the best new thing in the world returns tomorrow. it involves espionage and cutoff shorts and deep thoughts. i promise. it's not over yet -- another awful day on wall street. brought on by fears of another credit downgrade. this one overseas. long arm of the law -- a cross-country search for three siblings on a crime spree ends after a high-speed chase. and no love lost -- who has been voted the most hated person in the united states? good morning, everyone, i'm lynn berry, those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

and we begin this morning with market mayhem, stocks took another nauseating nose dive on wall street wednesday, as investors worried france could become the latest casualties of europe's debt problems. adding fuel to fears of a global economic crisis. losses were limited overnight in asia. but experts warn the roller coaster ride isn't over yet. nbc's kristen dahlgren reports. >> reporter: the celebration short-lived on wall street. >> just another bloodbath on wall street today. >> reporter: the dow not only erasing tuesday's gains, but finishing down another 520. another huge point-drop. >> this is about europe, and this is where the concern is. >> investors worried that italy and spain may be unable to repay their debts and that france could be the next country stripped of its aaa credit rating. in washington, more calls for congress to return to deal with the deficit. four house democrats sent this

letter to speaker boehner, urging them to end their summer recess. the white house said the president has no plans to order lawmakers back or cancel his own upcoming family vacation. >> i don't think stunned is what the american people are looking for, they're looking for focus on economic growth and job creation. >> after lunch with volunteers, the president met with fed chairman, ben bernanke and treasury secretary, timothy geithner. while congressers have now released nine out of 12 picks for the so-called supercommittee. charged with finding another $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction. >> we need america to do what america used to do when things got tough. they got together, they rolled up their sleeves. >> the diverse group of republicans and democrats, about to have wall street and the world watching their work. krist kristen dahlgren, nbc news, washington. republicans have named that are appointments to the so-called congressional

supercommittee. tasked with slashing the nation's deficit. senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell chose rob kyle, rob portman of ohio and pat toomey of pennsylvania. they're considered to be among the most conservative members of congress. house speaker john boehner selected jeb penserling of kansas and dave camp and fred upton from michigan. all six gop picks for the panel are conservative and all oppose tax increases. house minority leader, nancy pelosi is required to name her three members by next week. now, meanwhile, a new poll this morning suggests an overwhelming majority of americans have little or no confidence in washington's ability to fix the country's economic problems. that number is 73% according to the "washington post" poll. that's up from 52% last fall. when asked about the s&p

downgrade that led to this week's market volatility, 52% said it's a fair assessment of the u.s. financial situation. so who's to blame for the downgrade? according to the poll, 36% point the finger at republicans, while 31% blame president obama and the democrats. last night on "hardball" with chris matthews, chris asked former new mexico governor, bill richardson what the president and lawmakers need to focus on next. >> i think the president has to shift the discussion away from debt. we've had a ten-year debt program that he and the republicans have come forth with. what we need is a jobs program. jobs, jobs, jobs. create jobs through the private sector, give incentives to new companies that hire new workers. find ways to persuade and maybe even force some of these companies that are taking these jobs overseas. find issues that create county

to county, you got to go to the grassroots. you know when the president talks about let's have more infrastructure. let's have more green jobs. i think what needs to happen is he's got plenty of people working for him. these new jobs are going to be in county x of sante fe, new mexico, go to the midwest, listen to factory workers, to union leaders, to private-sector leaders. what's it going to take to create new jobs? give me some new ideas. >> don't miss "hardball" with chris matthews, week nights at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern only on msnbc, the place for politics. elsewhere this morning, the u.s. military says international forces have killed the taliban fighters responsible for last weekend's deadly u.s. helicopter crash in afghanistan. that left 30 american servicemen dead. during a pentagon news conference yesterday, marine

corps general john allen said the taliban leader insurgent who fired the rocket-propelled grenade were both taken out in a coalition airstrike monday. however, the military is still looking for the top taliban leader who was the original tart of saturday's mission. here's a look at other news going on in america today. life on the lam for three fugitive siblings flat-lined in colorado. accused of robbing banks in two states and a shoot-out with police, the two brothers and a sister quickly landed on america's most wanted list. the trio dubbed the dougherty gang crashed their car after a chase with police. all three were arrested and hospitalized with nonlife-threatening injuries. a kentucky landlord recently needed some special assistance to evict his former tenants' creepy roommates. his clean-up job was put on hold after discovering a rattlesnake,

three tarantulas and a scorpion left inside the vacant apartment. sounds like a new york city place, i can attest to that. he had them all removed, but is unsure about any further crawling or slithering surprises. in florida, one camp is adding a sweet touch to summer vacations. campers here learn all about chocolate and how to create a smorgasbord of treats, the camp is designed to introduce kids to different kinds of chocolate and give them opportunities to create their own chocolate snacks. now for a look at your national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning to you. >> we have do get you in some nicer living arrangements. >> it's pretty depressing. 450 square feet of it. >> you're fine. >> woe is me, woe is me. >> the doorman can get that steak for you, no problem. good morning, everyone. a beautiful weather out there up through the great lakes and new

england. now this is the dew point. now the dew point is a little different than the temperature, a a measure of how much moisture is in the air, when you're in the 60s and 70s, the air is uncomfortable. and most of the summer it's been very humid. well this is the first fall canadian air that's moved in. you can feel it from the great lakes to chicago to the big cities in the east. especially in washington, d.c., you've gotten your relief. to the deep south, it's still humid, this cold front is not going to make it far enough south for you. you'll still be humid with a chance of showers and storms. but from kentucky to virginia northwards is going to be perfect. along the cold front, there's a lot of bad weather as far as thunderstorms go. rolling along interstate 40. from fort smith to little rock to pine bluff. the memphis the storms for now are staying south of you. we still have some areas of heat that are an issue. mostly louisiana and down here in texas. but for the first time in a

while, i don't have any excessive heat warnings, these are just advisories, in other words, it is going to be hot, but not life-threatening. yesterday, it was 104 in dallas, that's where the heat still is is down here in the deep south. the 95 in atlanta wasn't too enjoyable. the pga championship this week, one of the majors of the year that's going to be very hot there. in dallas, that's 40 days in a row of 100-plus heat and here's the extended forecast. calling for 100-degree heat to continue into the weekend. so some great weather out there, lynn, it's going to be perfect today in the great lakes and northeast. but we're still hot and humid in the southern half of the country. a 50/50 forecast. coming up, more on the european wave that slammed into wall street wednesday. and the one company that despite yesterday's woes, ended up the day's biggest winner. your "first look" at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, the yankees hammer a rookie and a wild finish you've got to see. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. i love that my daughter's part fish.

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry, here are some of the top stories making news this morning in syria, activists say government forces have killed 15 civilians in a western city, despite international calls to an end to its bloody crackdown. ratcheting up pressure on the regime, the obama administration slapped sanctions on syria's largest commercial bank and cell phone operator. and what's being called a sensational potential breakthrough in the treatment of leukemia, researchers at the university of pennsylvania say they've genetically modified white blood cells in three patients to attack and kill tumors within their own bodies. one year after treatment, two of the patients appear to be cancer-free. the national park service says the statue of liberty will be closed for one year beginning in october, for a $27 million re making itsle. the statue's crn was closed

from 2001-2009 following the september 11th attacks. the nasa rover "opportunity" has beamed back new images of a 14-mile-wide crater on mars where it will study rock samples. it took the solar-powered rover three years to drive from the small crater just 13 miles away. and a new poll finds casey anthony, who was acquitted of killing her 2-year-old daughter, caylee, the most hated person in america. beating out o.j. simpson, paris hilton and so-called octomom, nadya suleman. and here's your "first look" at how wall street will hobble into trade today. the dow opens at 10,719 after plunging 519 points yesterday. the s&p tumbled 51 points, the nasdaq staggered down 101. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo,

the nikkei fell 56 points, while in hong kong, the hang seng lost 188. as we reported earlier, worries a chain reaction of european debt quakes could steamroll american finance. and that sent stocks here tumbling once again on wednesday. wall street's focus shifted overseas on new concerns france might follow the u.s. becoming the next country to lose its aaa rating. french president, nicolas sarkozy, rushed back from his riffia vacation for an emergency meeting. shares in france's biggest bank plunged almost 15%. top banks in england, italy and germany were also hammered. europe matters so much to us because about 29% of foreign sales for s&p 500 companies last year came from there. and no surprise, financial stocks led the markets lower here as well, bank of america, citigroup and goldman sachs each lost 10% of their market value.

safe haven gold rose above $1800 an ounce for the first time ever. another safe harbor, the ten-year treasury note rose sharply while its yield tumbled. the dow has lost 2,000 points in less than three weeks. yesterday's volatility was heightened by wild swings of heavy volume set off by computer trading programs. almost double the year's daily average were traded wednesday. walt disney dropped over 9%, a day after posting quarterly results. on the up side after the bell cisco's shares soared after its results edged past street expectations. and finally, apple closed as america's number one company by market value wednesday. passing exxonmobil, finishing the day, worth a total of $337 billion. exxon had held the top spot since 2005. well, a miscue, beating up

on a beginner and the hit streak continues. plus, the on-the-field enthusiasm of america's new soccer coach. your "first look" at sports is straight ahead, you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ú

welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. and in sports, the good news is you're pitching your first major league game. the bad news, it's against the bronx bombers at yankee stadium. here's nbc's fred roggin.

good morning, a day after giving up the game-winning homer in the ninth, the yanks regrouped nicely thanks to a few home runs of their own. the yankees curtis granderson took advantage of an an angels pitcher making his debut. he put a three-run shot on the first inning. not the way richards imagined his first big league start. the yankees now a game and a half back of the red sox in the a.l. least. indians hosting the tigers, jiminez making his debut, struck out six in eight innings of work. indians won it 10-3, trail the tigers by two in the a.l. central. off to baltimore, orioles and white sox needed ten to decide a winner. baltimore blew a lead, but a two-rtw two. tying him for the longest hitting streak in braves history. atlanta over florida, 6-2.

to soccer and the u.s. facing rival mexico a friendly. new head coach, jurgen cleanseman, making his debut. the americans had a chance to take the lead, but watch what happeners, rodgers pulled down by a player. tough break for the u.s. the game ends in a 1-1 tie. back to baseball. wild finish in the rays-royals game. tamp bay sam full ripped a shot deep and off the wall. scored the tying run. full was motoring his way to third. the ball bounced past the third baseman, full is safe at the plate. that's your first look at sports, i'm fred roggin. and now for another quick look at the weather. here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. >> dare i say it's a little chilly in a few spots. >> dare you say it?

>> 59 in pittsburgh, that's almost like jacket weather. the suburbs you'll notice a chill in the air. temperatures in the cities are still plenty warm. in the 70s in new york and 75 in washington, d.c. today, probably one of the better days you're going to get all summer long. it's going to be warm in the sun. it should be nice, cool and refreshing in the shade. temperatures in all the big cities are going to be in the 80s. and look at buffalo. only 74. and albany, new york at 76. even with sunshine. that's a cool day. tomorrow is going to be similar, maybe a degree or two warmer. we have thursday and friday, two days in a row, the big cities of the great lakes and the mid-atlantic and the new england area, picture-perfect. top ten days of the summer. as far as the rest of the country goes, we're still great from minneapolis to chicago, to kansas city. enjoy it in st. louis. the southeast of texas hasn't made it to you, lynn, they'll have to wait a couple more weeks. well sometimes going viral isn't everything it's cracked up to be. plus, who is the highest paid tv

actor? your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. last night on late night with jimmy fallon, he had his doubts about one reality tv star's plans for a year in the movies. >> "the situation" said he's hoping to start a movie career. which is why today he was like -- theater number 4, thank you so much, enjoy the show. theater number five, it's upstairs. you got to go upstairs. hey, today was the final round of the national scrabble

championship in texas. wow. i bet there's a lot of excitingness -- damn! [ laughter ] election news, during a speech this week, michele bachmann said she won't use teleprompters if she is elected president. and that is a promise from me to -- hang on. hang on, i got it here, somewhere. gosh, here it is. good afternoon. tonight, jimmy welcomes actress emma stone from "the help" and actor steven moyer from "true blood." week nights at 12:35 on your loebl nbc station. time for your "first look" at entertainment news. it turns out being overnight teen sensation does have its drawbacks. youtube singer rebecca black said she endured so much

"friday" teasing at her anaheim high school that her mom pulled her out of high school. tbs is pulling the plug on "lopez tonight." it's george lopez's final episode. a petition on change.org calls on pbs to acknowledge muppets bert and ernie are gray, to teach children and parents its acceptable and homo phobia is wrong. and tv guide reports that ashton kucher taking over for charlie sheen on "two and a half men" is tv's highest-paid actor, earning $ 700,000 an episode. although tmz said it's $800,000. regardless, that's still behind sheen's former salary. they're making peanuts compared to simon cowell who is making

$75 million for "the x factor." >> bert and ernie -- rubber ducky? the whole thing is getting a little -- >> let's wrap this up now. i'm lynn berry, this is "first look" on msnbc. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. the dow's wild pendulum swings back into red as the average drops 520 points with asia moving lower this morning as well. the markets concerned about the health of u.s. and european economies. the question is -- what can and should president barack obama and congress do now to stop this slide? meanwhile the united states strikes back against the taliban fighters believed to have downed the american helicopter last weekend. that killed 30 u.s. service members. the question is, a lot of people have it right now -- what were 17 navy s.e.a.l.s doing on that mission to begin with? and debate night in iowa for the republican presidential candidates, two days ahead of the straw poll in that state.

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