brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >> brian mooar, thank you very much. >>> this morning california public schools are to longer in limbo. prop 38 which would have raised funds for schools by increasing taxes on a sliding scale, it has failed. overnight, prop 30 did pass. prop 30 is governor brown's tax initiative. this will increase taxes on earnings over $250,000 for a total of 7 years and also raise the sales tax by a quarter cent for four years. and it will fund public schools and public safety realignments. for more on prop 30 and the devastating cuts that are now avoided, les go to nbc bay area's christie smith live in sacramento with the latest where governor is speaking right now. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, john. this is a big win for governor jerry brown. there has been a lot of anti-tax sentiment in california for years but he was able to turn that around, especially ca campaigning right before the election. he is speaking right now inside the capitol. let's go ahead and listen. >> we had the possibility of the cuts, but schools do they get to restore somethi

brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> the result expected. today florida made it official. the sunshine state voted to re-elect president obama. the final electoral map for 2012 looks like this. president obama with 332 electoral votes to mitt romney's 206. the president carried every state he won in 2008 except indiana and north carolina. with a record number of votes cast, florida's secretary of state says president obama only won by about 74,000 votes. that's enough to avoid an automatic recount, though, like the one triggered in 2000's in his first weekly radio address, president obama talked about the upcoming fisk's clifr and urged congress to extend middle class tax cuts right away. >> something we all agree on. the taxes on middle class families should not go up. congress should perm fementally e permanently extend the middle class tax cuts. >> they meet at the white house next week. republicans say they're open to adding revenue to bring down the deficit, but they won't agree to higher tax rates for the wealthy. >>> nice break today from some of the chilly, wet fal

brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> and this are elections throughout the bay area, as well. one of the hotly contested races in alameda county is for the supervisor's seat, vacated. four candidates are running for the seat in district two. nbc bay area caught up with all but one of the candidates at a forum today, and has more. >> reporter: thank you, district two includes hayward, three of the four candidates showed up and they all have different priorities in terms of what they want to do for alameda county, voters packed the area, during a forum sponsored by the candidates. he is running to finish out the two years of her term. vaje says the priority would be to help the hospital, on the verge of being bankrupt. >> 22% of people going there don't have health insurance, and there are very few places where people can get good quality health insurance. st. rose has been a good quality hospital. >> reporter: he says he has the edge in the race because of his long experience and success as a public servant. >> i have actually been in local and regional government for 20 years.

brian mooar follows them as they make their final case to voters. >> just two more days. >> reporter: two days before voters go to the polls. republican nominee mitt romney and president obama were fighting for votes in the battleground states. >> florida, in two days, you've got a choice to make. >> reporter: the final nbc news poll before the election shows the candidates are in a dead heat. president obama with a 48% to 47% lead. but the president's handling of hurricane sandy has boosted his approval numbers. >> you don't know what crisis the next president is going to confirm. >> reporter: in ohio, governor romney is six points down. that's forcing him to look to other states like iowa. >> we can do better, a better america, a stronger america is ahead. >> reporter: a day after governor romney stumped in new hampshire -- >> our president, barack obama! >> reporter: the president was there with former president bill clinton. it's a race so tight even four electoral votes could be the margin of victory. the nbc poll shows this is a battle of the sexes. president obama has an eight-

brian mooar is, nbc news, washington. >> and still to come at 5:00, remembering those who died serving this country. we'll show you the ground breaking today for a new bay area memorial. >> and showers slowly shutting down now across northern california. we saw a few actually south of san jose down around salinas and gilroy. in the see airs, snow still flying from highway 50 down toward yosemite and we'll let you know if rain and snow will impact the rest of the weekend when we come back. >>> vietnam veterans in the south bay broke ground today on a memorial in honor of the men ho did not return home. the san jose vietnam war memorial will have the names of the 142 south bay men who were killed in action. the monument is located in guadalupe park across the street from hp pavilion. the project has deep personal meaning for many involved. >> we're absolutely ecstatic that this is being built. obviously, it's not about us. it's about the 142 heroes that are going on on this wall. we have guys on the wall that we grew up with, we went 0 high school with. >> organizers used private money f

brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> elsewhere, the tampa socialite caught up in the scandal involving david petraeus is going on the offensive. after two weeks of silence, kelley's lawyer has released e-mails designed to prove she never acted inappropriately. one letter demands to know who in the government leaked kelley's name to the media after she received e-mail from paula broadwell. meantime the investigation into e-mails between kelley and general john allen has been narrowed down to between 60 and 70 messages that according to a defense official, quote, bear a fair amount of scrutiny. >>> on a much lighter night, tonight is the night when someone could win the largest power ball jackpot in history. it's $500 million and counting. lottery officials say with brisk sales, the estimated jackpot could rise again before tonight's drawing. and while of course the odds are stacked against you, at one to 175 million, jay gray reports plenty of folks are lining up to pay $2 to dream. >> reporter: the rush for the right numbers is on this morning. millions looking to beat the odds and the

we begin our coverage with nbc bay area's brian mooar in washington. >> reporter: at a little book store just outside the nation's capital president obama and his daughters were thinking small. >> we can do a little shopping as well. happy thanksgiving, everybody. >> reporter: on this small business saturday the president chose to lead by example. giving a boost to the small businesses that often get lost in the holiday sales shuffle. >> small businesses are the job creators. two out of every three met new private sector jobs are created by a small business. >> reporter: and those small business owners are counting on their neighbors for survival. >> just don't have that kind of budget, just advertising with the mega marketing. it's nice to still be remembered and small business saturday is the best time that people notice us. ♪ >> reporter: christmas traditions like this seem almost quaint when compared to the new face of the holidays. big chain stores got their holiday season off and running, even before the traditional black friday feeding frenzy. they're hoping an extra shopping week

as nbc bay area's brian mooar reports from washington, even the president crossed a few things off his shopping list. >> reporter: at a little bookstore just outside the nation's capital, president obama and his daughters were thinking small. >> we can do a little shopping. happy thanksgiving, everybody. >> on this small business saturday, the president chose to lead by example, giving a boost to the small businesses that often get lost in the holiday sales shuffle. >> small businesses are the job creters. two out of every three new net sector jobs are created by a small business. >> reporter: and there are small business owners are counting on their neighbors for survival. >> just don't have that kind of budget to start advertising with the mega marketing. so it's nice to still be remembered. and small business saturday is the best time to let people notice us. ♪ >> reporter: christmas traditions like this seem almost quaint when compared to the new face of the holidays. big chain stores got their holiday season off and running even before the traditional black friday feeding frenzy.

brian mooar has the story. >> at a news conference in thailand, president obama backend israel's right to strike back. >> we are pro is supportive of the right to defend themselves from missile landing on people's homes, workplaces, and potentially killing civilians. >> they were striking that the blows from the air and they are preparing for a possible ground invasion. washington lawmakers closing ranks. >> sending in ground troops is the only way they can clean out these nests of rockets being fired at them. you cannot blame them. >> nobody wants a ground war but israel has determined what they have to do to preserve their security. >> both sides are trying to come back from the brink and u.s. leaders are debating how prominent the american role shall be. >> trying to find someone even as high ranking as former president bill clinton and to go and be a negotiator. >> trying to sell a ceasefire as a winner for the palestinian cause. >> company officials say they are continuing the search for a worker who disappeared after an oil platform caught fire friday in the gulf of mexico. a hig

here brian mooar with that story from washington. >> former president bill clinton may have been losing his voice >> but he has done a good job with a bad hand. >> but in virginia, he spoke up for president obama, trying to soften up a critical swing state. >> we've made real progress, virginia. >> governor romney is trying to hold down iowa, a battleground state where he's fallen behind five points in the latest polls. >> with the vote of the people of iowa, we can't lose. >> the candidates cross paths within hours of each other as they barnstormed iowa and six other toss-up states, making their final arguments in the last weekend of the campaign. the president was joined by musicians john mellencamp and katy perry, and governor romney got a boost from nascar legend, richard petty. >> this is as much as you hear when you're in a nascar race. >> with only two more days of campaigning left, the candidates are just beginning their blitz of the battleground states. governor romney is campaigning later today in pennsylvania. 20 electoral votes that were thought to be in president obama's co

brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> this election season has had its share of surprises. one of which is hurricane sandy. "meet the press" moderator david gregory says president obama touring new jersey with republican governor chris christie made its mark on the race. >> that endorsement in a way. very high marks from christie from obama, did have a big political impact. a republican and democrat working together on a pressing problem. it seems to have an impact. how much? we'll see. i think it's definitely had an effect on the final week. >> a busy morning for "meet the press." david plouffe and eric cantor will be the guests. it is being broadcast from democracy plaza in new york. >>> long lines in d.c. as voters lined up to cast an early ballot before tuesday's election. last day for in-person absentee voting in virginia. admin sfrators are not worried about long lines on voting day because many more polling places will be open. be sure to stay with news 4 for complete coverage of the election and results on tuesday night. stay up to date on our website, nbcwashington

as nbc brian mooar reports both candidates are turning to famous names for last-minute help. >> reporter: former president bill clinton may have been losing his voice. >> he has done a good job with a bad hand. >> reporter: in virginia he spoke up for president obama trying to increase a key swing state. governor mitt romney is trying to hold down iowa. a battleground state where he's fallen behind five points in the latest polls. >> it's with the vote of the people of iowa we can't lose. >> reporter: the candidates crossed paths within hours of each other as they barnstormed iowa and six other tossup states. making their final arguments in the last weekend of this campaign. ♪ >> reporter: while the president was joined by john mellencamp and katy perry, governor romney got a boost from nascar legend richard petty. >> this is what you hear when you're in a nascar race. >> with only two days of campaigning left, the candidates are just beginning their blitz of the battleground states. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >> "the new york times" blogger nate silver says the latest statistics

brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> how much has hurricane sandy impacted the election. david gregory joined us earlier today and said it definitely changed the scope of the election. >> that endorsement in a way, very high marks with a political impact. a republican and democrat working together on a pressing problem. seems to have had an impact. how much? we'll see. definitely had an affect in the final week. >> a busy morning for "meet the press." david plouffe and house gop leader eric cantor join david. catch "meet the press" right here on nbc 4. >>> stay with us. we have complete coverage leading to tuesday. we'll have all of the results on tuesday night and stay up to date on our website, nbcwashington.com. >>> new this morning, a deadly shooting overnight in southeast washington, gunfire erupted after 2:00 this morning in the 300 block of ridge road southeast. police have not released the victim's name yet. police reportedly searching for four men who may be connected to the shooting. >>> d.c. police one teen responsible for two violent attacks against women in t