he feels fine and it was cold up there. >> incredible. >> 90-years-old. >> way to celebrate. >> thanks for joining us. >> good fight. night ight.ht, under siege in iraq, night fal ght. night to ht. night s at. towagh night . night cuations night night weignight options and the choice is limited. >> ready or not, violence in the streets as the world cup gets under way in brazil. protesrs battle police as thousands of troops are sent in to maintain order. and this is 90, today a former president jumped out of a perfectly good aircraft. the legs don't work like they used to, but that didn't stop 41 the former world war ii aviator from taking a birthday dive. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this

is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. good evening. over a decade after the american invasion after the blood and treasure spent on the battle field, the billions of dollars spent on training and armorments, tonight a heavily armed extremist fighting force in some cases using american arms and vehicles is making lightning speed from city to city across the iraqi countryside and a big part of that country has fallen to their control. they are known as isis which happens to be their goal. after capturing a number of big cities in iraq, they are threatening baghdad while the region scrambles along with much of the rest of the world. just to review here, 4,477 americans were killed in iraq with over 32,000 wounded. over a million americans were deployed, most of them more than once and yet, it's a grave situation there tonight. our veteran of combat coverage

in the iraq war, richard engel is back in iraq tonight to start us off here. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this is a nightmare scenario that u.s. generals when they were here in iraq never talked about. not only is this country unstable but large parts of the country are falling to a group that is hostile to the government and the united states. some american veterans might be able to recognize their old humvees, given to the iraqi army, some shattered, burned, overs taken over by militants, a group of al qaeda did called isis.ers taken over by militant group of al qaeda did called isiters taken over by militantsa group of al qaeda did called isihers taken over by militants a group of al qaeda did called isis.ers taken over by militanta group of al qaeda did called isiers taken over by militants, group of al qaeda did called isiters taken over by militantsa group of al qaeda did called isigers taken over by militants a group of al qaeda did called isis.ers taken over by militanta group of al qaeda did called isis.hers taken over by militan a group of al qaeda did called isis.group of al qaeda did call isis. islamic state in syria. today they vow to march on

baghdad, they are only 100 miles away and surrounded the biggest oil refinery and iraqi troops trained by u.s., most are putting their hands up instead of on the trigger. the goal the militants said today, to impose strict islamic sharia law, not just in iraq but syria and beyond. they are lead by a bill tablet that fought in iraq and was in u.s. custody for years. many say he's the true heir to osama bin laden. as militants advance, hundreds of thousands of iraqis are fleeing. families loading into cars and looking for safer territory. 13 packed in one car leaving mosul. they heard gunshots near their home and had enough. others were on foot. what is happening to iraq, it's splitting apart into three warring pieces. in the west, the militants are taking over and being joined by those for saddam hussein and under prime minister that is

excluded suni s from the south, struggling to survive. and in the north, the kurds who for centuries have longed for independence are taking it. today troops seized one out biggest oil refineries. the u.s. invaded and stitched back together with sweat and lives of thousands of american troops is rapidly coming undone. and brian, there is also the issue of american diplomats and contractors who are still in this country. there are several thousand of them here, some of the contractors have already been given evacuation orders, several hundred have begun to evacuated from the air base. there's also some question of the giant u.s. embassy in

baghdad if this conflict continues and seems like it will and will end up in baghdad and in baghdad it could get bloody. baghdad is divided, half of the shiite, the other ha sunni and perhaps symbolic of the u.s. role in all of this, the u.s. embassy is right in the middle. >> richard, of course for you, you're in the back in the country where you lived for so many years during the war. you and i were together during the fighting numerous time there is. despite the predictions by yourself and others over the years this kind of thing might happen, can you at some level believe this is taking place right now? >> reporter: i can, actually. i thought this was a distinct possibility and becoming more of a possibility the more exclusionary the government was becoming. the u.s. is in a hard position. now we're facing the choice do we help prime minister malaki, militarily or otherwise? many are blaming this problem on the government and say had he been more inclusive and worked with the sunnis, he wouldn't be

facing this uprising tearing iraq apart. >> richard engel on the streets in northern iraq tonight. the white house tonight, 2 1/2 years after the end of the iraq war, the obama administration is weighing military options in iraq. a proposition even as limited as air strikes that would be tough for a lot of americans to support. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell monitoring developments in the d.c. newsroom tonight and andrea, we heard richard layout the stakes in plane english. >> indeed. the president elected to end the war in iraq met with national security advisors to discuss military actions, if that's the only way to save iraq from imploding but president obama ruled out boots on the ground.

the event of the islam make militants and collapse of iraqi forces shocked the white house. >> i don't rule out anything because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihads are not getting a permanent foothold in either iraq. >> reporter: drones are being considered but not sending ground forces back in. >> i know the president of the united states is prepared to make key decisions in short order. >> reporter: how could u.s. intelligence not seen this coming? president bush started the iraq war and famously declared it over 11 years ago. >> major combat operations have ended and the battle of iraq, the united states and allies have prevailed. >> reporter: president obama campaigned on a promise to finally bring the troops home, but once they were gone, the explosion violence in neighboring syria and baghdad created the perfect storm in iraq. >> the president may have learned a lesson just because he

declares conflicts over, does not mean those conflicts are ended. >> terrorists moving in, taking control of western iraq, now they have taken control of mosul. 100 miles from baghdad. what is the president doing? taking a nap. >> reporter: allies need to be consulted. >> they need to come forward with a proposal and bring it to congress and let us debate what we should do. >> reporter: the terror threat from iraqi insurgent could reach to the homeland the fbi told senators today. >> to the american people, i know you're tired of dealing with the middle east but the people that are moving into iraq and holding ground in syria have as part of their agenda not only to drive us out of the mideast but hit our homeland. >> reporter: a group that's more brut brutal an than their al qaeda fore bearers. >> they are able to plan and plot attacks not just in the region but potentially against europe and the homeland and that makes them one of the greatest terror threats we see in the world today. >> reporter: many in congress say u.s. military aid should be conditioned on reforms by iraq's

prime minister malaki. vice president biden called maliki today, as richard engel is reporting, there is a sense this may be too little too late to cold the country together, brian? >> andrea, thanks. as we've been saying here, u.s. military options are in a word limited. our pentagon correspondent jim can offer more on that front from the pentagon. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. since the white house is ruling out ground troops, military officials say the only other direct combat direction would be air strikes but defense officials fear that may be the worst of many bad options. the iraqis are asking the u.s. to use man bombers and armed drones to launch air strikes against militant encampments but military officials argue that air strikes won't eliminate the threat and militants could quickly go under ground or surround themselves with civilians. and for now, the u.s. also has little intelligence to go on

conducting only two drone surveillance missions a month over iraq. u.s. military officials also fear that without any american boots on the ground, they would have to rely entirely on the rockies for targeting, and according to one senior defense official, we just don't trust the iraqi government or its military. officials here say tonight that all possible options are now over at the white house waiting only for president obama's decision, brian? >> jim miklaszewski, as we said, limited options at the pentagon. for more on this, we're joined by retired u.s. army four-star general barry mccaffrey. in addition to balanced budget a heavily decorated ranger, he's recognized for the first iraq war. he's an nbc news military analyst. general, tell the viewers how bad this is, how bad is this group isis and where do you see this going?

>> well, brian, it's shocking to watch a giant military and police force come apart. there were apparently over 55,000 iraqi police and army up in mosul, city of 2 million people. nobody knows how many fighters are in isis, but let's say there's not more than 9,000. we're watching a giant iraqi security force come apart, thousands of armored vehicles, 400 tanks. we're looking at overhead satellite coverage of mosul airfield with u.s. helicopters still on the ground. it's really shocking. it's going to be a tragedy for the iraqi families, as well as the u.s. forces, 36,000 killed and wounded in that fight. >> what are the u.s. options as you see them? >> they are extremely limited. i mean, obviously, we can provide more intelligence, the cia, a courageous agency will see what is on the ground and we can fly drones in there.

we could hustle ammunition in. but at the end of the day, brian, if your army won't fight, it's because they don't trust their incompetent, corrupt generals. they don't trust each other. this is an enduring civil war between the shia, the sunni and the kurds. so i don't think we got any options and we would be ill advised to start bombing where we really can't sort out the combatants or understand where the civilian population is. >> in our washington burro tonight, general, thank you, as always. another military story we've been covering here, that guantanamo prisoner swap and tonight u.s. army sergeant bowe bergdahl is in the air on his way back to american soil after over a week in the u.s. military hospital in germany. he'll arrive at brooke army medical center in san antonio to begin the next phase of his recovery. after five years of being held by the taliban.

there is an investigation to determine the details of how he ended up in enemy hands. and a solemn ceremony today at dover air force base in delaware. the return of all five u.s. soldiers, all of them members of special forces who were killed in southern afghanistan this week, apparently an episode of friendly fire that happened while the soldiers were conducting a security operation. still ahead on our broadcast this evening, violence erupts as the world cup gets underway. protesters clashing with police, tear gas in the air and worse, as millions descend on brazil and later, remembering a legend in the entertainment business, a champion of the civil rights movement as well.

one of the most anticipated events in all of sports around the world got underway in brazil despite concerns for months that brazil wouldn't be ready. world cup soccer started with pandemonium along the fans and

some initial chaos and violence in the streets. the games will go on for a month. bill neely was watching it today in sao paluo. >> reporter: some grenades, tear gas and protests, just miles from where brazil's world cup began, police fought demonstrators who were angry at the most expensive soccer tournament ever. this is now how brazil's festival of sports in front of a global audience was meant to start and there is no guarantee it will end here. brazil is struggling to contain the protests as the soccer carnival begins. it's the world's biggest single sports event, fans joining half a million from 32 other

countries including the u.s. today's opening ceremony was brazil's chance to dazzle, the highlight a paralyzed man who kicked the first ball. the scientists who made that happen showed nbc news exclusively the computerized suit the man wore. the patient's brain sending signals through the suit to move his legs. >> you know, the first time the first patient walked here was one of the greatest moments of our lives. >> reporter: the world cup opened in a controversial stadium three lives lost building it. it's roof incomplete, temporary seating needed. the organizers are confident. >> we will have a great world cup in brazil. >> reporter: they are celebrating its start on the international space station. pope francis wished it well

today but this tournament has many critics. the soccer authority says this is the worst organized world cup. seven years on and this stadium isn't finished. olympic organizers say the same about the rio games that start in two years or at least they are meant to. on the field at least brazil won the first game. bill neely, nbc news. we'll be back in a moment with a scare on the set of the new star wars film a big star as been airlifted to the hospital.

the lights will be dimmed on broadway tomorrow for ruby dee. a lot of things, an american original and well-known and well loved actress for over half a century. she died today at the age of 91. known for her physical beauty on stanl and on on film and her long life of activism. it was her performances that will endure including the first ever production of "a raisin in the sun." she was teamed often with sidney portier and as good as spike lee's material as she was at shakespeare.

back in the '60s she came to know dr. king and worked with him. ruby dee was 91 years old. one of our former presidents turned 90 today and celebrated the only way he knows how, by sky diving so we must be talking about 41 turning 90. he took to the air with the golden knights and jumped over a perfectly good helicopter, over the atlantic ocean, and landing on an "x" at the family compound poun compound. after a rough but successful touchdown, he talked about the jump of his granddaughter, jenna bush haggard. >> that was awesome. >> how did it look coming down? good. >> it looked amazing. was it fun? was it great? the landing came in hot. did it hurt? >> i'll be okay. [ laughter ] >> we love you grandpy. this picture caught our eye today, the deck crew on uss george h.w. bush spelling out the numeric significance of the day in living color. president obama's annual physical has been completed. the report is out and even

though our presidents in the modern era traveled with physicians alongside them and enjoy constant medical care, they haven't all been in the shape this president is in, as his doctor pronounced him in excellent health. 180 pounds, cholesterol a tad hi, but no judgment. tobacco free, but chews nicotine gum. he stays fit. the new movie star wars episode vii, harrison ford, who is 71, reportedly broke his ankle on the set in london and was taken to a hospital. the accident involved the door of a spacecraft in the film reportedly controlled by hydraulics. the filming will continue as planned while harrison ford recuperates. when we come back together, the enduring importance of arlington after a century and a half.

finally here tonight, we started this broadcast talking about u.s. military sacrifice on overseas battlefields. about u.s. military sacrifice on overseas battlefields. you could say this nation's monument to sacrifice is arlington national cemetery this weekend the 624 acre complex

hallow ground all of it turns 150 years old. our report tonight from nbc's harry smith. >> reporter: early in the morning in a basement barrack room, members of the army's old guard get ready. every crease must be razor sharp, laying to rest those who have served. sergeant jonathan goodrich a have the ran of two tours in iraq, understands sacrifice. >> it means everything to me. i have experience with being in units that lost soldiers overseas and to be able to be part of the closure for the family is just wonderful. >> reporter: at arlington, each grave represents a story of service, of honor and on this day, the story of a soldier missing in action. ♪

>> reporter: private james holmes was

s. >> announcer: nbc bay area news starts now. >> right now, at 6:00, a dangerous suspect hulled up in a home. police and s.w.a.t. on scene and a neighborhood blocked off. >> good evening. we want to take you to that scene right now to a developing story in the east bay. police have surrounding a home in san leandro. one man, as you see below, these are live pictures from our nbc chopper, has been arrested and has been taken into custody. we believe that this is the man that they've been looking for for the past hour now inside a

home in san leandro. this man is being taken into custody. police have surrounded this home in san leandro. this is off marina boulevard exit. this is happening just about five minutes ago. this is off the marina boulevard exit in san leandro near the englander bar. this has happened in about the last hour. about 4:45 this evening, police and s.w.a.t. surrounded this home. this man has been taken into custody. we'll continue to follow the story. once again, live pictures in san leandro. this neighborhood has been barricaded for about 60 minutes now. it looks like it might be coming to an end in san leandro. we'll continue to follow the story throughout this newscast. we're also following a developing story in fremont. a grass fire that's burning around