for joining us tonight. >> my pleasure. taking the fight to the terrorists. a special edition of "first look" begins right now with breaking news. target isis, arabs fighting arabs. the u.s., our allies and five arab nations unleash a massive air attack inside syria. u.s. jets pounding 20 targets and isis stronghold. target list, it is big. the life blood of isis. we're talking about weapons dee poes, training sites and command centers. take a look at this amateur video reportedly from inside the strike zone. missiles lit up the night sky.

we are still trying to authenticate the video. as for the air power being used -- it is big and it is destructive. a mix of u.s. fighters, bombers and missiles all launched from airstri airstrips. and the u.s.s. firing tomahawk missiles from the red sea. and one of the most crucial equations in these strikes against isis, the arab allies who assisted the united states. we're talking about saudi arabia, u.a.e., bahrain, jordan and qatar. we have jim standing by live in london. but we want to start with brian moore with the first wave of strikes. >> the pentagon confirms that

president obama gave the green light for this attack allowing his commanders to o put together the fine details, which involved fighter jets, bombs and missiles. all of them it aimed at syria, the self-declared capital of isis and the terrorist army there. u.s. officials say the targets hit include d headquarters area, fuel and weapons depots and the united states did not carry out these attacks alone. it was assisted by partner nations that were not named, but arab countries were among those assisting. this comes on the eve of president obama going to new york and the united nations to press for international cooperation in the fight against isis. while this is a serious significant expansion of the fight against that terrorist group, it is something that is not believed to be a death blow to isis. it's just the beginning of what could be a very long conflict.

>> from fighting isis to escaping the blood r thirsty grip, a big development this morning. turkey has closed its border with syria. the reason? too many refugees. 130,000 men, women and children have poured into the territory. it's so bad they are using water canons to keep people out. inside syria, heavy fighting on the ground. the town sits right outside turkey. kurds are battling isis for control. americans who join isis are back. the fbi is watching them. we do know that at one point, 100 americans went to syria to fight. >> the administration is most worry worried that individuals who trained with isis in the middle east and back in the united states could get access to small arms or home made explosives. >>. i want to bring in jim from our london bureau. let's talk about timing. how significant was the timing

of the strike? >> very significant. on the ground, the forces were about to take over that strategic town. politically speaking, it comes as the general assembly is convening in new york and president obama has already stated that a key reason for going this year is to work the sidelines, continue his efforts to build as big as possible anti-isis coalition. so these strikes will be a clear message to those fence sitters of u.s. seriousness and intent as president obama seeks out more international support. >> we know the u.s. informed the syrian representative about the airstrikes. where does bashar al assad, the president fall into this equation? >> apparently that did happen. the syrian foreign minister did confirm that the syrian

representative to the united nations was informed by the american side before the airstrikes. and that isis would be targeted elsewhere. washington has said it would not coordinate any military operations with the assad regime, it did not want to give assad that kind of credibility because of course, america sees assad as an illegitimate power there. but it sounds like this was a simple phone call by the americans through the intermediator of the foreign ministry to say that basically say what the united states and allies intended to do later. back to you. >> we're still waiting to see what isis does, but in the meantime, are you getting any indication of how successful this first strike was? >> still early days, it's still unclear how effective or successful the operation was. we're likely to find that out later when video has been

analyzed. we do know that at least one group monitoring on the ground, a syrian group, said that fighters were killed or wounded in 20 or so airstrikes on command and control centers in the city, which has become the main stronghold for isis. those casualty figures may appear low because isis is said to have abandon. ed many of its offices and control centers. it's also hidden much of its heavy weaponry, which could be easy targets, after it became clear that the u.s. strikes were imminent. the central command released a statement saying, quote, it has destroyed or damaged multiple targets in 14 airstrikes, including isis fighters and even among other things, including a finance center. so this does sound like it got off to a good start. >> we'll have more throughout

the day. jim maceda, thank you. it's 6 minutes past the hour. in the news, we're learning more about the iraq war veteran accused of hopping the white house fence. he appeared in court yesterday. he had more than 800 rounds of a.m. moe, two hatchets and a machete u at the time. police pulled him over and found 11 weapons including a shotgun. he also had a map of the white house circled on it. he's being held without bail. pennsylvania police si a wave of credible tips has helped narrow the search area for a cop killer. eric frein may be concealed by bunkers and he could be armed. it sparked the summer war in gaza. now two palestinians expected in an abduction are dead. authorities said they died in a

shootout that were involved in a deadly kidnapping of three israeli teens. hamas claimed responsibility for that abduction. over to the israeli skies, a syrian fighter jet is shot down. it happened by the golan heights. the al qaeda group is trying to hold on to it. and the world health organization says the number of ebola cases could hit 21,000 in 6 weeks unless measures are taken. so far 2,800 people have died. let's shift gears and get a look at the national weather outside. it is changing, my friends. >> sweater weather. jacket weather. >> absolutely. fall is here. >> the heat is on in a lot of people's houses. it was a little bit of a shock. we went from pretty warm over the weekend. it's a chilly morning. 42 degrees at the airport in pittsburgh. that's cold. 45 at albany. chilly temperatures in the northeast. jacket weather for the kids as they head to school today. for yourself we're watching the

coastline. this is where we have some rain. we're going to get drenched over the next couple days. a slow-moving storm is going to move through the carolinas and into virginia and through the mid-atlantic. so anyone today especially from savannah to charleston to wilmington, a a good chance of rain for you. that will continue into wednesday. other areas where we're starting out chilly this morning, chicago, pittsburgh, detroit, it's going to be a beautiful afternoon today. even into tomorrow, a lot of great weather across the country. down in florida, we had a lot of rain yesterday. overall it's a nice, quiet start around the country to fall. >> you're nothing but sunshine and good news today. >> this is a good time. early fall is good because you don't get the severe storms. >> enjoy it while it lasts. how stocks are reacting to airstrikes. do you have a patience for an elevator that takes seven days to reach its destination. and "monday night football"

and all your sports highlights, that's next. "hello. you can go ahead and put your bag right here." "have a nice flight." ♪ music plays

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welcome back. 13 minutes past the hour. we're keeping an eye on stocks and oil prices around the globe for reaction to the strikes against isis. stock markets have been unaffected. oil is up slightly and gold inched higher after a nine-month low on monday. the treasury department is cracking down on corporate tax dodgers merging with foreign companies. the obama administration's era of corporate patriotism will make it tighter on ownership requirements. . ups is bringing 3-d printers for customers to use and explore. and a japanese construction firm hopes to have an elevator to space. we're not joking. it should be completed by the year 2050. the 59,000-mile elevator will carry about 30 people at a time

and take seven days to reach its destination. i wonder how much that's going to cost. now for some sports and "monday night football." bears and jets started with a big play. >> from the 46, it's intercepted! >> chicago set the tone with that pick six. just before that half, geno smith cut the lead, 17-13. bennett scores his second td for the night and a pick in the end zone by kyle fuller seals the victory for the bears. to baseball in the final home series of derek jeter's career, the captain has a three rbi game since 2012 in a victory over the o's. and adam wainright notched his 20th win season in their win

over the cubs. the nfl is reporting veteran linebacker james harrison will sign with the steelers in the next few days. he announced his retirement, but he will return to his former team with the approval of his kids first. >> don't want daddy to play football? >> no. yes. >> it yeah. >> and a brawl, check this out, broke out at the cardinals and 49ers game that got pretty gruesome. can you see this? a security guard being choked there and a fan wearing a jersey had to step in throwing some punches just to help the guard out. he tweeted, who was guy in the jersey in the brawl at the cardinals game. contact me. i have some tickets for you. i like that. the airstrikes mark a major

milestone for president obama. the details and what's next, we'll go to washington after the break. it's time to drop your pants for underwareness, a cause to support the over 65 million people who may need depend underwear. show them they're not alone and show off a pair of depend. because wearing a different kind of underwear, is no big deal. join us. support the cause and get a free sample of depend at underwareness.com whenwork with equity experts who work with regional experts who work with portfolio management experts that's when expertise happens. mfs.

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friskies grillers. world reaction to the airstrikes on isis. airstrikes on iz lasmic state bases in syria inadmissible without damascus consent from vladimir putin. an op-ed piece, the

international community has responded just as the jihadists wants. the writer makes an argument against using coalition forces for what he's calling a war with no clear objectives. and the "chicago sun-times," congress didn't authorize war, but we're in one now. the actions could minimize for future votes and the likelihood that congress would deny the president more authorization. the syrian airstrikes mark a major milestone for the obama administrati administration. the president will meet with world leaders. the timing of the airstrikes directly coincides with the world leaders all in one place. tracie potts is in washington this morn. president obama was originally scheduled to talk about climate change today. well, he flipped that script and is talking about airstrikes? >> it's a good yes. as far as we know, he's still going to be involved in the climate change session, but if he has media availability, he's

going to be asked about the airstrikes. and we're learning more from the pentagon. apparently there were 47 tomahawk air missiles that were used along with help from some of our partners in that air strike overnight. >> we'll not hesitate to take action. >> this video unconfirmed by nbc claims to be the aftermath of u.s. airstrikes in syria. jets and bombers attacked strongholds overnight. the pentagon con if you remembers they went after 20 targets. isis headquarters, fuel depots, weapons depots, training sites. the u.s. hinted monday this was coming. >> to backup those local forces as they take the fight to extremist organizations that have may e designs to attack the united states. >> reporter: president obama went to the vice president's home for an event. while there they called lawmakers to give them a heads up about the airstrikes. the islamic state or isis has taken 60 villages in the last

week driving refugees into turkey. the airstrikes are now underway fulfilling president obama's promise. >> if you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. >> starting to get reaction on capitol hill from lawmakers who say the airstrikes may help, but it's going to be the ground war, sunnis fighting isis militants to bring that organization down. >> thank you. i'm joined by political analyst ellis hin began. i want to get your read on this. five arab nations participating in this. more nations could be added to the list throughout the day. but has this move from a regional issue to a global front against isis? >> yes, and the good news is it isn't a u.s. front alone against isis. having arab partners in there is hugely important.

so it doesn't look like us just swooping? and attacking the muslim nation. >> the president of syria bashar al assad has not given consent to these strikes at all. what are we expecting to hear? is it best that he just lay low, don't say much? you can say i disapprove of it, but in the long run, this is what he needs, what he wants. >> it really may advance his aims ironically. we have very low to interact with assad. we have called for his removal. we did not have any productive relationship with him. but in the long run, it may sult his purposes to have us come in there and weaken his isis enemies and maybe his own troops can come in. so it doesn't appear to be strictly a united states affair. >> this is a really delicate dance, especially for the united states. you want to defeat isis, but you don't want to play into the hands of assad. how does the u.s. do that?

with this coalition of forces? does that ease this blow of innocence? >> the bigger the coalition, the better. the more engaged they are. what we're still learning is exactly what role these individual arab states are going to play. will they be part of the airstrikes, ground support, just standing on the sidelines cheering? we don't know the answers to all of that yet, but the more the better. this morning this is actually looking better than it did 12 hours ago. >> why is that? >> it seems that they are giving us genuine support. just a little political cover in the muslim world. we have such bad echoes from iraq and afghanistan. this may be going a little better. >> the u.n. general assembly, we'll probably hear more from many nations to see who is involved. thank you for joining me. scramble politics is next including the kissing congressman returns. a potentially awkward event ahead for hillary clinton. and chris christie's oprah

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27 minutes past the hour. here's your first look at scrambled politics. charlie crist is getting help in his campaign for governor. hillary clinton will join him for a very special dinner reception. but it could be a little awkward. back in '98 at the height of the monica lewinsky scandal, he said bill clinton should resign from office. congress will be off from

campaign i campaigning. they have worked a full week less than 14% of the time. the kissing congressman is running for reelection. vance mcalister was caught on camera kissing a woman that was not his wife. now his wife is trying to help him get reelected in a new campaign ad. >> life is filled with ups and downs. >> but a man's character is based on how many times he gets back up and stands again. >> i'm lucky to be blessed with a family and wonderful christian wife. >> i'm blessed to have a husband who ens up to his mistakes. >> a twitter oops for donald trump. his account tweeted why would the people of kentucky want a rookie senator. they have senator mitch mcconnell who may be next speaker and bring dollars to kentucky. keyword there is speaker. mcconnell is in the senate so he won't be speaker of the house. the tweet was taken down and replaced. "the new york times" reports

chris christie says he lost 85 pounds since his lap band surgery last year. that's him in 2011 on the left. thanks so much for watching scrambled politics. breaking news, the u.s. and arab allies launch airstrikes in syria as president obama plans to make the case at the u.n. the ravens response, the team's owners blasts reports of how they handle d the ray rice incident. does it help or hurt his case? and then a pint-sized football team takes on one very tough banner to a hilarious effect. this is "way too early." we're having too much fun in our temporary studio. i'm thomas roberts.

it's tuesday, september 23rd, welcome tow "way too early." the team normally gets me going in the morning. i run through it. it works out every day. i highly recommend that. it does not work for the kids. we'll show you the video later in the cooler. we start with thebreaking news overnight in syria. the u.s. is beginning a new phase in the assault on islamic militants. the u.s. and five arab allies launched their first airstrikes against isis in syria. they include a mix of tomahawk missiles and fighter aircraft. this video where large explosions can be seen from a distance appears to show the aftermath of one of the first strikes. nbc news has not yet been able to verify its authenticity. . here's what else we know at this hour. officials say 50 airstrikes have hit islamic state targets. many in the self-declared capital.