this morning on "early today." final push. candidates make their last-minute pitches with just one day left until election day. nature's fury. indonesia's deadly volcano unleashes new clouds of searing ash. and fear factor. thousands turn out in the big apple for the world's biggest halloween parade. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and a very good morning to you. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pick time zone. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with down to the wire.

the final push is on as elected officials and hopefuls across the country enter their final day of campaigning before tomorrow's midterm elections. and according to a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, republicans have the edge. nbc's tracie potts is in washington with more. tracie, good morning to you. >> reporter: veronica, good morning. the republican momentum we've been seeing in recent weeks continues in this latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll with six in ten voters believing the country is off track. president obama's approval rating to 42% down from just two weeks ago but still more popular than democrat, republicans an the tea party. >> the republicans were driving the economy like a car. and they drove it into the ditch. >> the nation's car isn't really just stuck in a ditch. no, it's still moving forward, and we're getting closer and

closer to a cliff. >> the next speaker of the house -- >> reporter: john boehner could be the next speaker of the house told ohio sunday he's excited. >> i'm living it up big, tuesday, on tuesday night. >> reporter: just over half of likely voters say they'll vote republican tomorrow. nearly half what republicans in charge. democrats still had the edge two weeks ago. >> no question that this mid-term election is a referendum on obama's policies. >> reporter: but it's also about capitol hill. nearly half of likely voters say they'd wipe out congress altogether if they could and only 37% want to give their own representatives another chance. >> they're proud of the party, proud of the president, proud of the accomplishments. >> reporter: a mixed bag, but one that's looking more red than blue. republicans need 39 seats to win control of the house. an legitimates here predict they're win between 50% and 65%. veronica? >> tracie potts in washington. thank you. officials around the world

spent the weekend trying to get to the bottom of a plot to blow up planes in night. meanwhile a woman arrested in yemen in the case is free this morning as the search continues for whoever was behind this international security scare. nbc's frances koe reports. >> reporter: a worldwide security alert as it emerges one of the bombs left yemen and traveled on two separate passenger planes until it was discovered in dubai. qatar airways said that the package left sana on a passenger plane arrived in the capital of qatar and left oha on another passenger plane to dubai. both fedex and u.p.s. suspended airfreight from yemen. meanwhile, a yemeni official says authorities no longer believe a woman arrested saturday is the person responsible for the bomb. the official who spoke anonymously said the shipping agent who received the parcel said the woman was not the same person who signed the shipping receipt. it's believed someone used that

woman's identity when those packages were sent. the women's release means that now no one is in dusty for the failed terror plot. frances koe, nbc news. here's a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. investigators in tennessee are trying to determine what caused a house to explode leaving a smoldering pile of debris. neighbors say they heard the blast that shook their homes and rattled their windows just before midnight. no one injured. in missouri, the 45th anniversary of the gateway arch, america's tallest national monument, celebrated with a meet and greet. visitors got to meet 20 of the men who scaled 630 feet building the arch from the ground up. the men told stories, shared photos and memorabilia and signed a few autographs. and finally, 50,000 costume mass craders marched through the greenwich village for the allhalloween parade. lady gaga, there she is. the new york city bedbug.

ooh. and, of course, there was, you know, the crew from michael jackson's circa "thriller" with an an usual estimate 7 more than 2 million visitors it is the largest halloween parade in the country. quite a fun party as well. and now for a look at your national regional weather here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, where's the halloween costume? come on? >> it's over. time to sit there and sort your candy and figure out a strategy how you'll eat it all. the only areas we have problems with over the weekend with the rainy weather was in the pick northwest. unfortunately, a little wet for a lot of the kids costumes up there, too. you know, this morning there's still nor rain and showers, too. the storm is not quite over with. 9 8% of the rest of country had a fabulous halloween. what we're looking at going throughout this morning. rain is heavy north of seattle. most up there in southern british columbia with a huge storm in the gulf of alaska, a powerful jet stream riding up to

it north here. there is moisture moving onshore today. additional moisture. then tomorrow i think we'll clear some of this out. here's a look at radar. notice this is heavy rain here. right over the top of vancouver island. notice seattle, more shower-type weather. same with portland. it's not going to pour today but have the umbrella handy in case. anywhere northern oregon also appearing any especially northwest washington. notice california looks really good. vegas, cool morning with 76 this afternoon. phoenix, warmer spot in the country today at 85. our friends in nevada or idaho dry and partly cloud cloudy, storms affecting washington. struggling in spokane.

struggling, 48. that storm exits tuesday. looks better. that forecast coming up. >> bill, i still have my day after halloween costume on. i'm a winner. >> you are. >> i have my god medal and everything. >> congratulations. i didn't know they gave out metals for anchors. >> from our producer, john. you know? because i worked on halloween. there you go. all right, fasten your cease belts for the week ahead on wall street. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, speaking of finance, we have the four lists of the hollywood actresses who earned the most back for what they're getting paid. giants one win away fra title and brett nav is down and out. you're watching "early today." well, good morning and

welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz, and here are some of your top headlines this morning -- a military judge has sentenced a

former teenage al qaeda fighter held at guantanamo bay to eight more years in prison. under a plea agreement the judge would ignore a jury's recommend thags he serve 40 years for war crimes that included killing an american soldier back in 2002. a group is claiming responsibility for an attack on a catholic church in baghdad insurgents left some 120 hostages nearly four hours yet before security forces stormed the building. the iraqi ministry says 37 were killed in the attack. 5 security personnel and 3 insurgents. brazil elected its first female president. delma rousseff hand picked by the former country's leader who cultivated warm ties with the united states. russian president dmitry medvedev triggered a diplomatic feud with japan today after visiting disputed territory in the pacific ocean. his trip marks the first-ever

visit by a russian leader to the islands. a dispute which prevented japan and russia from ever signing an al armistice over world war ii. and hot ash this morning, sparking fresh panic among nearby villagers. no reports of casualties from this latest eruption. at least 38 have been killed by the volcano in the past week. and now here's our early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new english study finds alcohol more dangerous than illegal drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine. experts evaluated substances marking them based on how destructive they are to individuals and society as a whole. due to its wide use and devastating consequences for drinkers and those around them, alcohol scored highest followed by heroin and crack, with marijuana, ecstasy and lsd scoring far lower. for more information on this and other health stories, you can always head to the web.

check out our health page online at msnbc.com. "early today" health is brought to you by -- vagisil. bring yourself back. and now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opened at 11,118 after adding four points friday. the s&p was down a fraction, but the nasdaq was up a fraction. and taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei lost 47 points. in hong kong the hang seng climbed 556. the week investors are waiting for is finally here. the federal reserve wraps up its two-day policy meeting wednesday. the central bank is expected to announce it will pump hundreds of billions into the nation's sluggish economy. later in the week, economists are predicting good news in the labor market from the government's october jobs report. private secretary are hiring is seen as pick up last month, but the unemployment rate holding steady at 9.6%.

tomorrow's elections, looming large what's sure to be a volatile stretch in the week ahead. automakers october sales figures mid-week with good numbers expected from ford and general motors. on the earnings front, big retailers like jcpenney, kohl's and macy's will weigh in with quarterly reports. overseas stocks surged and the index hit a six-month high. corporate news, apple is suing motorola for patent infringement claiming the droid and other models violate the iphone's patented touch screen technology. facebook put several app developers on six months' probation in the wake of a security scandal where user data was sold to a third party broker. and finally, the markets for fine art is on the rebound in bringing in big bucks. a wealth of precious paintings are expected to fetch as much as $1 billion big ones at auction over the next two weeks including works by monet, matisse and andy warhol.

well, the giants are on the bring. the saints looked super and the cowboys looked lost. ageing superstar brett favre can add bloody to his casualty list. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. in our first november morning, it's a chilly one in the northern half of the country. the afternoon looks just fine. your monday forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

and good morning. if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports -- the san francisco giants are now one game away from taking the world series. here's nbc's mario with a look at all your sports headlines. >> hi there, good morning. game four of the world series and fitting that the team with the orange trim won on halloween. to texas, president bush junior and senior on hand to throw out the first pitch. scoreless in the third, until taking him for a ride, two-run homer just inside the foul pole. giants up 2-0. the kid buster posey, a home run of his own. giants up 4-0. speaking of youngster, 21-year-old picking a gem striking out six over eight innings. giants win 4-0. one win away from a world series

title. and in new england, no, not that randy moss, the real randy moss. there he is. brett favre played despite two fractures in his ankle and hit by myron pryor and left the game in the fourth. did not return and even received eight stitches on his chin and is expected to play next week. they put it away. up and over two yards out. the vikings 28-18. the saints got back on track way huge win against the steelers. drew brees to marcus and they won 20-10. the saints bounced back. the cowboys got bounced. making them look like a hall of famer tossing for a touchdown. cowboys are 1-6. ow. that hurts. jacksonville won 35-17. finally, ending between the redskins and lions, washington down 6. skins' coach pulls the quarterback mcnabb and replaces him with rex grossman. first play for grossman, he

fumbles the ball. lions recover, run it in for a touchdown. that move backfired. lions won 37-25. that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. a battle of the spookers as the halloween box office. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, a scary night at the white house last night, and, no, we're not talking elections. we're talking halloween. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday morning. it's the first day of november and it feels like it. rainy day for you in the 50s in much of washington state and idaho. weather improves in oregon after morning showers in portland. afternoon a little better. we are going to watch for showers and not affecting california anytime soon. definitely into a dry weather pattern throughout much of the week. arizona, too, nice. monday and tuesday really no problems here in the west. if you're watching us on ksbw, action news 8, read the work of l literary reading, julius caesar at the sunnyvale public library. that's your pacific event of the day. >> thanks, bill. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment -- the box office was in the

halloween spirit this weekend with a final installment of "saw" slashing its way to the top. psycho killer jigsaw set it was in 3d finishing number one, just over $24 million, modest but good enough for the top spot. look for the studio to figure an excuse to bring him back. last week's champ, paranormal activity 2 slid to second, and forbes out with its annual list of actresses who earned the most bang for the buck. meryl streep tied for third earning back $21 for every dollar paid and despite the perception her films bombed, jennifer aniston earned $21 for every one she is paid. cate blanket second, and the number one, no contest. anne hathaway's films earned her

studios a whopping $64 for every dollar she was paid. i guess she still has some time, bill. right? she's pretty young. >> what else has she done "devil wears prada," a huge hit. the return on investment high. >> another film with jake gyllenhaal coming out. something to look forward to. a ghoulish scene at the white house.

will neb non, toasting world word accomplishments. the world's largest wine glass recognized by the guinness book of world records. about 100 bottles of red, white and rose contributed by winemakers across the country barely put a dent in the giant eight-foot glass, but it was enough to shatter the previous record set 12 years ago in portugal. wow. there are halloween alternatives to trick-or-treating. check this out. hong kong, a costume run for charity. 48 teams of 8 took part, each carrying the weight of one passenger in a decorated chair

the entire run. the organizer's goal, raise $3.5 million for charity. one halloween party this weekend mixed fun and fear. count dracula rose from the dead to host a witches fantasy ball. held at the hotel on the chateau built to replicate the vampire's capital from the original model. a lot of music, dancing and refreshment, also pumpkin carving and the less traditional fire breathing. oh, wow. did you see that, bill? >> i did. never done that. who was your favorite -- >> you've never breathed fire? >> no. never actually had the experience. who was your favorite? wear wolff, dracula or frankenstein? >> i all liked frankenstein. classic. time for an for look at stories we're following right here on nbc. in illinois funeral services held for the notre dame student killed last week after a tower from which he was filming football practice was blown over

by high winds. in utah, a man charged in the elizabeth smart abduction is said to begin eight years after smart disappeared from her home in the middle of the night. smart, then 14, was found nine months later. and new air travel rules go into effect. now passengers must provide their full names as they appear on card government issued photo i.d.s, their date of birth as well as their gender. all day long stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc and tonight 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. the latest updates and previews ahead of tomorrow's mid-term elections and the legendary neil diamond previews his new album way live performance in studio 1a. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and much more. i am veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching

"early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a terrific monday. -- 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.