crooks. and wild ride, a couple thrill seekers get more than they bargain for at the iowa state fair. 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 it's all about the economy. as the president prepares to make the final stomp on his economic bus tour today, his republican rivals are on the road and on the attack over the nation's economic slump. nbc's steve handelsman has our report. >> reporter: on his campaign style swing through the midwest. >> you look very trust worthy.

>> reporter: president obama was in iowa, the state that put him on the path to the white house in 2008. the path rick perry hopes he's on for 2012. the texas governor was in iowa, targeting barack obama. >> now, mr. president, you tried now for 2 1/2 years of government creating jobs. >> reporter: he brags about his jobs record. texas unemployment is a point lower than the u.s. average. oil companies are profitable, tax revenue has not dropped in texas, and in fact almost all of new texas jobs are government jobs. some call perry reckless. he's standing by this charge against the federal reserve. >> printing more money to play politics at this particular time in american history is almost treasonous in my opinion. >> reporter: the president hosted an economic forum.

>> we're going to make it easier for people in rural areas looking for work to find out about companies that are hiring. >> reporter: mitt romney was in new hampshire talking jobs. >> i spent 25 years in business and in that process i was part of helping create jobs. i'd like to do that for the nation. >> reporter: in south carolina, michele bachmann joked her jobs plan is to replace president obama. and she noted the date. >> let's all say happy birthday to elvis presley today. happy birthday. >> reporter: elvis, a bachmann favorite, died on this date. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. last night on "the last word with lawrence o'donnell," guest host chris hayes asked former louisiana governor buddy roamer, whose put a $100 cap on campaign donations, if his decision might be considered a liberal stance. >> i'm a conservative, and i

have fought corruption in louisiana most of my life. so maybe it's because i've been hand to hand combat with the corrupt political forces that i feel so deeply about this. but i don't think it's a liberal or conservative issue. we might debate, chris, whether it should be full disclosure that we want or limits on giving. liberals like limits on giving. conservatives like full disclosure. that could be a good debate. right now we live in a world where we have neither. we don't have any limits, none whatsoever, and there are no disclosure requirements. obama is the master at it. his top five ambassadors gave a minimum of $500,000 each. that's the ambassador great, the ambassador of france and switzerland. i could go on and on and on. it's about the money. it ought to be about our country. it ought to be about jobs. it ought to be about fair play.

those are conservative principles, and i think many liberals share the same thing. disclosure or limit. that's what we need to decide. right now, we have neither, chris. zero. >> lean forward with lawrence o'donnell and his "last word" on the biggest stories of the day. it airs week nights at 8:00 p.m. eastern time, only on msnbc, the place for politics. well, during the president's trip to iowa, he was asked in a television interview about the nation's security situation ahead of next month's ten-year anniversary of the september 11th attack. and the president said the biggest concern for the u.s. right now is not an attack like 9/11 but what he calls a lone wolf terrorist, similar to the recent massacre carried out by a single, self-confessed assassin in norway. the president did note that ahead of next month's 9/11 anniversary the government is monitoring all potential terror

possibilities. well, china is rejecting reports that pakistan gave it access to the stealth helicopter that crashed during the u.s. raid that killed osama bin laden. the financial times over the weekend reported pakistan let chinese military engineers photograph and take samples from the radar evading chopper before giving it back to the u.s. in its first response to the accusations china's defense ministry said, quote, this report is baseless and preposterous. the development comes just ahead of vice president joe biden's five-day trip to china. he is due to arrive there this morning. english media is reporting news corp. boss james murdoch is likely to be called to parliament again over his testimony at phone hacking scandal. documents released by english lawmakers have former

lieutenants poking holes in the testimony delivered by rupert and james murdoch last month. the files suggest reporters and top editors at news of the world approved of the interception of voicemails. the revelations contradict claims the murdochs had been kept in the dock by subordinates about the hacking. a crew of brazen thieves used their getaway car to execute an atm heist early monday morning. the suspects gained entry by launching their truck into a gas station storefront. they struggled with the approximately 500-pound machine but eventually managed to escape with it. no arrests have been made. a traffic stop in texas has left one driver with the burden of answering some questions. valued at close to half a million bucks. police discovered rolls of money stuffed in a propane tank and television after a k-9 alerted

officers to the stash. charges against the driver are pending. a pair of siblings dangling 90 feet in the air became the biggest attraction at an iowa fair monday. unfortunately, this was no act. the brother and sister were left suspended in the air on a malfunctioning ride. after two hours, emergency crews used a crane to pull both from the ride. once safely on the ground, the relieved pair even starred in their own news conference. and finally also in iowa, food trucks and vendors are churning out another year of fun times, and, of course, that fried food at the state fair. attendees have been all smiles and guilt free as they piled on the pounds eating fried candy bars, fried mac and cheese, pork chop on a stick, my personal favorite, and the state fair staple, fried twinkies. got to love it. now for a look at your national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with

the weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. >> i stopped at fried oreos. that was where i drew the line. >> why? >> twinkies. >> fried snickers where the chocolate melts a little bit. >> sounds like dinner. >> good morning, everyone. let's talk about your weather forecast if you're with us this morning from new england, finally a nice day for you after three days in a row of kind of misery. yesterday we only had a high of 74 in boston so it kind of felt like fall and it was damp, and today is going to be much, much better. the heat still continues, we're 104 in dallas yesterday. san antonio was around 100 degrees. that's where the heat is going to continue. the weather pattern right now is about as quiet as it gets. we don't have anything in the tropics brewing heading our way, we don't have any severe weather, we just have the heat and drought. probably the biggest weather story out there. we'll get one cold front every three or four days going through with showers and storms and then you'll get periods of great weather. that's the pattern we're in right now for chicago, detroit,

indianapolis, cleveland, buffalo, syracuse all the way to the big cities in the east. now it's finally our turn in the midatlantic up through new england for the high pressure to build in, creating a fall type air mass. great forecast. then the front comes through thursday, then more nice weather behind you. that's the next little piece of beautiful weather now back here in the northern plains. so we're setting up very dry, too. there's not a lot of moisture for the showers and storms. the only humid air left is san antonio to houston down through the gulf states. this is where you expect it to last probably another couple weeks, but all the cold fronts have brought less humid air. the humidity levels are low, which makes it enjoyable. storms around madison, maybe a sprinkle or two, same with green bay, maybe a shower for milwaukee. later there's a chance of a thunderstorm in chicago, but most areas will actually remain dry. forecast for today, talk about nice from d.c. to boston. everyone's going to be in the mid-80s with low humidity.

probably the worst forecast down here in florida where you'll be dodging the afternoon storms. so, lynn, very quiet and very beautiful weather in many areas of the country today. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, the euro summit disappoints. earnings may make up for it. and you'll like this, an endorsement for slacking off at work. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. a walkoff grand slam and, yep, another triple play. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ man ] this is my robot butler.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here's a look at top stories making news this morning. an estimate of the u.s. military of combat support and reconstruction contracts given to afghanistan says about $360 million in u.s. taxpayer money has ended up in the hands of the enemy. the analysis found only a small

percentage went to the taliban and insurgents. the bulk was lost to profiteering. in florida eight people were injured by a lightning strike at a sea world water park in orlando. a spokesman says none of the injuries were life-threatening. a man who scaled a tulsa, oklahoma, tv tower last week has finally surrendered to police after a six-day standoff. the 25-year-old who authorities say has a history of mental illness was treated for dehydration. there's no word yet on whether he'll be brought up on charges. and a rare handwritten letter personally signed by president obama has sold at auction for a record $8600. the reply to a constituent's letter about the 2009 financial crisis says, quote, i share your sentiments and we are working as quickly as we can to restore some common sense to the financial system.

the recipient previously sold the note to pay for a medical procedure. and now here's a first look at how wall street will kick off the day, the dow opened at 11,405 after falling 76 points yesterday. the s&p skid 11 points. the nasdaq dropped 31. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 50 points, but in hong kong, the hang seng was up 76. a familiar wave of worries hit wall street tuesday as europe's debt problems undid a three-day winning streak. in paris yesterday, a long-term debt reduction plan from german chancellor angela merkel and french president nicholas sar co-zy did little to calm worries about europe's economic troubles. investors hoped for the introduction of a single euro bond. instead, the two leaders proposed a new tax on financial transactions. that took a toll on bank stocks here at home and dragged down

shares of new york stock exchange parent nyse euronext. and investors sought out safer bets and sold off oil on fears of weak demand. some surprisingly upbeat earnings limited some of the day's losses. walmart shot up 4% on its rising income and higher full-year forecast. likewise, home depot rose on the heels of healthy earnings and a boosted year-end outlook. but that retail optimism may fade this morning after dell's late-day earnings failed to impress investors. google shares took a hit after standard & poor's downgraded its stock from buy to sell after its significance to buy motorola mobility. bank of america is reportedly in talks to sell off real estate assets to blackstone group to the tune of $1 billion. and finally, cyber loafers rejoice.

according to a new study out of singapore, a moderate amount of mindless web surfing actually boosts productivity later on. so what you're doing bill is paying off. the night of the walkoff. walkoff singles, a walkoff homer and a walk off grand slam. plus, the odds of a triple play occurring are high enough. but how about one happening two nights in a row? your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. so here's five bucks to help you buy v8 juice. five bucks. that's a lot of green. go to v8juice.com for coupons. you can count on us.

she is the greatest thing ever. one little smile, one little laugh. honey bunny. [ babbles ] [ laughs ] we would do anything for her. my name is kim bryant and my husband and i made a will on legalzoom. it was really easy to do. [ spits ] [ both laugh ] [ shapiro ] we created legal zoom to help you take care of the ones you love. go to legalzoom.com today and complete your will in minutes. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate.

welcome back to "first look." in sports, in baseball's dog days of august, there's at least one thing you can usually count on. a first-place battle between the yankees and the red sox. here's fred roggin. good morning. as september approaches, it appears the yankees and red sox will go down to the wire for first place in the a.l. east. yanks and royals, robinson ca s is heating up at the right time, giving new york the lead in the fourth and they went on to win it 9-7. jacoby ellsbury took one deep, and they held on to win it 3-1. defense took center stage in the night cap, sean rodriguez went to left, a toss to second for two, on to first for a triple play. around the horn for the second triple play in as many days.

unfortunately, not enough. rays won it 6-2. yanks now lead the east by a half game. walk off anyone? how about five. dodgers and brewers, all he needed to do was hit one in the out field and he did it. milwaukee won it 2-1. braves have won more games in extra innings than any other team this year. that didn't bode well for the giants. pr prado ended it with an rbi. white sox and indians needed 14 innings, one rbi single, white sox walked off with an 8-7 win in 14. pirates and cards after pittsburgh tied it in the ninth they won it in the 11th. and we saved the best for last, the astros have had an unforgettable season. down three to the cubs, pinch hitter brian bogusevic stepped in and stepped out, a walkoff

grand slam, just his second home run of his career and first gatorade shower as a pro. the astros won a wild one, 6-5. 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 the weather channel forecast. good morning again, bill. >> sometimes, you know, you want a beautiful day, you just would rather save it for the weekend. that's kind of one of those cases where we were really raining in the midatlantic, new england, sunday, monday, tuesday. this is by far the best day we'll see for a while. just gorgeous out there. it's in the 60s in new england, it's very comfortable out there. and today is going to be about as perfect as it gets with temperatures, the low to mid-80s just about everywhere. d.c. may get into the upper 80s but even there the humidity is going to be low, partly cloudy in the afternoon. nice little breeze. so this is a perfect summer wednesday. so if you can get away from work early or even school in some areas now, it's going to be gorgeous. as far as tomorrow goes, we add thunderstorms into the forecast. it's not going to be widespread, but we will see a chance late in

the afternoon. temperatures will be similar to today, but tomorrow we'll add a little rain. now, the forecast in the middle of the country, it's still very hot in texas. even at this hour, we're at 90 degrees in dallas, and a lot of the country's cooled off. only 65 in chicago this morning. 70 in minneapolis. it's really oklahoma and texas that we just haven't caught a break. today is 104 in dallas. in houston, by the way, today will be the 16th day in a row of 100-degree heat. that's an all-time record for that city. >> just can't get a break. no skipping school there. everywhere else, though, not a good thing to encourage. well, while most 18-year-old girls would love a shot at acting, one on prime time tv says she's quitting forever. plus, just when you think you've heard it all, she's done it all, she has another surprise up her sleeve. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. was born in this villa ge. [ automated voice speaks foreign language ] [ male announcer ] in here, everyone speaks the same language.

♪ in here, forklifts drive themselves. no, he doesn't have it. yeah, we'll look on that. [ male announcer ] in here, friends leave you messages written in the air. that's it right there. [ male announcer ] it's the at&t network. and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say.

welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry, and it's time now for entertainment news. if you haven't seen 18-year-old taylor monson in an acting role yet, chances are you never will. despite reports, producers of "gossip girl" forced her off the show due to her wild behavior, momsen claims she's quit acting forever to concentrate on her band, pretty reckless. they say if you've got it, flaunt it, and salma hayek flaunts it all in an upcoming issue, she says she's happy her daughter will be privileged, she's proud of her chest, and she's never had any treatment of

any kind on her face. and finally, there will definitely be something different about this christmas in new york's holiday window displays. the city's iconic men's store barneys will feature gaga's workshop throughout its fifth floor. and in the store's madison avenue windows. lady gaga will be head decorator and will design gift items sold in the workshop with 25% of sales going to charity. >> i can't wait. quite the little santa's helper. >> dressing the elves. >> can you imagine? poor kids opening some crazy huge platform shoes. i'm lynn berry, and this is "first look" on msnbc. but stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. during their dueling iowa bus tours, president obama gives rick perry a newcomer's pass on

some of the inflammatory comments made this week. the question, how much longer nil until the shoot from the hip. italy and spain teeter, france and germany get together to propose a new tighter, economic europe. the question is, have the european people had enough of the idea of one europe? we'll get a live report foreign policy london. and as the situation and cohorts from "the jersey shore" continue their ground invasion of italy, a big money offer from a major american clothing company begging him to stop wearing its clothes. they're paying him. the question is, how repellent do you have to be to receive payoffs from people who want to distance themselves from you? it's way too early for this. good morning, i'm willie geist, and this is "way too early" the show with an