but for all of us in this country, the fact that our space agency is getting high school kids to program robots that operate on microgravity in the space station, that they're inspiring the next generation of computational thinkers and engineers for all of us, that is the best new thing in the world today. congratulations alliance rocket, the geeks shall inherit the earth. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

and we begin this morning with an improving outlook. according to new poll numbers, it appears americans are becoming more optimistic about the state of the economy. the latest nbc news/wall street journal poll finds 0% say the country is headed in the right direction. that's up eight points from a month ago. 45% approve of the job president obama is doing in handling the economy. that's a six-point rise over the last month. more people say they believe the economy will get better instead of worse in 2012. that's a seven-point jump over last month. all three polls came in at the highest positive levels they've been at in a year. on the heels of that, president obama kicked off a three-day campaign style swing through five battleground states yesterday. at his first stop there was a

tense exchange between the president and that state's governor brewer. >> lynn, good morning. it was tense or intense depending on how you look at it. when the president landed he was greeted by governor jan brewer, which is customary. on the tarmac, there was a fairly heated exchange between the two. at one point she was pointing her finger at the president. it appeared to be over, we found out later, her book, scorpions for breakfast. in that book she discussed a one-on-one meeting with president obama over illegal immigration. as she described the president as patronizing. she had given the media more positive reports. now, the governor said she handed him a hand-written letter to come and talk about that again. the white house said the president said he was disturbed by the way she characterized the

last meeting but that he would be willing and in fact, they would be glad to meet with her again. >> interesting background. tracie, thanks so much. the pentagon budget plan would cost $260 billion in projected spending over the next five years to make required reductions. the u.s. army would slash the number of combat brigades to 42. that's cutting as many as 80,000 soldiers. unprecedented moment on capitol hill yesterday. members of congress openly went as they bid farewell to one of their own. gabby giffords had to make the difficult decision between the career that she loved and the recovery she vows to complete after last year's assassination attempt. nbc's kelly o'donnell reports from washington. >> reporter: a truly extraordinary day. party and politics simply did

not party. >> gabby, we love you. we have missed you. >> the brightest star among us. the brightest star among has ever seen. >> gone were the usual fiery passions. >> no matter what we argue about here on this floor or in this country, there's nothing more important than family and friendship. >> so many wanted to honor gabrielle giffords, grace and resilience. >> gabby courage, her strength and her downright fortitude are an inspiration to all of us and all americans. >> reporter: giffords year-long hard-fought recovery brought her back here and continuing that work is the reason she will not stay. >> my district deserves to elect a u.s. representative who can give 100% to the job now. >> reporter: with her arizona

colleagues of both parties around, best friend debbie waser man shuttle wrote the letter of resignation for giffords. >> i will recover and will return and we will work together again. >> giffords was determined to deliver the letter herself, each step a challenge. speaker boehner caught her briefly and then let his own tears flow. >> she has brought the word "dignity" to new heights. >> the good-byes from the joyful bear hug from president obama, to capitol hill workers who hate to see her go. >> i'm so proud of you. i'll miss you. >> i'll miss you. >> that's great. a fitting tribute for a remarkable woman. that was nbc's kelly o'donnell reporting. there were many factors involved

in congresswoman's giffords to resign from her professional seat, both personal and political. giffords chief of staff talked to chris matthews on "hardball" last night about the reasons she chose to step down. >> for her it really is what is the right thing for arizona. she determined in the last couple months that she needs more time in her rehab program to continue at the 100% level that she's at now. that means returning to work in 2012 was looking less and less likely. and the last couple weeks she decided finally that it looked like that would not be possible at all this year for her to return to work. so she was faced with either resigning or serving out the remainder of her term and not running for reelection. for her calculation the best thing for the district is to have a representative in the seat as quickly as possible in a full-time manner who can serve southern arizona residents in the district. so she made the decision that

the right thing to do is step down. >> "hardball" week nights at 5:00 and 7:00 on msnbc. now for a look at your national weather, let's turn to meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. >> how are you doing? >> how are we doing on this wednesday? is it wednesday? >> no. we're advancing here. >> that's what happens when you go to work on a wednesday. note to self. >> good morning, everyone. what we're dealing out there as far as the rain goes, yesterday was an impressive day. texas hasn't seen a wetter january in a long time. they had storm damage too, though. tornados were reported in the area. minor damage. not like the bad stauf we saw in alabama two days ago. this flooding was serious business. it picked up five inches. other areas around austin was similar. five to six inches. dallas, three to four inches. this was the rain that needed.

now that storm system has to head east. it will bring the wet weather up to tennessee and the ohio valleys. we don't have too many severe storms out there, but there's a line of storms over lake okeechobee and new orleans maybe a rumble or two. a stream of heavy rain heading up through the heart of mississippi. then it's on its way to tennessee and kentucky. it will pour all day today into tonight. you see a little pink. there are reports of sleet in northern indiana, many portions of central and northern ohio. if you're heading outside, pittsburgh, maybe a little coating of ice out there. be careful as you walk out on your sidewalk. otherwise, plain old rain. lexington, louisville, you will get drenched under flood watches. we could see two inches of rain today and tonight. we could see localized flooding. we saw sleet overnight in areas of new jersey. southern new england, it peaked. now it's fizzling out. you may see a little coating of ice out there this morning too, especially areas outside the big

cities. as far as the forecast goes today, we will see rain moving back in during the day, but especially later tonight and tomorrow is when the northeast will get soaked. today the worst of the weather from tennessee, southern portions of ohio, lynn. so we'll talk more about the friday forecast coming up. >> note to self. okay. thank you so much. coming up, big ben speaks. and wall street likes what it hears. your "first look" at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, the champs get their rings, knicks continue to slide, and an mvp makes a hall of fame call. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. my name is brad anderson

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look". i'm lynn berry. treasury secretary timothy geithner said he doesn't expect to stay with president obama wins a second term. he told bloomberg tv the president asked him to remain last august but doubts he would be asked to stay again.

a deadly explosion in thailand as a fireworks display blew up killing four people. the accident came during celebrations north of pwopbg cob for the lunar new year. a youth team practicing as holes appeared in the roof and the whole roof came crashing down on the ice. >> in brazil, a bank robber accidentally shooting himself in the foot. the thief left the bank limping but was later arrested when he went to the hospital seeking treatment. we are getting some more information about the u.s. raid into somalia to rescue a hostage and her danish co-worker. a famous team of u.s. special forces conducted the daring rescue mission. and nbc's jay gray has details. >> reporter: the high-risk mission was carried out on the african coast.

a team of navy s.e.a.l.s parachuting in and taking over a camp where american jessica buchanan and iston had been held since last october. >> special farces said this was the teamment jessica's health was beginning to decline. she's a young woman in her 30s so we wanted to act and we did. >> reporter: it was s.e.a.l. team six, the same group that killed osama bin laden. as they moved in, a fire doctor fight erupted. at least nine kidnappers were killed. no reports of any american casualties. buchanan and thistin were rushed by chop tore an undisclosed safe location and now are traveling to be reunited with their families. >> basically, they were out of touch with her this whole time other than just little signals indirectly they would get. >> reporter: the news was a welcomed relief at valley forge

christian college where, during her senior year, she served as a student teacher in nairobi. >> you go from this on hold to absolute excitement and gratitude that she's safe. >> reporter: gratitude shared by president obama who faced leon panetta before his state of the union address last night. >> good job tonight. good job tonight. >> reporter: then later shared details with the nation and said in part, thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our special operations forces. yesterday jessica buchanan was rescued and she's on her way home. a much safer trip, no doubt, than the mission that set her free. jay gray, nbc news. here is your "first look" at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,756 after adding 81 points yesterday. s&p up 11 points. nasdaq gained 31. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo,

the nikkei lost 34 points but the hang seng spiked 328. stocks did pick up steam wednesday after learning the fed intends to keep its easy money policy in effect longer than originally planned. the nation's central bank said it would probably keep interest rates near zero until late 2014 citeding, quote, moderate economic growth and a still struggling job and housing market. ben bernanke said quantitative easing is not out of the question. overall, that was bad news for banks, which find it harder to earn return on low rates. the price of gold hit a six-week high an appealing hedge against inflation sending new mining both 5% higher. apple briefly reclaimed the title of world's most valuable company after historic fourth quarter results. asses sa plane maker textron. delta and us airways shot up on

healthy earnings. corning predicted double-digit decline for lcd tvs. and xerox slid. netflix shot up double digits after reporting its recovered three-quarters of the customers it lost once it was raising prices last year. according to reality track, 10% fewer overall residential sales than the year before. finally, a florida woman hopes she calls jet art will take off with fashion buyers. she uses its hurricane force exhaust to splatter paint on blue jeans. i got a pair of those in the late '80s. coming up, the year of upsets continue in college basketball. nets pull out a nail-biter. and the knicks stumble again.

clippers griffin does what he does best against the lakers in the battle of l.a. your "first look" at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ♪ i've discovered gold. [ female announcer ] roc® retinol... the gold standard in anti-aging. clinically proven to give 10 years back to the look of skin.

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protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. welcome back to "first look". i'm lynn berry. in sports, a full night of nba action wednesday night all highlighted by last season's champions receiving their just rewards. here's nbc's fred roggin. good morning. there were 13 nba games last night, but only one gets my ringing endorsement.

we go to dallas for the mavs. they received their championship roads. mark cuban shelled out $1.4 million to pay for the flashy jewelry, each ring worth about 40 grand. kevin love signed a $60 million extension worth every penny of it last night. 31 points and 10 boards. and the t-wolves won it 105-90. a late fourth quarter rally to beat the lakers. kobe bryant down the stretch. and the lakers are in bragging rights are a 96-91 win. williams flipped it and tied the game with one second left in regulation. drilled a three. new jersey had the lead. he finished with 34. nets surprised philly in o.t. anthony will try just about anything to end the knicks's current slump. never a good thing when anderson and caspy fill up the score

sheet. new york dropped seven of eight. freshman le brian nash scored 13 of his 27 in the final minutes. oklahoma state beat number 2 missouri, 79-72. dirk nowitski didn't play but managed to put his stamp on the game while being interviewed on the bench. >> what a big part he was last year. oh, my god! oh! shut it down! let's go home! >> the mavs certainly did shut it down and go home. they lost by 15. dish, don't quit your day job. that's your "first look" at sports. i'm fred roggin >> now for another look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel for the benefit. good morning to you. >> that's the love and energy i'm looking for from you. >> i'm trying. okay, bill? >> when i nail a forecast i want you to give me that play-by-play. >> oh!

hey! >> we'll work on it. good morning, everyone. saw a little bit of sleet and freezing rain in certain spots in pennsylvania. be careful on the roads if you're traveling in the higher terrain. and northern new jersey, saw a little bit of sleet. temperatures fairly mild. we shouldn't have too many problems. i don't think there are too many school delays out there either. it was light when it did go through. still a little bit of moisture back by pittsburgh. it's probably going to be a little bit slippery. overall today, the temperatures warming up. clouds will thicken up. the second half of the day. morning commute, many areas will be dry. but the afternoon ride home from work or school will be wet. also, soaking rain today. tennessee, kentucky, one to two inches of rain. storms headed for new orleans. eventually all that rain from mississippi will head into alabama. for tomorrow, watch the rain early in the morning. tomorrow morning's commute will be rough in areas around the

east, especially insure, philly and d.c. >> thanks so much. coming up, the celebrity who hasn't had sex for decades. >> and just what do you bet for next after you bet half a million bucks? plus, if a multitude of reports are going to be believed, demi moore needs help for much more than exhaustion. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. dave. -hey, dave. -hey, dave. hey. -hey, dave. -mr. dave. -dave. -what's up, dave? -dave. -dave. dave. dave. dave? hi, dave. oh, dave's looking for you. hey, dave. yo, dave! [ male announcer ] in a small business, it's all you. that's why you have us. at staples, we have low prices on everything your small business needs. staples. that was easy. nature valley trail mix bars are made with real ingredients you can see. like whole roasted nuts, chewy granola, and real fruit.

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welcome back to "first look". it's time for entertainment news. according to various reports, demi moore is suffering from much more than exhaustion her rep blamed for her recent hospitalization. a source told e news going into the hospital moore was, quote,

acting like she was suffering from a seizure. well, tmz reports moore's hospital trip was brought on by inhaling nitrous oxide. moore is addicted to one or more prescription drugs and addiction led to her breakup with ashton kutcher. elsewhere, elizabeth taylor auction mania continued on wednesday with a 17th century portrait that once hung in her bel air living room sold for $2 million. here's today's today's too much information winner. tim gunn admits he hasn't had sex for the last 29 years. >> finally, rapper 50 cent, who reportedly won half a million dollars the on a bet that the giants would make it to the super bowl, now says he will post a naked picture of himself on twitter if the giants win it all. and that has been your x-rated entertainment report of the day. i apologize, everyone. hopefully the kids aren't up.

>> what are you going to do if the giants win? >> i'm going to show up for work the next day and give you the news. >> no twitter surprises? >> even though we're trying to help the ratings we're not going that far. we respect ourselves. i'm lynn berry. stay tuned. way too early with willie geist starts now. president obama is out traveling the country to drive home the economic message he laid out in his state of the union address. but during a stop in phoenix, it was the governor of arizona driving a finger into the president's grill during a heated exchange on the tarmac. the question is, what were these two fighting back? the guys fighting to take president obama's job in the state of florida. he's proposing an american base on the moon. the question is, why did