day. and michelle obama gives jimmy kimmel suggestions to make sure everyone gets out to vote on election day. >> up and at 'em. let's go. move it. let's go. move it. move it. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good friday morning everyone. i'm lynn berry, and the mid atlantic is bracing for a direct hit by hurricane sandy. government officials and utility companies all along the eastern seaboard are busy making emergency plans, and if you plan to travel east within the next week or have family and friends here, you're going to want to pay attention. so far this storm is being blamed for at least 21 deaths across the caribbean. 11 of those are in cuba alone. this is anticipated to be a really impactful storm. and nbc meteorologist bill karins is tracking sandy for us.

he's been doing so all week. bill, what's the latest? >> good morning to you, lynn. the storm is just off the florida coast. tracking all the way up and down the eastern seaboard. so many people on the west coast travel there or have family and friends that could be impacted by this storm. a lot of our favorite vacation spots on the east coast are getting impacted. high winds in florida. it will be a lot worse as we go through the weekend and especially the tail end of the weekend into the northeast. it almost looks like an extra tropical system or a hybrid with tropical conditions to the north sucking in dry air to the south. that's going to be the story with this. new england is not going to be hit with a hurricane. it will be a nor'easter with rain instead of snow. the forecast path takes it parallel to the coast and then inland, somewhere right along the big cities. some of the most highly density populated areas. between washington, d.c. and new york city. we won't focus too much on the center because it will be a broad wind field and the winds will probably be stronger 50 to

100 miles away from the center. no eyewall or anything like that. a high impact storm. especially at the airports, the ripple effect across the country i'm sure will be felt monday and tuesday. >> unfortunately this is a big one. as the 2012 election race enters the final stretch, at least one new poll shows republican mitt romney with an edge over president obama. according to a new abc news "washington post" poll, 50% of likely voters now support governor romney. that's verses 47% who favor the president. yesterday the president wrapped up a whirlwind two-day campaign blitz with a stop in chicago to cast an early ballot. that's a first for a presidential nominee. and yes, he did have to show his id. mitt romney made three stops in ohio on thursday. he told voters this campaign is about families and said his main goal is getting people back to work. >> i want regulators to see

their job as encouraging business, not attacking business because i want more jobs. my priority is jobs, jobs, jobs. we're going to get them here in ohio. nbc's brian williams spent the past two days on the campaign trail with president obama, often gaining exclusive access to the commander in chief. the president talked to brian about the election verses the job itself. >> it's funny. one of the things about being on the campaign trail, you're in "air force one," marine one, these big motorcades. michelle jokes that i've got everything but a ka boos and a dogsled behind me wherever i'm driving -- none of that is the presidency. the presidency is all about who's going to fight for the american people every single day even when you've got to make tough decisions that are unpopular because you have some

compass about what this country can be. and i've -- during the course of these four years, there are all kinds of mistakes that i've made every single day, but my compass has been true, and i've focused on what's going to be best for the american people. yesterday president obama picked up the endorsement of republican colin powell which prompted this reaction from top romney advisor john sin knew knew during an interview last night. >> when you take a look at colin powell, you have to wonder whether that's an endorsement on certain issues or whether he's got a slightly different reason for preferring president obama. >> what reason would that be? >> i think when you have someone of your own race that you're proud of being president of the united states, i applaud colin for the endorsement.

a former member of vice president's biden's staff has written a tell-all book. he bashes him as an eeg maniacal auto krat. aides say the president has not read the book. "30 rock" star tina fey ripped into todd akin and richard mourdock after they made -- >> if i have to listen to one more gray faced man with a $2 haircut explain to me what rape is, i'm going to lose my mind. >> here is a look at other stories making news today. in georgia, things for one family, losing their 20-year home to foreclosure actually got worse. preparing to move out, they posted a craigslist ad for a giveaway of furniture and other household items outside the house. big crowds showed up early while the family was out, broke in the

house and cleaned it out. they stole practically all of their belongings. unreal. to southern california, not a bird, not a plane, but that guy. a two-foot long fell from the sky and flopped onto the 12th tee of a golf course. the two-pound leopard shark was plucked from the ocean by a bird and dropped onto the san juan hills golf course it was returned to the sea. in new york after a year of renovations, people once again will be able to visit lady liberty's head starting sunday. the crown will be open thursday through sunday each week and reservations are required. hopefully not this sunday, we'll have hurricane sandy making its way. if you're traveling, you'll want to check your forecast. nbc meteorologist bill karins is doing that for you this morning.

>> good morning. >> that's like a jack hanna fish tale. >> it was a true story, i promise. >> i believe you. pretty incredible. good morning everyone. as far as the weather goes in the west, typically when you get these big, huge, unusual weather patterns, the rest of the country stays tranquil and quiet. clear skies over nevada, utah, arizona, through much of california. the warm air is trying to move in along the warm front in the northwest. that's where we'll see a chance of showers, hit and miss during the day today. that's where temperatures remain cooler. overall, a beautiful friday look at spokane today. only a high temperature of 41. chilly. now take a look at your complete weekend forecast coming

up. thanks so much. another reason aspirin is good for you. and a story that truly goes beyond any family's worst nightmare. your headlines are straight ahead. plus is the economy really headed off a cliff as americans are about to vote? details are next. you're watching "early today." >> announcer: "early today" is brought to you by advil. make the switch to advil today.

stories making news this morning, we begin with just a horrific story. police say a nanny at a luxury new york city apartment building stabbed two small children to death in a bathtub and then stabbed herself. the nanny is hospitalized in critical condition. the children's mother arrived home to find the devastating scene before police were called. a federal appeals court has refused to reconsider a ruling that would allow texas to withhold women's health care funding from planned parenthood

clinics because the organization also performs abortions. texas governor rick perry said the state would immediately withhold funding. british police say 300 potential victims say they were sexually abused by bbc former host jimmy savile. he has come under fire for shelving an investigation into him last year. president obama is back at the white house today. vice president joe biden campaigns in wisconsin and the first lady attends a private fund-raiser in california. to governor romney, he'll be campaigning in iowa and congressman ryan is in alabama before they both head back to ohio for a rally. and ann romney will be in virginia. in health news this morning, aspirin may help extend the life of some collin cancer patients. the over-the-counter medicine only benefited patients who have a specific genetic mutation in their cancer. but the results were very promising. almost all the patients who took

aspirin were alive after five years as compared to 74% who colon cancer is the second deadliest cancer in the u.s. now a look at how wall street will round out the week. the dow closed at 13,103 after adding 26 points yesterday. the s&p and the nasdaq were both up four. overseas finished their friday in tokyo, the nikkei sank 122 points while in hong kong the hang sen dropped to 64. apple missed overall earnings estimates again, thanks in part to lower ipad sales. but iphone 5 revenue was strong, raising the question, is this a big apple miss or a buying opportunity? meanwhile, rival samsung reported record profit thanks to surging sales of galaxy smart phones. amazon missed earnings, revenue

and lower guidance which could be bad news today. the government released its final economic snapshot of growth. new home contracts were lower than expected. meanwhile, a new report from the national association of manufacturers finds the economy has already lost nearly 1 million jobs this year due to the so-called fiscal cliff, even though it's still two months away. the report finds corporations are betting congress won't act in time. so they're laying off workers and cutting back on spending which could cost the economy 6 million jobs by 2014. bank of america is one of nine banks being subpoenaed over alleged interest rate manipulation. microsoft's new surface tablet hits stores today with a starting price of 499. finally retailers are already running low on holiday season's hottest toys thanks to a surge in layaways. topping the list, the leap pad 2, has borrow's furby.

coming up, tom hanks unleashes a big one. scary moments as a searing line drive nails tigers pitcher doug fister right in the head. sandy is heading through the northeast as we go through the end of the weekend and beginning of next week. details coming up. you're watching "early today."

in sports, san francisco has

a two-games-to-none lead in the world series which gives them a 79% chance of winning it all. let's begin in the second inning. a wicked line drive hit to 6'4" pitcher doug fister right in the head. he said he was fine and he pitched six scoreless innings against the giants. in the seventh inning the giants had the rally caps on. a double play scores the first run of the game for san francisco. the giants got an insurance run in the eight and their bullpen closed out the tigers. >> a little pop-up. there's bill. giants up two games to nothing. >> that was it. the final score 2-0. game three will be saturday night in detroit are ryan vogelsong pitching for the giants against anibal sanchez for the tigers. thursday night football, bucs, vikings. tampa quarterback josh free man hits mike williams who gets his feet inbound for the score.

bucs shock the strikes 36-15. when angel pagan stole second base last night, he won free tacos for america. they'll be giving away the free tacos next tuesday afternoon. thanks, angel. up next, a funny michelle obama. it took her almost 100 years to vote. it is a story you may be telling your friends about. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today," let me take you back to your weekend forecast. the weather pattern the same for all three days. beautiful conditions, lots of sunshine. beautiful weather. beautiful fall temperatures from vegas to phoenix. warm in l.a. at 87. northwest, the storm system lingering aguirre along the coast. the warm front comes through. it's cooler and even into saturday as the cold front comes towards you, you'll continue with a chance of showers. on-and-off showery weather even into sunday in the northwest. it's not going to rain the entire time. thanks. now for entertainment news. it could be close, but the horror film seek quell hch silent hill revelation 3d" will probably have trouble topping "argo" this weekend. and "cloud atlas" is getting great buzz, but might not be enough to lift it over an expected third place. first lady michelle obama appeared on jimmy kimmel last

night. she told kimmel about her plan in case he forgets to vote. >> election day, election day. up and at 'em, up and at 'em. move it. it's election day. come on. up, up, up. time to vote. you can do it. go and vote. >> okay. >> out the door, out the door. and eat some carrots. >> britain's royal sister-in-law pippa middleton attended a launch party for the release of her first book about party planning and recipes. >> any more news on pippa? >> no, sorry, bill. jessica biel tells "people" magazine says she plans to go the traditional route and take her husband's name. she would be jessica timberlake. 22-year-old taylor swift and 18-year-old conor kennedy have

reportedly called it quits. new song ensues. this because of distance and her busy schedule. radaronline quotes a source saying connor freaked out because taylor moved way too fast. speaking of moving way too fast. tmz reports she still plans to buy the $4.5 million home. >> when kennedy asked if they were ever getting back together, taylor handed him an iphone and said, play track six. this comes from wsab 3 in savannah, georgia, where one south carolina woman is showing us it is better late than never. >> i feel good. >> saying she feels good, 108-year-old joanna jenkins will exercise her vote for the first time ever in this election. she's unable to read or write and lacks a state-issued i.d. her family didn't think she would be eligible to vote. with help she is registered as

an absentee voter. there you go. everyone should get out and vote. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

in china, one set of bakers can expect plenty of beefity leftovers. a group of ten cooks set the record for making the world's largest meat pie. that looks kind of disgusting. chinese judges made the ruling after eight attempts to create the mammoth dish. the final project measured 16

feet in diameter, six feet thick and weighed a hefty 716 pounds. >> what's disgusting about that? >> i don't know. the video. it's not even halloween yet. in new york city a christmas tradition is making an early debut. cam mems, donkey and sheep arrived at radio city for the first days of rehearsals. they'll be part of the living nativity segment at the radio city spectacular. no word on the they'll join in in the famous kick line. it can get i have slous in the world of bankers, at least in hong kong where bankers and hedge fund managers jump in the ring to raise money for children's charities. they sometimes train for six months to come out on top. according to one competitor, the hardest part of training was not drinking any beer. >> spoken straight from a banker. >> exactly. >> sitting at the bar. >> it's okay to offend bankers now. >> it's the cool thing to do

apparently. >> it used to be the irs. now it's bankers. time now for a early look at the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. two teenage boys accused of killing 12-year-old pasquale. her body was discovered in a recycling bin two days later. the brothers ages 15 and 17 have been charged with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and disposing of a body as well as theft. the shedd aquarium will release its beluga whale later today. happy birthday to secretary of state hillary clinton, she turns 65 today. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally hear are stories coming up later on the "today" show. hear about the internet and how

it's become a black market for illegal hiring and banned substances. details on pippa middleton's party planning book and the two big bashes she is throwing to celebrate. 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 msnbc station. have a great weekend.

a key player stepping down from the settlement talks over the san bruno explosion. details next. plus oakland all clear after a mostly peaceful occupy protest. we'll tell you what did and didn't happen overnight coming up. and two wins away. giants getting ready to head