coming up on "early today," a wide ranging and revealing exclusive interview. why president obama is delaying action on immigration and his isis threat strategy. >> the next phase is now to start going on some offense. but this is not going to be an announcement about the u.s. ground troops. >> what is ahead for the nation. a fast spreading respiratory illness is affecting thousands of children in geographic clusters in the midwest. plus, mother nature's wrath. and a serious threat of heavy rain and possible flooding for the mid-atlantic states. what will your pay raise look like next year? a hollywood style celebration with laughter and tears for joan rivers. and week one for the nfl, some questions and serious injuries to tell you about. it's monday, september 8th. "early today" starts right now.

very good morning to you. i'm richard lui. british officials say kate middleton and prince william are expecting their second child. and she was with her first child, the duchess of cambridge is being treated at kensington palace for a condition that causes severe morning sickness. the newest prince or princess will have a big brother to look up to as well as you know. baby george, the future king of england turned 1 in july. the british gossip columns talked of kate being pregnant most of the summer. and now we get the word. congress is back to work today after a five-week break, the biggest topic, handling the ongoing isis threat. the group released a new propaganda video that shows how isis used high tech tactics to capture a syrian air base. a new round of air strikes was carried out in northern iraq near the second largest dam.

president obama meets with congressional leaders tuesday to discuss a strategy to defeat isis militants and wednesday delivers details in a speech to the nation. support from the arab league could help the president assemble an international coalition against isis. sunday, the head of the arab league urged members to confront the threat of isis militants and other extremists. nbc's tracie potts is in the nation's capitol. good morning to you, tracie. we can expect a busy week in washington, no doubt. >> reporter: very busy. this is where a lot of that work is going to get done, behind the scenes, richard. even though we have been focusing over the last few weeks on isis and iraq, and syria, the most immediate concern when lawmakers come back today is making sure they have a budget and keeping the government running. money to run the federal government runs out september 30th. that's priority number one when congress gets back today. they'll likely consider a temporary extension. the other big issue,

immigration, all those children flooding across the border without parents. president obama says he's dliing any executive action until after november's election. >> when i take executive action, i want to make sure that it is sustainable. >> basically saying, he doesn't want to be held accountable by the electorate. >> reporter: he says he doesn't need permission to go after isis in syria, but he wants their support. air strikes, but no ground troops. >> boots on the ground have to be iraqi. and in syria, the boots on the ground have to be syrian. >> reporter: democrats and republicans agree the president needs to be clear and decisive. >> we need to have an endgame. the president ought to lay out that strategy and say here's what we're going to do. >> what is the military plan? what is the diplomatic plan? and time's wasting. it is time for america to project power and strength. >> reporter: and that's really just a few of the things they

have got to deal with and they don't have a lot of time. there are three workweeks, full workweeks until congress goes on break again, richard, and then not back until after the election. >> all right, tracie. get the power bars ready for yourself. you're going to be working hard. thank you very much. immigration will have to wait until after the november midterms. tracie was intimating that there, when it comes to immigration, he's getting his ducks in a row now. immigration groups are upset about this, feeling betrayed by the president. the white house, meanwhile, believes if the president takes action before the elections, it will hurt chances at long-term reform. here is the president on "meet the press." >> i'm going to act because it is the right thing for the country. but it is going to be more sustainable and effective if the public understands what the facts are on immigration, what we have done on unaccompanied children and why it is necessary. >> well, the centers for disease control is trying to find out what is behind a spike in

children being hospitalized for severe respiratory illness. they're working with health officials in ten states including colorado and missouri to determine if entero virus 68 is spreading. what is unusual is the number of hospitalizations of children that are very young and with asthma. in missouri, 500 children were treated with 60 of them receiving intensive care. in denver, 900 children were treated for respiratory problems since the middle of august. symptoms include coughing, difficulty breathing and a rash. joan rivers appears to have gotten the big hollywood style sendoff she wanted. ron mott has more. >> reporter: the comic legend joan rivers got final punch line she wanted. a roster of a-list guests, whoopi goldberg, barbara walters, sarah jessica parker,

rosie o'donnell, hugh jackman and howard stern. >> howard stern gets up, unannounced, opens with a line that brought the house down, but boy was it risky. >> reporter: risky in the way rivers delivered her humor to america for 50 years. >> can we talk? she was a tramp. >> reporter: raunchy and wild, no holds barred. >> gwyneth paltrow, the world's most beautiful woman. >> reporter: in her 2012 book "i hate everyone, starting with me," rivers joked about her sendoff. >> i want my funeral to be a huge showbiz affair with lights and cameras and action. i want it to be hollywood all the way. don't give me some rabbi rambling on. >> reporter: outside, throes of fans applauded melissa rivers and her son cooper as they left the service, led by a band of bagpipers. you consider yourself a fan? >> absolutely. you can feel her energy every single time.

she never mailed it in. >> reporter: hoda kotb shared many jokes with joan rivers on and off camera. >> it seems to be weird to be smiling after a memorial service, but that's sort of what this entire afternoon was. it was full of laughter and joy and it was also full of tears. >> the service in one word was irreverent. it was fabulous, joan rivers would have loved it. >> reporter: a farewell far from fun, though heavy on levity for a queen of comedy. >> i'm so shappy to have peoplei can laugh with. >> reporter: ron mott, nbc news, new york. >> the streets were crowded out there. the atlanta hawks co-owner is caught in a controversy. it is over a 2012 e-mail bruce levinson wrote. in it, racist remarks tied to the hawks fan base. among what he said, my theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites. and the kiss cam is too black.

his solution, more white cheerleaders and music familiar to white guys. levinson told the nba about his e-mail in july. he's now selling his share of that team. michigan saw wind whipped storms and twisted power lines over 200,000 have no power in new york a huge tree limb snapped, falls, demolishing that car. >> it felt like a tornado. you saw the wind was crazy. happened in like a minute and it was gone. >> california got some too. thanks to norbert. the tropical storm spawning drenching rains and flooding. in arizona, they got a dust storm. and as al roker likes to say, that's a haboob. and that hit there. visibility dropped to almost zero once the dust settled, thunderstorms rolled in after that. bill karins, do you like to call those dust storms a haboob. >> that's the technical term. it is a dust storm. >> it is a funny name. >> not fun to be in. i've been in phoenix in the summertime when those roll in,

everything gets coated like a film of dirt, not fun. the rains washing it away. that is if you're not dealing with any flooding. the phoenix area over the last hour and two hours really got soaked. we were under a flash flood warning in the downtown phoenix area. so be careful on the roads. there is a lot of water right now in between phoenix and flagstaff. and we'll be driving through the regions. in the phoenix area, sky harbor airport, we picked up three quarters of an inch of rain, still raining. the yellow on this map is pretty heavy downpours. the flash flooding life threatening in this region early this morning. when you wake up, our computers are estimating that somewhere between vegas and phoenix, a chance of getting upwards of 2 to 3 inches of rain. pretty rare event. i know we get some monsoonal rains, but this is excessive by your standards. a lot of this will not make it to the central portions or much of northern california at all. this is arizona and utah's problem during the day today. that's your national weather. la

downstream. to the north, mixing into nevada slightly. arizona probably seeing most rain out of almost any location in the country today. and that doesn't happen all that often. >> don't get to say that, bill karins, very often, as you're saying. thank you very much. a tree falls on a bike riding tv actress if a freak accident killing her. how much of a pay raise will you get next year? we'll tell you what most can expect. one of the biggest credit killers for young people. ♪ walgreens knows that heartburn sufferers can sometimes find themselves at the corner of "mmm, home cooking" and "umm, i think that's enough." that's why walgreens offers new nexium 24 hour, protection strong enough for whatever your day dishes out. walgreens makes it easy to treat frequent heartburn.

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sundays. truitt kathy was 93. a veteran actress is dead after a freak accident. molly glyn featured in nbc's "chicago fire" was ride her bike when she was hit by a falling tree after a storm. her husband was with her. he later wrote on facebook, quote, i couldn't save her, i couldn't save her, she's gone. there is progress in the fight against ebola. the national institutes of health reports one shot of a experimental vaccine can help with fast protection. it is effective for five weeks. ten with a booster. president obama said the u.s. has a responsibility to lend a hand in western africa. >> we have to make this a national security priority. >> a u.s. effort. >> as usual. time to get down to business, let the good times roll. gasoline prices continue to drop across the u.s. down another two cents over the past two weeks, which makes the trend 25 cents over an 11-week period.

we'll take that. gasoline prices could go down even more. a survey by bank rate.com found more than six in ten americans ages 18 to 29 do not have a credit card. this could spell trouble down the road for these individuals applying for an auto or home loan. insurance policy or even a job. the reason, lack of strong credit score. a rumor that the rock band u2 could make an appearance at apple's big event on tuesday. speculation is that apple will unveil two iphone 6 smartphones with bigger enhanced sapphire crystal screens. one certainty, your phone bill will go up with an iphone 6, because it eats up a whole lot more data. how much of a raise can you expect in 2015? usa today reports on a new survey out this morning that says u.s. employers will plan to pay raises averaging 3%. the report notes that inflation is at 2.1%, with the median

annual salary at $40,560 among america's 106 million workers. flames close in on a national treasure. nfl week one shockers and jaw droppers. derek jeter's love fest and serena's u.s. open breakdown. but first -- ♪ what band director scandal? the ohio state university marching band still bringing it on. say so long to touch-ups.

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it is homecoming week on "today" as familiar faces return to studio 1a to fill in for savannah guthrie on maternity leave. this morning, meredith vieira will be sitting in. she has a new show kicking off. we take you now to sports. week one of the nfl starts like a kick in the face. hang on a second. that is a kick in the face. pittsburgh's antonio brown puts his heel into cleveland's punter, in the face mask, a 15-yard penalty for unsportsman-like conduct. that leaves spencer landing uninjured, though. pittsburgh wins 30-27. keep your eye on the ball. oakland's running back maurice jones drew fumbles, kicks the ball, who recovers it? his own quarterback. oakland loses to the new york jets, 19-14.

but fun to watch. number one overall draft pick is out for at least four to six weeks. houston's clowney suffers a torn meniscus. he'll undergo surgery today. he injured his knee during the win over washington. sunday night's game on nbc featuring peyton manning's broncos against his former team the colts. manning threw three touchdowns to julius thomas in their 31-24 win. he joins brett favre now as the only quarterbacks to beat all 32 of the current nfl teams. and she gets up to get the trophy and to get $4 million. she won all of that because she took the championship. she beat carolyn wozniacki of the u.s. open final to win the

largest purse in tennis history. she also joined, yes, those, an elite group having an 18th grand slam win, chris evert and martina navratilova. i, bill de blasio, mayor of the city of new york, do hereby proclaim sunday, september 7th, 2014, in the city of new york as derek jeter day. >> yes. derek jeter day, sunday, yankee stadium. a 45-minute pregame ceremony included baseball great cal ripken and michael jordan. and, yes, the captain in his final season batted above his career average yesterday. but, no, the yanks did not win, going down 2-0 to the royals. he tried. what can you say? just ahead, standing up to cancer was never so strong. plus, the beer mug challenge to rival all others. you're watching "early today." ♪

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well done. james franco looked like a brand-new man at the venice film festival. he now also sporting a tattoo of elizabeth taylor and montgomery cliff on the back side of his head after going bald for his role in the upcoming film zero. if you wanted to hear the beatles as they were meant to be heard, now is your chance. remastered recordings of the hits from the original studio setting for record recording records there. >> don't you feel like we missed it? we weren't around when the beatles came over, they were on the ed sullivan show. >> for us, more towards the end. >> and also, like, woodstock too. >> i'm wondering would we have record players to play them? i'm richard lui. this is "early today." we hope it is just your first stop of the day right here on nbc. (reading) gorgeous grains at your service. eat right. not less. hi, this looks interesting! special k nourish hot cereal. made with superfoods. special k? i can definitely taste the quinoa.

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leading the news in california's merced sun star, yo seem at the fire forces evacuations. at least 100 hikers were airlifted by helicopter from the park. and in usa today, happy 350th birthday, new york. formerly named new amsterdam, the city came under english control in 1664. 350 years. other stories we're following for you today, at noon, former new orleans mayor ray nagin will report to federal prison. once a rising star in the wake of hurricane katrina, he'll spend the next ten years serving time for bribery, money laundering, fraud and tax violations during his two terms. it is a murder mystery dating back to 1888, could the

case finally be solved? a man claims he's uncovered the true identity of infamous jack the ripper thanks to dna on a victim's shawl. the author says the murderer was a 23-year-old polish immigrant hairdresser named aaron kosminski, one of the original six suspects. believe it? who knows? at germany's beer festival, new world record that guy looks nervous, one man carrying 27 whole one liter mugs for more than 40 yards. i guess he wasn't that nervous. he used his arms, chest, face together. they weigh around 100, by the way, and 36 pounds. >> doesn't look -- not like a body builder. >> specific training and skills, my friend. when you have to do something, you have to do it. >> that wasn't light beer. >> no, it wasn't. spectators gathering at the great american speedway to look above, planes soaring at high speeds and low altitudes for the red bull air race world championship hosted at the dallas motor speedway. the top three notable

performances impressed in just over 54 seconds. competitors delivered airborne action despite windy conditions and extreme heat. over 40,000 people experienced the air field action event. they enjoyed it. >> i don't get it. >> why you do this, you mean? >> i would want to fly it, but going to watch it in person. >> you want to see it on film? now a look ahead and look back, the libraries of four former presidents will join forces. george w. bush and bill clinton will announce that their presidential centers with those of george h.w. bush and lyndon johnson will launch a scholars program. it is expected to provide motivated leaders the opportunity here to study presidential leadership and decision-making. on this day in 1921, 16-year-old margaret dorman of washington, d.c. was crowned first miss america in atlantic city, new jersey. i'm richard lui with bill karins, the entire "early today" team, thank you for stopping by. we appreciate your time here on "early today." have a great monday.

from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> and good morning. i'm sam brock. lots to get to. first we get to your forecast. christina, the summer days are dwindling. >> they certainly are. new work week, entire new forecast. we're feeling that fall in the the air. we're in the mid 50s in concord and we're only going to climb into the low 80s, even in the hot spots. let's check your drive and say good morning to mi