will testify at the senate hearing on isis. it follows yesterday's hearing where joint chief of star martin dempsey opened the door to the possibility of using american boots on the ground against isis. >> my view, at this point, is 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. >> but the white house quickly responded saying general dempsey was speaking hypothetically and reintegrated president obama's pledge of no american combat forces in the battle against isis. and from isis today a new propaganda video that appears to warn of attacks against the united states. in the video clips a previous attacks on u.s. forces. a quick picture of the white house, and then flames engulfing pictures of u.s. troops.

nbc news capitol hill reporter is with us. luke, what is the latest you're hearing, especially concerning the challenge it may face in the senate. >> the first vote is in the house of representatives. while it's expected to pass, there will be some bipartisan opposition. so much so that yesterday the majority leader, kevin mccarthy, told the president we're going need some democratic votes. those are votes that nancy pelosi and her deputies pledged to move forward. they should be okay. what you're seeing the bipartisan rise up is in two areas. number one, there are a lot of members, some libertarian, some even liberal, who feel that congress should have to authorize any type of specific action against isis in a more large scale. not simply to prove the funding for the free syrian army to carry this mission forward. number two, you're seeing people that say, look, we don't want to

spend anymore of the money in the area. this is conflict going on thousand of years. you're seeing the libertarians join together in opposition. it should pass but it's not going to be as resounding as a vote as it would have perhaps last week after the president spoke. you talked about john kerry on the introduction. he is testifying before a senate panel today. he's going before the house foreign affairs committee tomorrow. we expect him to get a lot of questions not only about the ground troops comment that general dempsey made but the coalition, a large scale international coalition that includes arab countries and allies. how much are they willing to contribute? even people on capitol hill, tamron, who support the mission they say we don't want to be stuck paying for it all. we don't want to be stuck getting shot at. we want the saudis next to us, the jor dane begans. expect kerry to get a lot of questions he thinks is going incur in terms of a large scale

international coalition. >> and, again, luke quickly going back to the senate. i know, the house is certainly the focus. but as our first read team notes if a senator objects if it passes the house they could vote to delay any action here and that could create a whole another set of problems as the concern right now is that some of the senators may start to worry about some of the information coming out. dempsey's remarks and what they could learn from secretary kerry. >> certainly the way in the levers work. if the house pass it is it's easier to stop and die in the united states if one senator has a large scale objection. that is a worry as more information trickles out. the worry that you mention specifically is ground troops. but your also hearing from the conservative side is the idea we want to do more. it's not enough that giving these arms to the free syrian

army lacks direction. they could be turned around and used on us. we need a more large scaled approach. that's an issue. those are the issues you'll see debated in the senate. it could be problematic in the short term. right now it appears they have the votes in the house. it should be able to get through the senate within the certain facet of funding the free syrian army. but tamron, make no mistake. there's a lot of opposition to the president's current strategy and make no mistake there probably will be a large scale debate that continues on when congress comes back after the midterm, if it's an issue, which it probably will be. the house homeland security committee is holding a hearing on the threat posed by isis and other terrorist organizations. jay johnson is testifying. we're monitoring that hearing and will bring you any significant developments. meantime, a naturalized u.s. citizens living in roch esthest

new york has been indicted on trying to aid isis. pete williams joins us live. what do we know about the allegations? >> first of all about the hearing, ha they're saying they know of no specific or credible threat from isis or any other terror organization. but they are concerned that as these numbers of terror organizations proliferate, they're in more and more competition to each other. what secretary johnson said is if you want to claim you're the biggest and baddest terror organization, you have to try to strike the u.s. it is a concern. the man you're talking about came to the attention of the government after posting on social media. he's from rochester a naturalized citizens in yemen. accused of buying handguns from two men he didn't know were

undercover informants for the fbi. he told them he wanted to target military personnel returning from the middle east. in new charges recently filed, prosecutors say he urged those same two men to go to syria and join isis. he helped one of them guess a passport, obviously they never intended to go. he didn't know that. and the fbi said elgeeh send $600 in a man urging him to go to syria there. thank you very much for the details. greatly appreciate it. thank you for updating us on the developments out of the hearing. let me bring in democratic congressman gregory meeks of new york. a member of the house foreign affairs committee that secretary kerry will testify before tomorrow. let me get your reaction to the comments made by general martin dempsey opening the door the possibility when you look at options of u.s. troops on the ground in the fight against isis. as we well know, the white house said that the general was simply

speaking hypothetically and the president reintegrated no boots on the ground. in reality, can that be guaranteed? >> well, it was hypothetically, as the general said. he can only make a recommendation to the president of the united states. the president of the united states makes a final decision. and for me, when i look at the president and his word, you know, there are precedents of which you can judge. for example, over in libya, he did throughout the coalition, said that the united states would do air strikes and out at a certain time. that was what took place. when i looked at the president's ability to bring together coalitions he's done in the past and show we can work together he has done that in the past. which gives me the feeling that he'll be able to do it again in the future. you can see that when he brought the sanctions against iran. the most comprehensive sanction bringing nations together and bringing together for the p5+1. when you look at the current situation with our nato allies working and bringing them

together. clearly, what the president is doing here is working, bringing countries together that have direct interest in this like saudi arabia, like jordan, we have turkey, we have to work and train some of the syrian opposition who have been properly vetted and make sure they are our troops on the ground because it needs to be others that are troops on the ground and not the united states. because those are the ones that have something at stake and cannot appear to be us and us alone. >> let me ask you this, and this is one of the i know that the white house said we're operating under hypothetical. under the term or the phrasing that the white house used a hypothetical scenario presented by our first read team is that general dempsey was floating out a trial balloon that the administration is essentially trying to see what the american public would say, as you know there's a concern about mission creep and the words of the

possible option of boots on the ground being american troops is a trial ballooned by the administration to see what comes back >>well, it's been my judgment this administration has conducted its foreign policy not based upon what is popular with the american people or by a poll. you can't do foreign policy like that. some have been criticizing him to do something more urgently. not be as deliberative as he has been. he has been, and some criticize him, for being thoughtful as he has been. i think he'll be the thoughtful president he has been. taking the criticism by many that he doesn't work based upon emotion and move quick enough but he's being thoughtful, deliberate. trying to dot every i and cross every t to make sure we are successful. >> let's go to the vote regarding aid to iraqi soldiers and the concerns that some of your fellow democrats expressed in the debate yesterday. let me play a bit of what we heard. i want to get your reaction.

>> we have trained and equipped iraqi soldiers for over a decade. for what? watch them shed their uniforms and turn their weapons to isil. is that what we're doing here? >> rejecting the resolution today does not mean that we should do nothing. there is a significant difference between confronting the savagery of isis and initiating a multiyear war in the region. >> your reaction from, again, fellow democrats. >> my reaction is this. clearly there has been concern, but what happened with the al maliki government in iraq who performed in a sectarian way. he isolated the sunnis and the kurds. now that's another reason why movement did not go as quickly as some wanted. the president had to wait until there was the a right government in place in iraq to try to bring those together. i had a meeting we on the

foreign affairs committee with the prime minister of kurdistan. he talked about how they're ready to stand up and unite and work with other sunnis who had been disaffected by the former administration in iraq. what is taking place now is a coming together. we know that in iraq the kurds are red did toy stand up. they have proven that. according to what i've been told by a number of individuals. i was in the region. i went to europe not too long ago. i am calling in ambassadors myself to have from jordan and saudi arabia and looking to do trips there, too. because, you know, you want to make sure you want to verify. >> but you know, congressman. those are the same things that people said about the iraqi army that they were ready and they could handle battles on their own as pointed out, by, again, james mcgovern. we watched, trained, equipped only to have iraqi forces essentially strip off their uniforms and run.

how concerned are you that the free syrian army may do the same thing. >> part of the question they ran was the lack of leadership. and individuals within the iraqi government who held them at bay. what you see now, in some of the soldiers, as at least i talked to some of the kurdish friends, are ready to walk the kurds and feel they will stand up because they have the ability to fight and will be vetted. we won't have that bad maliki government we had previously. i think that, you know, can you guarantee something 100%? i don't know in life you can guarantee 100%. but i don't know that you can put your best effort forward. you have to have confidence in the vetting procedures. because guess what? one of the things we know, we know that isil is trying to move and destroy a number of individuals. we know that the people in syria are against isil as well as against eye saed aside.

they don't have the skills, technique, or equipment to do that. once we vet them in order for them to protect themselves and their families and local villages and communities, they need to be equipped, trained, and we believe if they're vetted properly those are the individuals that can be the forces on the ground so there are no american troops on the ground. we can aid them through the air. >> congressman, thank you so much for your time. we appreciate you joining us. thank you, sir. >> good to be with you. the other major story we're following in less than an hour. officials from the vikings will speak to reporters. this as the nfl responds to the team's decision to suspend peterson over child abuse charges. we're getting new information from the players union that a aidai adrian peterson made the decision to step off the field to deal with the issues. was he suspended or did he make the big call? join our conversation

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the welcome back. the nfl is praising the vikings' decision to reverse course on the adrian peterson. the players' union was saying it was voluntary. they released a statement. peterson was supposed to return to practice today but overnight the team announced he was ban from all team activities. a move the nfl called a, quote, good decision. his lead comes after the team faced heavy criticism including from the state's governor, mark dayton, who called the child

abuse allegations against peterson a public embarrassment and radson hotel suspended the sponsorship. sponsorships are raising concerns about the scandal. anheuser-busch send a message saying we're not satisfied with the league's handling of behaviors that clearly go against our own company culture and moral code. the league is promising more action will be taken but so far hasn't laid out what will entail. meantime late last night the nfl play player's union formally repealed ray rice's suspension. >> cindy, you have fans across the board today saying must be the money. that's why we saw this change of heart with the viegings.

>> i think you saw that, tamron, when anheuser-busch said we're taking a hard look. radison was a local sponsor. no big deal. the tide of opinion shifted against having peterson play. that's why you're seeing the nfl players union saying peterson is deactivating after the owner said he was going to play. because the team got beaten soundly last week. and the governor himself is against this. there's a huge pending deal with district tv that is being negotiated that could mean annual lly $1.4 billion for the nfl. how they handle the case could have a big impact how it turns out. >> in what way? you have the nfl. it's a moneymaker. these advertisers bring in dollars being associated with the nfl. money they could potentially lose as well.

>> you're absolutely right. as we saw in the last couple of weeks, tv ratings have minun't hurt. they have been terrific. anheuser-busch, which is a big advertiser, if they're not convinced that all is okay with the nfl and the proactive steps are going to be taken going forward, somebody like direct tv, which makes the money off s subscriptions are saying i don't know about paying so much money going forward. >> only radisson seem to take the defined, you know, role as leader corporation and pull the plug. where as pepsi and others have used strong language but at this point it remains a the rhetoric level. >> those are the national sponsors the big ones paying the big money. that's why anheuser-busch's comment could be a shot across the bow and a warning sign. goodell and announced the

committee of four women to take a look at the type of stuff. i think they have to do more. they have to join forces with the players' union. they can be an an -- domestic violence, drugs, all of these types of things. because it's a huge brand. with social media now, the leagues have to be proactive to get ahead of the kufb and deal with it. >> cindy, they center to be ahead of the curve but they are behind it on every step of this scandal. adrian peterson, you know, we went to bed he was going to be at practice. we wake up and now there's this back and forth of did he voluntarily leave the team. did the team show him the door at least temporarily. adrian sent out a tweet overnight saying in a spiritual quote, don't allow any

distractions to knock you off course. the vikings statement said we want to be clear we have a strong stance regarding the protection and welfare of children. we want to be sure they get it right. they want to get it right but it seems as if they don't know what is right. >> it seems like every step of the way since the ray rice video broke a week ago monday they've been bumbling. it's shocking for a league like the nfl if it does anything well it's manage a story. control the narrative. distract people. you know, look. football. and general everyone watches football and the problems get resolved. that doesn't work anymore. we're learning now that doesn't work. it's a template from 1995. >> and, you know, again, they are not new to scandal in the nfl. let's face it. there have been allegations across the board facing players for many years. and we know not all players end up with a mug shot but the ones

who do are often the high profile. and they give the league this cloud of the attitude that, you know, these guys don't have control and don't respect, you know, the role they have as role models, to be honest with you. here is the rihanna scandal. cbs dropped a planned song one of rihanna's hits to be played at the raven's game. yesterday rihanna tweeted out she was upset. cbs pulled my song last week. now you want to slide it back in this thursday. no. f.u. y'all are sad for penalizing me for this. it's seen as the nfl or someone behind the scenes penalizing her, a survivor of domestic abuse. what is the reaction on that, kren i d cindy? >> it's another reaction of how badly they handled it. it was on the national telecast. the new national broadcast that the nfl is proud of with cbs and

the nfl next. this was a song they were going to use, run the town. her song with jay-z. they were going to use the audio not with her but with the audio. and they could have pushed the story. and in the old days, the nfl would pushed the story forward as, you know, rihanna and her past and, you know, domestic abuse survivor and all that. and now, you know, they pulled it because everybody was nervous. they pulled the song and tried to bring it back. rihanna called them on it profoundly. and then they caved. they pulled back on it and now they're going to do something with don cheed l. they handled the hank williams, jr. so much better. it's a sign of the times in which we live. things happen more quickly now. but, you know, it was just another. every single thing that happens seems to be a misstep for them

right now. >> i think cindy is exactly right. she mentioned the ray rice video. the whole thing with social media. i think what the nfl has to be very careful right now with is the feeling of huber is. the bills along the dregs of the nfl sold for $1.4 billion. right! but you look at the nfl and they're saying to halftime guests the musicians, they tested the waters with you have to pay us to perform! whoa! wait a minute. this is feeling when you're at the top sometimes you can feel unconscionable, invincible. the tv ratings and deals are there. right now is when they have to be the most careful and they have to stay on top of this. >> thank you so much. >> mark said that, you know, said they might not always be on top. maybe they'll be right. >> thank you. police in pennsylvania

identifying the man they believe ambushed two state troopers killing one of them. >> this fella is extremely dangerous. we have no idea where he is in the community. >> now the manhunt intensifies as schools close out of fear for the safety of the kids. plus flash flood watches and warnings are posted as tropical storm odile threatens to dump record rain over the desert. a live report from arizona is up next. here is a look what is happening today. house select committee on benghazi is holding the first open hearing. seven republicans and five democrats sit on the committee to investigate what is being done to protect american diplomats overseas. the general debate open at the 69th session at the u.n. general assembly in new york. it will reveal a flu newly remodelled general assembly hall. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality

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welcome back. what is left of hurricane odile could bring record flooding to the desert southwest. phoenix spend much of yesterday filling up sandbags. up to nine inches of rain is expected for southern arizona and new mexico. forecasters say half a year's rainfall could fall in 24-hours. nbc gab gutierrez joins us from tucson. what is the latest? >> hey. within the past few minutes we learned tropical storm odile has weakened. now to maximum sustained wind of about 40 miles per hour. what is concerning residents in the area is not the wind but the rain. the rain is just started here in tucson. the national weather service expects about 3 to 5 inches of rain here and throughout the region in isolated parts could get anywhere from 6 to 9 inches of rain.

it's the second major rain event and slightly more than a week. last week major rain rolled through killed two people and caused a whole lot of damage. forecasters say that this storm system could cause some areas to get half a year's worth of rainfall in just 2 ho4 hours. here in tucson we're expecting 3 to 5 inches of rain. other isolated parts could get up to 9 inches. >> thank you very much, gabe. minutes from now vice president joe biden will speak to voters in des moines. it's his second trip to the state in just two weeks. it's fuelling, as you already know, more speculation about 2016. we'll be right back. what would happen... if energy could come from anything? or if power could go anywhere? or if light could seek out the dark? what would happen if that happens?

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i know what my money is doing. i rebalanced my portfolio on my phone. you know what else i can do on my phone? place trades, get free real time quotes and teleport myself to aruba. i wish. i have a cold. i took nyquil but i'm still stuffed up. nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. really? alka-seltzer plus night rushes relief to eight symptoms of a full blown cold including your stuffy nose. (breath of relief) oh, what a relief it is. thanks. anytime. developing now more on the more than military response to the threat of isis. at this hour president obama is at u.s. central command in tampa. where he's about to address troops on the u.s. strategy to

gatt isis. also right now on capitol hill testimony by jay johnson, and the fbi director james koem comby on worldwide threats to the homeland. all ahead of a house vote expected this afternoon on the authorization to train and equip syrian rebels. joining me now senior political editor mark murray. i want to play some sound that came it from senator joe manchin. moments ago on the senate floor saying he'll vote no on arming the syrian rebels. let's play that. >> this should be an air ground war and u.s. air war. but i cannot and will not support arming our training the syrian opposition forces. we have been at war in that part of the world for the past 13 years. if money and military mite could have made a difference it would have by now. >> that's similar to what we heard from house democrats as well. >> that is. i'm not surprise bid remarks

from joe manchin. i spoke with him about the wars in iraq and afghanistan. he's a pretty anti-war democrat as far as one who thinks that u.s. treasures should be spent at home rather than abroad. overall it looks like the measure is going to pass the house of representatives and go on to the united states senate. and, of course, getting house votes has not been the easiest thing. there seems to be the majority to be able to do so. >> let's talk about the president's comments. we're expecting here in about 20 minutes. maybe even less. he's in tampa at centcom. some interesti ining points wer brought up we could hear from the president especially comments from dempsey that it would be an option to put ground troops on the ground. if you look at total and overall strategy. >> that's right, tamron. yesterday joint chief chairman dempsey opened the door slightly to u.s. ground troops the u.s. strategy in iraq and syria does not succeed.

i think one of the questions is was it just a dutiful general going over all options for the president and said, you know, here is one of the recommendations i would have. that's the way the white house portrayed it as. or is it more of a strategy. we know martin dempsey and president obama are close. this didn't seem to be a comment that came out of the blue and president obama has been absolutely adamant there were going to be no u.s. forces, no u.s. ground troops at all. but there is that kind of concern there will be mission creep? and president obama's speech today just a few minutes will have some interesting clues, i think. mark murray, thank you so much for your time. we appreciate it, mark. and right now police in pennsylvania are looking for a man they call armed and extremely dangerous in the killing of one of their own. a full report is next. also, ahead. [ chanting ] yes, anger over the death of michael brown boils over again

at a meeting. the st. louis county commissioner's meeting. top leaders there. it's one of the stories we're following around the "newsnation."

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disturbing new details about the man suspected of ambushing state police in pennsylvania. killing a trooper eric matthew frein is a survivalist who has military style training and hates the government. more than 200 police officers from three states have been looking for him since the attack at the state police barracks friday night. officials released the name and picture yesterday. they don't know where frein is and they're on high alert. >> he's made statements about wanting to kill law enforcement officers, and also, to commit mass acts of murder. this fella is -- as we said, is armed and extremely dangerous.

people should take preindication -- precautions. we don't want anyone coming in contact with him. >> joining me now michael daily from the daily beast who wrote about this manhunt. thank you so much for joining us. in the suspect's father's own words he's lethal. >> his father said he doesn't mis -- the father trained the kid to -- he's not a kid a man now but trained him as a boy to shoot. he was on the high school rifle team. he became a better shot than his father. one thing this guy can do in his life is put a bullet where he want it is to go. >> the manhunt some 200 police officers looking for him. he's been described as a survivalist that hates the government. what else do we know about his background? he's 21. he was arrested for burglary and trying to apparently steal from -- he's a fan of these war

reenactments. he was trying to steal from them. there was pretty much not much after that. he's known to family and friends to be a big government hater, cop hater, and, you know, goes on social media saying he hates this and that. the surprising thing is that more people weren't surprised. a lot of times you get someone like this say he's a quiet guy. i never would have expected it. . >> the trooper killed byron dickinson, his funeral is tomorrow. this small community know the suspect and the trooper who lost their life. they have to be devastated. alex douglas remains critically injured in the hospital. >> it's terrible. he was leaving the station house that night to go home to his family and two little kids. he comes out the front door and

his life is over. >> it's an incredible story the massive manhunt continues as we learn more about this suspect. thank you so much. we appreciate you joining us. more than a thousand firefighters are trying to save a small town in northern california. that tops our look at stories around the news nation. the fire in the town of weed. fire officials say 150 homes have been damaged or destroyed. some residents about a quarter of the town has been burned. >> the country and the world are looking to see if we can bridge this divide. [ chanting ] >> an angry crowd interrupts the st. louis county council meeting last night with chants of arrest darren wilson, the police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old michael brown last month. protesters pack the meeting. and demanding county officials

resign or be voted out of office. they threatened to shut down the cardinals and rams games this sunday. take a look at this. a motorcyclist from russia is lucky to be alive after shocking incident caught on tape. the rider ran a red light. slammed into two cars flipping off the bike, landing between the cars. he was not seriously hurt. that's amazing. the case of nascar tony stewart is going to a grand jury. the ontario county district attorney said the grand jury will decide if stewart will go on trial for the death of the young driver he hit and killed on a small sprint car racetrack last month. nbc has the story. >> good morning, tamron. this was an exhaustive investigation that took more than a month. basically what the district attorney is saying now is that he's going to send it to the next step. a grand jury is going to look at

the evidence and decide whether or not tony stewart should be charged with a crime. >> this is been one of the toughest tragedies i've ever had to deal with. >> tony stewart just hit that guy! >> 23 men and women will decide whether criminal charges should be filed against stewart for that moment last month that took the life of fellow race car driver kevin ward, jr. the ontario county district attorney announced tuesday he's turning over the investigation into ward's death to a grand jury. >> the question was what was in his mind at the time. did he do it intentionally or nenltly or simply an accident? >> stewart insists it was an accident and issued a statement tuesday saying i respect the time and effort spent by the sheriff's department and district attorney in investigating this tragic accident. i look forward to the process being completed. i'll continue to provide my full

cooperation. grand jury proceedings in new york are strikely confidential. the da. would not say who might be called as witnesses. the evidence presented will likely include that youtube video showing stewart's car and ward's number 13 colliding on a dirt track. ward gets out of the car and as steward comes back award the track appears to walk toward stewart's approaching car and ward is hit. 12 of the 23 grand jury jurors would have to agree to indict. as for nascar it said it's monitoring the situation and we're hearing that tony stewart will be racing again in new hampshire. >> kristen, thank you. developing now we're awaiting remarks from president obama about isis after he just received a briefing from top commanders and toured the joint operation center at centcom. a live report from the white house is next. here we go. ♪ fifty omaha set hut

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president obama very soon. he's at the u.s. central command headquarters in tampa, florida. the president just received a briefing from his top military commanders. . on the plan to destroy isis. nbc's kristen welker will join us live now. the president will thank the troops we see in the audience. >> reporter: that's going to be a big focus of the speech. those troops are some of the service members who helped in the missions in iraq and afghanistan. you're going to hear president obama thank them for their service. and he's also going to map out the strategy ahead when it comes to trying to combat isis. those are among the service members who are going to be a part of that effort, as well. i'm told that the president's remarks is also going to focus on the importance of building this international coalition that we have been speaking so much about over the past several days, tamron. and he will likely give some examples of some countries who are stepping forward and who have agreed to join in the international coalition.

the white house has been very hesitant to give specifics because they're still in the process of getting the commitments from each country. so before they come out and announce a big broad coalition, they want to be very careful. i think you will hear president obama speak to that. and i am also told, tamron, he's going to reiterate no u.s. troops on the ground in combat role. that is, of course, significant, because these remarks come on the heels of the comments made yesterday by chairman dempsey. he, of course, made headlines by saying he could see a scenario in which he would recommend putting u.s. combat forces on the ground in iraq and syria. a lot of people said, wait a minute, is this the beginning of mission. the white house has been down playing the comments saying he was speaking in hypotheticals. and i had a conversation with a senior administration official who says, look, the president has not at all changed his strategy or policy when it comes to that. there are not going to be u.s. combat forces on the ground. and you will hear the president

reiterate that today. the other significant component of this speech, tamron. it is a part of the full-court press that this administration is putting on to try to build up public support for the president's strategy. to arm and train syrian rebels. of course, that is something that the house is debating today. i am told by my sources on capitol hill, it is expected that legislation will pass with bipartisan support. and congress goes on recess at the end of the week. the white house wants to make sure it passes. president obama reaching out to members of congress to lawmakers individually over the past several days, tamron, to make sure that legislation doesn't go through. >> thank you very much, kristen. >> and there's a lot going on this morning. here's some things we thought you should know. a u.s. citizen under arrest for trying to swim to north korea.

the man reported to be of arabic descent and in his late 20s. arrested tuesday night while trying to swim across the river from south korea into north. he allegedly wanted to meet kim jong-un. the house of representatives has passed what's being called the no welfare for weed bill. the bill prevents people from using government-issued debit cards to buy marijuana at stores in states where it's legal. it also prevents them from using the cards to withdraw money from atms in those stores. and time for the news nation gut check. it now seems the fallout over the domestic violence scandal has reached the music industry. we talked about this earlier. as mentioned. cbs was supposed to use rihanna's song ahead of lathe lt game. th they scrapped it at the last minute. that did not sit well with the

pop star who herself is a survivor of domestic violence. she tweeted, you pulled my song last week, now you want to slide it back in this thursday. no, "f" you, y'all are sad for penalizing me for this. and now cbs has decided to pull the song altogether, saying beginning this thursday, we'll be moving in a different direction with some of the elements of our thursday night football open. do you agree with cbs's decision to permanently pull rihanna's song from their thursday night football open? go to newsnation @msnbc.com. president obama is at the headquarters in tampa, florida. as we await the president, nbc's kristen welker joins us again from the white house. what do you have for us, kristen? >> reporter: well, president obama will be thanking the troops there. he will be making the case for his strategy to defeat isis. and a key part of that strategy is to get that authorization from congress to arm and train

syrian rebels. as i just said, it seems like the legislation is going to pass with bipartisan support. but there's going to be a lot of debate. you have some democrats saying, look, we're concerned about arming and training these syrian rebels because what if those weapons wind up in the wrong hands. what if they wind up back in the hands of isis? that is the key concern that you're hearing from a lot of democrats. republicans saying this doesn't go far enough. we have to be realistic about this in order to defeat isis, we might need to consider putting u.s. combat forces on the ground. so that's some of the debate that you're going to hear on capitol hill today. and i can tell you that this president has been reaching out to lawmakers individually. i am told that will continue to happen throughout the week. the house, of course, going to vote on the measure today, but the senate likely won't vote until tomorrow. and tamron, this is something that we don't usually see from this president. this full-court press where you see him trying to build up public support through the speech he's about to give. but also, reaching out, making these individual contacts with

lawmakers on capitol hill. it really underscores how critical this is for the white house. the administration telling me that the president right now is going to be almost solely focused on this isis battle, mapping out his strategy, getting lawmakers in congress on board. one more point i'll make, tamron. you're starting to hear more and more debate on capitol hill about whether or not president obama actually needs congressional authority to expand air strikes. the president says he doesn't think that he needs it, but we know some lawmakers disagree with that, including democrat tim kaine who today will be introducing legislation aimed exactly at that. giving congress a vote in this and a voice in this. >> right. >> a lot of lawmakers, though, don't want to vote on this because as you know, it's an election year. >> absolutely. and we heard from joe manchin moments ago on the senate floor. discussing arming syrian rebels, arming and equipping those syrian rebels.

senator manchin saying he would vote no. and he went on to make this point. kristen, that other lawmakers have at least made in their estimate, in their estimation of how this could go out. and he said, we have armed others for some time. and his words, we've been at war in that part of the world for the last 13 years. if money and military might could've made a difference, it would have by now. and that is a similar question, not just from capitol hill, but i think people who might support the idea of arming these syrian rebels with this isis threat looming. but are concerned of what the end result could be. >> that's right. syria is seen as pandora's box, tamron. there's so much -- remember, there's a civil war that has been raging. >> let me pause you for a second, kristen. we see secretary hagel now walking out. let's take a listen here. >> sounds good.

>> well, good afternoon, everyone. that was weak and infirm. good afternoon, everyone. and now we're sounding tampa strong. thanks. secretary hagel, thanks, it's great to have you here. thanks so much for coming. this is, indeed, a wonderful day and a special occasion for all of us here at the air force base. and this is a sharp-looking crowd. it's great to see all of you in for the secretary and the president to be able to spend a little time for you. there's no question you are among america's finest soldiers, sailors, coast guardsmen and civilians. and over the past 13 years, in particular you have played a

central role in the defense of our country and our interest around the globe. indeed, i had the privilege of serving alongside many of you in combat and afghanistan and iraq. and i watched you do remarkable things. selfless things. on behalf of the people of those countries and in support of one another. and so you have much to be proud of. as do your families. and make sure that when you get home tonight, you deliver that message. please let them know that we are grateful for their service and their sacrifices. and we're all very proud of them. our nation and -- >> and good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. president obama has been meeting with the top brass at central command. any moment, he's going to be speaking about the war against isis. and let's bring in kristen welker at the white house. we'll expect the president at any minute. as you know, general dempsey testifying yesterday, the joint chiefs cma