with the biggest prize up for grabs. we bring you a preview of this high stakes debate. >> reporter: so far debating toe to toe. >> i'm happy to answer the question. >> and it is? >> here's what happened. >> reporter: has resulted in candidates running neck and neck. a cnn poll of five national polls finds the candidates tied. that makes tonight's debate a potential game changer. >> president obama ended the iraq war. mitt romney would have left 30,000 troops there. >> reporter: this ad just released by the obama campaign may preview the president's strategy pointing out foreign policy successes as commander in chief. romney is likely to hit hard on libya. republicans argue the administration's handling of the recent attack there which rutted in the u.s. ambassador's death proves it's time for a change. >> the last couple of weeks with all the problems in libya and the administration's four or five different conflicting statement abouts it may be mitt

romney goes in with the upper hand. >> reporter: look for candidates to bring discussions back to the economy as their running natures are doing. >> we're not even creating enough jobs every month just to keep up with the growth of our country's population. we are heading in the wrong direction. he can't run on that record. >> america is not in decline. here's what it is. romney and ryan are in den kneel. >> reporter: -- in denial. >> reporter: vice president biden spoke in ohio where a new poll shows president obama leading. his lead is half of what it was before the first two debates putting more pressure on both candidates to make this final debate count. >> joining me now from boca raton, florida with a preview of tonight's debate is washington bureau chief for u.s. d.a. susan -- "u.s.a. today" susan page. how have things changed for both of these candidates since they met at the first debate? >> the debate has had so much

impact. before the first debate, barack obama was doing pretty we. the election was tilted in his direction. that hasn'ten the case since then. governor romney has made some real gains, especially aft first debate. at this moment, this contest could not be any closer. >> clearly foreign policy is at issue again tonight. what specifics do you expect both men to hone in on? >> i'm sure we're going to hear more about the benghazi attack that killed the u.s. ambassador to libya and three other americans. still comers coming out about what -- still stories coming out about what the white house knew. we'll hear about iran. there are new reports out just in the last 48 hours that iran is ready to engage in one on one talks with the u.s. after the election about its nuclear program. those are some of the issues i think we'll hear about tonight. >> but given how important the economy and jobs are to many undecided voters, are the foreign policy issues really going to help decide this election? >> that's a great point because we know what's driving this

election are issues like jobs and the federal deficit and the economy in general. not foreign policy. on the other hand, i think americans do want to feel confident that whoever they elect for president is a credible commander in chief. so tonight's debate particularly for mitt romney looms large on that front. >> after the last debate got so heated, even combative, do you expect a completely different tone tonight? >> that was really quite an evening. yes, i think it will be calmer tonight. for one thing the topic is very sober. for another thing the for men will are seated -- two men will be seated. they'll be sitting at a table. i think it's harder to interrupt when you're seated at a table. >> susan page, we look forward to watching it with you tonight. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, anita. >> brack to you, lesli. >> we are your go to debate station. tonight we're teaming up with our sister paper "u.s.a. today" and beginning at 9:00 on our website, we'll be live blogging about what the

candidates say. you can join the conversation via facebook or twitter. then on 9news now at 11:00, we'll be fact checking the candidates' statements with the "u.s.a. today" fact checking team. no bull, just the facts. tonight on 9news now at 11:00. the latest poll in the tight senate race between tim kaine and george allen shows kaine with a four-point lead. allen is trying to regain his senate seat after making mistakes that led to his defeat six years ago. peggy fox had a small part in one of his turn arounds and talked to him today about how he's changed. >> reporter: governor george allen has a new perspective. he now feel as personal connection to jewish people worldwide. >> we need to make sure that israel remains a strong, thriving and secure jewish state. >> reporter: in his opening remarks at thjewish community center in fairfax this morning, allen spoke of learning about his jewish heritage from his mother in 2006 when he was running for reelection to the senate. >> she revealed to me what she

had concealed for many years. and that was that my grandfather was jewish. >> reporter: during the campaign, journalists had inquired about allen's jewish heritage but received no response. they wondered if the senator was hiding his background for political gain. six years ago at a fairfax county chamber of commerce debate, i was the panelist who asked senator allen about his jewish heritage. he wasn't expecting it. he had not revealed it yet, and he thought it was unfair. >> cue please tell us whether your forebears included jews and at which point jewish identity might have ended? >> you know what, i'm glad you asked that -- you have that reaction. >> reporter: he accused me of casting aspersions and said that his mother was raised christian. he revealed the truth the next day. now he says my question was fair game. >> the fact that this has been revealed has been a blessing to our family. susan calls it a treasure trove and it's allowed our family to

talk to my mother. she'll talk more openly and learning more about our family heritage. >> reporter: george allen has apologized for his biggest mistake when he infamously called a young man of indian desent macaca. several of those in the audience say they saw a more humble and mature candidate. >> he just didn't run off at the mouth. >> reporter: like he used to. >> like he used to. >> reporter: in fairfax, peggy fox, 9news. >> allen's opponent former governor tim kaine will be appearing at the same place, the fairfax jewish community center at noon on wednesday. maryland elections officials are apologizing tonight for a mixup in the spanish language explanation of question 6. that's the marriage equality measure. a bilingual silver spring woman worries the bad translation could leave some spanish voters voting exactly the opposite way of what they might intend.

>> the english version wasn't that clear to me. my english is not bad. so i went to the spanish thing to clarify the point. i said let me read it in spanish. then i thought wait a minute, two completely different things. >> the county board of elections deputy administrator is apologizing. he hopes the word will get out but he says the last thing voters see is the correct translation and that's the one that is on the ballot. one of the hottest congressional races in our area is maryland's sixth district. because of restricting stern- term -- incumbent ross company bartlet -- rosco bartlet and john delaney will be discussing the issues important to you tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. former south dakota senator george mcgovern will be buried here in washington. mcgovern lost the 1972

presidential election. it was a landslide to richard nixon. he died yesterday. he was 90 years old. there will be a public viewing and funeral service for mcgovern later this week in sue falls. then there will be a -- sioux falls. then there will be a private burial in washington, d.c. new release guidelines for testing for cervical cancer. what you will need to know about. that story and much more coming up in our 9news now at 7:00. >> we'll be watching that closely. still ahead on 9news now, the bizarre link between the murder of a pregnant bride to be in brooklyn and sniper lee boyd malvo. >> temperatures a little above average on the high side. it's just going to get warmer. here are the numbers. still behind for the month on precip and over eight and a half inches behind for the year. we'll come back and talk about temps going up and if any rain or showers are rolling in. we'll watch tropical storm

sandy as well. >> fidel castro. we'll tell you why the former cuban dictator is making it very public that he's still alive and women.

fidel castro says rumors of his death are greatly exaggerated. the former cuban leader agreed to be photographed holding a

daily newspaper to prove he is alive. the photos show him walking outside on a sunny day on what appeared to be a farm. castro accused news agencies and enemies of cuba of spreading what he called stupidity about him. social media has been buzzing with stories about his decline lately. fidel castro is 86. sign tises who failed to predict the deadly earthquake in italy were sentenced to six years in prison today. the 2009 earth quake killed more than 300 people and left another 6500 homeless. the scientists were charged with manslaughter for downplaying the quake risks and not warning residents to evacuate. the city is mostly abandoned now. the convicted scientists have been given time to appeal. coming up on 9news, a female jogger attacked on one of the area's most popular recreation trails. we'll tell you more just ahead. >> a restraining order did not

protect a wisconsin woman and two others who were killed by her angry husband. why aren't court orders more effective in protecting women? we'll look at that tonight on the cbs evening news.

prince george's county police hope a new clue will help them crack an old case. it's been more than a month since marckel ross was gunned done on his way to school in capitol heights. police are looking for a person that was robbed the same day that ross was murdered. the robbery was not reported. ross was shot and killed september 11 along central avenue. a terrible story now out of brooklyn, new york has taken a chilling turn with a possible link to the d.c. sniper case o. saturday vindalee smith, a 38- year-old woman who was supposed to be married on sunday was found stabbed to death in her apartment. she was about eight months pregnant at the time. today "the new york post" report takes a note was found underneath her body warning that one pregnant woman a week would die unless lee boyd malvo, the d.c. sniper now serving a life sentence was released from prison. sources tell the post that investigators think the note could be an effort by the

killer to try to throw police off track. smith's boyfriend who was already married to another woman has been questioned by police. so far no arrests as police search for the man who sexually assaulted a woman on a popular jogging trail the capital cress dent. last night a jog paused for a moment as deer crossed the path near brookway drive in bethesda. a man came up from behind, knocked her on the back of her head and assaulted her. she is in the hospital recovering right now. police hope to work with her on creating a sketch of her attacker. meanwhile they are urging joggers to be extra careful. we're talking about a changing forecast around here. >> you're going to want to jog so be careful. temps are going to be more like mid-september which is good. even at night it's going to be mild for this time of year. kind of a nice little break. let's talk about the temperatures. we'll kind of graph what we think is going to happen. this is more like september 19 or 20. we're projecting a life 78

tomorrow. 80 on wednesday. upper 70s thursday. even friday we're still in the mid-70s. even saturday we're in the low 70s. we're sort of losing track. our average high 167. so -- 167. so that -- is 67. so take indeed is a good deal. you can see the trees beginning to change now around the white house. getting some decent color downtown. let's talk about temps. 71 still after a high of 73. dew points still low. so when the sun sets in a few minutes, the temps are going to fall pretty quickly. not as cold as last night. by seasonable standards and climate data, it's going to be milder than average. winds light, pressure steady 30.12 inches of mercury. we'll talk about sandy. right now a tropical storm. here's how she's tracked over the last few days. here's how she's going to track we think over the next couple of days. more to the north than to the east. through jamaica and western

cuba and getting to a place off the florida coast by saturday. and really i think that most of the models are going to keep sandy pretty far off shore away from the northeast or even the mid-atlantic. so we'll keep you posted. if she hugs the coast a little bit, we're in stosh for a rainy weekend. -- in store for a rainy weekend. either way we're still talking showers because a cold front will roll through. we don't escape the showers either way. temperatures 61 in gaithersburg. 66 in great falls. 64 in vienna and also down to fairfax. 68 in burke. 69 now in college park and 64 in bowie. we're looking at 67 down toward andrews so a very nice evening. nice warm-up. more like september. more like mid-september. mild nights and warm days. keep your sunglasses handy. it stays mainly dry. we have a slight chance after sprinkle in but just focus on the temperatures because eight going to be nice. clear early tonight and mild. high clouds by dawn, lows 45 to 55. wirchlds southwest -- winds southwest at 10. tomorrow morning partly sunny,

pleasant no jacket required. some folks will start in the 40s but primarily 50s and 60s tomorrow morning. it warms up very quickly. southwest winds again at 10. by afternoon partly sunny and warm. maybe a sprinkle. primarily north of town. howard talked about this at noon. let's concentrate on this part of the forecast. highs near 80. winds out of the south, southwest at 5 to 10. a pretty good deal. next three days we're going to keep it code green. warm on tuesday. maybe a sprinkle, 78. gorgeous on wednesday, 80. and still warm on thursday. temperatures in the upper 70s under partly cloudy skies. next seven days, scattered sprinkle or shower in on saturday, mid-70s. the cold front approaches over the weekend. right now i'm favoring showers late saturday or saturday night and then clearing out on sunday. that's if sandy behaves herself. i think she will. it will be cool near any event. on sunday and monday we're back in the 60s which is average. >> you work on getting her in line, getting her to behave and we'll talk about good stuff

now. we've got what's old is new again. >> a familiar face back in ashburn. we knew it was a possibility he would be back. it was just a matter of when. number 47 back in gur bundy and gold -- burgundy and gold. you'll hear from him coming up. >> maryland has more than a heartbreaking loss to recover from. more in sports.

after being released by the skins at the beginning of the season, chris cooley was never too far away from his former team. he stayed in the d.c. area. he even returned to redskins park to continue his annual breast cancer event. the next time we -- the next time we see cooley, he will be decked out in burgundy and gold. the skins resigned cooley this afternoon to replace the injured fred davis. cooley says he'll be ready to go as soon as his number is called. >> the imetion part about me -- that was the best part about me going through all of training camp. i didn't miss anything. i'm ready to play. i think i can play this week. i have no doubt about that. >> we're excited to have him. i trust chris. if he says he's in good shape, he's in good shape. hopefully he can help us this next week. >> redskins fans, you get a chance to celebrate.

we're giving away this chris cooley jersey. all you have to do is go to the wusa9 facebook page. a winner will be chosen randomly. >> plans for the redskins new training camp in richmond were unveiled. they utilized 17 acres of state property located behind the science 3450u see yum of -- museum of virginia. >> the baltimore ravens got crushed yesterday by houston but there was a bright spot out there. number 55 back on the field. linebacker terrell made a statement. four tackles, two sacks against the text januaries. he just said he was ready to contribute once again. >> i had to come back against a good team. we all know how important the november and december is. i didn't want to -- i wanted to

come down the stretch to those big games. >> just as the maryland terrapins pick up the pieces from yesterday's heartbreaking loss, they have another big problem on their hands. replacing quarterback perry hill. the coach announced that hill is out for the season with a torn acl. the freshman stepped in at the start of the year. time now to reveal our latest game of the week poll. some of your choices this week include a matchup in prince william county between potomac and hilton and a very big montgomery county rivalry seneca valley at damascus. you also have woodson at ballou. go to wusa today high school sports. we'll announce the winner thursday night. go to facebook and like us. now i have it all tangled. >> there we go. >> perfect. >> back where he belongs. one lucky somebody will get

that. >> you can wear it for sunday's game. we have some interesting weather. football/summer/-- >> don't put the shorts away just yet. temperatures more like september, upper 70s. 80 on wednesday. upper 70s thursday. mid-70s friday. maybe a sprinkle. then the weekend we're going to have showers no matter what sandy does. sandy could become a nor'easter but i think sandy is going to stay off shore far enough that we'll just have showers saturday night ending on sunday. it will turn cooler either way, back to reality. back in the 60's on sunday and monday. >> but we get the soccer in and all those projects during the day. >> yes. fantastic. that's good for us. the cbs evening news is next. derek will see you at 7:00. have a great night, everyone.