we made it to five years old. we are about ready to learn to read. thank you for being with us every night, tonight, and for the last five years. it's tuesday morning right now on "first look." as president obama prepares to address the nation on syria air strikes, our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll numbers show he faces a tough road. the president says he does not take that decision lightly. because if you ask somebody, you know, i read polls like everybody else and you if ask michele, do we want to be involved in another war? the answer is, no. george zimmerman is back in the spotlight after an alleged domestic dispute. plus, rafael nadal captures his 13th grand slam title. the recovery of the beloved feline mayor. and the major find sitting

in an attic for decades. good morning, i'm betty nguyen. russia proposes syria hand over its chemical weapons. it is a main development and it could avoid a strike. but president obama is skeptical saying he'll, quote, take wit a grain of salt. more on the president's hard sell for military action in a moment. first, hour new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll and tracie potts is live in washington. good morning. help us understand does the president face an uphill battle looking at these poll numbers? >> reporter: no question. they came out at midnight. you can see there is overwhelming opposition to any sort of military action in syria. right to it. first of all, what are americans thinking about the decision that congress has to make? 58% said they want congress to vote no only a third, 33% say they want congress to approve military action in syria. now, the president's taken a hit on this.

his own approval rating on syria is at 28%. that's down 7% in a month. overall, his approval rate something at 45% which actually ticked up just a small bit and then finally, the big question that's been happening here, should president obama order this strike if congress votes no? the president said in his interview with nbc's savannah guthrie he hasn't made that decision but the public decided that the president should not act without congressional authorization. only 36% think he should. no question he's facing an uphill battle and will certainly address that as he addresses the nation tonight. >> we will be watching. trace sis, thanks so much. a u.s. military strike in syria all hinges on just one thing. a congressional vote. right now, members of the house and senate are largely undecided and president obama tells nbc's savannah guthrie he's not necessarily confident he'll get

congressional approval. >> would you act without congress? the answer could be yes, no, or i haven't decided. >> i think it's fair to say that i haven't decided. i am taking this vote in congress and what the american people are saying very seriously. because if you ask somebody, you know, i read polls like everybody else and you if ask somebody, if you ask michele, do we want to be involved in another war, the answer is, no. and so i recognize how important that debate is and it's my belief that for me, the president, to act without consensus in a situation where there's not a direct imminent threat to the homeland or interests around the world that that's not the kind of precedent that want to set. we're going to spend this week talking to members of congress,

answering their quest and i'm going to speak to the american people tomorrow night directly and i'll evaluate after that whether or not we feel strongly enough about in that we're willing to move forward. >> are you confident you'll get the votes? >> you know, i wouldn't say i'm confident. i'm confident that the members of congress are taking this issue very seriously and they're doing their homework and i appreciate that. >> you can catch more of savannah's interview with president obama this morning on "today." a reminder now, msnbc will have special coverage of the president's dress to the nation tonight beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. two months after his acquittal in the shooting death of trayvon george zimmerman is once again involved in a police investigation. his wife called 911 on monday claiming he was threatening her with a gun. nbc's sara dahlorr has that story. >> reporter: george zimmerman

seen here getting out of the back of this police cruiser is back in the news, this time for a domestic disturbance at the home of his father-in-law. >> he's in his car and he continually has his hand on his gun and he keeps saying step closer. he is threatening all of us with his firearm. >> reporter: a shaken shellie zimmerman called 911 and told the operator she was afraid of her estranged husband. when police arrived her story had changed. >> we never had contact with the weapon. we never touched the weapon. we don't know that there is even a weapon here. none of that is accurate. >> reporter: since his acquittal in the shooting death of trayvon martin, george zimmerman has made headlines several times. he helped rescue victims of a car accident and has been pulled over twice for speeding. last week shellie zimmerman says they have been separated an

and she plans to divorce him. >> they are getting divorced. they shouldn't have contact right now. >> reporter: police are not dropping the investigation. >> what ends up happening is the police department decides who the primary aggressor is and who is going to go to jail or have charges filed against them. >> reporter: they believe surveillance cameras in the area may show exactly what went on. sara daalohf, nbc news. polls open across new york city at the top of the hour. the democratic primary race to succeed mayor michael bloomberg attracted the most attention. public advocate bill de blasio is one of the candidates running along with anthony weiner. wooeb appeared on msnbc last night in a last-difficult effort to get votes. >> what i mean is this, what is wrong with you that you cannot seem to imagine a life without elective office?

>> that's ridiculous. of course, i can. you're saying that because i have things in my personal life that are embarrassing i shouldn't run for office. >> no, let me be clear. >> and had just gotten even more awkward from there. you can watch the last interview on msnis mbsnews.com. none of the mayoral candidates asked to are a briefing on terrorism. christie'sty will blitz the air waves in a final sprint to his re-election. he is spending $1.5 million in tv market as cross the garden state. . lawmakers are hawaii are being called into a special session to move forward on legalizing same-sex marriage. the state would join 13 others and d.c. in ahow long the unions. voters in two colorado state districts go to the polls today in a pair of recall elections. two democratic state senators

could lose their seats after voting in favor of stricter gun laws. the races have attracted big money from new york mayor michael bloomberg and the nra. talk about a rocky mountain high, in denver on monday hundreds lined up for free mar juanna. the free joint handout was in protest of a proposed new tax increase on the drug. and that is your dish of scrambled politics. the 2013 fire season is not showing signs of letting up, a fire doubled in size overnight centered around mt. diablo state park. 100 homes have been evacuated in the town of clayton. 500 firefighters are on the ground and airplanes in the air and it's just 20% contained. the remnants of lorena wreaked havoc on arizona monday. heavy rain left a thousand homes without power. meanwhile, near denver, after

weeks of near record heat, a massive hailstorm for some residents to break out snow shovels a couple of months early. nbc meth bill karins is here to sort this out. that just is not supposed to happen. it's only september, right? >> it could happen any time of year, though, hail is really dependent on the cold air. a couple of times every summer we get pictures like that. today is the peak of the hurricane season and from here we wart to go down. >> we've had a pretty easy season. >> things got interesting overnight. a couple minutes ago the national hurricane center said gabrielle reformed again, a storm that was a tropical storm a week ago and the remnants have gotten its act together and looks like bermuda will be clipped by the storm in the days ahead so tropical storm gabrielle has reformed brand-new off the east coast. it could clip areas of extreme eastern canada.

as far as tropical storm humberto, this should be the first hurricane and in tonight to strengthen up to a category 2 hurricane. again, this one is no threat to the u.s. two storms out there, neither are any threat to us in the lower 48. yesterday's highs, the big story, the heat, half the country had 90-degree temperatures, it was 100 in little rock. 101 yesterday in des moines so incredible late summer heat continues and today should be mid-90s from wichita to chicago and some of that warm air is now starting to make its way to the east coast. notice d.c. today, 91. so way lot of us on the east coast haven't had to use air conditioners for the next two days will feel like summer. >> just before it goes away. >> and this weekend is much cooler. >> thank you. just ahead a government crackdown on dog breeders. the excitement is building as apple prepares for a big announcement. those headlines are next. [ male announcer ] let's say you pay your guy around 2% to manage your money.

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some stories making news, the agriculture department is cracking down on internet pet sales. new regulations will force online dog breeders who apply for federal licenses. now, the hope this new law will cut down on the poor conditions seen in puppy mills. matthew cordle who made a youtube video confessing he killed a man while drunk has been charged with vehicular homicide arraigned in court today. he is expected to plead guilty and faces up to eight years in prison. a painting that sat in an attic in norway for six decade has been authenticated as a vincent van gogh. it is the first to be discovered of the artist since 1928. last week we told you about the feline mayor of the small alaskan town. he was brutal attacked by a

constituent. he is doing much better and has been released from the veterinary hospital. good for mayor stubs. now, for business we turn to kayla tausche. good morning, kayla. >> the market higher and future markets stocks rallying monday, as well, the dow posting its best day in eight weeks and first triple digit gain since august 1st. investors reacted to positive economic data from china and the russian proposal for a possible diplomatic solution in syria. jpmorgan reached a $300 million settlement to resolve accusations it steered homeowners into overpriced property insurance. the settlement also involves insurance firm assurant but the big news, apple is expected to unveil two new iphone models at and a recent, the iphone 5c is a cheaper version with a plastic case and will come in five colors. we're all looking forward to it. >> a fingerprint reader sounds

cool. >> yes, it does. coming up, a monday night nfl doubleheader, plus rafael nad nadal's u.s. open win and all your sports highlights with richard lui. before he could easily transfer funds between the two in real time... before he could even think about planning for his daughters' future... mike opened a merrill edge investment account and linked it to his bank of america bank account to help free up plenty of time for the here and now. that's the wonder of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america.

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into the future. ♪ "i" formation! "i" formation! we have got to get the three-technique block! i'm not angry. i'm not yellin'. nobody's tackling anybody! we got absolutely... i don't think this was such a good idea. i'm on it. if we can't secure the quarterback center exchange... you're doing a great job, coach. well they're coming along better than i anticipated. very pleased. who told you to take a break? [ male announcer ] want to win your own football fantasy? just tell us. then use your visa card for a chance to win it. time to get the latest in sports from richard lui. good morning. >> good tuesday to you. you know when you get an extra day off you're very well rested. >> absolutely, still working on getting one for us. we all need that. >> we'll work on that for you. the u.s. open final they got an extra day.

rafael nadal versus number one seed novak djokovic. it reached a 54-shot rally. >> amazing. >> djokovic won that point and the set but loses 9 whole enchilada and nadal win, total prize, 3.6 million cool. take a picture that have one. it was a monday night football doubleheader. the chargers sitting pretty. the texans mount a gritty comeback. tied at 28. then five seconds left. your texans kick a 41-yard field goal for the victory. >> all right. all eyes on the red skins and rg3 but philadelphia's frenetic pace and michael vick was clutch last night here throwing for two touchdowns, running for another. eagles 33-27. your tim tebow report. the football team called kiss of arena football.

you probably heard about them, right? >> no, but, okay. >> they got an offer for him. the two members of the legendary rock band that's also called kiss, their own named team say the contract is worth millions. word has it tebow is not considering that. word also that's not considering an offer from the lingerie football league. >> i don't think that's up his alley. the playoff fever is on. orioles manager fired up on the field confronting joe girardi. it was an issue of etiquette. baltimore allegedly stealing signs, those hand signals used to communicate. orioles beat the yankees in the end, 4-2. >> he's still mad. >> yeah. how much would you pay for a green jacket? this one went for $682,000 at auction, and, betti, it's possibly the highest price paid for golf memorabilia. it is believed to be owned by the first winner of the masters. horton smith, on the right. it was a family closet hanging

there for decades. >> i'm telling you. we all got to look in our closets and attics. good things for sale. >> hope moth balls work. some one direction fans sending death threats. tomlinson gets up. he's out the of the game. he hurls at the end because he's evidently not feeling well. >> really. >> you don't want to mess with one direction. their fans are die-hards. let's dig deeper into the decision to strike on syria. joining me is lynn sweet, the washington bureau chief for the "chicago sun-times." good morning. >> good morning. >> it seems a potential diplomatic solution emerged. if syria does turn over its chemical weapons to international monitors for destruction, would it defuse the

situation? >> yes, it would. that depends on what the plan is and could be monitored. >> yeah, but the president is saying he is taking that with a grain of salt. why is that? >> well, because he wants it verified and quoted that old ronald reagan saying about trust but don't veer tie and taking it with a grain of salt because he doesn't want to just be used as a delay tactic. >> if that does not happen and it is a delay tactic, if you will and congress does not approve a strike, did the president give any clue in his media blitz yesterday he would go this alone and authorize a strike? >> i think he probably would not, that in any event he has to -- in the sense he's asking congress to delay a vote until we see what this diplomatic -- potential diplomatic solution will provide. >> and what do you expect to hear quickly from the president as he addresses the nation tonight? >> i expect him to strongly make the case as strongly as he might

have before this unexpected development yesterday but i think he will say somehow that he will give this a bit of time to see if this potential plays out. he'll also say we never would have gotten this far, that the syria/russia deal without the threat of a strike from the u.s. >> interesting point, okay, lynn, thank you so much for your insight. we do appreciate it. coming up, bill karins and richard lui will be here for our "first buzz" and what caught our eyes today. good job!

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richard lui, bill karins

joins me now for our "first buzz." have you a little twerking to do, richard. >> i won't do any twerking but you guys were talking about it yesterday, that amazing twerking -- >> yeah. >> throwing it on us. >> got 9 million views, this woman twerking, she falls over when her roommate friend opens the door. fire ensues. her pants on fire theoretically. who puts out the fire? >> after 9 million views we now realize it's jimmy kimmel. jimmy kimmel had her on the show last night. she's a stunt woman named daphne avalon. they filmed this two months ago and she was sworn to secrecy. that's from the show. >> kimmel punk'd'd us all 9.5 million times. >> we bought it. the fire was a little weird and like the way the girl opened the door. you look at it, not how someone would open the door. >> hindsight, my friend. >> speaking of weird you have a lobster tail. >> a mutation. what do you like, when you like

lobster do you like the tail or the claws. >> the tail. >> most like the tails. this one lost out on a claw. this was a lobster caught yesterday or caught recently in maine going to be donated to the maine aware number. it looks like it has a lobster hand instead of a claw. they're calling it -- >> high five-that. >> high five four. >> and this guy will live to tell about it. >> five? >> yeah, on the right side. >> wild looking. i have a question for you. there is this happiness study that's come out. where do you think the u.s. ranks when it comes to happiness? how happy are we? >> we're stressed. >> yeah. >> work and stress. >> give she a number. where are we? >> 12th. >> i'm going like 50. >> no 17. the u.s. is 17. although the planet as a whole is slightly happier than it was five years ago. here are the numbers, denmark, the happiest on earth, i thought that was disney, then norway, switser lapd, netherlands and sweden. >> denmark is happy. i've been there. >> why is it so happy there? were you happy when you got

there? >> i landed. i was already twice a people. nice weather, nice people. >> i'm glad we're 17. good. >> because you thought 60. i'm betty nguyen. this is "first look" right here on msnbc. hope have you a happy day. "way too early" starts right now. today's secretary of state kerry state the strikes would be unbelievably small. what does that mean? i mean, are we talking a pinprick, a knockout blow, a punch in the gut? >> the u.s. does not pinpricks. our military is the greatest the world has ever known, and when we take even limited strike, it has an impact on a country like syria that does not have a tremendous military capability. they have a tremendous military capability relative to civilians. they have a significant military capability relative to children who are being gassed. but they don't have a military that matches up with ours in any kind of way. >> as the president goes on

every major tv network to make the case for military action in syria, we're also dealing with a possible out for the white house and it involves the russians. yikes. we'll break down the possibilities in two minutes. i always joked how could we put a man on the moon but can't develop a scanner that would allow me to keep my shoes on at the airport? i might need a new phrase. while you were sleeping, the san diego chargers were choking. nfl week one in the books after two dramatic monday night games. this is "way too early." >> fake to foster. ♪ good morning, brian shactman here, tuesday, september 10th. we got a diverse show for you. michele bachmann talks and you never know what you're going to get there. we'll have that in a few minutes plus an ex-yankee manager gets in a spat with the current manager. we'll have that in sports