coming up on "early today," president obama gears up for a major speech in the war on terror group isis. hear from ray rice and nfl commissioner roger goodell on this growing domestic violence controversy. primary day results from around the country, and mike tyson's advice for toronto's rob ford. plus, a mini van is washed away in a flash flood. and u2's biggest album launch in music history. it's wednesday, september 10th. "early today" starts right now. very good morning to you, washington, d.c., a beautiful 7:00 local time. if you're joining us just now, hopefully you're having a good

morning, too. i'm richard lui. today we finally learn how the president plans to tackle isis. secretary of state john kerry arriving in bagdad a few hours ago, meeting with iraq's new prime minister there. according to a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, because of isis, 47% of americans believe the country is less safe right now. that's before the september 11th terrorist attacks. the new poll showing the be headings of americans have caused real fear among americans. 61% of voters believe it is in the united states' interest to take military action against isis. 13% disagree, 24 did not have an opinion on that. we're joined by nbc's tracie potts. tracie, a big day from the president. >> reporter: it is, richard. he's expected to lay out a plan, a strategy. what he said several days ago we did not yet have, the fact that secretary kerry is in the region now, is part of that plan that we're expecting him to detail

later on tonight. >> we need to degrade and ultimately destroy isil. that is the end game. >> reporter: how do you get there? that's what president obama is expected to outline tonight. >> it has to begin, in my view, by telling the american people what national interest is at stake here. >> reporter: in other words, how much of a threat is isis to the united states. could we be looking at another 9/11. australia is worried and may raise its threat level for the first time ever. >> it is at a very elevated level of medium, and i'm certainly contemplating very seriously the notion of lifting it higher. >> reporter: the white house says the president's strategy includes training and advising iraq's military, getting support from other countries especially in the middle east, and equipping syrian rebels to fight isis there. speaker john boehner says he'll support that. meeting with lawmakers tuesday, our sources say the president

insisted he does not need more authority from congress, but some lawmakers, some republicans insist that he does. >> he really ought to be asking for our support whether or not he may think he's authorized to do what he intends to do. >> the constitution is clear. it is the job of congress, not the president, to declare war. >> reporter: some democrats also think the president needs to come back here. what he will not be doing, according to our sources, is asking for more money. when he sat down with lawmakers yesterday, sources familiar with that conversation say he did not ask for new money to expand this campaign. richard? >> thank you very much, tracie. tracie potts in washington, d.c., live coverage of the president's address, as tracie was talking about, that will begin at 6:00 p.m. pacific time right here on this nbc station. the ray rice fallout kochbts. the list of companies cutting ties to him is growing. you can cross off nike. ea sports as well, dropping him

from madden nfl 15. the ravens are doing a jersey swap, too. despite the explosive staep, general nay rice is standing by herman saying in social media, if your intentions were to hurt us, embarrass us, make us feel alone, take all happiness away, you've succeeded on so many levels. her husband telling espn this, we have a lot of people praying for us. i have to be there for general nay and my family right now and work through this. the nfl's boss finally addressing the tape controversy. >> we had not seen any videotape of what occurred in the elevator. we assumed that there was a video. we asked for video but we were never granted that opportunity. >> also in the tape cross hairs, ravens management owner steve bish otity says we should have pursued our own investigation more vague rousely. we didn't and we were work. political redemption for one but a tough break for another house incumbent in yesterday's primaries. new york governor andrew cuomo

and running mate survived democratic primary challenges. republican scott brown is expected to win in the new hampshire primary. the former senator from massachusetts goes on to challenge senator jeanne shaheen in the general election. political redemption for martha coakley who lost to scott brown in 2010 senate race. she beat out two other opponents for her chance to become the first woman ever elected to governor of massachusetts. democratic congressman john tyranny of massachusetts is now the fourth house incumbent to lose a midterm primary. he lost to iraq war vet seth moulton. a philadelphia teenager is lucky to be alive after a bizarre incident in a train station. it began when this 16-year-old tried to swipe his student train pass after school yesterday. he got into a scuffle with transit police who intervened. he ran away, boarded a train. the teen somehow got on top of

the train. as another train was passing by, he even jumped over to the roof of that one. he eventually came back down. he was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer among other charges. he saw way too many movies evidently. if you're worried about being single, you should know you're not alone. according to the bureau of labor statistics, for the first time since 1976 single folks make up more than half of america's adult population. take a look at this chart showing the gradual uptick. just last month 50.2% of americans were single. in 1976 that number was just 37.4%. let's talk about rob ford and mike tyson. they met for the first time. tyson in toronto for his one-man show "undisputed truth." the ear biting boxer and crack smoking mayor spent 40 minutes together. nothing really happened. can you imagine that, bill? the meeting was private. tyson seemed impressed, calling for the best mayor in toronto

history. >> there you have it. case closed. >> i was waiting for rob ford to get a tattoo on the other side of the head. look at this, an empty van in las vegas seconds from disaster. a man tries to reach it but vanishes as both are swallowed up. seconds later, guess what, the man somehow surfaces. where and how? good thing for him. >> the earth gave way near an underpass. >> you've got weather to talk about. >> yeah. all that rain and horrible flooding we dealt with in phoenix and utah and colorado has now pushed into the midwest. we got really hit hard last night in missouri. still raining very hard through areas of the central u.s. including near chicago. right there in the middle of the street is kirksville, missouri. that's not a misprint. if you were impressed by the 3.5 min chs phoenix got, they got over nine inches last night.

san diego gets ten inches on average in an entire year. everywhere else in the west is pretty much dry as that storm system moved out and the drier air moved in yesterday. it is cool and chilly in montana. we have rinter storm warnings, the highest elevations in montana. winter weather advisories and watches -- it's at the higher elevations, but still not pretty. this is the first snow accumulation since last spring. >> i can't believe this. >> that's not nice. >> billings will be 44 degrees with a chance of rain and snowshowers. everywhere else on the other side of the mountains is plenty warm and looking kind of toes stay in the northwest, a few cool spots in areas of northern idaho and washington state. that's my first snow forecast

heading into the winter season. >> i have nothing to complain about. >> a little painful. >> nothing to complain about. free furniture. u2 scores a world record album release. ferguson missouri's first town hall meeting since the shooting controversy. it got heated. dozens of competitors from over 30 countries. details when "early today" returns in two minutes.

welcome back. prosecutors say he probably just went mad. right now timothy ray jones jr. is in custody after the bodies of his five children ages 1 to 8 were found yesterday. he hasn't been charged but has confessed. police reportedly arrested him for driving his blood soaked cadillac high on synthetic marijuana. he claimed the children were plotting to kill him. in ferguson, missouri, a county judge have denied two petitions to release the juvenile records of michael brown. he was the 18-year-old shot and killed by police officers last month.

demonstrators stood and shouted at last night's ferguson city council meeting, the first since the shooting. three hours of concerns like this. >> we're here to tell you it's not no game. we want answers. we want your jobs, and we want an end to all the practices that you guys not know you've been doing for a long time. >> this is your city. it has to be you. if it's not you, then it needs to be someone else. was the president turned away from new york golf courses over labor day weekend? sources tell wnbc some courses refused the commander in chief. they did not want to shut it down and inconvenience members, some paying as much as $100,000 a year. it's the world plowing championship in france. 60 competitors from 31 countries. see who is fastest and straightest.

the prize? the bishop's blessing on the winning tractor. let's get down to business with morgan brennan. >> u2 is making history, the band releasing its first album in five years "songs of innocence" for free via itunes. bono made the news official during apple's announcement of the new iphone and apple watch on tuesday. everyone with an itunes account will have ak stoes that album. that equates to half a billion people worldwide. meanwhile, microsoft is in talks to buy the maker of "mind craft" for more than $2 billion. a deal would add to microsoft's xbox business which is lagging behind sony's play station 4. walmart is out in its annual chosen by kids hot toys list ahead of the holiday shopping season. the big winners, arts and crafts, electronics and classic cars. walmart says it won't waiver on

offering the lowest price. richard, back to you. just ahead t popular and very married nfl owner in trouble with a stripper. first, crime is exhausting. florida cops saying a burglar took a nap while on the job. lying next to him, look at that, his stash of stolen jewelry. the guy was eventually busted by a cleaning lady. we'll be right back.

this morning on "today" nfl wives share their thoughts on the ray rice controversy and violence in the league. that's ahead only on "today." now to the latest in sports. the cowboys owner accused of sexual assault. the lawsuit seeks more than $1 million in damages. a former stripper says jerry jones assaulted her in 2009. photos related to the lines surfaced with jerry jones and multiple females. his attorney calls it a shakedown and nothing more than an attempt to embarrass and extort him. team usa taking on slovenia. undefeated usa wins 119-76. that's a 61-game streak in international play since 2006. it was the most lopsided game in wnba finals history t. phoenix mercury destroying the chicago sky in the wnba fims, 97-68 in

game two in the best-of-five series. boxer floyd mayweather junior hanging up his gloves next year. he'll retire after finishing a six-fight contract. his fourth bout is saturday. the 47-year-old remains undefeated, 46-0 with 26 knockouts. bittersweet news. retired quarterback ryan leaf was sentenced to five years in jail for violating probation. he will not have to go to jail. a judge saying the 38-year-old served some time in montana for breaking into a home to steal prescription drugs. that time served will suffice. detroit's good fortune on monday night against the new york giants rubbing off. detroit lions players including calvin johnson and reggie bush in the stands. the support help. detroits win 4-2 to tie for the division lead. just ahead, parking spots so premium they cost $1 million

apiece. a brewing battle between taylor swift and katy perry. details next. you're watching "early today."

about the first third of september. with the huge rain event in the desert, that's why we had the moisture down in phoenix, about three inches, a little over three inches. vegas picking up about a third of an inch.

we're pretty much rain-free in the hardest hit drought areas. there's none in the forecast. the temperatures are going to soar in the days ahead. los angeles today about 88, vegas 95. from here we'll get warmer and especially over the weekend, much warmer, 96 as we go through tomorrow, especially in the northwest, getting a little warmer. looking at long angles over the upcoming weekend. we could be near 95 to 100 on sunday. looks like we're getting toasty in the eastern half. >> is it the santa anas? what is it? >> no, just plain old big huge ridge over the west. now for entertainment news, perhaps a brewing battle between taylor swift and katy perry. swift revealing her new song "bad blood" about an unnamed celebrity enemy. everyone thought of perry where perry hired three of swift's dancers mid tour, like bill karen does, hiring other people's dancer. many are thinking katy's newest

tweet could be aimed at taylor, tweeting "without out for the regina george in sheep's clothing. >> are you buying all this? >> we've got time to talk about it. it's katy perry and taylor swift. >> both on top of the world. >> i don't know the number of followers. i think katy perry has the most in the world. nbc tapping the talents of kelly o'hara for the rolling of mrs. darling in the television production of "peter pan live." bob dillon and many more gathering to play some hits of mccarthy. the 2014 fashion rocks concert was filled with booty and boos. jennifer lopez and nicki minaj performing their new songs. when victor cruz and justin bieber hit the stage, boos. peeper trying to show some skin -- >> glad he's been working out.

>> pictures have been -- >> well said, my friend. on "the tonight show" with jimmy fallon. jimmy and brittany they talked about dating britney. what is it like? >> not a girl, not yet a woman. it's a great song. >> it's also jimmy fallon's yearbook quotes. >> very interesting time for me. >> dating britney. she looks fantastic. her vegas show, she's on top of the world. having a whole resurrection of her career. >> making a couple dollars in vegas. >> doing great f. you can wear a dress cut all the way down to your bellybutton. >> i think it was miss ag button. i'm richard lui, this is "early today." this is your first stop today on nbc.

leading the news, in "the l.a. times," un climate agency reports carbon dioxide growing at an alarming rate accumulation in the atmosphere growing at the fastest rate in 30 years last year. scientists say catastrophic weather events are increasing around the world because of climate change. in "the new york times," buy a condo, add parking spot for $1 million. ten underground parking spaces offered in the soho section of new york city costing more per square foot than the apartments -- >> you never have to pay for a parking garage ever again. >> but come on. still. >> you make your money back after like 100 years. >> also have to live in the parking spot if you wanted to

live there. other stories, ohio cops know the prank centers tied to a twisted ice bucket challenge. they poured bodily fluids over an autistic teen. bill, i just hate those stories. "saturday night live" used as part of the corporate free speech debate on the senate floor. senator ted cruz using the show to debate proposed campaign finance reform. >> who can forget chevy chase tripping and falling over just about everything? dana car i have's george herbert walker bush, not going to do it. lord michaels could be put in jail under this amendment for making fun of any politician. >> keep your eye on the grand old flag, but this one in

particular. more than 7,000 students wore red, white and blue capes to form this human buy centennial american flag. prior to this patriotic act students learned at the battle of baltimore the american flag was raised to celebrate victory over the british. that moment inspired our national anthem, by the way, ""the star-spangled banner"." >> if we could merge them with the ohio marching band, that would be something. >> did you have to mention lsu. today is internet slowdown day, an online protest planning to slow down service in an effort to show internet users how they'll be affected if net neutrality is gone. happy birthday to actress amy irving who turns 61. aerosmith guitarist joe perry. thanks for watching "early

today." for the entire team, have a good one.

>> announcer: from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> good wednesday morning. it's 4:30, i'm sam brock. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. first check the forecast. good western morning. halfway through the work week, christina. okay. >> let's check back in with christina momentarilily. we have technical difficulties. we apologize. folks just getting up, over the bay bridge. shouldn't be finding too much in their path, mike. how are the roadways? >> 580 here, the bay bridge moving