Student freed from north korea opening up about seeing his son for the first time in 18 months. I knelt down by his side and i hugged him. And blaming president obama for why it took so long to get his son home. Do i think the past administration could have done more . I think the results speak for themselves. All that, plus the manhunt for two escaped fugitives. Oa fiery blimp crash at the u. S. Open Golf Tournament. And a live concert from country superstar, shania twine, june 16th, 2017. From nbc news, this is today, with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on a friday morning. Thank you for joining us. It is a busy morning. Weve said that before. A lot going on in your world. We got it all covered this morning. The Russian Military says that Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi has been killed in an air strike. Keir simmons, what can you tell us . Reporter this raid of russian fighter jets over syria, was carried out about three w k weeks ago. Russia waiting until this morning to make the announcement, saying that Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi may be dead. But the word may, as the invisib invisible sheik is unconfirmed. Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, seen here in 2014, declaring a caliphate or islamic state. Russias defensive finer er im say he may have been killed. Posting on the ministry of defense facebook page, according to information that is being checked via voirs channels, Ibrahim Abu Bakr ail baghdad the was killed by the strike. The u. S. Coalition saying it cannot confirm the report. The raid had targeted a meeting of isis leaders in northern syria, the russians say. Now, believing al baghdadi may have been at that meeting. Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi is dead. Reporter theres been previous reports of his death. And his whereabouts have not been known for some time. This, the picture of him, before he emerged as the leader of isis. He was designated as a terrorist in 2011. The u. S. Offering 25 million for information leading to his capture. But isis has lost considerable territory, after increasing pressure from air strikes by the u. S. And its allies. Secretary of state saying in march all of abu bakr aill baghdads deputies are dead. Reporter if its true, it would be a major achievement for russia in the ongoing effort to defeat isis. Al baghdadi was detained at a u. S. Prison camp in 2009. He built the fighting force that became known as isis. His death would be a blow to that group. And inevitably, boost russias ambitions in the middle east. Thank you very much. Lets get more from aman. I guess the first question is, is there any reason to be skeptical about whether or not this is true. Russia says itself says were not sure. On one hand, theres a part of the evidence that says there is speculation. Theres several reports that hes been killed in the past. Mostly online. But the significance of this, its the first time the russians have announced it. Theres a little skepticism. But the russian statement doesnt say hes been killed with certainty. They say he showed up withmilit. For a guy thats on the run and considered to be a tactical mastermind, it seems that he would show up in raqqah with other militants. It seems like a mistake. If its true, it comes at a time when isis has had defeats on the battlefield, but expanding attacks in europe and elsewhere. Compare this, again, if its true, the killing of al baghdadi and the killing of Osama Bin Laden in 2011. You have to look at the immediate battlefield. And this guy was a tactical mastermind. He had command and control of the organization in the battlefield of sere wiyria and. His death is going to disrupt that. But his ability to inspire, as we saw with the killing of bin laden, it decentralizes the organization. And what ends up happening, isis and other companies, like se jipt and india, spout leaders that are more hard line. Apew backer al baghdadi was put on the list after bin laden. Bin laden was killed. And you see al qaeda spread out. Somebody seems to step into the vacuum. Ayman, thank you very much. Lets talk about the emotional night in the nations capital. Members of congress coming together for their Charity Baseball game, a day after a gunman opened fire at their practice. Tom costello is outside of the hospital center. Reporter good morning. Congressman scalise underwent surgery to address a broken bone. Hes in Critical Condition but improving. Also here, one of them shot in the ankle. All of congress and much of the community turned out to celebrate, not only to victims on that day, on send, but the heroes, as well. And doing what else . But americas favorite pastime. On the field in washington, both republicans and democrats shared home field advantage. Coming together at Nationals Park in the wake of wednesdays violence. The teams praying together on the field. Moments before david bailey, one of the wounded officers who fought back against the shooter, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The other officer, crystal griner, still in the hospital, after being shot in the ankle. Congressm maman williams and hi aide made it to the victim. The victims, honored. With the president delivering a video message. By playing tonight, you have showing the world we will not be intimidated by threats. Reporter the charity game is an annual tradition in washington. This year, selling 20,000 tickets to a bipartisan crowd. You can see it on the field, everyone is really supportive of each other. Its really nice. Reporter this year, the focus is on a shooting that has shaken the capital. He was later killed by police. I cant believe he did this. Reporter his wife had no answers at an Emotional Press Conference in their hometown in illinois. I had no idea this was going to happen. And i dont know what to say about it. I cant wrap my head around it. Reporter now, investigators are examining all parts of the crime scene, picking up shell casings. Searching this fan where the shooter lea eer slept for three. Inside, a camera, cell phone and lapt laptop. Some of the victims hospitalized, including mike mica, who was shot in the chest and arm. And congressman steve scalise, who was shot in the left hip, the pull et fracturing bones and organs. Mike pence visited him on thursday. Congressman scalise is a good man. Reporter members of team scalise in the stands with players wearing gold lsu hats. Scalises alma mater. Reporter democrats defeated republicans 112. They raised a record amount of money for their charities. Guys, back to you. Thank you very much. This morning, we are learning about Otto Warmbiers condition. He is the American College student freed from a north korean prison, where he received extensive brain damage and is now in a coma. His father is speaking out. Ron mott has the latest. Reporter doctors here at the university of cincinnati medical center, arent revealing the prognosis going forward, for wants to keep that information private. But his dad said that they are happy to have him back home. This morning new video of Otto Warmbier playing in the snow with his tour group in north korea just before the ged his life forever. Now home, his father fred is barely able to contain his emotions. Im able to talk to you on ottos behalf and im able to wear the jacket that he wore when he gave his confession. Reporter after 17 months, the family just wants to be part of his life again. I felt by hknelt by his side told him i missed him and i was so glad he made it home. Reporter in a coma for more than a year, his doctors say that he has unresponsive wakefulness. He has spontaneous eye opening and blinking. However he shows no signs of understanding language. Reporter with no apparently physical drama, doctors raised questions about the north korean explanation that it wasioning fg pill. The state Department Says it just learned of warmbiers condition at the beginning of this month. On monday a u. S. Representative and between doctors visited warmbier and after several hour, the north korean agreed to let him go. This morning the warmbier family has bittersweet feelings. Relief that he is now home in the arms of those who love him. And anger that he was so brutally treated for so long. Reporter obviously there are a lot of Unanswered Questions about exactly what happened to Otto Warmbier in north korea. For now, the family said the most important thing is to love and care for him. Back to you. Absolutely. Ron mott, be thank you. Let us bring in dr. John torres. Good to see you. Unresponsive wakefulness. Take us more into that. Is the person in a state oof consciousness . They used to call about persi persist tach persistent vegetativeness. So right now hes at the state where hes essentially able to open his eyes, look around, but hes not registering anything. And hes getting no response to anything they are doing to him. And the chances of recovering from Something Like that . Chance of recovering, especially listening to the briefing yesterday, he has extensive brain injury, he wont recover brain function at this point. Its been 17 plus months. So hes at a state where he will probably be for the rest of his life. Can doctors reverse diagnose this and try to figure out look at his current condition and try to figure out how he ended up in that condition . Reporter are they sathey sa he had cardiac arrest, he didnt get the oxygen to his brain. So on step one, respiratory arrest, step two cardiac arrest and he didnt get the blood flow to his brain. What they dont know is what caused the respiratory arrest. And the doctors i guess have skept the civicism about the exn of botulism. Exactly. Its very rare. There is a lot of Different Things that could anything that can cut off the air supply can cause this. All right. More in our next hour including a big question being raised by the warmbier family. Could the Obama Administration have done more to secure their sons release. A loot more t more to get t including new developments in the russia investigation. It has reportedly expanded to thousand include the finances and business dealings of jared kushner. Kristen welker has more on all of those headlines. Reporter good morning. The president travels to miami to announce new change to the cuba policy, but in a stunning development, President Trump confirming hes under investigation tweeting this morning i am being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director. Witch hunt. Apparent reference to the Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein. This morning new signs that the russia probe is reaching into new places, the Washington Post reporting special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating the business dealings of one of President Trumps top advisers, soninlaw jared kushner. An attorney for kushner telling nbc news we dont know what this report refers to, it would be Standard Practice for the special counsel to examine financial records to look for anything related to russia. Mr. Kushner previously volunteered to share with congress what he knows about russia related matters. He will do the same if he is contacted in this connection with any other inquiry. The inquiry at the top of the president s mind . Mueller now investigating him for possible obstruction of justice after he fired fbi director james comey. Do you believe that you are under investigation now . Reporter the president not responding to reporters, but later lashing out in an afternoon tweet storm thursday, trying to shift the focus to his former rival hillary clinton. Why is it that Hillary Clintons family and dems dealings with russia are not looked at but my nondealings are . Crooked h destroyed phones with hammer. Bleached emails and had a husband meet with ag days were she was cleared and they talk about obstruction . Clinton was cleared of any wrongdoing. Still candidate trump repeatedly warned a Clinton Presidency would be mired in scandal. Hillary clinton will be under investigation for a long, long time. Reporter but now that mr. Trump is the one under investigation, his team isnt taking any chances. Vice president mike pence is the latest to hire an outside attorney. Richard cullen, a seasoned criminal attorney who is no stranger to complicate political cases. Overnight the Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein seemed to cast doubt on the latest russia reporting saying americans should exercise caution before accepting as true any stories attributed to anonymous officials particularly when they dontton identify the country alone the branch of government with which the alleged sources are supposedly affiliated. As for the president s cuba announcement, he is expected to make it a lot lard harder to tr or do business in cuba. Kristen welker, thank you. In the meantime deliberations at bill cosbys Sexual Assault trial are entering a fifth day now. This after jurors announced that they were deadlocked on thursday and the judge ordered them to keep trying to reach a verdict. Stephanie gosk is at the courthouse in norrisnorristown, pennsylvania. Reporter good morning. One thing can certainly be said about this jury, they are taking their time. They have been deliberating to more than 40 hours, they have asked six questions about evidence and testimony. They have been at it roughly as long as the trial itself. On thursday, as you mentioned, they came to the judge to say that they were deadlocked on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault. As you know, Andrea Constand accuses bill cosby of drugging and assaulting her in 2004. Cosby says that what happened that night was consensual. The judge sent the jury back and said try again. Something that he can do a second or even a third time, but then a verdict brk becomes increasingly unlikely which means that it will end in about a hug jung jury and mistrial. Even though it is not an acquittal, it is a big win because that means that the District Attorney would have to decide if he wants to get a brand new jury and try this thing all over again. Back to you. Thanks very much. That sending them back into try again is something that has been done in a lot of trials. And its controversial but its been upheld. Controversial because if youre the defense attorney, youre saying wait a minute, they said they cant agree, what are you telling them to get back in there and get a guilty verdict . But it is very precise language and its quite common. And well see what the jury does today. Let us turn to al who is back from about his backyard barbec barbecue triumphs. Did you have fun . Does it smell like Barbecue Sauce . I dabbed some behind my ear. We are talking about strong storms today firing up especially in the upper plains. 9 million folks at risk. Des moines, down to kansas city, illinois. We are also looking tomorrow at strong storms. 35 Million People at risk, a wider swathe from detroit all the way to kansas city. Damaging winds, towards possible. And then sunday, that continues to make its way to the east. 22 million folks at risk, damaging winds, hail likely. We are not talking about a washout, but we are talking about scattered showers on and thunderstorms that a wide swathe of des moines, la fayette, columbus, pittsburgh, 1 to 2 inches. Closer to the east, heavier rain maybe 1 to 3 inches but again it will be scattered and hit and miss throughout much of the region. Well get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. Current qualified gm lessees can get this introductory lease on the allnew 2018 chevy equinox for around 249 a month. Find new roads at your local chevy dealer. Good morning, im meteorologist kari hall. We have some nice weather for San Francisco today. A little bit warmer, reaching up to 77 degrees. And for the weekend, we have some low to mid70s that will continue into next week. The inland valleys will have some suz ling temperatures really starting to ramp up today and tomorrow. Dangerous heat continues for sunday as well, reaching 102 degrees. We see more of this high heat next week with some sunshine and we could see the peak of the heat on wednesday. And thats your latest weather. Guys . Good to have you back, al. Thanks very much. Coming up, the inmates who killed their Prison Guards and then escaped, were captured overnight. Were live with the dramatic end to that manhunt. And the frightening blimp crash near the u. S. Open Golf Tournament. But on a friday morning, this is today on nbc. Whoa youre not taking these. Hey, hey, hey youre not taking those. Whoa, whoa youre not taking that. Come with me. Youre not taking that. Youre not taking that. Youre not taking that. Mom, im taking the subaru. Dont be late. Even when were not there to keep them safe, our Subaru Outback will be. vo love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Ethan allen look . The well, its lisa and sams stylish elegance. Its kates laidback beach look and with the complimentary help of his ethan allen designer, paul created a look thats. Well, really paul. 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