But first, you might want to rethink that selfie: Appeals court to consider ban on voter selfies

Is banning selfies in the voting booth is a violation of free expression or legitimate way to combat fraud? 

That’s the question that the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston will try to answer today —  the first time a federal appeals court will consider the issue.

At issue is a 2014 New Hampshire law that makes it a crime, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, for voters to take pictures of their ballots and share them on social media. Enforcement of the law was blocked a year ago by a federal judge, and the state appealed.

Only nine states appear to either explicitly allow ballot selfies or have no currently enforceable state law clearly forbidding it.

Most of the states, 26, explicitly ban it through various laws, including prohibitions on bringing cameras into polling places.

The law is unclear in Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

Read more here: http://on.msnbc.com/2ctqLrb

Tune in to the first joint candidate event of the 2016 general election! 

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will take questions on national security, military affairs and veterans’ issues from a live audience comprised of service members and veterans on the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

Rudy Giuliani sports “Make Mexico Great Again Also” hat at Trump immigration rally

The signature piece of Trump swag was updated for last night's rally in Phoenix.

Watch more here: http://on.msnbc.com/2bDCp8r

Haunting photo of wounded boy captures horror in Syria

Video footage shows 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh being plucked away from the rubble in the aftermath of a devastating airstrike in Aleppo and carried inside an ambulance, looking dazed and flat-eyed.

The boy then runs his hand over his blood-covered face, looks at his hands and wipes them on the ambulance chair.

Watch the heartbreaking video here: http://on.msnbc.com/2bfBhoO 

Aerial video shows the true devastation of Louisiana flooding

"This is going to be tough to recover from," said Ari Sarsalari, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel. "There are parts of Louisiana that have seen more than 30 inches of rain since Friday."

Read more here: http://on.msnbc.com/2aRTObT

Clinton surges past 270 electoral votes in new battleground map 

We've updated our NBC battleground map. The states in Hillary Clinton's column now add up to 288 electoral votes, which exceeds the 270 needed to win the presidency. Donald Trump, meanwhile, is at 174 electoral votes, and an additional 76 are in the Tossup category. Our last map, back in July, showed Clinton with a 255-190 advantage — so Clinton's tally has gone up since the conventions, while Trump's has declined.

The significant changes in our map: 

- We've moved Colorado, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Nebraska's one electoral vote from Tossup to Lean Dem. 

- We've also moved Florida from Lean Dem to Tossup.

- Georgia moves from Lean GOP to Tossup. 

- And we've changed Kansas and South Carolina from Likely GOP to Lean GOP. 

(Our regular caveat here, of course: These designations are subject to change as we get more poll numbers and reporting.)

Explore more here: http://on.msnbc.com/2bxZx7G 

Obama drops his 2016 summer playlist

Here’s what POTUS has been listening to during his last year in office: http://on.msnbc.com/2bityVN

Trump calls Obama the “founder of ISIS”

Donald Trump on Wednesday night appeared to blame President Barack Obama for the global terror threat, erroneously accusing him of creating ISIS and saying the group "honors" him.

"In many respects, you know, they honor President Obama," Trump said at a rally in Florida. "He's the founder of ISIS. He's the founder of ISIS. He's the founder. He founded ISIS."

Trump continued: "I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton."

And then he doubled-down on his comments. Read more here: http://on.msnbc.com/2b1qldw

They were forced to flee their homes. Now they’re running in the Olympics.

They are the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team — five South Sudanese runners, two swimmers from Syria, two Congolese judokas and a marathoner from Ethiopia competing under a single banner.

The collection of athletes represent refugee crises old and new. Unlike their fellow teammates from Syria, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, whose pangs of homesickness are still fresh, the South Sudanese runners are a testament to the festering repercussions of violent conflicts that never end.

Exiled from their homes for more than a decade, the five South Sudanese runners represent a generation of stateless people. “Refugee” is the banner they’ve unwittingly carried for most of their lives; now they’re taking it up deliberately on the world stage.

“Now, I have a mission to tell the world that we are refugees. We are human beings,” said Yiech Pur Biel, 21, who will run the men’s 800m race.

Explore more here: http://on.msnbc.com/2aWSLFm

(Photos: Newsha Tavakolian)

Don’t miss a special DNC edition of SNL’s “Weekend Update” tonight!

Colin Jost and Michael Che are rehearsing for the show, which will be broadcast on MSNBC at 12am ET. 

Watch clips from last week’s RNC edition here: http://on.msnbc.com/2awFkP7

These voters feel pretty strongly about the 2016 election. 

Do you have an election confession? Share your anonymous thoughts with NBC News and check out ElectionConfessions.com!

If you’re in Philadelphia for the DNC, stop by our Election Confessions pop up to share your thoughts. 

Join legendary news anchor Tom Brokaw in looking back on the “20 Stories that Shook the World in 20 Years,” including 9/11.

The new documentary premieres on the occasion of MSNBC’s 20th anniversary, this Friday at 10pmET. 

Our very own Rachel Maddow hosts the premiere broadcast of “The Rachel Maddow show” back in 2008.  Click here to watch more memories on the eve of our 20th birthday. 

"Hardball," originally known as "Politics with Chris Matthews," debuted in 1996. JFK, Jr. was the show's first guest.

In this throwback photo, Rev. Al Sharpton anchors the first broadcast of “PoliticsNation” back in 2011.

Throwback! Lawrence O’Donnell has been appearing on MSNBC long before “The Last Word.” 

Here’s a look at one of his first appearances on our air in 1996.

Chris Jansing has been on the ground covering some of the most memorable news stories of the past two decades. Join Chris and other MSNBC journalists in looking back on "20 Stories that Shook the World in 20 Years," a new documentary premiering on MSNBC this Friday at 10pmET.