good morning. danger zones. severe storms and flooding in the nation's midsection. a mudslide in washington state. dangerously hot weather across the south and now a tropical disturbance swirling in the caribbean could be set to take aim at the u.s. we are tracking it all. police misconduct. two officers involved in policing the protest in ferguson, missouri suspended over something they said as the community tries to come together in the wake of the michael brown shooting. and field of dreams. las vegas squaring off in the

little league world series as the boys put it on the line. we take you there live for all the excite maryland, today, saturday 23rd, 2014. announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with lester holt and erica hill. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday morning. i'm lester holt. >> i'm alongside jenna wolfe. we have precious cargo on this set. >> we do. >> we do. who is the precious cargo. >> i was like are you pregnant? yeah. >> what are you trying to do to me. >> you have five children? >> three, you have two. >> i have two. >> i'm going to bring up the rear with one. i am expecting my second. thank you very much.

we are not doing that. she is guesting here. she has no idea what she's talking about. it's wonderful news, we are so, so excited. >> we are going talk more about it later. coming up, we have been keeping a close eye on a high profile murder case in texas. the man who killed his two sons. emotions are running high on all sides of the case. we'll have the latest. >> we are going switch gears. two small businesses were weeks away from going out of business. we brought in anexpert to try to turn things around. how are they doing now, this morning? we'll get the answer. we want to begin with the severe weather threat facing a huge section of this country. maria is watching it all. good morning. >> good morning. a lot is happening. itis been an intense 24 hours. this is the scene in kansas. the clouds showed residents that

storm was coming, bringing with it the heavy rain, major, major flooding. this is cheyenne county, colorado. many contending to hail that came down very, very quickly. check out the scene in north central washington state. mudslide after rains in that area. one home knocked off its foundation. still incredibly active now. let's start with that. we have the same area, they are calling it with ring of fire. above the ridge of high pressure, a string of storms. that is going to continue. a lot of lightning and heavy rainfall. on top of that, it is on the move. we are going to continue to see a rain producer. can we talk about the snow on the map? winter weather advisories for montana. three to six inches of snowfall 6,500 feet. it's a problem for campers. we have three to six inches of rain expected. lester?

>> thanks, we'll get the rest of the forecast in a moment. now, the latest in ferguson, missouri. the town torn apart after the shooting death of a teenager. they tried to come together with the starlet of a high school football season. two officers in the area are now in trouble themselves for alleged bad conduct. ron allen has more on that, good morning. >> good morning to you, lester. the streets where there have been so much violence, but once again quiet overnight. today, two officers have been suspended because of a comment they made related to the protest as the community tries to move past two traumatic weeks. the north stars determined to win under friday night lights. >> get your head in the game. >> reporter: the team from ferguson that struggled to practice, their season in doubt because of the unrest. >> i'm hoping it's the first --

>> reporter: now, in the aftermath of the protest, two police officers find themselves in trouble. dan page on duty in ferguson for making comments in 2012 that appeared on youtube that the department found offensive, including referring to his military service. >> i have killed a lot. if i need to, i'll kill a bunch more. >> the chief suspended the officer and apologized. nearby, the officer is accused of making these comments on facebook. i'm sick of the protesters, you are a burden on and great, thugs all in one place. >> it was concerning, shocking to us. we would have never thought one of our police officers would have made such posts. >> reporter: earlier, an officer was suspended after pointing a semi-automatic at protesters.

they will determine weather he faces charges for shooting and killing michael brown and investigators looking into whether civil rights were violated. ferguson hopes it has turned a page. volunteers set up open air markets under a blistering sun. >> you got it? >> reporter: food, water, essential items. >> they bring this stuff here. it's way too crazy. i don't want to leave. >> reporter: some boarded up businesses are coming back to life. at red's barbecue, they moved the grill outside. >> we might be down, but not out. >> reporter: something of a campaign to show the world there's more here than anger and rage. this morning, police say they made zero arrests. everyone knows the investigations will take time and there are many challenging and emotional days ahead, especially monday when the brown

family lays their son to rest. lester? >> ron allen, thank you. now, the battle to the isis terror group in the wake of the murder of journalist james foley. president obama weighs whether to widen the campaign. covering the developments, kristin welker is traveling with the president. good morning. >> andrea, good morning to you. international anger mounts over the death of james foley. the obama administration is considering expanding military operations from iraq to neighboring syria. while the u.s. continues the campaign of air strikes in iraq aimed at slowing isis militants, the white house says the execution of james foley was a direct hit against america. >> it's a terrorist attack against our country. >> reporter: isis has grown

stronger in recent months. u.s. officials are saying they may expand the military campaign in syria where isis is thriving. >> we are not going to be restricted by borders. we have shown time and again if there's a counterterrorism threat, we'll take action as necessary. >> reporter: the military options as the pressure mounts on the president. lawmakers, including some democrats are calling for air strikes in syria. >> can they be defeated without addressing that part of their organization? the answer is no. >> reporter: mr. obama who vowed to end the wars in iraq and afghanistan has been criticized for not launching air strikes in syria where a war is raging. many americans don't the appetite to engage in foreign conflict. isis headquarters is based in syria. as long as that stands, the

terrorist group will continue to grow. >> we might not be attacked today or tomorrow. the threat is there in the future. >> reporter: u.s. officials say they are reaching out to their european allies and partners in the region. in a washington post op-ed they said it's up to them to form a coalition. this is a fight in iraq with the help from america and the world can and must win. we have a stake in empowering a terrorist state from taking root in the middle east. back to you. >> kristin welker, traveling with the president, thank you. the man seen killing james foley in the haunting video, he might be british. ke keir simmons is follow thag story. >> reporter: they are narrowing down the list of suspects as they work to identify the man.

the voice on the tape highlighting european nationals are fighting with syria and iraq. people who could easily travel to the u.s. isis has many thousands of fighters. british and american intelligence. the man who holds a knife in his left hand and appears to have a british accent, james foley's killer. experts will be analyzing his voice. >> security searches have data bases of voices of people they believe to be working in this area. >> reporter: one british newspaper claims to know who he might be. another says they raged the plan. lawmakers want to tackle the british jihadists. >> he thought it was necessary to leave this country and go fight in iraq and syria. >> reporter: more than 500

british citizens are zest mated to have joined isis. many more from europe. recruitment in the uk. >> there's something wrong with our society. >> reporter: the vast majority of muslims oppose isis, a message repeated at friday prayer. isis videos reveal fighters who traveled to syria and iraq from the uk. >> the muslim community here needs to come out and, in many ways, rise up against these people. >> reporter: leaving questions about why they don't and why british authorities seem unable to stop them. there have been many attempts to stop the radicalization of young, british muslims. the question is why it hasn't worked well enough or effectively enough, lester, to

prevent the killer of james foley being a british extremist. lester? >> thanks. adam ship is a member of the house committee and evans a terrorist analyst for the department of defense and fbi. good morning to both of you, thanks for coming on. >> congressman, when the u.s. began air strikes in iraq, it was for humanitarian needs, to protect u.s. interest and critical infrastructure in iraq. if the air strikes expand into syria, does it essentially change the mission of the u.s. and the goal? >> it would change the mission. the mission is changing a bit already. the president originally articulated a couple goals protecting personnel as well as the genocide on the mountain top. we are now watching air strikes around the mosul dam beyond the two objectives. expanding into syria is a

broadening of the mission. i don't think that's going to happen. i think he's going hear out the military commanders and what the recommendations and options are. we don't have the same capabilities on the ground. we don't have a government to work with in syria. we don't have the same intelligence assets in syria. air strikes alone, without coordination on the ground would be limited. i think the president is unlikely to go there in the near term. >> let me go to evan about the dangers isis represents. is it in the middle east or does the u.s. need to engage them because they are a direct threat to the homeland? >> there is absolute evidence showing that isis fighters are trained in syria and coming back to europe and other western countries with the idea of carrying out terrorist attacks. we have seen one attack in brussels, an individual that shot up a jewish museum.

we have seen other individuals traveling back to europe from syria, calling isis saying we want to build a bomb, how do we build a bomb, what kind of target should we go after? very much thrks is a national security threat for the united states. for europe, it's no longer about iraq. it's important to understand this. this is not like the previous iraq war, where we chose to go into it. we have no choice if we want to defend ourselves in the long run. >> do you see isis as a national security threat beyond the borders of iraq, something we need to be concerned about? >> i do. i agree with that. the presence of all the foreign fighters, the will to come home and strike us makes us a grave risk, the most prominent since 9/11. whether the introduction of armed forces or air strikes is going to help us deal with that. without a partner on the ground,

it's going to be a limited effect. so, i think we have to be careful not to be provoked by the ghastly murder of james foley into doing things that are not productive. there are a lot of productive things we can do like getting turkey to close the border. dry up some external funding for the groups. getting friends and allies to provide humanitarian assistance. pushing isis out of iraq and containing in syria one till the dynamic on the ground changes there. these are things we can productively do. this is a threat to us on the homeland certainly in the midterm, if not the near term. >> before we close, evan, is the u.s. behind in this effort? >> before 9/11, we learned a lesson about what happens when you let a country become a haven for terrorist organizations. back then, we didn't have the resources. we didn't have resources on the

ground. we didn't want to get involved. al qaeda established a base, trained people and carried out brutal attacks. right now, we have let syria lapse into the exact same situation. right now, we know a dangerous terrorist group that is training people, heavily armed and training western, foreign fighters including on how to build explosives. to allow the situation to continue to mushroom, not just in iraq, but syria, a clear and present danger. if we leave syria alone, it's a big problem. evan, congressman, thank you. jenna is here with a look at the top stories. >> hi, everyone. trucks from a russian convoy are making their way out of ukraine after crossing the border without permission. 200 trucks rolled into eastern ukraine where fighting continues and pro-russian rebels. western countries, including the u.s. joined kiev in calling for the trucks to be removed.

they were smuggling supplies to rebel fighters. russia insists they were carrying humanitarian aid. a chinese warplane came dangerously close to a navy jet forcing them to complain to the chinese government. the jet was on the routine mission over the south china sea, about 135 miles east of the chinese island of hainan. one was less than 100 feet of separation. a wyoming police officer pleaded not guilty to an animal cruelty charge after being accused of leaving his canine partner in a hot car. he left the lab in the car more than six hours. the car was running, but the air-conditioning was off and reached 86 degrees outside. miller has been removed from active duty an the department suspended the canine program. warning more than 1,000

retailers their cash registers could be infected with malicious software. scan your systems for software known as back off. it could cause them to steal customer information. it was identified in october but no anti-virus program until this month. mark from "saved by the bell" turned 40. hoda turned 50 and al turned 60. we have another birthday. remember bao bao? she turned 1 today. she came into the world at 4.5 ounces at the washington zoo, made a public debut. now at 40 pounds, age 1, bao bao is loving life. that is 40 pounds at age 1. that is a big baby. >> 1 is the new 6 months. >> exactly. maria la rosa is back with a

check of the forecast. >> all eyes in the caribbean right now. the atlantic has been quiet with the tropics. nothing deemed official.no trop storm. but you can see that plenty of rain is happening and it could be a big problem with flooding on hispaniola. the next question is where is it going to be headed next? the models are starting to guide this back over the bahamas. widespread of where it may be the the gulf of atlantic. we'll be watching it. that's a look at the weather across the country. here's a look at what you can expect. >> i'm storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. cloudy skies out this morning. rain in northern maryland headed into montgomery county. light sprinkles across central virginia. these drops here coming into northern montgomery county over the next 15 to 20 minutes. arriving in the beltway within an hour or so. temperatures this morning upper 60s and low 70s. it'll be a cloudy day. it's not going to be a total washout, but hit and mi

and that's a look at your weather. andrea, back to you. >> thanks. if you have a cell phone, you might cringe when the bill arrives next month. peter alexander tells us, wireless carriers are battling for your business. you might be able to grab a great deal on your next phone. >> reporter: welcome to the wild woorld of wireless. they are at war for your business. in washington, d.c., jordan smith's cell phone contract expires today. he'll shop around for a new and better deal. chances are, he'll find one. nice to be fought over? >> every day. i wish more people would fight over me. >> reporter: sprint is offering unlimited minutes, text and data for 60 bucks. the same plan on t-mobile is $80. several carriers are offering to cover the cost to switch companies and no contracts. the challenge is simple.

everyone who needs a phone has one. that leaves them with one option to grow, luring customers from rivals. that's good news for your wallet. >> my plan as low as $40. consumer reports says the average customer is paying half of what they did five years ago from 100 buck as month to 50. how does it work? >> one, they are driving prices down. two, they are making the bills easier to decipher because they separated the phone from the service and three, the contracts are disappearing. >> reporter: you need to think before you sign up. customers can keep the same number, but you may have to pay for a new phone. you have to do your homework. they make it hard to compareson shop. >> reporter: make sure the carrier has good service where you love. after all, if you can't hear me now, what good is a cheaper

plan? peter alexander, nbc news, washington. the girl who wouldn't admit to eating a sweet treat. first, this is "today" on nbc.

you know the saying, caught red handed? have you heard this one? caught chocolate mouthed? >> it's funny when kids deny doing something wrong. i do it with shopping. especially when the evidence is on their faces. jenna is in the orange room with a doughnut denial that's gone viral. >> my kid can't talk yet, much less lie about doing something, but i am fully prepared for it. this sweetheart denies she ate a chocolate doughnut even when her mom flat out asks her, did you

eat a chocolate doughnut? >> i did not. >> you did not eat what? >> not a chocolate doughnut. >> you did not eat a chocolate doughnut? >> yeah. >> are you sure? >> no. >> did you eat a chocolate doughnut? >> yeah, i love it. >> you love it? but did emma eat one? >> she goes on to blame her brother. she blames her brother, right? i guess ben pushed it in my mouth. i believe her, that's the thing. i guess ben pushed it in her mouth. >> jenna, did you eat it? >> she said she's eating a doughnut. we don't eat them in the morning. i totally, 100% believe her. if you got busted or busted your kid in the act, send in your videos. i don't know what this was about. nobody did anything wrong

between emma and myself. i thought i would tell you that. >> i can't ever imagine you eating a doughnut. the fact you licked some of that. >> come back to me. bring the camera here. let me show you what happened. look mr. o'brien. >> i did not actually eat it. good morning. 7:26 on this saturday, august 23rd. i'm adam tuss. this morning the national zoo is celebrating bao bao's first birthday. there's a private ceremony for visitors to see the cub at 9:00 a.m. then head at 11:00 a.m. to see her eat her frozen birthday cake. you'll see me at a back to school event at the montgomery back to school fair. there thereby plenty of activities for your kids. the fair starts at 11:00 at the carver education center. in the district volunteers

will clean up more than 100 schools. it begins at 9:00. the cleanup will get schools ready for the first day of class. that's coming up this monday. we'll get a check of your forecast coming up next with chuck. stay with us.

well, chuck says we may be dodging a rain drop or two today, right? >> you bet ya. already rain is out there on storm team 4 radar this morning. howard counties and maryland getting rain showers right now. more scattered showers to the west and south of the metro area. the rain will gradually start to taper back by late this afternoon into this evening. rain chances will be lower for tomorrow. that's good news. out the door temperatures this morning 60s in montgomery county. low to mid-70s around the metro. a sliver or two of sunshine will help get temperatures up. but tomorrow, that's the better

day. clearing skies, a dry day tomorrow. high of 82. going to be a beautiful finish to the weekend. just have to get through today. >> we'll make it. another news update in 25 minutes. now back to the "today" show. we are back on a saturday morning, it's august 23rd, 2014. the crowd pick add good morning to join us. it's supposed to be a beautiful weekend here in new york. when haven't we had a beautiful weekend? thanks to them for waking up this morning. they almost make the sport look easy. we'll talk to the stars of the little league series including las vegas and chicago. they are total rock stars. pat o'brien had a successful career in television for decades. he also battled drugs and alcohol. he will tell us about that and

how he finally overcame his demons. it's been six months since we met the owners of two small businesses struggling to stay open. we are going to check in with them. let's begin with an emotional criminal trial playing out in a texas courtroom. a father accused of murdering the drunk driver who killed his two young sons. it's drawing a big reaction on social media. >> reporter: an emotional woman watched every moment of her husband's murder trial from the front row of this texas courtroom. their two young sons were killed in 2012 when a drunk driver plowed into a truck on the side of the road. >> i still blow them kisses. i can't let them go. >> reporter: prosecutors say minutes after the crash, david shot and killed the man behind

the wheel. his mother, maria, has been in court every day. >> i want justice for my son. >> reporter: he deserved to be punished for what he did, but should not have been executed. >> hope you get justice and we get peace of mind. david has thousands of people rushing to his defense on social media. one comments i stand with david because i would have done the same thing. he denies being the shooter, pleading not guilty. the family arguing he was desperately trying to save his children, not go after the killer. cindy is relying on faith and compassion. >> there's no love like a mother's love. that's why i can feel for the other family. there's no bringing back. we have all lost. the only thing we can do is move forward. you know? find peace. >> reporter: no matter the outcome here, neither family can

claim victory, only unimaginable loss. for "today," halle jackson, nbc news, alvin, texas. >> thank you. let's get a check of the weather maria la rosa is in for dylan this morning on the plaza with the forecast. >> it's humid out here, but we have a great crowd. it's hot in texas right now. >> it is hot. >> it's a big story we are following across the country. let's y and the weekend and talk about what we're looking at. one other big story on top of that heat, the severe weather, the flooding, the rain right now in the plains and rockies. and you're not seeing things. three to six inches of snow above 6500 feet for portions of montana. heads up for campers there. still summer break, of course. and talk about summer. we would love a break from this heat. these are actual temperatures. in the plains, hundreds. that heat index will be 105 to 110 at times. below average in the east.

keeping places like pittsburgh and new york cloudy. and high temperatures into the 60s and 70s. to the south, another day of heat. also heads up across the california beaches. that high surf because of a tropical storm that's off the california coast. could be looking at waves from 10 to 15 feet. heads up for the surfers out there. back to you inside. >> good morning, everyone. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. light rain across parts of northern maryland and virginia. you'll want your umbrella. it's not going to be a complete washout, but shower chances will continue off and on throughout the morning and into this afternoon as well. this first patch coming down 270 right now promises a fairly wet start across much of montgomery and prince george's county. temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70s right now. going to be a really humid day today. temperature near 80 degrees for a high. tomorrow beautiful weather returns and t . and everybody this is

andrea. andrea, back to you. >> hello, so glad you are here today. maria, thank you. just ahead, pat o'brien and how he came back from the brink just ahead, pat o'brien and how he came back from the brink a woman who loves to share her passions. grandma! mary has atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts her at a greater risk of stroke. rome? sure! before xarelto®, mary took warfarin, which required monthly trips to get her blood tested. but that's history. back to the museum? not this time! now that her doctor switched her to once-a-day xarelto®, mary can leave those monthly trips behind. domestic flight? not today! like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce afib-related stroke risk. but xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem that doesn't require regular blood monitoring. so mary is free of that monitoring routine. for patients currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how

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whi, how's it going?. whatever you're looking for, start by test-driving nearly every make and model all in one place. carmax. start here. we're back on a saturday morning with a man who on the surface seemed to have it all. pat o'brien had a family, successful career and access to some of the biggest names in hollywood. his struggle with alcohol nearly caused him to lose everything. now, six years sober, he's written about the ups and downs of his life. we wrote a memoir called "i'll be back after this." >> thank you. i didn't lose it all. i got it back. you and i traveled across the world together. >> you and i go back. here is the one thing that struck me. i picked up the book thinking it's going to be about

i had ongoing pain. a deep ache all over. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves.

the time is now for the biggest sale of the year. all beds on sale! with 50% off the labor day limited edition bed. know better sleep with sleep number. we're going to need to keep our umbrellas handy. chuck bell has the forecast. >> good morning, everybody. little bit of light rain across northern maryland. these rains are coming southbound. northern prince george's county look out for rain drops in the next couple minutes. not expecting a washout of a day today, but this scattered shower activity is going to continue through at least this morning and into the first half of the afternoon. rain chances may finally start to go away about the time we mu.

in other news, experts are trying to find out what cause add rocket to burt into flames friday. a spokesman says the company was testing an unmanned commercial rocket. they detected a problem and the rocket self-destructed. no injuries on the ground. if you want to take part in the ice bucket challenge, you don't want to get wet, you are pregnant and can't spike your heart rate, but you did it anyway and you were challenged by dylan, if that's your scenario, check this out. it is the ice bucket challenge halloween costume. a bucket with ice coupe embellishments and a tray. the creator said for every one sold, the profit goes toward the als. >> i was going to call it silly but, it's okay. thank you jenna. drops now.the warning for these are going southbound.

they'll be in prince george's county in the next little bit. scattered showers across northern virginia as well this morning. starting temperatures this morning are in upper 60s, low 70s. you need your umbrella ready to go. hit and miss showers today. temperatures hovering near 80 degrees for a high today. sunshine and and that's a look at your weather. >> maria, thanks. still to come, a run away dog in the busy of a california freeway, we'll hear from the woman who helped bring it to

well, good morning. welcome to news4 today. i'm adam tuss. >> and i'm molette green. gloomy skies and some of you even getting some rain. you want to carry that umbrella. don't forget it no matter where you're headed today. >> meteorologist chuck bell is tracking exactly when we'll see the rain today. >> good morning. some of us are already