connecticut is simply no different. with one of the wealthiest states coming up with one of the highest poverty rates. do you view the income gap is a problem facing our state? if so, do you have a plan to close the poverty gap and revive the middle class in connecticut? mcmahon, well, that's exactly what my plan is designed to do. if people back to work. and by cutting taxes for the middle class, from the 25% to 15% bracket and then lowering taxes on jobs, job creators so we give them certainty and able invest and grow, reducing business from 35% to 25% said they are globally competitive, to getting rid of the over burdensome regulation. i talked about a lot of these points previously. regulations really hurt businesses. we need regulation, but not the over burdensome portions of this regulations. my plan is designed and care to jumpstart the economy by putting our people back to work. taxes on job creators need to be reduced. small businesses need certainty they can hire. they don't know what's going to happen at the

i am a product of connecticut. i was raised to believe that i needed to live my life in a way to stand up to the -- for the middle-class families. that is why i passed the connecticut's them sell law, which is saving lives and the people to work. i went to congress to stand for manufacturing and fight outsourcing. that is me. that is my story. it is a very different story from the demands. over and over again, she has shown as she stands up for herself and her profits at the expense of the people that work for her and at the expense of this state. i will stand for only one thing, the middle class of this state. i look forward to the next hour. >> our first question to mr. murphy. >> both of you have had personal financial problems. mr. murphy, you have been sued for nonpayment of mortgage bills. mrs. mcmahon committee filed for bankruptcy and walked away from that. how can connecticut voters felt confident that you will be able to exercise good judgment on the federal budgets -- federal budget decisions facing conn

it's the voters in connecticut who are going to make the choice, the voters in connecticut who are goingto decide whether or not the people in washington will fight for them, actually have a plan to address the most serious issue today facing our country, and that is jobs and the economy. my opponent does not have a plan. you you can look online and see exactly what i plan to do. i have a track record of creating jobs and helping the economy. they know i am going to take that into washington in a congress where we have more few interest people. >> why can't the press go along with the ride? >> i enjoy working with the press. the campaign is it about the people of the state of connecticut. >> i ran into a guy a couple weeks ago at the hebrew fair, and out of work painter and he wants to know the differences between linda and i between how we're going to put him back on the job. they're big differences. when the's plan is focused on giving herself a $7 million tax cut and hoping that trickles down to people who need help. >> why the lack of access as far as where the two of you are day in,

we only have a little over 3 million people in connecticut. have a significant population here without power tonight. we're actually next to a hotel, a resort that has generator power. this is one of the few places in old saybrook that does have power. if you look at the power grid outage maps along the shoreline, nearly every community is 75% or more out at this hour. and as we saw with irene then again with the october snowstorm, it can take a long time, perhaps a week or even nine or ten days before the power gets restored for a lot of folks. >> jeff stecker from wvit. thank you for that update. to the point he was making that it's so dark outside, there's so much water out there, there are so many downed lines. take this advice. this came from the fairfield police chief. "we have limited responsibilities, please stay inside your house and we are expecting massive damage." and i think that that would apply to communities up and down the eastern seaboard. we will continue msnbc's live coverage of hurricane sandy right after this. [ ryan ] it

and now, to connecticut. republican linda mcmahon and democrat chris murphy are about to face of their second debate to replace retiring senator, joe lieberman. this race is reported as a toss up. in hartford, conn. >> from channel 3 eyewitness news, a special campaign 2012 senate debate. >> a very good sunday to you. welcome to the first debate in the race for the u.s. senate seat currently held by the retiring senator, joe lieberman. first, the rules -- each candidate will have 90 seconds. can it ask the question first will have 30 seconds to rebut his or her opponent after the answer to the question. welcome our panelists -- and now, let's bring our candidates, democrat chris murphy and republican linda mcmahon. a coin toss determined that ms. mcmahon will begin with a one minute opening statement. >> good morning, and thanks to channel 3 and our panelists and welcome to our studio audience. i am often asked why are you running for the united states senate? that angeles -- answer is simple -- some six gran

it is not a plan for connecticut. it essentially parrots a bunch of talking points that have not worked for this country. >> why the lack of access as far as where the two of you are day in, day out. >> i don't think there is any comparison in terms of access. linda has refused to meet with editorial boards and i've been very willing to do so. i cannot count the number of press ability -- press availability as i have done. linda mcmahon does not want this campaign to be about issues. because of that is, she loses. whether its tax policy, support for education or women's health care, she cannot win because her economic plan is rooted in republican national talking points. my plan is rooted in the people of this state. >> i'm going to take time to respond to the very serious charge congressman murphy has leveled against me. shame on you. yet just accused me of plagiarizing my plan. it is beneath a congressman who is sitting today or anyone who is running for the united states senate. you know very well by plan is my own

connecticut street is one of the streets left after cesar chavez.r more parking, not even single car. based on that, leave the connecticut street out of the $4 parking and not to do it. thank you very much. >> anybody else? >> no. they do wish to talk about item b, the four hour parking on connecticut. lawrence here? no. all right. and so on 10.2q -- >> chairman nolan: mr. toronto's got something. >> if you give me three minutes i'll address all of them because i think i'm the only one that pulled all these. >> chairman nolan: is he the only one? >> you will have to apply the time on it. >> speaking on a and b then first. i have a friend who actually has a business on connecticut street. and basically this issue involves the daily around the corner on cesar chavez. if you ask the traffic engineer he'll tell you there's a request to appease one business on cesar chavez street and two car repair shops and a dance venue on connecticut street that uses the parking. so just want to let you know that this is only been brought up because there's been probl

connecticut hasn't elected a republican to the senate in three decades and mitt romney is running well behind president obama there, why is this race so close? we're back with dan henninger, matt, and mary anastasia o'grady. you were there for the republican primary, why is she doing so well? >> she's a marketing specialist and manage today rebrand herself for the campaign. she lost terribly. >> 12 points. >> spent 50 million dollars and got nowhere. this time around she saw what her vulnerabilities were, people saw her as overly aggressive and a wrestling promoter and turning herself using ads into a grandmotherly-- >> and people out of the ring, is that it. >> pretty much. and she has a very controlled message and managed to go on-- >> what is she running on, what is her message? >> her message is fairly negative. on the positive side i was in business, i bring this experience. >> i'm an outsider, not part of congress. >> right. >> i can shake it up. >> exactly, the reason why she's ahead here, because she starting in august went very strong after chris murphy, the democratic candida

connecticut avenue combination, to connecticut.hat will get you around it north of the beltway as well. so again, inner loop before 355 will be blocked for at least another hour so those that have been stuck on the beltway have been there already for two hours and not moving. now let's take a look at the other side. here's what it looks like at montrose road southbound 270. these are the people that will hit that delay to eastbound 495, now let's take a look at the outer loop where there's another accident at connecticut avenue. hence this delay as well. i'll be back with more coming up in a few minutes. back to you guys. >>> thank you monika. cbs news takes a look at the latest developments in the presidential race. >> one of the stories fora o'donnell has -- norah o'donnell on "cbs this morning." she joins us from washington. good morning to you. >> hey good morning andrea and jessica, that's right there's a new national poll that shows mitt romney's biggest lead yet. 7 points ahead of president obama. but is that the support sho

good for connecticut? >> we have had a tradition in this state that republicans were different from what we see in washington today. unfortunately, the republican party has become radicalized. it has become a shadow of what it once was. i do nothing to have conn's interest at heart. the republican party that seeks to the control of the senate would eradicate a woman's choice but to control decisions for our own body. the republican senate would have another round of tax cuts for the very wealthy at the expense of the middle class. republicans who want to take are the senate would do away with things such as funding schools in connecticut. and many of those issues, she holds the same positions as they do. i am proud of the fact that i have reached out across the aisle in congress. i have started a group called the center aisle caucus. it was a group of democrats and republicans working together to find areas that the two parties can come together on. we need a budget that cut spending at a greater rate than

china is our fifth export in connecticut.the chinese need to respect our intellectual property laws, which they do not. they take our products and manufactured a similar version and sell it at cheaper prices. we cannot allow china to manipulate its currency. >> congressman -- ally or rival? >> both. we have let china get away with murder when it comes to policy. the currency is manipulated. we should call them out for it. this is critical. the federal government is outsourcing our own work in the department of defense to chinese companies. we need to stop that and keep jobs here at home. listen, i think our histories are not relevant here. -- are relevant here. linda mcmahon has outsourced work at wwe to places in china. >> he talks about this, but i have been around our state. i have talked to companies who are threatened with the knockoffs that china does. they're finding that they are painting those products and sending it right back. we need to make sure the and not manipulating the currency. we need to make sure that the

this is jim in waterbury, connecticut. good morning. go ahead. caller: linda mcmahon it said that chris murphy was not there in congress 90% of the time to make votes on issues. is that a fair accusation? is that just sort of how congress works that -- works now? guest: beat -- host: before we let you go, what is it like there in connecticut now? guest: last time she really bombarded you. it is a pretty bad race, a lot of mudslinging. host: ken rudin? guest: this is a state that they have no business being competitive in.

connecticut, it is time. time to elect a senator who is a job creator with a real plan for putting people back to work. who will cut taxes for the middle class, who values showing up for work. it cannot be bought by special interests. we do not need another senator whose primary aspiration is a political career. we need someone who will tell us that our kids and grandkids will be better off than we are. we cannot afford six more years of congressman murphy's failed policies. of higher unemployment, higher costs for gassed -- for gas and groceries. a low wages and homes moving into foreclosure. connecticut, it is time. time to elect a senator who will bring knowledge and experience to create jobs and who believe that america's best days are ahead. i am linda mcmahon and i would be honored to have your vote on november 6 requesting the very much -- november 6. >> thank you very much. we would like to thank the hartford courant and our panelists. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions

in connecticut, obama will live connecticut by a large margin. mcmahon doesn't have a chance to win the seat. acheman, who you said get out of race is within striking distance of winning that. that says a lot about republicans of missouri. i just don't understand that. the other race -- >> eric: george allen and kaine. >> bob: that is as close as

let's talk a little about connecticut. this is a state that has lost 600,000 -- has left 600,000 utility customers in the dark. much of the coastline has been hit very hard. there are towns that are underwater. reporter jeff stecker from nbc station wvit in old saber, connecticut, gave us this update a short time ago. >> reporter: where we're standing right now is about to my upper thighs and water so it's receded. that was the big problem. behind me some guys are checking on a building here that fronts right up to the connecticut river to give you a sense of where we are, this is where the connecticut river spills into the long island sound. i heard you talking about the extent of the damage there and i heard from over here one of the guys yell holy something and i suspect that the damage is pretty significant. to give you a sense of how much the surge has gone down now, as i'm walking here we'll get to a point here where you see this debris on the ground. this is where the water came up here. the problem being that aroun

four people were killed in the storm in the state of connecticut. 600,000 electricity customers in connecticut are doing without. homes were destroyed. the city of new haven is racing to clear 195 trees that fell on to city roadways in new haven. the governor of connecticut has reassured the public that help is on the way. he's also reassured the public that next week's big election will happen even if they have to count the ballots by hand. the governor of connecticut joins us. we know you're very busy. we appreciate your time. >> it's good to be with you. a couple things i want to say. the president has done a magnificent job. i used to be a prosecutor in new york city. i lived in manhattan. my heart goes out to those folks. it's a tough time in connecticut, new york, and new jersey. >> this is a tightly-knit area because of the mutual commuting routes between states. i want to ask you, between connecticut and new york and new jersey and all the municipalities, how smoothly are things running in terms of coordination and in terms of whether you're getting what you need in connecticut? >> we

connecticut's u.s. senate candidate's face off in the second debate for the senate seat to replace retiring senator lieberman. this is courtesy of fox ct in hartford, conn. it is about 50 minutes. answer to the question. republican linda mcmahon. senate debate. democrat chris murphy and mcmahon will begin with a one minute opening statement. senate? prosperity. >> from channel 3 eyewitness news, a special campaign 2012 senate debate. >> a very good sunday to you. welcome to the first debate in the race for the u.s. senate seat currently held by the retiring senator, joe lieberman. first, the rules -- each candidate will have 90 seconds. can it ask the question first will have 30 seconds to rebut his or her opponent after the answer to the question. welcome our panelists -- and now, let's bring our candidates, democrat chris murphy and republican linda mcmahon. a coin toss determined that ms. mcmahon will begin with a one minute opening statement. >> good morning, and thanks to channel 3 and our panelist

>>> a new -- delmarva peninsula, maybe other portions of the northeast like new york, connecticut, et cetera. the idea where that kind of cone is narrowing. >> every time the storm gets closer. you start to see the cone get smaller. because you would expect that, because the cone is a cone. so the farther you get away in time the error gets smaller and smaller. the center of the cone being somewhere north of cape may, atlantic city. but i just don't want you to focus on those cities. does it make that turn left in time? it didn't going left right now, and sometimes they wait. sometimes computers aren't perfe perfect, and why aren't they perfect? the atlantic ocean is a fast space, we don't have weather balloons out there. we have drop sons out of noaa weather radio. here it is, category 1, about an 80-mile-per-hour storm, right now as it makes landfall tomorrow night. and if there's any change to the forecast at all, i would say that's a little bit faster. the numbers bring in landfall the eye, but don't focus on 8:00, because a lot of the storm will be onshore, half of it will be ons

connecticut, it is time. time to elect a senator who is a job creator with a real plan for putting people back to work. who will cut taxes for the middle class, who values showing up for work. it cannot be bought by special interests. we do not need another senator whose primary aspiration is a political career. we need someone who will tell us that our kids and grandkids will be better off than we are. we cannot afford six more years of congressman murphy's failed policies. of higher unemployment, higher costs for gas and groceries. a low wages and homes moving into foreclosure. connecticut, it is time. time to elect a senator who will bring knowledge and experience to create jobs and who believe that america's best days are ahead. i am linda mcmahon and i would be honored to have your vote on november 6. >> thank you very much. we would like to thank "the hartford courant" and our panelists. thank you to the league of women voters. >> coming up, the second of debates. president a the president will be on hi

massive, massive trees are down, across much of connecticut, particularly here in new london, connecticut. huge trees. a lot of debris on the roads. these kind of mon spheres -- monsters right into homes and they are taking out por lines. that's what make its so dangerous, the big tree, downed power line and it is debris on the road. the things you can't see in the dark and the things the utility companies won't be able to get to, possibly until daylight. there is still about 500,000 to 600,000 people without power, largely due to the situations like this. that situation is constantly changing, they are working to get people back up and the power back online, so the things slowly get back to normal. but the situation remains pretty dangerous because of things like this. >> wow. talk to us did the displaced people. there were some evacuations that were voluntary. how many folks have actually left the area? >> reporter: you know, at about 9:15 tonight, the governor stepped up to the plate yet again and said all of those folks down at the shoreline, they had asked people to leave at their ow

in connecticut, what their emergency preps look like. governor o'malley will join us live from maryland, maryland's governor, to tell us what they are doing to plan for the storm. you're watching special coverage of hurrican irene. we'll update you on everything that's happening. their "destina" double miles you can "actually" use. but with those single mile travel cards... [ bridesmaid ] blacked out... but i'm a bridesmaid. oh! "x" marks the spot she'll never sit. but i bought a dress! a toast... ...to the capital one venture card. fly any airline, any flight, anytime. double miles you can actually use. what a coincidence? what's in your wallet? [ all screaming ] watch the elbows ladies. wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] 100% new. 100% mmm... wow, that is mmm... it's so mmm you might not

tell us what you've learned so far about what has happened to connecticut.er outages, trees down, and, of course, most likely flooding there along the long island sound. >> very severe flooding in certain areas of the state i'm traveling with the governor along the shoreline where there has been devastation in pockets. fortunately the power companies are beginning to restore power to about 600,000 or more homes without it. about 40% of the state. they restored power to about 150,000 households. but we've suffered two deaths, one of them a volunteer fireman who was killed when a branch fell on him, a lost branch, and another elderly woman and two missing, so the recovery has begun. the devastation is pretty bad. having been out in the force of the storm early yesterday evening, cane tell you it is simply staggering. it was absolutely huge, and we're fortunate that there weren't more deaths or injuries. >> senator, what more do you need? can you tell from your tour with the governor, what is fema not providing or what can the pentagon do to help you, with the

we have numerous showers that are coming up off the ocean here, over connecticut, into connecticut itself and now they're starting to increase over central jersey. i'd give it about a half hour. we'll see on and off periods of rain, even in new york city. then we're soaked through central connecticut, now spreading northward into massachusetts and boston. it looks like you're about to get your first rain of the morning. many areas on i-95 are being affected by the storm. the huge storm is located almost over the top of chicago and milwaukee. it is a cold, raw, rainy day from indianapolis to chicago, raining and temperatures in the 40s is not fun by nen's standards. it will be windy in the northern plans but not as bad as yesterday where rapid city had hurricane force gusts up to 80 miles per hour. today's forecast on this friday, most of the bad weather will be early in the day today from new york city to philadelphia. all afternoon long up into areas of new england. the rest of the country we have talked about chicago to minneapolis and atlanta, it looks like from colorado to california,

also, in part of old greenwich, connecticut. block, all in a row, burned to the ground. embers spreading, because of the high winds, from one house to the next. fist responders unable to do their jobs. i can hear the sirens going. they're doing their very best. the families not listening to that evacuation, now stuck in their homes. the governor of connecticut telling them, get to higher ground in the house, as the tide comes in. it doesn't look bad right now. the tide is low. as it comes in, get inside your home. responders will get to you. if you're in danger, put a white towel or something on your do. but the situation continues here. let's get back to you in the studio. >> lara, thanks very much. >>> sam showed this storm is heading through pennsylvania. that's where we find "nightline" anchor, bill weir. he's in erie, pennsylvania. good morning, bill. >> good morning, george. when you live in this part of the country, there's a lot of snow shoveling. hurricane preparedness is not part of the routine. that was the case on th

we are in the east part of connecticut. we're told it got much worse over in the west part of concorporation and i'm sure you'll be able to ask governor malloy more about that as you talk to him right now. guys. >> thank you. connecticut cover dannel malloy is with us right now. governor, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> yesterday you used the word catastrophic to describe what would happen with this storm. did it live up to that expectation? how bad is it? >> it's pretty bad. the fire fighter died in easton is emblematic of that. we have trees down everywhere, poles down everywhere. the amount of flooding damage is unbelievable. we had thousands of people trapped in homes at the height of the storm last night. in fact, i went on tv to tell people to stay in place because we didn't want people to try to be swimming out or walking out through high water or driving out. having said all of that, i think the connecticut folks responded pretty well. most heeded the call. most did the right thing to get out of harm's way.

in connecticut for days on end. during irene they were without power for days on end as well so everybody in connecticut is expecting the worst and heeding the orders and just trying to prepare for t.matt? >> all right. katy tur in mystic, connecticut. thanks. connecticut's governor is here with us this morning. >> good to be here, matt. >> you said this could be the biggest threat to face people in years. >> the tides will affect western long island so that portion from new haven down to the new york border could experience tides this afternoon at about what the perfect storm was. tonight's tide during the nighttime hours could be twice that, and that's our biggest worry. if that happens, it really is catastrophic. the amount of damage and loss of property is going to be extreme. we've been talking about it for days. we've prepared. we have people in the right places. we have equipment in the right places, but really we're waiting to see what mother nature throws at us, but let's be very clear. this storm is stayin

big one in old saybrook, connecticut.manda rouse of wvit reported moments ago from the scene. >> reporter: the old saybrook fire department put out a press release telling us what happened there. they say they have two homes in chocker beach that have been destroyed by the fire during hurricane sandy because the fire department just wasn't able to get there. they actually did go into -- in water rescue suits and rode on a retired army deuce and a half truck converted into a brush fire truck as they say in an attempt to remove anyone who ignored the mandatory evacuation order and were in danger at the fire, but as they were going in, that vehicle lost many electrical systems and it could not go any further. it couldn't go because there were so many different feet of water in the beach area. two homes we are told have been destroyed in fire. as you can see looking live there is still fire going on at chocker beach there and firefighters still not able to get there because the roads are just impassable. again, they tried in

>> shepard: molly line live in new london, connecticut. south of there the storm made landfall south of atlantic city, new jersey. our craig boswell outside live atlantic city now. i hear it's still rough, there craig. >> shep, good evening we have moved out of atlantic city. higher ground. atlantic city is a mess. has been most of the day. certainly as we inch our way into high tide as that water starts to come ashore. we have moved into absecon, new jersey. down the road is atlantic city. can you see we actually have power in this area. this is a blessing for the people that have evacuated into absecon. down the road about two of those traffic lights that's where atlantic city is. you can't get into there. earlier today people were getting around by boat, can a knewing from house to house to house. you probably have seen some of that video. south long port officials are going door to door. still this evening just checking on people that did not evacuate. remember, there were some 115,000 people on barrier islands forced to evacuated. som

on connecticut avenue. north of the beltway, just north of beach drive near flight -- franklin street. strain -- standing water has a street completely shut down. you can see cars were coming through not expecting the standing water there. be prepared as you head out this morning. you may encounter a situation like this one on connecticut avenue near franklin street. southbound just now reopening. dealing with incidents on the beltway now. overnight crash on the inner loop near 355 wisconsin ave. still blocking two right lanes. a second tractor-trailer right behind the first one -- this incident just occurred. expect possible lane closures. maybe even a complete shutdown. we will keep you posted in our next report. back to the news desk. >> the search for answers continue this morning into what led to a crash they kill the bill d.c. county police officer. he was off-duty when his vehicle collided with a vehicle. how colleagues and strangers paid tribute to the fallen officer. >> some problems with that stor

a lot of damage up in connecticut. find up more about it.treet journal" as a friend of bill. president obama has one event on his schedule today after he gets the daily briefing he'll be heading out to the andrew air force base and a short hop over to atlantic city new jersey. where he'll be met by governor chris christie. big moment for the president, staying on top of the storm damage, and certainly a big moment for governor christie. the president will be back at the white house at 4:25 pm this afternoon. hum, you think, will he come home with an endorsement from chris christie. i don't know. how far is chris christie willing to go in this little lovefest now for president obama. all right. stay with us one more hour coming up. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." oh my goodness! oh my gosh this looks amazing! that's a good deal! [ man ] wow! it is so good! [ male announcer ] our new maine stays! 15 entrees under $15 seafood, chicken and more! oo! the tilapia with roasted vegetables! i'm actually looking at the wood grilled chicke

it's alive and well in connecticut. number two, we have to raise a lot of infrastructure, that is literally lift it up off the ground and we have to think of our cities very differently than we thought about them in the past. you know, parking lots underneath -- you know, the first four, eight stories of buildings being parking lots may not be the prettiest thing to look at, but, but better you lose a parking lot than you lose a whole bunch of apartments or a whole bunch of business units. we're going to have to think about making our infrastructure more protectable. i mean this thing in new york is absolutely the example. our problems with metro north are absolutely the example so we'll have to harden systems and have to spend money on hardening those systems, even while we're spending money to repair those systems. now, of course, there is a bigger question. in a country where people don't like to talk about infrastructure investment, at least half the people in the country don't like to talk about infrastructure inve

stamford, connecticut, is where lara is for us.ered down and out of power. >> hunkered down and out of power. 650,000 customers in connecticut. it seems quiet now. not to be trifled with, though. the tide is rising. that's where it gets tricky. there's a home, the water is just pouring out of the basement of that home. the water was all the way up in these houses. today, the aftermath. we're going to talk about how the families are dealing without power, like so many other families along sandy's path. back to you. >> and from the very start, sam champion, down in lower manhattan right now. that area still reeling. and another high tide about to come. >> yeah. we're right about at that time. but the good news is, as far as the paved surfaces go and the streets of new york, new york harbor is back in new york harbor. that's step one. that's a lot of underground flooding going on there. at least, on the surface, the water is back in the harbor. it was difficult to find a high place last night. our crew did, sleeping in cars and suvs,