2,709th day since he declared victory in iraq. i am keith olbermann. good night and good luck. please join us for the live edition of count down, every weeknight at 8:00 eastern and 5:00 pacific. be there. aloha. wet blanket, a massive storm drenches the east coast from the carolinas to maine. worlds collide, two long-time pen pals come face to face for the first time in over six decades. >> hi, everybody. good morning. great to have you with us. i'm thomas roberts. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

so we begin this morning with drenched, soaked and plain old wet. flood watching in effect for parts of the nation's northeast after a monster of a storm moved from the carolinas all the way up to maine yesterday causing at least five deaths. the worst of the rain fell in north carolina. jacksonville picked up 12 inches in six hours, nearly a quarter of its annual rainfall. nbc's kurt gregory has more. >> reporter: the remnants of tropical storm nichole blew through the carolinas, causing flooding along the coast. wilmington, north carolina, soaked with 22 inches of rain since sunday. >> >> reporter: that's not only a four-day record but more rain that hurricane floyd produced in 1999. >> reporter: the storm caused dangerous driving conditions up and down the coast. state troopers blamed the weather for a rollover accident that killed four people. the relentless rain caused one city bus to slam into another in metro washington, injuring 26 passengers.

in suburban philadelphia, a large tree toppled over on to a school bus and ambulance. city streets in lancaster, pennsylvania, were swamped. the nation's capital area is expecting seven inches of rain by the time the storm ends. >> we have many creeks and streaming out of their banks. >> high winds and rough surf didn't stop fishermen on the jersey shore. the heavy weather did snarl air traffic causing cancellations and delays in both nurnlg and philadelphia. kurt gregory, nbc news. nbc meteorologist, bill karins will have much more in a few minutes. a big change in store for president obama's team. another key figure gets ready to hit the road. white house, chief of staff, rahm emanuel is expected to announce he is leaving his job to run for mayor of chicago. the move comes as no surprise. he has been setting the stage for his departure for weeks ever since chicago mayor, richard

dai daley announced he will be leaving. replacing him, pete raust, expected to bring a calmer, more introverted style to the white house. the mud-slinging between the political parties is getting more intense. last night on "hardball" with chris matthews, he asked former president, bill clinton, why he this is president obama is calling out congressional republicans like john boehner and mitch mcconnell by name. >> the republicans want this to be a bad election on everything you have heard about barack obama n obama, nancy pelosi and harry reid. so the reason he is doing this is not just to hurt them but to say what they stand for. it's a choice between nancy pelosi and john boehner. it is almost impossible with only months to go and they have been doing it for maybe a month

to fill up the tank as much but it is worth reminding americans that every election is a choice. if you have to run against the ideal, if it is a referendum, everyone has to get beat. nobody would get elected. we would have nobody in office, because there is no such thing as the perfect public servant. the choices you make in politics are like the choices you make in life. you look at the facts as best you can and you make the best available choice. >> each and every nice, chris matthews delivers your daily dose of information. don't miss "hardball" weeknights at 6:00 and 7:00 only on msnbc. in california, the drama facing the candidacy of meg whitman is reaching hollywood portions. she as denied she knowingly ememployed an illegal immigrant

for a decade. he admits he may have been aware of a letter sent back in 2003 by the social security administration raising discrepancies about the housekeepers's documents. it didn't say she was illegal. meg whitman, who has campaigned for tougher sanctions, who hire undocumented workers, says she is ready to take a lie detector test to prove she did not know about her housekeeper's status. a wild, chaotic day in ecuador ended with soldiers staging a dramatic rescue of the nation's president who had been surrounded in a hospital by police rebelling over benefit cuts. the president there, raphael core ray ra had been trapped for over 12 hours after being freed, he told the supporters the violence amounted to an attempted coup. it led to a nationwide strike on

thursday with protesters shutting down airports and blocking roads there. here is your first look at some of the other news going on in american today. two men are recovering after being rescued from a rhode island river yesterday. the driver of a pickup truck rolled 20 to 30 feet down a cliff and into a river. soon after, during a rescue attempt, a fire fighter slipped and fell 20 feet. the vehicle, as you see here, fished from the river, no word on what caused that accident. in utah, officials say brake fall yur caused a young driver to lose control of a flatbed truck and slam into a house. the truck narrowly missing two women inside at the time. the house is uninhabitable. leaving a family of six temporarily homeless. the kansas zoo welcomed an ogapa, looks like a combination of a horse and zebra but more related to a giraffe.

doesn't stay close to mom, staying separate as they would in the wild. two women from different worlds met for the very first time after being pen pals for 63 years. dorthea started writing to an american girl named vivian. they crossed the ocean from berlin to washington for 63 years and now each with their families of their own, finally get together giggling like the school girls that they once were. pretty cool. now, for a look at the national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist, bill karins. the east is in a mess? baltimore got hit with 6 inches of rain and d.c. with 5. the rain is over with. no more flooding concerns from flash flooding. now, we will watch the rivers in the days ahead. even philadelphia, very heavy rain overnight. another 2 to 3 inches.

now, your heavy rain is starting to push off to the east. heading more into new york city and eventually from hartford up into boston later this morning. albany is getting a lot of heavy rain at this time. here is a look at the close-up radar. this is the doppler radar coming out of philadelphia and new york. this red line indicates where the front is, where the tropical moisture is running up against the cooler air back behind it. that's progressing ever so slowly to the east. right over the top of staten island and new york city. the worst of the driving commute over the garden state down the jersey coastline and in the five burroughs of new york city, the peak, it will shift into southern connecticut and long island. for the next hour, new york city will get the heaviest rain. how much rainfall? look at these totals. five inches from baltimore to d.c. to philly. notice that new york city is now just getting into the heavy rain for the first time. they will probably pick up an

inch or two with this heavy rain. it won't be as bad in new england as it was back here. those areas are where the worst of it was last night. you will notice around the binghamton area, flash flood warnings are widespread. vermont has flash flood warnings. the rest of the country looks gorgeous for today, thomas. no problems at all. it is literally new york city to boston as we go throughout your friday. >> thanks, bill. we will talk again soon. a month to remember on wall street, a huge toy recall and what's next for your fast food breakfast? your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. the giants are set to clinch a college football thriller and, oh, baby, what a grab. you are watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] we went to germany's nurburgring

to challenge ourselves on the most demanding track in the world. with us, in spirit, was every great car that we'd ever competed with. the bmw m5. and the mercedes-benz e63. for it was their amazing abilities that pushed us to refine, improve and, ultimately, develop the world's fastest production sedan. [ engine revving ] the cts-v, from cadillac. the new standard of the world. ( music stops, gasping ) mother nature's no match for tampax pearl compak. with a 40% smaller applicator, it's full-size protection... only cuter. ( click ) ♪

[ man ] if it was simply about money, every bank loan would be a guarantee of success. at ge capital, loaning money is the start of the relationship, not the end. i work with polaris every day. at ge capital, we succeed only when they do. whoo! awesome! yes! we've got to get you out of the office more often. ♪ my turn to drive. ♪ myready to try something new? campbell's has made changes. adding lower sodium sea salt to more soups. plus five dollars in coupons to get you started. campbell's condensed soup. pass it on. campbell's.® it's amazing

welcome back. i'm thomas roberts. some of the top stories making news this morning. suspected militants torched more than two dozen tankers in

southern pakistan carrying supplies for american and nato forces fighting in afghanistan. the attack happened one day after the pakistani government blocked a vital supply route in the couldn't interest i's north in retaliation for a nato helicopter attack that mistakenly killed three pakistani soldiers. officials in myanmar say democracy icon aung san su. kyi will be released when her current house arrests expires on november 13th. the price of a first class stamp will remain at 44 cents for now. yesterday, they denied the poet stall services request to raise the cost by 2 cents in january. the independent agency that oversees the mail service reports that postal service failed to demonstrate that the recession was responsible for

the multibillion dollar crisis. they are searching for thiefs that stole 33 tons of grapes in a farmer's vineyard. the so-called wine mafia took advantage of a full moon and use aid professional harvesting machine to haul away $20,000 in lost income and an entire year's worth of work. here is your first look at how wall street is going to be kicking off the day. the dow opens up at 10,788 after losing 47 points yesterday. the s&p dipped 3 and the nasdaq fell by 7. we take a look at overseas training, in tokyo, the nikkei added 34 points. in hong kong, the hang seng lost 20. >> wall street may have ended on a weak note yet but it was still the best september in 71 years. to find september's track record as stocks worst month, the dow gained 7.7% for the month. the strongest september since 1939. the s&p and nasdaq also logged

healthy gains. yesterday, traders were initially upbeat. data showing the economy making progress. later, profit takers moved in with tech shares among the best september performers leading. apple, dell and google were all down about 1%. the biggest advancer was boeing after announcing full year results would not be hurt by a delays of the biggest commercial jet, the 7478 freighter. aig rose more than 4% after unveiling a plan to repay its $182 billion taxpayer bailout. prudential fell more than 4% after it agreed to buy 2 japanese life insurance units from aig for $4.2 billion. here we go again, dollar thrifty shareholders rejected a buy-out offer from hertz giving another chance to rival a advice. elsewhere, fisher-price will recall about 10 million toys and other items in the u.s. and canada due to the potential for

serious injuries to kids. novartis will pay $422 million in penalties for marketing an epilepsy medicine for unapproved uses and for paying kickbacks to doctors to prescribe it as well as five other drugs. finally, if you are hungry out there and have fast food for breakfast, that's nothing new for a lot of us. how about a breakfast pizza. a 24-hour dominos in ohio is experimenting with a pizza made with eggs and breakfast meats. if sales are strong, breakfast pizzas may be coming to a domino's near you. something to look forward to. a royal pain for the rays. the giants sweep toward the playoffs and a battle of the unbeatens. if you really feel you need to go for a foul ball with a kid in your hands, make sure you don't make an error. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you are watching first look on msnbc. jpmorgan chase set up new offices to work one-on-one with homeowners.

since 2009, we've helped over 200,000 americans keep their homes. and we're reaching out to small businesses too, increasing our lending commitment this year to $10 billion... and giving businesses the opportunity to ask for a second review if they feel their loan should have been approved. this is how recoveries happen. everyone doing their part. this is the way forward.

thought, end of the line... i was headed to a nursing home. well, i'm staying in my own home now, because we chose hoveround! hoveround's compact round design makes it easier for you to maneuver through the tight spaces in your home. and best of all, 9 out of 10 people pay little or nothing for their hoveround, so call now and you can be the next to pay... zero...i paid nothing for the unit at all. and now only from hoveround, every power chair includes a handy tote bag, so you'll always have access to your favorite items and this sturdy cup holder, so your favorite beverage can ride along with you!

the folks at hoveround really thought of everything. that's why i called them and so should you. call them right now! get your free dvd kit by going to hoveround.com. welcome back. i'm thomas roberts. the san francisco giants have put themselves in the cat-bird seat whether it comes to making the playoffs. with more, here is nbc's fred roguen. good morning. the san francisco giants have set themselves up to clinch the nfl west in front of the home crowd after sweeping the arizona diamondbacks. check out the fan. into the bay and got the ball. it is cold. he got the soggy souvenir and

the giants led it 1-0. should posey continue his bid for nl rookie of the year, cranked his 17th. giants won it 4-1. they need to win this week tend could clinch the west. the padres are reeling at the wrong time, taking on the cubs scoreless in the ninth. brad snyder, a chopper to left. in came the only run of the game. carlos marmol struck out ryan ludwick to end it. they are now three back in the west and two games back in the wild card. big red machine chucking toward the season. reds up, 2-0. stubs picked up two more rbis with a single to left. the reds hammered the astros, 9-1. they will finish the regular season with a series against the brewers. college football, oklahoma state and texas a&m, under 30 seconds to play, tied at 35. aggies trying to get in a field goal position. jared jackson threw it right to sean lewis. huge mistake by jackson. that led to this, dan bailey with a 40-yard field goal for

the win. oak objectin oklahoma, won it, 38-35. >> sbr san francisco, plate of the day made by a fan. foul ball to right. this dad made the grab with one hand white holding his baby with the other. talk about multitasking. one more look and look closely. the guy actually has a glove but it is on the hand that's holding the kid. he caught the ball but he will probably catch an earful from his wife when he gets home. your first look at sports. have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. here is nbc meteorologist, bill karins with the weather channel forecast. did you see that? >> no one mentioned the son had a panda suit on. >> i thought it was a helmet but it was like a panda suit. >> better than no protection, i guess. >> anyway, what are we looking at weatherwise? >> new york city, the worst weather anywhere in the country at this moment have the heaviest of the rain from our tropical system coming up the east coast.

this has been a hose of moisture coming up from the south. now, it is starting to move. that's the good news. if you track the red on here, that's where the strongest of the rain is, the heaviest rain. that is shifting to the east. now, that is right over the top of new york city. it is pouring out here in manhattan and probably for the next hour or so. the heaviest rain will shift over towards hartford and out here on long island. philadelphia, your weather is already improving. your morning commute looks better. d.c. is fine. philly, baltimore and d.c., the heaviest offer the rains, the worst of the morning commute would be new york up to hartford. heaviest rains shifting into new england. by tomorrow, everything clears out. this is it. we probably have another six to 12 hours of this, thomas. everything will improve. weather across the country looks great. >> my noon flight to los angeles out of jfk is going to be all right. >> as long as your plane gets here, it should be fine. >> thanks, bill.

coming up, we will tell you without a doubt which film will win the box office this weekend. you won't believe how much mel gibson's ex is getting in child support and what she actually asked for. you are watching "first look" on msnbc. we had a new side to our business. [ male announcer ] when the martinez family saw an opportunity, the hartford was there. protecting their employees and property, and helping them prepare for the future. nice boots. nice bag. [ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com. [ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses how are you getting to a happier place? running there? dancing there? flying there? how about eating soup to get there? delicious campbell's soups fill you with good nutrition, energy, farm-grown ingredients,

and can help you keep a healthy weight. helping you get to a happier place. have a nice trip. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

good morning. welcome back to "first look." i'm thomas roberts. >> last night on late night with jimmy fallon, he focused on a taxes issue facing the obama administration. >> president obama pointed out that taxes have gone down during his administration. that's one way to get rid of

income tax, getting rid of income. genius idea. it was kind of surprising, the senate just passed a bill that requires tv stations to lower the volume on commercials. [ applause ] >> i hate that. in a statement, the senate said, we are looking at you progressive insurance lady. your head band and, yeah. [ applause ] >> they passed the bill to lower the volume of commercials. that's right, 100 of our most brilliant elected leaders came together to achieve basically the same thing as my remote. all right. tonight, jimmy welcomes oscar winning actress, helen mirren, social network writer and comedian. 11:35, central time on your local nbc station. it is time for your first look at entertainment news at the box office. a victory is a victory even if

there is no competition. "the social network." the film that tells the tail of facebook's harvard beginning, has a clear field and is expected to soar to the top with at least $20 million. elsewhere, this he report that oksana has been awarded 20,000 a month for child support. her lawyers had asked for $60,000 a month. finally, the couple known as the white house party crashers have threatened to sue the women on the real housewives of washington, d.c. if they call them white house party crashers. tareq and michaele salahi says they have hired a daughter and there is no evidence this crashed the white house party and they better not say so. >> they crashed the white house party. >> they are going to come back to you next. >> i am not part of the crash.

if you watched last night, you saw they didn't have an invitation. >> i didn't see it but i'm happy i didn't see it. >> that's why i am here for your, bill. i'm thomas roberts. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early with willie geist starts right now. >> rahm hits the bricks leaving to run for mayor of chicago. who is going to be left in the white house? meanwhile, all that extramarital stuff that carl paladino throughout about andrew cuomo, he was just kidding. how does he defend his near throwdown at a "new york post" reporter. a real tear counsel tears at the fabric at jersey shores family. which one of america's sweethearte sweethearts dramatically left the show last night. this is big. good