now, that's progressive. programming note, tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. eastern, msnbc will be the only place you can see the republican candidates debate. once it's over, i will be anchoring the post-debate coverage. that's until about midnight eastern. front and center, republican presidential hopefuls gear up for tonight's debate showdown. texas torching. wildfires in the lone star state burn through hundreds of homes. and please step through. an airport security technique that is a shoe in for air

travelers. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with game on. republican presidential hopefuls are set to go head-to-head tonight in a high stakes debate where the nation's ailing economy is sure to take center stage. tracie potts joins us from washington with a preview. good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. mitt romney released his economic plan. we'll hear more about that at the republican debate tonight as he tries to convince voters that he's the best choice to beat president obama. at tonight's debate in california, all eyes will be on texas governor rick perry just back from touring wildfire damage, hoping to defend his front-runner status. >> rick perry right now is really riding that tea party tiger. that's why he has such a big

lead. rl polls show tea partiers back perry over romney. romney announced his economic plan on tuesday. >> president obama's strategy is a pay phone strategy and we're in a smart phone world. >> reporter: romney promises $111 11.5 million new jobs. >> when the tax corporations, the employees will pay or the shareholders are going to pay or the customers are going to pay. so corporations are people. >> reporter: republicans wait to hear what president obama will announce in his jobs plan tomorrow. >> we tried president obama's approach. it's failed. it's time for something new. >> reporter: republican leaders sent the president a letter asking for a meeting to preview his ideas, not likely, the white house says. >> i wasn't aware that when the republicans drew up hr-1 they invited democrats to write it with them. >> reporter: awaiting mr. obama's speech tomorrow and the

republicans' debate tonight. and now with texas governor rick perry on top, internal documents are showing that the super pack that is backing him is planning to spend $55 million in tv ads, mailers and social media to keep him on top. lynn? >> thanks. msnbc will broadcast the gop presidential candidate debate at the reagan library tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern time here on msnbc, the place for politics. teamsters president james hoffa jr. kick up controversy recently in a fiery introduction of president obama in his labor day speech in detroit. last night on the "ed show," he to told ed shultz the reaction got from his unit after calling members of the tea party sobs. >> the phones rang off the hook. the members are calling in, finally somebody is standing up for us. somebody is saying what has to

be said. we're tired of this talk that's out there. let's go out and call these people what they are. let's go after the issue of voting. let's talk about the war on workers and let's make sure we mobilize and vote in november. >> do you -- >> it was a tremendous response today. the phones rang off the hook in tremendous support from working families. >> do you think the republicans are sons of bitches? >> i think they are. they are trying to take the food out of the mouth of working people. what kind of a person does that? what kind of a person tries to take away collective bargaining from public employees, from firemen, policemen, teachers? what kind of person wants to go in and basically take away their pensions? you know what? that's a bad person. and that's the kind of people we're talking about. because that is the war on workers. >> each night lean forward with veteran talk show host ed shultz. don't miss "the ed show" at

10:00 p.m. eastern. two more people died in texas in one of the most devastating wildfire outbreaks in that state's history. a total of four died, 1,000 homes destroyed, and several thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate. kurt gregory has more. >> reporter: as the raging flames continue -- a team of more than 1,200 firefighters is hoping another day with light winds will help them stop a massive wildfire in texas that is 18 miles long, five miles wide, and growing. >> fire jumped all over the place. we're doing a little firing to get it back on our terms. >> reporter: the fire burning just outside austin has already destroyed more than 500 homes, more than 5,000 people are living in shelters. many watching the fire from a distance. and wondering. >> looking at the fire right now and i'm thinking, gosh, that could be my property that just went up in smoke.

>> reporter: evacuees huddle around sheriffs deputies and local officials looking for information and answers. >> we don't know if we have a house to go home to. we don't know anything. we can't find information. >> reporter: and while fire crews battle flames around the clock, the fire continues to shift and turn across the parched texas landscape. kirk gregory, nbc news. here's your first look at the other news going on around america today. a cell phone captured raging flames erupting at an orlando gas station after a minivan crashed into the pumps. the monday morning accident occurred when the driver lost control of her minivan plowing through traffic signs and bushes before slamming into the station. the driver and her son escaped with only minor injuries. fire fighters in arkansas clash with a massive inferno that expected to put hundreds of people out of work. billowing smoke from the chopper -- the copper plant, rather, could be seen for miles

as crews battled back flames. officials say the building has been totally destroyed with the job status of plant employees unknown at this time. and finally, it may be september but one wisconsin couple got their christmas gift early. they learned the white house will do its you'll time tree shopping right there on their farm. the couple received the honor after winning a contest sponsored by the national christmas tree association. and the christmas stories begin. and now for a look at your national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. >> isn't it stomach the halloween stuff coming out already? >> i saw candy corn and i'm like too soon! >> good morning, everyone. a lot of active weather. a lot of extremes to end our summer season from the heat in the west coast to the drought and fire in texas to all of this rain in the mid-atlantic and northeast. rivers are going back up. yesterday was just a dreary,

kind of ugly day. a day you want to stay in bed. we didn't see temperatures out of the 60s in many spots. we had about three inches of rain in new york city. a spot that we had the horrible flooding from irene was outside of new york in northern jersey. the rivers are going up. this is too much rain too soon on the heels of that. the rain that shifted a little further to the north, so like new york city through jersey, not as bad as yesterday. it's still drizzly out and damp. the heavier rain shifted now up into the hudson valley from albany to king ston. another area of heavy rain developed in central pennsylvania. and one narrow line of showers that will be moving through d.c. over the next hour. so there is plenty of rain out there. we had flash flood warnings for the scranton area. all the green is where we have river flooding. we expect moderate to major flooding next two days because of all this additional rain. in the next 48 hours this is how much additional rain we'll get. still possibility of another inch in new york.

inch, two inches in philly. you notice from northern virginia through central pennsylvania, this is the bulls eye, four to six inches of additional rain on top of what we've already gotten. we also don't want to forget hurricane katia out there. this is not a problem for anyone on the eastern seaboard as far as rain and wind. but the waves from the storm as it makes its turn away from us are going to be right along the coast. we're already looking at 13 foot waves over the north carolina coast. rip currents will be a big problem. i know over the holiday weekend we did have a fatality in daytona beach there because of the rip currents. so that's a threat from florida all the way up the coast. not that you'd be going to the beach in new york now. >> not even close. >> the southeast, some people still do. >> a good warning and important warning. thank you. coming up, stocks dive,a hoo sacks its ceo and the most expensive car in america to insure. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, steen straussburg makes his return to the moupd

and rain, rain, and more rain. ♪ i'd do anything for you dear

♪ anything, yes i'd do anything ♪ ♪ anything for you ♪

welcome back to "first look." a gunman opened fires on national guard members at a nevada ihop yesterday. the gunman then shot and killed himself. his mote sieve not clear. family members say he had mental issues. in west virginia, officials say a man shot and killed five people including a pregnant woman at a home. he then ran down an elderly woman, opened fire on a gas station wounding one person after pursuit by a deputy. he shot and killed himself. police believe they know the motive but they have not yet revealed it. there may be a lite at the end of the tunnel for air travelers. homeland security secretary said yesterday you will eventually be able to keep your shoes on while

passing through airport security. no specific date was given. she added that restrictions on carrying liquids will continue for some time. and in poland, residents are cleaning up from a storm that brought massive chunks of hail. hailstones shattered windows and damaged over 100 homes. and now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,139 after falling 100 points yesterday. the s&p 500 was down eight points. nasdaq lost six. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei climbed 172 points. in hong kong, the hang sang rose 337. september is traditionally wall street's weakest month. if tuesday is any indication, this month will be no different. unserpt over the debt problems swept over traders returning from the long holiday. with the dow down by 300 points two hours into trade, investors

quickly scurried out of stock ands into traditional safe havens. the ten-year treasury yield fell to 1.97%, one of the lowest rates since daily records started being kept. the price of gold jumped to a new record high. wall street's so-called volatility index or fear factor climbed over 9%. major banks were the big losers on the fear of bad mortgage securities from the past. bank of america and j.p. morgan chase fell 3%. on the mrs. side, the service sector which employs 90% of america's workforce grew for the first time in four months. packaging company temperature will-inland jumped 25% at international paper agreed to buy it for $3.7 billion. sun owe he could rose over five points on its plans to get out of refining and instead focus on

logistics. carol bartz was fired asa hoo's ceo nearly three years into a turn around that failed to fully materialize. and finally, america's most expensive car to invur. this is no shocker. an average of just over $3500 a year, the 12 cylinder mercedes sl 65 amg. looks nice. the cheapest, the four door six cylinder chrysler counsross-ich country minivan at $1,100. this is an important story. a study suggests if taking early in pregnancy, common anti-inflamatory drugs such as ibuprofen may increase the chance of miscarriage. studying records of auto,000 canadian women, the risk of miscarriage more than doubled in women who took such anti-inflamatory drugs during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.

for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com. coming up, jimmy johnson doesn't win. the mets go extra innings and the yankees go an extra day. plus, washington nationals can't miss kid, makes his long awaited come back from an injury. [ male announcer ] we went to germany's nurburgring to challenge ourselves on the most demanding track in the world. with us, in spirit, was every great car

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in sports, after a tragic setback, the career of one of baseball's youngest bright pitchers to come along in years has finally resumed. here's nbc's fred rogan. good morning. the nationals stephen straussburg made a return to majors and the kid lived up to the hype. he took the mound for the first time since undergoing tommy johns surgery last august. he looked sharp against the dodgers. the nats had five scoreless innings. for washington, straussburg is really all they got. l.a. rallied to tie. after a short rain delay, they got the lead. they had a 7-3 win. red sox found out that josh beckett will miss a week with a sprained ankle. they took out their frustrations. if you think the yankees-orioles game was rained out, think again. the first pitch was after 11:00 in new york. it rained most of the game.

fl new york won it 5-3 and there's no rest for the weary much they play this afternoon, 11 hours after wrapping this one up. mets and marlins also got a late start because of the rain. then when they did begin to play, they didn't want to stop. nick evans singled in the go-ahead run in the 12th. mets added a couple more and went on to win 7-4. tennis was rained out yesterday. that means it will be a busy wednesday in flushing meadows. they'll try to play ten matches to day. there is more rain on the horizon. the wet weather affected the nascar race in atlanta. already postponed from sunday, jeff gordon and jimmy johnson slip sliding around the track on the final ten laps. gordon held on to take the checkered flag. he is now in third place on the all-time wins list. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. and now for another quick look at the weather, here once again is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the soggy, soggy forecast.

>> yeah. going to be tough when they get that tennis in. it's not going to pour like yesterday at the u.s. open there in new york city. it's going to be on and off light rain and drizzle really throughout much of the day. it's not going to be a heavy rain. hopefully they get some in, especially this afternoon. this morning, everything is damp. new england will be the really wet spot today. yesterday was the big city. now it shifted northwards to massachusetts. so today's forecast, especially central pennsylvania, you could have to deal with flash flooding there. it's going to be cloudy. if you see any sunshine today, consider yourself lucky in the northeast, maybe by pittsburgh you'll be lucky to get a little bit there. also, there is more tropical trouble. katia is only going to cause huge waves, that's it. there is another tropical depression that formed in the middle of the atlantic. this one is forecast to be a hurricane near the bahamas. the path like this gets your attention for everyone on the east coast once again. just what we need about a week from now. but that's what we're going to have to deal with. that will be maria. >> all right. you don't even say katia. but you say maria.

all right. we'll show you lady gaga as you've never seen her before. and believe it or not, it has nothing to do with a strange wardrobe or hairstyle. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. he military. and commitment is not limited 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. prego?! but i've been buying ragu for years. [ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices i've made?

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welcome back to "first look." last night on "late night with jimmy fallon," he revealed the reaction to the rising cost of commodities. >> i read that price of pasta is expected to go up because of the

country's wheat shortage. in a statement spaghetti-os is like uh-oh. some political news here. political news. president obama refused to give the specifics about his jobs plan yesterday because he wants people to tune in on thursday. that's not how you handle the economy. that's how you handle the "american idol" results show. we'll find out more after the break. this is pretty weird. a town in arizona wants to have its own version of spain's running of the bulls. right. because if there's one thing arizona is missing is thousands of spanish speaking people running for their lives. that's "late night with jimmy

fallon" on your local nbc station. time now for your first look at entertainment news. earlier this week we told you about a big jobs and this morning he got the job. murphy will host this year's academy award show, a program being held by action comedy director bret rapner who murphy just finished a film with. his emphasis on comedy been a big departure from recent years where the academy focused on song and dance numbers with hosts like ann hathaway and hugh jackman. >> miley cyrus is dramatically reworking her image in the current issue of "prestige" magazine. she said she does not miss doing hannah montana where she became bored doing the same thing every day. >> and talk about an image change. check out lady gaga in the latest harpers bazaar. no makeup, no wigs, no wardrobe

but she wouldn't call it natural. saying whether i'm wearing lots of makeup nor makeup, i'm always the same person on the inside. life coaching. i like it. >> i had no idea. i had no idea that was her. look very closely, bill. there's a little bit of foundation and powder, maybe a little lip gloss going on there. calling out lady gaga hard core. she is taking herself a little seriously. meat dress to that? come on. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. with president obama readying his thursday address to congress, the field of republican challengers gets together tonight right here on msnbc where mitt romney brings his own new jobs plan to the stage and rick perry gives the country its first look at how he handles himself in a presidential debate. the question, is will perry, too, get specific about how he plans to get the country