we'll ask the state republican governor, john casic. sin governor scott walker and colorado's democratic governor, john. analysis on what will tip the scales in this tight presidential race. from the round table, from msnbc, rachel maddow, new york times columnist david brooks, washington post columnist, former ceo of hewlett packard, carly. our chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. >>> announcer: from nbc news in washington, "meet the press" with david gregory. >>> good morning on this sunday. as if it wasn't enough to have this tight race, we have inically mat weather bearing down on the east coast. hurricane sandy, a superstorm. it could affect 50 million people along the east coast. we have all of this covered including the political ramifications of the storm in the coming days. we are nine days to go until the election. i want to go live first to asbury bark on the new jersey shore where we go through the latest, including what you were talking about. we could see the aftereffects through election day. >> exactly, david. thi

republican and democrats worked together with george ber hert walker bush in 1990, with bill clinton, john casic i left we were paying off debt. i have promised in this campaign to cross party lines and have already done so with social security, with medicare, with additional cuts that i think will put me in a position to work with republicans who have not outsourced their loyalty to this lobbyist grover norquist by pledging no the to raise taxes. i think we can get it done. you just have to do it. you have to be willing to actually cross those party lines. the results thus far have been encouraging. we're only five points behind. we have i think a significant issue. my opponent got caught trying to take her neighbor's property, and it very much connects with what she's been saying in this campaign. in very soothe i tones, i won't hurt your social security, medicare, keep your commitment to seniors and veterans but her budget proposal does just the opposite. it takes benefits and an awful lot of prosperity from working nebraskans. >> we'll get to that thing locally in a moment, but, you know, th

i'm about to talk to john casic in ohio. these themes are perfectly in his house because it's what is going to decide ohio. before we do that, i think it would be interesting because we talk so much about ohio, how do you win the campaign. i want to bring chuck back in. we have a poll out of ohio, 49-49. the race is tight. this was before the final debate. take a moment here to take us through how each side wins this state. >> the joke is, it's five states within one state. the five ohios. the romney pattern, run up the score in cold country, it's what bush did in '04. win columbus media market an '04 bush territory. for the president, run up the store in cleveland, cuyahoga county and overperform with working class white guys in the auto belt, if you will. if you are looking at one county that may tell us more than anything, sit over here and we are going to hamilton county. look at this. it's as easy of a swing county as it was. bush in '04. obama by 30,000. it's why romney spent a lot of time in cincinnati this week. now

>> we have the governor of ohio, john casic, governor of wisconsin, surprisingly close, scott walker and colorado, very close. the democratic governor of that state as well. rachel maddow is on our roundtable and chuck todd with the latest maps and what to look for on election day. >> thank you very much. >>> the "today" show will broadcast live from the university of richmond as they talk with undecided voters whose attention the candidates are trying to capture. watch lester holt's report live coming up this morning at 8:00 right here on nbc 4. >>> we want to turn our attention back to hurricane sandy now. let's check in with meteorologist tom kierein. >> coming up, the latest track on sandy. just released about an hour or so ago. we'll take a look at the threat for our area and give you all the details and how much wind and rain to expect, coming right up, stay tuned. [ earnest ] out of the blue one day, we were told to build a 30-foot stage. gathered the guys and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for. just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in t

the republican governor john casic would like to take coverage, governors get credit when the economy improves, so does the president. it's a battleground state where in some the numbers aren't so good, but in ohio the economy is -- people are feeling a little better. people are more optimistic. they like incumbents. >> unemployment just above 7%. >> better than the national average. >> better than the national average. economic optimism is good. that always works in the president's favor. >> let's look at these other numbers. john to you first. colorado, another key battleground state, independent likely voters choice for president. back in september president obama had a significant 11-point lead 50% to 39%. now it's narrow today 4%. obama -- 1%, excuse me. 46%, 45%. i take it this must be a worrisome sign for the president. >> yes. this is the impact of the first debate and the campaign since the first debate. governor romney got a new look especially among independent voters. he improved in the suburbs. the first debate performance where the president simply didn't show up. people