door step on tuesday. >> now, you knew that was untrue. >> yes. >> changing her story now, she said her brother had in fact arrivedon a thursday, nearly 24 hours after paul duncsak's murder good morning. on "early today," power play. for the first time since 2008, the president and the first lady am up on the campaign trail. security breach. the pentagon braces for a massive leak of asany as half a million secret iraq war files. and shock and awe, the navy's famous blue angels wow and shock and awe, the navy's famous blue angels wow the crowd at a georgia air show. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and a very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we bgin with tag team.

with midterm eltions nearly two weeks away the president partnered with the first lady to lp prop up democrats on the campaign trail over the weekend. candidatesre neck and neck in the polls in several states. pulling out all the stops and spending big bucks to get the word out. nbc's tracie potts is live for us this morning with the details. > reporter: veronica, good morning. good morning, everyone. they are spending millions on this campaign, and the democrats' late strategy to get the word out is getting a more popular obama out there on the campaign trail. it is their latest strategy, they're hoping it will limit what some analysts say could be collateral dage on election day. >> can we do this? >> yes, we can. >> can we do this? >> reporter: democrats have pulled out what they hope to be their wild card. michelle obama. >> this is a serious moment for our country. there is so much at stake. >> reporter: their first joint campaign appearance sin 2008. a rally of 35,000 in ohio.

where the party's senate nominee is trailing by double digits. >> let's be honest, this is a difficult election. this is hard. >> reporter: the president's message, republicans look out for big business, we look out for you. >> but the choice in this election, that's what we're fighting for. >> reporter: those choices are already being made in states like nevada, where early voting started this weekend >> it's going to be about jobs, spending, and debt. pretty much that simple. >> the rejection of an agenda that scares people. the health care bill, the stimulus package, the financial regulation, all of this spending was not what people expected from this president. >> reporter: republicans riding the wave of economic uncertainty. democrats trying to recapture the spirit and success of 2008. but a new associated press poll shows that a quarter of those who voted for obama two years ago plan to vote republican this year. veronica? >> very interesting. tracie potts in washington. tracie, thank you so much.

in europe, officials are on high alert due to fresh intelligence of a potential terror plot by al qaeda. france's interior ministry said inhe last few days saudi intelligence services have alerted them to a new threat in europe, particularly in france. in recent weeks there haveeen similar warnings, including from western security officials concerned al qaeda may be planning a strike similar to the 2008 mumbai attack. the pentagon is reportedly braced for a massive release of intelligence files related to the iraq war. but a whistle-blower website wikileaks perhaps today. the pentagon says it has a 120-member team ready to review up to a half million documents expected sometime today. althougthe timing of any release is still unclear. if the reports prove true, the new leak would far eclipse wikileaks previous publication of 70,000 afghan war documents in july. now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. in new york, over 800 first responders and over 100 actors

participated in a full-scale emergency preparedness exercise focused on first aid and triage response in a scenario where two car bombs go off. the goal of the economic size is to improve the city's response procedures in the event of a real emergency. in georgia, the normally off-limits dobbins air reserve base welcomed tens of thousands of people from the local ommunity to see airmen perform death defying tricks at the atlanta air show. but it was the blue devils who left a lasting impression, closing out the sho with their trade mark sunts and precision. very nice. also in georgia, what started as curiosity has turned into a labor of love for ellie he dog. although ellie has never been a mom, her maternal instincts kicked in when she found an abandoned kitten outside her home. the two are now inseparae. ellie's owners decided she could keep her kitten, which they have now named angela. now for a look your

national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. something you don't see too often. >> no. a little motherly love. mothers love their children no matter what, right? let's talk about this weekend. because veronica, it was gorgeous. we saw nice conditions just about everywhere. even northern new england. on saturday we dealt with the nor'easter. by the time yesterday came it was pretty nice sunday. much of the country will sta off a nice, quiet day. you don need the umbrella in many spots. the jet stream is really dipping away to the north up in canada. a little dip over the grea lakes. cool from new england to the great lakes. but pretty dry. this isn't a weather pattern that you see a lot of wet weather or a lot of big storms. a lot o quick-moving storms with some louds. tt's all we're going to deal with today. we've got cloud comp heading for area was kentucky and also tennessee, down here throughhe great lakes. you're not going to have 100% sunshine but i wouldn't expect a lot of wet weather, either. in this weather pattern. only traveling out west is where you're goin to have issues. san francisco, fine exand a lot

of dry areas will see damp weather this week. one of the bigger stories this weekend was the heat continuing near-record highs in areas like little rock and memphis. been an extraordinarily warm year. and that's going to continue. anywhere south of the boundary, that's where it's going to be very much like summer oer the next couple of days. here's how your forecast looks, as i mentioned, summerlike in areas like dallas at 85 today, new orleans georgia at 83. much of alabama, mississippi, arkansas, well above average. then the cooler air to the north of it. it's not cold. but it's cool. 57 in chicago, 63 in new york. anywhere from cleveland up to boston, in the 60s today. so pretty nice monday. just about for everyone. that's a look at your monday forecast. now here a look at the weather yut side your window. sunshine and warmth today, orlando, very nice. look at new orleans, 83 and sunny. columbus, ohio, at 62. pueblo, colorado, 65 degrees and mostly cloudy skies. notice a lot of these big cits u do not need the umbrella today.

veronica, pretty nice-looking monday. tuesday forecast coming up a little later. >> absolutely, 83 degrees in orlando. i think we've got to head south. >> this is great time in florida. >> "early today," live from orlando tomorrow, bill. raising charity, and a nasty battle with viewers out in the cold. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, sure they're a bunch of thrills, but they're also number one at the box office. the phillies get even. a new numbe one in college football and a big return for big ben. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today," i'm ronica de la cruz. here are some of your top adlines this morning. palestinian president mahmoud abbas is offering an olive branch to israel saying they're willing to end all historic claims against the jewish state on they get their own state as

part of a peace deal. that declaration has been a long-standing israeli demand. negotiations for peace were relaunched lt month but stalled over israel's refusal to extend a building freeze in the west bank. an immigration debate in germany is heating up, after chancellor angela merkel said her country's attempts to build a multicultural society have, quote, utterly failed. merkel called on immigrants who live in germanyo do more to integrate, including learning german and adopting christian values. a super typhoon made landfall in northern philippines today, becoming the strongest cyclone to hit the country in years. thousands of people have fled the storm as it makes its way towards china and vietnam. and a new ranking shows charitable donatio in the united states dropped by 11% las year. the worst decline in the 20 years the rankings have been tallied. in all the 400 institutions in the survey raised a total of $68.6 billion last year.

and now here is an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. new guidelines being issued today by the american heart association switch the steps for cpr telling rescuers to start with hard, fast chest presses before giving mouth-to-mouth. in 2008 the group recommended the untrained or those unwilling to do rescue breaths could do hands-onlycpr until paramedics arrived. now theroup says everyone who uses standard cpr should begin with chest compressions. for more information on this and other health stories you can always head to the web and check out our health page online at msnbc.com. >> "early today" health is brought to you by advantavagisih odor block. the confident clean. the dow opens at 11,062 after falling 31 points on friday. the s&p edged up two points and the nasdaq gained 33. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo the vick kay last one point while in hong kong the hang seng

dropped 288. a wealth of information this week with an onslaught of corporate earnings leading the way. more than a fifth of the s&p 500 will report this week including ruts from some of the nati's biggest banks. currently in the hot se over a nationwide mortgage mess. quarterly data from ibm, boeing and verizon are on tap, too. so on deck this week, the federal reserve releases its monthly survey of economic conditions around the u.s. in its updated survey. there's likely to be more talk of quantitative easing after f chief ben bernanke hinted on friday that more help for the onomy is on the way. overseas this morning, australi miners rio tinto and bhp billiton scrapped plans for a $116 billion joint venture. the world's second and third largest iron miners bowed to oppositi from antitrust regulators on three continents. ck in the states, speculation that ford is beginning to drastically reduce its 11% stake in mazda to 3% or

less. new luxury sales show not everyone is strapped for cash these days. u.s. sales shot up 12%. but the biggest spenders were in china where top dollar purchases soared 30%. millions of customers of new york-basedcablevision spent the weekend not watching fox, including the nfl, and baseball playoffs. as a payment dispute between fox parent newscorp and cablevision enters its third day. keep an eye on shares of apple today. the tech titan is out with its quarterly result today after the bell. and finally 71-year-old gene epstein is hoping to tackle unemployment one job at a time. through his web site hire just one he's offeri to donate $1,000 in charity for the first 250 businesses to put an unemployed person back to work. well, the phillys fight back. everything is okay for oklahoma. but there is big trouble in the big "d." plus peyton manning and the colts look good in o nation's capital.

but did they achieve a victory? your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. as we head into the second half of october, the mild air continues. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." can a smartphone be its own guardian angel ?

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"early today." in sports, the philadelphia phillies got back on the right track st night in a quest to return to a third straight world series. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. a bsy day in sports. we'll start with game two of the national league championship series in philly. giants off to a rough start. jonathan sanchez walked jimmy rollins. in came one. 1-0 philadelphia. to the seventh, 3-1 phils, it's rollins again with the sacks full. this time rips the double off the wall that scored three. the phils were up 6-1. phillies evened up the series with a 6-1 win. college football, first bcs standings of the season are out and the oklahoma sooners are the number one team in the country. oregon is number two, followed by boise state, auburn and tcu. in the nfl it was called a panic bowl and after this one the cowboys pushed the panic button. the kickoff was returned 95 yards for a score. vikings won it.

pittsburgh ben roethlisberger made his return after a four-game suspension and threw three touchdowns. not too shabby for a guy who's not played in over nine months. then again, it was against the browns. steelers won it 28-10. dion branch making everybody forget about randy moss. nine grabs. this game decided in ortime. pats win it with a 35-yard field goal. new england rallied from ten down to win it 23-20. not a green bay 16 seconds left in the fourth. aaron rodgers punched itin from a yard out to force ertime. in the o.t., that is your ball game. pulling off the upset 23-20. colts and redskins, joseph addai rumbled and stumbled into the end zone to give indy the lead. peyton manning also threw three touchdowns. colts win it. now tim tebow will return this one the rest of his life. ladaini tomlinson knows a thing or two about touchdowns. he gave new york the lead late

in the fourth. jets won it 24-20. that's your early look at sports on "early today," i'm fred roggin she claims she doesn't have the power to fight mel gibson but you won't belie the leg team okay san yeah grigorieva has put together. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus delayed for more than six decades. a world war ii hero finally gets his recognition. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." hope you had a wonderful weekend. the weather forecast, just like this past weekend, is going to continue to be rather nice. mixtue of sun and clouds in many spots. for the most part if youre in the southern half of the country you're going to be very warm. temperatures in the 70s or 80s, pretty much widesprd. the northern half of the country from the rockies up to the great lakes and new england, a little bit cool. 50s and 60s. still gorgeous conditions. the leaves are really nice. tuesday, not a lot changes here we're seeing a very quiet weather pattern. a few showers in areas like washington, d.c. well if you're watching us on whdh-7 news in boon, massachusetts, it's time to get spooked in nearby salem with pumpkin festival and harbor cruse and much more at the haunted happenings event. that's your "early today" event of the day, verica. of course, salem, i've been there this time of year. expect huge crowds. >> how fun. are you all set for halloween,

bill? >> i'm ready. >> all right. well here is an early look at this morning headlines in entertainment. for the third straight time, johnny knoxville and friends are box office gold. the latest big screen collection of crazy pranks opened with a whopping $50 million. setting a record forthe biggest-ever october opening. wow. and talk about those profit margins. the film cost a modest $19 million to make. any other weekend the action comedy "red" starring bruce willis, morgan freeman and helen mirren might have earned the top spot, opening with $22.5 million, andinstead, they settled for a distant second. elsewhere, a georgia woman is suing tyra bas for $3 million after she said her 15-year-old daughter appeared without her permission on an episode of bankses' talk show about teen sex addicts. and finally, tmz reports oksana grigorieva has hired a total of 39 lawyers for her

legal battle with mel gibson. with at least 18 of tho submitting more than $1 million bills. to the court, all asking the judge to make gibson pay the tab. ouch. and this comes to us from wnbc news 4 new york where it was better late than never for one world war ii vet. 95-year-old george voinovich, a former wartime intelligence officer was awarded the bronze star for orchestrating the largest air rescue of amerins behind enemy lines in anywar, rescuing over 500 downed pilots and airmen shot down over nazi occupied serbia. the mission, dubbed operation halyard, remains classified for decades, preventing voinovich from receiving the honor he so justly deserved. and veronica de la cruz and this is "early today." just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station.

our timeright now is 4:28. we have 57 degrees here in the nation's capital, october the 18th, a monday morning after a glorious weekend. good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. wi welcome back to you, joe. >> good be back. a search for a driver involved in a hit and run accident. two teenagers are fighting for their lives after they were hit while ride agriculture i motor security in the 12700 block of

miers road in rockville, maryland last night. the two young men have life-threatening injuries. a 16-year-old is in critical condition and the 19-year-old is in serious condition. police are on the lookout for a two-door silver mercedes with tinted windows. it may have damage to its front bumper. a traffic alert for drivers in the district this morning. a water main break late friday night near constitution avenue and 9th street will still cause headaches for the morning commute. crews finished repairing the 24-inch main yesterday afternoon. but repairing the roadway has takelonger than expected and closes will continue through lunch hour. megan mcgrath has more on road cloeshers and how they will affect the morning commute. could be problems, megan. good morning. >> reporter: a tough go for folks who use constitution avenue.