citizens. then we can laugh some more, because look at these guys -- the best new thing in the world today. that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again tomorrow night. wall street whiplash, the wild up and down swings this week in stocks continue. test flight fail. the fastest aircraft ever built ends up in the pacific ocean. and what a difference a day makes. in 24 hours some canadian plant workers hear some really bad news and then some really good news. good morning to you. i'm veronica de la . this is "first look" on msnbc.

we begin this morning with a record breaking roller coaster ride. wall street saw yet another day of volatile trading on thursday, this time on the upside as investors and analysts try to come up with clues as to when it will all end and where the ultimate is headed. nbc's brian mooar reports. >> reporter: it was another wild ride on wall street with the dow recovering more than 420 points and climbing back over the 11,000 mark. >> is this a bottom in the market? >> i'd like to believe so, but i think it's way too early to tell. >> reporter: the market picked up on news that germany and france are meeting next week and italy is promising strict reforms in return for eu help. a better-than-expected report on u.s. jobless claims helped. but investors are still running scared. >> americans are looking at washington and europe and saying do these people know what they're doing? that's leading to the

volatility. >> reporter: president obama was in michigan talking about the jobs america needs and the job washington is doing. >> there is nothing wrong with our country. there is something wrong with our politics. >> on capitol hill last seats were filled on the super committee. one tea party member is declaring tax increases are off the table. >> i think the most important thing is to make credible reductions in the size of the deficit. i think that's got to come from the spending time. >> reporter: the super committee has until thanksgiving to agree on $1.5 trillion in cuts. if they can't agree, there will be $1.2 trillion in automatic reductions, evenly divided between defense and discretionary spending, cuts neither side wants. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >> as brian just mentioned, nancy pelosi filled out the final three slots on the committee charged with cutting the nation's debt.

pelosi chose south carolina's james clyburn, california's javier boser and chris van hollen, hark ening back. pelosi called for both major entitlement cuts and increased taxes. there's a new face among the gop presidential hopefuls, texas governor rick perry, but he hasn't officially declared so he couldn't take part in last night's debate where eight republicans went head-to-head on the issue, finding only xhochb ground on their criticism of president obama. steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: all eight candidates saved their best shots for president obama. >> our president simply doesn't understand how to lead. >> and the message is this, you are finished in 2012. >> reporter: mitt romney in iowa

for the first time got heckled. >> obama care was patterned after mit's plan in massachusetts. >> reporter: fighting to keep his campaign ally, pawlenty vowed no more timidity. he clashed with michele bachmann. >> in congress her record of accomplishments and results is nonexistent. >> people are looking for a champion. they want someone who has been fighting. >> if that's your view of effective leadership with results, please stop because you're killing us. >> reporter: tea party favorite rick perry made clear he's going to run, mocked bay fellow texan. >> i'm very pleased he's coming in because he represent it is status quo. >> reporter: all the debaters did agree to oppose tax hikes, but this had been the most contentious debate. saturday comes the iowa straw poll that's sure to knock some participants out of the race. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, ames, iowa. here is your first look at

some of the other news going on around america. in california, an unmanned hyphen sonic glider was launched on a rocket thursday morning. it was the military's second attempt to fly the fastest aircraft ever built, part of a plan to develop technology that can reach a threat in any part of the globe in just an hour. the craft collected nine minutes of data before its signal was lost. it's believed to have crashed into the pacific. elsewhere in california, a team of stanford students designed what they hope is the fastest solar panels on wheels. the $500,000 car will compete at the world solar challenge in australia. it's completely gas-free. finally, an annual tradition at the keith's county fair in nebraska, the clash of the combines. they competed for the sturdyist

farm ride. some machines survived to compete another year. now for a look at the national weather we turn to msnbc meteorologist bill karins. >> ever been to a demolition derby of any type? >> they're fun. i don't know why it's fun, i just lived. >> when i lived in yuma, arizona, the monster trucks. >> you're not fooling around. as we go throughout the upcoming weekend, we'll have to deal with rainy weather. the big story yesterday, dallas, what happened? we only hit 97 degrees, broke our streak. thunderstorms in oklahoma, will send cooler winds your way. we did in san antonio, it was 103. beautiful weather out there still exists from the great lakes, ohio valley, through the mid click to new england, the coolest morning in over a month and a half in many areas.

a great day today. of course, there's always troublesome weather out there. now that's in the middle of the country, we'll track that across the country this upcoming weekend. enjoy one more perfect day in the ohio valley, two more great days in new england and the mid atlantic. let's show you who is dealing with the wet weather right now. st. joseph all the way down to kansas city is where the wet weather will be with thunderstorms early this morning. nebraska has thunderstorms to deal with. i was talking about the temperatures, it's very enjoyable. 62 this morning in chicago. new york city at 65. some of the suburbs have dropped into the 50s. the coolest morning in a while. the heat and humidity in the southern half. watch out for afternoon thunderstorms in georgia, south carolina, definitely florida where it will be hot. orlando at 96 is pretty hot. once again, we should be near 100 in texas. but not seeing the incredible heat of 110 like last week.

a sneak peek at your weekend. on saturday, wet weather in minneapolis, chicago, into ohio valley. unfortunately it looks like the east coast will be very wet on sunday. >> say it isn't so. all right. more on wall street's wild ride. why you food costs may be heading higher and the car to buy with all that disposable income that you might have, right? your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, yankees slam the door. football is back and tiger is back, too. but before you knew it, it was gone. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ shapiro ] at legalzoom, you can take care of virtually

all your important legal matters in just minutes. now it's quicker and easier for you to start your business... protect your family... and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

welcome back to "first look." i'm veronica de la cruz. in a notice to employees, the u.s. postal service says it's considering cutting as many as 120,000 jobs and switching for federal retirement and health

plans to its own benefit systems. the financially strapped agency says lit be insolvent next month due to significant declines in mail volumes. prime minister david cameron is proposing blocking social media websites to deal with any future cases of unrest. critics blasted the plan calling it an assault on freedom of speech. scientists say they discovered a distance jupiter-sized planet that's darker than any planet or moon ever seen. the darker than coal planet emits a faint red glow like a burning ember. in china it took 661,000 explosives to bring down this chimney, one of the two tallest in asia. the blast was so powerful it caused damage to nearby homes and businesses. check this out. a wild 24 hours for plant economies in canada.

ten newly laid off workers along with eight others found out they won a lottery jackpot worth $7 million canadian dollars or $4,000 apiece. not too shabby. the dow closed yesterday up 423 points, the s&p up 51, nasdaq spiked 111. the nikkei lost 18 points, but in long congress, the hang seng added 24. as we reported earlier in what's being called a bungee market and a whip saw weeks, stocks rode the roller coaster. never before has the dow had four 400-point swings. the wild curves hit elsewhere. gold fell a whopping $32.80 an

ounce. oil jumped more than 3% which pushed exxon mobil back up above apple as the nation's most valuable company. wall street's so-called fear index fell, still up 22% this week. the surge came largely thanks to people filing unemployment benefits, following $400,000. a sysco soared 16%. helping in europe, nicholas sarkozy and angela merkel will meet next tuesday. several markets impose a short-term ban on short-selling stocks. after nab bell nvidia soared above expectations. bad news for next year's food prices. the government said the corn crap is damaged from the hot

prices. a 1955 ferrari, one of only 35 ever built and raced by fred as stair in a movie goes on auction soon in california, expected to fetch up to $3.25 million just in case you're looking. on the same day wall street rose on welcome jobs data, last night on the mach el maddow show, she asked jan murkowski to talk about a bill that promises to put more than 2 million people back to work in america. >> it starts with a very simple idea that if you want to create jobs, create them. that if people need to be hired, hire them. if we put money in people's pockets by having jobs, then we're going to stimulate the private sector to do that. this idea of putting 2.3 million people to work right away in doing things that need to be done economists say could lower the unemployment rate about

1.3%, which isn't everything. we have to do better yet, but it's certainly a good start. it's at a very reasonable price. we're talking at about $230 billion over two years. that doesn't count how much we would save with people getting off their unemployment and other benefits they need when they're unemployed. that's just direct costs. some of that would go to the private sector. if school districts want to hire a construction firm to help fix up schools all over the country, that can be done. >> don't miss "the rachel maddow show" at 9:00 eastern weeknights here on msnbc, the place for politics. believe it or not, it's time for football. robinson cano slams the yankees back in the battle for first place. your first look at sports is next. you're watching "first look" on

msnbc. [ male announcer ] this...is the network -- a network of possibilities. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say.

but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

welcome back to "first look." i'm veronica de la cruz. here is nbc's fred roggin. good morning. first place red sox had the night off and the yankees took full advantage, taking on the angels, robinson cano at the plate and that one is not coming back. a grand slam gave the yanks a 6-2 lead. new york won it 6-5, now a game

back in the al east. albert pujols, a one-man wrecking crew, a perfect 4 for 4 and a home run. st. louis behind milwaukee in a 5-2 win. nothing going right for the mets this season. tied with two at the padres, grounded to short, easy play for tejada, he booted it. padres won it 3-2. tiger woods stumbled last week at bridgestone. yesterday at the pga championship he fell flat on his face. after a great start the wheels simply fell off. tiger couldn't hit a fair way but had no problem hitting everything else, the tall grass, water, sand, five bogies, three double bogies, worst opening mound at a major. steve stricter is your leader at seven under. finally we've held you in suspension long enough. there was nfl football last night. it was a welcome sight. the eagles are locked and loaded to make a run at the super bowl. michael vick connected with

brent celek for the only touchdown of the game. forget the quarterback controversy between orton and tebow in denver. the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth, the cowboys marched down the field, steve mcgee to duane harris. they would go for the win in a two-point conversion. mcgee scrambled found rubbingr in the end zone. what a finish. cowboys won it 24-23. that's your first look at sports. have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. now for another quick look at the weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with a weather channel forecast. i want to thank you because it has been gorgeous outside. >> i'm fully responsible for it, too. >> you are. thank you very much. >> dare i say, it's actually a tad chilly in a few spots this morning. good morning once again. if you're anywhere outside of the big cities, up through the great lakes, ohio valley or new england, temperatures are in the 50s. that's almost jacket weather.

it's 53 in pittsburgh, a little shock to the system. we haven't been that cool in a long time. still holding tont heat in the main cities. new york, philly, baltimore and d.c. temperatures for the most part will make it into the low 80s in most cases, maybe mid 80s, but this is as good as it gets for a friday in the middle of summer. as far as the rest of the country, showers and thunderstorms today, widespread, minneapolis through iowa. later today we'll see more thunderstorms in area of missouri. right now we have some heading for kansas city. southeast dealing with storms. saturday, if you're planning things out, the east coast for the most part is going to be okay on saturday, increasing clouds at the worst. the rain in the middle of the country. on sunday all that rain will head to the east here. rule of thumb is east coast. saturday is your good day, sunday is the bad day. >> in the meantime, today all we need is sunglasses? sounds good.

can the apes hang in at the box office or will a best-selling book turn movie debut take first spot? you're watching "first look" on msnbc. the trip around the world you never took. the best-selling novel you never wrote. but there's one opportunity that's too good to miss. the lexus golden opportunity sales event, with exceptional values on the lexus es. but only until september 6th. see your lexus dealer. while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. so lily and i are back on the road again. go! go!

completing an atm deposit in record time... that's a step forward. go! go! with deposit friendly atms, you can make ultra fast, secure deposits with no slips or envelopes. take a step forward and chase what matters. handle more than 165 billion letters and packages a year. that's about 34 million pounds of mail every day. ever wonder what this costs you as a taxpayer? millions? tens of millions? hundreds of millions? not a single cent. the united states postal service doesn't run on your tax dollars. it's funded solely by stamps and postage. brought to you by the men and women of the american postal workers union. ♪

look." last night jimmy fallon focused on how the economic downturn has affected one particular web giant. >> i read aol stocks 20%. it's not good. when i signed up the guy was like, welcome, can i crash at your place for a while? you've got a few ton, right?

it's fine. during a call with investors rupert murdoch said news corp. made $2.7 billion. murdoch said if investors had any questions, they should contact him by leaving a message on their own voice mails. i'll check them later, i'll check them later. this isn't good. after all the rioting in london officials are wondering it could mean security problems for the olympics next year. the guy running with the torch will just blend right in. >> tonight jimmy welcomes julia styles, musical case they mon poll la. that's weeknights at 12:35, 11:35 central on your local nbc station. it is time for your first look at entertainment. a classic battle of the champion versus eager newcomers is shaping up at the box office this weekend. the defending champ is "rise of the planet of the apes" which

out performed expectations. experts think in defense of the first spot it should take in at least $25 million. the challenger is the debut of "the help." it could earn as much as $25 million this weekend and the top spot if the apes falter. "final destination" the franchise where you can't cheat death always kills it at the box office. it will open around $20 million and could surprise the front-runners. another upset possibility. the summer's seventh r rated comedy starring jesse eisenberg, and glee features the cast from the show also debuts and might break into the double-digit millions. that is definitely on your must-see list, bill karins. >> none of them are on my list. i'm always sad, all the big

winners are released. >> i want to see "the beginner." >> all the art see movies. >> that's just me. >> i'm veronica de la cruz. stay tuned. "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. >> last night a fiery debate, the republican presidential candidates had their last chance to impress people of iowa before tomorrow's highly anticipated straw poll. the question is did anyone do well enough to emerge as the king or queen of the hawkeye state? the dow jones index swings 400 points, this time in the right direction. the question is what does this stock market roller coaster mean for the economy as a whole? oh boy, it's that time of year again. a bunch of sweaty, muscle-bound testosterone men running around in tights. the question is, who likes watching this stuff? it's way too early for this.