Good morning. Im dara brown. We have break news on the fight for iraq. The u. S. Military is ready to strike against isis. This comes as a humanitarian mission is underway in the mountains of northern iraq. Families flying isis are trapped. The president says it is time to act. Today america is coming to help. We have begun operations to help save iraqi civilians stranded on the mountain. These innocent families are faced with a horrible choice. Descend the mountain and be slaughtered or stay and slowly die of thurst and hunger. They have called for destruction of the entire people and i believe the United States of america cannot turn a blind eye. The american aircraft have begun conducting humanitarian air drops of food and water to stop the advance. I have directed our military to take targeted strikes against isis convoys if they threaten our personnel or facility anywhere in iraq, including our consulate in erbil and our embassy in baghdad. Already in baghdad proof nothing is off limits. Militants ransacked and burned the tomb of saddam hussein. The situation on the ground is so dire the top American General in iraq says we must neutralize this enemy. Kelly is live in our london bureau. Good morning, kelly. It looks like theres a lot of risk involved in the president s decision today. There is, dara. Good morning. This is the most significant u. S. Military involvement in iraq since troops went home nearly three years ago. President obama said he will not let it turn into another war. The decision to use air strikes announced late yesterday after the president met with his National Security time and as isis fighters continue to gain ground in northern iraq. They took control of the countrys largest dam yesterday, and there are unconfirmed reports they seized a checkpoint a 30 minute trooif from the kurdish capital of erbil. Isis fighters have driven hundreds of thousands from their homes, including some 50,000 members of a religious minority. Theyve been trapped on a mountain without food or water for days now, and last night three u. S. Military cargo planes escorted by fighter jets dropped supplies to them at the request of the iraqi government. The president says military force, air strikes, could be used to break that siege and could also be used to protect americans anywhere in the country, but he says there will be no boots on the ground. Dara. Kelly reporting from london. Thank you, kelly. Some breaking news in the middle east. The ceasefire ends and fighting returns. Rockets rained down on israel and gaza this morning. Israel left frustrated by it all. Israel wanted to see the ceasefire succeed. We redeployed all our forces out of the gaza strip. Nbc jim maceda is live in tel aviv. Swrim, what does this mean for the peace talks in cairo . Hi, dara. Well, the war, it seems, is back on. The first gazan and israeli casualties have been confirmed, and the peace talks are now on hold, and all this after the israeli delegation left cairo early this morning without a deal. Hamas officials had reportedly offered to extend the ceasefire if israel lifted the blockade around gaza and released a number of militant prisoners. Israel reportedly rejected that offer and then dozens of rockets began to be fired at israel. Initially it held its fire, but then israel since officially retaliated with force, meaning air strikes and fire by tanks, gunboats, and artillery. Since coming out of the talks, dara, it was that israel seemed willing to discuss humanitarian issues like the opening of the border crossings for gazans to improve they are living conditions, but just wouldnt bend on security issues, especially as demand to demilitaryize gaza. The Israeli Defense forces say it is now Striking Forces across the gaza strip, and rocket sirens are, again, sounding throughout the Southern Region of israel. The peace talks, dara, while not completely dead, are looking pretty desperate. Back to you. Jim maceda live in tel aviv. Thank you so much. Things are rapidly changing in hawaii. Iselle has been downgraded to a Tropical Storm. Its now 50 miles away from hawaii with speeds of 70 miles an hour. Hurricane julio has gained in strength and is now a category three hurricane. Lets bring in mike tiaibi who is in maui. What is happening there now . Good morning, dara. When hurricane iselle was downgraded to Tropical Storm iselle, the first words we heard from an anchor marn on our local aflat is we got lucky. Thats the feeling up and down the chain. What looked like two major hurricanes barrelling over the islands one after the other now looks like two Tropical Storms that are going to be jabbing at the islands with a less destructive distance. Now, thats not to say that people up and down the island chain for more than one Million People who live in these islands of hawaii have not taken precautions. Theyve been preparing for days for this. There were twohour waits in the line to buy water. Long lines at gas stations. Other food stops and supplies selling out quickly. Mostly on the big island. There have been problems and there will be problems. Theres been some flooding in lowlying areas already, and the winds up to 50, 60, 70 Miles Per Hour have already knocked down enough power lines to cause problems here on maui, for example. The only Water Treatment plant is now out of commission because the power lines are down. Not knowing when it will be back online. Consumers and customers have been urged to conserve water from this point forward. Of course, the big concern is what happens with hurricane julio . It still is a hurricane packing winds sustained gusting higher than that, but it looks like it might be tracking to the north of the islands as well, so it looks like no real direct hit from either of these two major systems, and as i said, the anchorman had the words for it. We got lucky. Dara. Thanks for that report, mike tiaibi. Now heres jeanette. Were still keeping a close eye on the tropics, and yes, iselle is closing on in across the big island of hawaii, and its still expected to pack quite a punch. Yes, it has been downgraded it a Tropical Storm, but we can expect to see quite a bit going on. We are expecting a foot of rainfall, especially in the higher terrain. Iselle will continue to track with Tropical Storm force conditions. Wear still watching whats going on with julio. That looks like it will take a track farther north and could also impact the islands this weekend. Meanwhile, in the mainland things are tranquil here. Not a whole lot of activity. Monsoon moisture is looking up. The Intermountain West generally dry. Most of the precipitation should be in line with the higher terrain. L. A. , a warm high of 81. Seattle comfortable, seasonable with a high of 76. Thats a look at your national forecast. Thunderstorms will be in the afternoon. San diego, gradually clearing up with a high of 77. And thats your friday forecast. All things are quite active in the tropics, but not so much on the mainland, dara. Still looks like a busy weather day ahead. Thank you. Now its time for a look at business. Keep a close eye on stocks today as political unrest in iraq, and russia, ukraine, and the middle east continues to worry investors. After two passenger plane incidents Malaysia Airlines will be taken off the countrys Stock Exchange and will be completely governmentowned. Hyundai will pay a 17 million fine for delaying a report about a brake defect on its genesis luxury cars. General motors issued a third recall on suvs that can catch fire. Older models include chevy trailblazers, gmc envoys, buick rainier, the isuzu ascender, and saab from 2006 and 2007. It can cause a short and spark fire. Breaking news on the magnitude of the ebola virus worldwide. This accident is anything but a coke and a smile. Details up next. Im always talking with my hands so they have to look their best. New revlon colorstay gel envy™ a revolution in modern nail enamel. Now, in just two steps, i get what i want. First, our base coat and vivid color in one. Second, our revolutionary diamond top coat forms a protective coating. For glasslike shine superior strength and gorgeous, liferesistant wear dont be envious. Be envied new revlon colorstay gel envy™ 30 vibrant, easytoremove shades revlon are you about to spend that on paper towels . Mom well, i use bounty. Kerri ooo use sparkle®. Its just right for cleaning up everyday little messes without cleaning out your piggy bank. Sparkle®. The bright way to clean. With roc® multi correxion® 5 in 1. Proven to hydrate dryness, illuminate dullness, lift sagging, diminish the look of dark spots, and smooth the appearance of wrinkles. High performance skincare™ only from roc®. This morning i am declaring the current outbreak of ebola virus disease a Public Health emergency of international concern. Just hours ago, the World Health Organization declared the crisis in western africa a quote extraordinary event, posing a Public Health risk with a chance to spread. It also urges a coordinated International Response against the virus that killed nearly 1,000. This just a day after Health Officials in the u. S. Discussed the unprecedented scale of the crisis. Still though the cdcs dr. Tom frieden offered hope. We can stop ebola. We know how to do it. It will be a long and hard fight and the situation in lagos, nigeria, is particularly concerning, but we can stop ebola. Well today with afghanistan on the verge of political chaos, secretary of state john kerry will meet with afghan President Hamid karzai. It is the second day of an unannounced trip aimed at resolving an ongoing dispute over who won the president ial election in june. Kerry met with the two candidates vying to succeed karzai yesterday. Zeerchlgs new video shows a violent moment of impact in jacksonville, florida. The cocacola truck slams into a fish market. Five people including a child were injured. Netflix stock is surging. Ceo Reed Hastings announced the company passed industry goliath hbo in subscriber revenue. He says theyre still behind in profits, but says he is honored to be in the same league. Check out some political stories that caught our eye. We are no step closer to finding out what exactly happened to lois lerners missing emails. A federal judge has rejected a bid from conservative groups asking for a courtappointed forensics expert to look for those emails. Its a significant victory for the embattled irs. Cease and desist. Lisa murkowski asks that her opponent take down an ad featuring both of them. Take a look at this part of the ad nar ated by an alaskan voter. Lisa murkowsdee vote as much as 80 of the time together. I dont think we ought to break up that team. According to the hill the senators camp is standing by the ads accuracy. Senator rand paul was seen getting up and walking away with an encounter with two immigration dreamers this week. The candidate from south dakota is mocking the libertarian senator with a new ad. Check it out. Im gordon howie. Im running for u. S. Senate from south dakota. I would like to talk with you about immigration. Im gordon howie, and i approve this message because we cant run from our immigration crisis. Coming up just ahead, sports is back with a vengeance now that the nfl preseason is in full swing. Your highlights are next. So i get invited to quite a few family gatherings. Heck, i saved judith here a fortune with discounts like safe driver, multicar, paperless. You make a mighty fine missus, mlady. Im not saying marks thrifty. Lets just say, i saved him 519, and it certainly didnt go toward that ring. Am i right . [ laughs ] [ dance music playing ] so visit progressive. Com today. I call this one the robox. Even 10 miles away. They can see the light of a single candle. Look after them with centrum silver. Multivitamins for your eyes, heart and brain. Now, with a new easy to swallow coating. We have a serious hairball issue. We clean it up, turn around, and there it is again. Its scary. Little bit in my eye. [ michelle ] underneath the kitchen table, underneath my work desk, weve got enough to knit a sweater. [ doorbell rings ] zach, what is that . The swiffer sweeper. The swiffer dusters. Its some sort of magic cloth that sucks in all the dog hair. Its quick and easy. Pretty amazing that it picked it all up. I would totally take on another dog. [ kevin ] really . Walked in to a mcdonalds ally . And discovereden an extraordinary burger with heaps of jalapenos. For only two dollars. Within minutes, they had also discovered the phenomenon of economnomnomics nomnom. Nom . Nom nom the jalapeno double, try it now for just 2 on mcdonalds dollar menu and more. Its economnomnomcial. Nom. Nom. Nom. This morning on today shes so fancy with more than 3 million downloads. Rapper iggy azalea has taken the world by storm and now she is taking over the plaza. She performs her biggest hits live later on today. Right now, preseason football has officially kicked off. The super bowl contenders met for the First Time Since the seahawks beat down the broncos 438 in the championship, but the broncos get a little redemption with a victory over the seahawks. Heres Deanthony Thomas out of oregon and here he goes. Goodbye. Rookie Danthony Thomas with the play of the night. An 80 yard punt return showing off the speed. Chiefs edge out the bengals 4139. To baseball mets take on the nationals. The game went into extra innings tied at 33. It wasnt until the bottom of the 13th, slugger bryce harper with the hard hit to the left for the tworun walkoff. Nats win 53. Scary moment in miami. Marlins pitcher dan jennings is nailed in the head by a 101 Miles Per Hour line driveby the pirates. He is in a haze. Slow to get up. He was carted off. He was later diagnosed with a concussion. In kentucky, round one of the pga championship is in the books. Tiger may be pain free but struggled with his performance. He bogeyed two of the first five holes. Hell wrap up the day 3 over par, nine strokes behind the leaders. Another injury plagues the green. This time defending pga champ jason dufner called it quits after ten holes because of recurring neck injury. The Ncaa Division 1 board approved a new structure allowing the five richest conferences to govern themselves. The socalled big five made up of the s. E. C. , the pacific 12, the acc, big 10, and big twelve, well, they will be able to make their own rules regarding issues affecting athletes and competition. The endorsement needs to pass a 60day veto period. And then theres this, metaworld peace, formerly known as ron artest is changing his name again, this time to the pandas friend. Okay sounds more like a phrase than a name but who is keeping score . Hell also begin playing for the Chinese Basketball Association all of which has pandas rejoicing across the globe. Closing arguments from the defense in the Oscar Pistorius trial on at this very moment. Details just ahead. 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Listerine® healthy whitetm. Power to your mouthtm now, drench lips with glossy wet color. New revlon colorstay isture stain™ weightless, creamy lipstain saturates lips. With brilliant shine and vivid color hydrates lips with vitamin e aloe. New revlon colorstay moisture stain™ this is love for your lips. Revlon now for some entertainment news, it is a superhero showdown at the box office this weekend. Guardians of the galaxy is expected to stay on tomorrow earning an additional 44 million, but teenage mute ant Ninja Turtles is looking to be a close contender at 40 million, and into the storm is identifying third place at 14 million. Universal pictures is developing a new film starring the comedy group the lonely island. The trio is looking forward to working with producer judd apeto. And after the release of the First Official trailer last week the hunger games mocking jay released character posters in anticipation of the film. Following his arrest last month, indio downey, son of iron man star Robert Downey jr. Is charged with drug possession. His arraignment is at the end of august. Look who stopped by the set of royal pains. Chloe kardashian will appear on the season six finale of the show in september. Speaking of medical cameos, lady gaga took to instagram to show she was all right after being hospitalized this week for altitude sickness. Mtvs Video Music Awards announced maroon 5 and beyonce will perform at the show later this month. And will arnett said that he and the cast of arrested development are on board for another season of the hit show. Im sure fans are excited about that. I am excited about that. I love to watch the teasers, and i fwet to watch the show. Go figure. Maybe ill give it a shot too. It works for me. Well, well have a lot coming up now. Especially in the fall season coming up on hbo, so hbo, showtime, all those great, great shows will be coming out. Yes, i cant wait either. Im excited. Whats your favorite . You know, i must say i dont have any particular show that im looking forward to. I know my husband is more of a big hbo watcher, so i think whatever he watches, i am stuck to that. You are on board. Im sticking to arrested development. Im going to watch it this weekend. Thank you for joining us. Im dara brown, and this is early today. We hope its just your first stop of the day today on nbc. You help me pour. The simple grains of rice krispies®. Oooo good. Help me. Theyre made with rice. Theyre popping whered the sound go . Is it in your tummy . A gentle grain thats easy for little tummies to digest and fun to eat. Kelloggs rice krispies®. Say revlon colorstay makeup. Breakthrough Time Release Technology keeps skin balanced for a continuously fresh look. 24 hour wear. Flawless results. Leading the news from bloomberg, pistorius defense lays out final case against murder conviction. Today could be the last day of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial as his lawyers present their final argument. Prosecutors wrapped up closing arguments yesterday and asked that the judge reject pistoriuss defense. No difficult interdicting in his version of events. The essence as the absolutely devoid of any truth. Now to some other stories were following. A mother in florida says a church canceled her sons funeral because the pastor learned he was gay. After dying of a rare illness an obituary of 42yearold julian evans identified his husband. The pastor told nbc affiliate wfla im not trying to condemn nens lifestyle, but at the same time i am a man of god, and i have to stand up for my principles. Thick black smoke clogged the air above a texas junkyard yesterday after flames from a grass fire lit about 100 abandoned cars. It took two hours to get under control. No injuries were reported. Prince william has a new job. He will be moving to the country side to become an air ambulance pilot. The future king of england has over 1,000 hours of piloting experience and more than 150 search and rescue missions. Well, when is it okay to prank a Police Officer . Maybe if its on their birthday. A Police Officer known as a prankster amongst his coworkers this is so funny he found 4,000 postit notes plastered all over his car. The payback surprise was made by his department to celebrate the big 50. His age is no longer a secret. That was a good prank. How many hours do you think it took people to put it looks like they are nicely placed. It looks like theres no gaps. I wonder how long it took to take that off . Its not all one color. Its color coordinated. That is so cool. They should make him drive around in that for a while. Im 50. Now its time for a look ahead. The new secretary of Governance Affairs is heading to phoenix. Robert mcdonald was confirmed ten days ago. He will make his first trip to the v. A. Medical center when visiting the troubled facility in phoenix where the recent skanldz came to light. He is expected to meet with his staff and members and veterans. Happy birthday to Roger Federer who turns 33 today. U2, dave, 53, and Dusten Hoffman turns 77. One more birthday to announce. Smoky the bear is now 70. His only you can prevent forest fires message is going strong. Im dara brown. Thanks for watching early today. Have a great one. Strong storms slamming hawaiis big island as we speak. Iselle is downgraded from a hurricane to a Tropical Storm, but it is still packing a major punch as 70 mile an hour winds and heavy winds are pummelling the island putting thousands in danger. Its 4 30. We have a team in place this morning. Rob is tracking the path and intensity, but we begin with today in the bays jennifer owe lu in