still in it -- embattled presidential candidate, herman cain, wants to speak in person with his wife before deciding what to do next. buying frenzy -- what's behind wall street's biggest single-session gain since 2009. and why an indian snake charmer unleashed his wrath on a local tax office. those stories and more are straight ahead, this "first look" on msnbc. and we begin with a decision within days. lashing out against so-called character attacks designed to force him out of the race, herman cain has put off a final call on the future of his

presidential campaign until next week. cain says he needs to talk to his wife in person before making any final decisions. nbc's steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: even though herman cain said he will decide by next week whether to continue, he implied the answer will be yes. in an interview on fox. >> politics as usual is that once it gets rough and gets rocky, and they start trying to attack your character, politics as usual is, drop out of the race. well that's just not me. >> reporter: the pressure, cain said, is taking a toll on his wife, gloria. but she said she told him that she loved him. with much of his support intact, cain can wait until january when the voters in iowa decide. about the alleged 13-year affair. the charges of sexual harassment and cain's foreign policy flubs. if cain drops out, the "reuters" poll finds the rest of the field

won't reshuffle much. mitt romney would get cain voters. romney denied charges of flip-flopping. >> your list is just not accurate. so one, we're going to have to be better informed about my views on issues. >> reporter: newt gingrich would get cain voters, he vowed if he's the nominee and barack obama will debate him seven times, gingrich will shatter him. >> wherever the president goes, i will show up four hours later and take apart his speech and rebut him. >> reporter: but the former front-runner is not done yet. >> i raised $1 billion for the american people, are going to raise some cain in 2012. meanwhile a battle is being waged between lawmakers on capitol hill over how exactly to pay for a payroll tax cut set to expire the end of the month. while in pennsylvania yesterday, president obama warned a lapse in the tax break could be a

quote serious blow to the economy. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with details. good morning. >> lynn, good morning, you may not be aware. but you got an extra $1,000 this year if you're working. if congress doesn't act, you'll be paying that money again starting in january. at a rally in scranton, pennsylvania, yesterday, president obama said this could cause a massive blow to the economy, allowing this payroll tax cut to go into effect again. he wants to pay for it, democrats want to pay for it with a 3% permanent tax on millionaires, but republicans won't go for that at all, they say it's punishing the job-creators. their new plan, to freeze federal pay through 2015, cut 200,000 federal jobs and raise medicare on the rich, making sure that millionaires don't get food stamps and unemployment it looks like it's going to be

another year-end showdown over taxes. elsewhere, a new accuser in the penn state sexual child abuse scandal. has filed the first civil lawsuit against former football coach, jerry sandusky. in the suit the 29-year-old claims sandusky sexually abused him more than 100 times over the course of four years and threatened to tell his family if he told someone. he said he chose to come forward now because of the bravery of other victims and the pain feels about those who may have been abused after him. sandusky has admitted to showering with boys, but he continues to deny he is a pedophile. well now here's your "first look" at other news going on around america today. california federal agents have derailed what's being called the most sophisticated underground drug-trafficking tunnel ever discovered. equipped with electricity and ventilation, it stretched six football fields from san diego to tijuana, mexico. the major bust netted 32 tons of

marijuana, one of the largest seizures in u.s. history. a thanksgiving weekend fishing trip off the coast of north carolina looked a lot more like a scene from jaws. yup, that's real. a group of friends had a close encounter with one great white shark that was way too close for comfort i'm sure. the massive fish nudged the boat and circled before swimming away. after about 20 minutes. and arizona gun club is under heavy fire from critics over some new holiday pictures. members can pose for christmas card photos with saint nick holding high-powered weapons. this is real as well. at least one state lawmaker has voiced outrage over the mix of christmas and machine guns. and finally, a new appliance is offering a chance for customers to make sure they see images on their morning toast. that's right. the jesus toaster. burns the image of jesus and other religious symbols into

your slice, according to the creator, he's selling 50 to 100 of these a day. mmm, good. and now for look at your national weather, let's check in with meteorologist todd santos with your weather channel forecast. someone has a little too much time on their hands. >> maybe that's the big holiday gift this year. >> the jesus toaster, that's coming to you at home. it will be fun. >> i'd love one. you're having a glorious morning across the southeast. we're dealing with cool temperatures in place and clear skies. you can see a little snow especially closer to the canadian border and snow moving in to denver. few rain showers moving into the southwest. so here's a look at it on the radar, light snow up towards rapid city, we'll take a closer look towards casper down towards denver where we're likely to see some of the heavier snow and it's getting started back towards minneapolis. across the high plains we'll be dealing with gusty winds out of

the north keeping things cool. a number of winter storm warnings and weather weather advisories, that's a blizzard warning for the wind river mountains. not big-time snowfall, but big-time winds, and down towards mammoth mountain we'll take a look at wind warnings, just had some gusts there over 150 miles per hour. very extreme conditions let's say up towards mammoth. towards denver, not extreme, but you'll see the snow starting to accumulate, could see three to five inches by the finish of the day so keep it in mind especially if you're flying towards denver. flying towards minneapolis, not thinking that will have a major impact on travel. but we'll be dealing with cool temperatures. there's a look at the east from boston to d.c., to raleigh, all clear skies and great news travel wise. cool numbers, 30 in atlanta to start off. lynn? thanks so much. it was a stunning move by the world's financial powers and it sent stocks skyrocketing. your first look at this

morning's business headlines is straight ahead. two of the best go head to head in college hoops and a catch you've got to see to believe. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. ♪ i think i'm falling

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. and here's some top stories making news this morning. the fda is considering tightening restrictions on the amount of arsenic allowed in apple juice. this, after consumer groups pushed for a crackdown. just yesterday, "consumer reports" released a study finding 10% of apple juice and grape juices have higher arsenic levels than are allowed in drinking water. all right this is disturbing, horses could soon be slaughtered in the u.s. for human consumption. good morning. after congress quietly lifted a five-year ban on using federal funds for horse meat inspection. the legislation was part of an om news spending bill signed by president obama in mid november to keep the government afloat. a former colorado sheriff,

for whom a detention center is named now finds himself an inmate at the very jail. 68-year-old patrick sullivan is accused of offering methamphetamine in exchange for sex from a male acquaintance. commander james lovell's check list, used to guide the damaged apollo 13 spacecraft home after the explosion that led to the famous "houston, we have a problem" call has sold at texas auction for just over bz 388,000. and a snake charmer in india angered by alleged bribery demands by local officials released dozens of poisonous snakes inside a tax office. fortunately, no one was hurt. here's your "first look" at wall street. the dow opens at 12,045 after it shot up 490 points yesterday. the s&p surged 51 points, and the nasdaq spiped 104.

in overseas trading, in toyko, neat kay climbed 162 points. and in hong kong, the hang seng skyrocketed 1,012. it was a bold move by the world's largest financial institutions and is sent a urge optimism through wall street and it sent stocks soaring. an extraordinary coordinated effort. the federal reserve, the european central bank and other major central banks stepped in to make cheaper loans for strugglie ining european banks. easing rising pressures. the dow reacted with its best day in over two years. the move touched off a financials-buying frenzy. morgan stanley spiked 11%. citigroup almost 9, jp morgan chase almost 7, all the gains came in spite of standard and poor's cutting credit ratings on major banks on tuesday. copper and oil rose tuesday.

u.s. steel shot up 15%. ak steel 13, alpha natural resources. further boosting investor spirits? data showing clear signs of economic recovery. the private sector added the most jobs in nearly a year. midwest business acty grew faster than expected. october's contracts to buy home jumped to a high for the year. november was the best month for auto sales in more than two years. elsewhere, reports say private equity firms blackstone and bain capital have teamed up with a china company to bid for yahoo. and finally, the salvation army's red kettle has gone high tech. a holiday donation tradition since 1891, now you can host your own red kettle online raising donations from family and friends. well, the homecoming for thousands of military vets

returning home from iraq and afghanistan has turned out to be bittersweet. instead of fanfare, some are coming home to foreclosure signs on their lawns. how this growing crisis is affecting so many american men and women. >> this is outrageous. the idea that you're serving in fluj, while your house is being foreclosed at home is outrageous. it's disgusting. it could be as many as 5,000 people. what's important to note, is you can't take their house when they get home. the original provision was for 90 days, and we fought hard in 2008 to make it nine months. you've got another nine months after you come home where you're supposed to be protected as well. if the banks do this, they broke the law. and they really put these folks in a bad position. potentially thousands. if we're the folks that are america's heroes and we're getting treated like this, i think it should force all americans to ask hard questions. you know, and i think this foreclosure issue, it runs deeper than that, too. folks are coming home and they

also have to move pretty frequently. we have a veteran named sergeant steve in our organization, who came home in afghanistan, his baby was born while he was there. he got home, found out he had two months to move to japan. he has to sell his car, sell his house and move to japan. those people need protection. there are thousands serving in harm's way and they shouldn't have to worry if the bank is selling their house while they're gone. coming up, the red wings light the red lights. a scary moment in cheerleading and a top ten college basketball battle. plus, you can argue whether frisbee is a sport, but there's no arguing that this is a major-league grab. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ gasps ] [ male announcer ] if you're giving an amazing gift, shouldn't it be given in an amazing way? ♪

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. and in sports, toppled last week from their top national ranking, the tar heels of north carolina showed plenty of fight last night against the badgers of wisconsin. here's nbc's fred roggin. >> good morning, by the end of this week, we'll know just how good north carolina's basketball team is the fifth-ranked tar heels have a pair of games against top ten teams. first up, seventh ranked wisconsin. let's go to chapel hill, a tough place to play no matter how good you are. that didn't phase the badgers in the first half. wisconsin hung around until five minutes left when harrison

barnes took over, scored ten of his 20 down the stretch. north carolina won it 60-57. scary moment during the michigan state-florida state game. spartan cheerleader taylor young, took a terrible fall. the cheerleader next to young lost her balance and triggered a chain reaction. young fell on the back of her head and neck. she was wheeled off on a stretcher. but gave the crowd a smile and a thumb's up on her way out of the arena. thankfully she'll be okay. hockey the boston bruins have had a november to remember, they beat the maple leafs to finish 12-0-1. first time since ' 69. milan lucic scared a pair of goals, the bruins won it 6-3 in toronto. the red wings have won six in a row. tomas holmstrom scored the game winner in the third. jimmy howard great in the final period, robbed the lightning in the break-away, detroit won it 4-. we've all played frisbee before, but not quite like this. australian frisbee champ, brody

smith, apparently there are frisbee champions out there. anyway, launched a disc off a bridge, as it flew over the water, a boat raced under it. one of the passengers jumped off the speeding boat and made a spectacular grab. take a look at it a few more times. they say you should never jump off a moving boat. we'll let this slide. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. now for another look at the weather, here is meteorologist todd santos. in for bill karins, who is taking time off. who is a complete cynic when it comes to these kinds of videos. he would say no way. >> i believe it. not a great idea to jump off a moving power boat. >> glass half-full, todd. bill could learn a lot from you. >> meanwhile, hey on the extreme side of things for some of us, get down towards florida, orlando, 46 degrees. i want to show the temperatures one more time to let that set in meanwhile a few of us, the

biggest issue today will be the wind potential, especially in the southwest. even extending from the wasatch, get downing to mammoth mountain, we've had some of these gusts over 150 miles per hour. be careful traveling around the area and the small brush fire the los angeles county fire department responding to that be careful, it will be a high fire danger in the southwest. down towards phoenix we'll see chances for showers, flagstaff with know and denver you've already seen the high temperatures and you'll work into the 20s in the afternoon. meanwhile, a look to the northwest, even a few more snowshowers into tomorrow. lyn? >> todd, thanks so much. you're not going to believe who says she is helping lindsay lohan keep on the straight and narrow. plus hell hath no fury like a 6'9" free agent scorned. kris strikes back at kim. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. bringing you down! try root touch-up by nice 'n easy. to extend the life of your color. nice 'n easy has 50% more shades,

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well welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. last night on late knight with jimmy fallon, he brought up one good reason why there's no alcohol in space. >>? pretty weird story. this month two men successfully launched a can of beer into space. i guess that's why one astronaut was like, houston, i love you, man. interesting fact, listen, i read that the nypd has stopped and frisked more than 500,000 people this year. which means if they frisk just one 1,000 more they'll tie herman cain. that's official. so more election news, republican candidate rick perry is denying rumors that his top advisers are being demoted.

yeah, perry was like i want to make it clear that at no point in this campaign have i had any advisers. that is ridiculous. >> and tonight, jimmy welcomes actor steve buscemi and former "snl" alum, darrell hammond. tonight on your local nbc station. let's check entertainment news, just when you thought kim kardashian's marriage fiasco has quieted, the jilted ex has come screeching back for resyringe. kris humphries will seek an annulment rather than divorce, claiming he was the victim of a fraudulent marriage and claim he's entitled to big bucks, despite a prenup, how convenient. kardashian immediately defended herself, claiming she did not marry humphries just for her tv show, that she was truly in

love. kanye west came away with a leading seven grammy nominations last night in los angeles. adele notched six. the grammys will be awarded in february. and finally, file this under -- whatever the possibilities are endless here. courtney love is claiming to be lindsay lohan's sobriety coach. yes, you heard me correctly. the notorious 47-year-old singer told "details" magazine. quote, i've taken up lohan because nobody else will. no comment from lohan. that's a screaming endorsement. no one else wants you, i will take you. >> can i step up to, i don't know, just ease the whole thing there? two negatives make a positive? >> i would say todd santos would make a better sobriety coach. >> i'm volunteering, lindsay. are you listening? this is "first look" on msnbc.

"way too early" with willie geist starts right now. the dow rockets almost 500 points, as the world's central banks get together with a plan to contain the european debt crisis. the question is -- will this time be more than a sugar high? and what does it all have to do with digging out the american economy? newt gingrich feeling his co-front-runner oats, reminisces about the time he defeated communism with an assist from ronald reagan. this as mitt romney complains that questions in a fox news interview were too tough. the question is -- does the occasionally delicate candidate romney need to come out from his glass case? john mccain, jokingly insults long island, new york and makes a half-hearted apology on the senate floor to his allegedly offended colleague. the question is -- you really want to step to the island, senator? it's "way too early" for thi