this morning on "early today," end game. with just over a week to go until the elections, both parties prepare a final push. path of destruction. powerful tornadoes wreak havoc on residents in northern texas. and up in smoke. over 150 pounds of explosives take down a derelict building in greece's capital. 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 page hopkins. today we begin with party predictions. political leaders from both

sides of the aisle are putting on a show of confidence, and promising victory on election night. recent polls have shown republicans closing in on control of the house, but democratic leaders are vowing to hold their ground. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with the latest details. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, page. good morning, everyone. as we are now in this final full week of campaigning, can you expect more republicans hammering away at democrats. more democrats hammering away at themselves trying to get out the vote and more tea party candidates trying to shake up washington. >> we won that rate. >> reporter: alaska tea party candidate won for senate but is now apologizing for misusing government computers. >> it was a mistake i made. i was suspended for three days, received a dock of three days' pay and learned from that your statement here this evening demonstrates i think, again, the lack of fitness for the office. >> reporter: that's senator lisa murkowski, trying to get back to washington as a write-in against

miller and a local elect mayor. >> it's time we send a regular alaskan to represent other alaskans. >> reporter: the big issue in today's debate, how to cut taxes. >> the only way to get out of this predicament a two pronged approach. >> reporter: everywhere you look polls predict republican wins. a possible house takeover, and gains in the senate. >> this wave continues the way it's going, has been over the last few weeks especially, i think you can see the senate as well. >> reporter: democrats insist the tide is turning. >> what democrats tend to specialize in is the ground game. the turnout. the more people turn out the better we do. >> reporter: but that is really hard to predict. in fact, so far early voting is really all over the place. in some areas slow turnout. in other areas election

officials say they have already doubled turnout from four years ago. page? >> tracie potts, thank you. and more than nine months after haiti was ravaged by a massive earthquake there are fears the situation could become even worse in the wake of that disaster which killed up to 300,000 people. health authorities are now scrambling to contain a cholera outbreak. it's already killed 250 people in rural areas and they fear it could spread to port-au-prince's squalid tent cities which house over 1 million earthquake survivors. meanwhile, two scientific papers conclude the fault originally blamed for january's quake was not the real source, and pressure in that fault continues to build, and could cause another earthquake. seismic experts say it was actually an unseen fault that caused the magnitude 7 earthquake. and back here in the states, tornadoes tore across parts of north texas sunday evening wreaking havoc on homes and roads. video shot frighteningly close to one funnel cloud shows the twister cutting a path across interstate 45 just south of dallas.

authorities say tornadoes tore the roof off of an elementary school in dallas and caused significant damage to several homes. at least four people were reportedly hospitalized with minor injuries. and wild weather is affecting other nations, as well, as hurricane richard made landfall last night in belize. the hurricane which has actually now been downgraded to a tropical storm, brought winds of up to 90 miles an hour, as the category 1 storm downed trees and power lines, cutting off all power from the tiny central american nation. the hurricane hit hardest in belize city, home to a third of the country's population, with about 100,000 inhabitants. bill karins is going to have more on this hurricane in just a few moments. now here's a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. in pennsylvania, more than 150 teens paddled down the river in fill dell pheaa's ninth annual international dragon boat festival.

each boat has about 20 paddle yours, and a drummer to keep everyone in sync. dragon boat racing is an ancient chinese sport and at least according to festival organizers, the world's fastest-growing water sport. also in pennsylvania, with halloween just a few days away, there was one blowout sale families could not resist. all you can carry pumpkins for $19.99. it's a pumpkinland tradition where visitors to the patch walk a straight and steady 20 foot course taking home as many pumpkins as they can carry. and humans aren't the only ones getting in the halloween spirit. some north carolina pooches played dress up at a howl-oween costume party. some came dressed in the usual princess and cowboy getup, even a wounded army vet, while others paid homage to pop culture icons like snooki. now for your weather, bill karins with the weather channel. good morning, bill. >> good morning, page. a wild weekend in the west. this storm system that came onshore a powerful saturday night and sunday morning storm

especially wind gusts this understand up to 100 miles per hour in some of the peaks and areas in nevada. california had numerous wind gusts. up to 80 miles per hour. look at the size of this storm system. look at the clouds all the way from the pacific northwest now to kansas city and minnesota. it's very rare you see this much pacific moisture just blowing onshore here. an incredibly strong jet stream. that's what's responsible for this amazing storm. one of the storms is actually located off the coast of british columbia. a pinwheel. almost looks like a hurricane. another storm forming heading out of the mountain west into the plains. this blue line indicates the power. it gel stream blowing onshore in west, responsible for a huge wind storm in the middle of the country. we're just watching heavy rain and snow, even continuing at this hour. portland, the i-5 nasty. look at the white. the high peaks ever the cascades, the cold front has gone through the snow elevations, actually dropping. an amazing amount of rainfall at the high peaks and even big city

picked up one to two inches of rain and even more in the pacific west. the rest of west, weather slowly improves for elevations and winter storm warnings in some of the cascades at the high elevations. page, this storm moves out tuesday. looks a lot better forecast coming up. >> good. thanks, bill. what to look for on wall street. wa you'll find at the gas pump, and trumped up trade business. your early morning headlines are coming up. plus, made for next to nothing in the hollywood budget, you won't believe what wa horror movie scared up at the box office this weekend. a record day for one redskin. a controversial ending for the steelers. and brett favre makes a dramatic return to green bay.

you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm page hopkins. here are some of your top headlines this morning -- >> in mexico, a gang of armed men gunned down 13 recovering addicts there late sunday. police hit at the scene say at least ten were killed. today the government is expected to announce a plan that would, for the first time, force tractor trailers, school buses and heavy duty pickup trucks to improve fuel efficiency. the new rules would affect certain trucks starting with models in 2014. the proposal is expected to seek reductions of up to 20% in fuel consumption and emissions. in central pakistan today at least five people were killed by a bomb during morning prayers at a famous muslim shrine. there's been no immediate claim of responsibility.

taliban militants have in the past attacked this shrine. 19-year-old jennifer made news across the world years ago as the teenager that couldn't stop hiccuhiccupping. a robbery gone wrong, she admitted to luring the victim to a location where he was attacked by two men and shot. and explosive activity in greece but this one was controlled. a building in athens was demolished yesterday with about 150 pounds of explosives. the building was destroyed to make way for a new city square. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,132 after falling 14 points on friday. the s&p rose two points. the nasdaq added 19. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo the nikkei lost 25 points but in hong kong the hang sang climbed 110. wait and see could be the name of the game on the street this week as investors keep an

eye on the road ahead in washington. midterm elections, and long-awaited word on more stimulus from the fed are still more than a week away. and that could keep stocks in a holding pattern this week. but in the meantime, earnings will roll in from the likes of exxon mobile, ford, and microsoft. fresh data on the health of the housing sector also on deck. as well as our first look at third quarter gross domestic product. overseas, the dollar split against most asian currencies, after a group of 20 of the world's leading countries vowed to avoid a currency exchange war. meanwhile, japan reported its slowest month of export growth so far this year. and elsewhere, singapore exchange is buying australia's main stock exchange operator asx for about $8.3 billion. back in the states, bank of america is acknowledging for the first time it has found mistakes in some foreclosure files, as it sifts through more than 100,000 cases for resubmission. gas prices across the

country are up more than five cents in the past two weeks. the average price of regular gas in the u.s. is $2.82 a gallon. "the new york times" is reporting a possible deal in the works at carlyle group to buy telecom equipmentmaker comscope for $2.4 billion. finally, what's in a name? when your name is trump, apparently a lot. lawyers for donald trump recently accused a fund-raising group in new zealand of trade mark infringement for giving out what it calls a trump card to donate money to charity. trump's lawyers have actually eventually agreed to drop the case. favre falls flat. pittsburgh steels a victory, and always play until you hear the whistle. plus the redskins won yesterday, thanks to one player who was consistently in position to make the catch from the other team's quarterback. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. thunderstorms and rain are moving up the eastern seaboard and a monster of a storm is developing in the north of the

country. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." i'm among 30,000 employees who used to work for hp.

i was supposed to retire there. carly fiorina changed all that. [ cheri ] fiorina laid off 30,000 people. and she shipped our jobs to china. and india. i had to pack my bags and i was out the door that night. we even had to train our replacements. she didn't need 5 corporate jets. [ farrell ] one hundred million for herself. fiorina never cared about our jobs. not then and not now. [ boxer ] i'm barbara boxer and i approve this message. good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports -- brett favre hasn't had a very positive season thus far. last night in his old

stomping grounds of green bay, that trend continued. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it was classic brett favre drama. a chance to be the hero with the game on the line in the fourth quarter. but this time the old gunslinger couldn't pull the trigger. we go green bay, packers up when favre hit randy moss. four yards out. the vikings trailed 28-24. to the fourth. last chance for minnesota, favre fell down, got up, but he couldn't make the grab. favre simply overthrew him and that was your ball game. the packers won it 28-24. controversial ending to the steelers and dolphins. late fourth, pittsburgh down two. ben roethlisberger lunged for the end zone but fumbled the ball. now it was ruled a touchdown. they reviewed it for close to ten minutes. no touchdown. but who recovered the fumble? the officials couldn't figure it out from the replay so they gave it back to pittsburgh, even though it appeared that miami had recovered it. that led to a game-winning field goal. the steelers escaped south beach with a 23-22 win.

the redskins deangelo halla career day against the bears. he picked jay cutler off four times. he returned this one for a score. redskins beat the bears 17-14. to san diego. nothing was going right for the chargers. goodman dropped the ball. he thought the play was over, but he was never touched. that's a fumble. his first career catch was also his first career turnover. to the fourth, under 30 seconds to play. chris brown for the tie, hits the upright. the patriots held on to win 23-20. the buccaneers down five with 17 seconds left. josh freeman scrambles, and found cadillac williams in the end zone. the bucs rallied to beat the rams 18-17. and 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. a scary record falls at the box office.

your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, at first at thedn figure out why these two were inseparable. we're going to tell you what they figured out. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. a stormy forecast. observations off the coast of washington. 30-foot swells coming onshore.

a high surf warning in the coast of washington. those large waves come into oregon and northern california along with rain and a chance of a thunderstorm. thankfully much of southern california, southern nevada and arizona you get a break from this storm system. your weather improves into tuesday. still showers activity left here on tuesday. not as bad as today, nope the storm system responsible for it slowly weakens heading into canada. if you're watching on nbc 739 in san diego, california, take the board out of board games. head to it secret lives of games to explore games from around the world at the san diego museum of man. that's your pacific event of the day, page. >> that sounds like fun. now here's an early look at this morning's early headlines and entertainment. fear took the box office this weekend as "paranormal activity 2" set a record for the biggest-ever opening for by horror film. more than doubling its expected take, "paranormal activity 2" earned $41.5 million passing the $40.6 million taken in by the

previous record holder last year's "friday the 13th" remake. the sequel reportedly had been made for as little as $1 million, took in over $20 million on friday alone, its opening day. not bad. last week's winner "jackass 3d" took in $21.6 million in second. in just two weeks this jackass film has made over $87 million, already outearning its two predecessors. the action comedy "red" which debuted second in the shadow of "jackass 3d" held up well this weekend, slipping to third, but earning $15 million to lift its ten-day total past $43 million. and finally, the weekend's other debut film, clint eastwood's "hereafter" starring matt damon opened in fourth with a soft $12 million. can you believe clint eastwood is still directing movies at this point in his life. >> and going out of his comfort zone. >> amazing guy.

brilliant not only actor but director. and this comes to us from kwwl iowa's news channel 7, where just outside waterloo there's an unusual bond between friends. the donkey and co-star the horse were brought to an animal rescue together, never leaving each other's side. but what first looked like just a quirk, is actually a bond that runs deep. co-star is blind. so she became her eyes, guiding her with a gentle nudge. rescuers hope to find a home where they can stay together. that's nice. i'm page hopkins, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station.

at one zoo in detroit last week the animals got a taste of trick-or-treating. special halloween treats were hidden inside pumpkins. every species had their own technique to get at some of the treats. some sat on the pumpkins, some simply stared at them while others just played at them. don't be jealous of what was inside. the animal treats were red dyed pasta. and once the scene of communist party marches, now bulgaria hosts altogether different kinds of gatherings. thousands of blondes had more fun over the weekend at the first-ever international congress of the blondes. the celebrations included a blonde parade, with a strict dress code, pretty in pink and

white. the blondes hope to turn the congress into an annual event and tourist attraction. and also in australia, recently witnessing what they call a first in animal behavior. they filmed a dolphin released years ago into the wild after only a few weeks at a marine park teaching a school of wild dolphins to tail walk. a trick she learned while in captivity. scientists say it's a sign of dolphins having a culture being passed down through generations. that's unbelievable, bill. have you ever heard of that before? >> no. i guess they learn and watch each other. never heard of that before. >> she learned that in captivity and she was only in captivity for three weeks. >> so now it will be common everywhere around the globe we'll see these dolphins doing the tail walk. >> makes me feel stupid. time now for an early look at some of the stories we're going to be following throughout the day here on nbc -- in los angeles, jurors get back to work in the anna nicole smith drug conspiracy case. they've already spent 41 hours deliberating.

the former "playboy" model's boyfriend, lawyer and two doctors have pleaded not guilty to providing her with excessive prescription medications while knowing she was an addict. also in california, industry leaders meet today and tomorrow for the women's conference hosted by california's first lady maria shriver. the forum names to empower women and will feature first lady michelle obama along with our own "nightly news" anchor brian williams. and congratulations to newlywed and also birthday girl katy perry. she turns 26. 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. hear from the family of a 19-year-old surfer who was killed in a shark attack friday off the coast of california. and an exclusive interview with the mother of troubled starlet lindsay lohan. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm page hopkins. 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 i was supposed to retire there. carly fiorina changed all that. [ cheri ] fiorina laid off 30,000 people. and she shipped our jobs to china. and india. i had to pack my bags and i was out the door that night. we even had to train our replacements. she didn't need 5 corporate jets. [ farrell ] one hundred million for herself. fiorina never cared about our jobs. not then and not now. [ boxer ] i'm barbara boxer and i approve this message.