it's thursday, october 29th. right now on "first look," the donald was low key. jeb bush missed the mark trying to hit marco rubio, who ended up shining. and ben carson was left sweating in the spotlight. we have the winners and losers from the gop debate. new details on the run away top secret military blimp. it had norad scramble f-16s in the sky, then security teams on the ground. one of the youngest members of modern history prepares to become speaker as the former longest serving house speaker prepares for jail. and prince harry takes the capitol by storm along with a wounded warrior. a masterful performance in kansas city. and americans will spend $350 million on pet costumes this year. "first look" starts right now.

good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us today, i'm betty nguyen. all right it may have been the most explosive debate yet. republican candidates for president attacking the media, and each other. let's get right to nbc's tracie potts in washington. tracie, which candidates are feeling pretty good this morning? >> all right. so if you look at social media, if you look at reaction polls this morning, donald trump has got to be feeling pretty good. some polls saying that he won this thing. marco rubio definitely a standout last night compared to other debates. and then there were others who had moments like ted cruz and even john kasich. donald trump's slipping poll numbers opened the door for underdogs like john kasich. >> we cannot elect somebody that doesn't know how to do the job. >> he said oh, i'm never going to attack. but then his poll numbers tanked. that's why he's on the end. >> reporter: jeb bush and marco rubio got into it over rubio's missed senate votes. >> you should be showing up for work. i mean literally the senate, what is it like a french work

week? >> someone convinced you that attacking me is going to help you. >> reporter: the most consistent attack and strongest audience reaction questioned the moderators. >> let's be honest, is this a comic book version of a presidential campaign? >> not a comic book. and it's not a very nicely asked question the way you say that. >> how about talking about the substantive issues people care about? >> we have isis and al qaeda attacking us, and we're talking about fantasy football? can we stop? >> reporter: dr. ben carson told us afterward he thought this debate was light on the issues. the audience didn't like some of his questions, either. [ boos ] >> they know. >> reporter: cnbc's economy debate covered tax reform, medicare, social security, and the current fight in washington over spending and raising the debt limit. >> this is the unholy alliance the people need to know about. >> somebody is taking it in the teeth, and it's not the folks on wall street. >> reporter: carly fiorina defended her business decisions. >> i will run on my record all day long.

>> reporter: besides the media, the republicans' most consistent target? hillary clinton. there was also a lot of back and forth about flat tax plans. some of the candidates have them. crunching the numbers, determining whether or not they work. for you, the taxpayer. >> hmm. all right, thank you so much, we do appreciate it. let's get a little bit more on the winners and loserses from the debate. an informal cnbc post-debate toll has donald trump on top followed by ted cruz and mark yo rubio in third. others are saying rubio came out on top but politico reporting he stole the debate. while the consensus is that jeb bush did not do anything to help his faltering campaign. on social media, ted cruz was the most discussed candidate during the debate on facebook, and donald trump had the most mentions on twitter. now, post-debate front-runners trump and carson were both full of cheer, praising the field. >> who were you impressed with tonight? >> i was impressed with everybody. >> i thought it was great and i thought i did well. i thought everyone did well.

i really enjoyed it. >> the pair also had good things to say about each other with carson saying trump is a smart guy, and trump saying he has a lot of respect for carson. the most talked about moment on facebook and twitter, ted cruz, criticizing the debate moderators. >> the questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the american people don't trust the media. this is not a cage match and you look at the questions, donald trump, are you a comic book villain, ben carson can you do math. how about talking about the substantive issues people care about. [ cheers and applause ] >> rnc head reince priebus was also critical of cnbc tweeting out, cnbc should be ashamed of how this debate was handled. i will fight to ensure future debates allow for a more robust exchange. the rnc also put out an official statement saying in part the performance by the cnbc moderators was extremely disappointing and disa disservice to their network, our

candidates and voters. cnbc has responded to the critics and saying people who want to be president of the united states should be able to answer tough questions. democratic front-runner hillary clinton, she was pretty direct about her feelings about the debate, tweeting out #gopdebate. this weekend in a sunday exclusive, "meet the press" moderator chuck todd will speak with former governor, now presidential candidate, jeb bush. a runaway military surveillance blimp is back on solid ground this morning. it was a strange sight over pennsylvania yesterday as the blimp traveled 120 miles. it reached an altitude of nearly 16,000 feet. nbc's dan schenamen has the report. >> reporter: the unmanned military surveillance blimp floated over pennsylvania for hours with fighter jets and police in hot pursuit. one eyewitness didn't quite know what it was. >> i look out the window, and this big white thing just starts going over the softball field. >> reporter: the blimp left a

trail of destruction caused by a mile-long tether that knocked out power to thousands of homes. >> we lost power for probably, i don't know, four hours, something, that neighborhood. >> reporter: after three hours in the air, blimp finally came to rest in anthony township, pennsylvania. the meal yum filled military balloon is called a jlens. it's usually moored in maryland and watches the skies from 10,000 feet in the air in >> this is part of a military radar system that's supposed to detect cruise missiles, fast-flying, low-flying cruise missiles probably from russian aircraft. >> reporter: officials don't know why the balloon broke loose. an investigation is under way. dan schenamen, nbc news. breaking news overnight, a shark attack has injured a 10-year-old boy. he was reportedly body boarding about 30 feet from the beach on the west coast of oahu when i was bitten in the thigh. video shows first responders transporting the boy to queens medical center in serious condition. this is the seventh shark attack in hawaii this year, according

to nbc affiliate khnl. on october 17th, a 44-year-old man suffered leg injuries. october 9th, a 25-year-old lost his left leg and several fingers. in a matter of hours, we may know for sure who will be the next speaker of the house. wisconsin congressman paul ryan is expected to be officially elected today. he needs 218 votes to take the gavel, and a secret nomination ballot yesterday he was the choice of 200 of his fellow 247 house republicans. many of those who oppose behind closed doors are expected to pitch their support so ryan's victory could be in the bag. he would be the youngest speaker in almost 150 years, and second in line for the presidency after joe biden. more important medical news for anyone who suffers from severe allergic reactions. pharmaceutical company sanofi is voluntarily recalling all of its epi pens. the products have a potentially inaccurate dosage delivery.

the dosages are both 0.15 milligram and 0.3 milligram strength. it includes the lot numbers on your screen with expiration dates march 2016 to december 2016. we've also included the company's contact information, because it will reimburse you for the purchase of new epi pens. we'll also have this information on our facebook page just a little bit later. it was a royal day at fort belvore. >> all right, ladies, prince harry is here. don't act like you don't notice. >> reporter: indeed he was. the prince was in virginia yesterday. he, along with first lady michelle obama and dr. jill biden met with wounded service members and vets at a new facility designed to support injured and ill troops. the event supported the invick us it games which is a paralympics style event harry helped create for wounded veterans. harry also took the time to talk about the upcoming games. >> hundreds of additional veterans from around the world

will benefit from taking part and millions more people will be inspired by their stories. >> those games will take place in orlando may 8th through 12th, 2016. coming up on nine minutes past the hour. time to get down to business with cnbc's landon dowdy. >> betty, good morning to you. a drug deal in the making. pfizer is in preliminary talks to take over allergan in a deal that would create the world's largest drugmaker. a deal would combine and surpass johnson & johnson and rank the deal as one of the largest in history. allergan is best known as the maker of botox. a new forecast out for cyber monday. sales on businesses being put on black friday events this year the biggest online sales day of the year doesn't show any sign of slowing down. cyber monday sales expected to rise 12% to hit $3 billion for the first time. that's according to a forecast by adobe and sales on thanksgiving day are expected to post the fastest growth rising 18% to $1.6 billion.

but, there's halloween, and the national retail federation estimates that 22 million pet owners will dress their furry loved ones up this season, spending a whopping $350 million on costumes, betty. back over to you. >> pet costumes. i don't even have a costume this year. although, pregnant lady, i mean, hey. this year it's real. thank you so much. in sports game two of the world series can be summed up in one word. masterful. i'm talking about the incredible pitching performance from royals starter johnny cute to. the mets could barely lay a bat on him. he's also the first american leaguer to pitch a complete game since jack morris in 1991. the royals went on to win 7-1 and lead the series 2-0. game three is in new york on friday. listen to this, a lottery mistake that actually turned out to be a winner. >> >> plus the former speaker of the house appears fob a possible jail sentence. you're watching "first look."

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as a general rule snow before halloween is relatively unwelcome. but winter's not that far off. here's a remindner wisconsin. snow wasn't waiting for the jack-o'-lanterns to go away. it covered grounds and cars. up to two inches fell. we're going to be watching a little more this morning before we do some melting this afternoon. just a reminder it's not far away. but thankfully nothing like that happening any time soon to anywhere else in the country. we are watching some very heavy rain this morning. we even have a flash flood warning that's in effect now. this area from boston southward is definitely seeing the heaviest rain in the country. strong, gusty winds along the coast, up to about 40 to 50 miles per hour. there's that flash flood warning just outside of new port there right across i-95. the other cold side of the storm, this is where we still have a little bit of snow, it's trying to move into green bay. right now it's warm enough there's still all rain. just outside of green bay you see the white on the map. and around duluth, trying to

change over from a cold rain to the wet snow. temperatures will be chilly, at least in the afternoon we'll get into the 40s. all that snow will be gone. and then some of that cooler air will move to the east coast as we get to friday. also, texas and oklahoma, of course friday, day before a holiday, a lot of kids doing the parades at their school, could be a big umbrella day for you in oklahoma city, dallas, fort worth, waco, san antonio and houston. up to about four inches and even strong thunderstorms. that's not good for the kids. saturday will be okay for trick-or-treating but saturday is a big day at the school. >> maybe waterproof costumes. former house speaker dennis hastert pled guilty in his hush money case yesterday. he admitted to illegal withdrawals of more than $1 million in small amounts to avoid bank reporting requirements. the 73-year-old republican used the funds as hush money to cover up alleged misconduct when he was a teacher in illinois decades ago. hastert will be sentenced on february 29th. prosecutors are recommending up to six months in jail. after videos of an officer

slamming a student to the floor in the south carolina high school went viral, senior deputy ben fields was fired yesterday from the richland county sheriff's department. >> just the fact he picked a student up and threw the student across the room, that is not a proper technique and should not be used in law enforcement. >> sheriff lott says a third video shows the student punching the officer in the classroom. so how would you like to win the lottery by mistake? that's exactly what happened when pat tucker tried to buy two mega millions tickets at a 7-eleven store in california. the clerk accidentally pressed the button for the powerball ticket which could not be canceled. now at first tucker was not happy about it. but that soon changed when that ticket matched five numbers for $380,000. i could use a mistake like that. couldn't you? all right so debate highlights and which candidate may be next to drop out of the race. we have all of that, next.

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♪ the beautiful sound of customers making the most of their united flight. power, wi-fi, and streaming entertainment. that's... seize the journey friendly. ♪ here are some of the top moments that lit up last night's gop debate. >> you know the presidents need the moral authority to bring the entire country together. the leading republican candidate, when you look at the average in national polls right now, is donald trump. when you look at him, do you see someone with the moral authority to unite the country? [ audience boos ] >> you know as few questions i got, the last one i need is to give him some more time. i love donald trump. he is a good man. i'm wearing a trump tie tonight.

get over that one. okay? >> was it made in mexico? >> i don't know. >> made in china or mexico? >> i have no idea -- >> that's a nasty -- such a nasty question. but, thank you, governor. >> you're welcome. >> let me tell you, donald trump would be a better president every day of the week and twice on sunday rather than hillary. >> in terms of applying for the job of president, the weakness would be not really seeing myself in that position until hundreds of thousands of people began to tell me that i needed to do it. >> my great concern is that we are on the verge, perhaps, of picking someone who cannot do this job. >> folks, we got to wake up. we cannot elect somebody that doesn't know how to do the job. >> if you were president, and you were offered a bipartisan deal that had one dollar -- one dollar of tax increases for ten dollars of spending -- >> you find me a democrat that will cut spending $10? i'll give them a warm kiss.

>> i don't see a lot of weakness on this stage, quite frankly. where i see the weakness in those three people that are left on the democratic stage. you know, i see a socialist, an isolationist, and a pessimist. and for the sake of me i can't figure out which one is which. >> it is the height of hypocrisy for mrs. clinton to talk about being the first woman president when every single policy she espouses, and every single policy of president obama, has been demonstrably bad for women. >> the questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the american people don't trust the media. >> how about talking about the substantive issues people care about? >> democrats have the ultimate super pac, it's called the mainstream media. where every single day -- >> such a nasty question. >> john, you want me to answer? i got to tell you the truth, even in new jersey, what you're

doing is called rude. so, >> got a little fiery on that stage. joining me now is syndicated columnist bob franken. good morning, bob. >> good morning. >> whoo-ee. who do you think won this republican debate last night? because you know, many argue marco rubio did a pretty good job. >> well, marco rubio did what is viewed as a pretty good job. ted cruz what is viewed as a pretty good job. most importantly, the losers were the media. certainly the people who were asking the questions at this debate. normally, when people criticize the media, particularly people in politics, particularly republicans, who like to feast on the media, i'd like to say something sarcastic like, we always welcome viewer comments. but i hate to say it, in this particular case, they had a point. the different questioners seemed to get involved emotionally in this. they were not able to ask the

skeptical questions in ways that didn't make them seem to be hostile, and that left an opening for the republicans to stomp all over them. >> all right. well i want to shift to jeb bush just for a second, because if jeb bush ends up losing this nomination, did last night seal his fate, perhaps? >> well, it probably went a long way toward making him irrelevant as a candidate. the big question now is, is he going to pull out, and more importantly, when is he going to pull out? he seems to be in a downward spiral, and last night's debate was so all-important, because that was supposed to be his chance to reverse course. he certainly did not seem to do that. >> you try to be very calculated when it came to marco rubio, trying to attack him, missing senate votes. but it really backfired on him. were you impressed with rubio's response? he drew some of the biggest applause of the night. >> well, rubio is certainly glib. there are many questions that can be raised about his performance as a politician. and certainly his no-show record in the united states senate.

but, it is fair to say that both john mccain, and barack obama, had the same problem when they were in the united states senate and running for president. and there was very little criticism about that. >> all right. bob franken, as always, we appreciate your time with us today. >> thank you. >> thank you. just ahead, the trumpkin is lighting up this halloween seen.

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started in ferguson, missouri. in "the los angeles times," oxygen found in a comet. most surprising discovery so far. astronomers detected molecular oxygen outside the solar system only twice before. so could this be a sign of alien life in the universe -- >> did it, right? >> he's probably still out there. well, a huge halloween weekend is ahead. thanks to the donald. in ohio a giant trumpkin as they call it, made its grand debut. and it is big. the 374 pound gourd was topped with sweeting blond hair. you have to admit it bears a striking resemblance to the republican candidate. >> no it does not. >> this is down in mexico. a factory there is churning out trump masks. they'll be exported over 30 countries around the world. apparently -- >> -- the costume is going to be so over. it's done. >> no. no. -- >> there's so many people being trump it's not cool to do that.

>> it's only 36 bucks to get one of those masks. so it's pretty for the mask alone. that doesn't include the suit. i'm betty nguyen and this is "first look" on msnbc. don't forget to-like us on facebook at facebook.com/firstlookmsnbc. battle in boulder. fireworks at last night's republican debate, not from the two front-runners but from the old pals from florida. >> he's a governmented politician. but marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term. and you should be showing up to work. you can campaign. or just resign and let someone else take the job. >> someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you. here's the bottom line -- >> and mr. speaker, the path is now clear for paul ryan to take the top spot in the house. a new era now just hours away. plus, the royals on a roll. now two games up after another win in kansas city. it is 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west, this is "way too early."

good morning, it's thursday, october the 29th. i'm louis burgdorf. jeb bush went to boulder with his debate boots on. the former florida governor had a lot on the line at last night's debate and he sought to draw blood early against fellow floridian marco rubio when moderators asked about an editorial calling for his resignation, rubio won applause for saying the newspaper is biased against conservatives, then bush jumped in. >> i'm a constituent of the senator and i helped him, and i expected that he would do constituent service, which means that he shows up to work. he got endorsed by the sun sentinel because he was the most talented guy in the field. he's a gifted politician. but marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year