blazing trail -- medicare takes center stage as the accusations fly from both presidential campaigns. family affair -- man leads police in utah on a high-speed chase with his wife and children in tow. and cosmic supermom -- scientists discover a galaxy that gives birth to more stars in a day than ours does in a year. good morning, i'm lynn berry, those storiesnd more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

and we are going to begin this morning with getting down to business. after brutal blows from each side, by the end of the day wednesday, it seemed the candidates on the campaign trail were easing up on the personal attacks and zeroing in on one issue -- medicare. nbc's claire laka joins us from washington with more. claire, good morning. >> good morning to you, lynn, yes, that's right. but it has been a war of words between president obama and gop rival, mitt romney. with words being tossed around like unhinged, and hate. and both candidates now going at it in blistering fashion on the latest hot campaign topic. both campaigns spent the day firing at each other over medicare. president obama was joined by the first lady on his third and last day of campaigning in iowa. he attacked gop claims in a his health care plan reforms cut medicare by $700 billion.

>> i proposed reforms that will save medicare money by getting rid of wasteful spending in the health care system. >> paul ryan at his alma mater, miami university in ohio, hit back at the president, inviting a challenge on the issue. >> the president, i'm told, is talking about medicare today. we want this debate. we need this debate. and we will win this debate. >> according to the congressional budget office, obama's health care reforms and ryan's medicare plan, slow growth by $700 million. but neither plan cuts program benefits, both republicans candidates have been hammered on the ryan versus romney medicare plan this week. >> the medicare issue has been a big seller for the democrats

since the 1980s. given all that, they should have expected this and should have been better prepared. >> today, obama and bide republican back at the white house for meetings with secretary of state hillary clinton and treasury secretary, timothy geithner. that while mitt romney heads to south carolina and his running mate will be in ohio. we're live in washington, i'm claire leka. lin? >> last night on the ed show, former vermont governor, howard dean, talked about how republicans are selling their plans for medicare. he told host ed schultz that in his view, the gop's biggest mistake was that they mischaracterized the president's handling of medicare. >> they say something that's not true and they're going to spend $200 million saying it again and again hope that somebody believes it. here's the problem that they have -- very few people in america believe that republicans care about medicare. because they've tried to hurt it so many ways. nor do they believe they care about middle class people. they do believe that whatever

the faults of the democrats, they have stood up for social security and medicare. so it's propaganda generally and did didn't work in russia and it's not going to work here. generally does not work when people know that it's a lie. >> be sure to watch "the ed show" week nights at 8:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. well a judge in pennsylvania has decided not to block a new state law requiring specific kinds of photo identification to vote, which could have a big impact on the presidential race. opponents of the voter i.d. law say it will prevent a million registered voters from casting their ballots in the fall. groups opposing the law say they will appeal to the state supreme court to try to stop it before the november election. voter turnout could play a crucial role in what may be a tight race between president obama and mitt romney in pennsylvania. thousands of young, undocumented immigrants have started applying for the right to legally stay and work in the u.s. the government is now accepting

the applications for the new obama administration program for deferred action. a two-year reprieve from any threat of deportation. it would give them work permit, but not legal residency or a path to citizenship. meanwhile, as adds governor, jan brewer, has signed a order directing state agencies to deny driver's licenses and other public benefits to those in the new program. dozens of wildfires continue to burn across the west, fuelled by searing heat, dry weather and strong winds. in california, the u.s. marines are sending in helicopters to help battle a cluster of san diego county wildfires that have prompted orders to evacuate 180 homes. meanwhile, in washington, authorities say a wildfire that's destroyed dozens of homes across 35 square miles is now just 25% contained. well here's your "first look" at other news going on around america today. this is disturbing. in utah, troopers say a dad

driving a minivan with his three kids and wife inside, just took off during a traffic stop and it led to a chase at up to 100 miles per hour. when he finally pulled over, dad claimed he thought someone was after him. both parents were arrested, the kids, who just thought they were going on a fishing trip are now in protective custody. in new york, there was no outrunning the weather, torrential rain poured inside subway stations. in rhode island, a wild weather created a waterspout just offshore. this is the view captured from an airport. and a car with two people inside fell victim to a sinkhole. but luckily they made it out okay. and finally to massachusetts, where this is one bad bird. all right, here's the story. the parrot swooped down from a roof and dive-bombed an unsuspecting man, smacking him in the head. but this feathered felon has a conscience, because it flew into

a nearby police car and surrendered. perching on the shoulder of an officer, the jailbird has been turned over to foster parents until authorities find its owner. for a look at the national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist, bill karins, he has the weather channel forecast. >> this is how it would go if the bird had a brain that thought like a human. which we decided to give him today. but nevertheless sort of funny. >> i'm so glad they crackered that case. i had that one saved. like one of those things you don't want to say, but have to. >> you don't have. >> the storms were impressive. i even had small hail at my house, which is rare in new york city. here's what we're dealing with this morning. we start in the midwest. we covered the drought yesterday, showed you how bad it is. we've been talking about it all summer long. this is the most rain i've seen over the state of iowa, going back to the middle of spring. we're covered with thunderstorms this morning and heavy downpours from des moines to ames, cedar

rapids, the quad cities are next, sweeping towards chicago as we go throughout the morning rush so could have some delays possibly at the airports and on the roads. other concerns, thunderstorms starting to fire up good through central and now southern portions of wisconsin. we eventually around madison and milwaukee during the rush hour, you'll deal with a little bit of rain. sliding back to the eastern seaboard, most of the wet weather is gone from the storms yesterday. just a little bit left over here on i-95 from portland, maine, heading down through manchester and boston, it looks like you're just about done. i would expect the rest of your day to be dry there. the cold front, this is the one that feels like fall behind it. it is in the 50s in some spots here of montana, through the dakotas, we're at 58 in fargo right now. it's going to be a beautiful fall-like day. in areas that have been so hot. we're going to be 81 today in kansas city. in the 70s through nebraska. much of iowa will only be in the 70s. so enjoy the nice cooldown. ufrl it doesn't quite get to texas yet. you'll have to wait the next two

days. for the eastern seaboard, lynn, it looks like the rain is exiting, it will be a warm, but dry day for just about everyone. cisco drives a bank scandal widens and a nike t-shirt that has critics up in arms. your "first look" at business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, perfection in seattle, a giant suspension and an historic win for usa soccer. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. hey america, even though

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry, here's some stories making news this morning. a virginia man is in custody after a shooting at a headquarters for the lobbying group, the family research council in washington, d.c. security guard is in stable condition after being wounded in the arm. police say the gunman made negative comments about the christian organization's work. the mayor of dlas has declared the city's west nile virus outbreak to be a state of emergency after more than 200 cases and ten deaths have been

reported. the husband of england's queen elizabeth, prince phillip, is back in the hospital for a bladder infection after being treated for the same condition in june. the 91-year-old is expected to remain hospitalized for several days. the u.s. air force has confirmed the failure launch of the x51a waverider aircraft, which is intended to fly at five times the speed of sound. after being launched from a b-52 bomber, there was a problem with the cruise control fins and it was lost. scientists have found what they're calling a cosmic supermom galaxy. it creates about 740 new stars per year. that's compared to our milky way galaxy, which produces only about one new star a year. now here's your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. arizona senator john mccain has some unusual advice for president obama after the latest

gaffe from vice president joe biden. mccain told fox news he thinks it might be wise for the president to replace biden on the ticket with hillary clinton. mitt romney's running mate, paul ryan had a meeting in las vegas with casino owner sheldon adelson. "the new york times" reports that since the law prevents elected officials from asking donors for money. an aide said its a finance event, no a fundraiser. a until poll finds that 80 million americans do not plan on voting this election day. 43% of those nonvoters support president obama and only 20% prefer romney. tmz reports that megadeath front man, dave mustaine bashed president obama during a concert in singapore. he told the concertgoers a s ar trying to pass gun ban, so he's

staging these murders. the romney presidential campaign has used a song at candidate appearances called "panic switch" by a ban called the silversun pickups, the group sent a lawyer to stop the use of the song and the band's front man said we don't like people going behind our backs using our music without asking and we don't like the romney campaign. and there's a new song about the romney campaign by the band devo. the new song about the romney dog riding on top of the car, is called "don't roof rack me, bro." here's your "first look" at wall street. the dow opens at 13,164. the s&p was up a point, the nasdaq gained 13. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo,

the nikkei shot up 162, but in hong kong, the hang seven dropped 89. on wednesday the street got a few signs that the economy is improving, albeit slowly. fresh data showed home builder sentiment hit a five-year high, adding to good news that industrial production picked up last month and consumer prices, which affect inflation, remained unchanged. on the earnings front, cisco posted a jump in quarterly profit and raised its dividend. in late trade, lenovo, the world's number two pc maker reported a healthy jump in quarterly profit. farm equipment maker, deere, delivered an earnings miss and slashed yearly forecast, thanks in part to the nation's ongoing drought. weak sales pulled staples earnings below expectations and target reported better-than-expected earnings and announced its first expansion outside the u.s. private equity firm, carlyle group is buying getty images for

$3.3 million. the "associated press" reports seven banks have been subpoenaed by the attorneys general of new york state and connecticut, jpmorgan chase, hsbs, citibank and ubs are among those under investigation. after recently vowing to remove formaldehyde from its baby products, johnson & johnson is including its adult brands, neutrogena and avino in that ban. keep an eye on facebook, the first lock-up of post ipo shares will flood the market, freeing up insiders to sell additional shares for the first time. kanye west may disagree, with you nike is under fire for this olympic-inspired t-shirt. critics say the gold digging logo is offensive to women. coming up the rangers avoid the broom, an umpire gets a spike to the face and another doping scandal in major league baseball. plus, 75 years of u.s. defeat in mexico finally comes

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good afternoon. chase sapphire. (push button tone) this is stacy from springfield. oh whoa. hello? yes. i didn't realize i'd be talking to an actual person. you don't need to press "0," i'm here. reach a person, not a prompt whenever you call chase sapphire. get two times the points on dining in restaurants with chase sapphire preferred. welcome back to "first look." in sports, seattle's king felix managed to pitch his way into the history books, here's nbc's fred roggin. >> good morning, for years the mariners felix hernandez has been one of the best pitchers in baseball and now he's perfect. in seate, king felix joined baseball royalty, overpowered

the rays from start to finish, got stronger as the game went on. struck out the side in the eighth. king's court going crazy, hernandez on the verge of history. completes perfection with his 12th strikeout. 27 up, 27 down. felix hernandez pitches the 23rd perfect game in baseball history and the third this season. mariners win 1-0. yankees and rangers, josh hamilton has a league-leading 34. but not enough, texas lost in the bronx. tory hunter tried to slide around the tag, clipped umpire greg gibson with his cleat in the face. cut around the eye, he was okay. it could have been much worse. agnels went on to win it. nats and giants, pick it up in the third, danny espinoza taking tim lincecum deep. all he could do was watch it go over the wall. washington up 4-. steven strasburg picked up his 14th win of the year, nats won it 6-4.

more bad news for the giants, melky cabrera has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for elevated levels of testosterone. and last but certainly not least. u.s. men's soccer team accomplished something they've never done before, beating mexico in mexico. in the 80th minute, heel flick by terrence boyd to michael arasco, u.s. up 1-0. a couple of huge saves in the last minutes, the usa finally beats mexico south of the border 1-0. that's your "first look" at sports. i'm fred roggin. now for another look at the weather, here once again, nbc meteorologist bill karins, he has the forecast and it's moving on out. >> it was a rough afternoon for a few spots. early in the morning, go through new england, the storm redevelop as expected yesterday afternoon. norms was hit hard, long island and up through rhode island once

again. thankfully most of it is gone. the exception is our friends to the north. coastal areas of maine are still dealing with the storm system. along with areas from portsmouth, new hampshire back towards manchester. a shield of light rain so a gloomy look to your thursday morning. lewiston looks like a thunderstorm near you and some showers heading up to the beautiful coastal areas of central maine. boston, if you get any showers, it will be the next hour and then you'll clear out during the day. everyone else, lower humidity, but still a warm day. temperatures easily from 85 to 90 degrees from the urban corridor from new york down through d.c. the southeast, you look dry today, as you also get the drier air mass. the big story is the cold front moved through the middle of the country. the drought zone is cooling off and getting significant rain especially around iowa, illinois and later, indiana. >> that's fantastic. coming up, a stunning surprise for elvis fans at graceland, marking the 35th anniversary of his death. the fur flies as lady gaga

fires back at animal rights group, peta. your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. covering 2,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. at&t. rethink possible.

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welcome back, time for entertainment news, elvis presley fans are marking the 35th anniversary of the king's death in memphis. last night they got a special surprise. presley's ex-wife, priscilla and their only daughter, lisa marie stunned the crowd of thousands, unexpectedly greeting fans holding a can'tlelight vij until graceland. chris brown and drake are being sued for $16 million over a bottle-throwing nightclub brawl last june. bill, you were there, right?

you always have table service, the owners of the night spot, he just laughs because it's so not true. more than a decade after he left to fight parkinson's disease, some great news, michael j. fox is reportedly planning a return to tv in a comedy in development for next year. >> i will watch. >> he did one episode on "curb your enthusiasm" toward the end of the season with larry david and it was hysterical. lady gaga is firing back at peta, which labeled her a turncoat for wearing fur. she snapped back, saying she does not support quote violent abusive and childive campaigns for any cause, and referred to kim kardashian being flour bombed to make bread for children who are hungry and kim kardashian is fabulous. >> this is the power of having the whole twitterverse behind you like lady gaga. >> and having 15 million

followers? yeah, you have a little power there. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. after four days of tap dancing around his prescription to save medicare, paul ryan talks on the campaign trail about that broken program. the question is -- how much is the obama team enjoying a week-long conversation about medicare and the budget rather than about 15% real unemployment. tense of thousands of young illegal immigrants line up to sign up for the right to work in the united states without fear of deportation. the question is -- was president obama's june initiative to create the program a wise economic move or cynical political play? and seattle's felix hernandez throws the 23rd perfect game in major league history. the question is, how close did the king come to losing perfection? it's "way too early" for this.