embassy website was blocked inside iran. shocker. still though at least we are trying to. that does it for us tonight. we will see you again tomorrow from back home in new york city. now it is time for the last word president obama warns republicans against attaching unrelated measures to a payroll tax cut package. cloaking effect. why this new video has et believers buzzing. and false alarm. video captures squirrel mischief at a florida school. good morning. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with

veto power. president obama warn ed if they tie the oil pipeline to a bill to extend payroll tax cuts, he will reject it. tracie potts joins us this this morning. >> the president decided to put off a decision on controversial keystone pipeline until after the election, but republicans now say they want it approved now because it can create tens of thousands of jobs. the $7 billion pipeline would run through middle america at a cost of $7 billion. but there are environmental concerns. there have been protests over those concerns. greenhouse gas emissions, oil spills. republicans say we could be looking at 138,000 new jobs. but the president with the prime minister of canada yesterday told congress be on notice, i will reject any effort to to link the pipeline to the payroll

tax cut extension currently here in congress. republicans are concerned that it could break social security. lynn. >> tracie potts, thank you. last night on the rachel mad dough show, she asked if she expects the rights of gay rights to be brought up as a candidate issue. >> i wouldn't put it past any of the presidential candidates. it's historically been one of the things that's used. and kind of how we should be treat treated or how we should be accepted. >> having a gay sister doesn't affect a politician's willingness to do that? >> i don't know the answer to that. if he is a politician and saying these things because he's a politician but he did you want

believe them, i don't know if i like either of those answers. at the end of the day, he's wrong. he's definitely on the wrong side of history when it comes to those issues. it's those positions that the human rights campaign are going to work hard that president obama is reelected next year no matter who the republican candidate is. >> if your brother wins the nomination, you will not be support k his candidacy? >> no. >> don't miss the unique take on politics. that's the rachel mad dough show here on msnbc. the place for politics. former penn state football assistant coach jerry sandusky was arrested wednesday on new charges of alleged sexual child abuse. a lawyer for sandusky thinks his client will be released some time today posting $250,000 bail.

>> reporter: police led jerry sandusky away from his home in handcuffs wednesday afternoon following new criminal charges of alleged child sexual abuse. the charges involve allegations by two new accusers who claim sandusky abused them. he's accused of assaulting one of the boys in the basement of his home. the victim claims, he screamed for help knowing that sandusky's wife was upstairs, but no one ever came to help him. the former penn state assistant coach had been free on bond following his initial arrest on november 5th, charged with sexually abuse iing eight other children. according to grand jury testimony, sandusky met all of the victims through the second mile charity. sandusky is repeatedly said he's innocent of all charges. >> how would you take it if you were facing the kind of charges he's facing?

you be devastated. his family is devastated. >> reporter: sandusky's lawyer says he expects him to be out of jail on bail some time today. kirk gregory, nbc news. in new york, it's a different outcome for allegations that gained national attention in the wake o of the penn state scandal. authorities say former syracuse assistant men's basketball coach bernie fine cannot be prosecuted for sexual child abuse charges because the statute of limitations has run out. their accusations date back too far. elsewhere, a federal judge showed little mercy for itch peached former governor rod blagojevich. sentencing him to serve 14 years in jail for corruption. pleading for leniency in a chicago courtroom yesterday, blagojevich offered his first public apology since he was

convictioned on bribery and attempted extortion. the soon to be 55-year-old former governor admitted to making terrible mistakes including trying to cash in as governor by selling off president obama's former senate seat. his sentence is set to begin february 16th. here's your first look at some of the news going on. a couple indiana thieves rammed their way into a gun store with their suv. once inside, the robbery suspects smashed display cases escaping with several weapons. the owner believes the crime was pulled off by former customers. a washington man exchanged gunfire with police during a dramatic standoff. they locked down nearby schools. they kept officers at bay with high-powered rifles. he continued to fire rifles even after a fire ignited his home.

thoorts have yet to recover the gunman's body. and finally to florida. cameras reported the culprit behind a false fire alarm inside an elementary school. footage of last year's incident shows a squirrel climbing up the wall and pulling the alarm. you cannot make this up. the tape of the troublemaker was shown at a budget meeting in order to secure for munding for school maintenance. now for a look at your national weather. here's your forecast. >> who has never pulled a fire alarm? i was always scared. the teachers had the rumors that if you pulled it, the ink would shoot out. good morning, everyone. there's a big storm system rolling through northern new england. it's windy and cold. we have snow in some locations. mostly in the mountains of vermont and new hampshire.

some snow through massachusetts. we picked up a couple inches of snow. but this is a fast-moving storm. it's almost done completely now in boston. the areas still to deal with the storm is going to be the state of maine. i even think the road crews will have time to make the roads decent in new hampshire. now the winds are a big story. it's cranked up in a hurry. we also had amazing rainfall totals. washington, d.c., over three inches of rain. officially, your wettest december day ever yesterday. areas from new york to hartford to boston, this has been an incredible year for rainfall. that includes areas from ohio to albany up to hartford. i mention the winds are gusty. winds gusting to 37 in boston. 23 in new york. 35 in philly. well away from the center of the storm. we're seeing a blustery morning. the cold air has moved in.

windchills in the 20s in most areas. it's a blustery day. winter coat and glofs for the first time in about a week. temperatures this morning compa compared to this time yesterday, about 22 degrees colder in new york. 23 in d.c. our dose of reality has returned. much of the country is feeling chilly. it finally looks a lot like winter in december. as far as we go, the storm is existing. things will improve today into the weekend. >> thanks. banks rise. boeing makes peace. what makes a perfume cost $1 million? that's straight ahead. [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up!

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welcome back to "first

look." here are some of the top stories this morning. vladimir putin accused the u.s. of -- and charges hundreds of millions in foreign funds were used to influence the vote. he claimed secretary of state hillary clinton comments about concerns over election's fairness gave a signal to opponents. health and human services secretary has taken the unprecedented step of overruling the food and drug administration by keeping plan b prescription only. she argued young girls wouldn't understand how to use the pill. critics say the decision was politically motivated. a sight-seeing helicopter and a tour of the vegas strip crashed in a remote site killing the pilot and four passengers. new video of nasa's

spacecraft has alien hunters abuzz saying it shows a spacecraft parked near the planet mercury. it shows a flair revealing the object that was right there to the right of mercury. the world's oldest dog has died in. japan at the age of 26 years and eight months. by some calculations, that would make his age 125 human years. now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens after gaining 46 points yesterday. the s&p gained 2 points. the nasdaq was down a fraction. overseas, the nikkei lost 50 points. the hang seng fell 132. wall street eeped out another day of gains as investors keep

their fingers crossed over the summit. traders position themselves for either summit success, yielding a clear plan to put europe's debt under control, or a failure. those hedging against failure drove up the cost at the treasury note as well as gold. some sat on the sidelines. financials rose. the agency put the european union's credit rating on watch negative. . a second straight monthly gain in borrowing. bloated oil and gas supplies pushed oil prices lower. martha stewart living after jcpenny bought a stake in the company. struggling talbots skyrocketed after a firm made a takeover

bid. ast tra seneca is slashing over 1,100 jobs for their sales force. watch boeing today. machinists approved a contract extension ending a dispute. and this is hard to believe. want to smell like a million bucks? you can. it will cost you a million dollars for dkny's golden delicious perfume. it comes in a container made from 14 caret gold. it has white diamonds and a giant yellow ka na ri diamond. orange flower water, vanilla orchid, and golden delicious apple. unreal. the marlins changed their mind. a top-ranked college team hangs stuff. and golden boy is out again. plus the points leader helps pull one out for philadelphia. your first look at sports is straight ahead.

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welcome back to "first look." in sports, if major league baseball's world championship were awarded for headlines, the marlins would have it sewn up. here's fred roggin. >> what albert pujols plays next year, he won't be playing for the cardinals.

college hoops a nail biter. wildcats down 3. final seconds. inbounds. he was fouled as he was shooting a three. you make the call. he was definitely fouled. but was he shooting. billy donovan was irate. he forced overtime. outscored the wildcats by 6. arizona made it interesting, but florida got the win. hockey, the next stops on the crosby comeback has been cancelled. he's taking two games off after taking a hard hit on monday night. he's missed 68 games with post concussion syndrome. he's been a scoring slump. stockton popper his first goal in nearly two weeks. beat the senators 5-3. saibers got things started with three goals in the first. finished off the passing play.

flyers came back and scored four straight. saibers would force overtime. that's when claude jaru was off to the races. beat ryan miller for the win. he leads the league in points. flyers win in overtime. that's your "first look" at sports. now for another look at the weather, here's bill karins with the forecast. >> some were reporting thunder snow two or three hours ago. the snow was dynamic and snens. but it's gone. just rocketing out through the gulf of maine now. it looks like all the rain and snow is completely done in connecticut, vermont, and massachusetts. just our friends in maine have to deal with the rain and snow for three more hours. the winds are howling out there this morning as you drive.

the roads will be wet. thankfully, the temperatures are above freezing. if there's any problems traveling on the roads, it would be in the birk sheers. so today's forecast. a blustery day. it's chilly. the sun will be out. it should warm up a little this afternoon. this is more typical of december. it's been so warm lately in this area, it's probably not going to feel normal. the middle of the country, still cold. 19 in minneapolis. that cold air is heading for chicago as we go throughout the next two days. the west coast enjoying nice, quiet weather. that's the theme for this weekend. >> sounds good. thank you. one star is named most bankable. another entertainer of the year. plus not content with merely running for president in south carolina's primary, steven cobare has bigger plans. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. on the 50.

...yup, about to go pick them up from will call. so 46 seconds ago. did you guys hear that chapman rolled his ankle? done. get out there. so 12 seconds ago. you guys know how to post videos to facebook? you guys know how to post videos to facebook? you guys hear, someone stole... ...stole the other team's mascot? [ tiger growling ] so 27 seconds ago. [ male announcer ] stay a step ahead with 4g lte. with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g. at&t.

>> welcome back to first look. last night, jimmy fallon noted the support for the donald trump debate. >> do you hear this donald trump is hosting a debate in iowa. there's only two to rsvp. rick santorum questioned a plus one so he could bring all his supporters. the world's oldest dog died in japan this week at the age of 26. he was cremated and scattered over a stranger's leg.

check this out. a designer in new york unveiled a bottle of perfume that cost $1 million. which explains its name. starbucks. >> tonight jimmy fallon welcomes musical guest gym class heroes. that's on your local nbc station. it's time for your "first look" at entertainment news. kristin stewart is tops. for every dollar she make, her movies make $55.83. in second place is ann hathaway. and the third went to stewart's costar robert pattinson.

danielle radcliffe came in fourth. he was named entertainer of the year. he's also been head lining on broadway. and finally, he's at it again. steven colbert tried to get his name on south carolina's primary ballot. only this time, he wanted to sponsor the whole thing. colbert offered more than $100,000 to name the contest after him. the state's gop executive director said the party respectfully declines. why is that? what do you think? trump or colbert? >> oh, wow. for the naming rights, or to put on the ballot? >> both. >> it would be good tv ratings. i'm lynn berry.

this is fir"first look" on msnb. stay tuned. "way too early" starts right now. newt gingrich is a man on fire. double digits in iowa and showing leads of more than 20 points in south carolina and florida. will the lu romney crisis shadow cut into those numbers in the early conservative states? house republicans strike back on the payroll tax cut saying they will vote for it if the president includes the pipeline in the bill. the question is, what is president obama's answer to that offer? we'll tell you. and just think, republicans. you could have had moments like this on the national stage if new jersey's governor would have responded to your love