and between that and the seasonal firefighters finally getting health insurance, that means we've got two of those stories in one news day today, which i think officially makes today a good day and should officially make tonight a good night. and manhattan marvel. new yorkers are treated to a rare solar sight. good morning, i'm lynn berry, those stories and more are straight ahead. this is first look on msnbc.

and this morning we begin with a deja vu debate. two weeks after the u.s. supreme court ruled it constitutional, the house of representatives voted again to repeal the affordable health care act. while the democratic-led senate will not debate or vote on the repeal, the house insisted on making the election-year point. nbc's steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: it's a vote on health care that will not change the law. but republicans want to show their resolve to kill what they call obama care. >> this bill is making our economy worse, driving up the cost of health care and making it harder for small businesses to hire new workers. >> reporter: democrats warned against repeal. >> it closes a door to wellness that is now just being opened to over 30 million americans. >> reporter: house republican leaders have held 30 votes to kill the obama law. >> it's time for republicans to

end their relenltless obsession of taking away health care benefits to millions of americans. >> reporter: americans are still divided. >> just because it's been rused constitutional doesn't mean that all aspect of the law are great and we shouldn't discuss them. >> reporter: mitt romney kept up his attack on obama health care. he did it at the naacp and got booed. >> i'm going do eliminate every nonessentialal program i can find. that includes obama care and i'm going to work to reform and save -- >> i probably would not have used the term in that crowd, "obama care." because that personalized it. and all of a sudden it sounded like you were talking more about the president. >> but romney figures keeping health care a hot issue will help him in november and that's why his house republicans staged another vote. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, capitol hill.

the internal report an what penn state did or did not do during the jerry sandusky years is set for release this morning. the findings in today's report could be exclusive of what the university-appointed investigator said back in november is confirmed. that quote failures by the school may have enabled the misconduct to occur and not be reported. nbc's chris clackham has details. >> reporter: three weeks after jerry sandusky's conviction of sexually abusing ten young boys, some even on the penn state campus, the university's braced for what may be more bombshells. the school paid internal investigation by former fbi director, louis freeh will be released online thursday among. while nothing official has been released yet, much of the report is expected to be critical of the late joe paterno and what paterno did or did not do when told by assistant mike mcqueary in 2001 that he had just seen

sandusky showering with a boy in the team locker room. paterno's family is already on the defensive, with a statement that says joe paterno did not act in any way to prevent a proper investigation of jerry sandusky. the school is also bracing to see how the report helps or hurts the slew of lawsuits expected from sandusky's victims. chris clacken, nbc news. illinois congressman, jesse jackson junior is being treated for what his doctor describes a as a mood disorder. a statement from jackson's office says he's getting intensive medical care at a residential treatment facility. the statement says he's expected to make a full recovery and denied that jackson is being treated for alcoholism. a family friend told nbc news is actually severe clinical depression and an alcohol problem. jackson has been on a leave of absence from congress since june 10th.

your first look at other news going on around america today. in houston, a thief broke into a restaurant and grabbed a large safe, using a chair to wheel it out. he made off with a lot more than cash. the bandit swiped the secret recipe for the bistro's award-winning burger. the hamburgler -- get it. and in mississippi, an extreme case of mother knows best. she and her son went into a convenience store. he protected to be buying chips. well then he pulled a gun on a clerk. but when mom saw what was going on, she grabbed the weapon and ordered her son to leave. the gun actually turned out to be a fake. the son is now in a very real jail. and finally in texas, follow that scooter. police are fishing for the man in this video who stole seafood from a walmart. using his motorized chair to make his escape.

he lifted $200 of lobster tails, loaded them into his basket and just rolled out of the store. he stuffed the lobsters in his car and took off. authorities say an employee did get the license plate of the car. but not the scooter. now for a look at your national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill cairns. >> guy's got taste. >> if you're going to go for something, go to the lobster tails. >> corn on the cob in the car, littleneck clams and we got ourselves a barbeque. >> we're condoning eating a lot of lobsters. there's a few things in life every weather guy has to do, blizzard, hurricane, chase tornadoes and go to the top of mount washington. the reason i mentioned all of these things, one of these things i haven't done, never been to death valley national park, california, one of the hottest places in the entire

country. phoenix was 111, 114 in vegas. death valley is located here, it was 128 degrees on the valley floor. incredible temperatures, the hottest temperature ever recorded there was 134, we're only six degrees away interest that. pretty incredible stuff. yesterday we needed the rain, we got it pretty good, eastern texas, louisiana, up through mississippi, alabama, a lot of areas picked up afternoon thunderstorms, the drought situation in georgia, it was welcomed rain in many areas. now what we need to do is get some of the rain to the ohio valley, through missouri and even new england is getting very dry, it hasn't rained in about two weeks in some spots. it looks like a little moisture is going to creep north. as far as this morning. the wettest weather definitely outside of houston. where we got drenched yesterday. thunderstorms to the north and west of town. rain through alexandria, much of central louisiana is wet. as far as the rainfall, an inch or two from nashville to

shreveport. lighter amounts in charlotte and jackson. the rain is not heading to the areas that need it quite yet, but chicago to new york, it looks warm and summer-like and beautiful weather continues. no goose from the fed, groupon continues its nose-dive and health experts come up with a wedding survival guide. your first look at the morning's business headlines is straight ahead. steve nash and ray allen show off their new digs and the nets make a deal that could end dwight howard's chances of playing in brooklyn. [ female announcer ] the power of green coffee extract

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. here's some top stories making news this morning. secretary of state hillary clinton became the first high-ranking u.s. official to visit laos since the vietnam war era yesterday. clinton promised to help laos remove cluster bombs remaining

from the war. the foreign ambassador to iraq announced he defected to the opposition, the most senior diplomat yet to abandon the syrian government. a federal judge in mississippi has decided to block the state's controversial new abortion law. it could have effectively shut down the state's only abortion clinic because its doctors do not have admitting privileges at a local hospital as required by the law. the september 11th terrorist attack is the most memorable moment shared by american television viewers in the last 50 years. according to a new poll, the 9/11 attack was almost twice as impactful as the second-ranked moment, hurricane katrina in 2005. and the streets of new york city filled up with people who turned out to watch what's called manhattan-henge, when the setting sun on the western horizon perfectly aligns with the grid of streets. such a spectacular view even jaded new yorkers clamored there for a photo. now here is your "first

look" at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. so how much time and treasure has house republicans relentless fight against the health care law cost? the congressional research service did the math on the more than 30 votes and found it's taken up at least 80 hours of time on the house floor since 2010 or two full work weeks at a cost of about $48 million. the "huffington post" orts on a flip-flop by senate republican leader, mitch mcconnell over president obama's new tax plan. mcconnell demanded the senate stop wasting time and vote. but when the senate agree dodd a majority vote mcconnell changed his mind, refusing to vote on a proposal that wasn't fully written up. steve king of iowa says the president's tax plan is part of a class envy scheme to make the unemployed feel better about not contributing to america's economy. despite under 13 million people being unemployed, king claimed

100 million people aren't doing their fair share. the congressional budget office reports in 2009, president obama's first year in office, americans paid their lowest tax rate in 30 years. politico reports in response to actor james earl jones remarks about racism and the tea party, one tea party group called his remarks divisive and irresponsible. this endorsement may not shock you, president obama has won the endorsement of the national organization for women. on fox news, sarah palin said an electrified republican base will be the key to a romney victory in the fall. she warns that mitt romney needs to quote light the gop's hair on fire. that's your morning's dish of scrambled politics. now the "first look" at wall street. the dow opens at 12,604, after losing 48 yesterday. the s&p was down a fraction, the

nasdaq fell 14. in overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei sank 130 points, in hong kong, the hang seng plummeted 394. stocks fell again wednesday after minutes of the federal reserve's june meeting disappointed investors hoping for another round of stimulus from the central bank. the minutes did show bond buying was discussed, most policy makers weren't ready to make a move. some are holding out hope, stressing the meeting was held prior to the most recent down data. market reaction was immediate. the euro hit a new two-year low against the dollar, gold closed nearly flat, the fed minutes combined with a big sale of ten-year treasury notes sent yields to near record lows. oil see-sawed. but oil later zoomed up on lower u.s. petroleum inventories and expectations for north sea oil production to fall. all that made oil stocks big winners, led by chevron and

exxonmobil. groupon tumbled to new low on recent data showing steep drops in online visits. now below $8, groupon went public in november for $20 a share. after-hours struggling supermarket operator supervalue, plunged after saying it considered selling the company and golf company calloway slid on reports they are going to cut their workforce. remember the guide of surviving a zombie apocalypse? now the agency is offering a wedding day survival guide. they say for dealing with a bride-zilla, the guy does mention sedatives and recommends keeping an emergency box of chocolates on hand as well. apparently they're not so busy over there at the cdc. two hoopsters are welcomed in their new homes and a big fine worth big bucks. plus the latest version of

the deem team gears up for its olympic run. your "first look" at sports is straight ahead. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol

as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry, in sports the ongoing dwight howard trade saga took a turn wednesday after the brooklyn nets pulled their offer for the orlando magic big man off the table. here's nbc's bill seward. hi, the on again/off again trade that would send dwight

howard to the nets is once again off. after weeks of negotiations, the nets had enough. pulled their offer off the table and then within hours, resigned center brook lopez to a four-year deal at $60 million. lopez anked 19 points per game last season. for now, dwight is staying in orlando. but here are some player who is moved. the rich got richer, ray allen was introduced as a member of the world champion heat. after wearing green his entire career with the bucks, sonics and celtics, ray will be seeing red in south beach. out west, the lakers made it official -- introducing point guard steve nash, the two-time mvp hopes to make one last run at an nba title with kobe and company in los angeles. speaking of kobe, he and team usa have been tuning up for the olympics in las vegas. bryant made some headlines of his own, saying this year's team could beat the original dream team of 1992. i don't know about that, but i do know team usa will play an

exhibition game against the dominican republic tonight. and when was the last time you went up to the attic? if you have an attic? the trip could make you a millionaire. karl kissener of ohio found a box of old baseball cards in his grandpa's attic. about 700 pristine cards of 1910. the likes of cy young, estimated value, $3 million. and the best part, the gum still has flavor. i know -- it's not gum. that's your first look at sports, i'm bill seward. well now for another look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist, bill karins, with your weather channel forecast. >> i always considered that gum in the baseball packs. >> is that an inside joke we don't know about? >> i guess so. starting to get some complaints from a lot of people that live in new england and portions of

the great lakes that they need water and that their gardens are starting to wilt. we haven't had rainfall in this region in a while. once again this morning, skies are relatively clear. a few clouds around the mid-atlantic. and the rainfall numbers through the first 12 days of july, rather sparse. .03 of an inch in philadelphia, boston, .014, a little more in hartford and new york, below average. very dry so far this month. it doesn't look likeny rain is coming today, the next chance, probably saturday and sunday with some hit-and-miss thunderstorms, even that not a good soaking. 91 in hartford today, 90 in d.c. as we look to the middle of the country, another warm day, we'll see the rainfall chances throughout the south. maybe minor travel problems if you're flying out of hartsfield or houston on new orleans, orlando, miami and warm from feelin phoenix up to billings.

coming up, a czar gets knocked out by falling equipment. and the latest tom and katie developments. plus, miley cyrus has another tattoo. stay tuned to find out how many she has and what the latest one shows. your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. at shell, we believe the world needs a broader mix of energies. that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection,

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i read that the spanish language channel, unavision was the highest-rated channel in the u.s. which explains our network's new name, nbc senor. last week donald trump

opened a golf course in scotland. seven years of raking, plowing and fertilizing, or as trump calls that, a haircut. beautiful, 24-carat gold, marble inlay. tonight jimmy welcomes queen latifah, actor noah wiley. on your local nbc station. time for some entertainment news. i think kristen chenowith has been injured twice on broadway and was rushed to the hospital wednesday after being hit in the head by a falling piece of lighting equipment on the set of cbs's the good wife. a witness told tmz she appeared to be knocked out cold, but a fire department official says she's being treated for minor

injuries. e-news reports that katie holmes has registered at a catholic church in new york. in my neighborhood. tom cruise's attorney is threatening the "national enquirer's" parent company with a lawsuit. he blasted recent headlines such as tom's house of horrors. the real tom is a monster and denied reporting that holmes was monitored and reported on to scientolo scientology's leader. reports say channing tatum may star in a film about evil knievel. finally "us weekly" reports that miley cyrus has gotten her 15th tattoo, a quote from a 1910 speech by theodore roosevelt. you see it's all the way down her arm. >> she's got one of those? >> but it looks like the

possibility it could be marker. because it's kind of huge. >> a random quote by theodore roosevelt? >> good time we don't have enough time for it. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. mitt romney says he expected to get booed during his speech at the naacp, promising to repeal obama care and telling the audience that as president, he would make life better for african-americans. the question is -- was this really a savvy move by romney to rally support from his republican base? where in the world is jesse jackson junior? a month after taking a leave of absence for exhaustion, the congressman's office says he's at an undisclosed treatment facility getting help for a mood disorder. the question is, how long can jackson stay away before we hear calls for his resignation. and finally they're the oscars of the sports