this morning on "early today," poll position. with less than two weeks to the election, our new nbc news poll shows republicans poised for big wins. near death experience. a peruvian police officer lucky to be alive after being slammed by an 18-wheeler. and monkey business. an escaped chimp causes an uproar in kansas city. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pick time zone. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with running out of time. with less than two weeks to go until the midterm elections, it

appears democrats have some major hurdles to overcome in their fight to stay in power on capitol hill. brian moore joins us from washington with the latest "wall street journal" online poll. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. president obama has some work ahead of him today as he heads out west. this nbc news poll shows that 50% of likely voters would like to see republicans take control of congress while only 43% want democrats in charge. president obama shedding out west today hoping to boost democrats in oregon and washington state. with the midterm elections just 13 days away, he's got plenty of campaigning ahead. >> reminding voters what's at stake, who has their best interests in mind. >> will you go to washington to simply be a rubber stamp? >> reporter: the race is winding down, but the candidates are not. in illinois, the president's former senate seat sup for grab, and the candidates are throwing sharp elbows. >> i think you should have some

apologizing to do, too. >> i have no answer to the question. >> your time is up. >> it it was up to me -- >> reporter: florida's senate race is a virtual microcosm of decision 2010. >> i didn't interrupt you. >> you're for offshore oil drilling. >> no, i'm not. i'm opposed to it. >> oh, now you are. now you are. >> reporter: democrat kendrick meek is running behind and so is the state's former republican governor charlie crist. tea party favorite marco rubio is hoping to ride the wave of voter anger all the way to washington. and the poll puts the voters at anger. six in ten believe the country is now on the wrong track. lynn. >> brian moore in washington, brian, thank you. the federal judge who, last week, overturned the 17-year don't ask don't tell policy on gays serving open in the military has rejected the latest offer and effort to halt her

order while the government appealing the ruling. even as the government tries to protect its don't ask, don't tell policy in the courts, for the first time in the nation's history, the military is now accepting openly gay recruits with the warning that the controversial policy could be reinstated. the associated press reports at least three service members discharged for being gay have begun the process of reenlisting with several others planning to rejoin this week. the cia is acknowledging, quote, missteps and shortcomings that led to the worst attack in decades. a cia official warned that a jordanian double agent may have been plotting an attack against a u.s. base in afghanistan last year three weeks before he detonated a bomb there killing seven cia agents and two others. the official says he failed to report the warning to his bosses and the jordanian agent was not properly vetted and searched before he entered the base. >> now here's a look at other

stories making news early today in america -- a pennsylvania woman is behind bars for allegedly pulling out a handgun and pointing it at a fellow bus passenger after she reportedly bumped into her while talking on cell phone. fortunately, a good samaritan separated the woman before things escalated. the 58-year-old got off the bus and was later arrested on weapons and aggravated assault charges. in missouri, animal control was called in after a 350 pound chimpanzee got loose. the animal pounced on front doors and vehicles and climbed up and smashed the windshield of a police cruiser. the owner was cited and the chimp is in a sanctuary until the city decides its fate. a new york judge decided the fate of a restaurateur who skipped out of $650,000 of taxes. the owner has been ordered to serve 12 sheets of free pizzas

every month a year to a mission. justice is "served." and in north dakota, one man is fighting hard to get his business moving, literally, with the bar hopper. ten bikes welded together with a bar in between. two benches on the back makes it a party bus for 15, an allegedly safe way to indulge with a sober driver at the wheel, but the city is putting brakes on the idea. they're citing obvious concerns for public safety. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, do you notice no one's wearing a helmet in that video. >> it is public safety. they don't want anyone to be too happy, laugh too hard and hurt themselves having too good of a time. i like the idea. just not down my street. talk about the weather pattern out west. incredible pattern. the jet stream is kind of what controls the weather. what brings the weather to you. the main part of the jet stream,

just doing this huge dip all the way to the north and it goes all wait back down through the middle of the country. that means the weather pattern in much of the west, high pressure dominates. this is usually a little bigger today than normal. just a huge area of high pressure bringing the pacific northwest, it's northern rockies, four corner region great weather. the problem weather is down here in southern california. cut off low pressure system is just sitting here spinning. this looks like a radar show on the east coast as a storm was coming up the eastern seaboard. san diego rain. hail yesterday in ventura county. continuing with moderate areas of rain headed for bakersfield near santa barbara and some wet weather headed for arizona's phoenix maybe showers this morning, but definitely later this afternoon, maybe a few thunderstorms. our computers projecting this rain will shift all the wait to new mexico in the days ahead. just a very interesting. the wettest portion of our entire country that is typically the driest

over 50 year. an unusual weather pattern it is. >> well, lynn, heavy rain on the move tomorrow. we'll show you thursday's forecast coming up. >> that's good. you know whats in l.a. where there's that much rain. >> ate of accidents yesterday. people -- the driving -- >> they shut down. yeah. >> lacking. >> i lived there and sat in traffic. from the east coast, i'm like, people, get this thing moving. all right, bill. thank you. well, intel invests. yahoo! has doubters and a pair of stocks that may about tough sell. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, beer whirling doughnut loving homer simpson and family get an unexpected endorsement. >> good morning, and welcome

back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. this morning's "new york times" reports talks to end the war in afghanistan involves hamid karzai's inner circle and taliban commanders at its highest level, according to officials who say the face-to-face discussions are taking place with nato troops to protect taliban members taking part in the negotiations. new evidence confirms that hormone replacement therapy may do more harm than good for many women after menopause. according to the latest results, from a landmark federal study, women who take a combination of estrogen and progestin not only increase their chances of getting breast cancer, they may also be at a higher risk of dying from the disease. france is bracing for

another day of crippling public sector strikes over plans to lift the country's retirement age from 60 to 62. yesterday an estimated 1 million people took to the streets to protest president nicolas sarkozy's pension reform. and a peruvian officer is recovering from injuries sustained after she crashed with a big rig. highway cameras show the woman who works for a special forces police group crashing as she passed in the way of the truck. air mazingly she only suffered bruiseses and scratches. wow. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,978 after losing points yesterday. 165 points. the s&p shed 18 points. the nasdaq went down 43. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei sank 157 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 207.

yesterday, a perfect storm of events collided on wall street. already reeling from apple and ibm's disappointing earnings, markets were socked with a surprise interest rate hike in china. that sparked fears that weakness from the world's number two economy could undermine a global recovery. the dow dropped below its psychologically important 11,000 mark as investors sold off stocks and sent the dollar soaring. the price of crude was hit the hardest by china's move to keep the lid on its single biggest day slide since february to settle bellow $78 a barrel. reports that the new york fed has joined a group of investors pressuring bank of america to buy back $47 billion in mortgages. bank of america also reported a $7 billion one-time log in its quarterly earnings yesterday, driving shares down 4%. in the wake of that foreclosure and mortgage mess, the fbi is now investigating whether there are grounds for criminal charges at several of the nation's

largest financial institutions. elsewhere, on the earnings front -- goldman sachs managed to close higher yesterday after beating quarterly profit estimates. intel also bucked the downward trend after announcing plans to pump as much as $8 billion into its manufacturing plants adding as many as 1,000 new jobs. keep an eye on yahoo! today. the company reported a mostly flat earnings yesterday evidence that it's struggling to keep up with its online competitors. finally, here's a pair of socks you won't be getting from your secret santa at the office this year. the high-end hand-crocheted pair are made of multi colored angora goat hair and cost a whooping $500 a pair. they're not even really that attractive. well, cane is able. a hockey player goes wild, and a performance-enhancing shoe?

plus the yankees robinson cano fans last night, but it wasn't enough. your early morning sports headlines are just ahead. just about everyone is going to enjoy a great fall day. the exception? the desert southwest. your wednesday morning forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." 3q

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good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the texas rangers have taken the defending champion new york yankees to the brink of elimination in the american league championship series. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the yankees hit a controversial home run, but the rangers came back swinging. we go to the bronx. second inning. robinson cano with a shot to right. nelson cruz was there but couldn't make the grab, because a fan pulled it in. very close to being fan interference, shades of jeffrey mare in 1986. the home run stood and the yankees up, 1-0. in the fourth, fred gardner with an open run 0 short. it nailed the cam are a long the first baseline shattering the lens. those things are expensive, but i think gardner has it covered. to the sixth, molina did breaking of his own. shattered the hearts of yankees everyone, texas up, 4-3. the rangers went, 10-3.

the rangers pushed yanks to the brink of elimination with a 10-3 win. to the national league. barry bonds received a welcome from the faithful. to the fourth, cody ross broke through with a single off cole hamill. what's gotten into ross? the journeyman had seven rbi these playoffs. giants scored a pair in the inning and that is enough for matt cane. struck out five out of seven innings. giants win it, 2-0. hockey -- unfortunate incident in minnesota, grabbed a fan as he was leaving the bench and you can't do that. the fans were kicked out of their seats. get this, given better seats on the glass. i guess it pays to turn the other cheek. finally -- remember the old nike air jordan ad, it's got to be the shoes? well, 20 years later, it is the shoes. they have a spring base system to increase your vertical leap. the nba has taken note and for the first time in league history, they have banned players from using them. too bad for kobe and lebron, but

you can bet i'll be wearing a pair in my adult league. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. "early today" sports is brought to you by -- just for men hair color. live forward. well, which aging action star had health problems on location? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, one ohio football team that couldn't find a kicker ended up finding a gem. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back. unusual site to the see this much rainfall in saurn california even areas of arizona. vague his thunderstorms justice to the south of you, and this is going to continue all day today as our upper level low continues to push into arizona. forecast today, moisture spreads into arizona, phoenix, tucson a chance of thunderstorms. albuquerque even, partly cloud toy start your day. look how gorgeous in the pick northwest even into thursday. great up there and really no end in sight. fantastic weather. if you're waging us on q, hq, that's q 6 right now in spokane, washington, with the weather cooling down, time to dust off the ice skates and head to the opening day of of the ice palace at the riverfront park. that's your pick event of the day, lynn. >> about that time. all right, bill. thanks. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment.

it is election season, and one big named hollywood direct sir doing some hard campaigning to land a big upcoming project. james cameron, the man behind "titanic" and "avatar" tells the "new york times" cleopatra has always fascinated him. sony executives reportedly decided on angelina jolie would play the egyptian queen. it sounds hot. doesn't it? it had him gushing, to me, that's a slam dunk. action start jean-claude van dam suffered a heart attack while shooting a movie in romania. he is expected to make a full recovery. and jodie foster tells extra despite mel gibson's recent troubles, she still "the most loved man in show business." finally, the vatican has declared homer and bart simpson are catholics and that parents shouldn't be worried about allowing their children to watch

them. watching the little guys in yellow. >> there's an episode where they were in shock and awe they put that out there. >> who was -- >> a jesuit survey, the story line they saw a pattern of catholic -- >> interesting. i'll have to go rewatch all 22 years. >> exactly. this comes to us from cleveland, ohio, where in nearby akron, one high school player has proven girls can do it, too. alana made history nailing a 43-yard field goal believed to the longest ever made by a football player. the student player was recruited when no boys on the soccer team showed interest. she's the smallest player on the team, but she has come up with one of the biggest plays ever at firestone high. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a furry addition at one zoo in australia is already beating the odds. the 12-week-old cub is a rare mixture. the unplanned pregnancy took everyone by surprised, including the mother who rejected her cub. now pi will call this zoo home and surely attract crowds with that playful personality. they haven't taken over the world, but improving -- the latest and greatest in robot technology was on display at the event in taiwan. among the favorites, the robotic horse drawn carriage and a piano-playing robot. this robot is a tic tac toe expert. they are creepy and crawly, but villagers in india hope to

warm you up to them. a state fair tradition is this song and dance with none other than dozens of snakes. the idea is to show people there is nothing to be afraid of. in fact, these furry guys are pitched as effective rat killers whose poison can be used for medicine. which that guy may need if bitten by that snake. >> and some of those snakes are going into a crowd. and the crowd is not running. i don't get it. >> probably because it's a tradition to them. it's none unusual. but here, not so much. >> kids in the front. >> yeah. no worries. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. gay rights groups encourage everyone to wear purple in honor of lives lost over the year to suicide due to anti-gay bullying and harassment. and in new york, a two-stone ring with a nearly 11 karat blue diamond will be auctioned off. the stunning piece is expected to bring in more than $15 million. in new york a two stone ring

diamond auctioned off. the stunning piece is expected to bring in more than $15 million. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. an in-depth analysis on last night's debates, plus a look at the latest polls. and costar henry winkler is live with a look back on the life of "happy days" dad tom bosley. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

she's against banning assault weapons... and that's reckless and dangerous. she's for risky new oil drilling that could threaten our jobs. fiorina's plan would mean slashing social security and medicare, which would devastate seniors. and she'd make abortion a crime. no wonder fiorina is endorsed by sarah palin. carly fiorina. just too extreme for california. [ boxer ] i'm barbara boxer and i approve this message.