january 2015. spacex and boeing are supposed to be ready to take humans in 2017. maybe she'll decide she can wait. in 2017. maybe she'll decide she can wait. "first look" is up next. breaking news overnight, a huge about-face for the vikings. early this morning the team ordered adrian peterson to stay away from the team. the manhunt for a surviv survivalist suspected of shooting two state troopers is heating up. >> he has made statements about wanting to kill law enforcement officers and also to commit mass acts of murder. plus, u.s. strategies targeting isis expand as the terror group threatens pope francis. and an american classic hits the auction block. good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us on this wednesday. i'm betty nguyen. breaking overnight, the nfl scandal, adrian peterson banned from all team activities. that means no play time.

the vikings making the move putting peterson on the nfl exempt list until his child abuse case has been resolved. the decision less than 48 hours after he was actually cleared to play on sunday. the vikings' owners have said the new decision was made after additional thought, adding that they appreciated the input they received from their fans, partners and community. now, this comes as the nfl deals with another problem, a very long list of unhappy sponsors. why? the handling of the peterson, ray rice and other domestic abuse scandals. the companies are big spenders. the money at stake, the lifeblood of professional football. anheuser-busch which pumps $200 million into the nfl says, quote, we're not yet satisfied with the league's handling of behaviors that so clearly go against our own company culture. fed fedex, we are watching developments in this matter closely. but nike's tone, much different. saying peterson remains a nike athlete. his product continues to be available.

>> the nfl's like an aircraft carrier hitting a mine. yes, it blows a hole in the hull, but it keeps on sailing. >> all right. so off the field, ray rice has appealed his indefinite suspension, but this morning there is a twist. in 2008, he was given domestic violence and conflict resolution training. it was a must for rookies. well, the nfl says rice never missed a session, but how will his appeal play out in this hypersensitive environment? we will continue to follow it for you. police in pennsylvania say they now know who ambushed two state troopers last week. police believe it was 31-year-old eric matthew freen, and he could be extremely dangerous. during a news conference yesterday, officers said he has made statements about wanting to commit mass acts of murder. nbc's dan schennman has more. >> reporter: armed and extremely dangerous. that's how police describe 31-year-old eric matthew frein.

>> this fellow is extremely dangerous. we have no idea where he is in the community. >> reporter: authorities say it was frein who opened fire killing one and critically injuring another. four days and nights of roadblocks and searches, the lead came in after a resident walking his dogs in the woods approximately two miles from the barracks came across a vehicle partially submerged in a retention and called 911. >> we processed the vehicle and found evidence, specifically shell casings and other things, that matched shell casings we found at the station. >> reporter: police say they have learned that frein has had militarilike survivalist training and had expressed anti-government views to friends and family. >> he has made statements about wanting to kill law enforcement officers and also to commit mass acts of murder. >> reporter: more than 200 police personnel from three states are taking part on the ground and in the air, scouring

the dense woodland for any signs. now they have a name and a face as they search for the suspect they believe killed one of their own. dan schennman, nbc news. today president obama is heading to tampa to meet with military officials who are coordinating the fight against isis. now, this comes a day after the president's top military adviser, general martin dempsey, said he won't hesitate to recommend that u.s. military advisers accompany iraqi troops into combat. if necessary. this contradicts the president's promise of no boots on the ground. also, european news outlets are reporting pope francis is at risk of an assassination attempt by isis militants. iraq's ambassador to the vatican has been quoted as saying there have been credible threats made ahead of the pope's visit to albania this weekend. nbc's tracie potts has the story. >> isis is expanding in numbers exponentially. >> reporter: as the house prepares a quick vote on arming

syria's opposition, president obama's at macdill air force base getting an update from the unit that will oversee the fight against isis. >> it's the men and women of centcom who will partner with others in the region to carry out our limited military mission. >> reporter: limited. no boots on the ground. the president has promised repeatedly. but his top general tells congress -- >> if there are threats to the united states, then i, of course, would go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of u.s. military ground forces. >> reporter: more than 1,000 u.s. soldiers are already there with more on the way. the state department tried to clarify. >> the president's been very clear, we will not have troops on the ground in combat roles, period. >> saying we're not going to have boots on the ground, it just kind of not being totally truthful with the american people. >> reporter: some lawmakers are concerned about arming syrian rebels. >> are we simply arming and training a taliban.

>> reporter: today a vote and testimony from secretary of state john kerry just back from the middle east urging other countries to help. >> tracie potts reporting there. well, a man from rochester, new york, is facing charges that he tried to recruit people to join isis. according to court documents, a naturalized citizen from yemen encouraged three people to travel to syria to fight for the terror group. investigators say he was plotting to kill u.s. troops returning from the middle east. those were the demands at last night's city council meeting in st. louis. the arrest of police officer -- the police officer involved in the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old michael brown. and the recusal of the prosecutor overseeing the case. residents including brown's father and other family members packed the city council chambers. nearly 40 residents spoke at the

meeting, most of them focusing their anger on the investigation. but residents speaking on other issues were booed. and once the meeting ended, supporters of brown's family took their demands outside. meanwhile, the grand jury deciding whether officer darren wilson should be charged with a crime has until january 7th to finish its investigation. the ebola epidemic in west africa is, quote, spiraling out of control. that is what president obama said yesterday after meeting with experts from the centers for disease control and prevention. >> the reality is that this epidemic is going to get worse before it gets better, but right now, the world still has an opportunity to save countless lives. right now. the world has the responsibility to act. >> democratic and republican lawmakers are also pledging increased support for efforts to contain the ebola virus. under a new plan, 3,000 members of the military will help build

treatment centers in africa, but they will not have direct contact with ebola victims. let's shift gears and get you some sports action today. for that we go to richard lui. good morning. >> good wednesday to you, betty. more division titles to talk about on this day. baltimore getting their first a.l. east crown in 17 years. this after they topped toronto, 8-2. the washington nationals, they take the n.l. east title. shutting out the atlanta braves, 3-0. it's their second title in three seasons, doing well. tampa bay presenting retiring yankee derek jeter -- just what he wanted -- a pinstriped kayak. he also got a framed dawn zimmer jersey and $16,000 in donations to his charity. why that number? $50 for every hit he got against tampa bay. >> nice. >> but then this happened. >> okay. >> oh, look out. up and in. and he's hit by the pitch. >> yeah.

tampa bay -- >> jeeteter? >> yeah, jeter shakes it off. joe girardi does not. he gets ejected. right after, yankees' relief pitcher david phelps' pitch nearly hits a tampa bay batter. phelps gets ejected. both benches clear. the rays win that one, 6-1. this still hurts to watch. g stanton. now in this picture here. marlins' manager. >> as bad as it looked. >> mike redmond saying they'll have an official statement today, but it's not looking good for him to return before the season ends. but at least he's got that smile there, being positive. >> yeah, partial smile. i hope he gets better soon. a desperate situation for some 30,000 tourists left stranded by hurricane odile. they had to be airlifted out.

and now residents are coping with the aftermath. odile destroyed homes and knocked out most of the power supply. experts warn of floods and mudslides in the coming days. mean while, the southwest is just starting to deal with odile. >> very good. it has the potential to be a life-threatening situation. we already have flash flood warnings. the new update at 5:00 a.m. from the hurricane center says still a tropical storm. it's only about 150 miles from tucson. so it's pretty ridiculous. this is the second time in ten days that this area is dealing with tropical moisture. and that's never happened in recorded human history before. tucson area, probably the city i'm most concerned with. we could have the potential for flash flooding around the phoenix area. very unusual seeing the radar looking like this in this portion of the country. so far rainfall amounts have been on the lighter side for phoenix and tucson. this is going to go on for about three days. our computers are estimating as

much as six inches of rain in this region. it will eventually push into north carolina and texas. also rain in florida. after a cold morning, a beautiful, beautiful day for many areas from the great lakes to the northeast. >> the bright side of things. >> a little bit of everything. >> thank you, bill. great news for fans of cult classic "easy rider." plus, gas prices below $3 a gallon? we'll tell you about that. but before the break, check this out. an angry mob in kiev did to a member of parliament -- see what they did. yep, he was tossed into the dumpster. put in the trash and had water and trash -- >> can we do that? >> no, we can't, but this parliamentarian had pushed a bill against anti-government protesters in january.

hello! three grams daily of beta-glucan... a soluable fiber from whole grain oat foods like cheerios can help lower cholesterol. thank you! 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. whenwork with equity experts who work with regional experts that's when expertise happens. mfs. because there is no expertise without collaboration. 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!

let's get down to business with cnbc's morgan brennan. good morning, brennan. >> the markets are focused on the fed which wraps up a two-day federal policy meeting. the fed announces its decision at 2:00 p.m. eastern followed by a conference by fed chair janet yellen. they're speculating whether the

central bank will tweak its says post-meeting statement. meanwhile, fedex will hike shipping rates by an average of about 5% starting in january right after the holiday season. that move affects ground, express and freight deliveries. earlier this year fedex announced it would start charging by box size as well as weight. but there is some good news at the pump, at least. expect cheaper gas prices this fall. gasbuddy.com is predicting average prices will drop to as low as $3.15 a gallon. and some 30 states could even see gas fall below $3. now, that's due to lower demand. and as refiners switch to cheaper winter blends. betty, back to you. >> below 3 bucks sounds pretty good. thank you. in california, a state of emergency as wildfires continue to burn. the images are eerie. these taken from the small town of weed near oregon. half of it is reduced to ashes. home after home, gone. some burned to the ground in just 15 minutes.

the damage so far is in the tens of millions of dollars. >> it's gone. i mean, the biggest thing is, you know, all the heirloom stuff, the pictures. >> also gone, two churches that once sat there. both reduced to a pile of charred rubble. the only comfort here, no deaths or injuries. across the state, the news is not much better as 6,000 firefighters tried to stop 11 other wildfires. it was a big day for elon musk's company. last night space-x launched its atlas 5 rocket. it carries a satellite but that's about all we know. its use and the government agency responsible is classified. and then three years after the u.s. retired its space shuttles, nasa makes a major announceme announcement. it has awarded a dual contract to space-x and boeing to take astronauts into space. the companies will split $6.8 billion to certify, test and fly

their space taxis. the project could be ready by 2017. and peter fonda's captain america chopper is up for auction. the harley-davidson may bring in as much as $1.2 million according to the auction house profiles in history. so are the koch brothers losing steam? are female candidates outraising the men? and will jimmy fallon make good on a bet to chicago mayor rahm emanuel? answers in "scrambled politics" next. 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. what's your favorite kind of cheerios?

honey nut. but... chocolate is my other favorite... oh yeah, and frosted! what's your most favorite of all? hmm...the kind i have with you. me too.

all right. get ready. this is your first look at this morning's whopping dish of "scrambled politics." he's been indicted on tax fraud charges. and even threatened to throw a reporter over a balcony in congress. but if voters have their way, congressman michael grimm still has a good chance at being re-elected. a new poll finds him holding a four-point lead over his democratic challenger. so is the koch brothers' political machine in jeopardy? new financial reports show that the key conservative group had a nearly 25% drop in its 2013 fund-raising compared to 2012. is first lady michelle obama behind record-setting fund-raising numbers for female candidates? that's what patricia murphy of the daily beast thinks. senator kay hagen, for example, has outraised her male republican opponent. michigan senate candidate terri

lynn land has raised more than her democratic challenger. the kids read the books. 2.7 million. a record. don't ever bet against the kids this chicago. >> no, siree, they didn't. just a friendly reminder from rahm emanuel there. when he appeared on "the tonight show" earlier this year, jimmy fallon made a promise he would bring "the late show" to the windy city if the kids read more than 2.4 million books. and they did. time to pay up, jimmy. i am joined by "washington post" reporter ed o'keefe. so good to see you, ed. >> good to see you, betty. >> the president's top military adviser seems to be at odds about whether to use ground troops to battle isis. what do you make of martin dempsey's statement to accompany iraqi troops if necessary? >> well, that's what he's supposed to do, not rule anything out.

i think he made very clear that if the situation changes and if it becomes necessary to at least consider ground troops, he's going to do that. that brings pause, of course, to members of both parties on capitol hill, especially because it comes just about a week after the president was suggesting that wasn't going to happen. but you know, members were already sort of dismissing that vow, pointing out that there were already more than 1,000 troops on the ground in iraq. yes, they're only there mostly for embassy security or for military training, but they say you can't really be saying that when we already have personnel in the country and very well might have many more. remember what he said specifically, though, is that these troops would only be sent back into iraq. they would not be involved in possible ground operations in syria. that's still an important distinction. and one that might make it a little easier to stomach given that americans have been there before. >> well, you know, there's a critical house vote today on whether to train and equip syrian rebels, some $500 million is being requested as part of that program. where is this money coming from?

>> ha. how much time do we have? there's basically something called oko, the overseas contingency operation that an account they can dip into to help pay for these types of things. what they're saying right now is they could basically use money in that fund to help pay for this. but that doesn't mean that at some point as general dempsey suggested yesterday, if conditions start to change, that they might need a little more money. but for now, they've been assured that the money can come out of that sort of general fund that's been used to pay for operations in iraq and afghanistan. that's kind of what it's there for. and at some point as these operations continue, likely there's going to have to be a bigger debate how to pay for these things. six hours debate yesterday and today in the house. it will pass easily as part of a bigger spending bill that will go to the senate. that will keep the government open through december forcing a new vote right before the holidays. >> you're a busy man with all this going on. >> it does keep you employed. >> all right. just ahead, kmart wants to be perfectly clear about their

latest ad. and has a legendary competitive eater met his match? "first buzz" is next. lease, please, please, please. [ male announcer ] the wish we wish above all...is health. so we quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. expanded minuteclinic, for walk-in medical care. and created programs that encourage people to take their medications regularly. introducing cvs health. a new purpose. a new promise... to help all those wishes come true. cvs health. because health is everything.

cvs health. machines will be sprayed to be made. and making something stronger... will mean making it lighter. one day, factories will work with the cloud. one day... is today. i read most of the book.. having a baby isn't gonna be that hard. you didn't read the book. i read some of the book. it's all about being prepared. proper nutrition... keeping the romance alive. level 7! and setting a good example. daddy's trying. we are so ready for this. life can surprise you. so can an allstate agent. from savings on a new car, to discounts on a great car seat.

the good hands are doing more than ever before.

well, we don't call it "first buzz" for nothing, folks. >> we shall see. >> and bill, yeah, you've got a lot to live up to. but it's not even christmas yet, and we're talking about it? what? >> it's 98 days until christmas. no company would dare do a christmas commercial yet, would they? >> never. >> hello, america. it's too early for christmas, so just to be clear, this is not a christmas commercial. however -- >> of course it's not a christmas commercial. so ignore those burning logs in the background. and maybe a christmas tree that

will drift behind her head. and eventually the imagery does continue to contain santa, some elves. there go the elves. it's pretty genius, but it's not a christmas commercial. >> no, not at all. >> good job by kmart. when is the last time you saw a kmart commercial get some buzz? >> you've got to stay competitive. speaking of competitive, eating is a competition we all have to stay on top of, apparently. >> kobayashi always going up against joey chestnut. now he takes on the eating hamster. remember those guys who put together the video of the small eating hamster? he's eating regular-sized hot dogs. and the hamster is eating the little mini hot dogs. and they go to the end. guess who wins? there's a little scorecard. >> i'm betting on the hamster. >> yes, the hamster wins, 11-10. >> no. >> yes. 11-10. >> gross. >> look at those little says hot dogs. >> kind of unfair. the hot dogs weren't the same size, right? >> they're not the same size. >> i'm so impressed that he

actually won. >> by one little hot dog. >> he lost his title to a hamster? >> this just came out. you have to admit, that guy can eat pretty quickly. >> he stuffed a lot of them in there. thanks for watching. "way too early with thomas roberts" starts right now. my view at this point is that this coalition is the appropriate way forward. i believe that will prove true, but if it fails to be true and if there are threats to the united states, then i, of course, would go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of u.s. military ground forces. >> ground troops. the chairman of the joint chiefs does not rule out using them in the fight against isis. so is the white house backing up that statement? breaking news this morning, the minnesota vikings reversing its decision and announcing that adrian peterson won't take part in team activities while facing child abuse charges. and on a much lighter note, we have a special guest for you in our "way too early to call"

wake-up call today. and i believe she has a major personal announcement to make. that is not her hair, so this is a great tease. stay tube ned. we're going to reveal her identity in just a few! this is "way too early"! ♪ orioles magic ♪ feel it out there ♪ o-r-i-o-l-e-s ♪ magic magic magic good morning, i'm thomas roberts. it is wednesday, september 17th. welcome to "way too early," the show that has never been so excited for the "b" block. orioles big news! also, we have some "way too early to call" props. that's right, the blue phone has turned. i'll give you a tease coming up. and maybe you can figure it out, because the hair we had in that graphic, not going to help. help you figure it out. do