look" on msnbc. with just 18 days left in the campaign it may be the final time that president obama and former governor mitt romney can share a few laughs. they did just that last night, the two shook hands and smiled just 48 hours after that contentious debate. laying down their political swords so to speak to headline the most famous dining experience in politics. the al smith dinner in new york city, hosted by the catholic archdiocese. both men worked on one-liners as artfully as they sparred tuesday night, here just a few moments people will surely be talking about today. >> i was actually hoping the president would bring joe biden along this evening, because he'll laugh at anything. >> i feel really well rested

after the long nap i had in the first debate. i particularly want to apologize to chris matthews. four years ago i gave him a thrill up his leg. this time around i gave him a stroke. >> as president obama surveys the waldorf banquet room, with everyone in white tie and finery, you have to wonder what he's thinking. so little time, so much to redistribute. >> after my foreign trip in 2008 i was attacked as a celebrity, because i was so popular with our allies overseas. i have to say i'm impressed with how well governor romney has avoided that problem. >> in the spirit ofsesame street, the president's remarks are brought to you by the letter "o" and the number 16 trillion. >> i don't have a joke here. i thought it would be useful to

remind everybody. >> we are lucky to have someone to lean on, i have my beautiful wife, ann. he has bill clinton. >> actually mitt is his middle name. i wish i could use my middle name. >> there have been awkward moments like when president pulled pope benedict aside to share advice an how to deal with his critics. he said, look, holy father, whatever the problem is, just blame is on pope john paul ii. >> we're both thinking ahead of our final debate on monday. the question is that is on the minds of millions of americans watching at home, is this happening again? why aren't they putting on "the voice"? the topic is foreign policy, spoiler alert. we got bin laden. >> all right. so plenty of laughs. there was also a lot of serious political news. the latest nbc news/"wall street journal journal"/maris polls show president obama is maintaining

his lead over governor mitt romney in two key battleground states. iowa has the president at 51% and in wisconsin the president is ahead by six points among likely voters, 51% to 45%, virtually unchanged from last month. both candidates will be back on trail today in key states. president obama will attend a campaign evep the in fairfax, virginia and after that he will reportedly head to camp david to prepare for monday's third and final presidential debate. governor romney and his running mate paul ryan will attend a rally in daytona beach, florida, where country music star john rich is scheduled to perform. msnbc will have all-day coverage leading up to the third and final presidential debate from boca raton, florida. it begins at 9:00 eastern, 6:00 pacific time right here on msnbc. let's begin with a bit of

political hijinks where one man wanted his dad to when a florida election at all costs. the son of an incumbent school superintendent was caught stealing the sign of his opponent. high school cheerleaders fought the law and won in texas. the judge ruled in favor of the students who were barred from putting bible verses on banners at high school games. religious school banners in will likely stay in place throughout the school year. the trial won't be until june 22nd. this pool of molten rock has been rising the past few months. scientists say if the trend continues it will eventually spill out of the volcano. and finally, a tidal wave of dust shut down traffic on

several roadways in oklahoma. the dust storm triggered multicar accidents and blackout conditions there. officials say the storm system was fueled by 50 mile per hour winds and dry wheat fields. bad combo, apparently. for a look at the weather we return to bill karins. there will be a big impact because of this. >> that storm has now arrived on the east coast. that's with the cold front and rain out ahead of that storm. let's take a radar tour up the eastern seaboard. if you're heading out the door, many areas on i-95 you'll need the umbrella. north carolina we have rain coming up around lumberton and fayetteville. there will be light showers for you, eventually roanoke raps will get some of the rain. further to the nornl, we're in a lull right now around washington, d.c. to richmond. that rain in north carolina will move to the north. you're not done yet. further to the north, much more widespread in the areas of rain and heavy downpours. right along the new jersey/pennsylvania border, over the delaware river.

we have numerous showers that are coming up off the ocean here, over connecticut, into connecticut itself and now they're starting to increase over central jersey. i'd give it about a half hour. we'll see on and off periods of rain, even in new york city. then we're soaked through central connecticut, now spreading northward into massachusetts and boston. it looks like you're about to get your first rain of the morning. many areas on i-95 are being affected by the storm. the huge storm is located almost over the top of chicago and milwaukee. it is a cold, raw, rainy day from indianapolis to chicago, raining and temperatures in the 40s is not fun by nen's standards. it will be windy in the northern plans but not as bad as yesterday where rapid city had hurricane force gusts up to 80 miles per hour. today's forecast on this friday, most of the bad weather will be early in the day today from new york city to philadelphia. all afternoon long up into areas of new england. the rest of the country we have talked about chicago to minneapolis and atlanta, it

looks like from colorado to california, much of the deep south, no problems traveling this weekend. the $35 million andy warhol. girl dumps on guy who happened to go on and win mega millions. your "first look" at the business headlines is straight ahead. and the military wants to beef up its military drones. details just ahead on "first look." you're watching msnbc. oh, she only uses tide vivid detergent plus boost

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welcome back to "first look." here are some of the stories making news this morning. in a case that will almost certainly go to the supreme court, a federal appeals court has ruled the 1996 defense of marriage act that defines a marriage as a union between a man and a woman is unconstitutional. the judge in court says gay americans deserve the same constitution constitutional as others. they reveal a widespread

organization by the organization to cover up more than 1,200 cases of alleged molestation by scout masters and others. the so-called perversion files were ordered released by the oregon supreme court. the boy scouts issued an apology to the victims and their families. another bloody day in syria as government warplanes hammered a northern city captured by rebels last week. reportedly leaving behind horrific scenes of carnage. activists say more than 40 civilians, many women and children, were killed. the cia is asking the white house to bolster its armed drone fleet by as many as ten new armed drones, it's being reported. andy warhol's iconic 3d painting statue of liberty went on display in paris where it could fetch more than $35 million. here's the ditch of scrambled politics. warning of caution about the late esst gallup poll showing m

romney leading president obama. today akin and incumbent democrat claire mccaskill held what was described as a cordial final debate which did not mention akin's controversial rain comments. mitt romney's wife ann joined the ladies of "the view" revealing if her husband lost this election he would not run again. barbara walters quoted mr. romney's line from a secretly recorded video about appearing on "the view." >> he was not sure he wanted to come on with us because we're high risk and sharp tongued. >> no. he said sharp and young. >> in ohio bill clinton and boss rallied supporters for president obama. president clinton talked about ohio's economy and bruce

springsteen sang "no surrender youngstown" and a few other favorites. president obama made his sixth appearance on "the dale lay show with jon stewart" last night. guess who took the brun the of the jokes? >> how many times a week does biden show up in a wet bathing suit to a meeting? just ballpark figure. >> i had to put out a presidential directive on that. we had to stop that. >> and finally, a fun new free game for your iphone, ipad or android phone. election game 2012. race for the white house. you can become the campaign manager and pick your candidate and then raise money, book television appearances and find tricky ways to beat your opponent. good luck. that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. last night, on "hardball," political activist ledbetter explained the importance of the fair pay act. take a listen. >> it's just a fundamental american right. and the men in this country, like yourself, they all

understand it now, because their wives, their daughters, daughter-in-laws, granddaughters are all working. it takes two people to earn a living. i don't think mitt romney is ever going to bring himself to commit, yes, the ledbetter bill will stay on the books, yes, it's a good bill, we need it. i don't think he will. and i know paul ryan is not, because he never supported it. and this is such a terrible injustice to the working women and their families across this nation, it's not right. >> don't miss "hardball" with chris matthews weekdays at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern only on msnbc, the place for politics. here's your "first look" at how wall street will kick off the day. dow closed at 13,584 after losing 8 points yesterday. the s&p was down 3, the nasdaq fell 31. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei added 19 points while in hong kong, the hang seng was

up 3. in brussels, europe's leader agreed to install a new supervisor over the eurozone next year. meanwhile, smoke-filled street in athens as riot police clash with protesters. back here at home, a weak earnings report from google came out midday instead of after the bell. google plunged, trades were halted for hours and markets never recovered. later microsoft said dwindling pc demand hurt its profit. bad news before its big windows 8 launch. more pc fallout from chipmaker amd now planning to lay off 15% of its staff. world trade organization handed the obama administration a small but significant victory, barring china from imposing duties on steel exports made at ohio-based ak steel. the average price of regular gas is down to $3.74 a gallon.

dunkin' donuts munchkins may have a new sibling, bagel bunchkins. victoria secret unveiled its annual fantasy bra. the gem encrusted floorle creation is worth a whopping 2.5 million bucks. who has that kind of cash, right? this guy does. the 22-year-old just won 30 million big ones in the massachusetts mega millions. so what or who will he spend it on? we do know who he won't be spoiling. >> no, no lucky girlfriend. just broke up with her. fis. nice. thank god. yes. >> thank god. see, sometimes breakups are a good thing. well, in health news this morning, a new study shows that annual doctor checkups aren't helping healthy people. test subjects who received annual physicals had the same death rate as those who did not.

when do trips to the doctor pay off? going for a specific test or screening such as mammograms, also people with ongoing health issues like high blood pressure should regularly see their doctor. the cards pushed the giants to the drinks and the niners are in the top of their division. plus, the tigers, break out the broom for a celebration. sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

♪ into a high-tech masterpiece? whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. welcome back. in sports we begin in san

francisco with thursday night football. the 49ers frank gore rushed for 131 yards and alex smith threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to delaney welker for a 13-6 victory over the as a result seahawks and sole possession of first place in the nfc west. to college football now. where oregon's kenyan barner ran for 3 touchdowns as they romp over arizona state last night, 43-21. to baseball, adam wainright threw seven innings of four-hit ball and they roughed lincecum and the bull pen which led to victory. in detroit, a four-run fourth inni inning. announcer ernie johnson has the call.

>> this is going to do it. prince fielder wants it. the tigers are going to the world series for the 11th time in franchise history. >> they're excited. some of us in new york not so much. finally, she's known as the flying squirrel, gabby douglas, the first african-american to bring home the gold medal in the gymnastics all-around competition was honor as sports woman of the year by the women's sports foundation. well deserved. congratulations. for a look at the weather, here is bill karins with your weather channel forecast. no delays. you were saying if you're traveling today, cancel. >> there will be. there will be delays. i wouldn't go cancelling. the airports are just now getting up to speed, usually the delays don't start coming in until at least 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. it takes that long for the airports to get going and the flights to increase that much with the landings and takeoffs. we'll watch it. as far as the radar goes, everyone in new england needs

the umbrella. a steady, soaking rain from the catskills to the adirondacks. the new york state through-way will be rough this morning. the rains increase in connecticut and massachusetts. we have numerous showers down here from philadelphia into maryland. eventually some of the rain will return to d.c., too. on and off periods of rain. the afternoon hours will be worse up in northern portions of new england. it will all clear out by this evening. as far as the rest of the country goes, a cold and raw day in.great lakes from chicago to detroit through ohio and indianapolis and illinois and all of michigan and wisconsin. we're nice from colorado to texas. the nice weather will spread across the country this weekend. that's the good thing. only the pacific northwest will be cloudy and damp with on and off showers. look at kansas city, beautiful by the time we get to saturday. nice and mild air for the saturday afternoon and the east coast. even into sunday, it looks like a nice fall weekend for whatever your plans may be. >> all right, bill, thanks.

just ahead, actress and obama supporter eva longoria is apologizing to mitt romney. we'll tell you why. plus, paranormal activity gets a new supernatural spin. your weekend entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

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welcome back. time now for entertainment news. let's start with movies because it's the weekend and you may be head out to see some. "paranormal activity 4" should haunt the number one spot with an expected $41 million. that is not bad considering it only cost 5 million to make. >> spirit of halloween. >> and tyler perry stars in "alex cross."

it should land in the number two spot with 15 million. >> you've read those books? >> it's a fun beach read, you know. >> elsewhere, the former companion of anna nicole smith could once again be facing prison time. a california appellate court overturned a ruling that threw out a 2010 conspiracy conviction. actress eva longoria is apologizing for a message that she retweeted that referred to mitt romney as a racist. guests have already begun arriving at a location near naples, italy but they haven't been told the exact location for the wedding of justin timberlake and jessica biel. >> was i supposed to know they were engaged. >> for real, bill? >> had you told me that

previously? >> not only have i told you that, but every single -- are you kidding. >> leave me your copies of "in touch" please. >> i love how you act like you're above it. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist starts now. >> i was hoping the president would bring joe biden along this evening because he'll laugh at anything. >> it's been four years since i was last at the al smith dinner. i have to admit some things have changed since then. first, some people say, barack, you're not as young as you're used to be. where's that golden smile, that pep in your step? i say settle down, joe, i'm trying to are a cabinet meeting. >> president obama and mitt romney play nice in new york last night pivoting from a

scrappy debate on tuesday to poke fun at one another and at joe biden during an annual charity dinner. the question is can we assume that's the last time these two candidates will be sharing any laughs? one of the suspected ring leaders on the attack on the u.s. consulate is found to be living freely in benghazi where he is openly mocking president obama's threats to bring killers of four americans to justice. the question is, what are we going to do about it? and it want hard to see this coming. the yankees get swept from the playoffs in embarrassing fashion. the question is, was this alex rodriguez's last game in a yankees uniform? red sox fans hope not. it is "way too early" for this. good morning. joe and i will be taking over for willie this morning. you're watching "way too early," the show you have to show up on time for. >> damn. glad you're up with us early this rn