have provided the new fun thing of the day. and mitt romney and david st. hubbin and "sex farm" and the best thing of the day. debate face-off. republican presidential contenders go on the attack in a tense campaign match-up. on the loose. dangerous animals escape from a wild animal preserve in ohio. and close encounter. a colorado cat gets into a staring contest with a curious mountain lion. hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

and today we begin with a fiery debate. gop presidential candidates went head-to-head last night in las vegas for the fifth and final round of a six-week string of high-stakes match-ups. mitt romney and rick perry shared a heated exchange over illegal immigrants while herman cain's 9-9-9 tax plan came under attack. tracie potts joins us with all the details. >> reporter: last night what happened in vegas did not say in vegas. the fire between these candidates was on display for the whole country to see. >> mitt, you lose all of your standing from my perspective -- >> reporter: in their testiest exchange yet, rick perry and mitt romney locked jaws on whether romney hired illegal immigrants. >> i'm speaking. you get -- we hireded a lawn company to mow our laup and they had illegal immigrants. when that was point out to us, we let them go.

and we went to them -- you have a problem with allowing someone to finish speaking. this has been a tough couple of debates for rick and i understand that, so you're going to get testy. >> reporter: rick santorum accused both of being less conservative than they appear and almost everyone jumped on herman cain's 9-9-9 flat tax plan. >> 84% of americans would pay more taxes under his plan. >> that simply is not true. >> go to new hampshire where they don't have a sales tax and you are fixing to give them one. >> the state tax is an apple. we are replacing the current tax code with oranges. >> i'm going to be getting a bushel basket that has oranges and apples because i'm paying both taxes. >> reporter: romney on defense, cain battling back. jon huntsman called the debate a game show. he skipped it. he was in new hampshire protesting the nevada debate because the neff mef caucuses were moved before the new

hampshire primary. >> thanks so much. and following last night's debate in the ed show, ed schultz asked jim moore how he thought former massachusetts governor and current frontrunner mitt romney did in the vegas match-up. >> i think he looked bad he was trying to find good legal help and that's not a way to appeal to the masses. perry did sort of resaeb himself and the takeaway from this becomes it's mitt romney and rick perry in a long slough all the way to who wins the nomination. you look for a breakthrough moment for somebody like congresswoman bachmann or senator santorum, and this didn't really happy. people did spend a lot of time deconstructing mr. cain's 9-9-9 tax plan and he's going to be dealing with that extensively in the coming days.

it will affect his support and his candidacy. so you'll see the numbers begin to shift. i think we end up with a perry and romney kind of thing coming out of vegas. >> be sure to watch the ed show week nights at 10:00 eastern. and some of last night's criticism aimed at herman cain's 9-9-9 tax plan and it came on the heels of a new independent study that find 84% of u.s. households would see their taxes go up under that plan. the tax policy center estimates families with an income between $10,000 and $20,000 a year would be hardest hit with a 950% increase in taxes. while most households making more than $1 million would have their tax cut in half. cain's plan would have a flat tax on business, income and national sales tax. president obama will wrap up a three-day campaign-style bus tour through battleground states of north carolina and virginia, where he's been promoting his jobs legislation.

today first lady michelle obama will accompany the president as he speaks about the importance of hiring veterans. steve handels has more handelsman has more. >> reporter: on day two of his bus tour, president obama told teaches his stimulus bill would help them. >> to provide $30 billion to make sure that we have teachers back in the classroom. >> reporter: in jamestown, he charged republicans aren't be truthful about how he would pay for his jobs bill. >> don't be bamboozled. we haven't been raising taxes. we've been cutting taxes. >> reporter: back in washington, republicans charged team obama's obsessed with raising taxes. >> we've been in a jobs crisis for three long years now. and all the democrats ever want to do is to throw more taxpayer money at it. >> reporter: when he was the gop nominee in '08, john mccain loved his campaign bus. but he's slamming the president

cruising now in a million dollar armored plated coach. >> and all of it being charged to the taxpayers of america. that's wrong. >> reporter: calling the bus trip a campaign. the republican party put up a web ad. it looks like a campaign. this was a restaurant in readsville, north carolina. meet and greet and eat. 13 months before barack obama figures he needs to win in state to get reelected. then on to virginia. another state on the obama 2012 wish list. steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. elsewhere, residents in east central ohio have been told to stay indoors and some schools have even been canceled after wild animals escaped from an ex-on the tick animal farm. police in muskingum county say the owner was found dead and that the cages were left open.

authorities haven't said which animals are on the loose but the facility housed lions, cheetahs, bears and tigers. 25 animals, including wolves that had been on the run, have so far been shot and killed. >> here's a look at other news. officials in texas discovered widespread damage in the wake of monday's massive dust storm. on tuesday crews worked to restore power and clear city streets of remnants from the 18,000-foot high dust cloud. meteorologists believe the storm was a rare occurrence and don't expect another one to hit in the near future. traffic on rhode island's jamestown bridge came to a screeching halt after a cow fell off a truck. state and local police spent over an hour trying to round up the runaway cow before corralling it in a wooded area where it had to be euthanized. and in boulder, colorado, a house cat refused to back down from a much bigger distant relative in his backyard.

separated by only a glass door, zeus lived up to his name, staring down the mountain lion for several minutes, until the largest animal left. finally, a florida infant is drawing attention for entering the world with a little more bite than most babies. the baby's parents discovered two tiny teeth after bringing her home from the hospital. expert say it's rare for newborns to have teeth but it doesn't cause a problem unless they come loose. look at that smile. now for a look at your weather, we turn to bill karins. >> that's a lot of work, dealing with a newborn that's teething. >> she's like like what i got. >> happiest little kid in the world. someone out there is in a lot of pain. well, good morning, let's talk about what's happening in the

weather world. it's one of the more active days we'll have. overnight, we had tornadoes go through southern florida. many roofs damaged. didn't have too many injuries from this, but nasty storms that blew through. in all, three reported tornadoes there's the one that was mere miami, one near lake okeechobee and south of palm bay. as far as south florida right now, we're still waiting for the cold front to kick through and until that happens, we still have a chance for more showers and storms. looks like the tornado threat is a little lower than it was last night. but we still have a couple strong storms that will roll here, one just to the south of east naples and another batch of storms continuing to move up through the keys. as far as further north, it will be a rainy day today, a slow morning commute around d.c. where we have rain continuing now. also baltimore light rain. philadelphia, it should be raining now if you look out your

window, the rain has pushed to the north to you. morning city, give it another hour or two and then the roads will start getting wet. another batch of moderate rain out off the coast. i think this is going to head for new england as we go throughout the middle of your morning. i think you have a dry commute in hartford and boston, but it won't last. your lunch hour will also be wet. and this is a large storm. it's affecting a lot of people. here is another piece of it going up through indianapolis, columbus, dayton, toledo, cleveland, all these locations, you you need your umbrella today. we're also welcoming in the coolest air mass yet of the season. these temperatures have just plugged overnight in areas like kansas city. right now 33 degrees, coldest morning by far this season. and those cold temperatures are heading southwards. later on tonight, we have a trance for a frost and freeze even areas of oklahoma. so if you're traveling on the east coast, with very a possibility of airport delays.

the middle of the country is clear, but it will be windy and brisk. lynn, we'll update the forecast a little later. >> all right, bill, thanks so much. apple shares take a beating. b of a loses its title. and a christmas wish list for the fabulously wealthy. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. the raiders pull off a stunning trade and one manager makes a world series guarantee. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. i want healthy skin for life.

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welcome back to "first look." here's some of the top stories making news this morning. thousands jammed the streets of an israeli town to welcome home a soldier that was held by palestinian militants for over five years. gilat shilad's father says his son is healthy but will need time to recover from physical and psychological wounds. he was freed in exchange for more than 1,000 palestinian prisoners. in new york, occupy wall street demonstrators marched

against the nypd, accusing police of using excessive force when arresting protesters. a law enforcement source says the handling of protest incidents is being investigated. u.s. immigration and customs enforcement says the government deported a record number of people in the last year. nearly 400,000 were forced to leave. about 55% had felony or misdemeanor convictions. social security recipients will be getting a raise in january. their first bump in benefits since 2009. the cost of living increase is expected to be about 3.5%. and just as the world series gets under way, four democratic senators are asking the major league baseball players union to ban chewing tobacco during the upcoming series. they say the smokeless tobacco sets a bad example for all those young fans who see the players as role models.

now here's your first look at how wall street will kickoff the day. the dow opens at 11,577 after adding 180 points yesterday. the s&p rose 24 points. the nasdaq gained 42. taking a look at overseas trading this morning n tokyo, the nikkei was up 30 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 232. another pen due rum swing in the euro sew debt watch. a report germany and france agreed to pump $2 trillion into a eurozone rescue fund lifted hopes a solution could come soon. spain suffered its latest credit downgrade. earnings will likely be the focus again today. apple shares fell in late trade after a rare earnings miss. elsewhere afterhours shares of intel shot up thanks to better than expected earnings. results from united health group, coca-cola and johnson & johnson did little to lift the mood early on the street but a surprising rise in optimism from

the nation's home builders gave d.r. horton and linar a healthy boost. yahoo was down most of the day on so-so earnings but picked up steam in late trade on hopes of a future buyout. goldman sachs delivered its second quarterly loss since it went public in 1999. the end of an era for bank of america. despite an earnings win, it lost the title of the nation's biggest bank to jpmorgan chase. ford's new four-year labor contract with united autoworkers is a go, according to a posting on the local louisville union's facebook page. the cash-strapped u.s. postal service is upping the price of first-class stamp by a penny next year to 45 cents. samsung and google have launched their latest iphone rival, the android-driven galaxy nexus smartphone. and nothing says excess like the neiman marcus christmas book.

among this year's fantasies $75,000 yurt, a $250,000 speed boat and a custom made ferrari for a cool 400 grand. must be nice. coming up, the rangers and cardinals get ready for game one. the oakland raiders make a hail mary trade. plus, scary moments on the ice when bruins' defenseman joe corvo goes down hard. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ugh, time to color.

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welcome back to "first look". in sports, the cardinals and the rangers meet in st. louis tonight as the quest for baseball's ultimate prize gets under way. here's fred roggin. good morning. game one of the world series between the texas rangers and st. louis cardinals is tonight. cards' manager tony la russa is no stranger to championships and he didn't hesitate to make a guarantee. >> if there's one guarantee i can make, i guarantee our club is not going to change its attitude about competing in the world series. i mean, the rangers are going to get the best we've got. we'll have the exact same approach, do the best we can and see if you're good enough or not. >> maybe not the guarantee we expected, but we do know this, chris carpenter and c.j. wilson probables. game one tonight at 5 p.m. eastern. the raiders acquired carson palmer from the bengals trading a first and second round pick. if oakland makes the afc, he

becomes a first rounder. would you expect anything else from the raiders. hockey, it's official. bruins are suffering from a stanley cup hangover. they lost again last night. the capitals off to their best start in franchise history. alexander semin gave them the lead. proof you don't need to be drafted to play in the nhl. zolnieczyk scored his first goal in his first nhl game with the flyers. former ivy league player of the year studied economics at brown. no econ degree needed. that goal is money. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. and now for another look at the wet, here's bill karins. >> it's going to be cold at that baseball game. windchill supposed to be in the 30s. and it will be a little chilly out there if you're watching the game tonight for the fans and the player. today in the east, it's not

going to pour all day, but it will be a good chunk of the day that you'll be dodging the raindrops. we're watching the green on the map. philadelphia has broken out into rain and new york city, again, you only have probably about another hour or so before the raindrops again. a batch is offshore that will go up in to boston about two to three hours from now. so computers predicting somewhere around a half inch to an inch of rain. a few spots could get higher than that. boston into cape cod predicting about two to three inches of rain. i don't think we'll get too much flooding out of this storm system, but today is the damp day. and the winds will pick up, too, as the storm blows through and it will be very windy in chicago. high wind warning up to 60 miles an hour and the southern portion of the lake, they're expecting waves to be up to 20 feet. >> all right, bill, thanks so

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welcome back to "first look." time for entertainment news. decision day for lindsay lohan who's headed back to court. according to reports, prosecutors will ask a judge to send the actress to jail for violating the terms of her probation. this after lohan was booted from a women's center where she was doing community service for a necklace theft conviction.

there are reports 25-year-old actor shia labeouf got into a violent altercation outside a vancouver bar last week. internet video has been circulating of a man resembling labeouf on the ground being repeatedly punched in the head by a drunken man. this is something you don't see every day. a little frightening, especially if you're like me, oompa-loompa hit the streets of new york to celebrate the anniversary of the classic film "willie wonka and the chocolate factory." and patrick swayze has been immortalized in wax at madame tussaud's. it shows him balancing on a log from the role in dirt and i dancing. the late actor's widow was on hand for the unveiling. and finally, an interview clip of what appears to be harry bellefonte sleeping during a live television interview has gone viral.

a rep for the 84-year-old actor says his ear piece wasn't working, so he took it out and he was just meditating. >> if you're 8 4rks 4, you cand plan telling voters that republicans want to protect wall street and the status quo. the question is, what was joe biden's response to the charge that he and the president are just out campaigning for re-election? pretty good answer from the vice president. and the stories just keep roll