the military officially becomes history. and rotten in denmark? thieves swipe a gold necklace found in the wreckage of the titanic. good morning, everybody. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. and we begin this morning with delicate diplomacy. the palestinian president is not backing down on plans to make a toef controversial statehood. president obama hopes to convince the palestinians to take a different path to recognition. tracy potts joins us from washington with more on all of this. good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. the palestinian president says he went to the united nations as

a last resort after 18 years of failed negotiations putting him no closer to statehood. president obama will meet with the israeli prime minister at the ewe nieunited nations, but are no plans to meet with the palestinian president. he will petition the united nations for membership friday. a year ago, president obama welcomed it, but not without israel's backing. >> the only way the israelis and palestinians will achieve two-state solution that's fair and equitable to both sides that allows for a secure state of jewish israel is through direct negotiation. >> reporter: president obama's been criticized for lukewarm support of our long-time ally, israel. the state department says there have been intense negotiations with all sides. >> no matter what does or

doesn't happen this week, it will not produce the kind of outcome that everyone is hoping for. >> reporter: in fact, it's already producing demonstrations in the west bank. >> the situation on the ground is what matters for the palestinians. will any vote actually change the situation on the ground? >> reporter: the obama administration believes there's still time to avoid a standoff. the u.s., russia, europe, the united nations, top negotiators have all been working on this for months. so far, to no avail. >> tracy, thanks. well, yesterday in a direct challenge to the gop, president obama laid out his plan to balance the budget taking aim at america's richest. republicans made it very clear his proposal won't get any support from them. here's more. >> reporter: barack obama back in campaign mode challenging republicans saying we need tax hikes on the wealthy. >> this is not class warfare.

it's math. >> reporter: to reduce the deficit $3 trillion, the president obama would cut $580 billion from medicare and medicaid, not social security. save $1 trillion in iraq and afghanistan, and hike taxes $1.5 trillion using the warren buffett rule. tax the rich. >> if we're going to make spending cuts, many of which we couldn't make if we weren't facing such large budget deficits, then it's only right we ask everyone to pay their fair share. >> reporter: the well off would go back to mid-1990s rates and lose some deductions. >> it is a modest change in revenues. if you do it sensibly through tax reform, you'll make growth in the united states stronger. >> reporter: house speaker boehner said no way. >> tax the rich, tax the rich. it's not going to get our economy going again. it's not going to put people back to work. >> reporter: boehner and the president almost agreed to tax hikes in july. the grand bargain. many democrats want a grand

battle. this was outside the white house. outsi >> so the president's on the high side of public opinion. what he hasn't been able to do so far is make that work for him in congress. he's trying to go over the heads of lawmakers and force them to go along with him. >> it's time to do what's right. >> reporter: this was step one. nbc news, washington. >> last night on "the last word" national economic council director reacted to what some are calling a hard line shift by the president on his economic policies. >> i think this was a deficit reduction it plan and an american jobs act he proposed earlier that does speak his values, but it very much speaks to the mainstream of the united states, the mainstream of american workers out there. as you just said, the overwhelming number of people in our country believe that if

you're going to do long-term deficit reduction, there has to be shared sacrifice. they are for spending cuts, but they don't believe you should put all the burden on the middle class, the seniors, the most vulnerable. this isn't about class warfare, as they say. it's about what our country's always been about. that's shared sacrifice. we both know that there are republicans in the senate. there are republican experts outside, business people, who would agree that you have to have a balanced plan. that has to include revenues on the most well off. >> you don't want to miss lawrence o'donnell's last word on the biggest issues of the day. it airs weeknights at 8:00 p.m. eastern time only on msnbc, the place for politics. here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. a driver in indianapolis nearly drove his dump truck off an elevated section of interstate

65. witnesses say the driver lost control, rolling up and over a cement barrier before coming to a stop with the front end just dangling there. the driver was unhurt in the accident. police in michigan suspect a crash that ended the lives of two people was due to drag racing. the two people were killed. they were passengers inside a truck that smashed into a building. the driver did survive and is expected to be charged in connection with the deaths. the big one that got away is that fishing story we all know. not this teen. he's not going to have to do that. with the help of a friend, the 19-year-old captured a 12-foot long, 300-pound alligator. he was able to reel in the massive animal by pulling it on to his boat with a fishing rod and then killing it with a .44 caliber harpoon and bang stick. finally, the annual herb

festival is getting a lot of attention for the pumpkin chucking competition. the team able to launch the pumpkin the furthest distance wins. now for a look at your national weather, we turn to ryan phillips with the forecast. you can't go wrong with these kinds of contests. >> who designs the apparatus? >> some medieval person. >> technology lives on. >> hasn't upgraded. >> for sure. they have some rain coming into ohio. so maybe a break in the pumpkin action up there. across the northeast, getting ready for more rain to settle in. had some mighty fine days in the northeast and mid-atlantic states for the last few days. lots of sunshine. slightly cooler than average temperatures. this morning, a shield of rain moving across new york state. this goes into west virginia where in charleston, we've had

about .5 inches of rain. again, light to moderate showers pushing at this point across eastern new york and into eventually new hampshire and vermont as we get into the afternoon hours. temperatures a little warmer this time around with enhanced cloud cover moving in. 62, pittsburgh. 62 for philadelphia and new york. 54 in hartford. these temperatures clearly warmer than we were this time yesterday. we're eight degrees warmer in philly, in fact. 13 degrees warmer in albany. this afternoon, into the upper 60s. a lot of cloud cover around the northeast. albany, hartford, upper 60s there. could see a late day thunderstorm in d.c. drying up towards pittsburgh and buffalo. i don't think it will be a washout, but each and every day a chance for afternoon showers. highs generally into the 70s. that's slightly above normal. cold front pushing across the eastern third of the u.s.

quite a bit of rain into north dakota first thing this morning. 55 in minneapolis. 59, denver. 66 in dallas. warm weather into florida. 75, orlando. 82 in miami. the rain shower activity will really be foe cucused in the southeastern states. nice break in the action today in chicago. 90 and sunny in dallas. storms in the east today. tomorrow, a break in the action in the plains. more thunderstorm chances in place across the southeast. lynn, that's the first look at the forecast. >> all right, ryan. thanks so much. well, italy is downgraded. apple is bumped. another flub by netflix. a first look at this morning's business headlines is next. coming up, a save for the record books and hands down the best touchdown catch of the season. you're watching "first look." [ woman ] jogging stroller, you've been stuck in the garage,

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welcome back. here are some of the top stories making news this morning. the military's ban on gays serving openly ended at 12:01 eastern time today. the lift on the ban means an end to all pending investigations and discharges that began under the law. in yemen, protesters and military defectors seized a base of the republican guards signaling what could be the start of the collapse of yemen's president. at least 60 people have now been killed in a flair up of violence that started last weekend. several english media outlets are reporting news corps' english broadcasting yuntd is offering $4.7 million to settle the phone hacking case. about $1.5 million would go to charity. it's the largest offer yet to victims of news of the world's phone hacking. the fbi saying violent

crimes dropped 6% last year marking the fourth consecutive year of declines. robberies posted the biggest decline. a necklace recovered from the wreckage of the titanic has been stolen from an exhibit in denmark. the nearly $19,000 piece taken without any alarms sounding likely belonged to a woman who survived the 1912 sinking. now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,401 after falling 108 points yesterday. the nasdaq lost nine. taking a look atover seas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei sank 142 points. in hong kong, nudging up 96. once again, worries about what will happen if greece defaults on its debt took a toll on markets yesterday. fortunately, a late day rally helped stocks recover most of the day's losses. investors were encouraged after

what one greek official called a productive conference call with european lenders. there may be more volatility today. asian markets were mostly lower on news that s&p has now downgraded italy's debt rating. speaking of downgrades, the securities and exchange commission has subpoenaed several firms over possible insider trading ahead of the recent historic downgrade of this country's credit rating. elsewhere, the head of the house judiciary committee says an outside investigators is needed to determine whether politics played a roll in a $528 million federal loan for now bankrupt solar energy company solyndra. a weakening outlook from u.s. home builders did little to help stocks yesterday. apple hit a record high share price to once again exceed exxon mobile as the nation's most valuable company.

goodrich up 16%. shares of former market darling netflix tumbled on plans to spin off its dvd division into a separate service called qikster. it turns out that twitter handle it already take by a guy whose avenue tar was a pot-spoking elmo. he says he's willing to sell the handle, but that would violate twitter policy. not sure that's the analogy netflix is looking for. well, in health news this morning, a new study on mice shows there is likely a connection between being social and keeping weight off. five mice were housed in a standard pen. another 25 were placed in a complex environment containing wheels and mazes. after a few week, the bigger group was leaner, even if they had less exercise.

despite being fed high-fat diets, they were more resistant to obesity. how about that? for more information on this, you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. well, tony stewart draws first blood. one step forward and one step back for the red sox. plus, a new york giants juggling act mesmerizes the rams. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] one-hundred-nineteen data points.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. for years, the new york yankees successfully closing a game with mariano rivera has become as inevitable as death and taxes. >> reporter: good morning. here's a 12-time all star, a five-time world series champ. now the yankees' mariano rivera is now the best closer to ever play the game. he pitched a perfect ninth inning, passing trevor hoffman for the most saves in history. rivera etches his names in the record books after a 6-4 win. for a brief moment, the rays were a game and a half back in the wild card race yesterday. baltimore won 6-5. however, the sox not only won game two, they did it in decisive fashion. jacoby ellsbury with a shot to

center. a quick bounce off the wall. that's all ellsbury needed. kick it into high gear. got the green light to come home and was safe standing up. inside-the-park home run. red sox remain two games ahead of the rays. no, it's not a dolphins game. that's just their logo behind second base. marlins get little respect in south beach. maybe this will help. a walkoff home run against the braves. marlins did something the dolphins can't do. they won 6-4. nascar after a 24-hour rain delay, the chase for the cup began in chicago. tony stewart took the checkered flag. he's now 27 points behind with nine races remaining. finally, one play you have to see in monday night football. eli manning airing it out. that's worth another look. hixon bobbled it not once but twice before hauling it in and falling to the ground. it's only week two, but that's the touchdown catch of the

season. giants win it 28-16. that's your first look at sports. >> and now for another quick look at weather, here is ryan phillips. he has your forecast. good morning to you, ryan. >> lynn, good morning. we have showers and clouds on the increase across the northeast first thing this morning. i don't think we'll be in for several days of continual rain, but rain chances nonetheless. albany to boston, hartford to philadelphia. temperatures in the upper 60s and lower to mid-70s with shower chances around this afternoon. pittsburgh drying out eventually, 72. into the nation's capital, we have some shower chances around today. unfortunately, the shower chances stay with us for the duration of the workweek and into the weekend. what we will see will be progressively warmer readings. 82 for friday. saturday, up to 81. across the nation down through the southeastern states, still some shower and thunderstorm chances for atlanta. 80 there. orlando, afternoon storms possible. miami, surprisingly dry. partly sunny and 90.

full sunshine continuing into the southern plains. highs still into the 90s, above average. unfortunately staying dry. minneapolis tomorrow, 56 with more rain around. into chicago, by thursday, mostly cloudy and 63. still hanging on to rain chances out east. >> all right, ryan. thanks so much. well, a new arrival rocking the show biz world. at least our little world here at 30 rock. plus, charlie sheen is about to enjoy a very good lawsuit settlement. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. es cleaning up after your dishcloth? bounty extra soft can help. in this lab test bounty extra soft leaves this surface three times cleaner than a dishcloth. super clean. super soft. bounty extra soft. in the pink pack. but only allstate gives safe drivers more. a bonus check every six months they drive accident-free. so what's it going to be?

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. it's time now for entertainment news. even if charlie sheen never finds a network to take a chance on his new show, he definitely won't be suffering. sheen and warner brothers are said to be close to settling sheen's wrongful termination lawsuit. sheen will receive an initial payment of $25 million. over the next seven to ten years, $100 million in syndication profits. ryan, we're in the wrong business. well, bob hope's wife of 69 years died yesterday of natural causes. she was 102 years old. for years, she accompanied her husband singing on his christmas tours to entertain troops abroad. finally, a new star is born. look at her. she's a beautiful little baby

girl arriving sunday afternoon and weighing in at an even seven pounds. her name is taylor bay karins. of course, the brand new daughter of our meteorologist bill karins and his lovely wife. we wish them all the best. she's already beautiful. well done, you guys. >> camera ready from the get go. >> she is. bill made a little joke she's making her serious anchor face. i think she learned it from her aunt lynn. i tried to get the name in there. apparently that didn't go so well. i didn't sell that hard enough. but taylor bay. that's cute. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" starts right now. it's fair share versus class warfare as president obama lays out his plan to tax the wealthy while leaving social security and medicare alone. since the proposal has no chance

of passing through congress, the question is, what was the president's goal yesterday, and did he achieve it? meanwhile, another person dies of his injuries after that horrifying crash at a nevada air show. the question is, what brought down that world war ii era fighter plane? and the new york giants didn't have a ton of offensive highlights last night, but this one was enough for an entire game. the question is, could the giants put away the st. louis rams on monday night football? it's way too early for this. good morning. i'm willie geist. this is "way too early." i'm glad you're up with us this morning watching on msnbc or listening live on sirius xm radio. shoot me and e-mail or tweet me and