there's nothing i don't like. >> okay, i'm officially jealous. >> you got the good assignment. thanks for joining us here at 5:00. on our broadcast tonight, plan of attack. the wheels are already in motion to convert the president's words into an air assault to destroy isis. and tonight we have reaction from inside syria. cliffhanger, oscar pistorius weeps as he learns his fate for killing his girlfriend. not guilty of murder, but the case doesn't end there. nfl scandal, the former head of the fbi steps in to head up the investigation. but still the question tonight is, will it be fair and square? and to the rescue. on this 13th anniversary of 9/11 always a somber occasion. tom brokaw has the inspiring story of a surviving hero from that day. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian

williams. good evening. just hours after the president's speech to the nation the white house said today possible targets had already been identified and selected for air strikes. while the administration will not call this a declaration of war against isis, this terrorist group the likes of which we have never quite seen before, it does appear the administration believes they can do this by air power while leaving any ground fighting to other countries. we begin tonight with our senior white house correspondent chris jansing in the briefing room in the west wing. chris, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the white house is putting on a full court press tonight with members of the administration lobbying from the middle east to capitol hill. today, senior officials were giving interviews here and abroad. there is a sense of urgency about pushing forward the president's message from last night that america must now broaden the fight against terror. president obama now has a strategy to fight isis, expand air strikes, support fighters

opposing extremists and build an international coalition to help. >> we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country wherever they are. >> reporter: but he faces significant challenges at home starting on capitol hill. >> all of our members don't feel like the campaign that was outlined last night will accomplish the mission that the president says. >> reporter: the president is asking for the authority to allow the u.s. to train foreign troops on foreign soil. >> and that's why we're asking congress to act urgently to give him that authority. >> reporter: boehner himself supports that but is putting off a vote until next week. meantime, members spent a hectic day in and out of meetings and classified briefings. >> this is like cramming for a final exam. >> reporter: polls show americans favor action against isis but that public support might not hold if there are casualties. >> there are risks involved. >> reporter: and voters have serious concerns about the president's leadership. he has drawn a red line. >> we will not get dragged into another ground war in iraq. >> reporter: but critics warn

it's a slippery slope. there will soon be 1,600 american troops acting as advisors in iraq. >> there is no way in hell we're going to beat these guys without american ground component in iraq and syria. >> reporter: and the president's strategy won't be easy or quick. >> it will take time to eradicate a cancer like isil. >> reporter: but is there a clear exit strategy? the president says the goal is to destroy isis. >> i just don't see the end game here. >> reporter: it's a war the president inherited with decisions made now shaping his legacy and his successor's as well. something else to watch, while it's too soon to tell how voters will react to the president's plan from last night, if they rally around the commander in chief it could impact the midterm elections with control of the senate at stake. brian? >> chris jansing at the white house tonight to start off. chris, thanks. reaction from syria to the president's speech was swift. the assad government opposed u.s. support of syrian rebels, but in an exclusive interview with nbc's bill neely in

damascus, syria's deputy foreign minister speaking for president assad invited president obama to call assad. he said he had no objection to u.s. air strikes against isis inside syria. >> we shall cooperate with any country that's combatting the menace of terrorism. and when it comes to combatting isis, then we have no reservations whatsoever to work together with any reinforce that wants to eliminate this menace. because now the united states and syria are facing the same enemy. >> the deputy foreign minister of syria speaking today exclusively with nbc's bill neely. we want to turn now to our chief foreign correspondent richard engel following all of this from his post back in iraq. the u.s. is calling this operation against isis counterterrorism, but it's

really a lot more than that, isn't it? >> reporter: it is a lot more than just a counterterrorism operation. the u.s. often in secret carries out counterterrorism operations all the time with drones in places like yemen and somalia. this time building through secretary kerry a broad international coalition. and in the arab world it is getting some support. but the u.s. needs more than support. it need fighters. it needs people who will take the fight to isis while the americans bomb from the sky. and who are those fighters going to be? in iraq the logical ally would be the iraqi army. but the iraqi army is in bad shape. and even though the u.s. spent $25 billion, it needs to be retrained. and also the free syrian army, the fsa, that has collapsed. so the allies on the ground, they're not there, brian. >> richard engel inside iraq tonight for us. richard, thanks. and now to this country, and why we so often say we are living in an era defined by

terrorism. put it this way, this year's incoming college freshmen were in kindergarten on 9/11. it's been that long. of course we say that but on this day every year here in new york city as in other places it feels more like it was yesterday. tonight, nbc's kate snow shows us what it was like on this 13th anniversary of 9/11. >> reporter: there were moments last night that took us back to another speech 13 years ago tonight. >> and we stand together to win the war against terrorism. >> america will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat. >> reporter: the rituals played out today as they have every year. >> michael -- >> reporter: names read throughout the morning pausing only to mark those moments americans remember like a punch to the gut 8:46, 9:03. [ bell ringing ]

a flag drapes where flight 77 hit the pentagon, a boulder marking the point of impact in shanksville. >> that day can never be forgotten. it's stamped in history. >> reporter: monica rivers watched the towers fall. >> it was so upsetting because people went to work and the building just disappeared. >> reporter: with the threat of isis looming, she's like nearly half of americans who think we're less safe now than we were a decade ago. >> every day i feel that we're threatened. if it happened that day, it could happen again. >> reporter: calvin is also worried about isis but refuses to live in fear. >> if we were to be scared and terrified, i think we'd be giving into what the terrorists want us to feel. >> reporter: instead what many feel here today is the unity and compassion americans felt the days following september 11th. a new yorker brought flowers for his best friend's uncle. and as he stood at the reflecting pool crying, out of nowhere a total stranger from the netherlands offered an embrace and wouldn't let go.

kate snow, nbc news, new york. elsewhere on this september 11th, half a world away in a courtroom in south africa, oscar pistorius, a one-time olympic hero started to learn his fate after a long and involved emotional murder trial. pistorius killed his girlfriend, that's never been in dispute. the question all along was about motive. we get our report tonight from our senior legal correspondent cynthia mcfadden. >> reporter: the day started with a media frenzy outside the courthouse. but inside it was hushed as judge thokozile made one thing perfectly clear. >> the state clearly has not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of premeditated murder. >> reporter: prompting tears of relief from the defendant and disbelief from the family of his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. >> a person can be convicted of premeditated murder if the state

can prove he derived a plan, armed himself with the necessary equipment and executed that plan accordingly. and the judge i think quite correctly found today there was no evidence of premeditation. >> reporter: is he guilty of anything? the judge adjourned today before issuing her final verdict. but gave a very strong indication of what her ruling will be tomorrow. >> it is clear that his conduct was negligent. >> reporter: legal experts say a finding of negligence means the judge will most likely rule pistorius is guilty of culpable homicide similar to manslaughter in the u.s. one reason, the judge rejected a key part of the prosecution's case, a text in which steenkamp wrote, i'm scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me. >> what was your mistake? >> my mistake was that i took reeva's life. >> you killed her. you shot and killed her. >> reporter: during seven often tearful days on the stand, pistorius maintained he never

intentionally shot steenkamp. >> i thought that there was a burglar that was gaining entry into my home. the first thing that ran through my mind was that i needed to arm myself. that i needed to protect reeva and i. >> reporter: today we learned his testimony failed to impress the judge. >> the accused was a poor witness giving an impression he was more worried about the impact his answers might cause rather than the questions asked. >> reporter: and so the prosecutor strenuously objected to the judge's ruling on the murder count and unlike in the u.s. the state can appeal. now, if the judge does find pistorius guilty of culpable homicide tomorrow, she'll still have to decide how much if any time he'll serve in prison. the maximum, 15 years. >> cynthia mcfadden on the story and here with us tonight. cynthia, thank you as always. tonight, with the national football league in full damage control mode, the former head of

the fbi has now been called upon to head up what the league is calling an independent investigation into the handling of the whole ray rice case and the video evidence that has come to light. the results will be made public we're told, but there are questions about just how fair and square it will all be. we get our report tonight from nbc's peter alexander in baltimore where the ravens by the way play the steelers at home tonight. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. what's striking is the number of female fans here wearing ray rice jerseys tonight. and while millions of americans will be watching what happens during this game, even more are focused on what's going on with the nfl off the field. the independent investigation into the video from tmz sports and the nfl's handling of the rice case announced by commissioner roger goodell overnight will be spearheaded by former fbi director robert muller. overseeing it nfl owners of the giants and art rooney of the pittsburgh steelers who said today our sole motive here is to get the truth. critics are already pointing out

that muller's law firm has close ties to the league. and asking how independent an investigation can be when it's overseen by two influential team owners. >> i just find it hard to believe that a guy who served as the head of the fbi in fraud terrorism for 12 years in the united states would say, i'm going to show favoritism in the case involving the national football league. i don't think he would dirty his hands like that. >> reporter: millions of fans and nfl sponsors will be watching. marriott today tweeted, we are closely following the situation. and fedex, we're confident that the league will take the appropriate steps. the ravens owner steve bisciotti told nbc affiliate wbal that he deeply regrets not further investigating the rice attack. >> do we lose season ticketholders? do we lose suite holders? do we lose sponsorships? it's so petty at this stage. i regret that i let people down. i regret the people that love us

might not love us anymore. i'm sad for that. and i'm sorry for that. but i'm not scared of that. >> reporter: today, 16 female senators wrote goodell demanding the nfl adopt a zero-tolerance policy on domestic violence. insisting the league's new six-game suspension for a first offense doesn't go far enough. also revealed today bisciotti says months before seeing the tape, team officials say rice and his now wife said they had been drinking heavily that night. and late today in light of the ray rice scandal, tmz sports announced it's changing its pregame show before tonight's game dropping a comedic segment, brian, as well as a segment sung by rihanna, herself a victim of domestic violence. >> peter alexander at the stadium tonight in baltimore. peter, thanks. update on a story we've been following closely. this was reported exclusively today on our website, nbcnews.com. a remarkable connection between two american doctors both stricken with ebola. dr. kent brantly, who survived

after being near death, has now donated his blood to dr. rick sacra who's being treated in isolation in a hospital in nebraska. doctors say while a blood transfusion from a survivor isn't new, it is still highly experimental. doctors hope the antibodies in the survivor's blood will kickstart the active patient's immune system. still ahead for us tonight, dirty money. a massive raid like something out of a movie. an army of law enforcement storming the fashion district, federal agents say they've never seen so much cash all in one place. and later a flare for the dramatic. a giant explosion on the sun, the question is, will we feel it here?

it is an insane amount of money, all of it in cash. and it's all dirty, though not in a way you could see. a raid of alleged drug kingpins in l.a. has yielded $100 million in cash, all of it in $100 bills. profits from a narcotics trade

the police say has a new west coast headquarters. the authorities called it operation fashion police. nbc's miguel almaguer shows us why. >> reporter: an army of 1,000 federal and local agents storming downtown l.a.'s busy fashion district tracking what they call one of the largest money laundering operations ever. >> los angeles has become the epicenter of narco dollar money laundering with couriers regularly bringing duffel bags and suitcases full of cash to many of these businesses. >> reporter: box after box, bag after bag of cash. this is what $100 million looks like. some, cartons conveniently marked $1 million. so much money they're still counting it. the boxes weigh 40 pounds each. federal agents call it blood money. >> some of the money that the agents handed over to a business to launder was lathered with what appeared to be blood.

>> reporter: so far nine suspects have been arrested, all entered pleas of not guilty. a 16-month investigation that took authorities to dozens of store fronts, including a boutique that sells maternity dresses. >> the reason that people engage in most criminal activity is for the profits. so if you can find a way to stop the flow of the money, that's what really hurts the organizations most. >> reporter: the drug money is considered dirty until it flows through a legitimate business. agents say they've never seen so much cash in one place, a raid that looked like a hollywood movie. miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. back in a moment with easily the most forwarded video of the day, the delicate dance caught on video.

richard kiel has died. he gained fame as an actor who just happened to be 7'2". he converted his height to roles

that made the most of it. most notably he played jaws, the indestructible james bond villain. when people met him in person, many were surprised to find out he didn't actually have that mouth full of metal bridgework. he made a living as an actor for 50 years. westerns, dramas and comedies including "happy gilmore." he was 74. you might have heard word of a solar flare headed our way. while there was a substantial eruption of energy on the sun, it appears we'll be fortunate, it will cause minimal effects here. perhaps some radio and satellite communications and gps affected. it is a reminder we're at the mercy of that giant boiling star. a big enough flare hitting earth at the wrong spot could cripple power grids and communications. a sign of our times tonight beginning with a question, ask yourself when was the last time you made a major electronics purchase at radioshack. the answer may say a lot about the problems that store chain is having. they said this week they're running out of cash. and without a financial

lifeline, chapter 11 bankruptcy may be inevitable. a lot of people received this video in their inbox this morning. there is something about a black bear on a putting green that is irresistible. he was fascinated by the pin. he did what looked like a choreographed dance number with the flag. just as quickly lost interest, walked away and appeared to be saying see this golf ball, i'm keeping it. it's mine. and, yes, there were sibling bears and perhaps even a mother bear in the rough just off the green. when we come back here tonight, tom brokaw with a remarkable team remembering the work they did, the comfort they provided after 9/11.

finally tonight, she's a service dog who was called into service on 9/11. britney is now 15 and among the last surviving rescue dogs from ground zero. after the attack her handler was watching television at home in texas and was soon called in to service with her specially trained golden retriever. well, this week they returned to the site. and tom brokaw caught up with them at the 9/11 memorial museum. as you might imagine, the memories there are still fresh.

>> when you saw it for the first time, what did you think? >> it took my breath away. i thought i was mentally prepared, but when i approached the pile for the first time, i could not believe it happened. >> does britney kick into a different kind of mode when you get to a site, a disaster like that? she's got a job to do, right? >> exactly. she sees the pile, she's ready to go to work. she's like, let me in, let me do my job. >> it is a difficult job. and with time running out for survivors, britney was often the last resort. >> we'd search an area and then i would report back to whether we found anything or not and if we did not, they would come in and remove that area of the pile. but, you know, it was concerning because you wanted to make sure you had a thorough search before they removed that area. >> there are no easy assignments for these teams, but no matter how difficult the job, pride is a big dividend.

pride in the canines and partnership that is critical to the assignment. being back at the site 13 years later, the raw memories remain. >> it is always -- it's always a difficult time. it's not gotten any easier year to year. >> and what was for you the moment that kind of crystallized what her role was here and the moment that you'll never forget while you were working with her here? >> i think that moment was not when we were searching on the pile but when we were staged adjacent to the pile just waiting. searchers and some rescuers would come by to pet her and to thank her and tell us their stories. so it became an unexpected role of a therapy dog. >> a dog who was a hero helping the responders not just with the search but with their own struggle to keep going after america's worst day. >> tom brokaw with some of those who responded that day.

that is our broadcast for september 11th of this year. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we look for you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. nbc bay area news starts now. >> if you drive around here and you look at our reservoirs, they're sad and they're low. so you realize something has to happen. >> right now at 6:00, say goodbye to green lawns. tough new restrictions coming to one bay area city. good thursday evening. thanks for joining us. i'm janelle wang in for jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. new at 6:00, brown is the new green. people in morgan hill will be allowed to water their lawns only once a week. it's part of a strict new rule, and it's happening in one of the hottest spots in the bay area.

our chief meteorologist jeff ranieri is tracking the high temperatures, which prompted morgan hill to open a cooling center tonight. but we begin with nbc's kimberly tere who is in that city. kimberly? >> reporter: the new rules will go into effect in november. so about a month and a half and by then the days will be shorter. residents we talk to say they don't really have much choice, except to follow the rules and hope for a cool and wet fall season. >> so far it hasn't been bad. three days a week seems reasonable. we're able to keep everything living. >> reporter: but in a matter of months, this lush green grass will likely be brown. in november, morgan hill residents will be forced to cut down on watering even more, from three days a week to one. >> we want water to be available for the things that we need it for. it's important that every community in our county, in the state take a serious stand on reducing water so that it will be available for us now and in the future. >> reporter: water officials say in the south