back to craig melvin in miami. another important group there, the youth vote.. we'll talk about how important and why right now. thank you so much, richard lui. early, in-person voting in the sunshine state started a few hours ago. a week later than in past years, we should note. that gives early voters the next eight days to cast their ballot in florida. winds and rain from hurricane sandy now moving away from florida, but the storm will impact much of the east coast over the next few days. it could have an effect on early voting, as well. we'll talk about that right now. joining me in our political war room on a saturday afternoon, an all-star floridian panel. clarence mckeon is a in yous max contributor and reagan campaign advisor. kevin keith was an obama florida spokesman in 2008. thank you both for being with me on this saturday. early voting under way. it ends on saturday november 3rd here in florida. the state legislator last year reducing the number of early voting days from 14 to eight. kevin, does that reduction help or hurt president obama's chances

we'll go back to craig melvin in miami in a moment. bombs have reportedly killed at least 23 people in baghdad. these attacks took place in the shiite neighborhood during an islamic festival. south carolina governor nikki haley confirmed that international hackers are at the root of cyber attacks targeting the palmetto state. almost 400,000 credit and debit card numbers are at risk here. anyone who filed a south carolina tax return since 1998 is being urged to find out whether or not their information has been affected. the death toll in the meningitis outbreak climbed to 25. 338 cases have been reported in 18 states. according to the cdc, the infection is not contagious and only people who received the injections are thought to be in danger. more news later for you. let's send it back to craig melvin in miami. >> thank you, sir. appreciate you, richard lui. all eyes on hurricane sandy. the east coast bracing for a direct hit. the storm already being felt off the north carolina coast. let's check in with nbc meteorologist dylan drier w

i'm craig melvin.e watching snbc, the place for politics. 24 days until election day, three days until the next presidential debate, and the numbers are in for the next vice-presidential face-off. 51.4 million people, that's the number of folks who tuned in. we're going to fact-check the candidates coming up. >>> right now, "washington post" reporting that journalists who are blocked from an exchange between congressman paul ryan and homeless ohioans in a soup kitchen. they were aloud once he pitched in for dish duty after that exchange. he was not alone. he had his family in tow. >> this is my daughter liza and sam and i've got other ones, charlie. >> like paul ryan, mitt romney also in ohio today. he is holding a pair of rallies, an indication of how critical the buckeye state and its 18 electoral votes are. president obama in virginia where he'll be preparing for the next campaign. the obama campaign has another tv ad out. it's narrated by none other than morgan freeman, the voice of vee a and the v

i'm craig melvin. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. 24 days until election day. three days until the next presidential debate. and this, this is how many house seats and senate toss-up seats there are right now. coming up, we're going to talk about what the battle for the balance of power will mean for whoever wins the white house. topping our political headlines right now, though, paul ryan campaigning in the battleground state of ohio. congressman ryan rallying voters in youngstown this morning. >> your share of the debt has gone up to $51,000 for every man, woman, and child in america. a 45% increase in the individual burden of debt to every single american. we're heading in the wrong direction. >> mitt romney is also in ohio today. we'll have a live update from the trail in just a moment. president obama, we should note, has no public events today. he is in virginia, though, but he is prepping for tuesday's debate. vice president joe biden has a pair of fundraisers in the northeast, one in connecticut, another in new york city. and also a new development conc

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craig melvin has more on the showdown. craig, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning.rganizers called it the rumble in the air conditioned auditorium. for 90 minutes jon stewart and bill o'reilly traded jabs over the serious and substantive, but much of the night was spent on silliness and schtik. >> virtually challenged candidate. >> the altitude is really rough up here. >> reporter: across the ring the face of fox news who took along a few props. >> it's boring. >> reporter: a night tailor made for laughs. >> my friend bill o'reilly is completely full of [ bleep ]. >> two personalities such as yourself, who are almost polar opposites, politically, share a willingness to come together when congress can't? what advice would you give congress? >> and what would you like for christmas, little boy? >> reporter: but after the lap dance, some fire and substance about so called entitlements. >> they advertise on the radio for food stamps, are you kidding me? >> why is it that if you take advantage of a tax break and you're a corporation you're a smart business man, but if yo

jie i'm craig melvin. who are those joining the president?does a flip-flopper no longer work in campaign? we'll talk about that. you're on msnbc, the place for politics. p says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. if we took the nissan altima and reimagined nearly everything in it? gave it greater horsepower and best in class 38 mpg highway... advanced headlights... and zero gravity seats? yeah, that would be cool. ♪ introducing the completely reimagined nissan altima. it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ >>> good saturday to you. here are some stories making news. the head of al qaeda is calling for more protests. in a new audio recording it's reportedly ahman al za we'rery. malawa yousafzai is recovering in a hospital where doctors say she is able to move her ha

i'm craig melvin.e're live in gainesville, florida, in the middle of gospel music fest, old-fashioned cookout and a get out the vote event as well. from 269 to 269 tie to late results on election night. we'll lay out some reasons why we may not have a clear winner on next tuesday night on november 6th. back with me, alex recordity with the "national journal," joy ann reid. alex, let me start with you. there are fears about the 269 electoral vote tie. is that just a doomsday theory at this point? >> it is pretty remote. by you just have to acknowledge that with a close election it is not certainly completely out of the realm of possibility. it's interesting, in the case of a tie, it certainly does seem like governor romney would have the advantage, each state delegation in the house has exactly one vote to cast. republicans control a majority already. if you look at estate it state by state, in the unlikely event that occurs, it looks like governor romney has the advantage. >> i have to tell you that id

i'm craig melvin. here's a look at the top stories making news right now.on is dead after a car bomb exploded near police headquarters in damascus. this is the latest in a series of bombings in the syrian capital in northern parts of the country. >> california governor jerry brown has just ordered regulators for winter blend gasoline to be sold before its scheduled date. all this before gas prices have spiked over the weekend. now averaging $4.65 a gallon in california. >>> and two ethiopians celebrating their big wins in the chicago marathon today after shattering the course record by nearly one minute. an estimated 45,000 runners participated despite the chilly weather in the windy city. >>> i want to bring you other news in another presidential election. this one in venezuela. voters in that country went to the polls today. hugo chavez facing his toughest challenge. he's staged a comeback from cancer. he wants a new six-year term to shape the future of the oil-rich nation. nbc news correspondent kerry sanders is in the venezuelan capital. good sunday to

>>> we've been talking about the strategy of early voting and who better to talk about that is craig melvinho is in the thick of it in gainesville, florida right by the early voting location. yesterday marked the first day of early voting in florida. craig, what are you seeing down there? >> let me tell you, it was quite the scene. today we are in gainesville, florida. but yesterday we were hours south. we were down in miami, we were this broward county. we hit a couple of polling places there. and what we wanted to find out, first of all, is enthusiasm where it was four years ago. and turnout. is turnout higher than expected or less than what they were expecting. and what we found out yesterday, enthusiasm higher than what many have been reporting address turnout considerably higher than what folks were expecting. i want to give you some numbers here. yesterday in pembroke pines, this is where i was, you can see the lines wrapped around the building. some folks said they stood in line for two hours. first day '08, 12,000 early voters. first day in 2008, this is in miami-dade county. yester

i'm richard lui in for craig melvin. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics.olls to decide whether president obama d

i'm milissa rehberger in for craig melvin today. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. all the headlines today have something to do with the latest unemployment number of 7.8%, and with just five days until the vice presidential debate, the candidates are cramming this afternoon while their surrogates are campaigning in the critical swing states. but today, the big number is one. we're one month out from the election day, the day that we find out who will become the next president. topping our political headlines, money, money, and more money. today, we're learning that the obama campaign raked in a whopping $181 million in september. that is the most either side has raised in a single month this election cycle. no word yet on the romney camp's monthly total, but the campaign does say it collected more than $12 million in online donations. that is just since wednesday's debate. team romney is also rolling out a new tv ad today, featuring a former obama supporter, who says she has changed his mind. >> i'm disappointed in barack obama as my president, because he promised

i'm richie louie in for craig melvin. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics.ust 17 days until voters go to the polls to decide whether president obama deserves another term. two days until the ultimate face-off between governor mitt romney and mr. obama. and this time the focus will be overseas. >>> and one in four. that's how many americans say they do not believe in global warming. coming up, we'll talk to bill nye, the science guy, about how these people are impacting presidential politics. >>> president obama and mitt romney are spending the day in debate prep. today the obama campaign released a new tv ad saying mitt romney cannot be trusted on education. >> mitt romney on education. >> all the talk about we need smaller classroom size, look, that's promoted by the teachers unions to hire more teachers. >> president obama has a different view. he believes smaller class sizes and great teachers are a key to a stronger economy and a stronger middle class. >> vice presidential nominee paul ryan pushing back on the issue of education today while stumping in o

i'm craig melvin here in miami, florida, where in-person early voting started early this morning.on the race for president, though, let's get an update on hurricane sandy. for that we turn to nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer standing by. >> we still have a category 1 hurricane on our hands. it is still moving northeast at about 12 miles per hour. but it is going to still take that northwest turn as we go into monday. here you see the heavy rain moving still on shore. the heaviest of it just off the coastline. but we have had some pockets of heavy rain across northeastern north carolina. we do have sustained winds up to 20 miles per hour with gusts as high as 35 to 40 miles per hour with this storm. this area of high pressure to our northeast. it is blocking the storm from going east. that's why it's going to take that turn to the northwest. and anywhere from new jersey down through the delmarva peninsula, this should make landfall, kind of as a post tropical storm. it is going to change in nature a little bit as it makes its way closer to the midatlantic. either way, it is a huge st

i'm richard lui in for craig melvin. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. just 17 days until voters go to the polls to decide whether president obama deserves yet another term. two days until the ultimate face-off between governor mitt romney and mr. obama. this time, the focus will be overseas. and these are two states that you might not think would be in play. there's pennsylvania, a blue state, and virginia, historically red. this afternoon, how they may decide who wins the white house. all right, topping our political headlines this hour, hunker down today, preparing for monday's third and final debate on foreign policy, the president is doing his prep work at camp david. mitt romney is doing his in florida. meanwhile, the candidates' running mates are out tonight trail, working hard today. vice president biden is in the sunshine state and is still speaking at a rally in st. augustine, where he went after mitt romney, accusing him of shifting positions on one too many times and too many issues. congressman paul ryan has events in a pair of battleground

craig melvin will be back tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.ive as a guest on the show. and be sure to catch "meet the press" tomorrow morning on nbc where arnold schwarzenegger will be among david gregory's guests. and the replay tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern time here on msnbc. until then have, yourself a great day. does your phone give you all day battery life ? droid does. and does it launch apps by voice while learning your voice ? launch cab4me. droid does. keep left at the fork. does it do turn-by-turn navigation ? droid does. with verizon, america's largest 4g lte network, and motorola, droid does. get $100 off select motorola 4g lte smartphones like the droid razr. >> announcer: meet jill. she thought she'd feel better after seeing her doctor. and she might have, if not for kari, the identity thief who stole jill's social security number to open credit cards, destroying jill's credit and her dream of retirement. now meet amanda. with a swipe of her debit card, she bought some gas... and an all-expense-paid trip to hawaii for ben. ben i

craig melvin was reporting from florida.p the politicos to get on "meet the press" today to talk about sandy. rachel ma dough wddow was one o guests. >> one of the things we saw was tina fey speaking in new york who seemed to strike the court about going beyond abortion, about do you trust women enough to let them make decisions about their own lives. this is how she talked about it. >> if i have to listen to one more gray-faced man with a $2.00 haircut explain to me what rape is, i'm going to lose my mind. >> frankly, to be fair, the romney campaign is thinking the same thing, i'm going to lose my mind if we have to keep talking about rape in this election because its an association with the republican party that he does want to be associated with. >> right. but then he picked paul ryan. the government telling you need to have a medically necessary procedure at the order of the state regardless of what you want and regardless of what your doctor says. he picked a guy if favor of a forced ultrasound bill. paul ryan was a co-

i'm craig melvin. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. 23 days now until election day.ll learn who will be the next president. also, two days until the next time president obama and governor romney face off for the next presidential debate. but one influential political writer points out today it's the next eight days which will be critical to whomever wins the white house. it is going to be a wild ride, folks. topping our political headlines, president obama took a break this afternoon from debate prep to visit a local campaign office in williamsburg, virginia. he took some pizzas, shook some hands. he also placed a few phone calls to volunteers around the country to thank them for their help. >> don't forget to dial 1. >> this is old school. >> yeah, so you have to dial 1, area code. >> i remember what this is like. >> hi, this is barack obama. can you hear me? well, i wanted to call and say thank you. >> the obama campaign says it has broke an record for presidential campaigns for the number of individual donors. the tally comes to just 4 million people. 4 million fo

>>> good afternoon, i'm richard lui in for craig melvin. 16 days until the last day of voting and the day we learn who will win the white house. in 3 hours, governor mitt romney and mr. obama will face off in their final debate. 47%, the number returns. this time it shows how close the race really is today. we'll go inside the latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, coming up. first we begin with breaking news from wisconsin, where reports of a mass shooting have sent a shopping mall into lockdown. the shooting occurred at the brookfield square mall about 20 minutes west of milwaukee, there are reports of as many as seven people shot. the gunman is reportedly at large. we should note the shooting occurred in the district next to wisconsin congressman's paul ryan's. a spokesman said the congressman has been made aware of the conversation. >>> nick iellli of wtmj radio is in milwaukee with more. what are the latest events? >> right now in southeast wisconsin kr the shooting occurred, the second shooting in just a few months in the region there was a lot of confusion and a lot of fea

up next, richard lui in for craig melvin. so have a great day and stay tuned to msnbc.checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches.

craig melvin, thanks so much. >> i actually think weiszy did come up in the lincoln/douglas debate. >> like how they did the post-debate debrief, like a sporting event. >> their rival is very interesting. >> bipartisanship on tv. >> they can do it. >>> just ahead, the man behind "kony 2012" opens up about his very public meltdown in an exclusive morning show interview. >>> and then a happy ending for a woman who survived a brutal assault and was told she'd never have kids of her own, but first this is "today" on nbc. >> big bird responding to his political fame. that happened on "snl." that's after your local news. the wheat in every mini-wheat has gotta be just right. perfect golden color. rich in fiber. my dad taught me, and i taught my son out there. morning, pa. wait... who's driving the...? ♪ 99 bushels of wheat on the farm, 99 bushels of wheat ♪ [ male announcer ] yep, there's 8 layers of whole grain fiber in those mini-wheats® biscuits... to help keep you full... ♪ 45 bushels of wheat ...all morning long. there's a big breakfast... [ mini ] yee haw! ...in those fun little biscu