>> nbc's brian williams spent the past two days on the campaign trail with president obama often gaining aca ses to the president to the president in chief. he talked about the election versus the job itself. >> it's funny one of the things about being on campaign trail you're in marine one and big motorcades and michelle jokes i have everything but a caboose and 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 you'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 kinds of mistakes i made every single day. but my compass has been true and i'm focused on, you know, what's going to be best for the american people. now, for a look at other stories making news. let's begin in georgia where one family losing their home to foreclosure actually got much worse. preparing it move out they posted a craigslist ad for a give away of furniture and other items but big crowds showed up early and broke into the house and cleaned it out and stole almost all of their belongings. unbelievable. now to southern california where not a bird, not a plane but a two-pound fish. it was pluck eed from the oceany

a bird. the employees placed it in a bucket of water mixed with sea water and then they returned it to sea. finally in new york after years of renovation, people will, once again, be able to visit lady liberty's head starting on sunday. the crown will be open thursday through sunday each week and reservations are required. although, this weekend with sandy coming, not a great time to go. for a look at the weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> if you are in the path of the storm, your nbc local station has all the information you need and keep it tuned there. we don't want to ignore our friends in the south, still getting gusty winds. 20 to 35 miles per hour all the way from miami to west palm beach and beach erosion and large waves and you're going to get brushed by this storm from south carolina to georgia to florida but still impacting you as you go throughout your day today. middle of the country looks fine

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

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." president obama: there's just no quit in america...

and you're seeing that right now. over five million new jobs. exports up forty one percent. home values... rising. our auto industry... back. and our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet, but we've made real progress and the... last thing we should do is turn back now. here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting american-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where... we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. and ending the war in afghanistan, so we can... do some nation-building here at home. that's the right path. so read my plan, compare it to governor romney's... and decide which is better for you. it's an honor to be your president...

and i'm asking for your vote... so together, we can keep moving america forward. i'm barack obama and i approve this message. 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. 4:28 is your time right now. it is 63 degrees in the nation's capital. what kind of impact will sandy have in our area? forecast in just a moment. good morning to you. i'm eun yang. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist. welcome on this friday, october 26th. sandy is where we start. that hurricane moving out of the bahamas right now. it's a category 1 hurricane with its sights set squarely on the united states. sandy has the chance to make a major impact on the east coast from virginia up through new england and into next week. that storm blamed for 21 deaths,

11 of them in cuba. sandy hit with sustained winds of 110 miles per hour. she hit a trail of destruction, especially in the country's second largest city, santiago de cuba. the president, raul castro, expected to assess the damage in person today. >> storm is already whipping up big waves in south florida. winds were clocked yesterday between 30 and 40 miles per hour. by this afternoon, meteorologists expect to see wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour. right now parts of the sunshine state are under a tropical storm warning. >> utility companies all along the eastern seaboard already working to prevent power failures. workers on alert from florida to new england. in our area, dominion virginia power stocking trucks with supplies, monitoring the forecast as well. pepco contractors are on what's called a freeze mode, meaning they're not allowed to travel. pge has put more than 1,000