because stuff really does actually happen. and eventually you really do have to deal with it. the fbi stops a would-be terrorist from blow you go up the new york federal reserve. binders, jobs and america's future. reaction to the presidential debate. >> i thought he did a good job last night. i thought we had a second debate where, you know, governor romney wouldn't commit to tell us anything about the details of the budget. that ought to tell people all they need to know. >> this is a pivotal time in our country's history. we're at a crossroads, ladies and gentlemen. >> and dropped like a rock. lance armstrong was sacked by almost every company he represented. a devastating day for the once heralded athlete.

good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. a 21-year-old man is being held on charges of blotting to blow up the new york city headquarters of the federal reserve. now, prosecutors say he was inspired by osama bin laden and that he tried to recruit others from across the country. not realizing those recruits were undercover agents. wnbc's jonathan dientz has details. >> reporter: this is the face of quazi nafis and this was his alleged target, the federal reserve bank. he was arrested after he allegedly parked a van packed with what he thought was a thousand pounds of explosives trying to kill hundreds of innocent new yorkers during the morning rush.

>> clearly had the intent of creating mayhem here. >> reporter: it was a sting operation and nafis was under intense surveillance for months by the agencies. the undercovers even provided some of the fake bomb parts. but they say it was nafis who picked his target, helped build the bomb and they only got on to him after he approached an informant about wanting to carry out a major attack. targeting america's economy is the most efficient way to draw the math of obliteration to america," he allegedly said. officials say his initial plot was suppose to be a suicide mission but tight security at the new york stock exchange had him change it to the fed. last week investigators say he bought ammonium nitrate and worked on building the device, not knowing he was being watched each step of the way. nafis was living in jamaica queens and the fbi raided his apartment and taking away

evidence. >> he reported the suspect was here on a student visa. we learned a man who was believed to be a co-conspirator was areesed on unrelated changes. they wasted no time firing back after the debate. one of the hottest topics, women. >> governor romney was asked a direct question about equal pay. he started talking about bind e ers. oh. the idea to go ask where a qualified woman was, he just should have come to my house. he didn't need a binder. >> i've got to tell you we don't have to collect a bunch of binders to find qualified, talented women. >> this president has failed america's women. they've suffered in terms of getting jobs. >> 26 million women are trapped in poverty.

that's the highest rates in 17 years. >> well, the president and governor romney also traded jabs on future plans. >> governor romney says he has a plan to create 12 million new jobs in the next four years. "the washington post" called it a bait and switch. >> i think it's interesting that the president still doesn't have an agenda for a second term. i mean he's got to come up with that over this weekend. because there's only one debate left on monday. >> as predicted it looks like this will, in fact, be the first become dollar election. an nbc news analysis found president obama's team spent $352 million on ads so far while romney and his supporters have shelled out 455 million. that's a total of $807 million spent on television and radio ads with 19 days still left before the electric. more than half of that money was spent in the three battleground states of florida, ohio and virginia. well, cycling legend lance

armstrong stepped down as chairman of his cancer-fighting charity livestrong. the resignation comes after a week after an anti-doping agency released overwhelming evidence of doping by him. he won seven four de france titles. a bunch of companies who used him severed ties with him. we'll have more on him in sports. first, 40 years after it was conceived, a memorial to the nation's 32nd president, franklin d. roosevelt. former president bill clinton was on hand along with new york leaders and nbc's tom brokaw. the monument honors the for freedom speech he gave. words that would become part of the united nations charter. >> we are close to the united nations which he more than any other soul created and which has

contributed to avoiding that third world war. we are also close to ground zero which reminds us that we are not yet free from fear. >> here is your first look at other news going on around america. this carjacking caught on tape. the driver is nearly crushed in a philadelphia gas station when a car thief hopped inside his vehicle. the 61-year-old put up a struggle but lost his grip after being dragged several feet. the car was found a few block as way. no arrests have been made. well, take a look at this shocking video. it was captured on the streets of new york city last april. a taxi driver just tossed a passenger out of his cab, then drove off with the car doors open after the man jumped back in. well, the driver apparently became upset when the allegedly drunken man vomited inside the cab. the taxi limousine commission revoked the cab by's license. all right. rockies, colorado skiers kicked

off ski season at arapaho basin. the resort is traditionally one of the first in the nation to open their slopes. colorado resorts are hoping to rebound from last season's drab winter. how nice does that look. artistic undergarments are now being used in the fight against breast cancer. getting creative there. an elaborate array of bras will be sold to raise money for breast cancer awareness. your national weather. we turn to bill karins capturing busy weather headlines. >> huge storm that spawned severe storms last night. the state of mississippi got hit the worst. the storms as far as the official tallies go about 77 storm reports, the blue dots are the damaging wind reports, the red is the tornado reports. we had three of them. it appears the one near yazoo city and to the south of meridian did the most damage.

a couple thousand without people in central mississippi and the storms have weakened. a look at that storm that did cause the issues. here it was as it went through the meridian, mississippi, area. now in south central portions of alabama. it has weakened significantly. no longer a tornado threat but in monroeville you're going to get gusty winds, hear the lightning and thunder and those storms should be passing by within the next hour. otherwise, the storms have weakened significantly. it looks like these storms heading down toward i-10 will produce heavy rain. this storm in the northern plains got blown around from oklahoma northward, winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour. still windy behind that storm in iowa through missouri. it's cloudy, cool, raw up here from the dakotas all the way through the great lakes and so this area is a slow-moving storm, chicago today, detroit, later today, i know that yankee game once again they'll try to get it in. periods of light rain possible. it shouldn't be a complete washout but a raw day here and

heads-up for everyone tomorrow morning. it looks like the heavy rain threat will be right up through new york city up through new england during the day, lynn, so if anyone has airport plans friday morning, if you can go today, do so. >> bill, good advice. thank you. coming up a cancer fighter probably already in your cabinet and conde nast's top tourist destinations. in america. have you been there yet. the housing market. things are looking up. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ♪

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well, some of the big stories this morning, the search is on for whoever killed five people inside a bar in denver then set fire to the bar. among the victims, four women including one of the bar's owners. a 63-year-old. police think the fire was set to try and destroy evidence. they have not identified a suspect. well, the family of george mcgovern says the former presidential candidate is "no longer responsive" in hospice care.

earlier his daughter said the 90-year-old was nearing the end of his life. well, it's not exactly the perfect graduation gift. a new report finds two-thirds of the class of 2011 finished college already owing an average of 26,000 bucks in student loan, up about 5%. and pop quiz time, can you name the world's top tourist destination? may be hard to guess. not florence, italy. that came in number three. cape town, south africa did well on the survey but still reached only number two. the winner, hey, right here at home, charleston, south carolina. it is gorgeous there. it also earned bragging rights for the second year in a row as top city in the u.s. great restaurants too. now here's your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. after mitt romney's binder full of women remark at tuesday's debate, a coalition of women's groups in massachusetts said romney did not ask for resumes for women cabinet candidates.

they went to him and romney's son tagg told the radio host what he wanted to do when president obama said his father was not telling the truth. >> jump out of your seat and take a swing at him but you know you can't do that because, well, first, because there's a lot of secret service between you and him but also because that's the nature of the process. >> 66.5 million watched the debate and reaction was in full swing on the campaign trail. joe biden stumping in nevada gave his own folksy take on the romney/ryan tax proposal. >> we learned that suddenly, suddenly governor romney lost that plan, that $5 trillion tax pl plan. >> a musician used to sing a song. >> and florida republican senate

candidate connie mack debated bill nelson and both men objected to what the other said. >> senator nelson, what you just said is not true. >> everything that is the congressman just said is not true. >> there you go. >> finally as bill clinton and bruce string steen gpringsteen right now for the president obama to be effective he needs our increased support and needs support in the congress. and that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. well, last night on politics nation "time" magazine editor talked to al sharpton about mitt romney's move to the right. >> the big thing that happened the tea party dragged the whole republican party more to the right and, of course, governor romney in the primary has to run more to the right. still the nixon doctrine, run to the right in the primaries and

center in the general election but because of the tea party shifting everything in that direction, he had to be way more conservative than he probably really is and certainly more than he was as governor of massachusetts which, by the way is the opposite of a conservative state. >> politics nation with reverend al sharpton only on msnbc, the place for politics. all right, now check of wall street. how it will kick offer the day. the dow closed at 13,557 as adding 5 points yesterday, the s&p up 6, the nasdaq gained almost 3. in overseas trading on this thursday, in tokyo, the nikkei surged 176 points while in hong kong the hang seng climbed 102. well, wednesday is good news at home, had a ripple effect overshares. asian shares hit a seven-month high. september home construction soared 15% over august driving up home builders and suppliers like home depot and lowe's. but it wasn't all good news.

ibm's lackluster earnings were a drag on the dow. bank of america reported its profit plunged 95% but still managed to beat estimates. american express matched third quarter expectations as card spending growth slowed. it was a milestone for lockheed martin yesterday. the company's next generation military fighter jet, the supersonic f-35 test dropped a 2,000-pound bomb over the mojave degree certificate. a judge ruled dc comics can retain the rights to superman saying the heirs of one of superman's co-creator signed their ryes away 20 years ago. and if you can believe it, not halloween yet but target and other retailers are already ramping up holiday ads and displays like online price matching and digital in-store shopping. can we get to halloween yet please? celebrity chef rachael ray is cashing in on the food truck,

for animals. her dog food truck will hand out samplers of her own delish recipes. it will be in new york city for the next few days. in health news there is a new study that shows taking daily multivitamins might reduce a man's risk of getting cancer. a middle-aged man who took them for a decade had cut their cancer rate by 8%. this finding suggests that low dosage of a wide range of vitamins might be better than loading up on just one. they appear to have no side effects while high dose ones can be harmful. mother nature keeps the yanks alive and lance armstrong's world comes crashing down. plus the world's oldest profession helps out the world's most popular sport. sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain

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really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi® card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts. more events. more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with a citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ] welcome back. in sports as we told you earlier lance armstrong's financial empire has now come crashing down. on the same day armstrong stepped down as chairman of his cancer-fighting foundation livestrong, nike along with a slew of other companies have now terminated their endorsement deals with the cyclist. the list includes check this out, anheuser-busch which used armstrong to pitch michelob, trek, 24 hour fitness, frs, honeystinger, radio shack and maker of giro helmets. those companies said they will continue to support the livestrong foundation.

oakley that put status under review. let's go over to baseball. national league playoffs. st. louis' matt carpenter hit a two-run homer and the cards weathered a 3 1/2-hour rain delay to beat the giants, 3-1 taking a one-game series lead. the yanks and tigers were rained out. 3-1 they lead and game four played this afternoon. hopefully bill can tracking weather. finally players on a cash-strapped greek soccer team are now wearing pink. practice jerseys with the logos villa erotica and soul's house of history. two brothels they recruited as sponsors after a government spending cut left the sports clubs facing financial ruin. couldn't come up with anything else? league organizers banned them during games saying it violates the sporting ideal and is inappropriate for underage supporters. probably a good idea. all right.

now let's get a check of your weather with meteorologist bill karins sponsored by someone g-rated, i hope. speechless. >> no one yet. >> we'll work on that. >> yeah, we'll find some animated character. well, good morning, everyone. severe weather once again possible late today. not going to be widespread but the mid-atlantic region populated area from washington, d.c., to baltimore, archbishop, all the way down through virginia and the carolinas has a chance for some isolated strong storms later on today. more or less after you get home from work. i don't think we'll see many storms out there until we get to the evening hours into the overnight hours. as far as the forecast goes today we're dry today in new england, tomorrow's the rainy day. d.c. could see showers and storms late today after you get home from school or from work. the rest of the country, the northern plain, it's a rough morning up there. very windy and just kind of raw and cold and the leaves are coming down in a hurry. unfortunately at peak too.

not many left. >> hey, bearer of good news over there. thank you, bill. >> same for new england. >> we get it. it stinks. coming up, the latest bizarre baby name and this one is a mouth full. plus, who knocked charlie sheen off his highest tv pefrn entertainment straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. but how am i going to fund it? and i have to find a way to manage my cash flow better. entertainment straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

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welcome back. time for entertainment news. this time it's rapper flavorer 1/2 arrested in las vegas yesterday for allegedly assaulting his fiance

of eight years and her 17-year-old son and threatening to stab him with a knife. that's a terrible mug shot. ashton kutcher tops forbes list of highest paid tv actors with an estimated 24 million bucks. this, of course, thanks to that "two and a half men" role. that works well. well, last year the man he replaced in the series, charlie sheen, was in the top spot with 40 million. bet he's regretting that. rounding out the top five, hugh laurie and ray romano with $18 million each. uma thurman has revealed her new baby's name. that is the little girl's name, the 42-year-old actress gave birth to her in july and the weirdest part about all this, bill karins, is not just the name -- >> i'm still reading. >> let me give you a second. you want to try to pronounce it. rosalind arusha arkadina altalune florence -- >> i get the florence part. >> they'll call her luna. >> good thing they hyphenated the last name. make it fair we got all the

grandparents in there and both last names. >> for like 15 generations. yeah, tsa is going to be a tough one. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" is next. a 21-year-old man pulls up to the federal reserve bank in new york with a van packed with what he thinks is a 1,000-pound bomb. only to find out as he pressed the dummy detonator he's been set up by the fbi. the question is, who is this guy? a day after their second debate president obama and mitt romney out on the trail with the obama campaign getting an awful lot of mileage out of those binders full of women with election day less than three weeks away, the question is, what will turn this race in florida, virginia and ohio? the yankees were rained out in the alcs but there are not a-rod headlines to fill the papers front to back. the question is, is he on his way out of town? it's "way too early" for this.