taking the fight to the terrorists. good morning. a special edition of "early today" begins right now with breaking news. target isis. arabs fighting arabs. u.s., our allies and five arab nations unleash a massive air attack inside syria. u.s. jets iing 20 targets in raqqa. more amateur video reportedly from inside the strike zone. missiles lit up the night sky. nbc news is still trying to verify the authenticity of the video. and we also have this video. the first daylight images are now in. several targets were

obliterated. as for the air power being used -- it is big. a mix of u.s. fighters and tomahawk missiles all launched from air ships. firing tomahawk land attack missiles from the red sea. and one of the most crucial equations in the air strikes, the arab allies who helped. saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, bahrain, jordan and qatar. we're covering every angle this morning. we have nbc's jim maceda standing by in london. but we start with nbc's brian mooar from washington on the first wave of strikes. >> reporter: the pentagon confirms that president obama gave the green light for this attack, allowing his centcom commanders to put together the fine details which involved fighter jets, bombers and missiles. all of them aimed at raqqa, syria, the self-declared capital of isis and the terrorist army

there. u.s. officials say the targets hit about 20 of them included had headquarters areas, fuel and weapons depots, training sites, and the united states it is said did not carry out the attacks alone. it was assisted by partner nations that were not actually named, but importantly arab countries were among those assisting. this, of course, comes on the eve of president obama going to new york and the united nations to press for international cooperation in the fight against isis and while this is a serious, significant expansion of the fight against that terrorist group, it is something that is not believed to be a death blow to isis. it is just the beginning of what could be a very long conflict. from fighting isis to escaping their blood thirsty grip, a big development this morning. turkey has closed its border with syria. the reason, too many refugees. in two weeks an estimated 130,000 men, women and children have poured into safe territory.

it is so bad, turkish security is using water cannons to keep people out. inside syria, heavy fighting on the ground. in the town right outside turkey, kurds are battling isis for control. and here at home, americans who joined isis are back. the fbi is now watching them. we don't know the number, but we do know at one point 100 americans went to syria to fight. >> the administration is most worried that individuals who trained with isis in the middle east and are back in the united states to get access to small arms or homemade explosives. >> let's bring in nbc's jim maceda from our london bureau. we know you're keeping a keen eye on this. let's start with damage and casualties now that the sun is up. was it successful, first hit? >> reporter: hi, dara. it is hard to say. it is unclear how effective the air strikes have been. at least one monitoring group on the ground says that the tens of

isis fighters were killed or wounded. now, those casual figures appear low because isis may well have abandoned many of its offices, command and control centers. it also reportedly hid a lot of its heavy weapons. and sent fighters' families away when it became fairly clear that the u.s. would strike isis targets in syria. meanwhile, u.s. central command this morning, in tampa, said aircraft and cruise missiles, quote, destroyed and damaged multiple targets. but we'll see when the dust clears what exactly that means. dara? >> jim, how significant was the timing of this strike? >> reporter: well, it was very significant. militarily speaking because that strategic town of k obani could fall at any time. this comes as the u.n. general assembly meets in new york where president obama intends to make his case for as big an anti-isis coalition as possible.

so these strikes on isis, in syria, could be seen as a clear signal of u.s. seriousness, of its intent as president obama seeks out more international support. dara? >> jim, we know that the arab allies were involved. was it just the use of the bases there, or did they actually put jets in the air? >> reporter: well, apparently it is still -- it is still unclear what actually happened in terms of the specific involvement of arab air forces, let's say. central command is just not saying. an unnamed u.s. official quoted reuters that qatar played a spo supporting role only today in terms of jets in the sky, if you will. any of the five arab nations taking part is capable of striking isis targets with u.s. aircraft, but perhaps for security reasons, perhaps because of the political sensitivities in the region it

is still unclear what exact role they played in the operation or what role they'll be playing going forward. dara? >> jim maceda reporting to us from london. thank you so much for that, jim. also breaking inside syria, the u.s. going alone, hitting a second terror target. this one the khorasan group. u.s. missiles bombarded targets west of aleppo. eight air strikes were used. the group was reportedly plotting and planning attacks against the west. now much closer to home, it is time to look at the national weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning to you. >> fall is here. >> fall is here. >> and just like that, in the west, with one beautiful warm day yesterday, and now we're watching the storm approaching. this is a big storm, one of the biggest ones we have seen. look on the satellite, just spinning there, very mature storm force winds with it and it could possibly get to hurricane force winds. that's a very impressive storm system and that is going to cause our big pattern change in

the west. it is good for fire fighting efforts. we're not going to watch the hot dry weather in the west like we have been seeing. moist southwest flow moving through. seattle has hours at this moment. a few radar echoes being picked up in oregon. look at the three-day rainfall totals, this is what we're waiting for. it has been a dry september and now we get the rain. not today so much in oregon. showers today seattle and portland. heavier rain comes tonight. that's when the front moves through. with that, we'll see the gusty winds with it too, vigorous front for this time of year. and the rainfall. that will last into wednesday morning with the rain. notice all the warm conditions push into the interior sections. looks like summer throughout much of the interior west on wednesday. the west will be dealing with the strong front. pretty powerful storm system for this time of year and we're watching it change our weather dramatically. not just in west, but across the country as we watch patterns switch. that's your national weather. now here's a look california, d

in san francisco southward. unfortunately, a lot of the rain is not going to make it into central california or southern at all. northern california could get a little. >> a little. hope for a nice sunny weekend coming up. thank you so much, bill. breaking news ahead, as the syrian fighter jet is shot down by israel. and then our stock and world markets reacting to the isis strikes. new details on the white house fence jumper that shocked the world by just how far he got. and do you have the patience for an elevator that takes seven days to reach its destination? >> sure, why not? >> sure. you're watching "early today." ♪"boogie shoes" dave's been working on his game... morning double bogie. hey, three putt. and starting each day with a delicious bowl of heart healthy kellogg's raisin bran. how's your cereal? sweet! tastes like winning.

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[ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.® ♪ drop and roll ♪ drop it more...drop ♪ i wanna know your name ♪ i wanna, i wanna know your name... ♪ ♪ you got me droppin' the cut ♪ ♪ you got me droppin' it down... ♪ ♪ ♪ name droppin' on them boys with the tags, don't stop ♪ ♪ me and my crew just droppin' and dancin' ♪ ♪ stop, stop and drop it ♪ you got me droppin' it up ♪ ♪ you got me droppin' it down welcome back. we're learning more about the iraq war veteran accused of hopping the white house fence. omar gonzalez appeared in court

yesterday. prosecutors say he had more than 800 rounds of ammo, two hatchets and a machete in his car at the time. he was known to law enforcement. in july, police in virginia pulled him over and found 11 weapons, including a rifle and a sawed off shotgun. he also had a map with a white house circled. he's being held without bail. pennsylvania police say a wave of credible tips has helped narrow the search area for a cop killer. eric frein may be concealed by self-built bunkers and could be armed. it sparked the summer war in gaza, now two palestinians suspected in a fatal west bank abduction are dead. just hours ago, israeli authorities said the two men died in a shootout. they're allegedly involved in the deadly kidnapping of three israeli teenagers. hamas claims responsibility for that abduction. over the israeli skies, a syrian fighter jet is shot down. it happened by the golan heights. it is a hot spot of fighting. the al qaeda linked al nusra

group is trying to hold on to it. the number of ebola cases could hit 21,000 in six weeks unless measures are taken. so far about 2800 people have died. we are keeping an eye on stocks and oil prices around the globe for reaction to coalition strikes against isis. stock markets have largely been unaffected by the isis air strikes. oil is up slightly. and gold is higher after hitting a nine-month low on monday. the treasury department is breaking down on corporate tax dodgers, merging with foreign companies. the obama administration's era of corporate patriotism will make it tougher for companies to move overseas by tightening ownership requirements. united parcel service is bringing 3-d printers to about 100 stores nationwide for customers to use and explore. a japanese construction firm hopes to have, yes, an elevator to space, completed by the year 2050. the elevator into space will be

able to carry about 30 people at a time and take seven days to reach its destination. just ahead, a big celebrity divorce to tell you about. plus, monday night football. and all your sports highlights are up next. you're watching "early today." looks like we're about to board. mm-hmm. i'm just comparing car insurance rates at progressive.com. is that where they show the other guys' rates, too? mm-hmm. cool. yeah. 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.

this morning on "today," did the owner of the baltimore ravens try to persuade the nfl

to be lenient on ray rice after he was arrested for knocking out his then fiancee in an elevator? details ahead on "today." now to sports. monday night football, bears/jets started with a big play. >> and from the 46, trying to get screened. to the right. it's intercepted and all the way is ryan mundy. mundy night football. >> chicago's ryan mundy set the tone with that pick six. just before the half though geno smith find jeremy curly to cut the bears' lead 17-13, but the bears, they hit the gas. martellus bennett scores his second td for the night. and a pick in the end zone by kyle fuller seals the bears 27-19 victory. to baseball now and the final home series of derek jeter's career. the captain has a three rbi game for the first time since 2012 in a 5-0 victory over the o's. >> and cardinal's pitcher, adam wainwright, notched his second

career 20th win season in their 8-0 win over the cubs. the nfl is reporting veteran linebacker james harrison will sign with the steelers in the next few days. harrison announced his retirement just a month ago, but in the wake of injuries will return to his former team of course with the approval of his kids first. >> y'all want daddy to play football? >> no. >> yes. >> it means he'll play for the steelers and he wouldn't have to leave. >> yes. yeah. >> great answers there. and a brawl broke out at a cardinals/49ers game. it got pretty gruesome here. you can see a security guard being choked, and a fan wearing a darnell dockett jersey steps in throwing some punches to help the guard out. well, darnell dockett wants to reward that fan tweeting, who was the guy in the dockett jersey in the brawl at the cardinals game? contact me, i have some tickets for you. i like that. interesting.

the air strikes in syria mark a major milestone and turning point for president obama. the details next. we're live in washington after the break. a line of nutrient-rich skincare with pure, naturally derived ingredients, carefully chosen and clinically proven to cleanse, purify and moisturize... and you'll never find any harsh chemical sulfates, parabens or unnecessary additives. healthy skin-starts from within. neutrogena naturals. learn more at neutrogenanaturals.com. ♪ i'd say i clean the toilet 6 or 7 times a day. like clockwork, every 20 minutes i clean the toilet.

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after all, you're not just a champion of saturday afternoons.... you're a champion of facial hair. just for men mustache and beard. how do commercials work? you need a team, working together, doing all kinds of jobs. see these people? they're not acting. they're real professionals. and we hired them all on the site where more people get jobs than anywhere else. indeed. the world's #1 job site. the syrian air strikes mark a major milestone for the obama administration. today, the president will meet with world leaders at the united nations. the timing of the isis air strikes directly coincides with the world leaders all in one place. nbc's tracie potts is live in

washington this morning. tracie, good morning. president obama was originally scheduled to talk about climate change today, but do you think he'll stick to the script or change gears for the isis strikes? >> reporter: we're just learning that the president is going to talk about these air strikes here in washington before he heads up to new york later today. also in a few hours the pentagon is going to give a briefing, the state department already speaking out, saying the u.s. did warn syria, but did not ask permission before launching those air strikes overnight. >> i will not hesitate to take action against isil in syria. >> reporter: this video unconfirmed by nbc claims to be the aftermath of u.s. air strikes in syria. jets and bombers attacked isis strongholds overnight, five arab partners are involved. the pentagon confirms they went after 20 targets. isis headquarters, fuel depots, weapons depots, training sites. the u.s. hinted monday this was coming. >> the backup of the local forces as they take the fight to extremist organizations that may

have designs on attacking the united states or the u.s. homeland. >> reporter: president obama went to the vice president's home last night for an event. we now know while there they called lawmakers to give them a heads up about the air strikes. the islamic state or isis has taken 60 villages in the last week, driving refugees into turkey. >> for them, it is an all-out war. >> reporter: the air strikes are now under way, fulfilling president obama's promise more than a week ago. >> if you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. >> reporter: apparently that's the thinking of jordan too, among the five arab countries that helped out, we're learning from a new statement that jordan sent in their fighter jets as well, saying that they destroyed selected targets and saying they wanted to send a sharp message to isis and i'm quoting here, that bargaining and recklessness is not going to be tolerated when it comes to the safety of their people. dara? >> tracie potts from washington, d.c. tracie, thanks so much for that update. switching gears now to

entertainment. quack attack is back. "the mighty ducks" cast from the second movie reunited. marguerite moreau who played connie in "the mighty ducks trilogy" rallied the boys. she instagramed, calling all brethren, with a picture of a mighty duck whistle. they can still make a flying v. the actress documented the '90s gang all on instagram. after 22 years of marriage and keeping up with the kardashians, kris jenner officially filed for divorce from bruce jenner. she is seeking joint custody of her 17-year-old daughter, kylie jenner. joseph gordon levitt could be cast as nsa leaker edward snowden. oliver stone is writing and directing the upcoming movie, the snowden files. even with strong leading roles for women like frozen's elsa or katniss in the hunger are games, the gender gap is still there. a new study finds 23% of international films had a female protagonist. and only 31% of speaking

characters were women. i find the numbers pretty shocking. >> yeah. that's international. would you think the u.s. would be better or the international? >> i'm not sure. >> poor in both. we have done many stories about how the price, you know, the wages that they make and salaries are lower and number of leading roles, you know, like 8 to 2 for women. >> still that glass ceiling. >> i didn't know it was that bad internationally too. >> across the board. >> writers and producers need to, you know. >> more women roles, more strong women roles. but when you go to the awards -- i'm dara brown, this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day on nbc. [ female announcer ] we lowered her fever. you raise her spirits. we tackled your shoulder pain.

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world reaction to the airstrikes on isis. airstrikes on islamic state bases in syria inadmissible without damascus consent. putin. putin held a phone conversation with ban ki-moon over the airstrikes in syria. an op ed piece, the international community has responded just as the jihadists wanted. the writer makes an argument against using coalition forces for what he's calling a war with no clear on objective. and in the chicago sun times, congress didn't authorize war but we're in one now in syria. the president's actions could minimize pressure for future authorization votes and the likelihood that congress would deny the president war authorization. later today president obama

will be headed to the united nations in new york. he'll be delivering remarks at u.n.'s climate summit. tomorrow he'll meet with leaders from iraq, israel and egypt. ahead of these u.n. meetings there has been no heightened state of alert. now following this first round of airstrikes in syria, u.s. military leaders will begin assessing how effective the bombing campaign was. syrian foreign ministry said it was informed of the airstrikes beforehand. so far there has been no immediate confirmed reaction from isis militants. now to other stories we're following, one of the largest wildfires burning throughout california and now having consumed nearly 90,000 acres in the north, the king fire is larger than the cities of atlanta, las vegas, philadelphia, and portland combined. it is only 18% contained. police in virginia are looking for this man, jesse matthew. they say he's a person of interest in their desperate

search for university of virginia student hannah graham. matthew, a campus employee, is on the run after fleeing authorities on saturday. they removed several bags of potential evidence from his home yesterday. with so much uncertainty about immigration reform, a confident vice president told a group of hispanic leaders at an event yesterday that it will get done with or without congress. >> you all know what the answer here is. we got to get comprehensive immigration reform. you all know, and you know that -- that folks -- if they don't get something done by -- by the end of this year, the president is going to do it and he's going to do an awful lot. and can you spot the difference according to the new york times governor chris christie lost 8 5 pounds since having weight loss surgery last year. a source said donors pressed him before he revealed how much

weight he lost. i'