i will owe my office to no one but you. i don't owe anyone anything. i don't owe anyone anything. what's the worst that can happen? what's the worst thing that can happen? on the broadcast tonight from los angeles, tug of war. the battle for political power grows fierce in these final days. we'll have a look at the key races across the country. race against time. a deadly outbreak makes a tough situation worse in a place that just can't take anymore bad news. force of nature. tonight, we'll show you the incredible video. you can't get oser to a tornado than this. and guests at a wedding. william and kate get to see how it's done. good thing because they may be next. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television .

good evening. we're down to eight days. somebody did the math and calculated it that we're a little over 190 hours until the midterm elections, which the analysts tell us have the power to reshape our nation's politics. we won't know that for a little while yet, but tonight we are able to offer an assessment of where this election stands right now, tonight, including some big races across this country. one of which, of course, is being fought right underneath our feet here in california. our political team is in place tonight. we want to begin this evening in washington with our nbc news political director chuck todd. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: we're using our nbc news decision app to show you the most likely place we would see a change in power is the house of representatives. here's where things stand now. the democrats with a very large majority. the blue squares represent the 255 seats, the red squares are the 178 republican seats.

what's really competitive are 100 seats. 90 are held by democrats, just ten are held by republicans. these are the seats that could go either way. let's dig into those 90 democratic seats even further. look at this, 49 of the 90 of these seats are mccain districts. what i do mean? districts that john mccain carried in 2008 over president obama. well, the republicans only need 39. so they just win mccain seats, they already have the majority. as you can see here, this battle for the gavel here between speaker pelosi, republican leader john boehner is getting close. if you just take away 50 seats, john boehner would get to 228. that's why at this point this is all about turning out the base. president obama today in providence, rhode island, trying to do just that. [ applause ] a new day, a new state but the same message. president obama stumping in yet another democratic stronghold, providence, rhode island.

over the weekend, he wrapped up a four-day, five-state swing in another stronghold, very blue minneapolis. >> so in 2008, you said, yes, we can. in 2010, you've got to say, yes, we can. >> reporter: fighting to maintain control of the house, nancy pelosi joined the president saturday in minneapolis to raise money. but the two shunned cameras. together, they've become red meat for republican tv ads. cameras did catch pelosi boarding air force one for the trip back to washington. while many democrats nationally are running away from the president, that's not the case in rhode island, where mr. obama is staying neutral in the governor's race because of a personal friendship with republican turned independent former senator lincoln chaffy. that's left frank caprio, the democrat, angry and resentful. >> i never asked for president obama's endorsement. he can take his endorsement and really shove it. >> reporter: at an afternoon press conference, he had no regrets about what he said. >> president obama, he's a tough

guy, he's a street fighter from chicago. >> reporter: also today, the president was pressed on the issue of immigration and whether his party has earned the support of latinos. [ inaudible ] >> i completely disagree with you on this. >> reporter: also aiming at rank and file democrats, a fiery first lady michelle obama in seattle. >> if you think someone is sitting out, you got to shake them. tell them they can't sit this one out. >> reporter: for all campaigns at this late stage, the name of the game is turnout. chuck todd, nbc news, washington. >> reporter: i'm lee cowan in anchorage, alaska, where in joe miller's mind, it wasn't supposed to be this way. the tea party favorite defeated lisa murkowski in the gop primary, but she mounted a surprising write-in bid, extending her campaign against miller and democrat scott mcadams. >> scott is not ready to lead, joe is not fit to lead. i have been leading this state -- i have been leading

this state -- [ crowd boos ] >> reporter: she turned up the heat during their first televised debate sunday, trying to capitalize on miller's missteps. over the weekend, a court ruled some of his personal records had to be made public in light of revelations miller used government computers for his personal use. >> it is true during a lunch hour i did get on government computers and participated in a private poll for about five minutes. it was a mistake i made. >> reporter: he says that makes him real and accused murkowski of asking disclosure problems as well. >> would you be willing to subject yourself to the same level of scrutiny that your campaign has subjected to me? >> we filed a financial disclosure that laid out -- [ applause ] >> -- everything that i have. >> reporter: they both pulled out everything. murkowski even leaning on the late alaska senator ted stevens. >> she's working for alaska every single day. >> reporter: that ad was recorded just before the popular senator was killed this summer in a plane crash.

murkowski got his daughter's blessing to use it. but miller is getting some big-name help, too, from sarah palin, who in an e-mail to voters, is taking a swipe at murkowski, whose father was once governor saying "public service should be an honor, not a family dynasty." it's still unclear whether murkowski voters will be energetic enough to not only fill in her name on the ballot but they have to circle in that oval next to it. they have to do both those things. otherwise the vote doesn't count. just another logistical hurdle in a race that for now is still neck and neck. brian? >> lee cowan on the big alaska race tonight. we mentioned another of the big high profile races in this entire election season going on right now right here in california. and if you don't like political ads, by the way, it is not safe yet to go near a tv. jerry brown, who was the youngest california governor in history, is now running to become the oldest. and he's running against the

woman who brought us ebay, meg whitman. our own savannah guthrie flew west with us to cover this race tonight and she's here with her report. the numbers are on the move in this race. >> "the l.a. times" is just out with a poll showing brown has opened up a wide double digit lead over his on opponent, but top strategists with whitman's campaign say this race is still close. the brand name in california politics, jerry brown is having to reintroduce himself to a new generation of voters. >> after i left the governorship, and it's a long time, most of you weren't born. >> reporter: first sworn in in 1975, brown served eight years as governor, ran for president three times and has held every major statewide office. but in bare bones deliberately unslick campaign appearances, he's running this year as an outsider. even as some say he is the quintessential career politician. when they say that, they don't mean it as a compliment. >> let me tell you something,

it's better to know what you're doing than not know. >> reporter: a not so veiled attack on republican meg whitman. the former chief executive who turned ebay into a multibillion dollar company. >> i will owe my office to no one. >> reporter: running for office for the first time and racing past every campaign spending record, she's poured more than $140 million of her own money into the race. >> we can fix this state. we can turn this state around. but it's going to take a different approach and take someone who has a different background. >> reporter: in a state where democrats have a wide voter registration advantage, she's had to work to peel off women and latino voters. so revelation she employed an illegal immigrant led to bitter sparring over whether she should have known. >> don't run for governor if you can't say hey, i made a mistake. >> jerry, you should be ashamed. >> reporter: whoever wins will govern a state in crisis. record foreclosures. the nation's third highest unemployment and a budget deficit in the tens of billions

of dollars. >> the next governor is going to have a terrible job just like the last few governors have had. >> reporter: whitman argues as a former ceo she knows how to create jobs, key to resolving the budget crisis. but brown portrays her as the sequel to california's unpopular incumbent. >> i taught businesses. >> i built a business. >> jobs, jobs and jobs. >> jobs, jobs, jobs. >> reporter: brown touts his experience, but whitman has parodied his reputation as a perennial candidate. the 1970s free spirit once nicknamed governor moon beam. during the campaign, brown had to apologize for an aid caught on tape referring to whitman with a sexist slur. and he'll acknowledge he's been prone to gaffes himself. do you feel like you're going to be monitoring your words any more closely? >> i want message discipline. they told me don't say anything too controversial. >> there's still a decent chunk of people who say they're undecided in this race.

whitman is out with a 60-second ad touting her personal story, but this ad acknowledges, brian, a lot of voters feel they face an unhappy choice as she puts it. >> it's getting hot here in california. glad you're here covering these races. savannah guthrie with us here in los angeles. back in washington, the head of npr apologized today, not for firing author and analyst juan williams for his comments about muslims, but for the way it was handled. npr and its affiliated stations have been deluged with complaints, a firestorm they did not see coming and it may cost them big in terms of donations and perhaps congressional funding. overseas now, america's relationship with afghanistan has gotten no easier in the nine years that u.s. forces have been fighting there. the latest evidence, a "new york times" report that aids to afghan president hamid karzai routinely get bags of cash from the chief u.s. adversary in the region, iran. and karzai does not even bother to deny it.

more from our chief foreign respond richard engel. he's back in our new york studios tonight. richard, good evening. >> reporter: this comes at a time of strained relations with karzai. there was a tense meeting with him and u.s. officials this weekend and now this admission about payments from iran. with almost blase confidence, he said yes, he does and will continue to receive bags of cash from iran. >> it's a relationship between neighbors, and it will go on. and we will continue to ask for cash help from iran. >> reporter: karzai was asked about the payments, first reported in "the new york times," during a press conference with the visiting president. but karzai said the u.s. has also paid him in cash. >> the united states is doing the same thing. they're providing cash to some of our offices. >> reporter: today, the state department confirmed cash payments were common in the past when afghanistan's banking system was less developed. >> much of the assistance we

brought with us, so that assistance did come in the form of cash. but since that time, we have more institutionalized our support. >> reporter: karzai said the iranian payments once or twice a year are up to $975,000. nbc's ollie aruzi is in kabul. >> at this morning's press conference, there was a clear message from president karzai, that america is not his only ally. he has a close friend in iran, as well. a friendship that will continue. >> you have to take account of your neighbors, especially when one of your neighbors, iran, is so hostile to your most important supporter, the united states. in that situation, it's natural for a leader like karzai to seek a kind of balance. >> reporter: this is not the first time president karzai has surprised his american backers. >> this is nothing hidden. >> reporter: today's admission on iran seems to be another instance which american officials and karzai are not on the same page.

this issue has raised concern among some u.s. military officials in kabul, who wonder if karzai, known to be moody and erratic, is playing the u.s. off iran to keep both sides paying, brian. >> richard engel in our new york studios on the big foreign story in the news today. richard, thanks, as always. now we turn to the american west, and what may be the most accurate depiction ever recorded of what it's like to be in, as in inside a tornado. [ inaudible ] the voice belongs to eric meyers, who got a little too close to the emergency in the small town of rice, texas. the twister did a lot of damage, including ripping the roof off the local high school, hitting power lines, destroying several homes. four people reported injured. the entire video is something to see.

we've posted it on our website tonight. when "nightly news" continues in just a moment, our own dr. nancy snyderman reports from haiti on another disaster for the folks who have already been through so much. and later, could a royal picture be a real signal from an ocean away that something big is perhaps about to happen?

it's what all of us worried about when we arrived in haiti just hours after the quake almost 10 months ago now. beyond the death toll, the inevitable spread of disease. now it's happening in haiti, an outbreak of cholera in that nation struggling every day still just to survive. our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman traveled to haiti and filed this report tonight. >> reporter: for the first time in 50 years, cholera has struck haiti. while jeopardizing the very young and elderly, it was young,

working men who first got sick. mariella says her husband and brother-in-law work in the rice patties and they became ill several days ago. the rice patties are part of the agriculture of haiti and may play a role in the epidemic. it's believed the cholera epidemic began here in the river, the longest river in haiti. it's a place where every day, people live, wash their food, get their drinking water, and bathe. that water is polluted with the cholera bacteria that caused the vomiting and diarrhea that can result in such severe dehydration that, if not treated early, can kill within hours. rachel ignacio is a physician from massachusetts general hospital. >> 60% of people have underlying illness, malnourishment, some other risk factor, tb, hiv, or just living in crowded conditions. >> reporter: in a country that's still crippled from the earthquake, with poor water and

sanitation systems, returning people to their old ways isn't going to prevent future infections. >> the best thing to do is to go out to the villages and tell people how to behave, that they have to drink proper water, not out of the river. that they have to wash their hands. >> reporter: she knows she came close to losing the two men in her life, and as soon as they're stronger, wants to go home. but sadly, for others, the stories continue to end quite differently. tomorrow, special tents will be in place to get infected people out of the regular hospitals. dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, port-au-prince. >> the grim picture there from our own dr. nancy snyderman in port-au-prince, the capital city where she told us late today, by the way, tomorrow the government begins a new effort to get people out of the temporary tents they've been living in since the quake ten months now. on wall street today, the dow surged higher, then fell back to finish the day up, but just modestly.

the dow gained 31.5 points. when we come back, the story of two supreme court justices relaxing, getting to know each other while firing shotguns.

you know it's bad when the press asks if you'd take a lie detector test.

meg whitman didn't tell the truth about not voting or about how long she lived in california. she got caught in insider deals at goldman sachs. she changed her story about physically abusing an employee. she campaigned as tough as nails on immigration knowing her housekeeper of 9 years was undocumented. her tv ads have been condemned as false and misleading. and even her hometown newspaper said meg whitman has demonstrated "a loose relationship with the truth" apparently, the head of bp didn't like the media coverage of the oil spill. in a speech today in london, bp's ceo bob dudley scoffed at those television news graphics during the height of the spill, showing scientist's projections that some of those 172 millions of oil gallons spilled in the gulf might actually loop around florida and then be driven by ocean currents across the atlantic. by the way, as they're trying to get the louisiana fisheries

industry back up and running, reports of spilled oil in the waters off of new orleans are still turning up as recently as this weekend, including one sighting on the ocean floor. a federal investigation into the spill is under way with a report due early next year. there was a reunion of sorts today in chile. those 33 rescued miners, and the rescue crew that went down and got them played each other in soccer. the winning team, the rescuers, captained by chile's president. though you guessed it, no fair. the president had to joke that the miners were great players but "a bit out of shape." you could call this next item elena, get your gun. the justices of the supreme court were famously described long ago as nine scorpions in a bottle. so any time we hear stories about supreme court justices wielding firearms, it's naturally cause for concern. but apparently justice scalia took the newest justice, elena kagan, to his gun club in

virginia for a round of skeet shooting. after a break, we're back with the latest on will and kate together this weekend for a walk down the aisle. not that one.

finally tonight, the big question, will they be registered at bed, bath and beyond any time soon? great britain is abuzz over what looks like it's going to be the next royal wedding between prince william and his girlfriend, maybe fiance kate middleton. the hints are building. our own stephanie gosk has our report from london tonight. >> reporter: all kate and william did this weekend was show up at a friend's wedding. tabloids guessed it might be a dry one for their own. the daily mail listed every wedding middleton has attended since they started dating, ten in total. surely it's kate's turn soon. but a future king is not so easily pressured. for now, insiders say william is more focused on being a search and rescue pilot for the royal air force. >> he very much takes after his father. it's often said if the day of his wedding was leaked to the press, he would change it. >> reporter: still, the rumors

spread. one theory predicts a february engagement. wedding, summer of 2011. another predicts 2012. the year of the queen's diamond jubilee and the summer olympics. even without a firm date, the royal mint has cast the mold for a commemorative wedding coin. just as they did for charles and diana before their wedding in 1981. william and kate may choose to have their wedding here at st. paul's as well. it will certainly be grand. but because the economy is so bad in the uk, it might not be quite the spectacle. during an interview with brian williams scheduled to air november 19th, prince charles shared some advice for his eldest son. >> how could you possibly advise your son upon embarking on this, even in the worst media environment? >> that's the problem, isn't it? because they -- they are constant in lecturing in advice. so it isn't very easy. >> he's under a microscope already. he's just a helicopter pilot.

>> don't take the advice of the media is my advice. >> reporter: probably a smart choice and prince william, at least for now, seems to agree. stephanie gosk, nbc news, london. that's our broadcast for this monday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams reporting tonight from our nbc news los angeles bureau. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. by land, by air and by sea. >> barbecue on there. pack the food up. load up the ice chests with beer and have a good time. >> the giants gearing up for the world series and fans are scrambling for a glimpse, no matter the cost. good evening, everyone. i'm jessica agu