ferrets do not get lice, j. edgar. thank you to the american ferret association for helping us clear that up. that does it for us tonight. see you tomorrow night, election night. night, election night. "first look" is up next. going public. another woman comes forward with sexual harassment claims against nop presidential candidate herman cain. fatal dose. michael jackson's former doctor is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the singer's death. nature's fewerly, oklahoma deals with a tornado outbreak just days after its largest earthquake in decades. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

we begin this morning with speaking out. days after angrily declaring he was done answering questions about sexual harassment, republican president fl l hopeful herman cain says he's ready 20 talk cain. cain has calls a news conference for this afternoon. steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: it's the first time a woman has publicly come forward to accuse mr. cain. >> mr. cain had been very sexually inappropriate for me. >> her name is shart buy let. she says in july of 1997 after she was fired from a restaurant association job in chicago, she came to washington to get advice from national ceo. after dinner cain physically assaulted her. >> he suddenly reached over and he put his hand on my leg under

my skirt. i was slr, very surprised and very shocked. i said, what are you doing? you know i have a boyfriend. this isn't what i came here for. mr. cain said, you want a job right. >> reporter: she did not file charges. nbc news can't confirm her allegations. gloria allred showed statements from two men who told her she told them in 2007 cain had been sexually inappropriate. she says she decided to do it publicly. >> i want you, mr. cain, to come clean, just admit what you did. >> reporter: cain issued a statement denying what he called false allegations. sharon buy lick says she's telling her story to put a name and face to the charges.

steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. last night lawrence o'donnell asked republican strategist steve schmidt what kind of impact he thinks the sexual allegation charges will have in the polls. >> the reality here is we have a check mate. we have on the one hand blanket denials by herman cain. on the other hand, anonymous women. on the other hand we have a settlement. so there's smoke where there's fire. then we have someone coming forward with 15-year-old allegations standing next to gloria allred which frankly doesn't help her credibility. it certainly doesn't help her credibility in the eyes of republican primary voters. i'm not sure where the story goes other than to say we live in an entirely new media age, where people choose the information they want to be exposed to. at the end of the day i think a scandal in the mainstream media may not be a disqualifier in the republican primary. it may, in fact, be a

credential. >> lean forward with the last word with lawrence o'donnell weeknights at 10:00 p.m. eastern time only on msnbc. last night herman cain was on abc's jimmy kimmel live where he took a swipe at his new accuser's lawyer. >> have you considered hiring gloria allred as your attorney? >> you almost made me say something that i shouldn't say. let me put it this way. i couldn't think of anything i would hire her today. >> now we go to the latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. as the president gears up for his re-election bid, respondents were asked to score him on a number of different domestic and foreign policy issues. a majority believes the president lived up to expectations on iraq and improving race relations. he received a, quote, fallen

short grade on everything else, from the war in afghanistan to the environment and even health care. right now the president still leads all his potential republican challengers including mitt romney by six points and herman cain by 15. be sure to stay with msnbc all day long for our special super tuesday coverage of election day 2011 right here on msnbc, the place for politics. elsewhere after six weeks of testimony in the involuntary manslaughter case against michael jackson's personal physician, it didn't take long for the jury to deliver a verdict. nbc's stephanie stanton has more. >> we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, conrad robert murray, guilty of the crime of involuntary man slaulter. >> reporter: dr. conrad murray showed no emotion as the verdict was read. fans and members of the jackson family got the verdict they had been hoping for the jury of

seven men and five women spent some eight hours deliberating, contemplating testimony from 49 witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence. in the end they believed conrad murray should be held responsible for michael jackson's death. after the verdict was read, prosecutors had another request, put him behind bars now. >> people would ask the defendant be remanded into custo custody. >> he pose as risk to the safety of the public. >> reporter: court officers placed dr. murray in handcuffs and led him to jail to await sentencing. the man michael jackson trusted with his life now responsible for his death. stephanie stanton nbc news, los angeles. now here is your first look at other news going on around america today. mother nature continue its assault on oklahoma monday. battering the state with two tornadoes. the dangerous storms whipped up

92-mile-per-hour winds, producing golf ball sized hail and damaging several buildings but no injuries were reported. a large group of elderly protesters join occupy chicago demonstrators protesting against budget cuts to social security and other programs. police stepped in to arrest 43 people including some of the seniors after the group stage add sit-in at federal plaza. a new york man spent hours dang frlg a bridge protesting alleged government corruption. the ordeal ended with the police taking him into custody after he fell in the water. one marathoner proved she finishes what she starts. after 31 hours and 21 minutes, zoe finished the gruelling course for the 23rd time. the 63-year-old has multiple sclerosis.

she competes in the race to bring awareness to her disease and inspiring a lot of people with that story. for a look at your national weather, we turn to msnbc meteorologist bill karins who no longer has an excuse not to hit the gym. maybe just one mile? >> maybe walking -- >> walking to work? that doesn't count. >> good morning everyone. we saw the pictures of the incredible tornado in oklahoma. many storm chasers captured this tornado. it appears one or two others. this was out in a wind turbine field which was an interesting battle. this storm system stayed most in rural areas. no fatalities and we didn't hear of any injuries. one car was flipped over of a storm chaser who got a little too close. on this map, the red triangle is where the tornado was. the green dots show large hail and the blue dots are wind damage reports in the last 24 hours. much of it was just outside oklahoma city near wichita falls. that was yesterday's round one.

now we're getting round two. we have strong storms falling from abilene to wichita falls. you'll hear loud collapse of lightning and the winds will be fowling. san angelo got a line of storms that went through. as far as dollars ft. worth goes, about two hours from now it will go through dallas ft. worth. tulsa all the way through the springfield area, southern portions of missouri, all of arkansas and watch out in shreveport. maybe isolated tornadoes today. i don't think we'll see a ton of damage. the back side of the storm has cold air with it. we'll watch in southern co-corks out through kansas and a narrow ribbon of snow possible through the heart of iowa into areas of wisconsin. this will be the first snow of the season for the areas north of des moines. east coast, by the warks what a great forecast you have today, sunshine, temperatures in the

60s. atlanta doesn't get much better than this. the middle of the country, it's a struggle. coming up, italy scares investors. a judge says no to scary cigarette packs. economic condition haves gotten so bad even santa has no job security. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, the bears clip the eagles. the sport of boxing loses a legend. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ female announcer ] from the moment we arrive...

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. white house chief of staff bill daley reportedly plans to hand off day-to-day responsibilities to a senior aide. he has come under fire for his management style and cool relations with some congressional leaders. as voters head to the polls this election day, a

controversial measure in mississippi is asking whether to give the designation of personhood to a fertilized human egg. initiative 26 is intended to make abortion illegal in mississippi as well as some forms of birth control and infertility treatments. a new measurement of census data finds the number of poor americans hit a record 49 million in 2010 with poverty rates for the elderly, asian and hispanics higher than previously known. activists say syrian forces unleashed a bloody assault on the country's third largest city, following a five-day siege that left scores of people dead. the white house says it has no evidence that extra terrestrial life exists. the declaration came in response to a petition on the white house website demanding it disclose the government's knowledge of extra terrestrial beings. all of us can sleep better tonight. now here is your first look at how wall street will kick off the day.

the dow opens at 12,068 after rising 85 points yesterday. the s&p gained seven points, the nasdaq added nine. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei dropped 111 points, but in long congress the hang seng was up a fraction. with one eye on europe in light cautious trade, wall street opened with moderate gains. the latest euro anxiety is italy, government bond yields spiked to thighest level since 1997. prime minister silvio berlusconi is refusing to resign. back here at home, pfizer rose as defensive stocks like health care head gainers. data showed cautious consumers borrowed more for cars and tuition in september but charged less on credit cards for a third straight month. late mortgage payments unexpectedly rose last quarter for the first time since 2009.

in deal news, best buy fell on its plan to buy english partner car phone warehouse for $1.3 billion. amgen jumped on biotech's up to $5 billion stock buyback. dish network rose. after the bell, priceline sank on below expectation results. a judge approved a $400 million settlement on claims bank of america charged more than $13 million debit card users of excessive overdraft fees over the past decade. another judge blocked rules requiring graphic images of dead and diseased smokers on cigarette packs next year. u.p.s. says holiday procrastinators will have it shipping 6% more this year in its peak week with its busiest day december 22nd. no one is safe.

finally faced with a drastic budget shortfall, suffolk county, new york, laid off santa. an 83-year-old world war ii vet who greeted kids as st. nick for nine years has gotten his pink sleep. up next, a boxing legend passes. you think hockey players get a little carried away? wait until you see this coach. the bears come in to philly and maul the eagles. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

in sports last night the boxing world lost an epic heavyweight champion. here is nbc's fred roggin. >> good morning. we start with sad news out of philadelphia. former heavyweight champion of the world joe frazier lost his battle with liver cancer last night. nicknamed smoking joe for his left hook, a bruising fighter. it wasn't about finesse, it was about force. he gave mohammed ali his first loss in what was known as the fight of the century. they met two more times in the ring including the thriller in manila. frazier was diagnosed with liver cancer in september. he was 67 years oath. football, a seesaw battle between the eagles and bears. jay cutler found matt forte in the flaps. she was stripped of the ball. brian role scooped and scored.

we move to the third. lashawn mcccoy took the handoff, made one move at the line and was gone. 33 yards to the house. eagles up 24-17. bears did not go away quietly. jay cutler to earl bennett in the end zone. bears held on to win it 30-24. after a sluggish start the bruins caught fire, three goals in the first 12 shots. in came alimony toy yeah. nathan horton led the way with a pair of goals. wild scene in russia where a coach was so angry, he tried to single-handedly take on the crowd. he grabbed a stick, swung at spectators during a game in bella ruch. he was reacting to plans who were throwing bottles onto the ice. he was suspended two games for trying to stick it to the fans. that's your first look at

sports. i'm fred roggin. for another look at the weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning, bill. >> another reason why we don't have a live audience here. >> no kidding. >> good morning everyone. a beautiful start to your morning. it's going to be throughout almost all areas of the east coast. we have another two or three more days of great weather and then the cold air will rush in. enjoy it while it lasts, temperatures in the 40s in most cases. just about everybody will need sunglasses today. also you'll probably be carrying the jacket home as you go home this afternoon. 69 in hartford. we just had a foot of snow only about a week ago. 67 in new york. d.c. should be great. pittsburgh up to 68 degrees. even boston into the 60s. probably some of the armest temperatures we'll have for a while. a storm system in the middle of the country. we talked about the severe weather in texas, snow in colorado. soging, soaking rain. eventually into chicago as you go throughout your morning.

if you're from st. louis to chicago, up through milwaukee, wisconsin, be prepared for a day of cold, chilly rain that will last through much of the day. it's going to be a very wet forecast today. thunderstorms are also possible this afternoon into arkansas and areas of louisiana. as i said, around the east coast, just suck it in and enjoy it. thanks so much. sour grapes from johnny depp. lindsey was scared in jail. plus the beebes is fighting mad and has a plan to fight back. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. her c gu

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last night on late night with jimmy fallen, he was still carrying on over kim kardashian. >> there's talk that kim kardashian is having second thoughts about her divorce. even brelt favre was saying, hey, come on, make a decision. here are science news. three new elements added to the periodic table on friday. finally something to take kim kardashi kardashian's mind off this whole divorce thing. >> tonight jimmy welcomes documentary filmmaker michael moore, actor jack charles and musical get chromeio on your local nbc station. it's time for entertainment news. after picking up a few awards in

europe, justin bieber will return with an aggressive plan of attack against paternity charges. the beebes is going to take a dna test. he says once the test shows he's not the father. >> is he going to go on maury poef vic. you are not the father! johnny depp took a shot at american heartland, saying the recent film "the rum diary" bombed because, quote, it was an intelligent film and a lot of times out sued the big cities in the states they don't want that. sideline singer adelle is expected to recover from throat surgery. tmz reports lindsay lohan says her 4 1/2 hour jail stay was scary, told and one of the worst places she's ever been. it was a wake-up call, bill. like when you were in jail. >> i only did a little bit of time.

it wasn't a lot. >> nonviolent crime. >> the co-anchor i was with, she dropped the charges. >> she survived. good to know. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, "way too early" with willie geist starts now. a chicago woman goes public laying out in detail an unwanted physical advance from herman cain 14 years ago as mr. cain calls a press conference for today. the question is, without hard evidence on either side, how will this game of he said/she said play out? will the cain campaign survive? silvio berlusconi, a man who makes no secret of his physical advances faces pressure to step down as prime minister of italy among the country's deep economic problems. the question is will the brash berlusconi swallow his pride and become the second major european leader in a week to resign? we'll have a live reimportant