making news on this wednesday, october 27th. >> fall fury. a powerful system spawning tornadoes and damaging winds, now moves east. launch lapse. the military loses control of 50 nuclear warheads. drunk and naked. that's how police found charlie sheen after a rampage at a posh, new york hotel. can his career survive this newest crisis? good morning, everyone. thanks for being with us today. there are reports of overnight storm damage in a number of states around the country. as a system with the strength of a hurricane now moves eastward. >> right now, the system is bringing heavy rain and powerful winds, from new england all the

way to the deep south. it is a rare, autumn monster storm, causing extensive damage in its wake. here's emily schmidt. >> a tornado warning for new york western counties. >> reporter: it's a storm unlike most any in history. from blinding snow in colorado. >> wish i would have gone through albuquerque. >> reporter: to funnel clouds in tennessee. 1 million square miles of land, have fallen squarely in the path of a weath >> it sounds like a freight train. you don't hear the whistle. it was like an explosion of glass everywhere. >> reporter: at least half a dozen tornadoes set off sirens all across the midwest. >> all of a sudden, the sky got black. and you really -- you couldn't even see out the window. and i heard the crackling sounds. it lasted about ten seconds. looked outside. and the tree was laying on the ground. >> reporter: in ohio, leyland left his field when his wife warned a storm was on the way. >> i came in the house. about ten minutes later, a lot of debris started hitting the

side of the house. >> reporter: he prayed in his house. a new minutes later, his house was the only thing left. >> i walked to the back door and looked out. and saw everything had been destroyed. >> reporter: some meteorologists call this the great lakes cyclone. hundreds of flights at chicago's o'hare airport were grounded. >> my next flight is off in nine hours. >> reporter: hundreds of thousands of people are without power. so far, there's more damage than injuries. but it will take a while for people to get back on their feet, after the storm that's knocked so much off its foundation. and this morning, north carolina officials are reporting that they have unconfirmed reports storms there injured ten people last night. one person, seriously injured. one reason for all of this widespread damage, the national weather service is now saying this storm's pressure system is the lowest ever recorded in a nontropical storm in the entire united states. rob and vinita? >> emily schmidt, on the weather this morning. thank you. so, where will the worst of it be today?

>> accuweather.com's ava dinges has the forecast today. good morning, ava. >> good morning, rob and vinita. severe weather now threatening the east coast. and we are looking for this all along the latest cold front, with our prevailing strong thunderstorm. now, the worst of the storm is actually heading into canada. so, the thunderstorms in the east won't have as much energy to work with. but as we get later in the day, we get the daytime heating. and thunderstorms could strengthen in new jersey, back into the carolinas. possibly some damaging wind gutss and isolated tornadoes. winds are still a problem in the great lakes, back into the midwest. even without the thunderstorms, winds could be howling at 40 miles per hour to 65 miles per hour, from north dakota, back into lower michigan. and this is likely to knock out power in some locations. knock down trees and even cause major delays at many of the airports. and in north dakota itself, with snow falling into the morning hours, we're x.ing blizzard-like conditions in fargo and even bismarck. this storm will go down in history, compared to some of the other storms hitting the great

lakes region, it comes in at number two. with a low pressure center comparable to a hurricane. back to you, rob and vinita. >> ava, thanks. we will have more live from the hardest-hit areas of the midwest, later on "gma." from weather to politics now. just six days left until the big midterm elections. >> the three candidates for senator in florida faced off in a final debate. independent candidate charlie crist was taken to task, from his switch to the republican party. and which party he would lean toward if elected. the democrat kendrick meek trailed gop and tea party-backed, marco rubio. in los angeles, first lady michelle obama revved up the crowd at a campaign fund-raiser for senator barbara boxer. the first lady gave a laundry list of accomplishments so far in her husband's administration. but she did acknowledge that change wasn't coming fast enough, especially for those americans still out of work. mrs. obama sent well wishes to boxer's senate challenger, carly fiorina. the breast cancer survivor is waking up in the hospital, treated for an infection related to her reconstructive surgery last july.

she says she wants to be back on the campaign trail later this week. polls show fiorina and boxer in a tight race. and democrats nationwide are in a fight to the finish. but it's one that might prove futile. our jon karl talked exclusively to former president clinton, who has made more than 100 appearances for his party's candidates. >> reporter: how bad do you fear it can be? >> it depends on how bad we want it. we want it bad enough, we'll go out and get it. reports have been exaggerated. >> mr. clinton is even campaigning for democrats snubbed by president obama. mr. clinton will be in rhode island later this week, appearing with frank caprio, who said mr. obama could, quote, shove it, when it came to endorsing his rival. arizona carried out a controversial execution overnight. jeffrey landrigan was put to death after the u.s. supreme court intervened in the case. attorneys had tried to stop the execution over questions of the

effectiveness of the state's supply of an execution drug. arizona obtained a supply of the sedative drug from great britain. questions are being asked this morning why the white house was only told yesterday about a glitch involving nuclear missiles that happened early saturday. a power outage caused communication to be lost with 50 missiles at warren air force base in wyoming. an equipment failure is blamed. but no foul play is expected. and the pentagon says it never completely lost the ability to launch those missiles. aid is now heading to some of indonesia's remote islands that were slammed by a ten-foot tsunami. the wave was set off by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake monday night. more than 150 people have been killed and hundreds remain missing. some australian tour on a boat when the wave hit, said they only survived by waiting in trees for an hour and a half. the earthquake happened along the very same fault that caused the catastrophic tsunami back in 2004. and now, for this morning's weather around the country, aside from the monster storm we

talked about moving east. seattle, portland and boise, will have a dry day, ahead of another pacific storm rolling in later tonight. the south and the southwest will have summer-like weather, with sunny skies and warm temps. >> dallas, new orleans and miami could come close to breaking high temperature records. parts of southern texas could hit 90 degrees. albuquerque and omaha are in the mid-50s. the upper midwest is colder than usual, with fargo only in the upper 30s this morning. and when we come back today, the newest rankings are out for the most reliable cars on the road. plus, the new crisis for tv's highest-paid performer. police find charlie sheen drunk and disruptive at new york's plaza hotel. and on top of that, one more star says good-bye to the dance floor.

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a government watchdog group is holding the first public hearing on the foreclosure robo signing scandal today. the top treasury official will be on the hot seat, answering questions about how the obama administration is addressing the problem. the panel will also hear testimony on how the foreclosure mess could hurt the housing market. drugmaker glaxo smithkline has now agreed to one of the biggest settlements ever by a pharmaceutical company with the government. glaxo will pay $750 million to settle charges that it knowingly sold tainted or ineffective drugs, including the antidepressant, paxil. the plant in puerto rico where the drugs were made, closed last year. and overseas markets are mostly lower this morning.

tokyo's nikkei average rose 0.1% today. but hong kong's hang seng is sharply lower. in london, meanwhile, the ftse opened down. and on wall street, the dow added five points yesterday. the nasdaq gained six points. some good news for american automakers this morning. ford and general motors have closed the quality gap with their asian rivals in a "consumer reports" annual survey. the companies have benefited from having fewer brands and better vehicles. the magazine's top five are the scion, porsche, acura, honda and infinity. the least reliable brands, chrysler, audi, mini cooper, dodge and bmw. next on this wednesday morning, charlie sheen's latest brush with the law. and a new sign of mexico in crisis. an entire police force quits. plus, lebron james takes the court in his new uniform and answers his critics in a new ad. [ quinn ] my name is quinn,

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ski season is under way in colorado, where as much as 16 inches of snow could be on the ground by noon today. most of it will be in central colorado, where more ski resorts are now preparing to open their doors later this morning. colorado will dry up today, after road crews clean off some of that snow. i-95 could be messy along the long i-94 in the upper midwest. and strong winds could be a problem along i-75. >> and if you're flying today, you can expect some airport delays in minneapolis, chicago, detroit. and on the east coast, from boston to atlanta. now, one of the stories almost everyone's talking about this morning. charlie sheen is back in los angeles this morning, after another high-profile run-in with the police, this time in new york. >> the website, tmz, says sheen admits he made a mistake. but has no plans to enter rehab. with more on what happened, here's andrea canning. >> reporter: it's happened again. charlie sheen, living up to his

bad boy image. police sources say they discovered the actor drunk and half-naked in his new york city hotel room. >> no arrests were made. no one willing to sign a complaint. >> reporter: according to police officials, sheen had been drinking heavily and was reportedly screaming that he couldn't find his wallet or phone. >> he had a whole situation in that hotel room in the plaza. they found him, apparently, naked and intoxicated. >> reporter: sheen allegedly trashed the posh eloise suite at the renowned plaza hotel. overturning tables and chairs, even breaking a chandelier. causing thousands of dollars in damages. sheen was taken to a hospital, where he was reportedly given a psychiatric evaluation. ex-wife, denise richards, was in new york with sheen and their two, young daughters, staying in the same hotel at the time of the incident. she talked about what happened on "the joy behar show." >> so, you don't know exactly what happened.

did you go to the hospital with him? >> i do know what happened. i would rather -- >> oh, you do know. you just don't want to talk about it. >> reporter: sheen's camp tried to downplay the incident, releasing a statement, saying what we were able to determine is that charlie had an adverse allergic reaction to some medication and was taken to the hospital. "two and a half men" is one of tv's highest-rated comedies, bringing in millions of dollars in advertising revenue. >> wait. there is one thing. >> no. you can't do that. >> good. >> reporter: the actor just signed a deal to extend his run as charlie harper for two more seasons, reportedly raking in nearly $2 million an episode. throughout all of sheen's problems, cbs often says one thing, no comment. charlie sheen's publicist says he was released from the hospital and returned back to l.a., adding everything else is speculation. i'm andrea canning, in new york. >> so, what is next?

well, sheen is set to resume shooting on "two and a half men" next week. a massive, new study of high school students demonstrates just how widespread bullying may really be. of the 43,000 students questioned, half said they bullied someone in the past year. and 43% claim they've been the victim of bullies. just yesterday, the u.s. education department told schools and universities that failing to address harassment could be a violation of federal anti-discrimination laws. a new sign of mexico's growing lawlessness. the entire police force of a small town quit on tuesday, after gunmen attacked their headquarters. you can see the building and police cars riddled with bullet holes. the attack happened monday night. no officers were hurt. but a police dog was killed. and all 14 police officers walked off the job. well, the new nba season is now under way. but most teams will play their first games later tonight. highlights from the opening night action and some college football, now, from espn news. >> good morning. i'm don bell with your espn news

update. and the wait is finally over. lakers, receiving their championship rings. it is number five for kobe bryant. and the season is about to get under way. here we are. second quarter, lakers down by 15. kobe uses the screen. and he finds pau gasol. lakers down by 13. fourth quarter, lakers up by two. shot clock running down. that's shannon brown. he had 16 points, 14 of them in the fourth quarter. lakers up by five. under 45 seconds left. gasol, from about 14 feet out. lakers up by one. under three seconds left, rockets down by two. shane battier, inbounds to aaron brooks. ooh, access denied. the lakers win, 112-110. and now, for the highly-anticipated debut of miami's three kings. the heat in boston, taking on the celtics. fourth quarter, dwyane wade sticks a three.

and they trail, 83-78. next heat possession, lebron james, going to the hole. so, he had 31 points. cuts the lead to three. under a minute remaining. celtics up by three. ray allen from boston, nails the three. he had 20. the celtics win it, 88-80. they spoil the debut of the big three. college football, now. boise state, playing host to louisiana tech. the broncos, number three in the country. third quarter, boise state up 35-13. had a little trickeration. kellen moore to jeremy avery, to austin pettis, back to moore. boise state wins 49-20. that is your espn news update. i'm don bell. back to you in new york. of course, you just saw lebron james against the celtics there. you can also see him in a new nike ad. >> it plays to the criticism james received after his much-criticized move to miami,

in a made-for-tv event. >> should i remind you that i've made mistakes? should i remind you that i've done this before? >> the rhetorical questions continue throughout the commercial. james says it is all about his, quote, taking grasp of the moment. >> and he claims it demonstrates how he was feeling at the time of his move and how he sometimes still feels. >> in terms of adjustment to his life in miami, you can see don johnson makes a cameo in the ad, as well. >> laughing all the way to the bank. well, a highly-rated contestant on "dancing with the stars" has made a very abrupt exit. a second-place finish was not enough to save adriana patridge. >> the trij patridge and her partner scored 34 of the 40 points available. despite the high score, len goodman told patridge she was getting on his nerves. they also failed to get enough vote from the viewers. coming up next, the stories we'll be following today, including that damaging storm system that has already spawned two dozen tornadoes across the entire country. details on that and more when we come right back. [ commentator ] lindsey vonn! she stays tough!

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now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this wednesday. rain and wind from a powerful system now stretch from new england to the deep south, where a tornado watch is in effect. the past 24 hours there have been more than 300 reports of severe weather in dozens of states. some areas saw winds of 100 miles per hour. secretary of state hillary clinton leaves today for a major summit of asia-pacific nations.

she'll stop in hawaii today, before continuing on to vietnam and five other nations. president obama targets young voters when he tapes an appearance on "the daily show" with jon stewart. california republican senate candidate, carly fiorina, could be released from the hospital today after a health scare. she was kept overnight as a precaution after developing an infection. the san francisco giants host game one of the world series tonight against the texas rangers. the pitching aces from both teams will be on the mound. and a piece of movie history will be auctioned today in london. it's an original astin martin used in several james bond films. it has some of the secret agent's gadgets that still work. it's expected to go for $3.5 million. coming up later on "good morning america," a terrifying plunge as a pilot falls 100 feet. and it is all caught on camera. we'll have the story of how this lucky guy managed to survive that massive fall. for some of you, your local news is next.

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well, as we've been talking about this morning, the world series gets under way tonight in san francisco. >> and whichever team wins, it will end a long franchise drought without the big title.

>> as t.j. winick reports, the fall classic features two teams who weren't expected to get this far. >> the texas rangers are the american league champions. >> reporter: the american league champs have endured a soap opera season, that included a bankruptcy hearing in august. it began with revelations that manager ron washington had tested positive for cocaine last season. >> i have let a lot of people down that loved me. those people didn't back off of that love just because of what i did. >> reporter: the rangers stood by washington, as they have josh hamilton, a recovering drug and alcohol addict. that loyalty has paid off. hamilton was named mvp of the league championship series. and the rangers even celebrated with ginger ale to support their sober star. >> you know, i got what i needed. i came in. and everybody doused me with ginger ale.

>> got him looking. and the giants win the pennant. >> reporter: over in the national league, the giants manager bruce bochy has called them castoffs and misfits. rookie of the year candidate, buster posey, along with ross and juan uribe, have emerged to establish a new team identity in the post-barry bonds era. but any discussion of the giants has to begin with their pitching staff. tim lincecum is a two-time cy young award winner, nicknamed the freak, for his ability to ring up strikeouts, despite his slight build. he'll get the ball opposite the ranger's cliff lee, in game one, wednesday night. >> i didn't know if we would get here or what was going to happen. or how far we would get. but we've got the right tools. and brought the right people at the right time. you know, we're here now. >> reporter: the only thing we can say for sure about this world series, benji molina will get a ring. molina was traded from the giants to the rangers in july. so, win or lose, he'll end up with some new jewelry. t.j. winick, abc news. >> a ring either way. i like that. that is what is making news in america this morning. >> get more news anytime at abcnews.com. h