concerns about a global recession. and carpe diem? i'm veronica de la cruz. those stories and much more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with just xweegz by. after an embarrassing defeat earlier this week of a spending bill to keep the government running, last night, house republicans muscled through a new version of the bill. not surprisingly, the battle isn't over yet. tracie potts joins us now from washington. tracie, good morning to you. >> i had, veronica. good morning. the big concern is will there or will there not be a government shutdown next friday.

both houses of congress are scheduled to be off. in fact, the house is scheduled to adjourn this afternoon. they have passed a bill that would keep government running through the middle of november. it passed by only 16 votes last night. here's what both sides said about it. >> this bill is an embarrassment. this is not worthy of that congress. vote no on this latest assault. on the republican plan. >> that you would call voting for that -- >> does the woman yield. >> no, i'm sorry. you had a half an hour. >> i mentioned three times since the gentleman has mentioned me -- >> the gentle lady from california controls the time. >> order in the house. >> order in the house, mr. speaker. >> this bill includes nearly 3.7 billion in disaster aid but that's paid for by cutting off some clean energy programs that democrats wanted. house speaker john boehner said there's no threat of a shutdown here but the bill may be dead on

arrival in the senate. if that is the case, the house is scheduled to adjourn at 1:00 this afternoon. they may have to stay later to try to work this out. veronica? >> tracie potts in washington. tracie, thank you. the chrissics are weighing in on last night's gop presidential debate in florida. it appears that rick perry took the heaviest hits from his owe points. mitt romney took perry to task on health care and job creation. the two also tangled over who's more likely to flip-flop on the issues as well as perry's controversial stance on social security. >> there's a rick perry out there saying that almost, quote, it says, that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business, that it's unconstitutional. unconstitutional and it should be returned to the states. you better find that rick perry and get him to stop saying that. >> he's for obama care and now he's against it. i mean, we'll wait until

tomorrow and see which mitt romney we're really talking to tonight. >> perry did score some laughs when he said he'd want to mate herman cain and newt gingrich for a running mate. elsewhere on wall street, in a year that's seen its ups and down, global recession fears sent markets reeling into a tail spin thursday. unhappiness with the fed's new stimulus plan, a slowdown in china and sell-off in europe sent stocks tumbling over 3%, oil fell 6% and the price of gold and silver plummeted while investors sought safe haven in the bonds and the dollar. we'll have much more on wall street's rocky ride. that's coming up in business. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad is claiming explosive material and not jets brought down the world trade center on 9/11. ahmadinejad stopped short of saying the u.s. staged the disaster. he contends time has not run out for the u.s. and iran to repair

their bad relationship. the comments came hours after diplomats from 30 countries, including the u.s., walked out on his speech to the u.n. general assembly as he launched a verbal attack on america and europe. here's your "first look" at some of the other news going on around america today. in northern virginia, two families have been forced to pack up and move out after a massive sink hole swallowed up their backyard. thousands are teetering on the edge of a crater that is estimated to be 100 feet wide and 30 feet deep. both homes have been condemned. in florida, one family came home from vacation to find ten stinky skunks had moved in. apparently they snuck in through an open window and now the smelly critters are hiding out in the walls, living off whatever food they can fine. so far, only one of the smelly scavengers has been captured and released. in missouri, halloween may be more than a month away but one haunted house already has its headliner.

unofficially the world's largest snake in captivity, medusa, a 25-foot long, 300-pound reticklated python. one giant gourd in connecticut has set a new state record. time lapsed video shows the massive squash as it grew to a staggering 1,487 pounds. i'd have -- it took the top spot in the state but was a few hundred pounds away from the world record. now for a look at the national weather we turn to wtvj's ryan phillips for the forecast. how long do you think it took to grow that? >> late spring.

how long will it take to move it? >> and how long will it take to eat it. >> a long time. >> 5:04 eastern time brought in the first day of autumn. near in the northeast, we're talking about spring raines. it will be a soggy start to fall here from washington, d.c. to boston all weekend long. plenty of cloud cover and fog settling in this morning around the new york city area. philadelphia dry but boy that will soon change. it's warm, it's humid as a matter of fact, from new york down to washington, d.c. temperatures into the lower 70s. 68 in hartford, 59 in albany, 69 in boston. a wet day across the northeast and into the mid-atlantic. we could see thunderstorms from philadelphia to washington, d.c. mid-70s there. 73 in new york. the concern throughout the weekend will be the potential for some heavy rains here. 2 to maybe 4 locally,5 inches of rain from d.c. to boston. you're in for a wet weather

forecast. the next five days with a chance for showers each and every day. the heaviest rains will be at least through saturday night. temperatures into the upper have for the next few afternoons. we dip down into the southeastern states. that's where everything is organizing right now and will lift off to the north. there's a cold front moving through western ohio right now. that will team up with moisture across the southeast. all the deep moisture will fuel the heavy rain event. it's cool, it's dry, it's nice. 52 in kansas city, 8, finally dry in dallas and 87 and dry in new orleans. from atlanta to the northeast, also down the florida peninsula, showers and thunderstorms prevalent. we look further into the weekend in just a little bit. that's a "first look" at your forecast. >> you come from miami, you're supposed to bring the sunshine. the founder of the twist enjoys his new-found celebrity. your first look at this morning's business headlines is

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welcome back to "first look." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of the top stories making news this morning. the obama administration is opposing a lawsuit seeking full severance pay for those dismissed on the recently repealed ban on gays serving openly. the civil liberties union wants class-action status. an alabama man was put to death by lethal injection yesterday for the 1994 shooting death of a store clerk. it was the nation's third execution this week. sometime today a nasa satellite the size of a bus will plummet to earth. it is not known exactly where it will hit. also the spacecraft is expected to burn up on entry but 26 large

chunks are expected to survive. and illinois is launching a campaign that may lead to the feeding of araben carp, an invasive species threatening the great lakes to people facing hunger. yesterday, a public tasting event featuring the fish was held. there are still major obstacles with the program including how to harvest the fish and distribute it to the public. well, in the wake of this week's high profile executions, critics of capital punishment are drawing attention to people behind the scenes in the controversial business of death. last night on "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" he asked a former warden at san quentin about the impact on prisoners workers and their families. >> many people don't want their families to know they're involved in this process. they're concerned about what their children might think of them. i don't -- i agree that it often doesn't hit people right after the execution, sometimes it's years later. i do know that it has an impact

on people and that is why i'm with death penalty focus seeking to abolish the death penalty in this state. >> when we think about the inhumanity of the death penalty, we ignore the people we're asking to do this for us. >> i agree. we are ignoring the people that we ask to do this. and is it right to ask a public serve and to the kill out the killing of a human being? in my mind it is not. certainly i have been involved with capital punishment for over 30 years. i know it from all points of view. not only are we causing harm to the staff but i do not believe it brings any kind of remedy to the victim's families. it is a costly, infective process. >> the last word with lawrence o'donnell airs weeknights at 8:00 p.m. eastern only on msnbc, the place for politics. here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day.

the dow jones opens at 10, 733 after plunging 391 points. the nasdaq dropped a whopping 82. in tokyo, the nikkei fell to 180-point loss. while in hong kong, the hang seng tumbled 243. as we mentioned earlier, markets both here and abroad were whipped thursday on growing fear the u.s. and perhaps the world is heading for another recession. with wall street increasingly convinced a full recovery here may take years, news from one of the world's thriving economies sent markets reeling. china's industrial production is slowing. it's once booming manufacturing sector shrank for a third consecutive month. also european markets dove thursday after a closely watched survey indicated recession coulding on the way. on wall street, all three majors lost at three 3%. heavy volumes and just traders want out quick, anticipating even bigger losses. wall street's so-called fear

gauge jumped 12%, the biggest spike in a month. the ten-year yield hit its lowest point ever for a second day in a row. investors turned to the dollar which hit an eight-month high against the euro. i'll tied closely to demand fell 5.50 to just over $80 a barrel. the biggest one huff day drop in six weeks. metals such as copper also tied to economic health fell sharply. in another bad sign, two other recent go-to safe havens were swamped by selling. gold and silver tumbled as investors needing cash or looking to get out with profit cashed in quick. and finally, tickled the fed's new stimulus program, operation twist is named for his 1960 dance it, chubby checker has his own simple economic stimulus plan. we make a lot of money, we spend a lot of money. it is just money. baseball's pennant race and the latest update on hugh

jackman's controversial wrestling cameo. plus a japanese import makes an all-american play in cleveland. your "first look" of sports is just ahead. you're watching "first look" on msn msnbc. drivers a discount. but what's this? only allstate gives safe drivers something more. a bonus check every six months you drive accident-free. so what's it going to be? eenie, meanie, miney... or more. shop less. get more. make one call to an allstate agent. [ female announcer ] call allstate now and you'll also get a free lifetime membership in good hands roadside assistance. ♪ hush, little baby ♪ don't you cry ♪ soon the sun ♪ is going to shine ♪ [ male announcer ] toyota presents the prius family. ♪ walk if i want, talk if i want ♪ [ male announcer ] there's the original one... the bigger one...

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"who let the baby into the bar?" and so on. can your anti-aging makeup do that? ♪ simply ageless from olay and easy, breezy beautiful, covergirl. welcome back to "first look." i'm veronica de la cruz. in sports for baseball fans, just days away from the decision on who will go to the playoffs, it is that time of the year you've got to love unless, of course, you're a nail biter. here's nbc's fred roggin.

>> the red sox had the day off. the rays and ankles had a chance to move one step closer to the a.l. wild card. the bluejays meeted the comeback in the 12th. enkcarnacio encarnacion, gone, a walkoff homer. now to the bronx where the yankees basically handed one to the rays. a day after clinching the decision, new york rested most of their starters and tampa took advantage. they went on to win it, 15-8. they trail the red sox by two games. the cards could have moved a game ahead of the braves if it wasn't for one bad inning. here's a double into the corner. harris put new york on top with an rbi single. the cards collapsed, losing it 8-6 in st. louis it might be the last time these two hall of famers are on the field.

here's the diving grab. that's the grab of the night. he was just getting warmed up. an inning later, he scored a pair with an rbi single. cleveland won big. 11-5. we briefly mentioned this in entertainment. actor hugh jackman took part in a wwe evented earlier this week, throwing a punch at dub zeigler which helped his opponent win the match. after the match he tweeted that jackman actually broke his jaw. but it was all a hoax. go figure. only in the wwe. that's your first look at sports. have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. here's meteorologist ryan phillips with the forecast. hello. >> you need sunshine. >> i need sunshine. yes, i do. >> we need to go west. that's where it will be for the next several days. gloomy conditions into the mid-atlantic and the northeast. the rain's just getting

organized. liftoff to the north as the day goes on. and the wet weather will continue to settle in. washington, d.c., philadelphia, new york, hartford, boston, it's just going to be the same old song and dance here for the next few days. temperatures up into the 70s. not bad temperaturewise, it's also kind of humid. getting rid of the showers chances will not come quickly. 73 today in new york, 76 on saturday. 77 on sunday. 79 on monday. but all periods a chance for showers and thunderstorms. it's next week will dry out. what we'd like to see the northeast is a little bit of sunshine. we have a flood threat in place through the weekend for the mid-atlantic through the northeast. chicago, just light shower activity behind the front, temperatures taking a tumble. only 60 today. kansas city to tex tell, not bad, into the 80s. saturday's forecast, still dry through the central plains, still very wet in the northeast. and for sunday, more of the same. it looks like the showers will begin to wind down in the northeast and we're up to 80 in washington by sunday.

that's a step in the right direction and still hot and dry in the central united states and a chance for showers in the pacific northwest to wind down the first weekend of autumn. that's your forecast. veronica, back to you. >> l.a., l.a. looks good. >> 75 degrees. >> brad pitt takes on a cartoon and a dolphin at the box office. plus jason, clive owen, robert de niro altogether in an action flipper. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station, you can rest assured we help your engine run more smoothly while leaving behind cleaner emissions. it's how we make gasoline work harder for you. exxon and mobil.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm veronica de la cruz.

while paying tribute to its founder, jimmy managed to take a swipe at microsoft. >> bill gates has topped the list of richest americans fo1 years in a row. to be fair, the pc they used to make the list has been frozen for 18 years. house speaker john boehner has accepted money from bp for his campaign. while mitt romney has accepted oil for his hair-do. the bad news is it's the white house, michele bachmann will be on extreme home makeover. she'll be refurbishing a house.

celebrity chef delarentis, that is "late night with jimmy fallon" on your local nbc station. it is time now for your "first look" at entertainment news. this weekend at the box office is shaping town one of the most competitive in recent memory. big midweek business suggests the 3-d re-release "lion king" has a shot at remaining number one in the low 20 million. the challenger "money-ball" stars brad pitt. it's been generating big buzz and is likely to score $20 million. but the heartwarming pg-rated star-studded 3-d "dolphin tail" is expected to also take in close to 30 million. tayl tayl

tayl taylor -- the r-rated action drama with a dream thriller team killer elite will be hurt by its rating and all those other films. so it will probably only take in roughly $10 million. all right. i'll put my money on -- i don't know, actually. >> anything making over 10 million is okay. have you seen a 3-d movie? as long as you don't mind the glasses it's a very cool experience. >> i like the glasses. i just don't like the fact that i get dizzy for about 30 minutes. >> don't sit too close to the screen. >> is that the secret. >> that's the way to go. >> "dolphin tail" that's off the lice "lion king," i guess not. >> it might work. >> i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. have a great weekend. the dow closed down nearly 400 points on a combination of fears about european debt and that disconcerting economic report from our federal reserve about the next couple of years. the question is, will anything

stop that market tail spin today? we'll have a live report in a couple of minutes. meanwhile, the republican field got together for its weekly debate. it was as if mitt romney and rick perry were the only two people in the room. did mitt romney butny chink n p in the armor of rick perry? we'll take a look. and red sox fever. with six games left in the season the question is how will these two races shake out? it's "way too eay" for this. good morning, i'm willie geist and this is "way too early," the show that sleeps every night with cucumbers on its eyes, not slices, but whole cucumbers. i'm glad you're up with us this