happy labor day. right now on "first look," israel announces a massive land grab. drawing anger from the palestinians and the u.s. president obama faces growing pressure from congress to do more to defeat isis militants. will bad weather put a damper on your holiday plans? nbc's meteorologist bill karins with what is in store. plus, the latest on joan rivers' condition as her family keeps their fingers crossed. a busy week for solar flare s. and a double win for "guardians of the galaxy." i'm betty nguyen. developing in the middle east, a

dicey truce just got dicier. israel goes on a massive land grab, seizing 1,000 acres of the west bank near bethlehem, the biggest grab in 30 years. the problem, many palestinians live there. reports claim israel's move is part payback. in june three jewish teens were kidnapped and killed by hamas in that area. many worry this could hurt peace talks. >> consider strengthening the palestinian authority versus hamas, israel is showing its harder side. and a new staggering stat. it will take 20 years to rebuild gaza following the recent conflict. the price tag, $6 billion. also developing this morning, lawmakers are turning up the heat on president obama to take action against isis militants in syria. this latest call to action comes as u.s. air strikes continue to target isis in iraq. i'm joined by nbc's tracie potts in washington. all right, tracie, can you tell us about this push for the president to act? >> reporter: well, betty, it's a

because there's a lot of concern that doesn't seem to be going away and while some lawmakers think the president is weighing his options and trying to build a coalition, that threat could get worse. wait is the official word from the white house, but some republicans argue there's no time. >> we can't wait forever. and the lodger we do wait, the stronger isis becomes. >> reporter: even some democrats worry about waiting too long. >> he's very cautious, maybe in this instance too cautious. >> reporter: president obama says he has no strategy for dealing with isis militants in syria. >> the president of the united states is either in denial or overwhelmed. he's either in denial or overwhelmed, one of the two. >> reporter: the policy, republicans argue, has been to defend iraq but not to engage in syria. >> that is a decision. that is a policy. that is a strategy, and it's not working. >> reporter: but democrats fear rushing in too soon with military power could be a big mistake.

>> if we simply come in and start bombing isis, we run the risk of forcing sunnis into their camp. we have to have the right targets and the right support in order to be effective. >> reporter: the president wants to build a coalition of allies first. >> we can't be sheriff of the whole world. it's france, it's the brits, it's the other countries that need to work with us including countries like saudi arabia and that region. >> reporter: one big concern, how many americans are fighting with isis and whether they're planning to bring that fight back home. but for now the president has said no air strikes in syria. nothing imminent and nothing likely before congress gets back to work next week, betty. >> we'll shall watching. thank you, tracie. it could be the first test of the nfl's tougher rules. san francisco 49er ray mcdonald has been arrested for domestic violence. he is accused of beating his pregnant fiancee. it happened during mcdonald's 30th birthday sunday.

right now he's out on $25,000 bail. and if found guilty, he will sit out six games. it could be more since the alleged victim is pregnant. keeping our fingers crossed, that is what we're hearing this morning from joan rivers' family. the comedian remains in critical condition at a new york city hospital. reports say doctors hope to have her out of a medically induced coma by tuesday. the 81-year-old has been hospitalized since thursday. she had stopped breathing during throat surgery at a clinic. in louisiana, a federal judge has temporarily blocked a restrictive new abortion law but his ruling has created some ambiguity. the law requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges to a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic. the law can still go into effect today, but doctors and clinics cannot be penalized for breaking it until after a hearing on a permanent ruling. advocates say the law could have shut down all five abortion clinics in the state.

lawyers say the judge's ruling is unclear. they're not sure if it applies to doctors at all five abortion clinics or the doctors at the three clinics whose lawsuit challenged the new law. all right, let's get the latest in sports now from my friend richard lui. good morning on this holiday. >> good holiday to you. let's start with this. tony stewart returning to the track for the first time after the death of kevin ward jr. >> that large crowd applauding him before the oral-b usa race. he went on to have a good start. then on lap 172, he blows a tire after hitting the wall which led to an early exit for him and kasey kahne gets his first win of the season.

caroline wozniacki upset maria sharapova in her first grand slam in more than two years. lots to smile about. the williams sisters advancing. to the women's double quarterfinals and easily defeated the spanish team 6-1, 6-0 in 47 minutes. on the men's side, roger federer gets an early lead after a lightning and heavy rain delay. federer then prevailed in four sets. >> three, two, one. [ applause ] >> yeah, that's who it is. baylor unveiling a stature of rg 3 at their new $266 million stadium. >> wow, what a price tag. >> yeah. they blew out smu, 38-0. great way to introduce that. >> absolutely. a high school baseball game in japan.

i don't know how many innings you can sit through. 9? how about 50. >> no way. 50 innings. >> 5-0. >> 5-0. >> half of a hundred. i'm good at math if you can tell. this semifinal had 1,398 pitches. >> those players got to be tired. >> that's a lot of hot goings. >> 16 competitors went head to head in the cape fear red bull competition. it's based on this dangerous scale. >> so impressive. >> only six to eight-footers but it's one of the world's deadliest reefs, what makes it so dangerous. >> tough to watch but beautiful, as well. okay. thank you, richard. >> did richard wish you happy birthday? >> you just have to keep -- >> happy birthday, betty. >> thank you very much. you're reminding me that i'm i'm getting older by the second. >> that richard lui, so rude. >> let's talk about the storms. that was what rude. ruining our holiday weekend. the rainout. >> if you get caught in the

botanical garden all by yourself -- >> which i did. >> no umbrella. may have deserved it. >> thanks, bill. >> happy birthday to you. >> those storms yesterday, they meant some business. we did get some damage out of them too, especially one in worcester, massachusetts, and that's where we actually had a confirmed ef-0 tornado. 85-mile-per-hour winds and worcester, 8:00 last night. massachusetts can get tornadoes surprisingly enough. yesterday, of course, we had all the ingredients, it was a hot day, it was 96 in d.c., it was like the hottest day of the entire summer and the humidity was way, way up as all of our winds are southerly straight from the gulf. new orleans' humidity right now is gross, 76. dew point same with florida. a lot of humid air and moisture in the air so when we get the sunshine once again, we'll spark off numerous storms late they are afternoon. already strong storms this morning. joplin just had a wind gust of 50 miles per hour. sure, a couple are losing power in missouri.

so those storms will continue. chicago, storms for you. the storms for the east coast, more like pulse type storms. they'll pop up, they'll come in and die off. not going to ruin your entire labor day but it's just so humid, you feel it in the air. the air conditioners are working hard and it's -- all week is going to be warm and humid for the eastern coast. i mean, it's going to be one of the warmest weeks of the entire summer. >> going to feel like summer, the unofficial end of summer. >> everyone is back in school everywhere in the country for the most part. there is a new recall that may have you checking your fridge. plus, paper or plastic? pretty soon california shoppers might not have a say in the matter. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ jennifer ] do you really have time for brown spots?

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cases of their cheese products over concerns they might have gone bad. they say that a supplier improperly stored one of the ingredients used to make cheese slices. and the show is over for the showboat casino in atlantic city. it's one of three shuging and shutting their doors over the next two weeks. revel begins its closing today by trump plaza closes on the 16th. california is taking a big step becoming the first state to ban the use of plastic bags in grocery stores. and now it's up to governor jerry brown who has until the end of september to make a final decision. more on that from nbc's hallie jackson. >> reporter: paper or plastic? soon californians may not have the choice since the state legislature just approved a ban on single-use plastic bags. >> i don't think it's that big of a deal to bring your own bag. and it is a big waste and people don't recycle them necessarily. >> reporter: many cities in california already outlaw plastic bags. if governor jerry brown signs the bill into law, starting next

summer, shoppers who forget to bring a bag will have to pay at least ten cents at the grocery store for the paper and recyclable kind. >> what do you think? >> i think it's a bunch of bologna. we've got too many rules and regulations in california. >> reporter: massachusetts and washington are also looking at bills to ban single-use bags and along with five other states, are considering taxes or fees ranging from 1 to 15 cents per bag. >> their new scam would kill my job. >> and my job. >> reporter: but with ads like these, thee plastic bag industry has fought hard against the california bill. the american progressive bag alliance saying "this has never been about the environment," calling it a dirty deal to scam consumers out of billions of dollars. >> the plastic bags are littering our streets. >> reporter: environmental advocates have been pushing for a broader plastic bag ban for years. but it took a new compromise to build enough support. plastic bag manufacturers will now get $2 million for equipment and training to make reusable bags instead of the one-off kind.

>> hopefully a shift in the conversation away from producing products that we're only using for a matter of minutes. >> reporter: in a discussion of what's disposable, california closer to a permanent plan. hallie jackson, nbc news, los angeles. some stories making news this morning, a bold and threatening thought from russian president vladimir putin. stay put for eastern ukraine and alluded to that in an interview urging talks between the government and separatists but later said moscow did not support sovereignty for so-called new russia. this in light of allegations that russia is directly involved in the ongoing conflict. with americans safely evacuated more tan a month ago an islamic mischa controls part of the embassy in libya and new video shows members of the residential compound. it's been a busy week on the surface of the sun. nasa released these images of huge solar flares surging into

space. this happened just in the past few days. now thankfully our atmosphere protects us but bursts can interrupt gps and communication signals. that's awfully frightening there. here's your first look at this labor day edition of "scrambled politics." this new ad by democratic senate contender alison grimes is part of the latest barrage of national ads already totaling $1 billion. and before the midterm election cycle was all over two months from now both sides are poised to rack up at least $4 billion. so far the most expensive race is the kentucky senate race. supporters for incumbent senator mitch mcconnell and grimes have spent $36 million in ad buys. this is the first midterm election since the historic citizens united ruling. another oops moment for rick perry. well, you be the judge. at 8:20 this tweet was sent from his account.

it uses an unflattering picture of the district attorney at the center of his abuse of charges. the tweet reads "i doepn't always drive drunk at 3 times the legal blood alcohol limit but when i do i indict governor perry for calling me out about it. i am the most drunk democrat in texas." the phrase something a play on the popular beer commercials featuring the most interesting man in the world. the governor took down the tweet an hour later calling it "unauthorized" and that he does not condone it. no tan suit for president obama this weekend when he and the first family attended the wedding of longtime white house chief sam cass and msnbc host alex wagner. our congratulations to alex and sam. that is your morning dish of "scrambled politics." joining me by phone "washington post" reporter david nakamura. good morning, happy labor day to you. thanks for joining us on this holiday. >> hi, betty, thank you. >> so yesterday on nbc's "meet the press," senator dianne feinstein said the

president is cautious, maybe too cautious when responding to the growing threat in iraq and syria. what does this mean for president obama when members of his own party are worried he's not acting fast enough. >> absolutely. the president is taking criticism from republicans he's not doing enough to confront the crisis in syria and now with dianne feinstein and others echoing that and he's under a lot of pressure to decide what his next steps are, we heard from him last week, cautious not being pressed to sort of take that action that a lot of people are expecting, military strikes, air strikes against isis in syria, part of the problem is the administration is split behind the scenes about what steps to take and talked about a broader response in which he rallies partners against this threat but didn't exactly make clear what that means. i think there's going to be continued discussion inside the administration and might see

some of the president's top advisers come out more strongly by talking about what those are but so far the president has not ordered any military strikes in syria and he continues to be cautious about that. >> i want to shift gears. on the heels of a cease-fire word of israel going on a massive land grab seizing a thousand acres of the west bank where many palestinians live. what will this do to peace talks? >> well, this could be provocative, certainly, no question about that and the fine line by supporting some of the actions israel has taken against hamas in gaza including bombing some of the tunnels that hamas used to launch strikes but i think for the president, this is going to make it more difficult to sort of keep the peace because this is going to be seen as a very provocative move. >> all right, david. thanks so much for joining us. we do appreciate it. >> thank you, betty. up next, it is rocking hollywood. x-rated photos of a-list stars leaked. who should be worried. who's behind it? all of that coming up next.

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today honors the sacrifices of the american worker and this no doubt includes volunteer workers helping the less fortunate. a new study came out last month that estimates $1 billion in volunteer labor are donated each year to help the hungry, 1 million hours at charities like food pantries. msnbc's richard lui has the latest on this amazing trend. >> reporter: it's a story she doesn't want to tell. >> it hurts. no, i don't want to see myself.

i said i never want to see myself -- >> reporter: 12 years ago, brenda's thought all about struggling with housing and work. feeding a family on $19 a week. that's changed thanks to p.o.t.s., short for part of the solution. >> i got a new place, foodwise. now i eat more nutrition stuff. eating vegetables like i never ate before. >> reporter: over the last seven year p.o.t.s. gave her help, even the garden for healthy living and she got enough to got better, enough to become brenda the volunteer. >> if we're ever in crisis, i make one phone call and i have four serranos coming to our rodriguez. >> reporter: taina rodriguez, p.o. p.o.t.s.' organizer trains young volunteers. brenda's daughter included. >> she did her service learning with us and then became part of

our pantry and then started to intern with us. she became one of my head leaders in the nutrition education component. >> it only gets better. >> reporter: brenda and her daughter are now giving back, part of 2 million volunteers helping food agencies nationally each month. that's more than 100 donated hours annually says feeding america worth over $1 billion. that money saved spent on food instead. >> we have three peas, carrots, beets. >> reporter: those cans of food at the pantry, they start here like this can of carrots on pallets in this warehouse that represents millions of meals. the food bank for new york city supplies smaller pantries like p.o.t.s. gathering large donations, dividing them up and delivering hem. jack scurry filling 30 huge trucks. leaving at sunrise every day. inside the warehouse, a special room with more volunteers scooping macaroni from a 1200-pound tub into family-size bags. >> the biggest concern is making sure that the volunteer pipeline

continues. >> reporter: reverend henry, a volunteer for 12 years, is now the chair of the board. >> this is the best full time job nonpaying i've ever had. >> the one thing that connects all volunteers is love. and i think you have to be able to see something that is the same in one person that is in you. >> reporter: but then there's this, the ceo of the country's largest food bank says they'll double the meals they normally have to supply to over 100 million this year. what she needs more of -- >> at the top of the list, it's always going to be more compassion. that's always going to be at the top of the list. i get afraid about that sometimes. i do. >> reporter: don't tell the serrano that. >> they're so good when you put them in a circle. >> reporter: mother, father, daughter and son, pantry clients and pantry volunteers. they don't have a lot but they give a lot. >> no strings attached. >> reporter: richard lui, the bronx, new york city. >> great piece there. all right.

now for some entertainment news, the box office saw "guardians of the galaxy" reach new heights after making $20 million over the weekend. >> i didn't even see this movie. >> i fell asleep in this. shh, don't tell anyone. this brings its total to $274 million, it is the highest grossing film, bill, of the year so far. >> who would have guessed that, huh. >> this what, you're looking at, "as above, so below," i can't even get the name right. >> don't worry. nobody saw it. >> stop it. generated only $8 million at the box office and pierce brosnan's "the november man". >> made even less than that. stars including jennifer lawrence, kate upton and ariana grande are all part of what's being called the biggest icloud hack ever. 101 celebrities had nude photos of themselves released on the internet sunday morning. some admit the photos to being real, but others are saying, hey, wait a second, they're fake. and wedding bells are ringing this weekend. actress jenny mccarthy and donny wahlberg got married on sunday.

while miami heat star dwyane wade said "i do" to his long-time girlfriend gabrielle union on saturday. congratulations to them. >> what's the bigger deal? is it the bigger deal that they found all these photos were leaked or bigger deal that this icloud thing may not be as safe as we thought. >> i think that's the overall big deal. it was hacked because a lot of people store so much on there now. all right. we'll get to the bottom of that. i'm betty nguyen thanks for watching "first look" on msnbc. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters shopping online is as easy as it gets. and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. we've made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. buy their services directly at angieslist.com

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♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] with five perfectly sweetened whole grains... you can't help but see the good. huge challenges for president obama this holiday weekend from enemies old and new. the president admits he does not yet have a strategy for defeating isis as britain raises its terror threat level. i'll ask dianne feinstein, chair of the senate intelligence committee, about the threat posed to the u.s. and whether the president's recent comments so weakness. facing down an old adversary. ukraine says its country is near full scale war with russia. how far will vladimir putin go. and can president obama and the allies get him to back down? plus a new era on "meet the press." a revealing look at chuck todd