prairie populism. president obama takes his economic message to the nation's heartland. stunt snag. an experiment for a popular tv show goes awry. and gray area. does being commander in chief really take years off your life? good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. those stories ahead. we begin with a make or break moment. during a speech in kansas yesterday, president obama urged lawmakers in washington to take action on behalf of the nation's middle class calling the country's rising economic inequality "the defining issue of our time." nbc's brian mooar has the details.

>> reporter: in tiny osawatomie, kansas, president obama delivered a message aimed at both middle class americans and politicians back in washington. >> i believe that this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot. when everyone does their fair share. when everybody plays by the same rules. >> reporter: the president argues he's defending the working class while republicans are standing with the rich. it's a rallying cry for the current tax fight in washington and his own re-election campaign. >> and in 1910, teddy roosevelt came here, to osawatomie, and he laid out his vision for what he called a new nationalism. >> reporter: roosevelt argued that welfare was more important than wealth. an argument this president is laying out a century later. >> we simply cannot return to this brand of you're on your own economics if we're serious about

rebuilding the middle class in this country. >> reporter: far from the soaring rhetoric, republicans and democrats on capitol hill are struggling to keep a middle class payroll tax from expiring at the end of the month. democrats are offering to pay for it by raising taxes on the rich. >> this was not a compromise. this was nothing more than another bill designed to fail. so democrats can have another week of fun and games on the senate floor. >> reporter: while president obama calls for a new new nationalism, on capitol hill it's the same old politics. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. last night on "the ed show," ed schultz asked jonathan alter what he thinked the president accomplished in his speech. >> he put his presidency in the context of american history and that's very important not just for, you know, history folks like you and me but for the american public to see that this is part of a continuum of a

philosophy of government that says, we owe each other something. we don't rise and fall alone in this country. we do it together and the republicans have had a very different view. not always not in teddy roosevelt's day. he was, after all, a republican, but in the 1920s they had a different view. in the 1950s, eisenhower and the republicans came back to the square deal new deal approach but then in the last 10, 20, 30 years since reagan, the republicans have moved back into this laissez-faire approach where they want every man and woman to be for himself or herself. >> yeah. >> and that philosophical difference is something that can penetrate our politics if we get speeches like this. >> "the ed show" right here on msnbc at 8:00 p.m. the place for politics. elsewhere, knute hnewt gings

widened his view although his front-runner status is stirring debate and energizing mitt romney's front. tracie potts joins us. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. good morning, everyone. newt gingrich is leading by double digits in several major polls, and that is bringing him a lot more attention and criticism from his opponents. michele bachmann questioning his conservativism. but the toughest attack so far is a new attack ad from ron paul who talks about the $1.6 million he earned as a consult for freddie mac saying it's the essence of a washington insider. gingrich on cnbc last night says he is the only former speaker to balance the budget. mitt romney hoping to get back in front-runner status, tied in

some polls with ron paul and now has a key endorsement from dan quayle, and romney says he has time in what iowa that he'll be campaigning aggressively there. and he has one more week there. >> tracie, thank you. the obama administration has taken a significant step in protecting the rights of gay, lesbian and transgendered community around the world. on orders from president obama secretary of state hillary clinton told a conference in geneva that the u.s. will use foreign aid to reward countries that safeguard gay rights. firmly linking gay rights with human rights, the administration has also vowed to actively combat efforts by other nations that criminalize and abuse gays or ignore abuse against homosexuals. the chief of the federal aviation administration has stepped down from his position after he was arrested on drunk driving charges over the weekend. randy babbitt's resignation comes halfway through his term as faa.

he was pulled over by police in virginia where they said the 65-year-old was driving on the wrong side of the road. now here's a look at some other news going on around america today. a cantaloupe-sized cannonball fired by a crew from a reality show "mythbusters" nearly took the lives of several people in california. the projectile was fired from several yards away. the projectile ripped through one home and across six lanes of traffic before slamming into a parked mini van. no one was injured thankfully. a kentucky family is very lucky to be alive after escaping their home just moments before it exploded. they were able to avoid tragedy after the father spotted smoke and flames coming from his second floor window. the apparent natural gas explosion reduced the home to just a pile of debris and fire. nearby homes were evacuated before fire crews put out the flames. in washington, d.c., congress couldn't even get the annual lighting of the capitol

christmas tree right. this is poetic. john boehner lit the white fir successfully but seconds later a technical glitch caused the lights to go out. fortunately power was restored within a few minutes. finally, if you're looking to make a splash at your office christmas party, try this. one vermont has the perfect outfit. marie blackman ships what she calls her ugly christmas sweaters all worldwide. over the last two years her creations have become wildly popular. i mean, why not. look at them. she has about 80 designs for sale. act now. now for a look at your national weather we turn to bill karins. he has your forecast. good morning to you, bill. i will give you $100 if you show up to our christmas party like that. >> they have purposely have parties you have to wear -- >> absolutely. and it's harder than you think to find an ugly sweater.

i should have gone through my closet in the 1980s. >> i think we all d i still think i have one rudolph with the blinking nose. we have a very active weather day. a lot of heavy rain for the east and cold air right behind it. a little bit of snow this morning in a couple of yeahs that don't typically see a lot of it. temperatures, unusually warm once again from boston to new york to d.c. we're waiting for the cold air to move in. it is very close and it will happen throughout the day today. falling temperatures along with steady soaking rain. middle of country it will slowly improve. kansas city, 13shgs san antonio at 29 while new york city is at 61. shows you how topsy-turvy it is. heavy rain coming up from the south soaking virginia and moving through maryland, west virginia is getting drenched. the back side of the storm is actually just enough cold air for a little bit of snow. the rain first off. if you're anywhere here in the

mid-atlantic, bring the umbrella. rain has picked up over delaware, maryland, southern jersey creeping towards new york city during the morning rush hour. see the solid green. the green on the map shows you rain. the yellow shows you where it's more intense rain so a little heavier rainfall moving up outside of charlottesville. snow coated the grassy surfaces near little rock occurring near memphis. i'm sure there's definitely school delays, maybe even cancellations, northern mississippi, snowflakes and nashville today will probably see a period of some light snow. later as the rain moves up new england enough cold air for a stripe of know. not going to be a big deal. cold air comes in too late but within higher elevations of the poconos, berkshires all the way up through northern new england, white and green mountains is where you can expect maybe 3, 4 inches of snow. big areas, no snow. rainy on the east coast, cold

and chilly in the middle of the country but better than yesterday. texas, you should warm up back into the 50s so, lynn, one more soaking day of rain for the east coast and then more typical december weather tomorrow. >> all right, bill, thanks so much. wall street shows confidence in europe. verizon gets ready to make a big play and mark zuckerberg experienced facebook privacy anxiety firsthand. your "first look" at the business headlines is straight ahead. a hat trick, a shootout and frantic finish in college hoops. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition?

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top stories making headlines. the biggest u.s. mine disaster in more than 40 years has resulted in the biggest government fine ever. alpha natural resources has agreed to pay $210 million in fines and payouts for 2010's massive west virginia explosion.

that killed 29 miners. for a second straight day, russian police clashed with demonstrators protesting alleged election fraud by prime minister vladimir putin. police arrested nearly 500 people. elian gonzalez, the cuban boy who survived a raft journey and became the subject of an international custody battle celebrated his 18th birthday in cuba tuesday. he was just 6 years old when federal agents raided his uncle's miami home and seized him at gunpoint. federal authorities say a seattle chiropractor and his wife lived in a million dollar waterfront home and jetted all around the world all while collecting $135,000 in welfare. the couple is now being sued for restitution and facing fines. and does the stress of being president speed up the aging process? you'd think, right? but not necessarily. there is a new study that shows that most u.s. presidents

who have died of natural causes actually lived longer than peers in their age group. they just may have more gray hair. well, now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,150 after gaining 52 points yesterday. the s&p was up a point. but the nasdaq lost 6. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei jumped 147 points, while in hong kong the hang seng climbed 298. well, solid investor confidence and the outcome of europe's upcoming financial summit led the dow higher tuesday. expectations france and germany will press for a tough new union treaty were bolstered by reports leaders at the summit will boost the rescue fund. a sharp recent slide of italian and spanish bond yields is also seen as reinforcing belief europe has finally begun tackling its debt issue. showing bowl investor confidence, tuesday's gains came despite standard & poor's warning monday that it may cut the credit rating of 15 eurozone countries. traders also shrugged off

another s&p warning it may cut the rating of the eurozone rescue fund, as well. general electric, a part owner of this network, led the dow on a brokerage upgrade. virtual penny stock, amr, american airlines' bankrupt parent jumped 67% to 70 cents a share after naming its treasurer chief reconstruction officer. home builder toll brothers was up on earnings that beat expectations. darden restaurants slumped after cutting its 2012 forecast. in a challenge to netflix and traditional cable reports say verizon will launch an online service for streaming movies and tv shows in concert with several cable providers. citigroup will cut 4,500 jobs worldwide, losing $400 million on layoff expenses. and finally, maybe now facebook will finally get on that privacy thing. the social network's founder, mark zuckerberg had his own

personal photos linked online after a facebook user found his security loophole and breached the ceo's account. facebook called the loophole a bug and said, it was being fixed. well, coming up, upsets and shootouts on the ice. and hockey's total realignment behind the scenes. plus, washington goes all out to block 11th ranked marquette in college hoops. your "first look" at sports is straight ahead. this new at&t 4g lte is fast. hey, two tickets just opened up on the 50. ...yup, about to go pick them up from will call. so 46 seconds ago. did you guys hear that chapman rolled his ankle? done.

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♪ there are diamonds in her eyes ♪ ♪ and they sparkle in the night ♪ [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ when the moment comes alive [ male announcer ] this is zales, the diamond store. take an extra 10 percent off storewide now through sunday. take an extra 10 percent off ew. hey, mom. what? pay you? [ laughs ] for what? for unloading the dishwasher? kid, you need to pay me for making this delicious meal. whoa! hold on there, mom. kitchen counselor. um, mom, i think what she means is greasy dishes. yeah. in fact, check it out. cascade complete pacs are the ones with the real liquid top. they fight tough greasy messes better than the other tablet, which can leave more tough grease behind. ooh. clean. there's only one cascade. love it or your money back. welcome back to "first look." in sports the nhl is addressing the longtime claptss of

hockey fans and teams have come up with a new plan for the here is nbc's fred roggin. >> good morning. when the atlanta thrashers became the winnipeg jets it not only put another team in canada it created a geographical problem with the league's six divisions. problem solved. the nhl approved a new four-conference format that will go into effect next season. so the jets will be in a division with the red wings, blackhawks and others but last night they were taking on the bruins. andrew ladd but them on the board in the first period and jets were up 1-0. we go ahead to the third. the game was tied at 1. brian little with a big goal, there's the eventually game winner. the jets handed the champs their first regulation loss since october, 2-1. now in toronto, the devils and maple leafs needed overtime. david clarkson ended it with his second goal of the game. new jersey snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 overtime win. from overtime to a shootout. blue jackets and canadiens, rick nash, one of the best in the league, and this is why. take the goalie to his right, then went to his left.

columbus just won their eighth of the year, 3-2. islanders aren't much better. they have just nine wins but undefeated when they score five goals. they hit that mark last night against lightning. david ulstrom scored the first of his career and islanders cruise to a 5-1. canucks' daniel sedin scored almost five goals all by himself, a one-man wrecking crew against the avalanche. canucks won it big 6-0. finally great finish in college hoops. final seconds, 11th ranked marquette down one to washington. vander blue found the open man in jay crowder knocked down the go-ahead three. huskies with a last chance. six seconds to play. a time-out to burn. but abdul gatty took it in himself and threw it over the backboard. i don't think that's the shot they wanted. marquette remains unbeaten with a 79-77 win. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. >> another check of the weather with bill karins. >> it's amazing. some areas will see snow, lynn, tonight especially and as we go

throughout the day, later tonight, cold air mixed in with snow. the temperatures first off, it's 30s from upstate new york but we're in the 60s from philly to new york so the cold air is on its way. ever so slowly during the day. temperatures will be dropping in many iareas. if not a soaking rain from west, virgin west virginia and the temperatures will be dropping. this winter weather advisory in white through the spine of areas of west virginia, virginia, even winter storm warnings along the pennsylvania border there with maryland. then as we go through central p.a. we expect 1 to 3 inches. the high country outside of the poconos then up through the berkshires and northern new england, we have winter weather advisories, mostly higher elevations, the big cities on i-95 will see zero snow.

baltimore, even d.c., you may get a little bit of wet snow and may see some on the ground or car tomorrow morning. again, mostly the know is going to be higher elevations. as far as the forecast goes, i mentioned the rain today. temperatures dropping down into the 50s and 40s. back in buffalo and pittsburgh, by the way, you're dry. most of the stuff will stay to your south. the good thing about the storm it's in and it's out. it'll be a windy day thursday. temperatures drop and a more normal december weather pattern and can stop wearing like our early fall jackets. >> yeah, i don't know if i like that though. bill, thanks so much. where in the world is jennifer lopez? and bradley cooper hates being sexy. this is true. come on. plus, it's not a scene from "30 rock" but sure sounds like i it. alec baldwin got tossed from a flight for refusing to stop playing with his ipad. first look at entertainment straight ahead. you're watching "first look."

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welcome back to "first look." alec baldwin says he'll never fly american again. he's become the latest celebrity to be booted off an airliner. come on, guys. baldwin apparently got into a fight with a flight attendant and was forced to leave the los angeles flight for refusing to stop playing the game words with friends while parked at the gate. >> you stand up for yourself. >> it is kind of addictive. he tweeted a few hours later, got the next plain he caught had smarter looking flight attendants. harsh. robert downey jr. will welcome a little ironman.

they announced they're expecting a little baby boy. reports say jennifer lopez has bought film rights to the video game franchise carmen san diego and plays to play the thief in a new action movie. and finally bradley cooper is not excited to be "people's" world sexiest man. >> he heard you complaining. >> maybe. quite the opposite. he actually told graham norton, quote, it's the worst. it's just so awful. cry me a river, bradley. cooper joked at age 36 he really doesn't care about stuff like that and thinks the title is ridiculous and realizes just how unsexy he is. >> i can relate to his problems. oh, you're so good looking. >> they don't know how they protest saying bill karins shouldn't be on the cover. this is "first look." stay tuned. "way too early with willie geist" starts right now.

in a landmark speech for him president obama calls on the ghost of teddy roosevelt to stir populist energy and direly attack republican economic theory, not just in this congress but of the party for decades. the question is can the president ride the man of the people routine to win a second term? we'll talk live to chuck today. newt gingrich making himself a clear front-runner for the moment said president obama is opposed to capitalism and, quote, to virtue whamly everything that made america great. the question is, is that just the kind of red meat primary voters want to be fed? we'll show you new polls that suggest it is. alec ball win thrown off a plane by a flight crew. the question is was he booted for some wild movie star behavior in the lavatory. not exactly. kind of boring. it's "way too early" for this.