brian mooar has a look. >> reporter: with washington's balance of power up for grabs in just over two weeks, both parties have their heaviest hitters on the campaign trail this weekend. before a veteran's group in san diego, john mccain stumped for his former presidential campaign adviser, california's senate hopeful carly fiorina. >> barbara boxer is the most bitterly partisan, anti-defense senator in the united states senate today, i know that, because i've had the unpleasant experience of having to serve with her. >> reporter: together they opened fire on incumbent democratic senator barbara boxer. >> barbara boxer has not served the people of california, and we must hold her accountable on november 2nd. >> president obama was in massachusetts to help out governor deval patrick. >> that's why you need to help guard the change that you helped deliver in 2006, by giving deval patrick four more years. >> the president was also there to raise an estimated half million dollars for democratic senate candidates. >> in florida, former new york mayor rudy giuliani stood behind marco rubio.

brian mooar has the latest. >> in florida, sarah palin primed her fellow republicans for a big win on election day. >> now, the momentum is with us. the momentum is with us, but now is not the time to let up. >> tea party favorite marco rubio is poised to seize florida's open senate seat. and he's expecting plenty of republicans to join him in changing washington's balance of power. >> i believe november 2nd will with an extraordinary day in florida and across america. >> president obama touched down in minnesota to wrap up a four-day campaign swing. he and his fellow democrats are struggling to turn back a tide of anti-incumbent sentiments. >> this election is a choice between the policies that got us into this mess and the policies that are leading us out of this mess. >> in nevada, the president stood up for senate majority leader harry reid, who is fighting for survival against tea party candidate sharron angle. >> i want to have a partner in the united states senate named harry reid. >> closing arguments in decision 2010 now just 10 days away. in washington, brian mooar, nbc bay

brian mooar nbc bay area news. >>> this morning yemen announced an arrest in connection to yesterday'sbing attempt. police say they have detained a woman and looking for several accomplices. the attack was stopped yesterday when authorities on three continents seized packages containing powerful explosives on cargo planes. the packages were all shipped from yemen, a known al qaeda stronghold. u.s. investigators say the mail bombs were headed to two synagogues in chicago. but british authorities believe the devices were an attack on aviation. >> i can confirm that the device was viable and could have exploded. the target may have been an aircraft and had it detonated the aircraft could have been brought down. >> airport security has been increased in the wake of the threat and the u.s. postal service's joined u.p.s. and federal express in temporarily stopping shipments fromennen. >>> and still to come at 5:00 -- >> it was nice actually. >> one city wants to put a bounce in your step, e [ male announcer ] this is steven, a busy man. his day starts with his arthritis pain. that's breakfas

brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> let's look ahead to what's today on "today in the bay." for that we say good morning to laura garcia-cannon helping the team put together the show. >> busy morning out here. good morning, scott. good morning, everyone. the giants will take the field later this afternoon hoping to take control of their series against the phillies. they'll turn to a 21-year-old to do it. >>> you may notice a lot of people wearing purple today. we'll explain why. >>> plus we're less than two weeks away from election day. larry gersten joins us with the latest on the issues that matter to you. that and more, later on "today in the bay." >>> the port of oakland will be the next site of the showdown in the johannes m ene enes mehserl >> reporter: supporters of officer grant's family are calling on the long relationship between the longshoremen and community of oakland to make sure they get their message out that only the maximum sentence for his convicted killer will be enough. in about two and a half weeks, johans mehserle will be sentenced. he was found guilty

brian mooar has the latest from washington. >> with washington's balance of power up for grabs in just over two weeks, both parties have their heaviest hitters on the campaign trail this weekend. before a veterans group in san diego, john mccain stumped for his former presidential campaign advisor, california senate hopeful, carliefiorina. >> she will hit the ground running, and she will be an instant impact and star in the senate. we have to get her there, my friends. >> together they opened fire on incumbent democratic senator barbara boxer. >> barbara boxer has not served the people of california. we must hold her accountable on november 2nd. >> president obama was in massachusetts trying to help the governor. >> that's why you need to help the change you started in 2006, by voting for patrick. >> in florida, new york mayor guilliani stood behind g.o.p. candidate mark owe rubia. >> nancy pelosi and harry reid had have taken us in a direction so far to the left, i can't recognize what we're doing anymore. >> rubio has a strong lead over republican turned independent charlie crist. bu

brian mooar, wbal-tv 11 news. >> are you ready for the upcoming election? we have provide aid wealth of information on our web site at www.wbaltv.com. from candidate profiles to ad fact checks and a voter guide at the poll. click on politics at the top of the home page. >> baltimore city police are searching for a man that shot and killed another man in west baltimore. he later died at a hospital. police are still investigating two shootings from friday night. so far police have no suspects or motives in any of these cases. >> members of the baltimore city police department gathered to say their final fair we will to one of their -- farewell to one of their own. detective stevenson was killed after getting in a fight over a parking space. he has was hit in the head with a piece of concrete. he died a short time later at shock trauma. >> a city college high school staff member has been -- tyree miles was arrested october 15 when he tried to sell a gun to a school police officer. the school notified the police about the proposed gun deal, and the transack was

nbc's brian mooar is in the white house this morning. good morning, brian. this enthusiasm we've been hearing about, what else have we been finding. >> it's starting to look like a bit of a canyon and this ice what president obama is trying to talk care of as he heads out today to philadelphia. but voters are clearly not happy. bad, bad grades for the government. we could see that the democrats in congress got a c-minus. republicans did a slight bit worse. they got a d-plus, and that was the same grade for the federal government. president obama is the head of the class with a c. now, when we talk about the direction of the nation, 59% of voters believe that this country is on the wrong track, and that is 12 points worse than a decade ago, which was just the beginning of the george w. bush presidency. when we move onto the state of the economy, 63% believe our economy is the same or getting worse. that's 8 points worse than the same time a decade ago. and with 23 days to go until election day, alex, it is clear that incumbents have a lot of cramming to do wi

nbc's brian mooar has their messages. >> reporter: sarah palin may not be running for office this timefighting to get as many republicans elected as she can. >> and so how about we make november 2nd freedom day and w take it back for the little guy? >> reporter: with washington's balance of power, up for grabs in just over two weeks, both parties have their heaest hitters on the campaign trail this weekend. before a veterans group in san diego, john mccain stumped for his former presidential campaign adviser, california senate hopeful carly fiorina. >> she will hit the ground running and will be an impact and star in the united states senate. >> reporter: together they opened fire on democratic senator barbara boxer. >> we must hold her accountable on november 2nd. >> reporter: president obama was in massachusetts to help out governor duvall patrick. >>that's why you need to help guard the change you helped deliver in 2006 by giving duvall patrick four more years. >> reporter: in florida former new yorkayor rudy giuliani stood behind gop senate candidate marco rubio. democrats and repu

that brian mooar was just telling you about. here now one of the major organizing forces of the rally. that being the president and ceo of the naacp, ben jealous. i notice that the sun is shining down on you, smiling on all you gathering there. >> i know. this is a great day. this is going to be the most diverse march on washington we've ever seen. you'll see mine workers and people from across this country, firefighters, doctors, small business people, black people, brown people, jews, muslims all standing here to say let's get past the old lines and focus on getting this country back to work so we can pull it back together. >> ben, why did you and the naacp get involved in this rally specifically? because i want to know what you plan to say when you take to the podium. what's topic "a" for you? >> we've go to spend less and less on war and tax cuts for the richest 1%, and we have to spend more and more on jobs and schools for the other 99%. we know that in hard times in this country, the way that we move forward is we put our

we have brian mooar standing by for us just beside the stoeches t steps of the memorial. and they were hoping, brian, for tens of thousands of people to show up. it's looking like they just might get there. >> right now we're going through the sound check. we're seeing people continue to stream in. we'll show you pictures taken about 15 minutes ago of probably a few thousand people gathered right in front of the lincoln memorial. they're continuing to stream in. ben jealous of the naacp says that they have confirmed 2,000 buses coming here and other people coming by various means, but we're going to wait and see how many people do show up for this rally. it is expected to be a very eclectic group. we're talking about civil rights groups, gay rights groups, some church groups. they're all here with varied message as well. part of the agenda is talking about jobs, putting americans back to work. they're talking about education and then they're also going to be talking about equality for everybody. we're talking about various people from different races, religions, different

nbc's brian mooar at the white house. adding up to tough marks for incumbents in washington, isn't it? >> reporter: yeah, alex, timing for a parent-teacher conference. the men and women in congress are getting really lack luster grades right now from the voters. their bosses, who are going to sound off in a couple of weeks, in this poll voters were asked to give a report card to congress. not good at all. democrats, well they got a c minus, republicans did a bit worse, with a d plus, the federal government overall got a d plus. president obama, the virtual valedictorian with a "c." when you look at the registered voters, the people who could come out and vote, they -- 47% of them say they prefer democrats keep control of congress. 43% say republicans should take over. but if you factor in the margin of error in this poll, virtually dead even. more important, more telling number, is those who are very interested voters. 47% say democrats should have control. 52% would like to give republicans control. so it is clear that i

nbc's brian mooar reports. >> reporter: before closing out a four-day campaign swing and heading home, president obama told voters in minneapolis they stand to lose if republicans win controof congress. >> the choice between the past and the future, a choice between hope and fear, a choice between falling backwards and moving forwards. and i don't ow about you, but i want to move forward. i don't want to go backwards. >> reporter: there is just one full week remaining before voters decide that 2010 midterm elections and the fate of president obama's change agenda. in florida sarah palin prime her fellow republicans for a big win on election day. >> now the momentum is with us. the momentum is with us but now is not the time to let up. >> reporter: tea party favorite marco rubio is poised to seize florida's en senate seat. >> i believe november 2nd will bean extraordinary day in florida and across america. >> reporter: and he is expecting plenty of republans to join him in changing washingn's balance of power. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> david gregory will have an interview

thank you, brian mooar. >>> new predictions from a top democrat this morning on how his party will fare in the med term elections. i spoke with howard dean, and he offered his forecast for the upcoming elections along with a sharp message to his fellow democrats. >> my own guess that is we hold on to the house by four or five, because things have been moving our way, i think they'll continue to move our way because we have better candidates than the republicans and we're not as extreme. people are starting take a look at republicans and who they're nominating. i don't think we want the radical right taking over congress. what i have to say to the democrats is, you know, this is the fourth quarter. we're going to have our disagreements and we're going to fight like crazy after the election, but that will start november 3s. we've got to have the team, and our team has to be the winning team. we've got to get out and vote. >> the former governor predicted that democrats will keep control of the senate by about four or five seats. >>> we have a lot more ahead on the upcoming midterms later

"today in the bay's" brian mooar is live in washington with what the president is doing to try to turne things around. good morning, brian. >> reporter: well, the president has to turn his approval ratings around as well, he's down in the dumps and he's heading out west to oregon and to washington state, hoping to help candidates in races where he might well be able to make a difference. but a lot of these races are starting to tighten up. while democrats are seeing a bit of a last-minute boost in their support numbers, the republicans are still holding the ground fairly well. the election season is winding down, but the candidates are all still wound up. one example of that, last night in the illinois senate debate, the candidates there, mark kirk and alexi giannoulias traded some sharp elbows. >> i think you should have some apologizing to do too. >> i've got no answer to the question. >> reporter: well, right now 50% of those in the nbc poll say they'd like to see republicans take control of the congress, only 43% want democrats to stay in charge. that's an example, laura and brent,