you know, i talk to dentists every day, and they're able to recommend sensodyne sensitivity & gum. it's really good dentistry to be able to recommend one product that can address two conditions. a devastating milestone for the first time in the pandemic this is the third record high for daily cases this week. new this morning, a record number of major storms have hit the gulf coast states this season today thousands are without power as deadly zeta moves through the region. five days ago and the focus on arizona and a handful of swing states as the sprint to election tuesday accelerates and early voters shatter records. our lester holt is traveling

across america meeting obama voters who went for trump in 2016 who will they go for this time and a way to party and socially distant at their space bubble concerts. "early today" starts right now. >> good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> good to be with you i'm frances rivera we begin with a history-making storm that sweeps across the southeast. zeta slams into the louisiana coast. it's the strongest they've seen this year. it's the first time a state has been hit with five named storms in a single season new orleans was in the eye this time around. the mayor sayings one person died after being electrocuted by a downed wire. zeta brought this dangerous storm surge to mississippi the storm surge threatened alabama and georgia as it pushes to the east. nearly a million power outages have been reported in its path

so far meanwhile in oklahoma and north texas, more than 100,000 homes and businesses are without electricity after an early ice storm. officials say the power outages will not stop voters nbc meteorologist janessa webb joining us this morning with more on zeta's path and that's storm. janessa, good morning. >> good morning, you two good morning, everyone we have tropical storm zeta right now, and it continues to speed across the southeast this is the fastest moving system we've seen so far this year, and right now we're going to be watching the severe weather threat and the flash flooding that's going to be impacting atlanta all the way into the mid-atlantic. look at the winds. they continue to roar up to 70 miles per hour, but look at that forward motion out of the northeast at 31 miles per hour if you're across the east coast, it is time to prepare. please make sure you have your cellphone charged because we are expecting more power outages

throughout the day for your thursday morning, this does turn into an area of low pressure, so it dies down a bit. but until it makes its way offshore by friday, we're really not going to see any relief from this tropical system by tonight at 8:00 p.m., still seeing sustained winds at 80 miles per hour tropical threat still in place, but this interacts with the ice storm in the southern plains i'll discuss that coming up. >> janessa, thank you so much. the election is just five days away, and voter enthusiasm is at a fever pitch. americans have cast a staggering 72 million votes, and there's still five days to go until the actual election. just a snapshot of what some states are experiencing. in texas, more than 86% of the tot total, 2016 turnout has already

cast their blot. today both candidates will try to get the upper hand in a critical battingground state of florida. our capitol hill correspondent tracie potts joins us with more. tracie, the sunshine state could make or break. >> hey, frances, it's been 20 years. it always seems to come down to florida. here we are with both candidates with duo rallies in the sunshine state. both think florida is the key to winning this joe biden has a slight lead in florida, but it's pretty much neck and neck there and also in north carolina, and coronavirus continues to dominate this campaign with biden focusing on the virus and how the administration is handling it and president trump focusing on a vaccine. >> a safe vaccine is coming very quickly. you can have it momentarily that eradicates the virus, and we're rounding the turn regardless

you know that. we've got the vaccine. >> i turn on the television. we've got great numbers. mortality is way down compared to europe and other places. >> the infection rate is going up in every state in our union for the trump administration to refuse to realize the reality we're living there with thousands of americans dying every single day is an insult to every single person suffering from covid-19 and every family who's lost a loved one. >> he's actually right about the numbers. yesterday the u.s. saw more than 80,000 new cases it's the first time we broke that threshold, and the third time we set a record in a week frances? >> we'll continue do so, i'm sure, in the next five days. trac tracie, thank you. markets are coming off the worst selloff since june the dow plummeted 943 points

yesterday. the s&p was down 3.5%. the nasdaq faired even worse ominously today marks 92 years since black tuesday when the stockmarket crashed, the great depressi depression the dow down 6.5% since friday the s&p and nasdaq also suffering losses. the latest numbers show 8.9 million americans are infected mortalities surpassing 880,000. >> if it continues on, there's going to be a whole lot of pain in this country with regard to hospitalizations and deaths. >> dr. fauci's warning on cnbc with shepherd smith came hours before the u.s. set a record-high of daily cases on

wednesday with more than 80,000 cases reported meanwhile overseas a second wave is growing in europe as france and germany announce a partial lockdown france now has 1.2 million cases with germany inching toward the half a million mark. joining us now is matt bradley matt, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, guys. this is the epicenter of the outbreak in europe france has become the worst afflicted country. we heard from macron who said icu beds in paris are about to reach almost two-thirds capacity that's very troubling. next door in germany we're seeing there's also going to be a lockdown angela merkel, the chancellor of germany, announced starting on monday there's going to be something like a full lockdown of the same kind that we're having here in france starting tomorrow -- starting tonight and it's very similar to the lockdown that was imposed throughout europe in the spring. the numbers are sky high in both

france and in germany. in germany, nearly 17,000 new cases, a record just yesterday, now, that doesn't sound like a lot compared to america, but, that's, again, a record for germany. it's not that high here in france where they've seen regularly 32,000 new cases a day. sometimes as high as 50,000 new cases a day. now again in both places we're seeing hospitals filling up quickly. in germany, they have the hospital beds and the technology what they don't have is the personnel and staff. that's the problem that's why authorities here and in germany are willing to suffer some of that massive economic pain in order to try to arrest the spread of this deadly virus. guys >> they know it all too well from the first time around matt, thanks. >> nbc meteorologist janessa webb is back with us to give us the latest here this morning janessa. >> good morning, everyone. we kind of have an unusual situation that's taking place

across oklahoma into northern texas. the last few days, they've been dealing with that significant ice storm and the power outages. they continue to really increase across this area you can see the banding that's happening right now, and it will continue to spread in the cold air across the area. the broader picture, though, that system combines with tropical storm zeta, and that will allow our firsty to the gr lower 50s with rain starting to make its way in. flash flooding an issue across philadelphia it's important we talk about that first snowfall. more of that coming up. >> ready for it. all right, janessa, thanks.

country singer billy jo shaver died at 81. he died in his nay active texas following a stroke he rose to fame in 1973 with his favorite album "old five and dimers like me" and he was part of the country music movement. ♪ i'm going to live forever i'm going to cross that river i'm going to kiss tomorrow night ♪ >> willie nelson once called him the greatest country songwriter. he was inducted into the hall of fame in 2006 and into the nashville's country hall of fame shaver was 81 years old. still to come, our own lester holt sits down with vote inars crucial battlegroun state. >> and if you plan to attend the super bowl, you may be in luck

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plus, free store pick up. let the gifting start. shop kohl's and kohls.com. anyone making less than $400,000 a year won't pay a penny more, and i'm going to ask the very big corporations to pay their fair share. we're going to invest in creating millions of good-paying jobs. we're going to ease the burden of the major cost in your life- health care. we're going to protect social security and increase the benefits for millions of seniors. when i announced i was running, i said that's the reason, to rebuild the backbone of this country: hard-working folks of the middle class. i'm joe biden and i approve this message. our bargain detergent couldn't keep up. with us... hard-working folks of the middle class. turns out it's mostly water. so, we switched back to tide. one wash, stains are gone. daughter: slurping don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. now to our across america

journey. it brings us to what many political experts believe is a crucial battle ground in this election everybody agrees on the importance of pennsylvania four years ago donald trump turned history on its head here thanks to many democrats crossing over. and as lester holt reports, once again voters are showing signs of independence. >> reporter: frances, my across america juneny has brought me to what many experts believe is a crucial battleground in the election four years ago donald trump turned history on its head here thanks to many democrats crossing over. and now in 2020 voters are once again showing signs of independence near scranton, we came to dave mitchko's home you don't have to guess who he's voting for, those signs some of the thousands he's been giving out here. >> 2016 there was hardly a sign here or there. this is a true democratic area, you know, and they were all in

support of hillary, but times have changed i've given almost 26,000 signs out of my garage to people who wanted the signs to support trump. this area is overwhelming. >> reporter: dave is one of a crucial group of voters in pennsylvania, obama voters who then switched and voted for president trump. in 2016 they helped the president turn this state red for the first time in nearly 30 years lchl they do it again? >> the left went so far left we figured we had to switch our party and we're going to support this president even more. >> reporter: one of the things that makes it so fascinating is it's essentially flipping the script you have them voting for trump but you also have lifelong republicans voting for joe biden who spent part of his childhood here like retired teacher patricia healy. >> i'm basically voting against trump. i like joe biden as a person

i just don't know -- i do worry a little bit about his age, but, yes, it's mainly against trump. >> reporter: she told us she regrets her vote for the president in 2016. >> he actually has ruined so many things. he's made a mockery of the oval office he's made a mockery of the democratic process. >> reporter: not too far away, we went over to mean mary grace, a registered nurse and a republican back in may she lost her 83-year-old mom grace, a trump supporter, of covid. >> she followed the rules and followed her life around church. >> reporter: mary grace told us she's voting for biden. >> do you think the president failed your mother >> not only my mother but the

220,000 lives that have been lost he's in way over his head. >> reporter: is covid a dominant issue here >> it doesn't seem so much i don't know anybody else in the area that lost someone to covid besides myself personally. >> reporter: and with tens of thousands dependent on fossil fuels, we asked about the biden comments on the oil industry in the last debate. >> yes. >> do you think that hurts or helps him here >> i think it depends on who you talk to here he did raise some eyebrows me personally, donald trump said he would bring coal back to our area there's no coal left. >> reporter: then there's former democrat merit doyle who tells us president trump did exactly what he was hoping for when he switched parties to vote for him back in 2016 and he says he'll

do it this year too. >> i saw trump as someone who came in, who offered a breath of fresh air, something different. >> reporter: merritt is a personal trainer he said too many covid restrictions hurt his business like others and he says the economy will be why they vote for the president again. >> record numbers as far as new jobs, unemployment you give this guy four more years, he could turn this around. >> reporter: polls show joe biden with a narrow lead here in pennsylvania, frances. >> lester holt, thanks so much. up next, could we see fans in the stands at this year's super bowl d anone band finds a way to roll with distancing rules at a concert. this is "early today." ♪ you make my heart sing ♪ ♪ wild thing i... think i...

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in today's "quick hits," the nfl is looking to allow a limited amount of fans into this season's super bowl. the league is planning a 20% capacity crowd for the big game. that's about 13,000 fans in tampa stadium. whitney houston continues to make history her 1987 album "whitney" reached diamond status, exceeding 10 million records sold the feat makes houston the first black artist to have three diamond-certified albums. and the 2021 boston marathon

is expected to be postponed already. after three days of rain in texas, the drivers at nascar finally got to start their engines, and it was kyle busch who pushed the limits of his car to walk away with that checkered flag his car ran out of gas during that celebration it's the 16th straight year busch has had a cup series win. and on sunday, josh bilicki will honor fallen police officers with his car and a special paint scheme. now to a song that is bursting with energy ♪ >> not your ordinary music individual for thousands of youth as the fans rocked out in

those individual bubbles. up next, janessa is tracking an early winter warning storm system. and attacking the polls. why the guard could be out in full force on election day

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in today's top stories, a curfew is in effect in philadelphia as police struggle to contain the violence and shooti looting after a deadly police shooting of walter wallace at least 50 officers have been injured. officials say people broke into a lord & taylor department storeover night and led police on a brief high-speed chase before they took off on foot they were eventually arrested. wallace's family said he was suffering from mental illness. they're calling for peace. the national guard is

gearing up for next week's election they may be called on to assist with cyber defense and standing by in case of civil unrest at least 1,400 troops have been committed to assist with over 1,000 in texas alone so far the states include, arizona, texas, virginia, and more have activated the guard and their missions. it is worth the wait that's what inspiernd determined voters are saying no matter how long they have to stand in line to cast a ballot nbc's harry smith caught up with some of them. >> reporter: just look at the lines. in our divided america, they're either inspiring or a little scary. what if there are more of them atlanta are of us, we wonder there'll be a record turnout, they say it's the most important election of our lifetimes they say. >> the line we're in today on manhattan's upper west side goes for several blocks it will be hours before we get inside to vote.

>> if you want to have a voice, you need to do your duty and vote. >> there's grit determination. >> how do you feel about the line >> it's quite long but i'm encouraged that people are here to perform their civic duty. >> it's worth the wait. >> i have this crazy idea that if more participate, we'll have less rancor and divisiveness. >> reporter: the founders had an idea, revolutionary, that people could govern themselves. when we vote, that's exactly what we do harry smith, nbc news, new york. >> and leading up to election day, we're hearing these astounding stories of the lengths people will go and the money they'll spend to make sure they're in their area and can vote every day we're hearing more and more. >> that might be one t one silver lining against all this divisiveness and nastiness that's getting people out there to vote. i hope one day the kids look back and say, it was that hard

to vote? >> or there was a time they didn't vote at all the civic duty that we're seeing and people going way beyond to make sure it happens >> we can only hope. thanks for keeping us with us on this prop 19 helps california's most vulnerable. it provides property tax fairness for disabled homeowners like cynde, stuck living with a broken elevator. nineteen helps wildfire victims, like ellie, one of 24,000 who've lost their homes to fire. and seniors like pam who need to move closer to family or medical care, without a tax penalty. prop 19 limits taxes on our most vulnerable. yes on 19.

right now at 4:30, more bay area schools gear up for in-person learning. up next, a major school district getting the green light to reopen but when will students and teachers really return? plus, decision 2020 voters with record numbers continue to cast their ballots early, but does it mean we'll know who wins on election night? and no wind warning, no heat wave. breathe a sigh of relief, bay area. a nice day ahead for us. your forecast in just moments. "today in the bay" starts right now. and it is thursday