family and loved ones, and your god. but we as a country never ever need to hear from you about war ever again. you can go now. . good thursday morning. right now on "first look" -- will they or won't they? after a highly publicized canceled meeting, could obama and putin meet over syria? workers fight back, walmart employees are next. is the u.s. ready for a car driven only by technology? plus, another weiner war of words. the wait is over as the nfl season kicks off on nbc. and stubs attack, an alaska honorary mayor mauled by a mutt. we'll have his condition straight ahead. good morning. i'm mara schiavocampo. all eyes are on the g-20 summit

and what's shaping up to be a national showdown. just minutes ago he boarded air force one headed to saint petersburg, russia. the crisis in syria will likely dominate part of the agenda. wednesday, the senate foreign relations committee passed a key hurdle, but now the president faces a fierce debate in the house as he also rallies worldwide support for military action in syria. nbc chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more. >> reporter: a sharply divided senate foreign relations committee voted to support the president, 10-7, but added time limits. 90 days for military action and to satisfy john mccain, the white house has to deliver a strategy for syria within 30 days. the house was even tougher as members are asking the question voters are asking, why? >> why is it always america out front? i know we have the best

military, but why are we out leading this again? >> have you ever been to the cemetery in france above those beaches? why did those guys have to go do that? because we were standing up with people for a set of values and fighting for freedom. >> not one member in my district in south carolina or the people that have contacted my office say go to syria. to the letter, they say no. >> i am not going to sit here and be told by you that i don't have a sense of what the judgment is with respect to this. >> members are talking about the opposition. >> it has to be the business because you're making decisions to go into war and put american lives at risk. >> reporter: and they have doubts saying they were lied to about iraq. >> i want to make sure you promise us you're telling the

truth. >> congressman, i'm proud and perfectly willing to tell you everything that i've said is the truth. >> that was nbc's andrea mitchell. now we're learning more about what a u.s. strike might look like and how assad might be preparing. joining us now from turkey is jim meseda. jim, good morning. >> good morning, mara. military experts say since it will be a lemted strike, expect to be as short as a day or two. dozens of sea to shore cruise missiles will likely strike command and control headquarters, basically air bases for assad's chemical weapons arsenal. and some air defense systems that are around the bases. but probably not the chemical weapons themselves as that would be difficult to control. other targets are likely military airports, missile sites. basic will tally the means of

delivering chemical weapons. assad apparently according to some reports hiding heavy weapons, even soldiers in residential areas. u.s. commanders say they are confident the strikes will do serious damage to assad's chemical weapons. >> jim maceda live in turkey. turning now to cleveland where there is a new reaction to the suicide of kidnapper ariel castro. the prosecutor who helped put him behind bars calls castro a coward adding, this man couldn't take for especially a month a small portion of what he had dished out for more than a decade. the 53-year-old was found hanging in his cell late tuesday night. as of this morning, his three victims have been commented. amanda berry and gina dejesus have been silent since their rescue, except for this video statement. michelle knight confronted castro at his sentencing and she was also there at the house

where the women were held when it was demolished. walmart walkout, today, workers are targeting the nation's largest retailer in at least 15 cities. the protests will span from los angeles to dallas to boss top. at issue, wages. full time employees want a minimum annual salary of $25,000. a recent government report found many walmart workers earn less than $9 an hour. and they're not alone. fast food workers did the same

>> weiner later responded via twitter saying that was not a meltdown, insisting, instead, that he was standing up for himself. lawyers for governor bob mcdonnell have billed taxpayers $90,000 for representing the governor in the embezzlement

case. a new poll shows a majority of republicans and independent voters think candidates should stand up for their beliefs instead of compromising. among democrats, the thinking is nearly the opposite. hillary clinton will be the first recipient of the founders award given out by the elton john aids foundation. the organization says the honor is for clinton's support of gay rights. former president bill clinton donned his secretary of explaining things hat wednesday. he was back in arkansas in the first of a series of speeches to defend and promote obamacare. >> the health of our people, the security and stability of our families, and the strength of our economy are all riding on getting health care reform right. >> wednesday started off as a pretty rough day for nikki haley after sending her kids off to school, she locked herself out

of the governor's mansion in her bath robe no less. she posted her deal to facebook and she did earn sympathy from her followers. and never missing an opportunity to top scores, president obama thanked sweden for their contribution to american hockey. >> on behalf hockey fans back home in chicago, i have to say i'm grateful our championship blackhawks are for their several teammates who hail from sweden. so an excellent export we gladly accept. and is this g-20 or kindergarten? the seating chart has been changed. the original chart had saudi arabia sitting between president obama and putin, but it's been changed to put five countries between russia and the u.s.. that's your morning's deish of scrambled politics. a state of emergency has

been issued in florida. water has pooled as deep as two feet in some areas. many roads have been washed out marooning residents in their homes. for more on the national forecast, i'll joined by bill karins. >> if you go back to that seating chart, if you have one person in between you, you never have to make eye contact. but now they're kind of across the table. now we actually can see if they look at each other. >> we'll keep an eye out for their eye contact. very telling. >> the weather still kind of tranquil, but down in puerto rico, not the case. they are getting dealt with a blow from a tropical storm that formed yesterday. it being looks impressive on sat light. big red cold cloud tops showing you the developing tropical srm. but the hurricane center said it's not forming too fast, but it will dump torrential rains over areas of all of puerto rico including san juan and virgin islands are getting hit pretty good, too. this is tropical storm gabrielle.

is it a threat to the east coast? no, it is not. this storm will take that hook out to sea, the strong cold front that is now moving down from canada will help aiding the storm being no threat to the u.s. at all. i even think bermuda will be fine. we still are dominated by a very hot weather pattern in the medal of the country and the great lakes and northeast a cool esh type pattern. boston only a high of 69 degrees, while the middle of the country 90s to 100. some areas could get the first frost of the season. >> unpack your sweaters. thanks, bill. broncos/ravens, the nfl kicks off in denver tonight. we'll take you there for a preview. and just what would you pay for this 118 carat white diamond? [ female announcer ] take skincare to the next level

with new roc® multi correxion® 5 in 1 proven to hydrate dryness, illuminate dullness lift sagging diminish the look of dark spots and smooth the appearance of wrinkles high performance skincare™ only from roc® [ crisp crunches ] whoo-hoo-hoo! guess it was. [ male announcer ] pringles, bursting with more flavor.

mom? come in here. come in where? welcome to my mom cave. wow. sit down. you need some campbell's chunky soup before today's big game, new chunky cheeseburger. mmm. i love cheeseburgers. i know you do. when did you get this place? when i negotiated your new contract, it was part of the deal. cool. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right.

the nfl's 2013 season begins tonight right here on nbc with the broncos taking on super bowl champion baltimore ravens.

well, in colorado where marijuana is legal, a pro pot group put up a big billboard near mile high stadium urging the league to change its drug policies. leanne gregg is live in denver with more on this. what do you expect things to be like tonight. >> good morning, mara. season opener is expected to be a qulclassic match jump. it's the first time the two teams have met since their double overtime playoff showdown last year. ravens won in one of the most memorable games in nfl playoff history, also one of the most watched. now the broncos are hoping to avenge that loss in the big stage of the season opener. by tradition it should be played in a champions hole town of baltimore, but had to be moved to denver because of a scheduling conflict with major league baseball and the orioles. the pregame show begins at 7:30 eastern time with live

performances representing both cities, also 32 nfl ledgends wil help in the countdown for the final moments before the game. fans should expect to begin arriving for tailgating within the next few hours. >> all right, thanks so much. hopefully my ravens can pull out a win. now to other stories making news this morning. wednesday, attorney general eric holder said the obama administration will begin providing veterans benefits to married gay couples. this comes after the supreme court ruled that a key part of the defense of marriage act was unconstitutional. a new pew poll shows 50% of internet users have privacy concerns, worried about their personal data online. pennsylvania congressman bill schuster was given a glimpse into the future wednesday when he tested out a self-driving car from carnegie mellon university. he believes the driving technology could help save thousands of lives.

and mayor stubs the honorary cat mayor of a small alaskan town is in recovery after being attacked by a big dog. stubs, who suffered a punctured lung and bruised sternum posted on facebook he still has eight lives left. now for business, we turnma. >> let's take a look at where the price action is. highest average ticket price is for the bears coming in at roughly $446. the single most expensive match-up so far is on september 15th between the san francisco 49ers and the seattle seahawks. and mcdonalds is revamping its dollar menu. the fast food chain says a new value menu including items priced at $5 could launch nationally this year. mcdonalds has been testing versions of its dollar menu in five markets across the country. green mountain coffee and

campbell will sell soup k cups. they will mark the first snack option available for keurig brewers. back to you. >> that is brilliant. can't wait to use my keurig for that. straight ahead, a home run derby at fenway. and all the rest of your sports highlights. [ whispering ] uh! i had a nightmare!

the house caught fire and we were out on the streets. [ whispering ] shhh. it's only a dream. and we have home insurance. but if we made a claim, our rate would go up... [ whispering ] shhh. you did it right. you have allstate claim rate guard so your rates won't go up just because of a claim. [ whispering ] are we still in a dream? no, you're in an allstate commercial. so get allstate home insurance with claim rate guard... [ whispering ] goodnight. there are so many people in our bedroom. [ dennis ] talk to an allstate agent... [ doorbell rings ] ...and let the good life in. ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teaching us that you can't create the future... by clinging to the past.

and with that: you're history. instead of looking behind... delta is looking beyond. 80 thousand of us investing billions... in everything from the best experiences below... to the finest comforts above. we're not simply saluting history... we're making it. so it's time for sports and betty nguyen is here with all the headlines.

>> good morning, mara. let's talk about some home run derbies. the red sox blasted eight homers to the franchise record, tied for a single game and clobbered detroit. david ortiz wrapped up the 2,000th hit of his career. shane victorino made a great catch on a foul ball right there as he jumped and fell into the stands. one woman had her phone knocked on to the field, but she got it back. another woman got her beer spilled on her instead of drinking it. speaking of beer, you'll find beer at fenway park at 60 cents per ounce. >> that's a lot. >> so a 12 ounce beer costs a whopping $7.50. >> the yankees cost 50 cents per

ounce and the angels brew cost 28 cents per ounce. at wrigley field, a bat went flying into the seats hitting a young boy. the players watched with a lot of concerns, especially the batter. but the boy was fine and he got to take home a bat along with probably a bruise or two. and at the u.s. open, singer jimmy buffett was in the stands eating ice cream as he watched rafael nadal. nadal hit a lob, but all tommy robredo could do was toss his racket into the air, but he missed. nadal moves on to the semifinals. max papis was slapped, check this out, in the face by mike steen's girlfriend, dislocating his jaw. she now has been slapped herself

with a $2,500 fine and an indefinite ban from all nascar events. >> wonder why she wouldn't be welcomed back. go figure. >> i wonder what he said to get that kind of reaction. >> thanks so much, betty. turning back to a serious topic, congressional debate on syria. joining me from our washington bureau, bob franken. thanks for being here. the senate foreign relations committee voted in favor of a resolution to strike syria. that gets the white house past their first hurdle. what do you think are the biggest obstacles moving forward? >> they have substantial objects quells. this is not your usual partisan kind of fight. you have republicans who are against this, you have a large null of democrats who are against this. ic ti think the question we'll come to, as distasteful as it may be, do you want to embarrass the president and embarrass united states by the lack of support around the world.do you president and embarrass united

states by the lack of support around the world. >> hillary clinton has come out in favor of the strikes. she's not a member of congress. but as a public figure. how do you think this issue will play out for potential presidential candidates in 2016, which side of this issue is more politically advantageous? >> well, that's an interesting question right now. and the answer is neither. i think that you have a real it is taste in this country for the possibility of another war. the country is war weary to use a the current expression. but in the case of secretary clinton, and that is her official title at the moment, she will always have that unless she gets something higher, she had been an advocate for much more stern u.s. action earlier on. so it's not unusual that she would support at least this much. >> all right. bob franken, that's for your perspective. and coming up, bill and betty will be back for first buzz. now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies.

need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle. we'll take something tasty and healthy. ♪ must be the honey! ♪ there's a party going on in your cereal bowl ♪ ♪ o's can help lower cholesterol ♪ ♪ oh why does it taste so great? ♪ ♪ hey! must be the honey! and then another. and another. and if you do it. and your friends do it.

and their friends do it... soon we'll be walking our way to awareness, support and an end to alzheimer's disease. and that? that would be big. grab your friends and family and start a team today. register at alz.org with new roc® multi correxion® 5 in 1 proven to hydrate dryness, illuminate dullness lift sagging diminish the look of dark spots and smooth the appearance of wrinkles high performance skincare™ only from roc® hearty cheeseburger. creamy thai style chicken with rice. mexican-style chicken tortilla. if you think campbell's 26 new soups sound good, imagine how they taste. m'm! m'm! good!

time for first buzz, all the stories we're talking about this morning. i'm joined by betty nguyen and bill karins. so betty -- >> can we talk about stuff that shines and glitters? yes, this is a whopping diamond. it's as big as an egg. look at that. where would you wear it? i could wear it plenty of places. this is the world's largest white diamond. it's going on the auction block. it is 118 carats. they found it in africa back in 2011. it was originally before it was cut 299 carats. but they're expecting to get somewhere around $30 million. >> i actually would expect to be more expensive than that.

certainly i'm not in this category, but there are a lot of people in the world that can afford $30 million. >> just put on their mantle. >> exactly. melissa milano is making a point. as soon as things start getting interesting, she accidentally kicks the camera and it moves over to a newscast and the whole rest of the clip is a report about syria and when's happening in syria. so she's getting people to click on it. >> she's a marketing genius. she's thinking just because she's beautiful that we'll watch it. >> and they have indeed. >> and bill, you have proof that dogs are man's best friend. >> cougars are big huge nasty mean creatures. but they circle it and almost

like pack animals. two dogs here. they actually chased the cougar from the guy's property. he videotaped it and the cougar retreated and ran up a tree. >> "way too early" starts right now. yesterday the obama white house lady out their case for intervention in syria, the goals of which ultimately are really quite simple. >> the goal is negotiate a solution which results in the departure of assad and the free choice of the syrian people for their future. >> it's simple. assad leaves willingly, democratic syria is stable and peaceful. thousands of lives are saved. and elizabeth bennett marys mr. dawson, and they're all happily ever after. it's unicorns and rainbows. >> if it only were that simple. things get mighty awkward today as president obama and putin are in the same room together

despite being on different planets when it comes to who was telling the truth about syria. we'll have a live report from russia coming up. anthony weiner in action yet again. we'll show you the latest meltdown. and to be fair, we'll put it in proper context. all i'll say is this one absolutely different than the others was personal. and we couldn't handle the truth. well, jack nicholson, is he retiring? is he? we'll clarify whether the acting legend is done or not. this is "way too early". good morning, everybody. brian shactman here. also want to point out my red sox sent a message to the rest of the american league, we're pretty good at heading the baseball. they hit quite a few out of the park last night. samsung pretty good at stealing attention away from apple. we'll look into whether the new watch is a big deal or not. is it an ipod