elizabeth palmer had a front-row seat. >> reporter: these may be war games, but the russians weren't playing around. this live-fire display today south of st. petersburg is part of the much larger zapad military exercise. the russians are repelling a fictional invasion, and the enemy is not so subtly being called "the western coalition," a clear reference to nato. of course these exercises are a chance for the russians to giver their men and their modernized weapon systems a real workout, but they're also spectacles designed to be seen and a message around the world, but especially to the united states and its nato allies. the message says: don't mess with us. and to underline it, president putin even skipped the u.n. general assembly in new york to be here along with 110 russian and international journalists. zapad is being played out beyond russia westward into neighboring belarus, which put thousands of russian soldiers nose to nose with beefed-up nato troops, including americans. exactly how many thousand russian and belorussian soldiers? well, nato says up to 100,000. the russia

elizabeth palmer had a front row seat. >> these may be war games. but the russians weren't playing around. this live fire display today south of st. petersburg is part of the much larger military exercise. the russians are repelling a fictional invasion and the enemy is not so subtly being called the western coalition. a clear reference to nato. of course, these exercises are a chance for the russians to give their men and their modernized weapons systems a real workout. but they're also spectacle. designed to be seen, and to send a message around the world. but especially to the united states and its nato allies. the message says, don't mess with us. and to underline it, president putin even skipped the u.n. general assembly in new york to be here, along with 110 russian ant international journalists. it is being played out beyond russia westward into belarus which puts thousand of russian soldiers, nose to nose with beefed up nato troops. including americans. exactly how many thousand russian and belarussian soldiers. the russians say under 134,00

elizabeth palmer, cbs news, russia. >> coming up on cbs this morning, we'll hear from a student at they of rochester who's on a hunger strike until the school fires a teacher accused of harassment. and the difficult decision of families on the decision to rebuild. and we'll speak with an american mother who's shedding new light on the differences between education decisions of china and the united states. that's the cbs morning news for this tuesday. thanks for watching. i'm anne marie green. have a great day. i'm kenny choi. >>> thanks for waking up with us on this tuesday morning as we take a live look at the going bridge. good morning. i'm kenny choi. >> i'm michelle griego. you can see the bridge this morning. yesterday you couldn't. how are you doing? >> good. >> happy tuesday. >> happy tuesday. >> we know how you feel about tuesdays. >> it's a good one. >> i don't understand it. >> still don't understand it. >> it's not monday so that helps. [ laughter ] >>> this morning, we're feeling breezy out there. you can see the golden gate and bay bridge sparkling lights of downtown. it's

elizabeth palmer, cbs news, russia. >> coming up on cbs this morning, we'll hear from a stunts studentiversity of rochester who's on a hunger strike until the school fires a teacher accused of harassment. and the difficult decision of families on the decision to rebuild. that's the cbs morning news for this tuesday. thanks for watching. i'm anne marie green. have a great day. >> live from the cbs broadcast center in philadelphia. this is cbs-3 "eyewitness news " this morning. >>> well, forecasters are keeping track of two tropical troublemakers, maria is churning in the caribbean closer to home jose is out to sea, and that's causing flooding concerns down the shore. >> and new pictures in from the caribbean, where maria is starting to leave a path of destruction, now, forecaster worries about a possible one- two punch. >> and world leaders anxiously await president trump's first speech to the united nations general assembly. we'll tell you about the president's priorities when he takes the spotlight. today is tuesday, september 19th. good morning, i'm jim donovan. >> good morning, i'm

elizabeth palmer is on the ground with russian troops. >> reporter: good morning. these exercises are certainly a real workout for the various branches of the russian armed forces, but they're also intended as a spectacle with the pictures intended for broadcast around the world. the message especially to the u.s. and nato allies is taking on russia would be a mistake. nato is watching carefully. it says as many as a hundred thousand russians and russian/belarus are taking part. the russians nonsense. they're only just under 13,000. the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle but the lack of transparency lacks tone. their military exercises every four years, but this one is exceptional because part of it is taking place in neighboring belarus to the west which puts thousands of troops nose to nose against nato forces just across the border. for "cbs this morning," i'm elizabeth palmer . >>> ahead, simulated missions that put the crews under intense stress and isolation for eight months. >>> plus first lady laura bush will be here with her initiative to help wha

elizabeth palmer is near st.etersburg, russia, and she's on the ground with russian troops. >> reporter: good morning. these exercises are certainly a real workout for the various branches of the ruks armed forces but they're also intended aspect as spectacle. the message especially to the u.s. and its nato allies is, taking on russia would be a mistake. nato is watching carefully. it says as many as 100,000 russian and belarussian troops are taking part. the russians say that's nonsense, there are only just under 13,000. the truth lies probably somewhere in the middle, but the lack of transparency adds to the threatening tone. russia stages huge military exercises every four years, but this one is exceptional because part of it is taking place in neighboring belarus to the west which puts those thousands of troops nose to nose against nato forces just across the border. for cbs "this morning," i'm elizabeth palmer south of st. petersburg. >>> six would be astronauts experienced life on mars without ever leaving

elizabeth palmer will travel over the weekend with the russian military for an up close look.a. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. russia stages these military exercises every four years but this is different and most provocative. they'll be stationed outside of russia and that means they'll be almost along a thousand miles of border with nato countries where there's already a beefed up military presence including 4,000 u.s. personnel. it will involve its army, navy, and air force and electronic warfare troops. the kremlin insists the cover for an invasion like we saw in cry kn crimea. the u.s. believes it's true but it wants to flex its muscles as a warning, if push came to shove, it would be a formidable opponent. jeff? >> thank you. >>> president trump said he'll soon go to puerto rico and u.s. virgin islands where hurricane irma caused major damage. we have heard many kind stories. dozens of foster kids left behind got a huge surprise. >> the sos children's place in ft. lauderdale had to close and that's when a businessman and his wife invited stay at theira bocraton