>> diane and jon's own fight for survival began in april 2011 when diane says she lost her executive job because of a work place dispute. but she wasn't worried at first. >> i interviewed over a period of five weeks for one position. but then it came down to me and one other person. i was told i was not the one. >> after the first no you should rationalize it. another job coming along. get the next one or the next one. then that didn't happen. >> exactly. >> to make matters worst, jon's business consultant job had been eliminated four months earlier. he had been able to find a sales job at an athletics store with benefits but with a much lower salary. then in june 2011 their youngest daughter was hospitalized with a rare liver disease. she recovered but the family suddenly owed thousands of dollars in medical bills. so much for their savings. >> the ability to live where we live, pay our bills, keep our vehicles, to pay the rent. all of those things are at stake right now. what does fall smell like? head north, to someplace pristine like acadia national park. there is nothing like th

diane? >> all right, jake. thank you and coming-of-age or medically story, hurricane sandy sings a mighty ship, survivors pulled from the open ocean, one was washed away. the search, tonight. abc news with diane sawyer, brought to you by allied bank. >> >> you are looking imagine dramatic footage of hurricane sandy, blowing ashore. look at past that water is moving and again, wins have been gusting many miles an hour, even 100 miles per hour and one can't fully watch this storm and south of atlantic city earlier today and it called credible drama unfolded as the replica of a 200 -year-old ship sailed into the raft of the storm it battled 18-foot waves until the ship went down and the passengers huddled onto a small raft and 40-mile per hour winds and incredibly brave helicopter pilots came to the rescue and we have that story in north carolina. >> reporter: with 50 miles per hour winds and fuel-burning past the first dive is lowered into the unknown. you can see here the crew bobbing and waist high water faces

diane. we're easily getting into some of the worst stuff, 60 to even 74 miles per hour, that threshold of hurricane force, one of the worst storms that has ever hit atlantic city. this city is basically under water. water from the ocean, water from the bay. it is everywhere. this is the storm that we forecasted and then some. it is chaos along the jersey shore. the super storm battering the barrier island. in the crosshairs atlantic city. the road into this sea front town is completely submerged. damage started early, massive chunks of boardwalk littering the streets. streets after avenue after cul-de-sac inundated. so we just picked one. plain street and started knocking on doors. >> the water starts coming in our house we'll go upstairs and we got our kids. >> reporter: once it peaked waves at the shore could grow to 20 feet. out at sea up to 40 feet. you got to take a look at how the waves picked up. this is what happened. debris like pieces of the boardwalk three blocks, the ocean back t

diane?> okay, sam, we'll be checking in with you, as well and now we go to rehoboth beach, delaware. 10 million are at risk of losing power, and we asked abc's david kerley to tell us what's happening there and how fast. david? >> reporter: good evening, diane. you can take a look at some of these waves back here. as an angry, angry ocean that is coming going to be up on the boardwalk in rehoboth beach but i want to tell you about the one thing we've been keeping an eye on. it's this lamppost and these lights are still on. still electricity, more than 1.25 million people without power. we'll have more on what's going to happen to them in the coming hours. >> okay. david, good to check in with you. >>> also want to go to long beach, new york, because long beach built a wall of sand as a defense against the ocean, and abc's ron claiborne is there to tell us if it's holding. ron? >> reporter: good evening, diane. that wall of the sand berm they built along the shore held out for quite a while b

diane agrees to share the workload.irst shift is scheduled for the same evening as one of her professional networking meetings. it's not something diane ever imagined would happen. but come 6:00 p.m., the former executive turns into a cleaning lady. >> so i think that i'll be working for 7:00 -- around 7:00 until 2:00 in the morning. >> it's 4:00 a.m. when diane returns to her car. >> i don't know. it's kind of surreal. it just didn't feel like me. and it didn't feel like my life. i kept thinking there are people that are actually working jobs during the day in these offices when they're empty at night. i was thinking i'd like to be on the other side. i'd like to have a day job. it's disappointing for sure. for myself and i'm sure, you know, my parents, jon's parents, everyone. i feel like i'm letting a lot of people down. >> diane has hit rock bottom. she's angry at herself and angry that she and jon have let it come this far. >> working in these kind of positions that, you know, can't sustain our life. it feels like a

diane? >> thank you, alex. and these rescue scenes bring us to an update, the ones you saw in alex's report, because they include some heroes of the storm you have met before. as sandy crashed into new york, i went to meet with the nypd's scuba rescue team and they are preparing to brave 20-foot waves in the dark of the night to help anyone in trouble, but they tell me today they did not have to rescue a single new yorker in the waters, so, they boarded those rescue helicopters. they were there, air lifting people off the rooftops in staten island. a grateful city thanking them tonight. >>> and, how about the bright lights of the big city? well, the power was flickering back on today, in parts of the city. and here's how it began on wall street. street lights glowed green. and backup generators powered up the new york stock exchange as my your michael bloomberg rang the opening bell. the markets back in business after a two-day hihiatus. the dow closed flat at the end of the day. >>> other signs of life tonight

diane? >> aisle lex, we will be back with you and those rescuers later in this one-hour broadcast and we have another note about right now. we want you to look at this. sandy is still on the move heading into the center of the country and this is the big picture. as it continues to pummel americans as far west as chicago, high winds, lake shore flooding, evacuations are under way along lake michigan and wisconsin and waves as high as 22 feet are expected on the lake tomorrow and that's the highest ever recorded there. >>> in northeast ohio, half a foot of rain, winds in cleveland up to 68 miles per hour. and last night, we told you about snow in west virginia, well, tonight, there is snow in columbus. 2 1/2 feet and counting. and so many of the deaths and injuries have been caused by falling trees. crashing onto roads and into houses and abc's david kerley brings us the story across the path of the storm. >> reporter: you are about to see a triple teardown of trees. >> oh, my god. oh, my god

diane, the powerful report we're about to see really takes us inside what can only be described as a hidden american war zone. >> it is true, but we want to say at the outset, as we know, chicago is simply a great city, filled with wonderful people. but as we're going to show you, there are some areas, where small children really do live, as we said, in a kind of battle zone. so, listen to this number. at least 419 people were killed this year, across a dozen neighborhoods in chicago, and that is more than all the u.s. troops killed in afghanistan this year. the cause? rival gangs, creating anarchy. and, so, "nightline" and "world news" decided to try something different, something unprecedented. we gathered 38 members of rival gangs, past and present, from hispanics to their black rivals, to talk about the slaughter and how to make it stop. tonight, in america, tens of thousands of children are living in a war zone. one of them is a little boy named ralph. hey, ralph, it's diane. >> ralph is a force of nature. >> that's it. >> reporter: he is also a child who pulled down the blinds

i'm diane dwyer. we are in place because of nightly news and we begin this half-hour with a look at the space shut tle "endeavour." it makes its way through los angeles. a journa top speed, 2 miles an hour. you can guess why, because of -- lots of -- things in the way. you might want to say. nbc's stephanie stanton has latest for us tonight. >> excited fans, line the streets for

diane? >> jake, as you said, the pressure really on, and governor romney tried to keep it coming today taking aim at the president's foreign policy, and abc's david muir is here with that. david? >> diane, good evening. governor romney with harsh criticism for that foreign policy saying hope is not a strategy. tonight we hear romney's speech and we ask what are the real policy differences? mitt romney with harsh words for the president today offering his own view of a greater american role around the world. >> our friends and allies across the globe don't want less american leadership, they want more. >> reporter: perhaps the biggest distinction, on syria. romney arguing the u.s. should partner with other countries to help arm the rebels to defeat president bashar assad. >> and then ensure that they obtain the arms they need to defeat assad's tanks and helicopters and fighter jets. >> reporter: romney's aide saying romney is not suggesting the u.s. arm the rebels directly. president obama ha

diane? >> all right, thank you, jake. and what about governor romney and his day? abc's david muir traveling with the governor in virginia. david? >> reporter: diane, great to see you from virginia. mitt romney expected to appear here just moments from now, and beside him, paul ryan, taking a break from his own debate prep to celebrate romney's debate last night. tonight, new questions about whether or not romney is trying to modify his message a bit with that much larger audience. starting onto a different denver stage today, mitt romney, his sons leading the applause, reveling in their father's debate performance. >> the american people last night were given a choice. >> reporter: just how did romney get ahead last night? by aggressively taking on the president, part of the romney strategy, going into the debate. moments like this one. as the two debated the debt, that bipartisan plan that got nowhere in washington. >> but in my view, the president should have grabbed it, if he wanted to m

so diane, for now, pretty calm. imagine it will be a very different picture in a couple of hours. >> i would think so. >> thanks, stephanie. one more giants forecast. >> game one, weather looking good. the wind isn't too bad out there. we'll see temperatures around the first pitch time in the mid-60s. clear skies above, and that's important to point out because we just learned that we'll get a special appearance at the start of the game. >> i think we'll see f-18 fighter jets flying over that game, that happened two years last time the giants were in the playoffs, same deal, same weekend. that's exciting for us and the fans. >> and alex smith tossing out the first pitch. >> do you think we could sneak out and spend some time? >> there's the view right there. i wish we were closer. >> there's the blue angels will doing their show. have a lovely evening. we'll see you later. [ female announcer ] pillsbury crescents on their own are wonderful ...but add some ham and cheese ...roll them up in some crescent dough and tad

by the way, it is diane. what angers me is she completely destroyed the story. >> a woman wrote this? >> there are just so many variables at play here. >> what are you doing, lady? >> the one thing you are going to do is date women who talk about this stuff. it is like, don't bring this up. i don't care if it is facts or not fact, shut up. we have to live with women. what's wrong with you people? we have to deal with women every day. why would you bring this up? >> the worst part about this study is not whether it is true or not. it is that is makes your life difficult. >> we should have all research run by the sherrod irritation guidelines. >> i guess i will pencil in some women there. >> chris, is there anything to be learned from this? >> i don't think so. this study sounds inherently bonkers. >> i think you over stepped your line there. >> somebody who took female hormones, it never had an affect on me. >> you smell wonderful. >> thank you. it sounds ridiculous. it sounds like a prank study. i couldn't fo

diane?all right, linsey, thank you so much, and our thanks to ginger, as well end and sam champion. and sam will be leading our extreme weather team as it tracks this storm, 24 hours a day, all weekend. >>> and hurricane sandy could throw a curve ball into the final sprint for the white house, as the candidates try to crisscross the country, 11 days before americans go to the polls. your voice, your vote. and a new abc news/"washington post" poll shows it is still a dead heat. governor romney with a one-point edge. and tonight, each man, trying to secure the most loyal voters that could carry them over the top. for the president, they're young. abc's jake tapper covers the white house. >> reporter: president obama has not taken questions from white house reporters since august, but today, he took them from mtv. >> what are you most worried about? malia getting her driver's license, malia going out on a date or malia being on facebook? >> i worry about facebook. dates? that's fine, because sh

diane? >> thank you, jake.ld be messy out there. >>> and as president obama, jake said, looks to secure the young voters, governor romney is ahead by about the same margin in a very different group. and counting on them to show up and vote. abc's david muir tells us who. he's traveling with the governor in ohio tonight. david? >> reporter: hey, diane. great to see you. after the governor visited iowa today, he is back near in the buckeye state. he needs ohio to unlock the map on election night. and in that new abc news poll you speak of, a key group that might help them get there. mitt romney's closing argument in one of the battlegrounds he needs. >> i am counting on iowa. >> reporter: today, delivering his economic message, a message our new poll shows is resonating loudest among one key group -- white men. in fact, so much has been made of the powerful women's vote, but it is men who are driving mitt romney's numbers. romney leads the president with white men 66% to 32%, a 34-point lead. mccain's lead among

diane? >> all right, jim avila, thank you so much tonight. >>> and now we move on to the race for the white house. governor mitt romney with the political wind at his back. there is a report that two members of the governor's family often seen by his side, that's his wife ann and his eldest son tagg, have urged a new approach behind the scenes. 28 days until americans head to the polls, "your voice, your vote." abc's david muir with all the new polls out tonight. david? >> reporter: diane, good evening from the crucial battleground state of ohio tonight. some of the biggest crowds we've seen yet for mitt romney since his debate performance are lined up for several blocks and a new poll you spoke of right here in ohio showing the race tightening. the president still in the lead here, which is why we're noticing something different from governor romney. more personal stories, personal connections with people he's met along the way. a more personal, a more emotional mitt romney on the campaign

diane? >> okay, david, thank you. so, ohio could decide who wins the white house, but another race under way in massachusetts could decide which party will control the senate. tonight, two fierce competitors with a lot of money pouring in. abc's jonathan karl has more. >> reporter: it's an epic battle. elizabeth warren, the relentless liberal crusader who took on wall street, against scott brown, the republican with a pickup truck, who won a near miraculous victory two years ago, and he is finding out how hard it is for a republican to win again in massachusetts. you got a little dent in this thing. what happened? >> being a republican, you get dented around a little bit. >> reporter: brown is a moderate, but warren portrays him as a tool of fat cat republicans. >> the vision of my republican opponent and the republican party can be boiled down to this -- "i got mine. the rest of you are on your own." >> reporter: warren has electrified progressives with her passionate and unapologetic liberalism. >> you hear all this

diane, you didn't say a president would be a good baby-sitter. but wouldn't you say they would want the government to take care of them. >> maybe some of them are. that's absolutely right. >> i just want a president who will cuddle me. >> go to sleep. >> little michael. >> you are an adult baby. >> do i like to wear a diaper? >> bill, it is candy crowley and not crowley. >> i have more issue with the candy part. >> that's not a nickname. that's her real name. it is candy crowley. >> i wonder if she went so high. candy, you don't have a lot of high expectations. she super seeded them. >> candy is not her reported name. >> they didn't know when she was born it would be in her experience. >> anything with andy in it, it is pretty bad. misinformed. googles his info, sorry, hers. >> michael, you poo-pooed the march because one is a 46-year-old student. chris meecham is a writer who was studying at boise state because he was interested in health care policy. >> i get my information from this guy. whatever he tells me, i believe. >> that is true. >> you

diane? >> all right, jon karl reporting in from washington. >>> and there will be a lot more on all of this, sunday on "this week," george stephanopoulos will break it down with bill o'reilly, james carville and mary matalin. >>> and we turn next to new clues in the mystery surrounding the death of the u.s. ambassador, chris stevens, and three other americans in libya. there is a report that two men from tunisia were held for questioning in turkey. and abc news has a provocative document tonight. it is a request from the americans on the ground in libya for help with protection. it raises the question about the state department's response and abc's jake tapper shows us that document. >> reporter: the members of the u.s. military serving as a security support team at the u.s. embassy in tripoli, libya, wanted to keep a small airplane in the country. according to a government source, that was so the team, charged with providing extra security at diplomatic posts, could travel more efficiently

diane? >> all right, jake.nd i'll see you this sunday, we'll all be watching, as martha raddatz also joins you there to weigh in on the big debate. along with vice president biden's son, beau, and governor mitt romney's debate sparring partner, senator rob portman, "this week" this sunday. >>> overseas now, and the latest on the heroic young girl, shot by the taliban because she made a public appeal for girls to get to go to school. today, across pakistan, it was a day of prayer for 14-year-old malala yousufzai. she is in satisfactory condition tonight, they say, and we have learned that several suspects are under arrest. they have not been identified yet, but the taliban was unrepentant, issuing a statement, saying, they had warned her not to speak out about going to school, the way western girls do. malala has been air lifted to a leading military hospital in pakistan for her own protection. >>> and now, back here at home, there is some wicked weather brewing as we head into the weekend. out west, the crushin

diane says they tend to converge over time. there is more statistical variance in the household survey t jumps around a lot more so we would expect to see something maybe a little better than the payroll and worse than what we saw. >> is there any particular reason why sometimes they converge, sometimes they diverge. >> there can be. what household surveys can pick up is people who are self-employed, people who are working for newly created businesses that maybe aren't fully reflected it in the payroll survey just yet so in that sense it could be a leading indicator. we don't know for sure it will take a few more months to know whether there is something rely substantive going or just a blip. >> diane swonk, in that large number in a household survey, 873,000 increase, that includes a lot of people who are in part-time work, right? i mean tell us about what can you read from a big number like that? what kind of work? >> well, actually, you know, it's a little more complicated than even that. >> i thought so. >> yeah, the 600,00

good to see you, too, diane. inching is correct because right now the shuttle is four hours behirnd schedule and moving very slowly, but still there's a lot of excitement along the route. in fact, right here on martin luther king boulevard, you see some crowds beginning to gather to catch a glimpse of the shuttle and see the street is ride open, which means it's still going to be a while before the shuttle actually gets here. one factor as the shuttle moves down the boulevard are the trees here. the city took very great pains to make sure that the shuttle had a clear route. they had to cut down some trees in order to do it. they also had to preserve some trees because they were planted in memory of martin luther king and they not want to cut the trees down. show you video of the shuttle now and talk about the journey that started late thursday, early friday morning. the shuttle started inching its way from los angeles national airport eastbound on its way to its permanent home at the california science center. th

>> i want to know if they walk around in six-inch high heels. >> diane, diane, diane. >> not exactlyt me see what mine is. >> the minute the show is over, diane, i take these babies off, i'm in my boots and off to "scandalous." i wear flats the rest of the whole day. >> i leave mine on. i've gotten used to them. i don't know why it is. sometimes i get the nike air, you know what i mean, so they are a little bit comfy. >> most of the time she goes bowling in these babies. >> i don't even bowl, diane. don't listen to her. >> got a ball in her purse. >> goes bowling in those high heels. >> next up, okay, i guess i'm getting cut off. >> sara, quick one. >> dance, dance, dance. dance it out. when in doubt, dance. >>> we're going to talk about things that make you go boo, make your halloween party a real scream. >> did somebody really write that? . >>> and spooky travel destinations for you and your family. >>> and ghoul to cool. >>> how about this, frankie valli is in the house from jersey boys. love him. >>> we're back with happy halloween today. and some party tips that will scare your

. >> reporter: good evening, diane. well, campaign sources for both campaigns tell me that romney and obama have rehearsed for this potentially tricky town hall format with aides throwing them random questions jumping from topic to topic looking for ways to bond with the undecided voters who will make up the audience in this theater in the round behind me. >> reporter: at a williamsburg resort president obama put on a confident face between a workout and a 45-minute debate prep. how do you feel about tonight? >> i feel fabulous. >> reporter: what are you going to say? then he ignored a question about the attack on the diplomatic post in beng ghazi, libya. a smile cannot be your umbrella in every storm. he knows he has to step it up. momentum in polls is with mitt romney. >> is it possible you handed him the election that night? >> no. >> you're going to win. >> yes. >> reporter: romney held debate prep before flying to ronkonkoma. he leads in some polls. what a difference two weeks can make in the world of politics. bef

hello, kimberly. >> reporter: hello, diane.m the start of this game there was a lot of energy inside at&t park. these fans wanted the giants to win and they pulled through and did it for their fans. tomorrow, game 7, as you mentioned. and if they win that, it is on to the world series against the detroit tigers. fans say this season has been filled with ups and downs. some calling it torturous. but they say the team as always comes through when their backs are against the wall. tonight's final score, 6-1 giants. >> i'm totally pumped. it's great. game 7 ready for tomorrow. are you ready? >> they're going to win tomorrow night. no problem. world series coming. >> giants won. game 7 tomorrow. whoo! >> i don't know. it's a game 7. how many times does it happen in your life? so tomorrow's going to be the day. we're ready to go. >> we're real excited about the giants. just like a couple years ago. >> i was back at st. louis on monday night watching the game back there. there is no way these guys wanted to come back here to san franc

>> reporter: good evening, diane. as you know, ohio could be the key to the presidency.eds it to on, mitt romney needs it to make the map work. that's why both candidates are tailoring their message to the voters here. and tonight, there's the ground game. we take you inside it all. here in ohio, mitt romney receiving out where the stakes are highest. given the math, whoever wins the buckeye battle will most certainly win the white house. the president mentioning ohio 16 times in one stop to date. >> two weeks, ohio. here in ohio. people of ohio don't forget. >> reporter: and part of the president's playbook here, a tailored message for ohio. >> if mitt romney had been president when the auto industry was on the verge of collapse, we might not have an american auto industry today. the auto industry supports 1 in 8 ohio jobs. >> reporter: since june,he president has made 14 trips to ohio, the state he's visited most as a candidate. mitt romney, even more since then. 15 times. but more than the message, it's the math he