this morning on "early today," snow smack down. snow smack down. millions in the northeast are still without power after this weekend's rare october snowstorm. road hazard, icy weather reeks havoc on commuter necessary maryland. and ghoulish ghoul, thousands of the undead gather in california to set a new world thousands of the undead gather in california to set a new world record. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with a surprise appearance by winter. parts of the northeast are

crippled in darkness this morning after a rare autumn nor'easter dumped a heavy blanket of wet, crushing snow over the weekend. at least 11 deaths have been reported. more than 3 million homes and businesses have lost power and officials can't say when it will be restored. francis has more. >> reporter: it's not what you would expect to see on the eve of halloween, goblins and ghouls covered in white. but this winter stormy won't keep kids from getting their treats. >> we're excited, actually. >> reporter: cleanup began sunday in areas more used to raking leaves than shoveling snow in october. >> i think mother nature played a trick on us. >> reporter: a trick that has left 3 million in the dark as crippled limbs fell on roads and power lines. >> a lot of tree damage. >> reporter: damage that can take ahile to repair. >> they're going to have extensive and long-term power outages.

>> reporter: snow started falling saturday and smashed records as it moved north, tying up air travel as thousands face delays and cancellations at newark and jfk. passengers on a jetblue flight diverted to connecticut waited seven hours on the plane before finally being cleared for the airport terminal. and as residents continued to dig out and the frost starts to melt off the pump kips -- >> i think we're in for a bigger, bad winter. here we are in october and we've got snow. >> reporter: winter is still more than six weeks away. nbc news. meanwhile, a storm of controversy is swirling around gop the presidential candidate herman cain. a recent report, which has not been confirmed by nbc news, claims two former female employees accuse cain of sexual ly inappropriate behavior. tracie potts joins us with more on that and the latest polls.

good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. good morning, everyone. politico is reporting that two women who worked with cain in the 90s accused him of inappropriate behavior, that they ended up leaving their jobs with a payout and are prevented, are barred from talking about this at all. cain's spokesperson over the weekend said this was inside the beltway media attacks, that they were thinly sourced allegations. he denies them, saying these are unsubstantiated personal attacks because opponents have been unable to attack his ideas and now they are attacking himself. again, nbc has not confirmed this report from politico. as for the latest poll, herman cain is on top. 23%. mitt romney, only 1% behind. ron paul at 12%.

everyone else in single digits. back here in washington today, president obama is expected to sign an executive order, the first part of his we can't wait agenda. kenn. >> tracie, thanks so much. and a programming note for tonight. tonight, prime time gets a new attitude with the premier of rock center with brian williams with in-depth stories from established nbc news reporters along with new team members veteran newsman ted coppel. it begins at 9:00, 10:00 central time following the sing off here on your nbc station. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. elsewhere, and like elsewhere on the east coast, winter-like weather conditions reeked havoc on drivers in maryland.

icy roads caused one driver to lose control, slamming into a light pole. police were on the scene of a prior accident when the crash occurred, making matters more dangerous, the storm knocked out traffic signals throughout the state. thousands of zombies strolled through southern california hoping to devour a guinness world record this weekend. seattle currently holds the record for the largest group of walking dead in one place at 4,700 zombies. organizers of long beach's fourth annual zombie walk believe they have the numbers to net a new world record. guinness representatives were present but have yet to hand down an official decision. >> a dallas flash mob frightened folks. approximately 50 participants broke the out into the dance routine from michael jackson's classic 1983 video thriller. it took the groups six weeks to learn the moves. finally, the president and first lady handed out pre-halloween treats saturday night. children from the surrounding area and military families braved soggy weather to get the goody bags which contained m & ms with the white house seal, white house-shaped butter cookies and a mix of healthy, dried fruit. so a little bit of something for

everyone. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning to you. >> i used to wrap like five pennies and put them in our bag. >> that sounds very labor intensive. >> that is giving them more credit. good morning, everyone. the big wester story was the historic nor'easter. taking a quick look ahead for this week, we are watching a storm that will move down through the rockies and also we will have a storm system, a pretty big one coming down. that is actually going to bring snow levels to pretty low lying areas. not a lot going on right now. light showers in the ohio valley. that's where the cold front that is sliced on through. we're pretty calm and quiet.

mostly coastal washington d.c. forecast today, sprinkles out there in seattle. vegas to phoenix, a beautiful day for you. temperatures northwest. thanks so much. will the fed make a move? will unemployment improve? and don't mess with maple syrup. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, a cocky cat battles a

big storm and a big baseball game to come away with the weekend box office crown. coming up, the eagles are flying high, tim tebow stumbles and another stunning win in st. louis. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. libya's interim prime minister is confirming the presence of a stockpile of chemical weapons in the newly liberated country. according to jabril, foreign inspectors are scheduled to arrive later this week to deal with the issue. this morning's "new york times" reports a plan is in the works to boost u.s. military presence in the persian gulf following the withdrawal of

forces from iraq. u.s. officials and diplomates say the buildup could include a ground presence in kuwait as well as increased air and naval patrol. a thunderous explosion of a kansas grain elevator has claimed the lives of at least three young men. rescue efforts are likely to continue today for two inspectors and an additional worker who likely did not survive the blast. >> a prominent skeptic who spent years trying to disprove findings has changed his mind. after digging back as far as franklin, the physicist concluded that the earth's temperature is rising. and a typy treasure of early christianianty has been unearthed. the bone box is less than one inch by 1 inch. archaeologists believe it dates back 1400 years. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,231 after adding 22 points on friday. the s&p was up a fraction.

the nasdaq lost a point. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 62 points. in hong kong, the hang seng dipped 154. last week on wall street, it was all about europe. this week, investors shift their focus to the fed and economic data. traders will warm the federal reserve's two-day policy meeting, which ends wednesday, like hawks. some think the fed will enact another round of bond purchases to stimulate the economy. others feel last week's figures showing third quarter growth spurt, the year's strongest, makes that less likely. wednesday, chairman ben bernanke discusses the fed's economic outlook at his quarterly news conference. investors will carefully study every word. friday comes the all-important monthly jobs report. analysts expect 100,000 jobs added in october, leaving the jobless rate stuck where it has been for months, 9. %.

anything less could jolt wall street. in other data, october auto sales will show whether consumers are still making big purchases. lowes, pfizer and kellogg are among 100 companies reporting earnings this week. this earnings season, roughly 70% reporting, busted expectations. elsewhere, qantas is flying again after an australian court essentially ruled against both management and labor in a bitter dispute that prompted the airline to ground its entire fleet for three days. finally, in vermont, they take their maple syrup industry very seriously. counterfeiting is so serious, there is a bill in congress that would make it a felony to sell fake maple syrup penalties to five years in prison.

an unusual snap for a linebacker and baseball's cardinals inspire others to may like champions. >> plus after an ugly loss, could the denver bronco's tim tebow experiment be over? your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >> halloween forecast for trick or treating looks just fine with the exception of a few areas of the country. i'll talk about those, coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, they say winning is contagious. that was certainly the case yesterday in st. louis. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. you say it's been a good weekend for the city of st. louis would be an understatement. the cards won the world series friday night and yesterday the rams pulled off the upset of the week. they must have inspired the rams, wearing their throwback jerseys, steven jackson running like eric dickerson. 150 yards on the ground and two scores, rams shocked everybody, picked up their first victory of the year, knocking off the saints, the 1-21. dolphins just a few minutes away from getting their first win of the season, then the wheels fell off. eli manning to cruz. giants took their fist lead of the game and won it, 20-17. eagles and cowboys, nfc showdown more like a letdown.

michael vick threw a pair of touchdowns. shawn mccoy ran for two. eagles soared, 34-7. tim tebow is football's version of trick or treat. last week he treated the broncos to a win. yesterday he tricked the broncos into thinking he could play quarterback. lions had their way with the broncos, 45-10. steelers up seven at the half, now to the fourth, pat's down six. tom brady tried to engineer a comeback, but troy polamalu dared to swat the ball away. pittsburgh held on to win it, 25-17. on this halloween, there is nothing scarier than ray lewis. picked up some grass and then he ate it. the turf must have worked. the ravens came back from 21 down against the cards. ray rice led the charge with three touchdowns. biggest comeback in franchise

history, ravens won it, on 30-27. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. this weekend's biggest money-making movie wasn't in a theater near you. we'll explain. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, when it came to restoring the relic of motown's legendary past, another musical legend came to the rescue. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday.

cold front for us, cooler air and showers into the northwest today. just isolated showers. from boise up to northern idaho, temperatures will drop as the front goes through higher elevations and a little bit of snow showers. a peek at tomorrow's forecast shows pretty nice weather. a storm system will brew through the rockies. areas like wyoming will get their first storm system of the year. if you are watching us in los angeles, explore the full range of tim burton's range of work at the los angeles county museum of art. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. friday night's world series game seven and the east coast winter storm put a dent in box office figures this weekend.

but there was still a big winner. the 3-d animated "puss in boots" took top spot at $34 million. the popular character voiced by antonio banderas drew a largely 35% of the hispanic crowd. the east hurt justin timberlake's "in time" which took third with $12 million. johnny depp's "the rum diary" disappointed with just $5 million in fifth, leaving it a long shot to earn back the $50 million it cost to make. >> ooh. >> no kidding. finally, the weekend's biggest opening didn't even happen here, steven spielberg's animated tail of the belgium cartoon character opened in 19

other countries taking in almost $56 million. >> but why didn't it open here? >> it will. it's coming christmas week. >> it will. that upsets me. we'll have to talk to steven. this comes to us from detroit, michigan, where one legendary rocker is dipping into his pocket to save a relic. paul mccartney was disappointed recently after learning he couldn't tickle the ivories on a historic piano. is 877 steinway no longer works. a huge motown fan, mccartney was moved to offer to fix the piano and he is having it pick up today to be restored. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

here is a story that proves dog really is man's best friend. even in death, lingling still guards her owner's home even a month after he died in a house fire. neighbors now feed her and her newborn pups through the window since she refuses to leave. fantasy fest in florida is winding down sunday. and did the ten-day festival for people who like to dress up and those who like to cheer them on. the festival is a way to bring in tourists for the off season.

and for halloween in one alaskan town, the coast guard goes from protecting people to scaring them. a coast guard cutter called the haunted hickory is transformed from a boat into a haunted house. crew members dress up and decorate the ship in a halloween theme. the event is all in good fun as the crew members collect donations for the local food bank. so a good cause there, even if you get spooked. >> so what scares you the most? >> everything. >> for me, it was the clown from poltergeist. that still to this day -- >> freddie krueger, as well. that was a winner. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. the united nations has set today as a symbolic date, estimating a child born in a rural state in india will be the world's 7 billionth living person. it's estimated the world's population could pass 10 billion by tend of the century. nasa and boeing are expected to announce a partnership in

which the company will built capsule toes ferry astronauts to the international space station and is expected to bring at least 500 jobs to central florida. and veteran tv anchor dan rather turns 80. 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. matt sits down with wife and son of convicted ponzi schemer bernard madoff as they talk about life inside the scandal. and matt and natalie and ann reveal their costumes for this year's halloween spectacular. 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. the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com 6