murder conviction. where there's smoke, hundreds evacuated after a massive fire breaks out at a texas chemical plant. zombie protesters invade wall street. 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 free to go. amanda knox is expected to leave italy today after a court's stunning decision yesterday to overturn her conviction for the murder of her roommate. although the case is not closed just yet, the ruling gives knox a chance to restart her life after spending four years behind bars. nbc's keith miller reports from italy. >> reporter: an extraordinary

end to an or dooelt called a nightmare by the knox family once the judge ruled she was free to go, the entire family broke down into tears. amanda knox was literally sobbing and had to be helped from the courtroom after the verdict was read. you could see she was absolutely overjoyed, but nonetheless, the relief so great on her. she was found guilty of slander against a character who she fingered in an original interrogation which she claims was a coerce by the police. nonetheless, that was a three-year sentence. time served already, four years. >> reporter: they burst into tears, smiling, hugging each other. they couldn't approach amanda because she was surrounded by prison guards. >> reporter: the plan is to make their way back to seattle, washington. we're told the prosecution in this case will consider making an appeal. they have a few days to make that decision. we don't know yet what their plans are. when they do that, they're going

to have to make a lot of filing of papers. amanda knox basically is heading back home ward bound to the states and free after a four-year ordeal here in perugia. keith miller, nbc news, perugia. >> meanwhile, a short while ago the family of meredith kercher responded to the court's decision. meredith's brother says his family respects the ruling but expressed frustration with the case. >> we did find that we are now left obviously looking at this again and think how a decision that was so certain two years ago as been so emphatically overturned now. for us it feels like we're back to square one and the search goes on to find out what truly happened. >> kercher went on to thank the support his family has received from around the world. a new poll finds texas

governor rick perry's rapid race has lost its steam, an equally i'm prs sive jump from her main cain. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on this. >> reporter: good morning. cain is in second place tied with perry with romney back on top with a solid lead. herman cain winning the two straw polls, one in florida and one in missouri. the only other candidate who is in double digits is ron paul. her main cain seems to have really gotten a big boost from this latest straw poll. president obama on the other side is calling himself the underdog here, admitting in an interview with abc that what's going on with the economy could seriously hurt his chances of re-election. he says, though, he's banking on americans seeing his vision for the country, although admitting americans are not better off than they were four years ago.

speaking of things in jeopardy, the president's jobs bill here on capitol hill seems to be in jeopardy, too. in fact, the number two republican on the house side says it is not going to pass as an entire package. >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. last night on "haul ball with chris matthews" chris asked bernie sanders and former pennsylvania governor democrat ed rendell if next year's election should cause president obama to shift his economic strategy, specifically his stance on tax increases. >> the evidence is overwhelming. when the rich are getting richer and their effective tax rates are the lowest in decades and we have a huge national debt, what almost everybody understands is you have to ask the wealthy to pay more in tax tas. when corporations are enjoying huge loopholes so some of the largest most profitable corporations in america don't pay a nickle in federal taxes in

some years, most americans say that's absurd. to my mind, chris, this is not being terribly progressive. this is really common sense politics which makes sense to ordinary americans. >> that's a good question. let's stay on that one point. democrats believe in government. republicans don't. the republicans don't mind starving government. governor rendell, does he have to go after the rich and their money? >> he has to go at basic economic fairness. does that mean taxing people who make a lot of money, benefited by this country and gotten rich in the last few years? of course it does. >> be sure to watch "hardball" weeknights at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern only on msnbc, the police for politics. here is your first look at some of the other news going on around america. plumes of smoke blackened the skies over one texas town forcing officials to clear schools and neighborhoods. the evacuation orders came after

a chemical plant fire erupted monday morning. the raging inferno produced several explosions. a surveillance camera was growing when a group of milwaukee destroyed a bar owner's mini bus. they were spotted near the scene of the crime. the national park service is sharing unique views of the nation's capital, from one wall of the washington monument, the breathtaking footage was captured by a helmet cam worn by an engineer inspecting the 550-foot structure. the crew finally got back to work monday after operations were suspended over the weekend due to high winds. finally, the city of indianapolis recognized breast cancer awareness month in ex-trofrd their fashion. officials turned a downtown canal pink. and the whousz also joined the cause by adding a little color, continuing a continue starting

three years ago, observance of the month. for a look at your national weather, let's check in with nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. >> good morning, lynn. a happy forecast at that. i know a lot of us have been chilly in the mid atlantic and great lakes. we'll ebbs appearance great fall weather, perfect to get you in the mood for the fall festivals and all the things leading up to halloween. the weather pattern is finally changing. we're watching the wet weather on the west coast. the moss queue toes have been horrible, damp. so many areas of the eastern portion of the country. the west coast is going to see the stormy weather over the next week while the east coast dry drys up. middle of the country will continue to see fantastic weather conditions. today is the transition day. we'll finally get rid of the storm that's been lingering over

the ohio vamly and now over southern new england. that's bringing rain around boston and portsmouth, portland will get rain, too. scattered showers in and around new york city, mostly to the north and also the west, rolling down the delaware river. there's still showers up in the berkshires of massachusetts. umbrella weather through much of massachusetts, southern new hampshire. as i mentioned, coastal maine has been getting on and off weather all night, too. this will be with us today. tomorrow is when the nice weather will arrive. the warm weather is going to head west. the jet stream really dramatically ditching the the south. it will snow tomorrow and later today in the high terrain and rockies. in california, the mountains will pick up heavy snow. a big shift in the weather. all that warm stuff is going to spread our way as we get rid of that pesky storm. here is the forecast. feeling like summer in the middle of the country. still in the 80s in minneapolis. that's unusual for this time of year. 85 in kansas city. dallas is pretty warm, all the

southeast. still unsettled in new england. tomorrow 72 in new york, 74 in d.c. that should be with us for maybe a week straight. >> i like it, bill karins. i like it. thank you so much. stocks slip on greece. airline shares dive. what's apple got in store for us next? your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, the colts continue to struggle and the yankees are pushed to the brink. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. a lot of times, things are right underneath our feet,

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. protesters speaking out against corporate greed dressed up as zombies in new york as part of the occupy wall street demonstrations. the movement triggered protests in front of federal reserve buildings. a canadian born scientist

was awarded the nobel prize for medicine three days after dieing of pancreatic cancer. ralph steinmann never knew he was about to be honored on research he used to try to prolong his own life. doctors testifying yesterday at the trial of michael jackson's physician say the pop star was clinically dead when he arrived at the hospital. they also said dr. conrad murray never told them that jackson had been given the powerful anesthetic propofol. a new study in africa finds that women who use hormonal birth control are roughly twice as likely to become infected with hiv or pass on the aids virus to their partner. the study suggests there's something about hormone use that might alter a woman's tissue in a way that makes hiv transmission more likely. quite the 'em bar racement for "daily mail" after it wrongly published online that

amanda knox's conviction was not overturned yesterday. whoops. the story which even included reactions from prosecutors who were said to be delighted with the news was quickly taken down from its website. now here is your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,655 after sinking 258 points yesterday. the s&p tumbled 32 points. the nasdaq fell a whopping 79. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkea dipped 89 points while in hong kong the hang seng shot down 571. stocks opened the fourth quarter with a thud monday. the fallout continued this morning. in seoul, the kospi fell 5% forcing the korean exchange to suspend trading for a full five minutes to limit losses. back at home the nation's biggest banks were hit hard yesterday as growing fears over greek debt drove u.s. markets

dangerously close to bear territory. as of yesterday, the s&p is down 19.4. airlines were the biggest losers. american airlines parents amr plunged 33% on bankruptcy fears. stocks got an early boost from an unexpectedly strong u.s. manufacturing report. but thanks to weak global production that optimism was short lived. domestic automakers chrysler, gm and ford all reported healthy sales jumps over last year while toyota and honda struggled with the effects of this year's tsunami. a government watch dog finds that fanny may was tipped off about abusive foreclosure practices years before it launched an investigation. best buy is saying good buy to napster selling it to rap city for an undisclosed stake. yahoo! rose 2% on a buyout.

apple is expected to unveil the long-awaited up date to the iphone. the rumors are ram pabt. the latest, in return for a reported $20 billion investment sprint has plunked down to carry the smart phone, at leaf one website reports the iphone 5 will be a sprint exclusive until early next year. the buccaneers slash the colts and no comeback for the rays. tigers' dell mond young is not exactly a household name, but he may be making himself one. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ female announcer ] starbucks via® is planted the same... ♪ ...harvested the same... ♪

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in sports the tigers beat the yankees leaving new york on the brink of limb nax. here is nbc's fred roggin. >> good morning. they may have had the best record in the league, the yankees are just one loss away from being eliminated from the play-offs. game three in detroit, verlander didn't have his best stuff. after allowing two runs in the first, he struck out 11. brett gardner a double under the gap. that scored twoo. new york tied it at four, didn't last long. delmon young belted the first pitch he saw, solo shot to right. just like that, the tigers back on top, 5-4. drama in the ninth. two on for derek jeter.

valverde hadn't blown a save all season. struck out jeter to end it. tigers won it 5-4. they can close out the series tonight at 8:30 eastern. the tampa gay, rays and rangers. the price was right for mike napoli, took david price deep. rangers up 2-1. josh hamilton added to the lead, drove in a pair with a single to right. texas led 4-1. jennings hit two home runs, the second one got the rays to within one. now we move to ninth. tieing run on board. kelly shop pack grounded into a game-ending double play. tax tax won 4-3. they wrap up that series today. national league play-offs continue tonight. cardinals host the phillies at 5:00 eastern. brewers and phillies at 9:00 eastern. nfl, colts and bucs tied in the fourth. 35 yards to the house. that's the difference. tampa won 24-17. the colts are reeling, they're

0-4. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. now for another quick look at the weather. here is nbc meteorologist bill karins are your weather channel forecast. >> have i mentioned yet how nice it's going to get? >> can you keep saying it so it can get us through this week. >> if you listen closely, i'll say it 20 different ways in the next minute. >> you can get more creative than that. >> let me take you through. it's a cold morning this morning for many of us. temperatures in the 40s. today is definitely a chilling morning, just like yesterday, you'll have to wear the jablth, bundle the kids up a little bit and turn the heat on in the car as you head out the door. not a lot of rain out there. in new england showers are passing through. the ground is wet, definitely in the pos ton area. as you drive towards manchester, new hampshire, that's probably where you'll see the worst of the rain and the cool conditions. the nice weather slowly arrives today, philadelphia, d.c.,

pittsburgh, not quite yet for new york city up through new england. today is going to be just like yesterday, mostly dry, but there will be some showers. here is the silver lining. the forecast in boston, low 60s, sunny thursday and friday. look at saturday. sunny and 75. you think that's nice? take a look at the nation's capital. this is ideal weather wednesday through saturday, just a taste of things to come, gorgeous. >> we're going to have to start thinking of gimmicking to give you for the rest of the week, maybe sunglasses. >> i'm thinking just a tape recorder and i can sleep in. >> wait a second. what can i do? can i pre tape every show? a country music singer sticks his foot firmly into his mouth. plus a report madonna will soon be performing on one of the world's biggest chajs. your first look at entertain. is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] this...is jet's pizza --

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. last night on "late night with jimmy fallon" jimmy learned how the obamas marked a milestone in their relationship. >> congratulations to the obamas celebrating their 19th wedding an versusry today. they were going to go out to dinner but couldn't find a sitter for biden. president obama did take michelle to a lovely dinner on saturday. when the bill came, obama put it on the tab of the chinese couple sitting next to them. some business news. citibank will soon charge $15 a month for checking accounts with less than $6,000. finally someone sticking it to those people with less than $6,000. about time. get this. police in utah arrested a man

for assault after he told them he was invisible and couldn't be caught. what an idiot. >> tonight jimmy welcomes simon cowell and actress laura dern. that's week nights at 12:35, 11:35 central on your local nbc station. it's time for your first look at entertainment news. viewers of last night's monday night football may have noticed something absent for the first time in two decades. the sports network pulled hank williams junior "are you ready for football" from the forecast after he compared president obama to hitler. in a statement late monday wnls admitted his comparison was extreme but still insisted he was misunderstood.

speaking of being ready for football, espy nation reports madonna will perform at this year's super bowl half-time show. you just knew jenna fisher would give her baby a down to nonhollywood name. she named him westin lee. >> like an older name. >> we'll call him wes. >> all i can think of is smith and westin. >> that's the only thing i can think of. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. president obama confesses americans are not better off than they were four years ago and declares himself an underdog

in the 2012 presidential race. this as one of his chief republican rivals fights off charges that he's a racist because of the name of haunting camp his family leased. the question is, could an incumbent question with a re-election budget of a billion dollars really be called an underdog? meanwhile, nearly four years after her roommate was murdered while the pair was studying abroad in italy, american amanda knox is cleared of murder charged and freed. the question is what happened here? we'll have a report from italy. the detroit tigers and the right arm of the great justin verlander squeaked past the yankees last night to move within a game of eliminating the evil empire. the question is does new york have a clans on the rode with the erratic a.j. burnett getting the ball? it's "way too early" for this. good morning.