mr. they said it couldn't be done. you are the best new thing in the world today. seriously. they said it couldn't be done. congratulations. also go-carts. congratulations. also, go-carts. "first look" is up next. rallying cry. wall street surges in the long-awaited european debt deal. last stand as the manslaughter trial of michael jackson's doctor winds down. defense attorneys go after the late singer. and close encounter. a california kayaker's amazing run-in with two humpback whales. good morning, i'm vinita nair. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

we begin this morning with a booming rally. the dow jones went on a tear thursday, relieved of anxiety after euro zone leaders hammered out a deal to solve their debt crisis and stop it from spreading. news of the sweeping deal stoked optimism on wall street with rejuvenated investors sending the dow soaring 340 points, putting it on track for one of its best months ever. after feeling the rally, the economy grew at its fastest pace of the year in the third quarter with gross domestic product growing at a 2.5% annual rate, way up from just 1.3% over the prior three months. we will have much more on the market's run-up coming up in business. a decades-old case of discrimination against black farmers is being addressed now that a federal judge has approved a landmark $1.2 billion settlement. the case had been settled back in 1999 for $1 billion after a group of african-american farmers successfully sued the

department of agriculture for claims they were unfairly denied loans and other federal aid. the second round of payments is directed at tens of thousands of farmers who missed an earlier filing deadline. congress passed a second settlement in february of last year. the defense team for michael jackson's physician is winding down its case with final arguments expected as early as monday. yesterday attorneys for dr. conrad murray tried to convince the jury that jackson himself could have administered the final fatal dose of the potent painkiller propofol, hoping to create enough reasonable doubt to vindicate their client. nbc's jinah kim has more. >> and nothing but the truth so help you god? >> yes, i do. >> reporter: expected to be the final witness of the conrad murray trial, dr. paul white is a renown eed answer thesologist who's known as the father of propofol. though testifying for the defense, white made it clear he's not here to excuse dr.

murray. >> the elephant in the room being conrad murray has been accused of infusing a dose of propofol and leaving his patient. can you justify that? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: white's role is to rebut the testimony of the prosecution's key propofol expert, dr. steven schafer. white said schafer's estimate of the amount of propofol given to jackson could have wrong based on a previous study they had worked on together. >> the line, the solid i hline, dr. schafer's modeling of the pharmacokinetics of the drug. during surgery, you can see the model significantly underpredicted the actual blood level. >> reporter: the other witness was dr. robert waldman, an addictions specialist who says he believes jackson was addicted to the painkiller demerol and that withdrawal from the drug likely caused his crippling, desperate insomnia. several times waldman clashed

with the prosecutor. >> i'm talking about your chart. >> where did the chart come from? >> you. >> thank you. and where did i get it? >> i have no idea. >> i told you before. >> excuse me. this is a fascinating colloquy, but we do have questions and answers, so let's have them, please. thank you. >> reporter: the defense could call one more witness, dr. conrad murray himself. jinah kim, nbc news, los angeles. and now here is your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. california residents of at least ten mobile homes are out on the street after a massive inferno erupted from an apartment building under construction. the fire quickly engulfed the three-story structure before spreading to a nearby mobile home park. firefighters put out the fire but stayed on the scene to douse any hot spots. a photographer snapped a once-in-a-lifetime photo off the waters off california. the amazing of a kayaker's

encounter. thrilling for the photographer and a great keepsake of a thrilling experience for the kayaker. a texas couple became the saving grace for a flock of hummingbirds while the couple waited out a wildfire near their home, they captured some rare footage of hummingbirds swarming their bird feeder. despite the dangers of the fire which wiped out the birds' natural food supply, the couple went out of their way to purchase water, sugar and additional bird feeders. finally, in new york, memorabilia of the man infamously known as dr. death is set to go up for auction. items from dr. jack kevorkian up for the highest bid include paintings, syringes and his so-called death machine. it is time now for a look at the national weather. we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning. >> good morning. at this point i feel like i'm shouting off the rooftop and no one's hearing. or maybe they don't want to. it's incredible for the east

coast. never in recorded history have we had an october snowstorm on the i-95 corridor from d.c. to boston. never. november we've had a couple but not in october. that's what we're looking at possibly for saturday. first off, it's a cold, chilly morning. it feels a little like winter out there. we had snow yesterday, albany, new york, had one to three inches. we had snowflakes in providence and also in boston. the windchill currently in the 20s in those areas. buffalo is at 24. this is one of the coldest mornings that we've seen yet. we're setting the stage for what's going to occur tomorrow into sunday morning. so the cold air has moved in through this area. we already have winter storm watches. now, what's important is that we don't have winter storm watches for any of the big cities. as of now, the national weather service in all those areas is thinking it's going to be outside of the cities in the suburbs and definitely in any high elevations, they'll get the worst of this storm. in other words, d.c., philadelphia, baltimore, new york city and boston are not in the watches. hartford, you are. and it looks like providence, you are also in that watch. but the worst of it is where the

blue is expected here. now, as far as what my computers are telling me, and they refuse to back off on this, is that the highest intensity of the snow will be saturday afternoon through the saturday night period. it will begin down here outside of philadelphia. now, these are the predicted snowfall totals. i mean, this is just incredible. first off, it's the first snow of the season. we still have leaves on the trees. and the ground is still pretty warm. everything has to go wrong to get this much snow in october. but yet our computers are telling us time after time that this is what's going to happen. so you notice the big cities, our computers are saying three inches or less. so i'm thinking it's just going to be slushy in new york city. it's just going to be slushy in areas like philadelphia. same for you, coastal areas of connecticut and also out on the cape. but once you get anywhere interior, that's where we could see the accumulating snows, maybe even eventually on the roads, but definitely the cars, grass and tree limbs. that's why i'm concerned with trees. we could get power outages, too. that storm is located in arkansas. it's going to head up the east

coast on saturday. it looks like saturday night after the sunset is when the worst of it, that's when we'll have the potential for accumulating snows. incredible for the end of october. >> don't feel like no one's listening. i listen on that one. >> maybe they don't want to. more on wall street giant's rally. meg whitman changes course at h.p. and what is facebook up to in sweden? your first look at this morning's business headlines straight ahead. coming up, there will be a game seven in the world series. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. the postal service is critical to our economy--

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welcome back to "first look." here are some of the top stories making news this morning. the republican-led house of representatives has announced it will be in session only 108 days next year, even less than the 127 days lawmakers worked this year. house leaders say members need more time in their districts

during the election year. while democrats counter, it's too few days on the job during an economic crisis. the presidential campaign for texas governor rick perry has hinted he may skip some upcoming republican debates. the plan prompted criticism from gop rivals newt gingrich and rick santorum who suggested this is a sign of weakness. at least 1,000 people attended a candlelight vigil in oakland, california, to honor an iraq war veteran who was critically injured tuesday in a clash between police and anti-wall street protesters. on thursday, hospital officials and family members said 24-year-old former marine scott polson was awake and lucid. another amazing recovery in turkey. a 13-year-old boy was pulled out alive this morning after spending more than 100 hours under the rubble of an apartment building brought down by sunday's devastating earthquake. at least 570 people have been killed. and in saudi arabia, hundreds of thousands of muslims have descended on the holy city of mecca for the annual hajj

pilgrimage. and now here is your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,208 after surging 339 points yesterday. the s&p jumped 42 points, and the nasdaq spiked 87. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei rose 123 points, while in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 330. a cloud lifted over wall street thursday as europe's plan to deal with debt sent stocks in and a newfound optimism soaring. all 30 stocks on the dow rose, closing above 12000 for the first time since august. wall street's so-called fear index fell a whopping 14%. sparkling economic data also pumped up investors. the economy grew at its fastest pace of the year in the third quarter, up dramatically over the prior three months. financials jpmorgan chase,

citigroup and bank of america led stocks higher. commodity companies and other stocks dependent on a strong economy jumped. the price of copper rose, and oil zoomed to almost $94 a barrel. earnings also continue to be strong. exxon mobil rose on a spike in profit. occidental petroleum jumped. dow chemical was up thanks to latin america sales growth. citric system climbed on earnings that beat all expectations. after the bell, metlife topped forecasts on earnings. overnight, samsung took over apple as the world's top smartphone maker, reporting a 40% jump in shipments last year. avon tumbled 18% on news the government is investigating contacts with financial analysts and some suspected bribery. hewlett packard's meg whitman has ditched the previous ceo's plan to spin off its personal computers unit.

and finally, facebook is building its first nonamerican data center in northern sweden, using the arctic climate to help cool thousands of servers. in your health news, a new study suggests that people with the genetic condition that puts them at an increased risk of colon cancer may lower their chance of developing the disease by taking daily aspirin. while the study's author said the benefits were significant, they also warn that aspirin should only be recommended for people at high risk since aspirin can have effects such as gastrointestinal bleeding. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com. the seesaw world series that was never more seesaw than last night's game six. coming up, the cardinals' cardiac comebacks that led to tonight's electrifying game seven finale in st. louis. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. the two trains and a bus rider.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm vinita nair. in sports, regardless of what happens tonight in the world series, last night's performance by the st. louis cardinals in game six will go down as one for the ages. here's nbc's fred roggin. >> good morning. whether you're a die-hard or a casual fan, whether you like the texas rangers, st. louis cardinals or you don't, game six of the world series was what baseball should be. it was dramatic, heart-stopping, it was extra innings, it was one

for the ages. we'll pick it up in the seventh. rangers and cards tied at 4-4. adrian beltre left the yard in a hurry, a solo shot. texas up one and just getting started. next hitter was nelson cruz. he belted one out. back-to-back home runs for texas. they'd add another and lead 7-4. then the game got real fun. in the ninth, rangers up 7-5. one out away from winning the world series. two aboard for david freese. texas fans, hold that champagne. ripped a triple over cruz's head. in came a pair, busch stadium exploded and it's tied at 7-7. on to extras, in the seventh, josh hamilton, nursing a sore groin, went deep. rangers back in control, 9-7. but the pesky cards wouldn't go away. bottom ten. down one. lance berkman slapped a single up the middle. jon jay scores. another tie game. and they were knotted at 9-9. only one way to cap off a game line this. how about a walkoff home run?

david freese came through once again. a solo shot to dead center in the 11th. can you believe it? the cards rallied to win 10-9 and force a game seven tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> we just kept battling. that defines our team. you know, that game, the way we just kept coming back. we've been doing that for, you know, a long time. and it's incredible to be part of this. >> that's your first look at sports. have a terrific weekend. i'm fred roggin. and now for another quick look at the weather. here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. certainly the big story of the day really is the weather. >> yeah, i'm glad it's just not me memore. i just got the official e-mail from the weather channel. they're even saying two to four inches they think will happen in central park, calling for three to five in philadelphia. they're thinking as much as 8 to 12 inches for areas like allentown, pennsylvania, up through the poconos and some areas in the catskills, newburgh

to poughkeepsie, looks like you could be solving six to ten inches and been the berkshires. this will be an incredible event. if this actually does happen -- and by the way, this is end of october significant snowstorm. the bust potential is huge because temperatures are very borderline. we're all counting on the storm being a very intense storm because these intense storms actually bring down the cold air from the atmosphere. if the storm is weaker than we expect, then we wouldn't get these snow totals. as of now, all of our computers are telling us this is what's going to happen this weekend. the timing, this is today. the clouds will increase. this is saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. the green and the yellow is rain. that's coastal sections. the blue is the snow. we're starting saturday morning off with snow right along this bind of the appalachians through west virginia and virginia. not in d.c. but outside of d.c. and also extreme north and northwestern corner of maryland. as we go through the day on saturday, remember, we've still got the sun angle. it's going to be hard to get

accumulating snows on the roadways during the day on saturday. if you're from d.c. out here north and west especially of i-95, philadelphia, northern jersey, that's when the snow will really be the heaviest for you. the blue. and then once the sun sets, it will really accumulate fast. i think the highest totals will be here in the catskills and even up in connecticut saturday evening after dark is when the snow will accumulate for you. also up there in massachusetts. and then the storm is completely gone by sunday. and a lot of that snow will be melted by sunday night and if not then, by the time we get done with halloween. here's the official forecast, calling for, you know, three inches in new york, possibly two in boston. but it's six to ten inches in the suburbs. incredible stuff. a lot of power outages. these leaves aren't off the trees yet. >> i know, it feels like we're in december when i look at your forecast right now. >> that's how i feel. >> thank you. experts think this is a sure-fire this weekend at the box office. plus, the world's highest grossing movie actor is named. and we are betting you will not guess who it is. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm vinita nair. last night on "late night with jimmy fallon," jimmy wasn't toying around. >> check it out. an eight foot tall statue of a lego man washed up on a beach in florida. officials aren't sure what happened. they're still trying to put all the pieces together. a company in illinois is selling a collectible baby doll of president obama. it's really cute. the doll can even say a few words as long as it has a teleprompter.

and just so republicans don't complain, it even comes with a birth certificate. isn't that cute? really nice. so cute. so cute. hey, you guys, this is really cool. president obama just announced that a new student loan, it's a new student loan plan that will forgive debt after 20 years. yeah. obama said that forgiving debt is the most honorable thing someone can do. and then he repeated that in chinese. >> and tonight jimmy welcomes "in time" actor justin timberlake, michael pena and musical guest kelly clarkson. that is "late night with jimmy fallon" weeknights at 11:35 on your local nbc station. it is time for your first look at entertainment news. opening films will make a splash in theaters including one tagged by experts to take the top spot. the family film with the "shrek 2" spinoff character "puss in

boots" is expected to claw its way to number one with a robust $35 billion debut. the justin timberlake thriller "in time" where people with pay to stop aging when they reach 25 will likely open in third with $13 million to $15 million. donny de johnny depp in "the rum diaries with roughly $15 million. fx has acquired the charlie sheen sitcom "anger management" and will start airing the show next summer. finally, the guinness book of world records has declared samuel l. jackson the highest grossing movie actor of all time. who would have predicted? just his otherwise star wars" role, appearing in "jurassic park" and the two "iron man" films added up to big bucks. >> he should get negative for "snakes on a plane." he's had a bunch of hits. "pulp fiction." he's also had a couple we'd like

to forget. >> he was smart about those supporting roles, wasn't he? i'm vinita nair, and this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned." way too early" with willie geist starts right now. the rangers, a strike away from winning it. in both the ninth and tenth innings. two strikes on freese. two strikes on berkman. hits it in the air to center. we will see you tomorrow night! >> the st. louis cardinals come back to win one of the most thrilling games in the history of the sport. forcing a winner take all game seven of the world series tonight. the question is, are there still people out there who don't get sports after a night like that is this we'll have full highlights and the euphoric post-game reaction a little bit later. meanwhile, euphoria on wall street yesterday as the dow