this morning on "early today," campaign blitz. president obama zeros in on female voters on day two of his western swing. joi riding juvenile, an 11-year-old boy lands himself in hot water after leading police on two chases in two days. and silvery moon, scientists discover a treasure chest of and silvery moon, scientists discover a treasure chest of elements on the lunar surface. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn bey. today, we begin with tracking the campaign trail. president obama is hoping to

drum up votes again today to help his party hold on to congress and hold o to control of congress. and last night, the president helped the demic party pump funds into their campaign coff in a campaign in california that cost $30,000 a plate. steve handelsman has more details on the president's west coast swing. >> reporter: in washington state, to try to preserve his senate majority, president obama campaigned for incumbent democrat patti murraho is in a tough race. >> in just a few days, your decision in this election is going to set the direction of this state and of this country for years to come. >> reporter: murray's republican opponent expired back. >> she has her d.c. friends coming to washington state to defend the indefensible, which happens to be her 18 year record. >> reporter: the president touted the votes for women.

>> when we come out, they can make the difference. it's always important to get women out. >> reporter: in kentucky, republan senate candidate rand paul complained democrats are focusingon his alleged extremism. >> personally vilifying me because they don't want to talk about their support for oh bam moo care. >> reporter: in pennsylvania's democrat race, pat toomey and joe sestak discussed extremism. >> the stimulus, government run health care. >> we have someone who is really extreme that believes, for example, corporations should pay no taxes. . >> hey, guys. >> reporter: barack obama smiled through a seattle coffee break. but with 12 days to go, the senate races that will determine the president's power throu 2012 are as bitter as overheatedes ando. amid the illegal uncertainty

over don't ask, don't tell, the pentan is now restricting who can expel openly gay military. in a memo yesterday, defense secretary roberts gates ordered that only five people will be allowed to make such dischaes as opposed to the previously hundreds that could do so that announcement came a day after a panel of judges lifted the order. those in haiti have a deadly disease wreaking havoc on the region. a bacterial outbreak has taken the lives of at least 135 people and sickened 00 more in parts ofural central haiti. health workers are awaiting test results, but they expect the destating disease could be cholera. caregivers struggle to keep up with the flood of patients. >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today

in america. in south carolina, an 11-year-old boy is in serious trouble after he led a dozen police carsn a chase around the neighborhoo driving through circles and blowing through stop signs for t second time this week. he drove a fire truck just days prior. the chase ende calmly, but the boy, who said he just got tired of walking, will be placed in state custody. workers at a colorado construction site uneithered what remains to be believed as a woolley ma'am yumm, a prehistoric giant that weighed about 3 tons. experts say the bones could be from a columbia mammoth. but either way, the work at the site is on hold. in north carolina, the hotel donaldson paid tribute to the breast cancer fight in an unusual way, draping 3,000 bras on the side of its building.

it's part of the aual bras on broadway which will help breast cancer patients in the fargo area. and in new york, there's one pumpkin that trumps this all. this 1,810 pound pumpkin is the heaviest in the world. the grower is a relatively new gourd-growing trade. he says all of it took a little bit of luck mixed in with cow mani've, rain, fish emulsion and seaweed. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. became bill, i think we had people thinking about pumpkin pie until i said cow manure. >> it has to grow and grow big. the seeds are probable value, too. >> i bet he's hoarding them for his crop next year. . >> he will probly sell them. tropical storm richard formed down here in the caribbean.

there's cuba. jamaica has been affected over the last coue of days. the hurricane center's path is taking it away from florida, which is good. anyone traveling to cancun or cozumel or northern belize, it is expected to become a hurricane over the weekend. then it should weaken over land. it is supposed to end up in the southern gulf of mexico next week. it should be a weaker storm by the time it gets there. we have two big storms to talk about today. one of them is exiting northern new england. it's a cold, briskmorning through new england. also, we have a big rainmaker here in the middle of the country,brought some severe weather last night to areas like lubbock, texas. that's where the heavy rain is this morning. it's come out of texas and through oklahoma. you see the white flashes here? those are live lightng strikes heading for wichita falls. oklahoma city, to you, light in to your south is where the storms are. stormy weather through the middle of the country, especially through colorado, nebraska, the oklahoma, and vry

cold and brisk through the ohio val flip that's a look at your forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. it will warm up. there will be a lot of sunshine from the carolinas through new england. raleigh yesterday was easily into the 70s today. only in the 60s. pittsburgh, today, a high of only 53 degrees. it's kind of a mix for the weekend forecast, lynn. i'll explain a little later. >> bill, thank you. >> earnings are strong, commodities tumble and what's in a name? quite a lot if it's a certain dotcom name. your early morning siness headlines are straight ahead. plus, after countless plots on the wrist, is today the day lindsay lohan faces the music the phillies bounce back and oregon makes a huge statement against ucla. you're watching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back t"early today."

i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. the "new york times" reports the u.s. intends to cut off aid to about half a dozen pakistani army units thaare pleased to have killed unarmed civilians and prisoners during recent ascensions against the taliban. repors say the move illustrates the rising tensions between the u.s. and pakistan, which is seen as a crucial ally and sometimes impediment in the war in afghanistan. typhoon me is bringing heavy rains to northeastern taiwan, triggering massive rock slides on a coastalighway that atracts as many as 400 tourists. the tie fifteen, packing winds of 100 miles per hour, is moving north and expected to maim landfall in china tomorrow. national public radio has fired juan williams for comments made this week about how he sometim gets nervous on airplanes when he sees people dressed in muslim clothing.

within a day of being fired, fox news hired him. nasa scientists say it has been revealed that enough ice and vapor has been discovered on the moon. lunar soil is surprisingly rich in mercury, sodium and sulfur. vacation on the moon. >> and now here's an early lo at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,146 after gaining 38 points yesterday. the s&p and the nasdaq added 2. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei rose 50 points. in hong kong, the hang seng lost 131. >> after a back and forth roller coaster day on wall street, stocks edged higher thursday on strong corporate earnings. mcdonald's hit a 52-week high after beatingxpectations for quarterly profit and same-store sales growth inseptember.

insured travelers hit a year-long high after beating estimates. bellwether caterpillar after posting results that beat expectations hit a high for the year early but ended up down for the day. u.p.s. saw profit jump and raised its outlook, but it, too, retreated after coming within $1 of its 2010 high. in fact, the early morning rally pushed share prices near year highs across the board, but those gains were later trimmed by more seats of currency action with the dollar rising and the euro falling. that made wednesday's winners thursday's losers. commodity linked stocks took a beating with occidental petroleum tumbling, oil tumbled to under $81 a barrel and natural gas prices fell to a new low for the year. bank stocks were volatile thanks to mostly the possibility of bank of america that they may be pressured to buy back billions in mortgage bonds over the last

seven days, bank of amica has skidded 16% lower. after posting strong results wednesday, netflix jumped around 13%. ebay jumped 6% thanks to wednesday's upbeat after the bell results. home depot rose 3.5% on a bu recommendation. and keep an eye on am zone today. amazon reported higher earnings pushing the stock lower after hours. finally, sex.com, wisely considered among the most valuable web addresses in the world was sold for $13 million yesterday by its bankrupt owner, escom. the king gets booed and it's mostly the wait for the islanders. plus, the philadelphia phillies didn't leave their hearts or their season in san francisco. your early morning sports headlines a just ahead. unfortunately as we head into the weekend, two big storms. one in the middle and one on the west coast. your weekend forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the phillies showed some fight last night and now the national league championship series is headed back to philadelphia. here's nbc's fred roggin with an arly look at all your sports headlines. good morning.

hold everything. keep that champagne on ice. with their backs against the wall, the phillies force a game six with a win over the giants. giants up, 1-0. shane victorino hit one to aubrey hough and he booted in. in came carlos luiz on the error. the next hitter kept it going. rbi sgle to left. phillies 3 in the third. roy haliday was great, but he was good enough. the phillies stay alive, win it 4-2. game six saturday back in philadelphia. college football it was a statement game of sorts for oregon. the ac's number one team, but second in the bcs throttled ucla. the ducks scored on every one of their first half possessions and led 32-3 at the break. ducks scored 8 touchdowns. we would love to show them all to you, but we would be here all morning. oregon won, 60-13. if oklahoma stumbles against

missouri tomorrow, oregon undoubtedly will be the outright number one team in the country. nba, lebron james booed by fan necessary atlanta. perhaps that inspired him because he went out and dropped 38 on the hooves, 28 in the first half. unfortunately, he receed little help from his teammates. hockey for he second time this week, the islanders needed overtime to pull out a win against the lightnings. a scramble in front of the net. dan made the first save and appeared to make a second save. e officials reviewed it and after about ten minutes th got it right. ellis did make two great stops, but on the second, the puck crossed the line byhe slimmest of margins. that's agoal. islanders won it in overtime, 3-2. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a terrific weekend. i'm fred roggin. when wa the last time a movie made for a million bucks

was number one at the box office? it could happen this weekend. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, sure, it's a cliche, but this dog really is this guy's best friend. you're watching "early today."

welcome ba on this thilly friday morning. a cold start to the ohio valley

pap nice finish with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. wet weather from denver into areas of nort texas, especially there in oklahoma. the time we get to saturday, stormy weather continues through the middle of the country. east coast action looks nice this weekend. saturday and sunday should be dry with temperatures warming up. but from chicago to minneapolis, st. louis, we're going to include the chance of rain on both saturday and unfortunately on sunday. if you're watching us on nbc action ns in kansas city, o'hare, see the city in different eyes with 27 notable graduates of the kansas city art institute at the museum of art. that's your "early today" event of the day. >> bill, thanks. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. today, lindsay lohan faces wh could be serious jail time. a source tells radar online her legal team is pretty concerned. the judge ordered her to appear personally despite the fact she

admitted using drugs, admitted violating parole a violate iing probation. they fear she could end up in jail. days after word leak mel gibson would do a cameo, he's been dropped after the cast complained. some expts are picking a speakky debut "paranormal activity" to be number two, taking in $2 million. but no matter what, it will be a winner. it only cost $1 million to make. andere after's matt damon is expected to come in third bub experts think it will do very well. you know how i feel about scary movies. so they have promos for paranormal ii about every five minutes. >>he first one was a big

shock. it was scary and it was surprising to see how well it did. >> and it looks like it was shot with surveillance cameras. but the horror aspect of it i guess people are drawn to. >> we'll see how it does. i don't think it will be that go. >> we'll see on monday. and this comes to us from fargo, north carolina, where one dog is back where he belongs. hawk is reunited with his family after a devastating accident. hucknd his owner was going hunting with his owner. a deer frightened them. huck ran off. but with the help of friends and family, they're back together, licking a few wound but clearly happy to be reunited. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

and this is what it looks like on this friday, t 22nd day of october. 53 degrees outside. nice day if you're in the nation's capital. always a nice day on a friday. i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang on this friday, october 22nd, 2010. i-95 in northern virginia, police will be searching the shoulders and the median near the national marine corps. museum. this is all part of the investigation into the shots that were fired there and the

pentagon. police will be looking for sll casings and other evidence shots being fired there. a number of bullets hit over the weekend. expect delays as you drive-through the area. the pentagon wasit just a few days later. however, investigators are still not sure that the two are related. this morning a former nba and georgetown basketball player is recovering after someone shot him in his maryland home. charles smith was a star for the hoyas and played for team usa in the 1988 olympic games. darcy spencer has more. >> reporter: prince george's county police detectives are still in the keep of a shooting that wounded charles smith, a georgetown university basketball star in the late '80s who went on to play for the boston celtics. it happened at smith's hope on lance detail hope way. he was shot twice in the chest, the bullets missing his vital