leads to a pushing and shoving match in nascar. and what is it? a mysterious creature surfaces in the suburbs of the nation's capital. it still has us scratching our head. good morning, everyone, i'm lynn berry, those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with striking back. his re-election campaign may not be officially under way yet, but that didn't stop president obama from lashing out at the gop and his potential 2012 rivals on the first day of his so-called economic bus tour. nbc's brian moore is in washington with details. brian, good morning. >> good morning, lynn, the president is counting on a new recovery plan to help create

jobs and to help save his own. the white house insists president obama's three-day bus tour through the midwest isn't a campaign swing. but it sure looked that way as he rolled into iowa and sent a message to congress. >> if they don't start paying attention, then they're not going to be in office and we'll have a new congress in there that will start paying attention to what is going on all across america. >> reporter: he promised a new economic plan in september and promised congress will have to answer to voters if it's not passed. >> the choice will be very stark and will be very clear. >> reporter: texas governor rick perry still riding high on his sixth-place finish in saturday saturday's iowa's straw poll is playing catch-up with the other gop presidential candidates. >> i know we're late getting in this process, but we're in and we're all in and we're going to campaign like our life depends on it. >> reporter: mitt romney is still the man to beat. >> any one of the people runningor president on the republican side would be an

improvement over what we have in my view. >> reporter: the 2012 race for the white house heating up. but there's still a long way to. it is a long road, election day 2012, 448 days away. lynn? >> brian, thank you. last night on the "rachel maddow show" democrat howard dean former vermont governor talked about texas governor rick perry. >> the interesting thing about this, you would think this might appeal to the pea party. the problem is he's got some other problems. for example, he talks a lot about the jobs that were created in texas since he's been governor. there have been a lot of jobs created. but texas created three out of four of all the jobs increase in the state workforce. state workforce up 18% under rick perry, the supposed tea party candidate. it's really extraordinary. and this business of allowing the states to do whatever they please and if the state wants to get rid of social security, that's fine.

but here's the record in texas, 22% of all children in texas have no health insurance. it's one of the worst in the country. they have a $9 billion deficit. which is bigger than all but four states in texas. so they've got a lot of explaining to do and he's got, he's got a management problem on his hands. most governors don't have a management problem, but it turns out that texas is the weakest governorship in the country. the lieutenant governor actually presents the budget in texas and rick perry really has very little management experience. he's not really running texas. the only state in the country that's true of. >> you won't want to miss out object rachel maddow's unique take on politics and all the day's top stories, here on msnbc, the place for politics. there is new evidence this morning iran may be supplying goods to the terror group u.s. officials consider the most dangerous current threat to the united states. al qaeda in the arabian

peninsula. a ship that departed iran several days ago carrying weapons, food and other supplies was intercepted by the indian navy off the coast of mumbai over the weekend. the ship, which had a crew of several yemeni nationals and at least one somali, was headed to yemen. and officials believe it was bringing the goods to the terror group. one official acknowledged there weren't many arms on board when the ship was stopped. but said it's common for crews to throw weapons overboard when military vessels approach. back at home, the nation continues to mourn the five victims of saturday's tragic stage collapse at the indiana state fair. at a memorial service on the state fairgrounds yesterday morning, hundreds gather to remember family and friends that were lost. afterwards, the state fair did reopen. however, a fireworks display was scheduled and that was canceled. and it included concerts by

janet jackson and lady ante bell up, all of those were canceled. officials continue to investigate whether the storm-related incident could have been prevented. in kentucky, the fbi has arrested a man wanted in australia for allegedly strapping a fake bomb to the neck of an 18-year-old girl. authorities say the august 3rd attack was part of an alleged extortion event. nbc's dan shineman has the story. >> reporter: the fbi says paul douglas peters, a 50-year-old australian citizen has been arrested outside louisville. >> mr. peters was arrested by our louisville fbi s.w.a.t. team at the home of his former wife. >> police believe he is the man who entered a home in a city suburb when 18-year-old madelyn was home at loan studying. police say he chained a device that looked like a bomb to her neck. ten hours later, the device was removed and found to contain no explosives. during a news conference tuesday

morning, police said there are links between the suspect and the family. but one big question remains -- why. >> the actual ins and outs of motive and everything else are yet to be determined and that's part of our ongoing investigation. >> hours after the news of the arrest was announced, the family expressed their gratitude. >> we've been humbled by the selflessness and generosity of those wanting to help maddie in any way we can. from those we know well to those we've never even met before in australia and overseas. we want to say a very heartfelt thank you. >> australian police are awaiting his extradition. and here's your "first look" a at other news going on. surveillance cameras rolled as a group of teens looted shelves inside a maryland store. the flash mob robbery was carried out without any resistance from store employees, they watched as approximately three dozen teens snatched and

stuffed items away before leaving the store. police have not made any arrests, but have identified some of the suspects. mother nature sparked a massive fire in southern idaho. fire crews have been stretched thin battling at least nine fires since sunday night. the largest blaze has charred approximately 40,000 acres. storms in the area have also knocked out power. some fires there remain burning unchecked due to a lack of resources. volunteers in indiana put their sunday best on. using 50 gallons of ice cream, 30 cans of whipped cream and ten cans of chocolate syrup, the team of dessert decorators created 200 feet of ice cream heaven, setting a world record for the longest dessert. and finally in maryland, a mystery is brewing over just what type of animal this is. look closely there, because we're stumped. it appears to be part deer, part

dog, part kang roo with a long rat-like tail. the hospital technician who caught the creature say it may be the legendary chupracambra. he set it free but plans to get expert opinion on the species. now for a look at your national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karens. >> you're just making up words. chupucabra? >> yes, that's a word. >> you can google anything. who knows what will come up. good morning, everyone, we're watching a storm system still plaguing us in new england, with dreary, kind of cloudy weather, it will move out later on today. a wintertime scenario, very strange, a low pressure wave moving up the eastern seaboard and into the gulf of maine, it's like a nor'easter practically. very chilly in new england with the rain coming down. the green is showing in rain.

the rain that's heavier is shown in colors of yellow. so only few areas are getting a heavy, heavy rain. mostly from syracuse to albany down to binghampton and to the skills and some showers around new york city today, too. so carry your umbrella into new england. yesterday we saw more heavy rain and thunderstorms. an inch and a half in boston, two and a half inches in albany. we still had to deal with the storm. this is three days in a row dealing with this mess. today, it was when it will exit. the last half day will be better than what you'll experience this morning. great weather right now in the ohio valley. and great lakes, that will shift into new england for a great wednesday. so today's dreary, tomorrow is much better. the cold front went down the north florida, rare for this time of year. brought lower humidity levels. we have a couple of other spots, wet weather today. we've had showers and thunderstorms form in here in between omaha and des moines. we're getting drenched in southwest sections of iowa and

also in north dakota. a pretty good line of storms just barely went through bismarck. worst of it was to the south of town. now it's traveling on interstate 94 in fargo. probably about an hour or two from now you'll get wet weather. hot in texas and what a nice day in chicago, 83 and sunny. tomorrow, lynn, the 83 and sunny will head to new england, we'll enjoy it tomorrow. well, google jump-starts the week on wall street. your "first look" at the morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, jim thome jones an exclusive club. the dodgers find a new way to speed up the season and push comes to shove on the racetrack, you're watching "first look." [ male announcer ] imagine all of your missed opportunities

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. here are some of the top stories making news this morning. libyan rebels are pushing to isolate the capital of tripoli, blocking key supply routes and

cutting oil pipelines. u.s. defense officials say moammar gadhafi's forces fired a scud missile for the first time in the conflict, but it landed in the desert, causing no casualties. royal dutch shell has revealed one of its oil platforms off the coast of scotland has spilled more than 1300 barrels of oil in the north sea. since a ruptured pipeline began leaking last week, the spill, which has now been largely contained, is being called the region's worst in a decade. divers searching for a female japanese exchange student who fell into the deadly waters of niagara falls sunday have located an unidentified male body instead. police say the 19-year-old woman lost her balance while climbing over a railing and is presumed dead. and tragically, this is hard to believe, according to the "associated press," the united nations's world food program has been investigating food theft in the famine-stricken nation of somalia for the past two months.

an a.p. investigation found donated food meant for starving somalis is being stolen and sold in markets. and now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,482 after growing 213 points yesterday. the s&p 500 gained 25 points, the nasdaq rose 47. taking a look at overseas trading, in toyko, the nikkei added 21 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng lost 48. well merger monday opened a new week on wall street, with a bang. leaving last week's steep losses just a painful memory. for now. the main drive of trade -- google. in its biggest deal ever buying wireless phone maker motorola mobile holdings for $12.5 billion. and skyrocketed 55%, google ended down a little over 5%. blackberry's research in motion

jumped 10%. nokia zipped up 17. with monday's gains, last week's losses were wiped out. volume calmed to roughly half of last week's, the dow's three-day win streak the first in six weeks. bank of america up 8% on plans to sell its canadian credit card business. lowe's rose slightly, despite reporting weaker-than-expected quarterly sales. more deals monday, the world's number one drilling contractor, transocean, buying aker drilling. time warner paying $3 billion for insight communication. and cargill buying dutch animal nutrition company for over $2 billion. elsewhere, france and germany's leaders meet in paris trying to get a grip on euro debt. reportedly they will not be discussing a common euro bond. something struggling neighbors are calling for.

gas fell seven cents last week to $3.60 a gallon. the second consecutive drop this month. and finally, cautious credit card users have driven late payments down to their lowest level in 17 years. coming up, a triple play in milwaukee, preseason football, in texas and things get ugly in nascar. plus, the twins jim thome does something only eight people have ever accomplished in baseball history. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. 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.

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. and in sports, the twins' jim thome smacked his 600th career home run last night. and that was reaching that number faster than anyone else, except babe ruth. here's nbc's fred roggin. good morning, the phrase, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy is widely overused, but not when you're talking about the minnesota twins' jim thome. chasing 600 home runs, he belted number 599 in the sixth inning against the tigers, a two-run blast gave the twins the lead. an inning later, there it is, number 600. the crowd in detroit gave him a standing ovation, just the eighth player in major league baseball history to reach that. next stop, cooperstown. the dodgers can't wait for this season to end. that will speed things up. the brewers pulled off a triple play. got it going, a nice flip to

second, toss to fist, prince fielder gunned it down at the plate. 4-6-3-2 if you're scoring at home. to football, jets and texans, here's something you don't see very often. matt leinart throwing a touchdown. houston won their preseason opener, 20-16. got as that car question for you -- what's more rare than a monday race? your answer? an australian winning it. marcus ambrose became the first aussie to win a sprint cup event. but it's what happen eed after e race that overshadowed his victory. a violent crash. thankfully, everybody was okay. but it didn't end there. after the race, biffle took a string at sed, boris went after biffle, who was protected by his crew. never got to him, but i have a feeling he will. >> he's the most unprofessional little scaredy cat i've ever seen in my life. if someone texts me his address, i'll go see him wednesday at his

house and show him what he needs, he needs a friging whipping. i'll give it to him. we'll show up at a race with a black eye one of these days, i'll see him somewhere. >> i'll take his word for it -- enough said. that's your "first look" at sports. now for another quick look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins, he has your weather channel forecast. >> people don't realize that's how you talk to me when we're not on camera. >> exactly. i look all sweet and innocent, you turn off the red light, evil. bring the umbrella this morning in new england, we have rain coming down once again, three days in a row here for some spots. from burlington up through northern new hampshire, albany, new york, to syracuse, utica, rome, billington. even new york city seeing showers early. boston, providence, hart ford, not as bad as yesterday, but a chance for afternoon showers. here's a look at the radar for you a little further west.

we're dry in buffalo and pittsburgh, so it's starting to slowly push out. tomorrow will be a much better day. today we'll deal with showers, temperatures very cool, only highs in the 70s. buffalo and pittsburgh you're having a nice day today. and tomorrow is probably the best day we're going to see of the entire week. wednesday looks very nice, philly, 88. new york city, 85 and we're hot in texas. what else is new. 100-degree heat widespread today. the end of a long-running reality tv show, and billy crystal wants another crack at hosting tv's biggest awards night. plus, we're going to tell you who the highest-earning teen in hollywood is. and who's been crowned the king of hip hop. your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. an electric motorcycle? what if we turned trash into surfboards? whatever your what if is, the new sprint biz 360 has custom solutions to make it happen, including mobile payment processing,

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry, it's time for entertainment news. the reality show, forced to change its name after the messy divorce of its stars has now been canceled. tlc announced "kate plus eight" will end after this season. kate gosselin tweeted she was looking at the positive side in future challenges. jon gosselin told radar online he's relieved to get his children away from the prying eyes of the camera. wishes kate well and hopes now she can spend more time with the kids. low blow, john. "rolling stone" has crowned eminem the king of hip hop. lil wayne ranked send and drake third. the "l.a. times" reports that billy crystal's last year cameo

made him itchy to host the oscars again. and teen's richest is justin bieber. $53 million a year. coming in second was miley cyrus with $48 million. bieber's girlfriend, selena gomez weighed in at just $5 million. >> the biebs made how much? >> $53 million. which i mean he's worth much more than that. come on. at least $100 million. >> i will never, ever say anything bad about him again. >> it's about time, bill. >> i'm going to go buy his poster and put it up on my wall. >> it's about time you respected the bieb. i'm lynn berry, this is "first look" on msnbc. "way too early" starts right now. president obama cruising across the midwest in his presidential campaign bus. begins his public critique of the republican field, while front-runners mitt romney and

rick perry go after each other on their economic records. the question is, at the rate we're going already, can you believe the republican nominating convention is still one year and 11 days away? think about that. meanwhile, a somber reopening of the indiana state fair. where five people were killed in a horrifying stage collapse over the weekend. the question is, who were the victims and who are the heroes who helped pull people out of the wreckage? we'll have a report from indianapolis. and big baseball history last night as jim thome joins the super-exclusive group of men who have hit 600 career home runs. the question is, with suspicious names like bonds, sousa and a-rod on the list, how much more impressive is thome's career? it's "way too early" for this. good morning, i'm willie geist and this is "way too early," the show that recently joined the exclusive 60