i'm keith olbermann. good night and good luck. please join us for the live edition of "countdown" every weeknight at 8:00 eastern/5:00 pacific. sounding off. president obama goes face to face with americans frustrated with the economic slump. feline fiasco. a woman in england faces the music for tossing a cat into a garbage bin. and terror in the stands. horrifying moments as a bleacher packed with spectators collapses in brazil. good morning, i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with on the defensive. at a town hall held by cnbc in the nation's capital, president obama held his ground while

frustrated citizens took turns taking shots at his economic strategy. the president repeatedly defended his policies while fielding pointed questions from americans who fear the worst from the economy. nbc's steve handelsman has more. >> quite frankly, i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration. >> reporter: self-described obama supporters laid into him live on cnbc's town hall. people like velma hart. >> that i voted for a man who said he was going to change things in a meaningful way for the middle class. i'm one of those people, and i'm waiting, sir. i'm waiting. i don't feel it yet. >> reporter: the same from an out-of-work law school graduate. >> i really want to know, is the american dream dead for me? >> absolutely not. we're moving in the right direction. >> reporter: there's more proof of that. economists calculated our recession ended in june 2009, recovery began 14 months ago. but not for millions of us, the president acknowledged. >> the challenge is is that the

hole was so deep that a lot of people out there are still hurting. >> reporter: and when a wall street ceo complained -- >> we have felt like a pinata. maybe you don't feel like you're whacking us with a stick, but we certainly feel like it. >> reporter: the president staged a comeback. >> i think most folks on main street feel like they got beat up on. >> reporter: and he will not okay tax cuts for anthony and his friends. >> 86% of that money going to people making $1 million or more and lower the deficit at the same time. i don't have the math. >> reporter: but really have the votes after november to keep steering the recovery. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, capitol hill. well, house republican leaders plan to unveil a roughly 20-point governing agenda for the next congress on thursday ahead of the crucial midterm elections that they're hoping will give them control of the chamber. the agenda is expected to focus on jobs, spending, health care,

national security and reforming congress. controversial topics like same-sex marriage and abortion rights are reportedly still up in the air. officials say the agenda was crafted from a social networking project that let voters weigh in with their opinions on an agenda. democrats are calling the plan a return to bush era policies that led to the current economic turmoil. meanwhile, sources confirm to nbc news that house leaders are considering adjourning at the end of this week so members can focus on their re-election campaigns. insiders say the decision would depend on whether congress can complete work on a stopgap spending bill that would keep the government running until after the election. the house must also decide on whether to extend bush era tax cuts, an issue some lawmakers don't want to deal with before the election. it would be the first time in 50 years that the house has adjourned before september 30th in an election. well, overseas now where nato says nine service members of the international force in southern afghanistan were killed today when their helicopter

crashed. it happened in the naetion's volatile south where troops have been ramping up pressure on tal bant insurgents. two other coalition troops, an afghan army soldier and a u.s. civilian were hurt. the cause of the crash is under investigation. and here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. in georgia, traffic came to a near standstill after a small plane made an emergency landing on an interstate during rush hour. no one was hurt, but the single-engine aircraft was damaged after making what appeared to be a belly landing. the cause of the crash is not yet known. a smoky fire under a bridge in new york left some commuters stranded for several hours. large plumes of smoke billowed into the air after an electrical transformer reportedly blew out, sparking the blaze. service was eventually restored after firefighters extinguished the flames and officials inspected the bridge. well, in texas, a first-time

mom at the dallas zoo is said to be doing a great job taking care of her 2-month-old zebra named webster. he is the zoo's fourth. the largest of all zebras and a rarity in the zebra family with only 2,500 left in africa. and in ohio, being crowned king of the gridiron isn't just for burly football players. amateur video shows in-state rivals rufus the bobcat from ohio university and brutus the buckeye from ohio state throwing fists in a brawl. when the bobcat pounced on the buckeye twice. well, rufus came out on top, but the student under the mask has been banned from ohio athletics. and now for a look at the national weather. we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the forecast. brutus may have won that battle, but actually ohio state took the game by a lot. it was, like, 40 something to 7. >> the ohio state mascot stayed on its feet.

i mean, he did all right. >> let's do a play-by-play. do we have instant replay? >> he was charged, but he did all right. that's probably how the game went. ohio state probably killed them. >> exactly. >> let's talk about what just happened. the national hurricane center said we have a new tropical storm. gets your attention, right? this is "l" storm, lisa. but then when we look at the map and we see that it's close to africa and it's not even supposed to head across the atlantic, it's going to kind of linger out here, never even coming -- it's going to stay about 4,000 miles away from the united states. and it's never going to do anything out here in this portion of the atlantic. that's good news. we like these storms. this is the way this hurricane season has been going. we've been getting storms but they've been in the middle of the atlantic and never affecting us. let's keep it that way. the bigger story here at home is temperatures. we just -- the weather service said this was our fourth warmest ever going through the summer. we've only had three other that were warmer than this. the end of it is going to be just as toasty. it was 96 yesterday in atlanta. everywhere in red was in the 90s.

and today we're going to do it again. we're already very warm around kansas city. temperatures in the 70s surging all the way up to chicago. it's a summerlike feel to the morning. even a touch of humidity in certain areas. on that front is where we're getting the thunderstorms. because fall and cool air is up in canada. it's bumping up against that really moist, hot air over the middle of the country. that's why we're going to get wet weather especially on this front as it sags through iowa and northern missouri, wisconsin, eventually even into chicago. we'll have to watch out for a chance of strong storms. eastern seaboard, high pressure in control. this is a cooler air. it's once the high moves away, that return flow, that really warms things up. trouble spot today maybe going in and out of the minneapolis airport early this morning. but those storms are already starting to head out. eventually they'll work their way through wisconsin, much of iowa. they shouldn't arrive into chicago until later this afternoon or this evening. so the forecast for your tuesday, nice conditions. new england, cool start. beautiful afternoon. same with d.c.

but hot weather from atlanta down through montgomery, shreveport, memphis. these areas had a very hot summer, lynn, and it's going to continue today. i mean, usually, an example, in louisville, three weeks ago we should have seen our last 90-degree day on average. here we are again still in the 90s. >> unbelievable. enjoy it now because it's going to change, right? >> quick. >> exactly. thank you, bill. anxiety ahead of the fed's meeting. job cuts at one big bank. and the must-have toys this holiday season. yes, it is that time already. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. george steinbrenner is honored in a big way. the niners push the super bowl champs to the brink and a player takes out an unruly fan. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ female announcer ] it can creep up on you. dry skin.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. and here are some of the top stories making news this morning. former president jimmy carter is trying to clarify comments he made to nbc's brian williams that his post-presidential work

has been, quote, superior to that of his successors. after his comments aired last night, carter released a statement saying that he was referring to opportunities afforded to him by his nonprofit organization, the carter center. a washington state woman who splashed acid on her face and claimed a stranger attacked her is now facing three theft charges. a prosecutor filed the second-degree charges yesterday says they relate to nearly $28,000 in donations that were collected to help pay for the woman's treatment after the incident. well, the english woman who sparked international outrage after she was seen on video dumping a cat into a trash bin has been charged with two counts of animal cruelty. both offenses can carry a prison sentence and a lifetime ban from keeping animals. and brazilian authorities say more than 100 people were hurt after a section of bleachers collapsed at a car race that week. police are still trying to determine the exact cause, but some officials think the

bleachers had structural faults that caused them to give way. now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,753 after climbing 145 points yesterday. the s&p added 17 points. the nasdaq gained 40. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in toke c tokyo, the nikkei was up 23. stocks continued their unexpected streak yesterday. the big question today is how will the fed's comments on the economy affect the current sentiment on the street. the federal reserve meets today to discuss interest rates. investors are hoping for a sign that the central bank might make more moves to keep rates low and restore confidence in the recovery. investors welcomed word yesterday that the longest recession since world war ii officially ended more than a year ago. the s&p traded through the high end of its recent range, adding to the day's upbeat mood.

meanwhile, home builder lenar and discover financial services both traded higher thanks to better-than-expected earnings. ibm sparked more optimism with news of its $1.7 billion bid for data storage natiza. mark hurd and his former employer, hewlett-packard, is over. the company has announced a settlement yesterday with hurd agreeing to keep hp's company secrets confidential. "the new york times" is reporting bank of america mans to cut several hundred jobs this week. meanwhile, walmart is planning to scale down the size of its superstores to squeeze into urban markets including new york and san francisco. london-based online gambling company sportingbet has agreed to forfeit $33 million to avoid prosecution in the u.s. for illegally taking online bets from americans. and finally, toys 'r' us has released its annual list of the hottest toys of the likely top

holiday shopping list this year. mom and dad, get your pen and paper out. falling into the cute, collectible and cheap category, blip toys slinkies, mattel's sing-a-majigs. a procedural vote, whether to reveal the don't ask, don't tell policy which bans gays from serving openly in the armed forces. and last night on "countdown," host keith olbermann asked a former clinton adviser on gay rights why he thinks the military is resisting efforts to repeal the policy. >> the thinking has been that secretary gates and admiral mullen actually do support a slow transition to open service. but right underneath them with the service chiefs and some of the other senior officers at the pentagon, these very entrenched interests have been fighting against this policy. they know they can't win because almost 80% of the american public support repeal of this law. but i think the thinking has been and they've been very cleaver about this, that if they

stall, if they delay, if they wait to see if the political environment changes, if the composition of congress changes, that maybe they can stave this off. i mean, if they're able to accomplish this, it will be, you know, a horrific fraud on the american people and really a massive failure of leadership at the pentagon, at congress and even at the white house because they waited too long. >> well, each night keith olbermann takes a fast-paced look at all the day's fop stories from politics to pop culture and from the mainstream to the oddball. don't miss "countdown" weeknights at 8:00 eastern here on msnbc, the place for politi politics. a san francisco treat, the boss is honored and a grand catch in anaheim. plus, philadelphia is known as the city of brotherly love, as long as you don't try running onto the field. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ whistling ]

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to march down the field. it fluttered through the uprights. it wasn't pretty but the saints will take it, they won it 25-22. in baseball, the yankees honored george steinbrenner last night. 7 x 5 foot bronze plaque, very fitting for the owner who brought seven world series titles to new york. steinbrenner would have been proud of granderson's performance. a two-run homer in the third and in the sixth he did it again. another home run, five rbi in all. they beat the rays, 8-6. bases loaded for juan rivera who ripped a shot deep to center. julio borbon pushed it back into the park. a grand-slam-robbing grab for borbon. remember earlier this season a fan was tasered by a security guard in philadelphia? it happened again but this time it was a player who stunned everyone. seventh inning, a fan wearing red spandex.

he blindsided the masked man, tripped him up. security guards finished the job. he took it in stride. he said after the game he saw a guard with the taser and thought the fan would rather be tripped than tasered. i think you're right. great defensive play. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. >> and now for another quick look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel. >> i don't know what's more traumatizing, the fact that he ran onto the field or the red leotard. >> what's going on in philadelphia? >> no kidding. >> i think that's more the question. >> yeah. i just love the red leotard. >> yeah, they're passionate fans. i don't know about the red leotard. let's talk about the temperatures. if you're heading out in northern new england, it's a cold start to your day. you'll have the heater on in the car in the upstate portion of new york and all of new england. look at heart foartford at 43. we'll have a fabulous afternoon. there's no clouds to speak of this morning. so expect a lot of sunshine, bring the sunglasses.

low humidity. temperatures around 70 to. 5 up here in new england. recovering after a chilly morning. and here's a sign of things to come. that 83 in pittsburgh, warmer air is going to arrive, especially for wednesday. this will probably be one of the last really warm days we'll have for a long time. who knows? maybe the last time in the mid to upper 80s of this year. 85 in fillphilly. wednesday looks very warm. and then we'll get cooler by the end of the weekend. the rest of the country, the heat's the big story for this time of year, we shouldn't be in the upper 80s to low 90s through this much of the nation, but that's the case for tuesday and even wednesday. there's not a lot of bad weather out there. it's just much warmer than it should be. we'd like to turn the air conditioners off. that's not going to be the case. many people still cranking p. >> thanks. case closed for one of lindsay lohan's issues. but a much different story for the other. plus, the truth comes out. who else was in on the joaquin phoenix hoax? your first look at entertainment

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. last night on "late night with jimmy fallon," jimmy took a jab at how slow things are at the united nations. >> traffic here in new york city was backed up today because of the u.n.'s general assembly's annual meeting. yeah, you could hardly get anywhere or do anything. it was almost like being in the u.n. rumors going around that facebook is building a cell phone. that's right. it's pretty cool. except you can only use it to call people you barely remember from high school. remember me? it's gary.

yeah. you remember me? facebook has come out, though, and denied the rumor that it's building a cell phone. well, actually, they didn't want to make it weird, so they accepted the rumor, then quietly deleted it a few days later. >> and tonight jimmy welcomes "30 rock's" tina fey, colin hanks and musical legend robert plant. that's "late night with jimmy fallon" weeknights on your local nbc station. well, it's time now for your first look at entertainment news. at least one legal issue is resolved for lindsay lohan. the actress has reportedly settled her $100 million lawsuit against etrade. lohan accused of firm of making fun of her in a super bowl commercial. meanwhile, a judge has issued an arrest warrant and set a friday hearing to determine if the actress violated probation after failing a court-ordered drug test. lady gaga is going from pop

to politics again. the eccentric singer visited maine monday to urge lawmakers to repeal the military's don't ask, don't tell policy ahead of today's senate vote. channeling his inner gordon gecko, michael douglas showed no signs of weakness at the new york premiere of his latest film, "wall street money never sleeps," despite battling stage four throat cancer. and finally, joaquin phoenix may have duped some into believing that he left acting for a rap career. but one person wasn't fooled. according to the hollywood reporter, a writer for "the late show with david letterman" says the host was in on the joke and the now infamous bizarre exchange. which seems pretty convenient. >> for everyone. >> since it's just coming out. >> makes everyone look good, doesn't it? >> exactly. like this was all part of my master plan. have him on my show suspect >> i really enjoyed the uncomfortable moment and clip. i'm going to ignore everything

you've been telling me over the last couple days and just pretend it was real. >> there you go. awkward moments. i'm lynn berry, and this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. president obama takes on the economy and frustrated americans at a town hall meeting in washingt washington. what does the president tell a woman who says he's exhausted from having to defend him? meanwhile, jimmy carter tells brin williams he's exhausted from being so much doggone better than all the other former presidents. does carter really believe he's, quote, superior to the other guys who have lived in the white house? and bristol palin debuts on "dancing with the stars," trying to prove she's superior to ballroom heavyweights like the situation, the hoff and carol brady. the question is, was sarah palin in the house rooting on her daughter? "way too early" for this.