this morning on "early today," 22 days to go. new polls and controversy from both campaigns over tuesday's debate. we'll have details ahead. malala to england. the 14-year-old targeted for assassination by the taliban is flown to england this morning. history-making feats. the slowest shuttle trip ever. the fastest human trip ever. and the first man to break the sound barrier does it again 65 years later. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. nice to see you this morning. a day before president obama and mitt romney meet for the second

of three debates, brand-new poll numbers show the candidates locked in a virtual dead heat. according to a new "washington post" abc news poll of likely voters, 49% favor president obama compared to 46% who back governor romney. in florida, virginia and ohio, the numbers show romney up 50-48 again, a statistical tie. while personal popularity has long been one of the president's strikes, the poll shows mitt romney is now also scoring high marks. the two men are essentially tied on likability. a new poll of likely voters by "the washington post" and abc news puts the race within the margin of error. president obama 49%, mitt romney 46%. both campaigns are expressing concern about the moderator of the second debate. candy crowley will be hosting the debate, and she suggested that she'll play a larger role than agreed to by the candidates. according to "time" magazine's mark halperin, the two campaigns

have raised objections saying the moderator's participation should be much more limited than she's leading people to believe. crowley has suggested she'll ask follow-up questions, which is not part of the agreed upon format. as the candidates get in their final cram session before tomorrow night's debate, aides say president obama will be more aggressive, and mitt romney's camp says he'll be ready. for details, we go now to nbc's tracie potts for the latest. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. aides say that the president has seen the tape of the last debate, that he was disappointed but that he is determined not to make the same mistakes tomorrow. >> hello everybody, hello, hello. >> reporter: president obama taking a break. advisors say expect a more aggressive president to challenge mitt romney tomorrow night. >> he's got to be more energetic. i think you'll see somebody who's very passionate about the

choice that our country faces. >> we saw governor romney sort of serially walk away from his own proposals and certainly the president's going to be willing to challenge him on it. >> the president can change his style, he can change his tactics. he can't change his record and he can't change his policies. >> reporter: mitt romney's doing debate prep on the road. saturday he was in ohio. >> i need you to get other people who voted for barack obama to come join our team. we need ohio. >> reporter: maybe not. >> he can probably win the presidency without ohio, but i wouldn't want to take the risk. no republican has. >> reporter: romney's done 34 events in ohio since the republican convention, 11 since his last debate, his campaign says they've signed up thousands of volunteers there. polls show president obama's lead in ohio narrowed to just over one point on average, but reuters reports the president's got a big advantage, 18 points among early voters. in some of those battleground states the president now

bringing out new star power, the boss, bruce springsteen doing concerts on behalf of the obama campaign in ohio and iowa on thursday. >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. a reminder, our coverage of the second presidential debate begins tomorrow night at 9:00 eastern right here on nbc. this is one of the most talked about stories on the planet. fearless felix baumgartner is back after the ultimate leap of faith. on sunday, he became the first sky diver to break the sound barrier, plummeting through the sky at super sonic speeds, reaching 833 miles an hour, or mach 1.24 if case you're wondering. baumgartner then made a remarkably smooth landing on his feet in the new mexico desert. that feat came 65 years to the day after chuck jaeger became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound, and sunday

jaeger did it again. but now that he's 89, the man known for having the right stuff was merely a passenger onboard an f-15 jet that raced across california's mojave desert. now here's a look at some other stories across america. in florida, dramatic video of a car plowing into a scrap metal business. luckily it happened in the middle of the night, so no one was around, except for the driver, who could be seen getting out of the car several minutes after the impact. in california, it is finally home sweet home for space shuttle endeavor. we've sped up this video of what was a long, winding and two-mile-per-hour journey through the streets of l.a. this weekend. after soaring above the earth dozens of times, its final trek was 12 miles long from l.a. international airport to a museum where it will go on display later this month. to new york, it's not as big as that shuttle, but this pumpkin is still pretty great, right? it's weighing in at 1,300 pounds

it won a growing con local contest. and the grower says it's all thanks to hard work, no funny business. a map discovered buried in the vault of a historical vote shows george washington's encampment at valley forge, pennsylvania, could have changed this country's history forever if it had fallen into the hands of the british. the map was rediscovered two years ago during a routine inventory after being donated to the society in the 1940s. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with a weather channel forecast. >> heat exhaustion in l.a.? >> they were out there so long they had to treat like 30 people for xaugs waiting for the shuttle. we didn't see gigantic rainfall amounts, about half inch in

bellingham. that was round one. round two later today, now a few showers at the higher elevations. as i mentioned, get red dirks keep the umbrella handy, now we'll see a big storm system coming in right behind it. this next storm system will bring heavy rain as you go throughout the afternoon hours and then as we go throughout the evening. that looks like this could dump possibly as much as one to two inches of rainfall throughout much of the area. that next storm is right here on the map. there goes the first one by. a little break this morning. this is the next one that will move in with the next area of rain. as far as the rainfall totals go, it will be a little more than this last one. we should dry it out. the middle of the week looks okay in many areas o ride home will be wet. in areas of california and arizona, the storm misses you.

a one-two punch of storms in the northwest. then a break in the middle of the week. >> all right. thanks, bill. the father of former u.s. ambassador to libya chris stevens speaks out. what caused one of our subs to collide with one ouf our stroirs? from land to water in the push of a button. you might be able to afford james bond's latest gadget. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." the pakistani girl shot last week for promotion education to girl is being flown to grit britain this morning. doctors believe malala yousef is a will need long-term care. arlen specter died sunday from complications of nonhodgkin's lymphomaality the

age of 82. the two were close and often traveled on amtrak together when they were senators. the pentagon is investigating what caused the collision of a nuclear sub and naval cruiser during a training exercise off the east coast this weekend. no one was injured and both ships were able to return to port. the damage is being evaluated. the father of christopher stevens, the u.s. ambassador killed during last month's consulate attack in libya said it would be abhorrent for his son's death to be politicized. last month the mother of the navy s.e.a.l. asked the campaigns to stop mentions his name on the campaign trail. we just received this dramatic video of a tornado in southeastern france. the twister injured at least 25 people and caused extensive damage to a shopping area. 15 people have died due to an injectable steroid. the centers for disease control

published its hirs case report of the outbreak. you can read all about it online at nbcnews.com. just go to our health page. >> announcer: early today health is brought to you by vagisil. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,328 after adding two points friday. the s&p was down four. the nasdaq lost five. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei gained 43 points, while in hong kong, the hang seng nudged up 11. stocks turned in their worst performance since early june last week, but a few factors could turn things around this week. today new retail sales figures should be positive after consumer sentiment sparked to a five-year high on friday. key earnings are on deck from heavyweights like ge, part owner of this network, as well as coca-cola, mcdonald's, and microsoft. japan's softbank has reportedly agreed to acquire a majority stake in sprint nextel for $20 billion.

preliminary figures show the annual boost to social security benefits could be among the lowest in decades, around 1% or an estimated $12 to $24 for the typical retiree collecting an average $1,237 a month. sunland is expanding an ongoing recall of nut butter to include raw and roasted peanuts. amazon kindle owners could see a drop in ebook prices and possibly even refunds on past purchases if a judge approves legal settlements of publishers accused of fixing prices. apple has not confirmed the existence of an ipad mini, but according to rumors, the device will come in 16 different configurations for around $300 to $650. itunes has competition with microsoft's announcement today of a digital streaming music service for use on xbox games gone soles.

xbox music will eventually be available on all windows-based devices. finally, if you have 007 envy, check out this four-wheeler called the quad ski that goes from land to water with the press of a button. soon it can be yours for about 40,000 big ones. right. more playoff baseball and a lengthy record for the nfl history books. plus, a not ready for primetime appearance by an olympic gold medalist. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and the weather is not quite as fast. it looks like we're going to have a break from our big chill. i think you're going to like the warmth. that forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

well, a very good morning to you. in sports, first to houston for sunday night football. reigning mvp aaron rodgers set a career high and franchise record with six touchdown passes, leading the packers past the previously unbeaten houston texans 42-24. here's an early look at all of sunday's nfl scores. with houston's loss, the atlanta falcons remain the only undefeated team in the nfl with a 23-20 victory over the oakland raiders. in baltimore, jacoby jones tied an nfl record with a 108-yard kickoff return, helping the

ravens beat the cowboys 31-29. college football now. alabama and florida top the bcs standings. both 6-0. the crimson tide and gators don't play each other this season, but would meet in the s.e.c. championship game if both remain undefeated. over to baseball. the tigers took a 2-0 series lead over the yankees. a solid performance by pitcher anibal sanchez. an admitted missed call at second base notched them a 3-0 victory yesterday. in san francisco, the cardinals hit two homers in a 6-4 victory over the giants, taking game one of the nl championship series. "saturday night live" had some fun with paul ryan's exaggerated marathon time. they got a little help from the world's fastest man, usain bolt. check this out. >> please tell him who won the 100 meters. >> i did. >> you did? >> and where did i finish?

>> you didn't finish. you weren't even there. >> thank you, usain. >> no problem. coming up next, liam takes down ben. and brad pitt analyzes women. your entertainment headlines straight ahead. plus, queen for a day. a mississippi college student makes history at ole miss. you're watching "early today."

good monday morning.

welcome back to "early today." in the northwest we dealt with the rain, especially on sunday. another batch of rain coming in this afternoon and this evening. this will be pretty heavy, a little windy, too, especially along the coast. southern california to arizona, you continue to be missed by these storms. the ridge of high pressure to your north is keeping you very warm. 87 today in l.a. tomorrow will be 88. could be in the 90s on wednesday. we keep it showery and cool in the northwest. kind of a split forecast for the west coast. if you're watching us on knbc, nbc 4 in l.a., in woodland hills, navigate a corn maze, explore a haunted house or jump on board a hey ride at the halloween harvest festival at pierce college. that's your pacific event of the day. >> i can't believe it's already halloween. >> costume time. get it done. >> i know. then christmas holidays. >> don't stress everyone out. here now is a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment news. at the box office, ben affleck's "argo" put up a good flight, but it just couldn't dethrone "taken 2." the liam neeson thriller pulled

in $22.5 million in its second weekend, while "argo" opened in second place with $20.1 million. "sinister" debuted in third with $18.3 million. the kevin james comedy "here comings the boom" opened in fifth. we got a tweet from a viewer saying it was a great movie. >> one person said that. that's good. it's a start. >> i didn't see it yet. but i'm a big kevin james fan. the "sydney morning herald" reporting that russell crowe and his wife of nine years have separated. the report says crowe's busy film schedule is partly to blame but that the split is amicable. they have two sons. ages 8 and 6. what does brad pitt have in common with marilyn monroe and nicole kidman? bill karins? >> they all have long beautiful

hair. >> he's following in their steps as the face of chanel no. 5. reportedly being paid $7 million for these efforts. this now comes to us from wmc action news 5 in memphis, tennessee, where in nearby oxford, history has come full circle. this weekend, the university of mississippi crowned its first ever african-american homecoming queen. the selection of courtney pearson comes 50 years after ole miss first allowed black students to be admitted, which at the time, led to race riots. pearson credits a diverse group of supporters in winning the vote. i'm veronica de la cruz, this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

three sea lions in peru were given a new lease on life. fiona, felix, and flynn were released back into the wild. the sea lions were badly injured after being attacked by fishermen, but have all made fantastic recoveries. the trio were taken care of thanks to a project aimed at reintegrating endangered species. a town in mexico is celebrating its british roots with their favorite pastry. the pastes began in england, but mexican restaurateurs have made it their own. the tasty treat can be found in this u.s., but without the spicy sauce.

the rubik's cube was anything but frustrating for competitors in poland. over 300 contestants in the european rubik's championship made it not only look easy, they made it look like child's play. some attempted solving the classic 3 x 3 cube, while others took on larger 7 x 7 cubes. of course, the showoffs that were solving these cubes blindfolded, which i bet bill karins did. >> no, i could never do it. i almost bought the book once. there was a cheap book that showed you how to do it and i never did. >> really? >> i've never solved it. >> we learn something new every day. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. hearings are going to start at guantanamo bay for five men charged with planning or assisting in the september 11 terrorist attacks. the suspects on trial before a military commission include khalid sheikh mohammed. the self professed master mind of the attacks. for those of you who requested an extension on filing

your taxes, today is the deadline to avoid the late filing penalty. some taxpayers have more time to file, including members of the military. and happy birthday to director actress penny marshall, who turns 69. all day long, you stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later on the "today" show. get an intimate look at the diaries of richard burton. and meet uggy the dog from "the artist." keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and much more. i'm 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