this morning on "early today," hurricane sandy is primed to pack a late october pup much for much of the east coast and 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. aim lynn berry. right now hurricane sandy looks to become a menace for folks all along the u.s. east koempts it's expected to bring high winds and heavy rain, even some snow to areas. early this morning sandy slammed into cuba as a strong category 2 hurricane packing winds of 110 miles per hour. the storm is being blamed for two deaths so far, one in jamaica and one in haiti. nbc meteorologist bill karins has been tracking this powerful hurricane for us. bill, what can you tell us? >> this is going to be an historic event but eventually all the way up into areas of new england. let's get into it. the storm intensified before it slammed into cuba. there's the eye off the coast. this rain ban over haiti, they're also going to see a lot of destruction this morning from those heavy rains. they're very prone to mud slides. about 480 miles away from miami right now. winds at 110 miles per hour.

almost a category three storm. keeps it as a hurricane through the bahamas just off the florida coast. brushing the florida coast. very large waves. maybe a few rain bans. it parallels the southeast coast line saturday and sunday with heavy rains most likely in areas of coastal north carolina and then the curve back towards new england. it feels like a possible u.s. landfall from southern maine all the way down to maryland. that's the target zone, lynn. where the storm comes inland we will see problems with wind, rain, snow on the back side. amazing. we've never had a storm like this before. >> unbelievable, bill. i know you'll be checking this throughout the morning. we'll be checking back with you in a few minutes. first, to politics. with less than 300 hours until election day, the candidates are campaigning hard in key states. 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% there. 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 criticizing republican rival's policies and backward looking. meanwhile, governor romney stoked his supporters in iowa with a tax 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 again. that's why with a president out of ideas and out of 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 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, yeah, these things go in ebbs and flows. the one thing i've tried always to 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. that's this morning on "today" and tonight on "nbc nightly news" and of course "rock center." it is another busy day. president obama will speak in florida and virginia. the president will then end his day in cleveland. to governor romney, he travels to three events in ohio while his running mate paul ryan campaigns in virginia. and president obama is weighing in on the controversy weighing in on richard murdock's

comments. he said even when a birth happens as a result of a rape it is, quote, something that god intended to happen. well, appearing on the "tonight show" with jay leno the president brought back some of the language 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. and so the distinctions about rape 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 murdock although romney does disagree with murdock's opposition to abortion in cases of rape and incest. well, now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america.

let's begin in philadelphia where an airport gate crasher is now headed to prison. back in march the 25-year-old man crashed his suv through a gate and then raced down a runway at philadelphia international airport at speeds topping 100 miles per hour. he's been sentenced to 16 months in prison and asked to pay $92,000 in restitution. now in missouri, a thief armed with a weapon. the suspect is dressed in dark clothing. he's caught on surveillance video wielding a sam ma ray sword. he waits for the money. no one was hurt in the robbery. a 262 pound 22 point buck. a state biologist will determine if the animal is among the largest whitetail deer ever recorded in the state. finally, florida's mystery

monkey has been captured. the famous primate mass been on the lamb for over 2 years. yesterday in tampa bay the monkey was spotted, tranquilized and evaluated by the vet. once the 40 pound monkey is given a clean bill of health, he will be given a new home. now for a look at your national and regional weather, once again here is meteorologist bill karins with a little bit more of that weather channel forecast. >> yeah, lynn. as far as the rain goes, south florida is the worst of it this morning. heavy rains unassociated with hurricane sandy. those bands of rain will be near south florida along with gusty winds and high waves. the strong cold front moving through the midwest means business too. a lot of heavy rain from minnesota all the way through iowa. that's where we're going to get drenched. the temperatures will plunge with the cold air coming from the north.

as far as the forecast, notice the cold air. that's a look at your national forecast. here's a look at the weather outside your window. today in areas like pittsburgh, you're looking pretty good. once again, all of our overnight computer information really targets anywhere from the northern mid-atlantic towards new england. no matter what, new england will get hit hard by this storm. mid-atlantic, still some questions. when we come back i'll let you know a little later what i think some of the more important impacts of sandy will be when it strikes the u.s. >> bill, thanks so much. voter fraud in florida? the fbi investigates. also, scientists mixing male and female embryos. is this a good idea? your morning headlines are straight ahead. plus, if you're a customer of bank of america, they could be taking a huge hit. details coming up. you're watching "early today."

stories making news this morning, it's confirmed authorities in tunisia have confirmed it was a terrorist attack. an egyptian militant 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 28 counties questioning their eligibility to vote. pakistani police say nine people have been arrested in 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.

good news for all of us who are calling earth our home. the hole in the ozone 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 antioxidants 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. wall street starts thursday with the dow at 13,077.

the s&p was down 4 and the nasdaq lost 8. the nikkei rose 100 and the hong kong was up 46. well, the earnings roller coaster continues on wall street. after the bell best buy spiralled after warning of weak earnings and same store sales. meanwhile, online gamer zynga was in the news. sales of new homes jumped to the highest level after nearly two years. for better or for worse, there were no big surprises from the fed's latest policy statement. the central bank vowed to stick with its latest round of 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 now owned by the government. former goldman sachs 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 8 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 few newcomers. jesus, ninja and mustang. we're giving away bill karins secrets. quick, what do elizabeth taylor, bob marley and peanuts

creator bob schultz have. your sports headlines are straight ahead. and 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."

well, talk about an exciting night at the world series.

a new mr. october is crowned. detroit pitcher ace justin very lander took a beating in game one as the man of the night, pablo sandoval had the game of a lifetime tying a world series home run record. >> now 2-2. and 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 a world series game tied the record held by babe ruth, reggie jackson and albert pujols. the final score 8-3. game two with madison balm

gardner and doug fister starting for the tigers. even though a full season is not a reality for locked out nhl players, the new york islanders will move to the brand new bark lay's center in 2015. the nfl has embraced pink all throughout october for breast cancer awareness month. during sunday night's jets dolphins games 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. well, diego maradona was one of the greatest soccer players of all time when he helped argentina win world cup championships. now he looks different when he put on a show in india dancing for the crowd. the man voted the top soccer player of the 20th century still has some mad soccer skills. just ahead, the world's oldest facebook user and you're

not going to believe how rich certain dearly departed celebs are. and then tom cruise goes nuclear against the tabloids. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. here's my latest thinking on sandy. it does appear the u.s. will be hit by sandy somewhere between the mid-atlantic, the chesapeake and up here into northern new england. exactly where yet is too early to tell.

again, sunday, monday. the biggest impact will be tree damage and the winds causing trees to fall. the areas that have leaves on the trees. river flooding looks to be a big issue. coastal flooding, high tides, beach erosion. maybe a blilt of structural damage from the winds itself. looks like an historic event is four days away. unreal. now for entertainment news. tom cruise has filed a $50 million lawsuit against "life & style" and in touch magazine. they defamed him in headlines claiming he abandoned his 6-year-old daughter suri which the suit maintains is a vicious lie. it is that time again where this year's top earnings and celebrities is out. and it is all according to forbes. at number five singer bob marley with $17 million. number 4, peanuts creator charles m. schultz with $37 million. number three, the king of rock and roll, elvis with $55 million. number two. >> thought he'd be number one.

>> yeah, i know. king of pop. >> who's number one. >> with $145 million. number one, bill karen. >> i have no idea. >> ee liz bit taylor with a staggering $210 million. this is thanks to the record breaking auctions. this comes to us from kob in albuquerque, new mexico, where one woman just might be the oldest user on facebook. she recently celebrated her 105th birthday with friends in her living room and her 85 friends on facebook. maria can't even display her actual year of birth on the page. >> i'm going to like her. >> because the social media site doesn't include options that date back that far. >> i'm going to friend her. i'm lin berry, this is your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. berry, this i first stop of the day today on your nbc station. berry, this i first stop of the day today on your nbc station. y berry, this first stop of the day today on your nbc station. n berry, this first stop of the day today on your nbc station. n berry, this r first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

and now, from washington's leading news station, this is news4 today. >> looking live from our city cam over the district, clear skies and another warm start to your day, your summer in october forecast is just ahead. first, good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to news4 today for this thursday, october 25th, 2012. new this morning, a bizarre scene at the russian embassy this morning as a man is in police custody after jumping the fence at the custody. the police were ready to charge him with driving under the influence. he ran off and eventually jumped the fence of the russian embassy on wisconsin avenue.

the secret service then had to negotiate with russian security forces for 90 minutes before they finally turned him over to american authorities. the trial begins today for two people accused of giving alcohol to minors killed in a car krush. prosecutors say debbie franco and her son joshua gave alcohol to three teenagers before a january 28th crash. police say britney walker was driving the wrong way when she slammed into another car. walker, zachary rose and franco's daughter brianna and the other driver died in that crash. franco's lawyer has said his clients are innocent. sentencing today for a former university of maryland student who threatened to go on a campus shooting rampage. alexander song was arrested in march after posting online that he was going to "kill enough people to make it national news." in august, he pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace. song is already banned from campus and required to do 200 hours of community service. he faces three years in prison, but