at every chance he's gotten over the past three and a half months of this campaign trail, calling her a flawed candidate, bringing up benghazi, the e-mail controversy. the trump campaign happy about this decision today, so far, though, that's the only reaction they've had. we're are likely going to hear more about it tonight when he takes the stage. >> i was going to ask, you're in a empty room, but it's set up for an event tonight? >> yes, they're expecting a few thousand people tonight. they're already lined up outside. we do expect him to hit hillary clinton again, saying he's happy

that she will be the contender against him in the general election. biden, he hasn't said a negative word about biden so far. but you never know with donald trump. >> katy tur, thanks so much. for more reaction, i want to bring in kasie hunt. you've been following social media, there's a lot coming in from lots of different camps. >> kate, a lot of graciousness on display for vice president joe biden, underscoring just how well liked he is in all corners of washington. we did hear from bernie sanders who has plenty of personal reasons to be happy with the vice president's decision. he had this to say today in new york. >> i don't think we have that cued up, kasie, but you want to paraphrase for us? >> yes. well, bernie sanders basically said thank you for joe biden's service in the race -- or as vice president, for a lifetime

of service. he was the first, of course, to get to the cameras in washington. we also have jeb bush reacting. now his camp was in many ways counting on biden getting in, to stir the pot a little bit, maybe take some severe the pressure off them, ultimately make it a little bit more difficult for the democrats in the long run. he said that he was surprised by the vice president's decision. he seemed to have read into the same tea leaves that we've all been looking at to see that biden was intending to run. >> thanks so much, kasie hunt. now to sarah dallof, what are you hearing from folks where he lives? >> hi, kate. everyday people and politicians reacting to the news. the state's governor who had previously said he would support biden in a run for the white house if he decided that's what he was going to do, called today's decision deeply personal and said it's one that he respects. senator top carper of delaware said he had several conversations with the vice

president in the past couple weeks and he encouraged him to listen to his family as he made his decision. he said in part, quote, i know he heard from people across the country who urged him to run and offered to help, but the most important influences in his decision were his wife jill, their children and grandchildren and god. here in downtown wilmington, we've been talking to people about their reaction to the news. >> i have mixed reactions. i mean, he's done so much good as just the different offices that he's had. so i'm happy for him and what he's had done, and maybe he's just decided this is it, and that he just wants to relax. on the other hand, i think he would have made a wonderful president, so i would have liked to see him move forward. >> hillary, joe, all part of the established democratic, you know, machine. >> if he would have run, would you have voted for him? >> no, i am a registered democrat, i will be voting in the delaware primary, and my

vote will go toern abo bernie s. >> so, mixed reaction here on the streets of wilmington. joe biden represented the state of delaware in the u.s. senate for 36 years. while he worked in washington, he lived here, commuted back and forth on the train to fill those dual roles of father and politician. and during his term of vice president he earned the respect of many who hoped to see more of him around these parts. >> sarah dallof in delaware, thanks so much. congressman paul ryan learned about the vice president's decision when he was asked to react by reporters. check it out. >> do you think it's interesting that vice president biden cited his own family issues today? >> what did he do? >> he's out. >> oh, i didn't know. i've been so busy doing this stuff. >> didn't even know that. so now that the vice president is out, what do voters think about the candidates who are in?

let's turn to steve kornacki again. you've got some be ins numbers there. >> how many times do we hear people say, i'm not voting for the candidate, i'm voting against the candidate. maybe that's a cliche about politics, but it's really true so far in this election. that's what these new numbers from the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll show you. look at this. asked the question, run through the list of candidates, if this person became president of the united states, does the idea of this person being president make you optimistic or pessimistic? and you go right down the line. joe biden did the best on this question. yet still a majority of americans say they'd be pessimistic if joe biden were president. a negative 7 for bernie sanders. hillary clinton, nearly 60% say they'd be pessimistic if she became president. jeb bush, more than 60% say they'd be pessimistic.

donald trump, 70%. every single major candidate for president, or non-candidate for president makes the country more pessimistic when they think about the prospect of that person being president. then we have that simple question, do you have a favorable or unfavorable view of those candidates? biden did well. some people say that's what happens when you're on the sidelines not getting the daily attacks. but biden had 42 favorable. of course we can scratch him now. ben carson, the mystery of the campaign, he does the best of any candidate, democrat or republican. still a lot of people don't know who he is, so his favorable score is only 38. but his negative is only 24. bernie sanders not doing badly. but when you look at the front-runners, hillary clinton on the democratic side, those numbers are upside down. less than 40% with a favorable view of hillary clinton. donald trump, the republican front-runner, look at that, the worst of all the candidates,

well over 50% saying they have a negative view and just 30% saying they have a positive view. so when you look at all these numbers, i think we're used to seeing the electorate doesn't have a positive impression, but these are the worst numbers we've ever seen. >> it's bad. and one of those people will be the president of the united states. >> and what's interesting, trump's numbers so bad, but in a way that explains the rise of trump, maybe sanders too. people on both sides, looking at the system, saying it's hopeless, throwing up their hands and saying, let's go with something completely different here. >> you know who leah thompson is? >> "back to the future." >> lorraine in "back to the future." >> this is the big day. i've been waiting for this day. >> me too. coming up, secrets from the set when we come back. (vo) what does the world run on? it runs on optimism.

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>> more americans now die every year from drug overdoses than they do from motor vehicle crashes. the majority of those overdoses involve legal prescription drugs. >> that was president obama in west virginia today highlighting some startling statistics about prescription drug abuse in america. today the white house released new policies to curb the

prescription drug and heroin epidemic. they include more training for doctors who prescribe painkillers and improved access to treatment. the president also meeting directly with individuals and families who are coping with this disease of addiction, along with law enforcement officers and community leaders working to prevent addiction in the first place. the 14-year-old texas boy who was arrested for bringing a home-made clock to his high school, he's now moving to qatar. the news comes after he visited the white house on monday and was praised for his ingenuity. his arrest for having a hoax bomb on september 14th, inspired an outpouring of support, some accused authorities of targeting the teen because he was muslim. his family says ahmed received a scholarship at the qatar foundation. we've all been there, late for a flight. once the doors at the gate close, there's nothing you can do, but try telling that to this man. in a desperate plea to catch his

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>> marty, you've got to come back with me. >> where? >> back to the future! >> it's been 30 years in the making, but we are finally here in the future. october 21st, 2015, is the very date that marty mcfly and doc brown traveled to, to save marty's kids in the hit movie "back to the future." it was the sequel. the president today tweeting happy "back to the future" day. ever think about the fact that we live in the future they dreamed of then. that's heavy, man?

that's the president. we might not have flying cars, but as astronaut scott kelly pointed out, he lives in a flying house. the sequel made a lot of predictions, what did they get right? one of the most iconic images was the hover board. some companies are developing them, but they're not ready for the road just yet. we have 3d movies, but no jaws 19. or do we? universal pictures released a fake trailer today in honor of "back to the future." >> jaws 18 origins. a mind-blowing reboot. the oceans are disappearing and to save their homes, the sharks must attack. >> but the biggest prediction of all, was who would win the world series. >> wait a minute, cubs win world series. against miami? >> yeah, it's something, huh? who would have thought. >> i still think that's going to happen. we have video calling, but we

don't use televisions to do it. we use our phones, obviously. a few companies are making the future a reality today, though. this is interesting, pepsi perfect, which was in the movie, is a real thing now. they released these limited edition bottles today. "usa today" changing their front page to resemble the paper that marty looks at in the movie. and the self--tying shoes, the michael j. fox foundation tweeted out this picture, just a little while ago of marty himself wearing the shoes, saying that we will have them in the spring of 2016. the series has stood the test of time, becoming a favorite for so many generations of fans. i got to sit down today with one of the stars of the film, lorraine mcfly herself, leah thompson, and i asked her at first, if the future back then seemed impossibly far away? >> it seemed so far away, but the great thing is, we're still wearing cotton. you know, it's not polyester,

those weird rubber suits. >> we're not all in flying cars. >> we have cotton on and it's all good. i just feel really honored that people are still excited about the movies. like, you can't imagine being a performer and an artist and having people still digging your work. it's like, after 30 years. >> and you're still doing current work too. >> yeah, yeah. >> do people come up to you on the street and recognize you from "back to the future"? >> yeah, they do. that's the nice thing about being known for a part. i was 17, 47, and 87. so i still have more time where people hopefully will recognize me. but, yeah, they recognize me from all sorts of things, but generally all over the world, people think about "back to the future." ands it's not scared because i old. >> older. you look exactly the same to me. >> thank you, that was nice. >> what are your favorite memories and moments from those films? >> my favorite moment, well, now i'm a director too, so i'm directing my daughters in a

movie right now. >> so you see it through that lens? >> yeah, so i can see, my favorite thing, bob zemekkis, the director, so brilliant. when he enjoyed so much things coming together and the shot being great and jam-packing, he would put so much stuff in it, almost in respect for the people who have watched it 50 times and get to see something new. >> right. attention to detail. >> so for me, my favorite memories are him being really excited about the movie. >> there has been talk, just maybe about a sequel. >> yeah. >> would you be willing? christopher said he would be. >> of course. there's not that many movies made. if they asked me, i would love to do it, but i don't think it's going to happen. >> you think it's unlikely. >> yeah, i do. bob zemekkis says no. apparently he's got signing power. >> so maybe not, but fans can hope. some of the things that you predicted for 2015 we've got. some of the things we don't. i know you've been talking about this all day. the hover boards and the flying

cars aren't here yet. the cubs were supposed to win the world series. this is very important to me because i'm a cubs fan. >> oh, yeah. >> so could we make that one happen? >> you know, i have no control over all of that, but it is fun that it happens to coincide with this. >> would you show up at the world series game if they make it? >> oh, yeah, i'd sing, i'd throw a ball, i'd do anything. >> i know you have the dress that you wore, you brought it with you to the "today" show set, from the dance, right? did you keep anything else? >> for a while, i kept the latex breasts that i wore in "back to the future 2" -- >> are you serious? >> yes, but latex doesn't not age well and they stunk up my whole garage, so i had to throw away my boobs. [ laughter ] >> one last kinda serious question. the 2016 candidates, i don't know if you've seen this today, some of them are using "back to the future" day to raise money.

marco rubio, carly fiorina have ads out, videos out, talking about "back to the future." does that seem like a little weird to you, that politicians are jumping on the bandwagon? >> i read that it was kind of declared in the white house that it was "back to the future" day, i kind of liked that idea, that the president was even thinking about that movie. i kind of like that, but, yeah, raising money, on "back to the futur future", i'm not sure. i don't know what the angle is. >> everybody's talking about it. >> everybody's jumping on the bandwagon, so, yeah, i guess i am too. >> but we love it. we love it. i think it's one of those, it feels to me like one of those moments that are so rare now, that we don't all have common rns ands anymore. and that was a common experience. >> what i think is really great, my mother-in-law can watch the movie with her daughter, her daughter, and her daughter. four generations of girls can watch "back to the future" and get something different out of it. i think the ultimate message that one moment can change your whole life, and your whole

family's life, one moment of courage, i think that's why the movie endures, that we can all change your destiny at any moment. >> still resonates? >> it does. >> great to see you. >> thank you for having me. >> that does it for this hour. i'm kate snow. "mtp daily" starts right now. ♪ >> if it's wednesday, vice president biden wanted to run but simply said he's out of time to make a 2016 bid. but he also makes it clear he wants to keep hillary clinton in check. this is a busy "mtp daily" and it starts right now. ♪ three giant stories in the world of politics. benghazi tomorrow, joe biden, paul ryan. we're trying to get to it all. we got a lot to get to, and we'll start with the