and msnbc's coverage continues right now. tax grab -- big airlines decide not to pass on savings from the temporary government tax halt to consumers. and sticker shock -- a japanese department store offers one of the most expensive box lunches ever. good morning, i'm amara sohn, those stories and more are straight ahead on "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with dueling over the debt.

president obama and house speaker, john boehner escalated the battle over the debt limit last night. they both appealed to american television viewers in speeches that reflect the two sides being farther apart than ever on the issue. nbc's tracey potts has more from washington. >> we're now one week away from the deadline for default and it looks like the white house and congress are no closer to a deal. >> this is no way to run the greatest country on earth. it's a dangerous game that we've never played before. and we can't afford to play it now. >> reporter: president obama is taking his behind closed doors fight public, urging taxpayers to pressure republicans into considering taxing the wealthiest americans. >> the president wanted a blank check six months ago and he wants a blank check today. this is just not going to happen. >> reporter: boehner, who insists i gave it my all before negotiations broke down argues the crisis isn't in congress,

it's in the oval office. president obama refuses to sign his six-month temporary plan to raise the debt ceiling. reaction from capitol hill is all over the place. >> we can't continue on this trajectory. this president has spent $7.3 trillion. >> how do you negotiate with a group of people who have closed the door, moved the goal posts, thrown these temper tantrums. >> reporter: even some lawmaker who is typically vote democratic aren't happy with the democrats plan. >> the president has been in my mind much to aggressive in talking about taxes. even though he still insists on raising taxes on the wealthy, president obama said he would support the senate's back-up plan which cuts about two-thirds of what he wanted with no new taxes. >> tracie potts for us in washington. last night on the last word with

lawrence o'donnell, steny hoyer told lawrence what he thinks about mixing taxes into the debate over raising the debt ceiling. >> very unfortunate that the republicans continue to pursue this particularly when mr. boehner and the president have reached an agreement tentatively on two different occasions. and mr. boehner has walked away. frankly the republicans have walked intentionally more than barry bonds. and the fact of the matter is that we need to come to an agreement, the senate, senator reid has offered exactly what they asked for. mr. cantor said we have no taxes in our bill. he was very pumped up about that to tell his constituents, that the richest people in america were not going to have to pay anything towards solving this problem. but frankly, the senate is prepared to offer that, because they feel very strongly responsible step to take is to make sure that america is able

to pay its bills on august 3rd. >> don't miss "last word" with lawrence o'donnell, week nights at 8:00 p.m. on msnbc, the place for politics. the man suspected in friday's bombing and shooting in norway claims that two other cells of collaborators stood ready to join his murderous campaign to rid europe of muslim domination. anders behring breivik has admitted to the massacres, but entered a plea of not guilty yesterday. while police believe he acted alone, they have not ruled out he had accomplices, breivik is now in solitary confinement. he said he never expects to be released. in norway, the maximum sentence a judge can give is 21 years, although a special sentence can be handed to prisoners deemed a danger to society. meanwhile, thousands of norwegians gathered in oslo yesterday, to mourn the 76 victims. the death toll was 93, but it was lowered yesterday. since the weekend, air

travelers should be facing lower fares because they haven't had to pay federal taxes on plane tickets. the taxes have been temporarily dropped, because on friday congress failed to re-authorize the federal aviation administration's operating authority, resulting in the partial shutdown of the agency. but it turns out instead of passing savings on to customers, airlines have been pocketing the difference by quieting raising fares in recent days. meanwhile, because of congress's failure to act, construction has stopped at airport infrastructure projects across the u.s. here's your "first look" at some of the other news going on around america today. a scare in the air over dallas led to an emergency landing for one american airlines flight. an engine fire indicator forced pilots to dump fuel shortly after taking off. pilots made a rough landing, blowing several tires upon touching down. crew members and passengers walked away without injuries and officials are currently

investigating the engine fire. high calories were the least concern for customers inside one philadelphia fast food restaurant, seven people were injured when a car crashed into at restaurant's dining area. witnesses say the driver, an 85-year-old man exited a nearby parking lot before smashing through the brick and glass exterior. the cause of the crash is under investigation. and finally in iowa, there is one bike where it may take you a while to get back on, if you fall off. the 3 2-foot-long and 18-foot-high design is the creation of a local welder who began working on the bike to coincide with the cross-state bike trip. the bike is just for sightseeing but the goal is to make it fully functional. now for a look at the national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill, good luck to the folks in finding someone who can make the bike fully

functional. >> nice to get your picture taken in front of. if you're riding your bike in texas yesterday, your tires may have melted. it was another day of incredible heat, 106 in dallas. it was one of the warmest spots in the country. i know wichita falls to your north was around 111. summer is going down in the record books. yesterday the 24th day in a row in dallas of 100-degree heat. the record was 43 in the hot summer of 1980, hopefully we won't approach that record. kansas city and st. louis you're under excessive heat warnings tomorrow and thursday is when you'll see the worst of your heat and humidity. all the watches and warnings for the heat are stuck in the middle of the country. unfortunately if you're on the east coast, i think friday we'll have some heat warnings and advisories. maybe even into saturday, too, that's the next blast of hot air that will arrive for everyone in the east. yesterday we had a break it was rainy in philadelphia, southern

new england had rain, boston had rain. those areas were much cooler. today you'll warm it up again, but it won't be humid. we'll have drier air moving in. showers and thunderstorms on the front in south carolina this morning and they'll pop up in the gulf. and later today, i think if we're going to have a problem area, this is kind of a change in the forecast. we have a chance of tornadoes today, not a widespread area, but in south dakota and north dakota, approaching fargo late tonight, we could have a few tornadoes. the areas in yellow, including minneapolis and sioux falls, you could be watching strong, damaging winds with some of the stronger thunderstorms. the northern plains we'll watch for strong thunderstorms. the middle of the country is where the heat continues. the southeast, you have showers and storms, dry, but warm air from d.c. all the way up to new york city. boston, i think late today, especially areas over vermont and new england, you'll have a chance of showers and storms, so carry the umbrella and you could see heavy downpours. and tomorrow, we see the heat continuing in the mid-atlantic. but nothing compared to our friends in texas, one of the

hottest summers, ever. we're stuck in the middle of it and no end in sight. markets fall on debt deal pressure, netflix is wall street darling no more. and a lunch to buy that person who has just about everything else you could imagine. your "first look" at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, the mariners continue to sink, a giant visitor at the white house and the wait is finally over. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. act my age?

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welcome back to "first look," i'm amara sohn. here's some of the top stories this morning. a new report shows that amid the recession, the wealth gap between whites and minorities has widened to unprecedented levels. a census analysis by the pew research center finds the median net worth of whites is 20 times greater than that of blacks and 18 times more than that of hispanics.

a whistleblower lawsuit says one of the nation's largest providers of kidney dialysis deliberately wasted medicine in order to reap hundreds of millions of dollars from medicare payments. the suit claims davita used larger-than-necessary vials, knowing that medicare would pay for the unused portion, if it were deemed unavoidable waste. the israel chamber orchestra plans to perform a composition by richard wagner, breaking an israeli taboo. the performance will take place in germany at a concert to wagner, a composer revered by adolf hitler and the nazis. and cryonics pioneer has died, robert etinger was 92, his body became the 106th to be stored at the cryonics institute

which he founded in 1976. now your "first look" at wall street. the dow opens at 12,592, after losing 88 points yesterday. the s&p fell seven points and the nasdaq dipped 16. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, the nikkei was up 47 points, while in hong ko kong, the hang seng climbed 278. wall street was down monday as jitters heightened over the prospect of defaults with no progress towards a debt ceiling deal. volume was light, even by summer standards. suggesting many sat on the sidelines. while overall losses were moderate, the amount of falling stocks far outpaced advancers. wall street's so-called fear index jumped over 10%. the debt stalemate prompted a flight to gold and another record high. the dollar fell to a record low against the swiss franc, a traditional safe haven currency. earnings steady bright spot were

no help monday, kimberly-clark dropped 2% on a doubtful profit forecast. hospital operator, hca, tumbled 19% after reporting short of expectations. newport cigarette maker, lorillard fell after a cautious growth forecast. research in motion fell more than 4% after announcing a cut of about 2,000 jobs. e-trade jumped 6% on a report that rival td ameritrade may bid for the company. after the bell, netflix dropped steeply on short revenue and subscriber concerns. texas instruments rose after closing because despite sliding orders, its outlook wasn't as bad as many feared. and for the first time since 2008, u.s. steel fell on a sales drop and pessimistic forecasts. and finally, one japanese department store is selling a box lunch for $229,000. the meal is just fish, meat and

root vegetables. but it comes in a three-tier, 18-carat, 3.3-kilogram gold box. that lunch box is a lunch fit for a king. baseball's giants visit the white house and a padre steals home. plus it would be a dream reception in the nfl or fantasy alley-oop of the nba. your "first look" at sports is straight ahead. [ male announcer ] members of the american postal workers union handle more than 165 billion letters and packages a year.

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welcome back to "first look," i'm amara sohn. in sports, negotiators in washington could do worse than use the nfl as an example. with the deadline approaching for canceling significant portions of the upcoming season. the owners and players settled the lockout in a deal that not only saved the season, but lasts for ten years. here's nbc's fred roggin. >> good morning, break out the giant phone finger and dust off your barbeque and join a fantasy football league, because the lockout is finally over. >> it's been a long time coming and football's back and that's the great news for everybody. i want to thank all the players for their leadership and for securing the long-term future of the game. having a ten-year agreement is extraordinarily great for our game. but most importantly our fans. >> open later this week, free agency opens on friday. thursday september 8th between the packers and saints on nbc.

baseball, you want to beat the phil's cliff lee? you've got to pull out all the stops. the padres did. lee tossed to first, kristen orfield was gone, padres win it 5-4. the mariners almost caught a break, losers of 15 straight, they almost didn't play the yankees because of rain. but after a two-hour delay, they made time for another loss. mark teixeira hit his 27th homer of the year. mariners have lost 16 in a row. busy day for the president before he addressed nation, he welcomed the world series champion san francisco giants to the white house. willie mays, gave the president the number 44 jersey. and finally we're a little over a month away from seeing great catches in the nfl. so how about one from australian rule football? we head down there for a terrific catch by andrew walker. he climbed a defender like a

step ladder and pulled in the ball. it's called a mark in aussie rules football and the coach called the best mark he had ever seen. we'll go along with that, it's the only mark we've ever seen. that's your "first look" at sports, i'm fred roggin. now for another quick look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. >> i don't know what's more impressive, the fact that he did that or the fact that they have a term for it. it's like leapfrog in the middle of a game. yesterday the heavy rain that fell in areas like new york and philadelphia, new jersey, up through southern new england is gone. our one-day break, actually the coolest day many of us have seen in a month is over. now we're going to watch things warming back up and it's going to get hot once again. here's what we're looking at temperaturewise, it's a very comfortable morning, 60s in new england, 70 in new york. still a little warm around d.c. and philadelphia. even mid 70s, a little cooler than you've been as of late. and 66 in pittsburgh. today we're going to see a chance of showers and storms,

but that's going to be later in the day. you're going to start off sunny in most areas. the best chance for showers and storms up in new england. north of new york city, vermont, new hampshire, maine, massachusetts, connecticut. dry from philly southwards, temperature around 92 degrees. but the humidity values will be lower today. so it won't be as oppressive. now as we go towards tomorrow, it looks like a dry day everywhere. temperatures once again right around 90 degrees. it's not until thursday and friday that the humidity increases along with the temperatures and we're still looking at possibilities of mid to upper 90s on friday, around washington, d.c. so nothing compared to the heat wave of last week. but still on the hot side. >> we'll take it for now, bill, thank you. a famous skin art couple is a couple no more. plus late-breaking allegations from across the pond that amy winehouse was a phone-hacking victim as well. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver

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welcome back to "first look," i'm amara sohn. last night on late night with jimmy fallon, jimmy drew a not so subtle comparison with the nfl's new deal with its players and lawmakers in washington, who you might say have dropped the ball. >> well, big news, big news, you guys -- after months of negotiations, a deal has been reached to end the nfl lockout. [ applause ] or as china put it, oh, great, glad you got that deal worked out. any word on the $14 trillion? you might want to get working on that one. on antiques roadshow this weekend, a man found out that he had five cups worth $1.5

million. i've teal thoseen those, they'r lattes from starbucks. listen to this, the company that makes the blackberry is laying off 11% of its workforce. you could tell it's bad, because the ceo's announcement ended with the lines "sent from my iphone." >> tonight, jimmy welcomes actor steve carrell, and musical guests matt and kim. late night with jimmy fallon, week nights at 12:35, 11:35 central time. time for your "first look" at entertainment news, the add the late amy winehouse to the list of english celebrities whose phone was allegedly hacked. "sunday mail" claims that

tabloids winehouse's medical records and parents and one-time husband. police say autopsy results haven't established her cause of death. further tests are needed. according to her family, the singer will be laid to rest at a small private ceremony today. elsewhere, people reports the tattooed twosome slated to be married this summer, jesse james and cat von dee have called it off and ended their relationship. finally this kind of casting is proof to everyone but bill, that the apocalypse is here. we'll explain it in just a few. britney spears for her upcoming tour has hired "jersey shore's" pauley d as a performer. he'll join in august. yes, bill is a fan and -- >> brilliant. usually you don't know who the deejays are to britney spears concert or somewhere else. and now everyone knows who pauly is except for you.

>> but i'm happy to see britney spears make a comeback. so good for her. >> you watch the "bachelor." . >> i'm amara sohn and this is "first look" on msnbc. president obama opens for john boehner in a primetime twin bill over the country's debt crisis with the august 2nd deadline to raise the limit now one week away. the question is, did anything that either the president or the speaker of the house said last night move us any closer to a deal? meanwhile, in a tiny glimmer of good news, in an unspeakably horrible story, the death toll is lowered in the terrorist attack in norway and the gunman now claims that he had help carrying out the attack. the question is, who was he working with? and the nfl season is on. after a four and a half-month lockout, now assuring americans that they'll be safely eating buffalo wings and cool ranch doto