>> i appreciate all of your work. the arts, the politics, the culture, the economics all of that, and my daughter would like you to throw something for her, the next mardi gras. >> the next time, i'll make sure she gets something. >> thanks. thanks for coming in tonight. >> wendell pierce, star of hbo's treme. the best new orleans thing in the world today. thanks so much for joining me tonight. park development community. thanks so much for joining me tonight. up next, "first look." >> scheduling spat, the president vows to the house speaker, forcing his much anticipated economic speech to compete with the opening of the nfl season. still waiting, nearly 2 million remain without power on the east coast as the water finally begins to recede. and wildfire outbreak. flames destroy dozens of homes

in parts of drought-stricken texas and oklahoma. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with a very public battle of wills. president obama has agreed to move back the date when he'll present his economic package to congress next week, after his first offer was rejected by house speaker john boehner. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with all the details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. that we're told was unprecedented, rejecting the president's original request. here's how it went down. president obama sent this request to john boehner, because he wants to address both houses of congress to talk about jobs and how to create jobs in this country. he wanted to do it the first day they resumed together on

wednesday. but turns out that is also the date of the republican presidential debate in california. three members of congress are participating in that debate. by phone earlier we're told by the white house that boehner expressed no problems but he later rejected the president's request saying that thursday would be a better date. the white house in a statement late last night said they welcome the opportunity to address congress on thursday. but now there's another problem, that's the nfl season opener between the saints and the packers, that long-awaited game. it's a big question, what time is the president's speech going to be and will it or how much will it conflict with that long awaited game? lynn? >> we shall see. tracie, thank you. the president will head to new jersey on sunday to survey the flooding and damage left behind by hurricane irene. the death toll continues to climb with at least 41 deaths now blamed on the storm.

about 2 million people are still without power. nbc's jay gray has more. >> reporter: the aftermath of hurricane irene continues to reek havoc. >> havoc, tragedy and any other adjective you can get into devastation. >> reporter: in patterson, new jersey, roads still look like rivers. >> we have seen the water recede quite a bit in one day. it still has a long way to go as you can see. >> reporter: roads and bridges have been washed away in vermont. >> it's surreal. i look up and i can see the road and it's gone. >> reporter: the national guard air lifting supplies to those cut off by the floods. and while crews rush to rebuild the infrastructure, homes across new england are digging out and cleaning up. >> it's discouraging, we finally got the water pumped out of the basement. >> reporter: others dealing with

the reality of having to rebuild. >> the waves were coming right through. you could see it from the road. >> reporter: irene swept away the connecticut house of this couple, their home for more than 30 years. >> precious things that some friends had given us before they passed away and i have no idea where everything is. >> reporter: gifts and memories gone with the storm but not that new england determination. >> the river is receding so the water level is going down. the sun is out. the birds are going to start chirping again. we'll come back and we'll come back stronger and better. >> reporter: a comeback that began the minute irene left. jay gray, nbc news. elsewhere, a massive fire in north texas has made this year's wildfire season one for the record books. officials are calling it the worst in state history. so far, the fire in possum kingdom lake has destroyed 39 homes and over 6,000 acres, fueled by dry brush and windy

conditions, the wildfire has spread quickly, forcing firefighters to attack the blaze from the ground and the air. here's your "first look" at some of the other stories going on around america today. weill fires are eating away at oklahoma's landscape, a combination of drought conditions and high winds have caused fires in several areas around the state, forcing residents to flee their homes. approximately 250 firefighters along with national guard air support are engaging in intense battle with the fires that have already destroyed 22 homes and 1 church. thanks to storms in new zealand, hawaii beaches became a surfer's paradise. at announcement of a high surf warning was music to the ears of surfers who braved the big waves. officials estimate the size of the waves to measure 10 to 15 feet high. and the outcome of the great pumpkin weighoff at the alaska state fair ended in a shocking technicality. at least for one pumpkin farmer.

the largest pumpkin, tipping the scales at over 1,700 pound went home empty handed after a puncture was discovered. that opened the door for a smaller competitor, taking home the win, despite weighing about 500 pounds less. now for a look at your national weather we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning to you. >> those farmers. >> there should be a congressional hearing on this. >> on the alaska state fair pumpkin controversy? >> absolutely. he was robbed. >> do you think they're injecting weight. >> he was robbed, bill. did you see that pumpkin? >> it was a big pumpkin. gourd to be technically correct. good morning, everyone. let's talk hurricane katia. this will be a strong hurricane. it doesn't look like it will head to land anytime soon. still out there in the atlantic. the hurricane center thinks this will become a big hurricane,

too, maybe the next major hurricane. i even think the southeast is going to be safe, too, haven't ruled out the northeast completely but it's a really, really small chance. right now just looks like bermuda and the storm should hopefully curve out to sea. the forecast from the national hurricane center, a category 1, should go to about a category 2 and then 3 as we go throughout sunday and then it should go north of the islands. then we look at the possibility of staying a category 3 major hurricane. then into tuesday, 120 miles per hour, safely still out to sea. that's tuesday of next week. at the earliest it would head towards bermuda, possibly thursday or friday. that's why i'm not worried about it even for new england. it's still at least a week away. we'll deal with that as it approaches. all of our computer models take it safely north of the island chains and somewhere near bermuda in a week from now. as far as the forecast in the states, we're watching the gulf

of mexico. there's a tropical wave down here. a lost our computers have a tropical depression forming down there that could bring heavy rainfall to the north coast as we go throughout the next couple days. yesterday was another hot day in texas. we'll do it again today. 90s through chicago and minneapolis. east coast by the way looking just fine. back to you. >> it doesn't seem like it's september either, bill. the government says no to at&t. the dow finishes off its wild august, continuing a rally and babs tops the beatles. coming up, venus williams unexpectedly pulls out of the u.s. open, a 16-inning marathon and a home run that comes up short. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. i'm good about washing my face.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here's some of the top stories making news this morning. "the new york times" reports a

top official of libya's new government says rebels believe they have cornered moammar gadhafi in a town north of tripoli. condoleezza rice is disputing claims in former vice president dick cheney's memoir. the former secretary of state rejects his statement that she tearfully admitted the bush administration should not have apologized for the search for uranium. it certainly doesn't sound like me now does it? in 140 elementary schools in acapulco, mexico, have been closed this week due to teachers fears over extortion threats and kidnappings by drug gangs. two teachers and four of their peers have been kidnaped outside acapulco recently. a bill is pending in

california to give nannies lunch breaks and time cards and provide workers' compensation. the streets of spain were painted red for the annual tomatina festival. participants joined in the street fight, in which tomatoes are wildly tossed. the dow opens at 11, 13 after gaining 53 points yesterday. the s&p added 5 points and the nasdaq was up 3. taking a look at overseas tradi trading this morning, nikkei raised 105 points. the government slammed the brakes on america's biggest ever corporate acquisition. telecom was the big-day loser on wall street after the obama administration filed to block

at&t's $39 billion acquisition of t-mobile usa due to anti-competitive concerns. at&t slumped over 4%, the dow's biggest decliner. the s&p's telecom index dropped more than 1.5%, the biggest loser among s&p sectors. nevertheless, stocks closed out the worst up and down month in more than a year wednesday. during august, the dow swung a staggering 1,400 points. wednesday's data showed signs of weakening economic growth but investors chose to focus on the positives. midwest factory activity slipped to its lowest level in almost two years but still pointed to some growth. private sector hiring slowed in august for a second straight month but did rise despite wall street's roller coaster turmoil. traders were also encouraged by new orders for factory goods surging in july.

alcoa rose more than 3.a%, best on the dow. joy global rose on a 46% jump in earnings. and finally speaking of earnings, barbra streisand's new album "what matters most" is her 31st top ten album, edging the beatles for third place all time. she trails frank sinatra and all-time top sellers, the rolling stones. with the approaching 9/11 anniversary on many americans' minds, many are reflecting on the past decade. among them, "new york" magazine's frank rich which recently wrote an article about our post-9/11 nation. he was on "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell last night. >> in the end, the most crucial decision that bush made right after 9/11 and he said it explicitly by the end of

september of that year, was we don't want the american people to sacrifice. maybe longer lines at airport check-in but that was that, go to disneyland, go shopping. and there would be no taxes to pay for what would turn out to be two wars. i think that injected a karnser into the american political culture just as you were saying, if we don't pay for wars why do we have to pay for anything? i think you see the seeds of this anti-government movement that's in some ways paralyzing the country. this country was ready to sacrifice, bush had an approval rating that was almost perfect. people after that very contentious election were willing to give them a chance. instead be everyone went their separate ways. >> don't miss the lawrence o'donnell show "the last word." it has the biggest issues and

the most compelling stories of the day. that's 8:00 a.m. eastern time on msnbc. cliff lee powers the phillies, a walkoff winner cleveland and yes, every once in a while, a pitcher still smacks a home run. venus williams forced to bow out of the u.s. open. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry in in sports, appropriately it was a

see-saw bat until round two of the yankees/red sox series in boston. here's nbc's fred roggin. >> good morning. the yankees had a chance to move into first place but could not hold the lead at fenway. here's a two-run shot into the monster seats in left. boston rallies. 7-5 after six. varitek added insurance in the eighth, red sox increase their lead in the a.l. east with a 9-5 win. cliff lee, a great pitcher but not much of a hitter. lee didn't run to first then he gives the gesture to like, you can have it. he struck out seven over 8 2/3. the phils shut out the reds, 2-0. jack handahan, a single to righ.

derek lowe has done a lot over his career, threw a no-hitter, won a world series, but he's never done this, first career home run. braves beat the nationals, 3-1. tennis, venus williams says she is suffering a rare auto immune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain. here's a shot deep to center, took a wild bounce off the wall. braun kicked it into high gear. he got the green light to come home. rounded third. oh, no. he either stumbled or slid about 30 feet too early. but he tried to get up it was too late. caught in a rundown, all he could do is smile and think about what could have been. that's your "first look" at sports. i'm fred roggin. we can play that over and over and over again. now for another quick look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> for any of us who have

stumbled and fallen on to our face, that's for us. >> why do we always smile and laugh at those people. >> he's smiling and laughing with us. we've actually been fortunate, it hasn't been raining, it hasn't been hot or humid. those people without power have been able to stay in their homes and sleep with the windows open relatively comfortably. temperatures in the have this morning. showers rolling down from buffalo. western new york is getting wet this morning. north of pittsburgh, big thunderstorms south of erie, pennsylvania. we won't see the wet weather making it to the big cities today. some of the clouds move in. temperatures around 82 in hartford, mid-80s from new york to pennsylvania, through areas of washington, d.c. thursday, showers and storms this morning around buffalo and pittsburgh. as we go into friday, the big travel day getting towards the labor day weekend, no issues, just isolated storms around pittsburgh. also want to remember our friends who lost a lot of power

in north dakota, a big line of storms went through with a lot of damage. overall, nothing too bad in the tropics. we're safer now but there are a few interesting areas. >> thanks so much, bill. coming up, justin bieber gets teens hearts racing and bill's, even though he won't admit it. >> i love the bieb. >> plus, after turning down millions you're not going to believe what she got in her separation settlement with mel gibson. your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ female announcer ] what if your natural beauty could be flawless too?

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry.

jimmy's feelings about one of the nation's largest wireless carriers came through loud and clear. >> the justice department is trying to block the merger between at&t and t-mobile. it's only fair. at&t keeps blocking the mergers between me and the people i try to call. did you hear about this? chick-fil-a is offering free breakfast for a whole week. this is just crazy. a man in tennessee was arrested, he was arrested for stuffing a raccoon in his car, driving to a nascar track and going streaking. or as red neck calls that, the trifecta. you did it, buddy. you did it, rascal. they found a raccoon in a man's car after they busted him for streaking at a nascar truck.

i'm going to go out on a limb here, mullet? >> with jimmy tonight, al roker and animal planet's wade king along with brett rahmer. that's "late night with jimmy fallon," 12:35 on your local nbc stations. mel gibson and oksana grigorieva's settlement details are out. while they both lost in the ugly dispute, she lost more. at least financially. instead of the $15 million offer grigorieva refused last summer, she gets only $750,000. only. they'll share joint custody of their child with gibson making support payments. also under the deal, they cannot publicly discuss or write books about each other or their relationship. elsewhere, alyssa milano has given birth to her first child with husband. and robert downey jr. and

his wife are expecting their first child. he has a 17-year-old son from a previous marriage. and tuesday's minor traffic accident involving justin bieber and his super expensive ferrari got a little more interesting. the rapper everlast tweeted that he was street racing bieber at the time. and a fedex truck got in the way and it caused the fender-bender with a honda civic. i'm lynn berry and this is "first look" on nbc. stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. this time, they clash over the date and time