>> so this means that limbaugh would have to step up or maybe one of his representatives or the people that carry his show and explain that it's okay to say racist things on the air. >> and explain why some these statements are not racist, which i would love to see them have to explain that. >> it's going to be an interesting year. reverend, good to have you with us tonight. >> thank you. >> thanks so much. >> all right. >> you bet. tonight in our telephone survey i asked, do you want house democrats to keep fighting this tax compromise? 88% of you said yes. 12% of you said no. that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. 88% of you said yes, 12% said no. that's "the ed show." i'm ed schulz. up next, "first look." end of the road, the long nasty battle over tax cuts reaches its conclusion with a late night vote. a free man for now. the man behind wikileaks is released from jail and pledges to expose more secret documents. and bus brawl. fists go flying on a washington bus with a pregnant teen caught

in the middle. good morning. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning for better or worse, finally, a done deal. house lawmakers cleared the final hurdle last night, sending a sweeping bipartisan bill to extend busch era tax cuts for all americans to the president's desk before they expire january 1st. tracie potts joins us from washington with those details and more. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. a lot going on here on capitol hill, including a final vote on that tax deal. the house voted late last night just before midnight 277-148 with both democrats and republicans supporting this bill.

so now it goes to the president's desk for his signature. this will keep our current tax rates with no january 1st hike. unemployment will be extended for 13 months. a 2% payroll tax cut next year and business tax credits in addition to that estate tax that democrats did not like. don't ask, don't tell, which has passed the house, will be voted on in the senate perhaps today or tomorrow. it will take 51 votes to pass, but 60 votes are preferred and as of late, we understand that there are 61 senators who are willing to support that measure. government spending still up in the air. a temporary measure runs out tomorrow, but we understand now that the senate will not be voting on the democrat's $1.3 trillion plan from late night negotiations, but they have abandon that. it includes thousands of earmarks, pork items for specific districts and republicans called it unbelievable, threatening a filibuster.

now we're looking at another temporary extension of government extensions. finally, the start treaty, still up in the air as we close in on this holiday break, secretary of state clinton now saying she believes there is a willingness among republicans to get this done. there was late night debate in the senate on that which will likely continue today. lynn. >> tracie potts there in washington, thanks. wikileaks founder julian assange made a triumphant exit from a london prison yesterday. meanwhile, the former head of the u.s. justice department's national security division told congress thursday assange and his wikileaks website must be prosecuted to prevent future copycat operations on the internet. nbc's jenny wivel has our report on assange's new-found freedom. >> reporter: julian assange emerged from the royal courts of justice in london at the end of a very long day, he looked extremely pleased with himself,

however, as he brandished his release documents and gave a short statement to the hundreds of journalists who gathered from all around the world on the steps saying, first of all, that he was very grateful for all of the support that he's received, but he remains defiant. >> i hope to continue my work and continue to profess my independence. >> reporter: he then had to head off to his lodge where he'll be staying over the coming weeks as he fights his extradition to sweden. he has, of course, been living in solitary confinement inside britain's largest prison. where he's going next, he's going to be in a ten-bedroom mansion on a 600-acre country estate. jenny wivel, nbc news, london. the head of security at panama city schools in florida

is being called a hero this morning thanks to his bravery saving lives in tuesday's school board shooting. we should warn you some of the footage you're going to see may be disturbing. chris clackham has the story. >> reporter: a humble mike jones went public thursday with thoughts on his role in tuesday's shooting rampage at the school board meeting in panama city. after a deranged and suicidal 56-year-old ex-con named clay duke opened fire on board members, jones burst into the room and opened fire on him. >> i saw that first shot and i knew the superintendent and fell backwards and all the board members fell backwards and he and i engaged in the gun battle and thought i lost the superintendent and let him down. >> reporter: jones' bullets hit duke but it was a self-inflected shot to the head that killed him. >> my heart goes out to that family. >> reporter: jones credits his police training for the

successful strategy, but a deep, abiding faith for a successful outcome. >> if nobody believes in god after you watch that video, you need to go to church this sunday. because he had his arms wrapped around every one of us. >> reporter: jones looks forward to his regular life which includes christmas shopping for 600 underprivileged children. chris clackham nbc news. the purse used by school board member ginger littleton attempting to disarm the gunman tuesday is going to be auctioned off on ebay. all the proceeds are going to a bicycle repair project that's run by mike jones, that security chief credited with saving the lives of the board members. here's your look at some other news going on around america today. five washington teens are in police custody after they viciously attacked a pregnant teen and her boyfriend on a seattle bus. the confrontation started when one of the teens took an mp3 player from the girl.

when she approached them to get it back, they attacked her and her boyfriend punching, slapping and kicking them. fortunately the girl was not hit in the stomach, her baby was not hurt but she did require stitches for caught above her eye. one houston woman warns don't do what i did. supermarket security cameras showed the moment a man snatched her wallet the second she left her bag unattended. police are looking for the man who they say tried to use her credit card ten minutes later. with a little help, the hard rock hotel and casino in florida set a world record for smashing 2,400 guitars. but it didn't all go to waste. the broken guitars were donated to disabled artists who will create art pieces and turn that into charity work. they will sell them and go to charity. and in rhode island, tony lapour, the dancing cop, is outs of retirement kicking up his heels and spreading some holiday cheer. he will be performing at different intersections all around town.

but his grand performance will be on christmas eve when he comes, you guessed it, dressed as santa claus. he has some serious moves there. now for a look at your national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins. i don't know, bill. i'm trying to figure out whether you're that guy. are you that guy that can like get out on the dance floor and let it go or are you, you know -- >> just doing the worm right across the stage. >> i don't know. i don't think so. >> we'll have to find out next christmas party. >> i can't wait. >> let's talk about this forecast, lynn. good morning. everyone has their weekend plans. so many errands to knock off and the least thing we need is some bad weather out there. we will have two storms on both coasts. it's guaranteed in california and most areas of the west, you're going to have a stormy weekend. a very, very wet weather pattern, even for los angeles, over the next couple days. the question mark is what's going to happen with our east coast storm. this is going to develop as we go through saturday morning. by sunday morning, it's going to

be somewhere located off the jersey shore. our computers are all over the place with this thing. some of them have had it bringing a big snowstorm to new england, others off the coast and just being a light snow event. no matter what i think we're going to get snow up here in areas of eastern massachusetts, cape cod, new hampshire and maine. how far back to the west will it go. areas like new york city is a flip of a coin. you may see a little snow or nothing at all. stay tuned as we go through the weekend, watch your local nbc station and get an update on that forecast. as far as the temperatures go, we still have cold air in the northern plains that hasn't changed. that will be with us much of the upcoming weekend. this right here, in new mexico, the snow that we've been dealing with in albuquerque, amarillo and lubbock, the system that will go off the east coast. still has a ways to go to get here and going to be a slow move. here's some of the snow this morning, interstate 40, probably a little rough and slippery drive this morning and i mentioned amarillo with snow and even lubbock with light snow showers. this will move into oklahoma during the day today.

mostly temperatures there warm enough it will be in the form of some rain. notice today dallas at 51. orlando warming up, that's more like it, florida, at 75. that weekend forecast, the cold air is here. the storm forms. as of now, we're going to call it the snow showers in new york and light snow in boston. as i mentioned before this could easily change. boston the forecast has been crazy, lynn. all the meteorologists up there are pulling their hair out at this point. yesterday looked like it could get a foot of snow in boston and then last night our computers flopped and maybe only a inch or two. a flip of a coin. >> that never bodes well for them. they get phone calls at the station. >> we're still 48 hours away. stay tuned. >> thanks so much. upbeat economic data, sizzling stock markets and the feel-good auction of the year. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up -- vincent jackson leads the charge against the niners, the celts continue their

december to remember and quite possibly the dunk of the year. could we have it? we're running out of time. you're watching "first look" on nbc. [ phones ping, buzz ] [ laughs ] that's so dumb.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here's some of the top stories making news this morning. president obama says the u.s. is making, quote, significant progress in its goal of dismantling the taliban in afghanistan. that assessment follows the release of the long-awaited review on the war at a news conference yesterday. where the president suggested security gains are fragile and reversible. however, the international committee of the red cross which rarely makes public statements is painting a much bleaker picture saying humanitarian conditions there are the worst it has seen in three decades. an army doctor who refused to deploy to afghanistan because he questioned president obama's eligibility to be commander in chief is headed to a military prison. lieutenant colonel terrance lakin who became the poster boy for the so-called birther

movement will serve six months and be dismissed from the army. former president jimmy carter thinks america may be ready to elect a gay president. in an interview with bigthink.com, carter said the country's population has made tremendous strides forward in dealing with the issue of homosexuality and the u.s. may well have a gay president in, quote, the near future. and researchers in spain are showing what may be the wheelchair of the future. it's an exo schedule heton with a sensor on the chest that enables users to stand, walk and climb stairs. here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,499 after gaining 41 points yesterday. the s&p was up 7 points. the nasdaq added 20. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei shed 7 points, but in hong kong, the hang seng rose 46.

on wall street thursday, upbeat economic news and general optimism kept the profit takers on the sidelines. stocks gained across the board with markets hitting two-year highs. worries on treasury yields fell as did the dollar and gold and unlike the last three days, there was no late day sell-off. here's what did it, first-time claims for unemployment fell to 420,000, that's the third drop in four weeks. housing starts rose slightly last month, reversing a two month decline. businesses and consumers are shipping more packages so fedex raised earnings prediction, seen as another sign the economy was improving. not all news was good. visa and mastercard tumbled after a fed proposal that would force banks and card networks to slash the fees they charge retailers on deb widded erer e. american express was the dow's worst performer. keep an eye on oracle today. after the bell, the softwaremaker was up.

after reporting a surge in quarterly sales. after the close, research in motion jumped after reporting third quarter results. elsewhere, the food and drug administration citing recent studies recommended avastin no longer be used to treat breast cancer, likely costing swiss drugmaker roche hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue. honda plans to recall 143,000 fit subcompacts in the u.s. to fix defective headlight wiring. congress passed a law requiring silent hybrid cars and trucks to make an artificial warning noise when traveling below 20 miles per hour. and a soon-to-be piece of beatles history can be yours. the white suit worn by john lennon on beatles "abby road" album cover will be hitting the auction block on january 1st. lightning strikes thrice in san diego. the celtics streak reaches a dozen and hockey powers collide north of the border.

plus, the arena may still be shaking after this stunt last night but denver's j.r. smith. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ female announcer ] experience dual action power

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. in sports last night in nfl action a receiver for san diego picked a perfect night to put a little charge into the home team. here's nbc's fred roggin. good morning to you.

when the season started, vincent jackson was nowhere to be found. he held out because he wanted a new deal and missed the first ten games. last night, jackson went back and proved his worth against the 9ers. he put on a show in san diego in the first quarter. philip rivers threw up a jump ball down the sideline. jackson went up and he got it. beat the defender to the end zone, 7-0, chargers and he was just getting warm. rivers found him again in the second quarter. san diego up, 17-0 at the half. jackson completed the tritech it ta in the fourth. made the grab, jumped towards the end zone, touchdown number three. chargers won it, 34-7. basketball's rajon rondo will be out a week with an injury. cue nate robinson. up and under, a pretty reverse. nate can do it inside, nate can do it outside. drilled the straightaway three. celts up 11. boston won their 12th straight, 102-90. we've seen great dunks this season but here's one that may take the cake. the nuggets j.r. smith soared to the rim for a two-handed jam. that's impressive. one more time. he threw over george hilt for

the dunk of the night, maybe for the year. to the fourth, nuggets up one with seven seconds to play. manu ginobili got the shot to fall to give them the lead. carmelo anthony. nuggets won? right. wrong. anthony was called for an offensive foul. the spurs won it, 113-112. it's the most exciting play in hockey, the penalty shot. the canadiens, michael cam ma larry with the honor. the goalie went the other way, montreal led, 1-0. this brought the everyone to their feet. subon leveled marshon. subon caught him with his head down as he crossed the blue line. that is going to hurt in the morning. canadiens beat the bruins 4-3. that's your first look at sports. have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. another quick look at the weather here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. hey, bill. >> where would you put your holiday stress level heading into the last weekend? >> i can't sleep because i keep updating my to-do list.

is that good enough? >> that would qualify. >> very little sleep already, bill, it's not good. >> good luck this weekend. it doesn't look like here in new york, that snowstorm on sunday will cause many people to have to cancel their plans or get stuck indoors. i am still concerned, though, with what could happen up in areas of say boston, providence, definitely cape cod and maybe maine. still a possibility, but as of now it's more of a glancing blow than a blockbuster storm that anyone is going to have to deal with. once again, the temperatures this morning, it's still cold out there in many areas, but we're done with that huge arctic blast. notice there's really no negative numbers. coldest spot is up here where the snowpack is strong around minneapolis. what's going to be interesting is that as we go throughout this weekend, the west coast is just going to get nailed, especially in california. so if you have plans in san diego or l.a., that's where the worst of it is going to be. there's a little snow out there today in oklahoma. if your weekend plans, we could even see some very impressive snowfall totals at the ski

resorts too, especially anywhere in the sierra mountains and central california. the east coast, not too bad as we go through the weekend. lynn, as long as the storm stays offshore. >> all right. we'll wait and see. thanks so much. coming up -- an american icon of the airwaves signs off for the last time. a cool concept in the early '80s, will film audience goss for it today? your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. oh, my gosh. [ male announcer ] together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you'll pay no interest if paid in full by january 2012. duracell batteries. and if you think all batteries are the same,

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. time for your first look at entertainent in news. big question at the box office this weekend, is 28 years too long to wait to do a sequel?

the experts say no. "tron" legacy, the follow-up to the classic "tron," will be a sure-fire number one this weekend, begin to go earn back the reported $170 million it took to make. experts say it should take in $40 million to $50 million. film hungry family audiences will flock to "yogi bear." despite reviews. many pricier 3d showings should help it finish second, above $20 million. critically acclaimed, award nominated, but not exactly what you'd call fun, "the fighter" is expected to finish third. with decent but not blockbuster numbers in the low teen millions. the $100 million dollar romantic comedy, "how do you know" will star reese witherspoon, paul rauds, owen wilson and jack nicholson, will struggle, lucky to break the top five, lucky to top $10 million. finally, larry king hung up his suspenders for good last night, signing off after 25 years on cnn. look at that shot. sort of an ominous look at the

end of an era, bill. >> that's the way to go off. that was kind of classy. >> sort of gives you an idea of just what an impact he made, right? >> yep. all the network news angers were there. he got his to-do. for many years he got the interview. >> i bet you used to watch him in your diapers with baby suspenders, right? >> i was in the bouncer, actually, hopping up and down. >> yeah. it is sad. it's the end of an era. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. the deal is done. the house passes in a late night vote the tax bill that president obama brokered with republicans. the question is, will the short-term stimulus be worth the trillion dollars added to the national deficit? the president's banking on it. meanwhile, the review of the war in afghanistan outlines, quote, significant progress in the fight there. really? the question is, what are the