thanks for being with us. we'll see you tomorrow night at a special time, 8:00 eastern for our special coverage of president obama's prime time address to the nation on the issue of fighting isis. good wednesday morning. right now on "first look." president obama gears up for a major speech on isis. hear from roger goodell on a growing domestic violence controversy. primary results from around the country and tyson's advice for torontos rob ford. and u2's biggest album launch in music history. good morning. i'm frances pereira. secretary of state john kerry arrived in baghdad, meeting with iraq's new prime minister.

according ta a "wall street journal" poll, more safe now than before the 9/11 attacks. showing beheadings's james foley and steven sotloff. i'm joined by nbc's tracie potts. good morning. what can we expect to hear from the president today? >> reporter: simply put, frances, what is the plan. lawmakers here on capitol hill say they need a clear understanding from the president tonight, what's the goal and how do we get there? >> we need to degrade and ultimately droi ice lly destroy. that's the end game. >> reporter: how do you get there? president obama is expected to outlike this tonight. >> it has to begin in my view by telling the american people what

national interest savannis at s here. >> reporter: in other words, could we be looking at another 9/11? australia is worried and may ways its threat level for the first time ever. >> an elevated level and i'm certainly contemplating seriously the notion of lifting it higher. >> reporter: the white house says the president's strategy includes training and advising iraq's military, getting support from other countries, us specially in the middle east and equipping syrian rebels. meeting with lawmakers tuesday, our sources say the president insisted he does not need more authority from congress. some lawmakers, some republicans, insist that he does, he really ought to be asking for our support whether or not he may think he's authorized to do what he intends to do. >> the constitution is clear. it is the job of presidecongres

the president, to declare war. >> reporter: some democrats think he needs to come back to congress to get the authority. we understand from sources familiar with the sdadiscussion with lawmakers yesterday, the president will not be asking for more, extra money, to expand this campaign. >> tracie potts in washington, d.c. thank you. msnbc will have live team coverage of the president's address to the nation. chris hayes, andrea mitchell, rachel maddow and reverend al sharpton. special coverage begins tonight right here at 8:00 on msnbc. the lifted of companies cutting ties is growing. cross off nike, ea sports from madden nfl 15 and the ravens doing a jersey swap. je ne rice is supporting him.

her husband telling espn, we have a lot of people praying for us, i have to work through this. the nfl's boss is finally addressing the tape controversy. >> we had not seen any videotape of what occurred in the elevator. we assumed that there was a video. we asked for video, but we were never granted that opportunity. >> also, ravens management owner steve bisciottisciotti saying wd have pursued this vigorously. we didn't and we were wrong. surviving democratic primary challenges, beating a progressive critic. republican scott brown is expected to win in the new hampshire primary rounds out the senate primary season. the former senate from massachusetts goes on to

challenge jeanne shaheen. and martha coakley, who lost to scott brown in 2010's senate race, beat out two other opponents beating our two other women ever elected to governor of massachusetts. and now the fourth house incumbent to lose a primary. he lost to iraq war vet seth fulton. recently openeded up about having two abortions for medical reasons. wendy davis explains why she didn't reveal her personal story during her famously long filibuster over a restrictive abortion bill and instead chose to share it in her upcoming book. here's part of her interview with msnbc's rachel maddow. >> i didn't want to make that day be about me. i wanted it to be about the thousands of women and their spouses or partners who supported them, who had wanted so desperately for their voices

to be heard. this book is my personal story. it's not a political story, and as i reflected on writing about how i became who i am and why it is that i fight for the things that i fight for, i wanted to put it all out there, and to be real. a philadelphia teenage sir lucky to be alive after a bizarre incident at a train strags. it began when this 16-year-old tried to swipe his pass over school yesterday. got into a scuffle with transit police after getting into an argument with the train clerk. ran away and boarded the train. somehow got on top of the train. as another train was passing, jumped osier to the roof of that one and eventually came back down and was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer among other charges. worried about being single you should know you are not alo alone. for the first time since 1976,

single folks make up more than the population. just last month, 52.4% of americans were single. in 1976, the number was 37.4%. so many jokes and so little time. yep. take a look at this. that is toronto's mayor rob ford and boxing great tyson together. tyson is in toronto for his one-man show, and the crack-smoking mayor and he spent about 40 minutes together. the meeting was private but tyson seemed impressed saying the best mayor in their history. wouldn't you like to be a fly on that wall? >> is that where the term cray cray comes from? >> maybe. the cowboys owner accused of sexual assault. a former stripper says jerry jones assaulted her in 2009.

photos allegedly related to the claim surfaced with jerry jones and multiple females. his attorney says it's an attempt to extort and embarrass him. and nba finals history. phoenix mercury destroying the chicago sky in the wnba finals. game two of the best of five series. next one friday. boxer floyd mayweather hangs up his gloves next year. fourth bout is saturday. the 37-year-old remains undefeated 46-0 with 26 knockouts. a little bittersweet news for a former nfl-er. sentenced to five years in jail for violating probation but won't have to go to jail saying the time he served in montana for breaking into a home to steal prescription drugs, that

that will suffice instead. detroit's good fortune on monday night against the new york giants is rubbing off. detroit lions players, johnson and bush in the stands for the detroit tilers taking on kansas city. detroit wins to tie for the division league. help your fellow detroiters, right? >> that's right, richard. thank you very much. and now take you outside of las vegas. extreme weather scene. roads turned into dangerous rapids, an empty van seconds of disaster. the ma man tries reach it. swallowed up. seconds later, that man resurfaces. unbelievable seen in the desert. here with your wednesday forecast. bill karins, can you imagine going through something like that? >> going down, in a hole like that. no. i can't. that was yesterday. thankfully that's over. overnight a new life-threatens situation in missouri and areas aaron omaha. water rescues last night. this storm system is moving across the country. there's a lot of moisture with

it. getting drenched across the midwest and that's sliding into the great lakes and ohio valley today. flash flood watches in effect for much of wisconsin, northern illinois, northern indiana and flood warnings galore in southern iowa and northern missouri just got slammed last night. not a misprint on the kirksville, missouri, rain gauge. nine inches of rain in the last 24 hours. much of that happening in the last five hours. extreme flooding in that area is ongoing, life-threatening flooding and watch two to three inches of rain totals quickly adding up in illinois. severe weather along with it. 24 million people at risk of severe storms today and all the nasty weather heads to d.c. thursday afternoon. how does free furniture sound. plus, ferguson, missouri's

first hometown meeting since the shooting controversy, and it got heated. that's next. 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 no more calling around. no more hassles. start shopping from a list of top-rated providers today. angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. visit angieslist.com today.

when la quinta.com sends sales rep steve hatfield the ready for you alert, the second his room is ready. you know what he brings? any questions? can i get an a, steve? yes! three a's! he brings his a-game! the ready for you alert, only at laquinta.com! lactaid® is 100% real milk? right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort. exactly, because it's milk without the lactose. and it tastes? it's real milk! come on, would i lie about this? [ female announcer ] lactaid. 100% real milk. no discomfort. come on, would i lie about this? frommy family and is to love ice cream. however some of us can't enjoy it without discomfort. so we use lactaid® ice cream. it's 100% real ice cream just without the lactose. so now we all can enjoy this favorite treat. my golden years will not just be gold plated. i had 3 different 401(k)s. e*trade offers rollover options and a retirement planning calculator. now i know "when" i'm going to retire. not "if."

let's get down to business. >> a band releasing "songs of innocence" for free via itunes. making the announcement during the release of the apple watch and that equates to half a billion people worldwide. microsoft reportedly is in talks to buy the maker video game "mind craft" for more than $2 billion adding to microsoft the xbox business lags behind sales of sony's playstation 2 today. >> that's huge, my nephew tells me. and in the news, just went mad. right now timothy ray jones jr. in custody after the bodies of his five children ages 1 to 8

were found yesterday. he hasn't been charged but confessed. police reportedly arrested him for driving his blood-soaked cadillac high on marijuana claiming the children were plotting to kill him. in ferguson, missouri, a county judge denied two petitions to release the juvenile records of michael brown, the 18-year-old shot and killed by a police officer last month. and shouting at the city council meeting. this followed deluges of anger like this. >> we want to tell you it's not no game. we want answers. we want your jobs and we want an end to all the practices that you guys -- it's not new, you've been doing it a long time. >> this is your city. it has to be you. if it's not you, then it needs to be someone else. >> was the president turned away from new york golf courses over

labor day weekend? some clubs refused the commander in chief because they didn't want to shut everything down and inconvenience members who pay $100,000 a year. don't go away. "scrambled politics" is coming up next. don't just dream of being the hero. make it happen. i can't believe we're missing the game for this. we're not-- i've got xlte. it doubles our 4g lte bandwidth in cities nationwide, so be that guy with verizon xlte. now get 1gb of bonus data, and our best pricing ever on the more everything plan.

definitely not routine. and that can take a lot of energy. nature valley breakfast biscuits. four biscuits, 26 grams of whole grains that give you the energy to help keep you going. i love nature valley breakfast biscuits.

formerer vice president dick cheney had a closed door meeting to discuss foreign policy issues. yep, wanted to sit down with them and have a real heart to --

whatever is in there at this point. >> that's jimmy fallon. and a first look at "scrambled politics." monica wehby, republican challenger to senator merkley. suie a plaintiff over gay marriage. she will join four other republican senators who support gay mag if she wins. fran miller, dumbing down on rationale behind ending sunday voting before the general election. citing a local journalist who explained the area that will implement sunday voting is "dominated by african-american shoppers and is near several large african-american megachurches." he added it's "blatantly a partisan move from democrats like michelle nunn." later he wrote, i would prefer for educated voters and a dr greater increase in the number of voters.

a "wall street journal" poll shows a drop in vulnerability for hillary clinton. 43% of voters have a positive view of the potential presidential candidate and compared to 69% when there was a more positive view of her. and senator cory booker's generosity. the democrat from new jersey donated 81% of his income to charity. among the groups, american cancer society and local charity. happy belated birthday to new jersey governor chris christie. later mitt romney will headline a party for him in new jersey. tickets range from $150 to $25,000. more than 1,000 tickets were sold. that's your morning dish of "scrambled politics." joined this morning by ed o'keefe from the "the washingto pos post". glad to see you here. poll numbers showing the

president's job rating on foreign policy continues to plummet. the president faces a skeptical nation here. what does he need to say tonight and what shouldn't he say especially to reassure the people on the eve of 9/11 and his first-time speech on tearer in a long time? >> primetime speech really on anything. based on conversations with republicans and democrats who represent americans up on capitol hill, they said so far this week he's got to be very specific what it is he's trying to do and specifically explain how it is this group is a threat to the united states. if he does that, it's expected you'll see republicans and democrats rally behind hick quipquip quickly and like lib the support of americans. i saw in the w"wall street journal" poll, the two journalists killed by isil. highest percentage of tracking a news story, at least based on your poll showing you how much

of a concern there is in this country. the president really has to acknowledge that, seize on it in hopes of holding on to support and boosting what are miserable numbers for him, in your poll and our "washington post" poll when it comes to foreign policy. >> anything to stay away from? cautious about anything in particular as far as not saying any particular thing? >> i suppose he doesn't want to share all the details so that if members are isil are watching they get a sense what it is he's going to do, but he's just got to come across as really strong and declarative, a good sense why it is he wants to do this and sort of appear as commander in chief. make it clear he's looking out for the united states, and that he's determined to do something about this. this is a president who's been war-weary, as has americans but in this case it looks as if there's real support for him to it be declarative. >> when it comes to american's lack of confidence in the proceed, how much do we consider the optics what he's doing outside of the white house?

on "meet the press," hitting the links wasn't the greatest thing to do after addressing the family of foley and tried to play golf and was denied. should he be playing golf? how does that come into play? >> that's causing the numbers to tank overall. a summer he seemed misguided and disinterested in the minds of many americans. admitted he's got to work on that. >> if he can recover. appreciate it. >> take care. the "first buzz" just ahead. why you shouldn't run sbiraroun the oval office, and news that raising eyebrows. stay with us. in life, there are things you want to touch, and some you just don't. introducing the kohler touchless toilet.

the no-touch flush for your home. fancy feast broths. they're irresistabowl... completely unbelievabowl... totally delectabowl. real silky smooth or creamy broths. everything she's been waiting for. carefully crafted with real seafood, real veggies, and never any by-products or fillers. wow! being a cat just got more enjoyabowl.

fancy feast broths. wow served daily. but they don't yet know we're a family. we're right where you need us. at the next job, next adventure or at the next exit, helping you explore super destinations. and do everything under the sun. twelve brands. more hotels than anyone else in the world. so wherever you want to be, whatever you want to do, chances are we're already there. for a chance to win one million dollars, visit wyndhamrewards.com

bill karins and richard lui joining me at the desk. starting with a controversial story out of a high school in california regarding their mascot. >> coachella, high school, frances and bill, mascot called the era before. they then changed the mascot, the name to, the mighty arab, and this is after there was concern from an anti-discrimination group. the american arab anti-discrimination committee. it was approved, the new logo is, and the new mascot, the mighty arab, approved by the school commission, the school board as well as the anti-discrimination group. >> all approved? >> all approved. >> wow. >> however, when you go to the website, taking a look at it. they still have the old mascot, sort of an angry-looking character with one tooth on it, and at one point -- >> like a big opposition group trying to push against this. >> that may just be starting?

>> right. again, a naming of a group and you've got these caricatures, if you will. >> i'm sheer we'll hear from this. and also pizza boxes, when you have pizza delivered, brought to your home. look at this great idea. instead of tossing it, eco friendly. perforated the box to make plates and the other folds up like tupperware for your leftovers. it's cool. a lot of whole foods are doing this with this pizza boxes. >> i like that. >> isn't that cool? >> yeah. >> already out there. >> this is aal to. >> another reason to eat pizza. >> as if you need another reason? all right. and why you shouldn't run around when it comes to the oval office at the white house? >> a couple places you get nervous. to the airport, a church, a wedding, added oval office. a secret service agent was visiting, having his family meet the president.

obviously, the president and the secret service agent chatting. he was bored as can be and did what we all would do at a little child. face plant right in the couch. this is "first look" on msnbc. i think the president has been specific about what the end game is. the president believes we need to degrade and ultimately destroy isil. that is the end game. president obama making his case tonight on be how to eliminate the threat of isis. this as new nbc news polling shows many americans feel less safe than before 9/11. je ne rice speaking out on what the violent video has done to her family, as the nfl commissioner says that he never saw the full tape of ray rice until this week. and then on a much lighter and a much chillier note in the cooler. kim kardashian accepts the als

ice bucket challenge. do not mess up the hair and selfie-making device. this is "way too early." you were away? you were away. hi, everybody. thomas roberts. it's wednesday, september 10th. the ice bucket challenge, you can still donate and just found out jen was never challenged to the bucket. never challenged to the bucket. we'll have to figure out a way to get her challenged to the bucket. she was away on vacation during that stuff. and a jam-packed show. we begin at the white house, president obama hours away now from unveiling his plans to confront islamic state militants in iraq and syria. addressing the nation at 9:00 eastern time and is prepared to