this morning on "early today," hurricane sandy is primed topack a late october punch for much of the east coast into new england. election sprint. president obama and mitt romney crisscross the country trying to reach every possible voter. what is the cure for romnesia? >> well, obama care covers pre-existing conditions. and pablo sandoval is major league baseball's new mr. and pablo sandoval is major league baseball's new mr. october. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone.

i'm lynn berry. right now hurricane sandy looks to become a menace for folks all along the u.s. east coast. it's expected to bring high winds and heavy rain and even snow to some areas. early this morning sandy slammed into cuba as a strong category 2 hurricane packing winds of 110 miles per hour. this storm is being blamed for two deaths so far, one in jamaica, one in haiti. so nbc's meteorologist bill karins is tracking this powerful hurricane this morning. bill, what can you tell us? >> we're in the middle of an historic event. it has already hit jamaica and it's over the top of cuba. it's going to head up into the bahamas. for the southeastern u.s. it will be a glancing blow as far as florida is concerned. the storm almost 500 miles away from miami. the winds intensified overnight, 110 miles per hour. cuba was hit harder than they were expecting. what's going to happen and where is the storm going?

as i mentioned the southeast especially florida, georgia, south carolina area, a glancing blow for you. not a direct impact. large waves and beach erosion, yes, not the winds and heavy rain. by the time we get to sunday, this is the important part here. some of our computers take it towards washington, d.c. others take it more or less up towards maine and boston. somewhere in there the storm will get sucked back to the coast as a large storm system. large wind field, heavy rain, storm surge. a lot of issues towards the coastal areas of new england come sunday and then definitely monday looks to be the worst of it up here throughout this region. we're talking, lynn, about the possibility of an historic storm. millions of people could potentially lose power with the storm. there's enough wind that some people could deal with a snowstorm. a lot of elements on this huge october storm. >> we'll check back with you in a few moments. first, with less than 300 hours until election day, the candidates are campaigning hard in several key states. and according to a new "time

magazine" poll from battleground ohio, it is paying off for president obama. in a survey taken earlier this week of both likely and early ohio voters, the president leads governor romney 49 to 44%. late last night, katy perry fired up the crowd before the president took the stage in las vegas where he pushed his message of moving forward and criticized his republican rival's policies as backward looking. meanwhile, governor romney stoked his supporters in iowa with attacks on the president's economic agenda. >> they have been unable to lay out an agenda for what they're going to do to help america. they have been unable to defend and describe what they're going to do to get our economy going again and that's why with a president who's out of ideas and excuses, why, on november 6th you've got to make sure we put him out of office. also in iowa president obama sat down for an exclusive one-on-one interview with our own brian williams. the president told brian that his campaign is doing better

than some people had expected. >> folks in your business were writing me off a year ago saying there's no way i would win. so, you know, these things go in ebbs and flows. the one thing i've tried to always be is just steady in terms of what i believe in, who i'm fighting for. >> and you can see more of brian williams' exclusive interview with president obama on the campaign trail this morning on "today" and tonight on "nbc nightly news" and "rock center." it's another busy day on the campaign trail today. president obama speaks at events in florida and virginia before heading to his home state of illinois where he is going to be casting his ballot early at the first for a presidential nominee. the president will end his day in cleveland. governor romney travels to three events in ohio while his running mate, paul ryan, campaigns in virginia. well, president obama is weighing in on the controversy surrounding indiana senate candidate richard mourdock's

comments about race. during the debate tuesday night the republican contender answered a question on abortion saying even when birth happens as a result of a rape it's, quote, something that god intended to happen. well, appearing on the "tonight show" with jay leno the president brought back some of the language and the same language that he used in august when scolding missouri senate candidate todd akin. >> i don't know how these guys come up with these ideas. let me make a very simple proposition. rape is rape. it is a crime. [ applause ] >> and so the very distinctions about rape, you know -- don't make too much sense to me. don't make any sense to me. >> meanwhile, mitt romney's campaign says he continues to support mourdock even though romney disagrees with mourdock's opinion of abortion in cases of rape or incest. here's a look at other

stories making news in america. we'll begin in philadelphia where an airport gate crasher is headed to prison. back in march the 25-year-old man crashed his suv through a gate and raced down the runway at philadelphia international airport at speeds topping 100 miles per hour. he's been sentenced to 16 months in prison and must pay $92,000 in restitution. now over to missouri where one thief armed with a very unusual weapon robbed a kansas city restaurant. right there, the suspect dressed in dark clothing is caught on surveillance video entering a store wielding a sam ma rye sword. he waits for the money. no one was hurt in the robbery. one hunter in georgia bagged quite the prize. that 260 pound 22 point buck. a state biologist will determine if the animal is among the largest whitetail deer ever recorded in the state. and finally, mystery solved. do you know that mystery monkey? he's finally been captured.

the famous primate has been on the lamb for over two years even gathering over 86,000 facebook likes while alluding officials the whole time. yesterday in tampa bay the monkey was spotted, tranquilized and evaluated by a vet. once the 40 pound monkey is given a clean bill of health he will be given a new home at a local animal facility. well, for a look at your national and regional weather, we'll check back in with bill karins. >> there's so many elements with this story. stay tuned to your local nbc station. a storm so dynamic, it's so different all the way up the eastern seaboard. the first effects will be felt in florida today. you can see the green on the map as the outer rain bands of the system. rainy day it appears along the southeast coast. central florida may get dryer air. the winds will be increasing along the beaches of florida along the with waves. the northern plains, this is the

other element. this is the cold air plunging down from canada. we've got rain turning over to snow in areas of the plains today. the cold air is fill theering in behind it. only in the 30s and 40s from denver to billings and min n minneapol minneapolis. snowing in denver. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. the bottom line right now with sandy, it is a hurricane. it's heading across cuba. as far as the effects go, florida and the southeast coast over the next two days, saturday and sunday, the mid-atlantic, the worst impacts for new england on monday. i'll break down for you what i think is going to be the biggest potential threats coming up a little later in the show especially for new england. >> very important, bill. thanks. coming up, voter fraud in florida, the fbi investigates. also, scientists mixing male and female embryos. is this a good idea? your morning headlines straight ahead. plus, if you're a customer of

bank of america, they could be taking a huge hit. details coming up next. you're watching "early today."

stories making news this morning. u.s. officials confirm that authorities in tunisia have arrested a man who may be connected to last month's deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. meanwhile, there are reports an egyptian militant also suspected of involvement has been killed in flashes in cairo. the fbi and u.s. postal service are investigating reports of fraudulent letters being sent to florida voters in at least 28 counties questioning their citizenship and their eligibility to vote. pakistani police say nine people have been arrested in connection with the shooting of the 15-year-old activist who spoke out against the taliban. the main suspect is still at large. scientists in oregon say they have created embryos with genes from one man and two women using a controversial technique that could one day prevent babies from inheriting certain

incurable diseases. researchers point out the embryos are not being used to produce children. and some good news for all of us who call earth our home. government scientists say the hole in the ozone layer over the ant arctic is the second smallest it's been in the past 20 years likely thanks to warmer temperatures and less chlorine compounds in the atmosphere. good news there. to health now where a new study finds that green tea drinkers have lower cancer rates. older women who drink green tea at least three times a week were 14% less likely to develop digestive system cancers including colon, stomach, and throat. since green tea drinkers are generally healthier, it's unclear what exactly is causing the lower rates. the antioxidant found in green tea may be responsible forwarding off cancer causing cells. the study was done by the american journal of clinical nutrition. >> announcer: early today health is brought to you by vagisil ph

balanced wash. well, wall street starts thursday with the dow at 13,077 after losing 25 points yesterday. the s&p was down four. the nasdaq fell eight. in overseas trading today, in tokyo the nikkei rose 100 points while in hong kong the hang seng was up 46. well, the earnings roller coaster continues on wall street. after the bell best buy spiralled after warnings weak earnings and store sales. meanwhile, online gamer zynga reversed earlier losses after raising the lower end of its 2012 outlook. sales of new homes jumped to the highest level in nearly 2 1/2 years in september giving home builders stocks a healthy boost. for better or for worse, there were no big surprises from the fed's latest policy statement. they stuck with their round of latest stimulus until the job market improves. the government is suing bank of america for a billion dollars claiming its countrywide financial unit knowingly sold

defective mortgage loans to lenders fannie mae and freddie mac which are owned by the government. the former director was sentenced to two years in prison yesterday for insider trading. american airlines says it plans to hire 2500 pilots over the next five years as it ramps up international flights. new census data finds more young adults are leaving the nest and moving out of state. americans between the ages of 25 and 29 showed the most mobility in 13 years as they strike out on their own to test the job market in big cities. all eyes will be on microsoft for its big windows eight launch in new york this afternoon. and it's a hacker's dream come true. last year's top three most commonly used passwords are still on top this year. incredibly number one is still just the word password. two and three are the numbers 1 through 6 and 1 through 8. a if you newcomers, jesus,

ninja, and mustang. we're giving away all bill karins secrets. quick, what do bob marley, ee liz bit taylor and peanuts creator bob schultz have in common. plus, baseball's best pitcher is shelled by the newest mr. october. your sports headlines are straight ahead. all the ingredients are coming together for an historic weather event sunday and monday coming up the east coast. forecast details are coming up. you're watching "early today." at cepacol we've heard people are going to extremes

to relieve their sore throats. oh, okay, you don't need to do that. but i don't want any more of the usual lozenges and i want new cooling relief! ugh. how do you feel? now i'm cold. hmm. this is a better choice. new cepacol sensations cools instantly, and has an active ingredient that stays with you long after the lozenge is gone. ahhh. not just a sensation, sensational relief.

well, talk about an exciting night at the world series. a new mr. october is crowned. detroit pitcher ace justin verlander took a beating in game one as the man of the night, giants third baseman pablo sandoval had the game of a lifetime tying a world series home run record. >> count's 2-2. sandoval hits it into center. back at the wall, good-bye. wide ball into left. back at the wall. he's homered again. wasn't activated until the third week of august. into center. at the wall. another! pablo sandoval with a three homer game in world series game number one. >> and that was it. sandoval's three homers in world series game tied the record held

by babe ruth, reggie jackson and albert pujols. the final score 8-3. game two tonight with madison balm guard ner and doug fister. even though a full season isn't a reality, the new york islanders have announced they're going to move 23 miles to the barclay's center as soon as 2015. the nfl has embraced pink all throughout october for breast cancer awareness game. during sunday night's jets dolphins game referees will be throwing pink penalty flags instead of yellow. this was an idea dreamed up by an 11-year-old boy from new jersey. good idea. diego mara doan in a was one of the best soccer players of all time. these days he looks quite different at age 51 as he put on a show at a soccer stadium in india yesterday dancing for the

crowd. the man voted the top soccer player of the 20th century, he'll have some mad soccer skills. no complaints from him. just ahead, the world's oldest facebook user and you're into the going to believe how rich certain dearly departed celebs are. plus, actor tomorrow cruise goes nuclear against the tabloids. we'll have details for you next. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." let me give you my latest thinking on what we're going to deal with with sandy once it

makes its u.s. landfall sometime probably on monday maybe into tuesday morning. landfall possibly anywhere from the chesapeake bay all the way through new england. the potential impact, the number one thing will be the power outages from all the downed trees. generators will probably be hard to find over the next couple of days. river flooding. the storm surge will be a huge issue. beach erosion. structural damage from the winds themselves. this will be an historic storm, one we'll be talking about for years to come. bill, thanks. entertainment news, tom cruise has filed a $50 million lawsuit claiming they defamed him with headlines that he has abandoned his 6-year-old daughter suri which the suit maintains is a vicious lie. it's that time again. who are this year's top earnings in celebrities according to forbes. let's go down it. number five, singer bob marley with 17 million. number four, charles m. shuts with 37 million. number three, elvis at 55 million. number two, the king of pop, michael jackson, 145 million.

this year's top spot goes to elizabeth taylor. she brought in a staggering $210 million. now this is according to -- or thanks to that record breaking auction of her jewelry, artwork and costumes. that helped put her on top. this comes to us from kob in albuquerque, new mexico, where one woman might be the oldest user on facebook. maria metzker has sell the will he brated her 105th birthday with friends in her living room and her 85 friends on facebook. she can't even display her actual year of brirt on the page because the social media site doesn't give options that date back that far. i'm lynn berry, this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> you are watching wbal tv 11. live, local, late breaking. this is 11 news at 5:00. >> good morning. we are starting today with mild temperatures. a little bit of cloud cover, we do not expect any rain. 52 at the airport. a little bit of fog out of there. it should not affect traffic too much. we are going to start out with a little bit of clouds and fog. clouds should break up this afternoon. temperatures will sneak into the low 70's. >> the time is now 4:57. baltimore city police

investigating several cases including two shootings. plus -- >> they are looking for suspects and two armed robberies. i am jennifer franciotti that story is next. >> the baltimore city councilman is not happy with the previous and destinations of possible overtime abuse. >> we will to give it your >> we will to give it your morning

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visa credit card with a qualifying pnc performance select checking account and earn 75% more than cards earning 1% cash back on almost everything. >> you are watching wbal tv 11. live, local, late breaking. this is 11 news at 5:00. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. i am stan stovall. >> it was 80 yesterday. today is going to be a little bit cooler, the wind shifted to the east. we will see more cloud cover and we will see more cloud cover and cooler