this morning on "early today," the political zing gers were flying at a swanky charity event. everyone, please take your seats, otherwise clint eastwood will yell at them. >> but it's nice to finally relax and to wear what ann and i wear around the house. nor fire power. the cia wants to expand the fleet of armed zroens. this oklahoma dust storm could have an impact on weather this oklahoma dust storm could have an impact on weather in the northeast. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning. i'm lynn berry. well, with just 18 days left in

the campaign, it may be the final time president obama and former governor mitt romney can share a few laughs. they did just that. last night the two shook hands and smiled just 48 hours after their contentious debate laying down their political swords to head line the most famous dining experience. it's hosted by the catholic archdiocese. both men worked the one liners as artfully as they sparred tuesday night. here are a few moments people will likely be talking to about today. >> i was hoping the president would bring joe biden along this evening because he'll laugh at anything. >> i felt really well rested after the nice, long nap i had in the first debate. i particularly want to apologize to chris matthews. four years ago i gave him a thrill up his leg. this time around i gave him a stroke. >> as president obama surveyed

the waldorf banquet room with everyone in white tie and fine ri, have you to winter what he's thinking. so little time. so much to redistribute. >> after my foreign trip in 2008 i was attacked as a celebrity because i was so popular with our allies overseas. i have to say i'm impressed with how well governor romney has avoided that problem. >> in the spirit of sesame streets, the president's remarks are brought to you by the letter 0 and 16 trillion. >> i don't have a joke here, i thought it would be useful to remind everybody. >> president obama and i are each very lucky to have one person who's always in our corner, someone who we can lean on. i have my beautiful wife ann. he has bill clinton. >> actually, mitt is his middle name. i wish i could use my middle name. >> there have been some awkward

moments, like when the president pulled pope benedict aside. look, holy father, whatever the problem is, just blame it on pope john paul ii. >> we're both thinking ahead of our final debate on monday. the question that is on the meends of millions of americans watching at home, is this happening again? why aren't they putting on "the voice?" >> the topic is foreign policy. spoiler alert. we got bin laden. lots of laughs, but there's also serious political nuls. the latest nbc news wall street journal marist polls show that president obama is maintaining his lead over governor mitt romney in two key battleground states. in iowa the president has the support of 51% of likely voters as compared to mr. romney's 51%, an eight point margin which is unchanged from september. in wisconsin the president is ahead by six points, 51 to 45%

which is also virtually unchanged from last month. both candidates will be back on the trail today in key states. president obama will attend a campaign event in fairfax, virginia. after that mr. obama will reportedly head to camp david to prepare for monday's third and final presidential debate. gov for romney and his running mate paul ryan will attend a rally in florida. the third and final presidential debate begins monday night, 9:00 eastern, 6:00 pacific right here on nbc. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. we're going to begin with a bit of political shi cannery where one man wanted his dad to win a florida election at all costs. the son of an incumbent school superintendant was caught stealing the campaign signs of his dad's opponent. the alleged thief is also a city council man and assistant

principal. state police are now investigating. now to texas where some high school cheerleaders fought the law and won. a judge ruled in favor of the students who were barred from putting bible versus on banners at high school games. religious themed banners will likely stay in place throughout the school year since the trial will not be held until june 22nd. the lava from one of the world's most active volcanos is rising to record heights. it's been rising for past few months. it's within 150 feet from the volcano's summit. if it continues it will eventually spill out of the volcano. finally, a tidal wave of dust shut down several roadways in oklahoma. it triggered multi-car accidents and blackouts. officials say the storm system was fueled by 50 mile per hour winds and dry wheat fields. now for a look at national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins who

has a little bit more information on this. this has an affect as far as the northeast. >> it's making its way up through new england. what a windy day it was. rapid city had an 80 mile per hour dust. with the drought conditions, you're bound to have dust storms like that all over yesterday. the worst travel weather is heading for new england. we've had heavy rain heading through the areas of pennsylvania overnight. reading, allentown, heading up into the cat skills. as of now it's not into the philadelphia new york city area but eventually that rain will move in towards the peak of the rush hour. coming off the ocean we're watching some areas of rain covering all of long island, connecticut, and soon to be heading up into massachusetts. it will be a rainy, wet day today in all of new england. that's probably where the worst of the travel weather is. it's not great in the great lakes. this is a huge storm just sitting here right over the top of lake michigan. it will slowly be on the move

today and tomorrow and get out of our way most of the weekend. chilly light rain and showers in wisconsin through indiana. high pressure over texas. low over lake michigan. it will be a breezy day from kansas to missouri right into areas of kentucky and tennessee today. at least it will be dry and sunny but it will be on the breezy side. the forecast today, travel delays are expected from new york city upwards, boston, hartford, providence. much of the rest of the country should be looking at a dry friday. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. boston, mass., you're starting out dry. you'll have showers as we go throughout the morning. a period of heavier rain late this afternoon, maybe a rumble of thunder or two. more or less showers and cloudy and cooler. the good news, today is by far the worst weather day we'll see. the weekend is looking pretty

nice. >> good news, bill. thanks. $35 million andy warhol and bad timing. girl dumps guy who just then happened to go on to win mega millions. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, reports the cia wants to beef up its fleet of military drones. details ahead. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." here are some of the stories making news this morning. in a case that will almost certainly go to the supreme court, a federal appeals court has ruled the 1996 defense of marriage act is unconstitutional. the court said gay marriages deserves the same sort of protections. next up, the boy scouts, thousands of secret files were finally made public. they reveal a widespread effort by the organization to cover up more than 1200 cases of alleged

molestation by scout masters and others. the so called perversion files were ordered released by the oregon supreme court. the boy scouts issued an apology. another bloody day. it left behind horrific scenes of carnage. activists say more than 40 civilians, many of them women and children, were killed. this morning the washington post is reporting that the cia is reporting that the cia is asking the white house to bolster its fleet by as many as 10 war drones. andy warhol's painting of the statue of liberty went on display in paris before heading to auction in new york where it could fetch more than $35 million. in health news, a new study shows that annual doctor checkups aren't helping healthy people. ten subjects who received annual physicals had the same death rate as those who didn't. when do trips to the doctor pay

off? going for a specific test or screening, such as mammograms. also, people with ongoing health issues like high bloop should regularly see their doctor. >> announcer: early today health is brought to you by vagisil health. here's a look at how wall street will begin friday. the dow closed at 13,548 after losing 8 points. the s&p was down 3. the nasdaq fell 31. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei added 19 points while in hong kong the hang seng was up 19. in brussels the leaders took a big step agreeing to install a new supervisor over eurozone banks so that bailout funds can be pumped into failing banks. the protest oors were angry about severe cuts that come along with the international cash. back at home, a weak

earnings report from google came out midday instead of after the bell. google plunged. trades were halted for hours and markets never recovered. later, microsoft said twindling pc demand hurt its profit. bad news before its big windows 8 launch. more pc fallout from chip maker amd now planning to layoff 15% of its staff. the world trade organization handed the obama organization a small but significant victory barring china from imposing duties on steel exports made at ohio based ak seal. the average price of regular gas is down to $3.74. dunkin donuts may have a new sibling, bagel bunch kins. they applied for the patent. victoria's secret unveiled its annual fantasy secret bra. it's worth a whopping 2.5 million bucks. who has that kind of cash. this guy.

the 22-year-old just won 30 million big ones in the massachusetts megamillions so what or who will he spend it on? he's not quite sure, but we do know who he won't be spoiling? >> no, no lucky girlfriend. just broke up with her so -- thank god. yeah. >> nice. sometimes breaking up isn't so hard to do. coming up, the karsds push the giants to the brink and the niners are tops in their division. plus, the tigers break out the broom for a celebration. your sports headlines are straight ahead. and after a stormy friday, we're going to see a pretty nice warm weekend for most of us. those details are coming up. you're watching "early today."

well, in sports we're going to begin in san francisco with a little thursday night football. in a largely defensive battle, frank gore rushed for 131 yards and alex smith threw a 12 yard touchdown pass to welker for a 13-6 victory over the satisfy atle seahawks. in sole possession of the nfc west. in college football oregon's kenyon ran for a touchdown. they romped over arizona state

43-21. baseball, cardinals adam wayne write threw seven innings of four hit ball and st. louis roughed up tim lincecum for an 8-3 victory that puts them a win away. in detroit two home runs were hit. it was a four run hit inning. it was a four game sweep of the new york yankees. announcer earn any johnson has that call. take a listen. this is going to do it. prince fielder wants it. the tigers are going to the world series for the 11th time in franchise history. >> get the brooms out. all right. finally, she's known as the flying squirrel. gabby douglas, the first african-american to bring home the gold medal in gymnastics all around competition was honored as sports women of the year which the women's sports

foundation. well deserved. actress and obama supporter eva longoria apologized to mitt romney. have you ever seen a baby panda learn to walk? it's adorable. we'll show you. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. let me take you through your weekend forecast. today's by far the worst of the travel weather. up here through all of the great lakes, going to be rather raw and chilly from chicago to minneapolis, detroit.

new england, as far as airport delays and heavy rain, that could be the worst of it especially the first half of it. much of the rest of the country is looking nice. few thunderstorms in florida. even you'll clear out for a nice saturday. boston, some showers. northern new england, we're getting a little bit of an improvement. by sunday we're all pretty nice. into the mid 60s once again. up where it's chilly in the great lakes and northern plains. 80s in the south of the country. no problems at all. very nice fall weekend. >> lovely, bill, thanks so much. entertainment news, let's start with the movies. paranormal force should get the top spot, $41 million. that is not bad considering it only cost 5 million to make. two people won't be going to that. >> don't include me in your chicken little. the character in the popular james patterson series, it should land in the number 2 spot

with 15 million. the former companion of anna nicole smith could face jail time. a previous ruling threw out a 2010 conspiracy conviction on charges howard k. stern used fake names and false pretenses to acquire drugs. actress eva longoria is apologizing for a message that she tweeted. and finally, could this be the weekend just continue timber rake and jessica beel tie the knot. radar on line reports guests have been arriving at a location near naples, italy. they have been told the exact location will be secret until the day of the wedding. all that thing about cameras not wanting to be at your wedding. >> give up having the beddiweddn our country so they go elsewhere. >> helicopters, they'll send them. planes can fly. they'll get there. radar on line is reporting andy sandberg has arrived. andy sandberg of a certain snl

fame with just continue timberlake. good buds. it will be interesting to see the pictures. >> maybe they'll be smart and sell them. >> maybe. >> they need the money. >> this comes to us from san diego, california, where one newborn at the zoo has continued to charm the world. you really just have to see it. take a look. this 11 week old giant panda who's still little has taken his first baby steps. the vets were examining the cub when he raised one paw and then mustered enough strength to lurch forward before collapsing. the precious animal looked like he was crawling but vets say these first steps are what they call clumsy walking. we've all been there, haven't we? i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. thunderstorm activity overnight. we have some lingering showers here and there. 64 degrees at the airport. some showers northwest of the city. the barometer a little on the low side. not a chilly morning. these temperatures are close to the normal high for this year. the forecast is just ahead.

>> so many questions and so little time. 4:56. two baltimore city police officers are facing charges this morning. >> howard county police need your help catching a peeping tom. >> watch what you say when you are on the mta. >> one problem in ellicott city

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> some storms overnight and it is warm this morning. >> some areas had over an inch