than ready for a mad dash to the finish line. >> reporter: i'm katie tur, two months left and both candidates are trying to one up the other, today their battleground was battle ground ohio. on board his 757 trump obliged a long standing media request to fly with him. but while his democratic rival has vowed to travel full-time with reporters, the trump ticket was just a one way affair. on the ground, trump grazed through the buckeye state, both at a state fair outside of youngston and with union workers in cleveland, where he put on a good face. citing a poll nbc news could not identify. >> i was just handed this. the polls just out, ohio, trump is leading 46-43. >> reporter: in almost every doesn't poll, trump is still trailing.

season identifies him as somebody who is vulgar and crude and really doesn't stand for anything and that's a pretty terrible indictment of a major party presidential nominee. >> reporter: now he's facing renewed questions about the trump foundation. last week "the washington post" reported that trump was fined $25,000 for violation of tax law. the money came a bupdy's office -- though never opened one. >> she's a fine person, never spoke to her about anything, never. >> reporter: the trump foundation told us the donation was the result of a series of mistakes and that donald trump has reimbursed the foundation the full $25,000. next up for donald trump, north carolina where he's currently down four points. kate? >> katie tur, thanks so much. a programming note, this wednesday, nbc

veterans of america will host hillary clinton and donald trump back to back for a live prime time forum focused exclusively on issues the next commander in chief will have to address. turning overseas now where president obama held what could be his last ever meeting with his russian counterpart, vladimir putin, during a tense face to face on the sidelines of the g-20 summit in china, the two clashed syria and cyber security. ron allen is in laos with more. >> reporter: for 90 intense minutes two of the world's most powerful men face to face for perhaps the last time. president obama his time in office ticking down, and president putin, on the line a measure of peace and relieve for the horror that are syria. >> typically our meetings are candid, blunt and business like, and this one was no different. >> reporter: over the

to hide their contempt. >> given the gaps of trust that exist, that's a tough negotiation. >> reporter: but putin emerged predicting a deal that could come in the next thank you days. president obama also confronted putin about cyber hacking u.s. websites and called for clear rules for all nations to follow. >> what we cannot do is have a situation in which becomes the wild, wide west. >> reporter: mr. putin left for moscow, mr. obama moved on to his last stop in asia, laos. here he becomes the first u.s. president to visit since they were bombed so heavily during the vietnam war. unclear how he will try to end the present nightmare he faces every day in syria and whether he'll ever

again. now an update on a story that shocked the country this summer. it's been three months singsz that deadly accident in florida where a toddler was killed by an al gator. the toddler's parents have broken their silence to honor their son on what would have been his birthday. >> reporter: lane graves would have been 3 years old on saturday. >> happy birthday, lany, you are i hearts today and every second of every other day. >> reporter: in his hometown, elk horn, nebraska, people gathered to celebrate his life, eating cookies and forming a heart for his parents and big sister ella. >> when we were apart, you would tell us i missed you as we came in the door, you would always come running to give us a hug and kiss.

kisses. >> reporter: lane was building a sand castle when a 7-foot alligator grabbed him. there was no fence but today there is a protective bare yir and signs warning of the dangerous. >> i often speak of how lucky we were to have spent two years 11 months and nine days as a complete family. my wife would tell you those were the happiest days of her life. and i couldn't agree more. >> reporter: the families received more donations from around the world, inspiring them to start the lane graves foundation. it will support families who have lost a child suddenly and promote awareness of organ donation. >> lane and ella used to say to their mommy and daddy that they loved them up to the sky and down to the grass. lane, ella, we love you up to heaven and down to the grass. happy birthday, buddy. we miss you.

vista, florida. >> our thoughts with that family. still ahead tonight, battling an american epidemic, two brothers who affected us to the core. ic ? extraordinary starts here. new k-y intense. a stimulating gel that takes her pleasure to new heights.

in just the past two weeks there's been a spike in heroin overdose as more than 200 in the cincinnati area alone. we have reported often on the families confronting the devastation of addiction, but tonight we want to take a moment to tell you a positive story, to revisit a family i first met more than

have a powerful message of recovery. >> i have two needless for each kid. >> we first met denise two years ago, her sons ban and ryan were both living in their childhood bedrooms both heroin addicts, on the day we were filming, ryan showed up to one of our interviews high on heroin. you been using? heroin. >> just drinking? >> i did take a xanax too. >> are you more worried about him than you were this morning? >> ryan, you look totally different. >> hello. >> how are you? >> i'm good, how are you doing? >> reporter: this is what 15 months of sobriety looks like, ryan is living with roommates at faith farm ministries an addiction recovery ram in ft. lauderdale, florida.

>> reporter: ryan is a straight a student studying computer net working he knows his addiction could have killed him. >> it could have gone that way. >> why didn't it. >> god? dumb luck maybe? >> two years ago, dennis took this family photo thinking it would be their last. >> i just didn't think they would live. for ten years i thought they would be dead every day. a different road to recovery, through court ordered treatment after being in jail for five months, now he's working with his dad, in construction. >> all the different things i did in order to get better. >> you guys are all doing good. >> reporter: the family wants people to know the disease of addiction can be overcome. >> there's a life outside of drugs, it's actually a lot better. it may seem like it's going to be miserable

>> reporter: it's still day by day, but for the first time in years, denise has hope. >> i can actually brag about them now, it's a wonderful feeling. >> denise tells us ryan is on track to graduate from technical school about a month from now at the top of his class. when we come back, cyber sky games, richard engel on the

? music ? extraordinary starts here. a stimulating gel that takes her pleasure to new heights.

back now with more on the tensions between the u.s. and russia over hacking attacks. president obama today warned about a possible cold war style cyber arms race after his meeting with vladimir putin. tonight our richard engel is on the trail of russian hackers. u.s. officials say they might be trying to undermine confidence in america's election. >> reporter: even if hillary clinton took to the stage of the democratic convention,

scrambling with a major security breach, they had been hacked. investigators now say it was a cyber attack, launched from russia. who are these hackers? >> basically they are coming from the russia underground. >> reporter: former hacker is now a leading expert on the russian hackers. they do services for the russian state and in exchange they get protection? >> yes. >> reporter: on -- last year, one of them hacked its way into the servers of germany's parliament, penetrating the very heart of the german political system. in germany cyber crimes are investigated by the equivalent of our nsa, andreas conan oversees its work. >> what you see here on this typical kind of attack, those are the ones with the origins there.

clear cut. >> reporter: there meaning russia? >> there meaning russia. >> reporter: and right there is the direct link between the german parliament hack and the dnc. experts believe the same russian hackers are the ones who recently penetrated the unclassified computers of the white house, state department, and the office of the chairman of the joint chiefs. why are we seeing s >> i think this is because russia has discovered the power we have. >> reporter: so russia is doing it because it learned it can? >> yes. >> reporter: russia has denied any involvement in the attacks on the u.s. and president putin called the accusations an attempt to distract the public's attention, welcome to the age of cyber warfare. richard engel, nbc news, berlin. when we come back, before we say goodbye

. finally tonight, one last bit of summer fun as the season

kevin tibbles to dollywood to brave what is billed as the world's fastest wooden roller coaster, as kevin found, it's a real scream. >> reporter: there's just something nostalgic about those old wooden roller coasters. the cyclone at coney island has been providing thrills and chills for nearly 90 years. these days, everything old is new again. except way faster. it's called the lightning rod. and the fearless are lining up at dolly parton's dollywood in tennessee. >> i'm ready. let's do it. >> i got to see this. >> it looks really fun and i brought an extra pair of pants. >> reporter: maybe i should have thought of that. ? what a way to make a living snechbd. >> reporter: after

stories, it then plummets, top speed 73 miles an hour. more twists and turns than a bucking bronc, more horsepower too. and something like 20 seconds of air time. what does that mean? >> you're coming off the seat and you're floating to some degree. >> reporter: lightning rod lasts just under two minutes, which for some is just under two but for others -- >> my heart rate was beating so fast. >> nonstop thrills. >> reporter: if that makes sense, it's the ride for you, yes the wooden roller coaster ain't getting older, it's just getting wilder, can't you tell? kevin tibbles, nbc news, dollywood. >> sign me up, i'm totally in. that will do it for us on this monday night, i'm kate snow,

"mad mone" i'm jim cramer and i will see you next time. the philippine president's foul mouthed warning. hillary clinton and donald trump in a september sprint just 63 days to the election. both candidates invin press aboard their planes. >> i'm not concerned about the conspiracy theories. there are so many of them i've lost track of them. >> first thing is to get all of the gang members, drug members all out. we secure the border. stop the drugs from coming in. the drugs are pouring in. new video this morning of newly released 49er bruce miller bloodied and stumbling on video

plus highest level for tennis players of all time. and more as we kick off tuesday. early "today" starts right now. great bb you this morning. >> it was a busy morning. especially for president obama. >> for everybody joining us, great to be with you. back to the grind and back to po president barack obama becoming the first president to visit phil teen's leader. it comes after a cursing rant from philippine's president directed at president obama. it's all part of a jam packed trip abroad for the president that also included a diplomatic snub of china and a testy

nbc's ron allen has been following all of this. what can you tell us about the president's visit today? >> reporter: well, the president is here for a number of reasons. laos is the host nation for the annual meeting of southeast asian nations. the united states has been supporting. particularly president obama because he is so focused to policy away from the middle east. that's why he is here. in laos the concern, of course, is the huge amount of unexploded bombs that are still buried in the countryside here after a massive u.s. bombing campaign here during the vietnam war. there was more ord nants, more dropped here than in japan and germ germany during world war ii. part of a campaign to try to cut

vietnamese troops next door. here's what the president had to say quantifying what happened here. >> over nine years of 1964 to 1973, the united states dropped more than 2 million tons of bombs here in laos. more than we dropped on germany and japan combined in all of world war ii. it maze laos per person the most heavily bombed country in hiy. >> reporter: and this is still a menace to people all other the countryside. there are still people who are being killed and maimed by this ordinance. some 20,000 since the bombing stopped. and there's still injuries that happened every year here. the numbers are falling. president obama has made a commitment of some $90 million over the next three years. a huge amount of money considering that's about the

by the united states over the past several decades to clear them. many are still being killed and maimed by this awful legacy of war. >> ron allen traveling with the president, thank you. donald trump and hillary clinton are finally in the final sprint to the election. holding dual press conferences and battling it out. days after trump's visit to mexico, hillary clinton says she has no same. telling abc news, quote, i'm going to continue to focus on what we're doing to create jobs at home. while calling trump's visit to mexico embarrassing, unfortunate, and a diplomatic incident. and also that her husband shouldn't have to step down from the foundation. he made it his life's work after the presidency. and he has said if i am

is appropriate. that came after she was campaigning in cleveland, ohio. >> and i want to thank congresswoman martha fudge for hosting us. [ coughing ] every time i think about trump i get allergic. >>he allergies. however, clinton has been attacked for health issues. and while convening her first conference of the year on her newly minted campaign plane, she hit back against trump and accused russia of lobbying for a trump presidency. trump further muddied the waters on immigration. take a listen.

citizen. >> we're confused. a lot of republican plans have talked about letting people have a legal status, just to live here and work here. everyone who lived here for a long time a contributed to society. >> we're going to make that decision into the future. good question. i'm glad you asked it. >> that came before trump made this news regarding the upcoming debate. >> i look forward to the debates. i think it's an important we have an obligation to do the debates. i did them in the other cases. we had 11 debates. >> he made those comments in cleveland just as clinton was campaigning there as well. it wasn't just a battleground in ohio that drew the attention. the tarmac was also center stage for both candidates.

after "the washington post" revealed it was fined over the contribution it made. the candidate addressed the issue and paid the fine. however that doesn't put the controversy away. today on the trail trump heads to virginia while pence goes through missouri. hrk will campaign through florida as her vice presidential pick kim cain will be in north lawyer died in her home due to cancer. a strong component who was seen as stopping the passage in the 1970s. she was also the founder of the eagle force. that's a right wing group campaigning against abortion and gay rights. standing alongside some of the