this morning on "early today" hurricane sandy explodes in intensity and has a 90% chance of hitting the northeast. we'll tell you where and when. polls, promises and predictions. the candidates' last-minute promises in the push to election day. first lady michelle obama gives jimmy kimmel a gentle message to make sure he and everyone else gets up and votes on election day. >> election, election day! let's go, move! good friday morning,

everyone. i'm lynn berry and the east coast is bracing for a direct hit by hurricane sandy. officials are busy making emergency plans. the category 2 storm is churning out in the caribbean where it's being blamed for at least 21 deaths. 11 of those in cuba alone. let's begin with nbc's jay gray. >> sandy's early warning came as the storm lashed the caribbean. violent winds and driving rains battering the islands and cuba take aing the most vicious hit and now the storm turns its attention towards the east coast. >> i have been watching it for the last two or three days and i saw this morning it is headed this way. >> reporter: models show sandy brushing the mid-atlantic through the weekend and targeting the east coast early next week. if the current forecast holds, new york could take a direct hit. >> we've opened the office emergency management situation room already and the nyc coastal storm plan was activated early

this morning. >> reporter: early signs of the storms are showing up along the beaches in florida. thick clouds and a growing surf. >> it's beautiful. devastating beautiful. >> reporter: life guards warn, extremely dangerous. >> every year we have some kind of terrible thing happens where somebody goes out and gets injured or killed because they went out in the ocean when it's like this or worse. >> reporter: fearing the worst, preparations have already started. boats being pulled from the water, furniture stacked and strapped down and emergency operation teams in the region gearing up for a possible strike from sandy. >> communication, coordination and preparation. >> reporter: residents are getting ready, as a well. stocking up on the essentials. >> i just want to be safe. >> reporter: a wish now shared by millions along the east coast working, watching and waiting for sandy. jay gray, nbc news. waiting, indeed. bill karins is tracking sandy as it heads towards the u.s.

bill, what's the latest? >> in the last 24 hours, lynn, the forecast for northern new england has improved. this is the forecast from the national hurricane center. paralleling the coast over the next two days and then taking it sunday into monday towards the northern mid-atlantic and the northeast. let me get in a little closer on the cone of uncertainty. the cone goes from providence, new york city, delaware, maryland, virginia and all through the chesapeake area. again, don't focus on the center line, not yet. wait until we get over the weekend, a little closer to see where the direct landfall is going to be. computer models connecticut landfall and as far south as maryland, delaware and maybe even virginia landfall. the cluster in the middle would be somewhere here into the new jersey area. here's how one of our computer sees it. the center line where we're watching the center of the storm and begins to track towards the coast, a landfall in jersey. the bottom line with this storm, if you're north of the storm,

damaging wave and storm surge in wind and the west side, lynn, that's where we see the heaviest wind and rainfall. >> unbelievable. all right, bill, thanks so much. we'll check back in with you in a few minutes. first as the 2012 election race enters the final stretch, one new poll shows republican nominee mitt romney with an edge over president obama. according to a new abc news/washington post" poll favor governor romney versus 47% for the president. he wrapped up a campaign stop in chicago to cast an early ballot. this is a first for a presidential nominee and, yes, in accordance with illinois early voting laws, he did have to show his i.d. mitt romney made three stops in ohio 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. while in the office aboard air force one, the president talked to brian about the election versus the job itself. >> it's funny. one of the things about being on the campaign trail, you're in air force one and you're in marine one and these big motorcades and michelle jokes i have everything but a caboose and a dog sled 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 we've got to make tough decisions that are unpopular because you have some compass about what this country

can be. and, you know, during the course of these four years, all kind of mistakes 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. >> and now for a look at some other stories making news. early today in america, let's begin in. >> greg: georgia. preparing to move out, they posted a craigslist ad for a give away of furniture and other items outside the house, but big crowds showed up early while the family was out. they broke into the house and they cleaned it out and stole practically all of their belongings. unbelievable. to southern california where not a bird, not a plane, but a two-foot long shark fell from the sky and flopped on to the 12th tee of a golf course. true story. the two-pound leopard shark was plucked from the ocean by a bird and dropped on to san juan hills

golf course. course employees placed the shark in a bucket of water mixed with sea water from the kitchen before snapping a photo and returning it to sea. finally in new york, after years of renovation, people will, once again, be able to visit lady liberty's head on sunday. the crown will be open thursday through sunday. but this weekend with sandy coming, not a good weekend. bill karin has more on the weather channel forecast. >> over the weekend, if you're in the path of the storm, your nbc local station will have all the information you need and keep it tuned there as the storm does approach. we don't want to ignore our friends in the south. still getting a lot of gusty winds. 20 to 35 miles per hour all the way from miami through west palm beach and getting beach erosion and large waves. all the day throughout the southeast coast, today and tomorrow, brushed from the storm from south carolina to georgia. middle of the country looks fine

forecast wise, just that cold air we've been talking about new in the northern plains and head to the east coast behind sandy as we go throughout the weekend. that's a look at your national forecast and now here's a look at the weather outside your window. today is a pretty warm day on the eastern seaboard. kind of setting the stage. we have the cold air plunging down through the middle of the nation and look at st. louis with a high of only 55. maryland today up into the 70s. so, once again, we have about two days to prepare for sandy if you live in the mid-atlantic or the northeast. >> a lot of people concerned about this storm. preparation is key. bill, 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, where is the economy headed with just days until americans head to the polls? details are next. you're watching "early today." . you're watching "early today."

stories making news this morning, we begin with a horrific story. 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 and 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 halt funding. british police say 300 potential victims have come forward saying they were sexually abused by the late bbc children's tv host jimmy savel. shelving an investigation into him last year. on the campaign trail president obama is back at the

white house today. vice president joe biden campaigns in wisconsin and the first lady attends a prived fund-raiser in california. governor romney is 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 colon cancer patients. the over-the-counter medicine only benefited patients that have a specific mutation in their cancer, but the results were very promising. almost all the patients were alive after four years as to those who didn't. colon cancer is the second most deadly cancer in the u.s. and 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 and nikkei sunk 122 points. a rare disappointment from apple they missed overall earning 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 sales of galaxy smartphones. amazon missed earnings, revenue and guidance which could be bad news today. the government reports its final preelection snapshot of revenue growth. new home contracts came in 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 subpoena aed over alleged interest rate ma p manipulation. microsoft new surface tablet hits shelves today with a price of 4 $99. retailers are running low on holiday season's hottest toys. the leapfrog 2 and furbies. tom hanks unleashes a big one and pippa's coming out party. some scary moments as a line drive nails doug fister right in the head. sandy is heading for the northeast as we go throughout the end of the week and next week. the arteries of your dishwasher are constantly clogging up

with grease and lime scale.

use finish dishwasher cleaner every month to keep your machine in sparkling health. for shining results, finish dishwasher cleaner. well, in sports, san francisco has a 2-0 game lead in the world series which gives them a 79% chance of winning it all. in the second inning a wicked line drive hit to 6'8" 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 and

play of the game for san francisco. the giants got an insurance run in the eighth and their bull pen closed out the tigers. >> pop up, there's bell. giants up, 2-0. >> that was it, the final score 2-0. game three will be saturday night in detroit with ryan vogelsong pitching for the giants against sanchez for the giants. vikings, tampa quarterback freeman hits williams who just gets his feet inbounds for the score. all right, free tacos for everyone when angel stole second base, he won free tacos for america. that's right, taco bell will be giving away the free tacos next tuesday afternoon. thanks, angels, we appreciate it. just ahead, a very funny michelle obama. plus, 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. here is a look at the cone of uncertainty from the national hurricane center. this means a storm could be anywhere to the east side of it, still heading in for a landfall in southern new england or as far south as hatteras to virginia beach. obviously, the center line you don't want to pay too much attention to that quite yet, but as we go through the weekend, focus more and more north side of it. the worst rain, excuse me, the

worst storm surge and the worst wind. the south and west side has been the strongest rainfall rate. so, you really can't win with this storm as we go throughout the day today. only affects today. georgia coast and the florida coast with a lot of waves and wind. >> bill, thanks so much. now for entertainment news that could be close but silent hill revolution 3d will probably have trouble. "cloud atlas" is grating great buzz. first lady michelle obama appeared on "jimmy kimmel live" and told kimmel about her plan in case he forgets to vote. >> election day! election day! let's go! move it, move it! let's go, get your shoes on. move it, move it! up, up, up. it's time to go. you can do it. out the door, out the door. and eat some carrots.

>> and eat some carrots. british's royal sister-in-law attended a launch party for her book launch of party planning and recipes. jessica beil tells "people" magazine says she plans to go the traditional route and take her hubby's last name. and, finally, did we know this was coming? we did. 22-year-old taylor swift and conner kennedy reportedly called it quits. a few month of dating, that was about it because of the distance and her busy schedule. tmz reports that she plans to buy that $4.5 million home across from ethyl kennedy. awkward. last night jimmy fallon had a little fun with the breakup. >> when kennedy asked if they were ever getting back together taylor handed him an ipod and said play track six. >> i can't get that song out of

my head. >> will it be a dear conner song? >> we predicted this. >> i like to feel bad for conner, but he's a kennedy. >> good point. this comes to us from savannah a, georgia, i one south carolina woman is showing us it's better late than never. >> i did vote. >> she feels good. she says 108-year-old joanna jenkins will exercise her right to vote for the very first time this election. her family didn't think she would be eligible to vote, but with some help she is registered as an absentee voter. i'm lynn berry, this is "early today."

you are watching wbal tv 11. live, local, late breaking. this is 11 news at 5:00. >> good morning. it is can they deja vu all over again. a lot of clouds, and little missed our drizzle here and there and some fog as well. cool temperatures. a lot of readings around 60. bwi marshall 62. barometers still high at 3017. and a downtown the temperature is 64. that is almost identical to yesterday at this time.

the situation with the big storm we expect to comment at the end of the weekend, early next week, that situation is still there. i will be talking about that coming up. stick around. >> thank you. the time is 4:57, 62 degrees. as john mentioned, is monitoring hurricane sandy. >> and residents are getting ready for the big hurricane as well. and i am jennifer franciotti, details and next. >> and others >> gun incident. what happened and what punishment the students face today. >> clear on the road so far. we will give [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i need your help... i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. well...everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe well...i'm not at liberty to give that out, but we do use tender chunks of white meat chicken

in an herb & spice broth. come on that's it? i need the recipe. you gotta help me out! [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? like a ninja! [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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