this morning on "early today," senate hopeful richard murdock makes a controversial statement about race and d's intentions that mitt romney quickly distances himself from. sprint for the white house. the candidates hit the swing states hard as polls begin to shift. and the need for speed. driving 85 miles per hour in the u.s. starting today is perfectly legal. u.s. starting today is perfectly legal. we'll tell you where. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning. i'm lynn berry. well, the romney campaign could be waking up to a brand new political headache as yet another republican candidate

makes explosive comments about rape just two months after those controversial comments todd akin made about legitimate rape. this time it was during a u.s. senate debate in indiana last night. richard murdock and his opponent were asked about abortion when murdock said this. >> i believe that life begins at conception. the only exception i have for -- to have an abortion is in that case of the life of the mother. i just -- i struggled with it myself for a long time, but i came to realize life is that gift from god and i think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that god intended to happen. >> well, after the debate murdock told a news conference he was only trying to explain his views that god creates life. >> are you trying to suggest that somehow i think god ordained -- preordained rape, no. i don't believe that. anyone that suggests that, that's a sick and twisted -- no,

no, that's not even close to what i said. >> it matters to the romney team because the comments come just one day after the murdock campaign began running a new ad featuring governor romney. >> with so much at stake, i hope you'll join me in supporting richard murdock for u.s. senate. >> late last night the romney campaign issued this statement reading, governor romney disagrees with richard murdock's comments and they do not reflect his views. dnc chair debbie wasserman schultz slammed the remarks as outrageous and demeaning. elsewhere, the first time since the party nominations governor romney has a slight lead over president obama. the latest poll of likely voters showed romney ahead of the president 49% over 48%. that was only after rounding off the decimal points. since the march begins are in

the margin of error, they're in a tie. it's time to press the flesh as they try to lock in every last vote before november 6th. nbc's tracie pots has those details for us from washington, trais ssi, good morning. >> they're doing it by crisscrossing this country by hitting those battleground states. let's talk about governor romney. he is in nevada and iowa today. he'll be in ohio. a couple of stops there after last night with his running malt paul ryan. washington post abc poll there's a virtual tie. he's only one point behind, a virtual tie. he says that president obama is slipping because he's promoting the same ideas, nothing new for the next four years. meantime, the obama biden team in dayton, ohio, last night at a rally. the president showing off yesterday a new booklet that he says details his plan for the next four years, one that he

says where the math adds up. now he's got a huge campaign schedule over the next three days in eight states including iowa, colorado, and california and an appearance on jay leno tonight. >> all right, tracie pots there for us in washington. tacie, thanks. the white house and the state department were advised that an islamic militant group was behind the benghazi attack just two hours after that assault began. this information is according to a report by the reuters news agency. they managed to obtain e-mails that described the attack as it was still underway. the white house and state department have not commented yet on those e-mails. well, now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. we're going to begin with a deadly shark attack in southern california. a 39-year-old man was killed while surfing in the waters off surf beach. the victim suffered a massive

bite wound on his upper torso and was pronounced dead on the scene. this is the second fatal attack on surf beach which does not have any shark warning signs posted. they're investigating what kind of shark was involved. now over to texas where the fast and furious can get their fix on the speed iest roadway. starting today driving 85 miles hour on parts of highway 130 is legal. it makes the trip from austin and san antonio faster. safety experts predict an increase in crashes and deaths. final bely, officials need your help at the san diego zoo. the public is being asked to name this giant panda cub born 12 weeks ago. the list of potential names have been whittled down from 7,000 to six. what are they? miracle, rain drop, big ocean or big sea, little gift, brave son or water dragon. online voting is open until october 30th.

how about just ridiculously adorable. now for a look at your wednesday weather, we check in with nbc meteorologist bill karins that's making its way towards the states. >> sandy trying to become a hurricane. the bahamas and who knows for new england and the mid-atlantic. let's get into it. it will be a big headache for a lot of people, maybe millions of people over the next couple of days. first things first, it has to go through jamaica. the storm is looking more organized overnight. it looks to be increasing in size. the center located right there and now trying to form an eye on satellite imagery. where is the storm heading today in jamaica possibly as a hurricane, crossing over cuba and somewhere over the central bahamas. close enough to florida to bring rain to the east coast of florida. large waves and the possibility of rip currents. from there the storm heads up parallel to the coast line of the southeast. there's some question how close it will be. does not look like we'll see a direct impact or landfall. rip currents and definitely

large waves are almost guaranteed at this point. once it gets somewhere near bermuda. a blocking high will stop the storm from heading out to sea. there's a possibility that it will turn into a nor'easter storm and maybe a strong nor'easter and head towards new england and towards the mid-atlantic. that would be a big huge storm with tropical moisture. not a good scenario. that would be monday, tuesday next week. as of today, nothing dramatic like that, very warm temperatures. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. areas of north carolina will see a beautiful day. look at raleigh, 82 degrees. much of the country seeing above average temperatures. there are signs of that cold air to come. salt lake city, highs up in the 40s. snow with higher elevations. once again, the timing if we're going to get that big super storm in new england, it looks like it would be probably monday or tuesday next week.

bill, thanks so much. disturbing details of the murder of a 12-year-old little girl and the fallout from a massive solar flair. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. plus, the obama blueprint for hunting terrorists. it's called the disposition matrix. details straight ahead. you're watching "early today."

stories making news this morning. today's washington post reports the obama administration is developing a new way of pursuing terrorists. the disposition matrix contains terror suspects names laid out against resources available to track them down. it's designed to map out ways to reach suspects beyond the reach of unmanned drones. colorado's secretary of state says 300 more suspected non-citizens have been found on the state's voter rolls. the names were among the more than 3900 people who have received letters in august questioning their citizenship. a former cia officer faces

2 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to leaking the name of a covert officer to a reporter. in 2007 john curiacco was the first to go official about the use of water boarding as an interrogation technique. police say two teenage brothers have been arrested and charged with luring a 12-year-old girl into their homes and then murdering her. the strangulated body of autumn was found stuffed in a recycling bin. the suspect's mother played a part in cracking the case after posting on her son's facebook account. nasa says the sun unleashed an intense solar flair monday night. you've heard the expression there's nothing cleaner than a dog's mouth. not so much. a new study shows 70% of dog's

mouths contain diseases that can cause ailments in humans. in health, massachusetts officials have revealed the pharmacy believed to be responsible for the meningitis outbreak had serious health and safety violations. inspectors found that the new england compounding center shipped medicine before getting back the results of its sterilization testing. visible fungus was also found in steroids made by the company. the cdc has confirmed 308 cases of meningitis in 17 states and 23 deaths. the state has permanently revoked the facility's license. >> announcer: early today health is brought to you by vaj guess sill ph balanced wash. and here's how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,102 after sinking 243 points. the s&p dropped 20. the nasdaq fell 26. taking a look at overseas trading today.

in tokyo the nikkei was down 59 points but in hong kong the hang seng gained 66. corporate caution hit wall street hard tuesday and could sink stocks again today after the bell dow chemical released earnings two days early and said it's slashing 2400 jobs and closing about 20 manufacturing plants to help save precious cash. on the up side, facebook's revenue jumped 32% sending shares higher in late trade. apple finally unveiled its ipad mini yesterday. the new hand held will start at $329. well, if you've swiped your credit card at barnes & noble recently, you might want to change your pin number. the company says security breaches in its pin pad may have compromised customers' information. a new study shows the gender pay gap is still dogging women including recent college grads who now earn on average 82% of their male peers. kip lingers has ranked yale

as the number one value of 100 of the nation's private colleges and universities. rice and princeton rounded out the top three. be careful driving. new figures from the insurance information institute show deer collisions on the rise. claims are up almost 8% in the last four years costing over $4 billion in damage. new york city's central park just got its biggest donation ever. $100 million from hedge fund billionaire john paulson. barney's is under fire for its electric holiday ad campaign featuring a very skinny mini mouse. critics are upset the usually round mouse is runway thin in a short film where she fantasizes she's in a paris fashion show. and the national retail federation estimates americans will spend 370 million bucks on costumes this halloween, unreal, for their pets. the topics pumpkins, devils, and hot dogs.

coming up, eva longoria splits from her jet setting man, ozzie's millions and is the world's fastest human making a challenge that even he can't deliver on. sports headlines are straight ahead. this warm air is not here to stay. starting tomorrow the cold plunge from canada begins. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

in sports very exciting. the world series begins tonight it features two former cy young winners. justin verlander and barry zito for the giants. a lot of the circumstances swirling around. they should not be a factor. sometimes they are. it's my job to focus on what's important. >> being able to take it in a little bit more, having experience under my belt and having been in situations like this allows me not to be so wide eyed and be able to be a bit calmer and take things in. game one starts tonight 8:00 p.m. eastern time. >> the miami marlins have a hot new stadium. a franchise record $93 million payroll and now a job opening for a new manager. that's because yesterday they fired ozzie guillen after only one season. the reason? a terrible record and because of

his early comments admiring fidel castro which didn't sit well with fans. the marlins still owe him over 7 million bucks. the nba, lebron james takes matters into his own hands. in chicago, the bulls got off to a quick start with a crazy no look over the back pass for a lay-up for a 94-89 win over the oklahoma city thunder. finally, the world's fastest man, you know that guy, olympic champion sprinter, u sane bolt, he did his lightening pose next to christ the savior in rio day gentlemen narrow. coming up, a halloween fright comes early for unsuspecting families in england. plus, the third presidential debate with a twist that is sure to make you laugh. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back. as far as the weather goes today, jamaica should be hit by hurricane sandy. that will be the big weather tory in north america. pretty quiet day, very mild and very warm. things begin to change. cold air is going to begin to plunge down through the northern rockies heading through the middle of the country. the temperatures drop into the 30s in montana. we've got some interesting

developments. hurricanes and cold air. all right, bill. you're watching all of it. thanks. well, now for some entertainment news. in case you haven't already figured it out, it is good to be the child of an a list celebrity. they're joining their mother angelina and their sister vivian is joining their mother. that marks the first on screen roll for all three kids. >> like the sound of music. we'll redo it. >> not so much. 37-year-old eva longoria and 25-year-old mark sanchez are history after three months. source close to the actress tells the "new york daily news" says the age difference and her hollywood lifestyle are to blame. >> maybe he'll play better. >> families expecting to see madagascar 3 at a theater in england got a fright when pair a normal 4 started playing. minor detail. they blame a technical error. one mom said the first two

minutes of the film containing a corps being plunge at the camera scarred her kids. if you missed the third and final presidential debate on monday, there is a new edited version of the contest gone viral. it comes from the gregory brothers. they added a little humor and auto tune to the foreign policy discussion. take a listen. >> against china for violating rules. we are going to insist that china plays by the same rule. >> they're hacking into our computers counterfeiting our goods. our intellectual property and designs. >> a potential partner is despite the rules. >> we want to trade with them but you've got to trade by the rules. never gets old. i'm lynn berry, this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. [ earnest ] out of the blue one day,

we were told to build a 30-foot stage. gathered the guys and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for. just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in the warehouse. a group of people walked out on that stage

and told us that the plant is now closed and all of you are fired... i looked both ways, i looked at the crowd, and...we all just lost our jobs. we don't have an income. mitt romney made over 100 million dollars by shutting down our plant and devastated our lives. turns out that when we built that stage, it was like building my own coffin, and it just made me sick. [ male announcer ] priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising.

at 4:28, it is 64 degrees outside our studios. >> what? >> a beautiful day yesterday, and tom will be here to tell us if we can expect more of the same. >> hi, aaron. welcome back. nice to see you. >> good to see you sotoo. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. a tractor-trailer crash north of stafford is causing big delays. traffic is only getting by on the shoulder. the accident happened near midnight at mile marker 98.

there's no word on the driver's condition. the lanes are closed as workers clean up a large fuel spill. no word on when that will reopen. the southbound lanes are not affected at all. danella sealock will have more in a few minutes. police are looking for a serial groper possibly linked to a string of sexual assaults. a composite sketch shows what the attacker may look like. the latest assault happened on friday on south gibson avenue in falls church. a man approached a woman with a baby stroller and grabbed her when she screamed. five such results happened in the springfield area. the attacks have others on guard. >> it's incredible that something like this would happen in this community. i've never heard anything. i thought it was a pretty safe area. >> each attack happened in a residential area. if you have any information that could help in this case, you're asked to contact fairfax county police. right now the water is back on for people in