breaking news overnight. a huge about face for the minnesota vikings. early this morning the team ordered adrian peterson to stay away from the team. the man hunt for a survivalist suspected of shooting two state troopers is heating up. >> he has made statements about wanting to kill law enforcement officers and also to commit mass acts of murder. plus, u.s. strategies targeting isis expand as the terror group threatens pope francis. and an american classic hits the auction block. it is wednesday, september 17th. "early today" starts right now.

that is a real sunrise that you see there coming out of washington, d.c. a beautiful day ahead for them. no clouds. good morning. i'm richard lui. breaking overnight in the nfl scandal, adrian peterson is banned from all team activities and that means no play for him. the vikings making the move putting peterson on the nfl exempt list until his child abuse case has been resolved. the decision less than 48 hours after he was cleared to play on sunday. vikings owners have said the new decision was made after additional thought adding that they appreciated the input that they received from their fans, partners and community. the nfl dealing with a list of unhappy sponsors, they don't like the nfl's handling of the events. anheuser-busch pumps $2 million a year into the nfl says "we are not yet satisfied with the league's handling of behaviors that go against our company culture." fedex, we're watching matters

closely. nike's tone saying peterson remains a nike athlete. his product continues to be available. >> the nfl is like an ad crop carrier hitting a mine. yes, it blows a hole in the hull but it keeps on sailing. >> ray rice has appealed his indefinite suspension. in 2008 he was given domestic violence and conflict resolution training, a must for rookies. the nfl says rice never missed a session. police in pennsylvania say they know believe 31-year-old eric matthew freen could be extremely dangerous. during a news conference officers say freen made statements about wanting to commit mass acts of murder. nbc's dan scheneman has more. >> reporter: armed and extremely dangerous, that's how police describe 31-year-old eric matthew freen. >> this fellow is extremely dangerous. we have no idea where he is in the community. >> reporter: authorities in pennsylvania say it was freen

who opened fire at a police barracks late friday night killing corp ral bryan dixon and critically injuring alex douglas. a lead came in after a resident walking his dog in the woods approximately two miles from the barracks came across a vehicle partially submerged in a retention pond and called 911. >> we processed the vehicle and found evidence in there, specifically shell casings and other things that matched shell casings we found at the station. >> reporter: police say they have learned that freen has had military-like survivalist training and expressed antigovernment views to friends and family. >> he has made statements about wanting to kill law enforcement officers and also to commit mass acts of murder. >> more than 200 police personnel from three states are taking part on the ground and in the air scouring the dense woodland for any signs. now they have a name and a face. the search for the suspect they believe killed one of their own.

dan scheneman, nbc news. today president obama is heading to tampa to meet with military officials who are coordinating the fight against isis. this comes a day after the president's top military advisor, general martin dempsey, said he won't hesitate to recommend that u.s. military advisors accompany iraqi troops into combat if necessary. now this contradicts the president's promise of no boots on the ground. also, european news outlets are reporting that pope francis is at risk of an assassination attempt by isis militants. iraq's ambassador to the vatican said there have been credible threats to the pope's visit to albania this weekend. nbc's tracie potts has the latest from washington to us >> isis is expanding in numbers exponentially. >> reporter: as the house prepares a quick vote on arming syria's opposition, president

obama's at magill air force base today getting an update from the unit that will oversee the fight against isis. >> it's the men and women of centcom who will partner with others of the region who will carry out our limited military mission. >> reporter: limited. no boots on the ground. the president has promised repeatedly, but his top general tells congress -- >> if there are threats to the united states then i of course would go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of u.s. military ground forces. >> reporter: more than 1,000 u.s. troops are already there with more on the way. the state department tried to clarify. >> the president has been very clear, we will not have troops on the ground in combat roles, period. >> saying we're not going to have boots on the ground is just kind of not being totally truthful with the american people. >> reporter: some lawmakers are concerned about arming syrian rebels. >> are we simply arming and training another taliban? >> reporter: today a vote and testimony from secretary of state john kerry just back from the middle east urging other countries to help.

tracie potts, nbc news, washington. well, a man from rochester, new york, is facing charges that he tried to recruit people to join isis. according to court documents a naturalized citizen from yemen encouraged three people to travel to syria to fight for the terror group. investigators say he was plotting to kill u.s. troops returning from the middle east. a state of emergency hitting california as wildfires burn off. half of the small town of weed near oregon is reduced to ashes. home after home gone, some incinerated in just 15 minutes. damage so far is in the tens of millions of dollars. >> it's gone. i mean, the biggest thing is, you know, all the heirloom stuff, the pictures. >> also gone, two churches that once sat in this very location. the only comfort, no deaths or injuries. across the state of california, the news not much

better. 6,000 firefighters are trying to stop 11 other wildfires. >> arrest them. arrest them. >> those are the demands at last night's city council meeting in st. louis. the arrest of the police officer involved in the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old michael brown and recusal of the prosecutor overseeing the case. residents including brown's father and other family members packed the city council chambers. nearly 40 residents speaking at the meeting, most of them focusing their anger on the investigation. residents speaking on other issues were booed. once the meeting ended supporters of brown's family took their demands outside. meanwhile, the grand jury is deciding whether officer darren wilson should be charged with a crime has until january 7th to finish its investigation. the ebola epidemic in west africa is, quote, spiraling out

of control. that's what president obama said yesterday after meeting with experts from the centers for disease control and prevention. >> the reality is that this epidemic is going to get worse before it gets better, but right now the world still has an opportunity to save countless lives. right now the world has the responsibility to act. >> democratic and republican lawmakers are also pledging increased support for efforts to contain the ebola virus. under a new plan 3,000 members of the military will help build treatment centers in africa but they will not have direct contact with ebola victims. bad news for three time nascar champ tony stewart. a grand jury will decide his fate. last month he was involved in a race track accident. '6 it happened in upstate, new york. kevin ward jr. died when stewart's car clipped him. ward was on the track confronting stewart over a race bump.

stewart claims that was an accident. ward was just 20 years old. a desperate situation for some 30,000 tourists left just stranded by hurricane odile. they had to be air lifted out of cabo san lucas by the military and commercial planes. residents are coping with the aftermath. odile destroyed homes and knocked out most of the supplies. meanwhile, the southwest is starting to deal with the remnants of odile. bill karins, there is a silver lining here in some ways. some folks saying they wish it were a little further west. >> they had the rain last week in arizona. it's not like they're desperate for it as they are in california. the pictures out of cabo, amazing. i saw one hotel who said it would be three months before they can open back up. here is a map you don't see. first off, flash flood watches in the desert southwest. now we have a tropical storm storm over land that will dissipate today and into tonight. we still have a tropical storm

warning, 100, 150 miles away from the arizona-mexico border. how many times has that happened? potentially life-threatening flash flooding from this event. it's a rare event. the weather service in tucson said it's the only time in their recorded history they remember being affected by two tropical systems within ten days. when you get these unprecedented events, you can get life-threatening flash flooding. so far the rainfall totals, just beginning, not epic yet. it just started but it will add up in the days ahead. it's going to continue like this for about three days. our forecast models do say mostly phoenix south wards in southern arizona pour the highest totals and over into new mexico where we're not bringing much, if any, of this moisture into california. that rain you see there in today's forecast in northern california and the northwest is associatferent tropical

air mass there. still hot in some areas of california like fresno. >> we need a break in california. the heat was insane again. near 100 in malibu, two days in a row. >> like you said, epic events happening in southern california. thank you so much. great news for fans of cult classic "easy rider." plus, gas prices below $3 a gallon? that's just ahead. check out what an angry mob in kiev did to a member of parliament. he was tossed into a dumpster, had water and trash thrown on top of him. the parliamentarian had authored, the reason why, a bill that restricted anti-government protesters in january. didn't seem to work out. you're watching "early today." kerri: kerri the sparkle® fairy here.

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welcome back. it was a big day for elon musk's company. spacex launched this atlas five rocket. it carried a satellite. its use in the government agency responsible, classified. also nasa awards a contract to space ex-to take astronauts into space. it's been three years since the u.s. retired its space shuttles. the two companies will split $6.8 billion to certify, test and fly their space taxis. the project could be ready by 2017. the hardy davidson may bring inasmuch as $1.2 million according to profiles in history. that's a lot of money. let's get down to business with cnbc's morgan brennan. good morning. >> good morning, richard. markets are focused on the feds today which wraps up a two-day

policy meeting. the decision announced at 2:00 p.m. eastern followed by a news conference by fed chair janet yellen. investors are speculating whether they'll tweak whether they'll go up sooner rather than later. fedex hikes shipping rates by an average of 5% starting in january after the holiday season. the move affects ground, freight deliveries. earlier they announced they would start charging by box size as well as weight. expect cheaper gas prices this fall. gasbuddy.com is predicting average price also drop to as low as $3.15 a gallon. some 30 states could see gas even fall below $3.00 due to lower demand as refiners switch to cheaper winter blends. back to you. >> morgan, we will take that. thank you so much. just ahead, derek jeter going out with a bench-clearing brawl. the rest of your sports.

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this morning on "today," the secret lives of teens. maria shriver explores a struggle that teenagers in a new series, what parents don't know. that should be interesting. we take you to sports right now. more division titles earned overnight. baltimore getting the first al east crown in 17 years after

topping toronto 8-2. washington nationals shutting out the atlanta braves 3-0, their second title in three seasons. tampa bay presented retired yankee derek jeter with a pinstripe -- a kayak, a framed done zimmer jersey and $16,000 in donations to his charity. why that number? $50 for every hit he got against tampa bay. but then this happened in the game. >> look out. up and in and he's hit by the pitch. >> tampa bay relief pitcher hits jeter. he shakes it off. yankees manager joe girardi does not. he gets ejected. david phelps pitches high and inside nearly hitting the batter. phelps gets ejected along with tony pena. both benches clear. the rays win 6-1. this still hurts to watch. marlins giancarlo stanton hit in

the face by the fastball. warning. here is his instagram with the before and now picture. marlins manager mike red mon saying they'll have an official statement today, but not looking good for him to return before the season's end. as you see, at least a little smile. giants punter's account was hacked. it read, the giants are stink and i am no good. weatherford deleted the tweet. sorry folks, i was hacked. i think it's time for the new password. my apologies. say it ain't so. "ghost busters turns 30." bryan cranston gets excited for play-off baseball next. " turns " bryan cranston gets excited for play-off baseball next.

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hi. final boarding call for flight 294. [ bells ring on sign ] [ vehicle beeping ] who's ready for the garlic festival? this guy! bringing our competitors' rates to you -- now, that's progressive. now for some entertainment news. krispy kreme is honoring the legendary film "ghostbusters" on its 30th anniversary. the company will produce two different marshmallow filled donuts, decorated with the "ghostbuster" symbol or the iconic staypuff man in the film. can you believe it's been 30 years. >> that was one of my childhood happy memories. congratulations are in order for eva mendez and ryan gosling. they welcomed a baby girl into the world this past friday. back in june chicago mayor rahm emanuel had jimmy fallon pay up on a polar bear plunge. now the mayor wants fallon to pay up.

fallon promised the kids of chicago could read 2.5 million books this summer, he would bring "the tonight show" to the windy city. how do you say no to those sdmids well, 2.7 million books later and emanuel wants to cash in. bryan cranston is promoting a new one man play in a new commercial promoting the mlb season. giving an idea of what that felt like. >> the crowd, they felt it. yes. do you know what i was thinking when she walked out with the paramedics, i saw a baseball game. >> this guy from "breaking bad" has got legs. >> a million dollar man right now. if he did a one-man play, it would sell out, at least for the first week. >> i would watch it. i'm richard lui, this is "early today," we hope it's just your first stop of the day right here on nbc.

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leading the news, in san francisco's examiner, exploring graveyard of ships near san francisco. federal researchers are using an underwater remote controlled vehicle to locate several underwater sites where ships sank while navigating treacherous waters in the decades following the gold rush. in the "huffington post", a gunman apologized while robbing rio de janeiro's archbishop tempesta. a spokesman said the thieves took the cardinal's cell phone, ring, crucifix and pen. crews later recovered the stolen good. other stories we are following for you. this is the video philadelphia police have released to the public in hopes of identifying suspects in a hate crime. a report says a group assaulted and robbed two gay men last week. the video was posted yesterday and it spread fast on social media. police may now have a lead.

a philly detective says, quote, this is how twitter is supposed to work for cops. ly take a couple thousand twitter detectives over one real detective any day. more than 130 soldiers returned in minnesota. one little boy didn't let military protocol stand in his way. he couldn't wait to jump into his military mom's arms. >> they're supposed to sit there, stand in attention. the little guy went out of line. >> i'm glad he did. and so was mom, right? >> i'm surprised everyone didn't bull rush. this is a piece of kentucky history, multiple cameras capturing the demolition. the old ledbetter bridge has been around for about a century. the rest of the bridge which spans the tennessee river will be brought down in sections so river traffic can keep on flowing. they've got a newbridge they built. they're taking down different

400-foot sections. >> would you want to be going over a 100-year-old bridge? i guess we've go over the brooklyn bridge all the time. >> the bay bridge, the san francisco bridge -- the golden gate bridge and the bay bridge are very old bridges, but keep them well kept for now. today marks the 227th anniversary of the signing of the u.s. constitution. on september 17, 1787, 38 of 41 delegates at the constitutional convention in philadelphia put their names on what would become the supreme law of the united states. today a naturalization ceremony will be held in jamaica, queens, new york. happen by birthday to nascar champion jimmie johnson. still a young guy. kyle chandler from friday night lights is 49. comedienne rita rutter in is 61. i'm richard lui along with bill karins. the entire "early today" team,

thanks for watching us.

from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." what a good wednesday morning to you, it's 4:30, i'm sam brock. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to this morning, let's check the forecast, rob may yay da in for christina, good morning. >> calm in the area, just seeing high clouds on the coast. again, climbing into the 80s today for places like san jose and out towards the tri-valley, but we'll begin to see some changes in the forecast, notice the rain up here on the north coast, it's part of a weather system by this time tomorrow could make for a challenging commute because we're tracking light rain until the next 24 hours. more on that coming up in a few minutes. here's mike. >> oh boy, challenge for tomorrow morning's