press." penn state shame. new developments in a sex abuse scandal plaguing one of the nation's largest universities. trail tribulation, republican presidential hopeful herman cain lashes out after a week of questions about past sexual harassment accusations. close encounter. scientists prepare for earth's near rendezvous with a massive astroid. good morning everyone. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

we begin this morning with stepping down. stunning allegationsf sexual child abuse against a former defensive coordinator of penn state's prestigious football program led to the resignation of two of the school's athletic officials accused of covering up the abuse. nbc's francisco reports. >> reporter: penn state football has always had a stellar reputation. now scandal is threatening to store one of the nation's most store read teams. >> it's a program because we pride ourself on being a clean program. >> reporter: jerry sandusky was arraigned weekend, charged with sexually abusing eight boys between 1994 and 2009. the state attorney general called sandusky, quote, a sexual predator who used his position within the university and community to repeatedly prey on

young boys. also the school's athletic director tim curly and vice president gary schultz were charged with lying about what they knew and are expected to turn themselves in to authorities monday. famed penn state coach joe paterno has not been implicate. they report when he learned of the allegations he reported what he knew. paterno issued a statement saying she was shocked by the charges and sad denned by the allegations. lawyers for sandusky, curly and schultz deny the charges and promise to fight them in court. elsewhere gop presidential hopeful herman cain appears to be losing his patience as he tries to put the allegations of sexual harassment behind him. tracie potts joins us with the latest on this from washington. >> reporter: good morning. the new poll shows his support

is slipping among republicans overall. though these allegations may have hurt him politically, they don't appear to have the same impact on his campaign wallet. herman cain says he's raised $2 million since sexual harassment allegations went public a week ago. now he says he's done talking about it. >> don't even go there. >> can i ask my question? >> no. we are getting back on message. end of story. back on message. >> the way to do that is get on the facts on the table and get it behind him. >> reporter: republican strategists question whether refusing the talk about accusations that he harassed women on the job 12 years ago is really going to put this issue to rest. some opponents say they're ready to move on. >> this is taking all the bandwidth out of the discussion. we're not able to talk jobs or our position in the world. that hurts. >> reporter: one who may have benefited, ron paul who won this

week's illinois straw poll. >> when people get to know what herman stands for, i think that helps me because they're not going to say, well, he's not really for any cuts and he's for adding this national sales tax. >> reporter: a national sales tax. the 9-9-9 plan back on message. the true test of whether or not he's back on message, whether or not these allegations are really all behind him politically may be. whether it comes up and how much it comes up at wednesday's debate in michigan. tomorrow it's all politics all the time on msnbc as we kickoff our super tuesday coverage with each hour focusing on different hot-button issues beginning with "morning joe" right here on msnbc, the place for politician. according to a troubling new report in this morning's "washington post," iran's government is on the verge of being able to create a nuclear weapon, thanks to high-tech help from several countries. according to secret

documents provided to the anatomic energy agency a former scientist, iran was supplied with crucial training and technology to advance nuclear capabilities. the repovrt set to be release bid the nuclear watch dog agency reenforces fears that iran never stopped its weapons related research in 2003. iran's foreign minister called the controversy, quote, 100% political. a rare 5.6 earthquake rocked oklahoma over the weekend causing destruction and catching many residents off guard. the strongest quake since 1952 hit the heartland hours after a 4.7 tremor shook things up early saturday morning. more than 80 aftershocks followed the stronger quake leaving buckled roads and severe damage to some homes.

an army of environmental activists marched to the white house to protest a proposed oil pipeline that would run from canada through mayor canned onto the gulf of mexico. once they arrived, protesters surrounded the president's hand chanting "yes, we can stop the pipeline." opponents feel america would be ripe for another oil disaster if the construction plans aren't killed. the world's top snow mobilers performed they could perform on any stage, even without show. thousands watched from a parking lot as they soared into the saturday night sky performing acrobatic stunts from dam ps made of dirt and wood chips. here is a look at your national wealth. nbc meteorologist bill karens, hopefully late more rested. >> i haddinr in on the table at

4:15 last night. >> that sounds like the berry meelgs. we always have the retirement meals. >> typically my alarm goes off at 2:00 a.m. i woke up at 1:00 on my own. >> diligent worker bee. >> internal clock. good morning everyone. hopefully you enjoyed your weekend. nice weather out there. much of the eastern seaboard. we are watching rain this morning in the midwest. that's where all the stormy weather going to be as we go throughout the next three days from denver to dallas all the way through kansas city, st. louis, minneapolis. that's where the wet weather going to be. east coast, you look nice and calm. it's been a little chilly in new england. now we'll go up into the 60s. ever since we had the big huge snowstorm last weekend, we've been dry ever since. one of the longest stretches of dry weather we've seen in a year and a half. as far as this morning goes, showers in florida. all the wet wealth ser focused from st. louis to kansas city. that's where it's going to be a

wet day today. this front is getting stalled out here and a new storm system brewing in new mexico has also brought snow to the high country, is going to be going through the middle of the country. as far as the wet weather goes, interstate 44 going from tulsa through springfield, joplin, st. louis, that's probably one of the worst highways to be on as far as today. fort smith has wet weather outside oklahoma city. as we go throughout this afternoon towards tonight, cold air moves in behind the storm. we're talking more snow in colorado. this is the third storm already. this is out in the plains. pueblo to kansas, this pink color means six to ten inches of snow. good land, a possibility of seven inches. interstate 7 may be treacherous over the next two days. the forecast today, rain in the midwest from dallas, kansas city, chicago, st. louis, minneapolis. minneapolis is the exception today. tomorrow you get your wet weather. look at the beautiful forecast. boston 61 and sunny.

new york city looks great, hartford, providence, baltimore, atlanta, even mild in florida with temperatures in the 80 z. as we look towards tomorrow, not a lot changes. we continue the stormy weather while the east coast enjoys temperatures, lynn, more like end of september. temperature could hit mid 60s. looks like a nice start to the workweek for the east coast. midwest, not so. coming up greece settles. is italy next? the million dollar mistake during a cleaning job. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up a thrilling finish in pittsburgh and a super bowl flashback. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up!

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. more than 50 people are

dead. pools of polluted sewage water creep toward thailand's city subway. a record breaking finish at the new york city marathon yesterday as jeffrey my tie shattered the course record by more than two minutes. dado of ethiopia won the women's race. after missing several performances with an undisclosed illness, singer andy williams, most famous for "moon river" says he's battling bladder cancer. he announced his diagnosis during his annual christmas show. a canadian dentist shelled out more than $31,000 at auction for a discolored molar that once belonged to john lennon which he gifted to his house keepr in the late '60s. tomorrow evening an astroid the size of an aircraft carrier is expected to pass between the earth and moon some 202,000 miles away.

emily morgan from our english broadcasting partner itn reports. >> reporter: don't be fooled, this astroid isn't moving slowly. it's careering towards earth at unimaginable speed. it's got astronomers across the world very excited. >> this is the closest approach by an astroid that large. >> reporter: this is the path traveling inside the moon's orbit coming within just 200,000 miles from earth. >> it will be moving straight at us from one direction and go straight away from us in the other direction. >> reporter: the dense carbon rock has been tearing around space for thousands of years it will be a rare chance to view such a beast from the ground. radar telescopes are preparing for the fly by on tuesday night. if it hit earth, it would have

the power to hit london or create a 70 foot tsunami. the dow opens at 11,983 after falling 61 points on friday. the s&p dipped seven points and the nasdaq lost 11. taking a look at overseas trading, the nikkei was down 31 points, the hang seng scum bld 164. wall street will open to good news this morning, an end seems near in the political crisis that left greece facing catastrophic default and the end of its european membership. embattled prime minister george popandreou agreed to form an interim government to endorse the debt deal. popandreou will not lead the interim government. wall street will continue to watch europe this week, italy to be exact, with italy teetering on the brink of default. thousands protested to oust

leader sylvia berlusconi. it could take down the county's entire financial system. back at home, thanks to healthy economic data and strong corporate earnings, investors feel on more solid ground. that includes jobs friday's october numbers were weaker than expected. employers added 102,000 more jobs than estimated for august and september. that cut unemployment to 9% after three straight months stuck at 9.1. earnings will week will include macy's, gm and sysco. thursday media giants walt disney and viacom. groupon closed 31% above the opening ipo price. many say this ipo could influence other companies including facebook to pursue their own ipos. talk about a major oops. a cleaner at a german art museum who thought she was removing a

stain, permanently damaged an abstract piece of art. david beckham is poised to add an american championship to his american trophy case. big ben and the steelers came back but could they hold it against the ravens? your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7. did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake! there's some leftover cake. [ male announcer ] the new htc vivid. stay a step ahead with at&t 4g lte, with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g. ♪ [ female announcer ] improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula improves skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks.

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of thrilling finishes, finishing with the night game seen on nbc between the rave verse and the steelers. here is nbc's fred roggin. after a handful of sunday night blowouts, yesterday's game between the ravens and steelers could haven't been closer. the steelers took the lead late in the fourth. the ravens marched 92 yards in field. joe flacco to torrey smith, game-winning touchdown with eight seconds left. a 23-20 win. patriots and giants went down to the wire, under two minutes to play. tom brady hit rob bron cow ski, pats up 23-17. thanks to a pass interferes call, eli manning found jake ballot with 15 seconds to play. giants rally to beat the pats 23-20. packers remain unbeaten, picked off philip rivers.

charges need to run tackling drills after this. sharly peprah shrugged off player after player on his way to the end zone. packers won 45-38. from here row to goat to hero again. tim tebow with a comeback win. the kind of performance that earned him a heisman while he was at florida. broncos won 38-24. tied at 13 in over time, patrick peterson took the punt and went 99 yards the other way. the rookie won the first game of the season with a fourth quarter run. he did it again yesterday. arizona snapped a six-game skid with a 19-13 over time win. the beautiful game. the galaxy punched their ticket to the mls final. beckham set up mcgee who headed in the goal. they play houston in two weeks for the mls cup. that's your first look at

sports. i'm fred roggin. now for another look at the weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. how was your football sunday? how did your team do, your fantasy football team? >> lynn, there's more to life than just that. i think for full disclosure, we should let people know that this is the first time you've done fantasy football and you're the biggest addict. >> you spent an entire year telling me i didn't know what i was talking about. now i own it. good morning everyone. kubel we still have 7% of the people in connecticut don't have power. this is day nine. the number is staggering. great weather since then, too. all the other areas seem to have recovered. hopefully by wednesday they'll get everyone back online. weather be great in hartford, 61 degrees. beautiful weather up and down the eastern seaboard. no issues whatsoever for new england down through the mid atlantic. by the way, we've gone eight days in a row in new york city

of completely dry weather. we're going to keep that trend at least through wednesday, a slight chance of showers on thursday. this is some of the nicest stretches of weather all year long. it's been such a wet year, this is mother nature making up for herself. a crystal clear morning, bring the sunglasses in about all areas of this region. temperatures not a problem. middle of the country, the travel trouble spots, chicago, st. louis, possibly air delays there, too, with the rain. kansas city and down to dallas with chance of stray thunderstorms. overall. what a nice stretch of weather we had, a beautiful weekend for many of us. >> thanks so much. bill demanded answers. and we got them for you. kim kardashian can keep the ring, but for a very hefty price. the latest shocking report in the on going legal saga that

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. it was a weekend to remember at the box office thanks to one film's drawing power and another film's lack of it. 3d animated "shrek" spin off, "pus and boots" just a 3% drop from the opening week audience. the small eflt fall ever. on the other hand, the debut of "tower heist" learned $10 million less than expected with a disappointed $25 million.

the stoner comedy see call a harold and kumar christmas finished third. a little too early for a christmas one. kim kardashian loved her engagement ring so much that she included a clause in her prenup allowing her to buy the ring from humphries if they divorced. >> who puts that in the prenup. >> for the original purchase twice said to be around $2 million. >> that's just so set up. finally according to the l.a. county sheriff's department website, last night lindsay lohan checked into jail to begin serving her 30-day sentence for probation violation. she was expected to be released within hours due to overcrowding but may have to spend the night behind bars. tmz reports that she is still in custody. you can sleep better knowing -- >> she brought her welcome home mat with her, wiped her feet and

walked in. >> hae guys, remember me? i'll see you in a few weeks. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look." stay tuned, "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. the greek prime minister agrees to step down and make way for a new government that will stabilize the country a bit after last week's fliration with economic disaster. the question is, why is europe now turning its tired eyes to italy. back in the states herman cain begins to see a little dent in the armor as gnaw poll shows a week of sexual harassment allegations and his handling of them have taken a toll. the question is herman cain with us for the long haul. eli manning out tools tom brady in new england. the question is has eli