you are the best new thing in the world today. >> yeah! [ applause ] >> now back to work! >> that's really what it's like here. best new thing. that does it for us tonight. tripped up. mitt romney wraps up his three nation gaffe-ridden overseas tour. so how will it affect him here at home? >> high ticket high rise. what $100 million can get in in new york city. >> and three's a charm. england's duchess of cambridge is once again crowned best dressed by "vanity fair." good morning, everyone. i'm little berry. this is "first look" on msnbc.

and we're going to begin this morning with a tumultuous tour. mitt romney carefully wrapped up the third leg of a european treatment in poland tuesday after bumpy visit to england and israel. he aimed to avoid any more missteps in his efforts to portray himself as a capable commander of foreign affairs. steve hand elsman reports. >> reporter: mitt romney finished his foreign tour in warsaw with a swipe at president obama. >> rather than heeding the false promise of a government-dominated economy, poland sought to stimulate innovation, attract investment, expand trade and live within its means. >> reporter: romney did not mention poland has 1.4% unemployment and mandatory health insurance like obama health care. but back on capitol hill, romney's republican senate

allies tried again to repeal. his trip was rough, a gaffe if lon downwhere he dwe kwe-- londe questioned how well britain would run the olympics. >> governor romney, are you concerned about some of the mishaps on your trip if p? >> reporter: no replay. team obama joked that romney had not hurt the usa. >> there was nothing that i could see that was detrimental, at least not against the president. >> reporter: i'm steve hand ee s handelsman,. >> a three-judge panel is asking

to stop -- >> the obama campaign and democratic party is making sure that we can get people the answer to their questions about how to register, about where their polling place is, about what they're going to need to bring to the polls. people can log on to gottavote.org and get the information and the answer to those questions because the democratic party is going to do everything we can to make sure that regardless of whether you speak english or spanish, regardless of where you live, if you are eligible to vote and lawfully eligible to vote, we are going to do everything we can to make sure can you cast that ballot. the republicans are doing everything they can to prevent it. >> don't miss "politics nation," the place for politics. >> to texas where a tea party

favorite won the republican nomination for the november election to replace retiring senator kay bailey hutchison. ted cruz is thanking treat party supporters for a convincing defeat of lieutenant government david dewhurst. he's going to face democratic representative paul sadler who begin as as an underdog in one of america's reddest states. >> congressional leaders have reached a deal to keep the federal government running through march of 2013. they worked out the agreement to avoid a possible government shutdown before the election. it would extend funding for federal agencies for six months. the agreement would also make it a bit easier to great postelection deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff of expiring tax cuts and automatic spending cuts. the compromised deal would have to be approved in september by

both houses of congress. >> now to the london summer games and u.s. swimmer michael phelps. he swam his way into the history books tuesday by winning his 19th career olympic medal. phelps picked up his 15th gold medal in the 4x200 meter free style relay after taking silver in the 200 meter butterfly by 0 .05. >> i saw the women's gymnastics, the u.s. got their gold. those fab five will be well known throughout -- i think they're going to be on the "today" show this morning. >> as far as today goes this morning, not too many issues. more of the same unfortunately as we begin our august. the drought map across the

country, this has been the big story, the extreme drought and one of the worst our country has seen. on this map of the united states, if you're not colored in in the yellows, oranges or red, you don't have any drought to worry about. but that's really about it. you can go all the way from utah all the way across interstate 70 into indiana, illinois and even to ohio in almost extreme drought conditions. that's this red color the worst is the exceptional, the really dark red and we have that in many spots now. where is it raining this morning? not really where we need it. we're getting some rain in maine and off the carolina coastline. we have one lone shower in nebraska that's helping. but we need soaking rein in these areas. northern new jersey a little thunderstorm complex has been moving to the north here, a little downpour. and a thunderstorm complex across the chesapeake.

you'll head through delaware shortly and that will probably be the worst of it. the heat is the big story again, temperatures easily into the hundreds all through the midwest. unfortunately a broken record for august. it looks to be just like july. >> coming up, coach takes a beating, newscorp sharpens the ax and manhattan real estate. >> fat albert takes a bite out of the rangers, the phillies clean house and a one-hit master piece at wrigley. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] we did a febreze experiment

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president obama is increasing on iran. he's ordered sanctions to help

force iran to end its nuclear program. ndia is getting back to normal now that the power has been fully restored to three electricity grids, which failed tuesday causing a blackout. it affected 20 out of the nation's 29 states, including the capital new dehli. >> a united airlines flight landed safely after colliding with a bird as the plane approached denver international airport. the aircraft had a large dent just below a hole in the plane's nose. thankfully there were no injuries there. >> author gore vidal has died from complications of pneumonia at his home at 86. he was known for plays like "the best man." >> and for the third year in a

row kate, england's stylish duchess of cambridge stops "vanity fair"'s best dressed list. >> mitt romney's traveling press secretary got angry at reporters who were shotting questions. politico says the aide lost his cool saying, quote, kiss my [ expletive ]" and told romney to ignore the questions. >> and a new app allow us to sign up to be the first to learn the name of his choice for vice president. >> president obama has been urging supporters to donate money to his campaign. the president has given $5,000 to his own reelection effort and says he "cleared this with

michele." nbc news reports that michelle obama will speak to delegates on tuesday, september 4th. >> country music legend willie nelson will sing at the republican convention on august 29th in tampa, florida. he'll be the headliner at a concert. >> octavia spencer was campaigning for president obama after criticizes mitt romney's policies. the tea party came in for some jabs from the star of "the help." and zach was on "hard bawl" talking about his campaign

saying "there are a lot of sociopaths right now in office." >> here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,008 after falling 64 points yesterday. s&p was down 5, the nasdaq lost 6. in hong kong the hang seng gained 23. >> data failed to motivate investors on tuesday. investors mostly shrugged off news that consumer spending was flat in june. an uptick in consumer confidence sparked an uptick. >> swiss bank ubs reported a surprise slump in profit thanks to a $356 million trading loss it took on facebook's bungled

stock debut. facebook's stott hit a new low sliding 6%. luxury brand coach tumbled 19%, a lower than expected fourth quarter sales. archer daniels midland slid 5% after reporting record corn prices ate up a quarter of its net income. still suffering the effects of the deepwater horizon spill, bp posted a sharp fall. and it was decided the risks outweighed the benefits of allowing the firms to back homeowners. >> and a bankruptcy trustee handling the remains of mf global told a senate committee he's confident customers of the failed securities firm will eventually get all their money back. and finally, what does $100

million buy you in manhattan real estate? a three-level octagon shamed penthouse. it also includes the name of the most expensive apartment on the market. >> well, controversy continues to swirl around chick-fil-a. supporters have called for a boycott of the atlanta based company and today a national chick-fil-a appreciation day is being held for the chain's supporters. >> reporter: it started when the president and ceo reiterated his company's strong religious beliefs to a baptist journal saying "we are very much supportive of family, the biblical definition of a family unit. we are married to our first

wives, we give god thanks for that." >> i would like to tell him i am also married to my first wife. >> reporter: those comments outraged supporters of gay and lesbian organizations throughout the nation who have called for a boycott of the chains. >> i'll miss the sandwiches but i can't support those organizations. >> it's become a hot topic in some of the largest cities. >> boston is an open city that welcomes everyone. he wants to close off the city to certain individuals. >> people who don't support marriage ekwalt here, it's a law in the district of columbia. there just is no place for them in the city. >> reporter: with annual sales over $4 billion, the nationwide chain is mainly focused in the southern states and has not commented on the controversy but those who support the values of the privately run company are. >> i love it. that makes me want to come here even more and enjoy the great family values they stand for.

>> reporter: former arkansas government mike huckabee has declared today chick-fi l-a appreciation day, calling it a chance to affirm to a christian brother he has not been disenfranchised from his citizenship for his right of free speech. a nationwide moral debate now being argued over a chicken sandwich. >> coming up, the orioles slam the yanks, the white sox push past the twins and the phillies stun the nationals. plus a.j. burnett takes a no-hitter into the eighth inning. your first look of sports is just ahead. honestly. our sales have increased by 20%. what is this mystical device i see before me?

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welcome back to "first look." with the major league trade deadline looming, the cubs sent their best pitcher to texas just under the wire. >> good morning. the baseball trading deadline has come and gone and the american league champions just added an ace to their staff. the texas rangers acquired ryan dempster from the cubs. the two-time all-star will make his first start tomorrow night. the rangers could have used him yesterday against the angels. albert pujols hit not one but two home runs. he's hit 8 in july and 20 this

season. angels all over the rangers 6-2. the phillies traited hunt are pence and shane victorino. getting to strasburg early and often, phillies swat the nets 8-0. new york jumps off to a five-run lead and baltimore comes storming back scoring 11 unanswered runs. orioles win big 11-5. speaking of driving in runs, the red's ryan ludwig had four rbi. san diego would come back and tie it but can't get over the hump. brandon phillips with the solo shot in the seventh inning. since they're red hot, they're 15-3 at the all-star break. twins and white sox tied in the ninth with a.j. pierzynski

changes everything with one big swing. white sox went 4-3. and we saved the best for last, cubs and pirates. a grand slam in the first. a.j. burnett takes care of the rest, do. nating the cubbies, mowing down eight. the pirates win 5-0. that's your first look at sports. i'm mario solis. >> and here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> august 1st, huh? >> can you believe it? >> the summer is flying. we are watching storms diving moving through northern jersey and rain through coastal areas of maryland and delaware. later this afternoon the best case looks like it will be the hudson valley, areas of west of new york city, down to philadelphia and d.c. the heat study incredible throughout the middle of the country, 100 in texas all the

way up to kansas. it's not like it's chilly in the rockies. temperatures there in the rockies. oklahoma city expecting a high of 110. >> coming up, lindsey lohan. and where rob patinson has been hanging out. [ male announcer ] every day, the world gets more complex. and this is what inspires us to create new technology.

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u.s. weekly reports since

breaking up with kristen stewart, rob pattinson has been staying at the home of friend reese witherspoon. apparently he wants to have a sitdown with the other man to find out what really happened. can you videotape it, please? >> deadline.com reports vince vaughn is developing a reboot of "the brady bunch." it will be centered around a divorced dad marrying a woman who also has kids. and as if posing for playboy isn't enough, while filming a sex seen for her upcoming movie, lindsay lohan made the crew strip down to her skivies so she'd be more comfortable being topless. >> skivies on live television.

just wand to give everyone a little more pictures. i'm apparently 100 years old. i'm lynn berry. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. willie geist" starts right now. mitt romney's trip abroad ends the same way it began with the candidate walking back comments that somewhere, somewhere, someone somewhere found offensive. the question is will the obama team capitalize on romney's gfs, or will they fade into campaign memory? a big win for the tea party in texas where senate candidate ted cruz beats the establishment-backed challenger. the question is could the tea party's victory there have national implications? and finally, it's 19 and counting for michael phelps who swam his way into the history books with another olympic gold. but the real story was the u.s. women's gymnastics team going for the first u.s. team gold in 16 years.