i'm lynn berry. the two candidates are busy attacking each other on the campaign trail following their first debate. today president obama will be campaigning in virginia and ohio and mitt romney is in virginia. governor romney boasted about his debate performance and told supporters he will take back the white house, but for the first time romney backed away from his controversial remarks about the 47% of americans who don't pay federal income taxes. he was asked what he would have said if that had come up in debate. >> clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question and answer sessions, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right. in this case i said something that's just completely wrong. i absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that i care about 100%. >> president obama campaigned in wisconsin and sharply criticized romney's statements during the debate on tax cuts, education and outsourcing as misleading to the middle class, a

i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with air scare. suspicion is swirling around american airlines after two flights in three days were returned to new york's jfk airport. the reason, passenger seats came loose on both planes. the first incident occurred on a flight from miami to boston. >> during climb out, passenger seats row 12d, e and f came loose out of the floor. passengers are unable to sit in that seat. >> the federal aviation administration says seating in both planes had recently undergone maintenance. the airline has grounded eight 757s for inspection. >>> republicans are hoping the first of three presidential debates tomorrow night will be a game-changer for mitt romney. right now he trails the president in every battleground state. a new quinnipiac poll out this morning shows president obama has an 18 point lead over romney among women. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with more on all this. brian, good morning. >> reporter: for both campaigns this first debate is filled can cha

i'm lynn berry. and on the campaign front, it is all about ohio. voters in that key swing state have been getting plenty of time with president obama and his republican rival mitt romney. both candidates campaigned hard in the buckeye state tuesday. in fact, romney is spending four out of five days there this week. the reason, a new cnn orc international poll post debate shows it is a close race for ohio's 18 electoral votes with 51% of likely voters backing president obama, 47% for romney. that, of course, made closer after last week's debate. meanwhile, ohio's election chief, a republican, has asked the u.s. supreme court to reinstate a new law that cuts off the final three days of early voting. an appeals court blocks the law pushed through by state republicans. >>> and as romney continues to campaign in ohio, president obama is back in the white house this morning. nbc's tracie potts joins us now with all the latest from washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we're hearing a

i'm lynn berry. breaking news this morning out of the middle east p.. a yemeni security official that worked at the u.s. embassy was shot and killed in sanaa today. a u.s. official believed to be in his 50s was reportedly on his way to work when he was gunned down in a motorcycle attack. an editor at "the yemen post" in sanaa tells nbc news the ambush had all the hallmarks of an al qaeda-style attack. >>> back here at home, vice president joe biden and republican rival paul ryan prepare to square off tonight in kentucky in their one and only debate. new poll numbers show the current vp has his work cut out for him. according to a new survey from the pew center, just 39% of registered voters view biden favorably compared to 44% who favor ryan. when it comes to predicting the winner of tonight's debate, 40% of registered voters say ryan will come out on top, while 34% think biden will prevail. nbc's tracie potts is joining us from washington with a preview of the debate. tracie, good morning. >>> lynn,

i'm lynn berry. from "sesame street" to main street, last week's debate catapulted big bird to the front of the presidential campaign. mitt romney says he'll cut funding to reduce the deficit. now the obama camp has released a new tongue-in-cheek ad casting an unlikely star as a criminal master mine. will it be effective? take a look for yourself and decide. >> i'm barack obama and i approve this message. >> bernie madoff, dennis keselowski, criminals, gluttons of greed and the evil genius who towered over them. one man has the guts to speak his name. >> big bird. >> big bird. >> it's me, big bird. >> big, yellow, a menace to our economy. mitt romney knows it's not wall street you have to worry about, it's sesame street. >> i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. >> mitt romney taking on our enemies no matter where they nest. >> this comes as the 2012 presidential election is just four weeks away, and now new polls show the race between president obama and republican rival mitt romney is closer than ev

>>> i'm lynn berry. right now the search is on for whoever killed five people inside a bar in denver and then set the bar on fire. among the victims, four women, including one of the bar's owners, a 63-year-old. police think the fire was set to try and destroy evidence. they have not identified a suspect. >>> the family of george mcgovern says the former presidential candidate is, "no longer responsive in hospice care." earlier this week, mcgovern's daughter said the 90-year-old was nearing the end of his life. >>> well, it's not exactly the perfect graduation gift. a new report finds two-thirds of the class of 2011 finished college already owing an average of $26,000 in student loans. that's about 5%. >>> and pop quiz time. can you name the world's top tourist destination? no, it's not florence, italy. that came in third. cape town, south africa, did very well in that survey but still only reached number two. the winner? ah, right here at home. charleston, south carolina. it also earned bragging rights

i'm lynn berry. it's time now for a little sports.nly matched chicago bears and dallas cowboys faced off under the monday night lights except the cowboys' offense was no match for chicago's defense. dallas quarterback tony romo threw five interceptions. two were returned for touchdowns. first in the second quarter on a pass intended for dez bryant, look at him go. that's picked by charles tillman and returned for six. and again in the third, just after dallas forced a chicago fumble. romo gives the ball right back to lance briggs who returns it 74 yards for the touchdown. bears won it 34-18. >>> on to baseball. the yankees crushed the red sox 10-2 last night. four yankee homers including a two-run bomb by returning first baseman mark teixeira. it capped off a nine-run second inning. and with an orioles' loss to the rays, the yanks took a one-game lead in the a.l. east. a lot of happy people here today. >>> in kansas city, detroit's miguel cabrera had four hits including a homer during a five-run sixth inning to help the tigers beat th

i'm lynn berry. debate day in america. vice president joe biden and republican rival paul ryan prepare to square off tonight in kentucky. new poll numbers show the current vp has his work cut out for him. according to a new survey from the pew center, just 39% of voters like biden, 44% like ryan. the winner of tonight's debate, 40% of voters say ryan will come out on top while 34% think biden will prevail. nbc news's tracie potts joins us. >>> the pressure is definitely on vice president biden to turn things around. he's got the experience on the debate stage to do so, but as you saw in those numbers, it looks like the public is betting more on paul ryan. ryan took a bit of an excursion yesterday while he was practicing in florida saying that the vice president will probably come at me like a cannonball but that the obama record, as ryan put it, is his akil lee's heel. he's in kentucky, ryan is, after debate prep in florida and georgia. he's done three mock debates. meanwhile, the vice president has been in delaware focusi

i'm lynn berry. and the race is on. the 2012 presidential election is just four weeks away, and now new polls show the race between president obama and republican rival mitt romney is closer than ever. nbc's tracie potts has the latest on this. >>> lynn, good morning. it depends which polls you're looking at. a new pew research poll shows romney got a boost. gallup has the president up five points. they think he got a boost after the positive jobs report. mitt romney in virginia yesterday, he moves on today to iowa and ohio, but in virginia he gave a foreign policy speech where he said the world is more dangerous now because of the president's policies. he said he would appoint one person to be a czar to overlook a number of issues including syria where he wants to arm the rebels. president obama has spent a few days in california. another fund-raiser, another event there late last night where the president said that he has been courting hispanics there, but he also said that mitt romney's debate was more style over sub

i'm lynn berry. today we begin with a high stakes debate. all eyes turn to denver for tonight's first presidential debate of the 2012 race, and a new nbc news wall street journal poll finds president obama is holding on to his national lead, but not by very much. 49% of likely voters favor the president while 46% prefer mitt romney. that's only a 3% edge for obama which is within the survey's margin of error, but when it comes to a poll of registered voters the president widens his lead over romney to 7 points, 51% to 44. and finally they say the nation is headed in the right direction. 40%. meanwhile, both candidates took a break from their debate prep on tuesday to make a few unscheduled stops. nbc's steve handlesman reports from denver. >> reporter: the pressure is intense. president obama took time out for a visit to hoover dam. >> it's spectacular and i've never soon it before. >> reporter: mitt romney grabbed a burrito bowl. doug hudson, andrew lunt kin run bicycle companies in colorado. they took me out to red rocks. these guys will w

i'm lynn berry. well, a 21-year-old man from bangladesh is being held this morning on charges of plotting to blow up the new york city headquarters of the federal reserve. prosecutors say he was inspired by osama bin laden and that he tried to recruit others from across the country not realizing those were undercover agents. >> reporter: this is the face of suspected bomber quazi muhammad nafis. this was his target, the federal reserve bank. he parked a van packed with what he thought was a thousand pounds of explosives trying to kill hundreds of thousands of new yorkers during the morning rush. >> he had the intent of creating mayhem here. >> it was a sting operation and nafis was under investigation for months. the undercovers even provided some of the fake bomb parts. but they say it was nafis who picked his target, helped build the bomb, and they only got on to him after he approached an informant about wanting to carry out a major attack. targeting america's economy is the most efficient way to

i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. >>> in china, one set of bakers can expect plenty of beefity leftovers. a group of ten cooks set the record for making the world's largest meat pie. that looks kind of disgusting. chinese judges made the ruling after eight attempts to create the mammoth dish. the final project measured 16 feet in diameter, six feet thick and weighed a hefty 716 pounds. >> what's disgusting about that? >> i don't know. the video. it's not even halloween yet. in new york city a christmas tradition is making an early debut. cam mems, donkey and sheep arrived at radio city for the first days of rehearsals. they'll be part of the living nativity segment at the radio city spectacular. no word on the they'll join in in the famous kick line. >>> it can get i have slous in the world of bankers, at least in hong kong where bankers and hedge fund managers jump in the ring to raise money for children's charities. they sometimes trai

you're watching "early today." >>> i'm lynn berry. right now a strange story involving a boston man arrested at l.a.x. during a stop on a flight home from japan. ice agents say he was wearing a bullet proof dress, and carrying a smoke bomb in his luggage. that's not all. this is some of what else they allegedly found in his bag gak. believe it or not, agents do not think he is a terrorist. an investigation continues. >>> this morning the government will issue a warning that thousands of airbags replaced over the last three years could be dangerous count err fits. you will be able to learn in your model is at risk. just go to safer cars.gov. >>> newly released images show what police hope will be a better view of a 10-year-old colorado girl missing since friday. jessica ridgeway was last seen walking to school with her classmates. her backpack was found six miles from home. >>> if you are depressed, you're not alone. the world health organization says 350 million people suffer from depression worldwide. >>> jerry sandusky's ramblings w

i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with air scare. suspicion is swirling around american airlines after two flights in three days were returned to new york's jfk airport. the reason, passenger seats came loose on both planes. the first incident occurred on a flight from miami to boston. >> during flights, passenger seats came loose out of the floor. passengers are unable to sit in that seat. >> the federal aviation administration says seating in both plains had undergone maintenance. they have grounded eight 757s for inspection. >>> to politics where president obama and rival mitt romney will not be campaigning today, opting instead to prep for the first of the three debates that they will have starting tomorrow night in denver. republicans are hoping it will be a game changer for their nominee who right now trails the president in every battleground state. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with all of those details. brian, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. for both campaigns this debate brings both challe

i'm lynn berry. right now the deadly fungal meningitis outbreak has claimed five lives. 35 cases are being reported in six states. the latest, indiana. and people in 23 states who received steroid injections for back pain are being warned they, too, could be at risk. >>> doctors and nurses are among 91 people charged nationwide in a massive medicare fraud case. the government says it was billed more than $400 million in bogus claims. >>> well, new rules for secret service agents after that drunken partying at a columbian hotel in april. the washington post learned the agents are now banned from drinking at the hotel where they're protecting someone and no more drinking 10 hours before a shift. >>> bruce davis known as charles manson's right hand man has been recommended for parole. he's served more than four decades for the 1969 killings of a musician and a stunt man. california governor jerry brown will have the final say. >>> and here's a scoop for you. the mars curiosity rover is about to do a lit

i'm lynn berry. well, it was everything we feared, and it's not over yet. sandy has claimed at least 16 lives, left more than 7 million without power, caused massive flooding and paralyzed cities and towns all across the northeast. it is no longer a hurricane, but it is a disaster. take a look at this brand new video as the roof of a shed is completely ripped away. this was during the height of the storm as it barreled into point pleasant beach, new jersey. that's one of the many spots along the jersey shore waking up to a mess this morning. >>> first, more amazing video. from water the fire, 50 homes are destroyed as flames tore through breezy point section of new york city. firefighters were unable to use water from hydrants so they had to get water out of the ocean. serious damage in rhode island where the wind and waves destroyed homes and washed out streets. let's go back to new jersey, two dozen evacuees were forced to flee emergency shelters in atlantic city after the power failed. sandy made

i'm lynn berry. the romney campaign could be waking up to a brand new political headache as yet another republican candidate makes explosive comments about rape two months after the controversy over todd akin's legitimate rape remark. this time it was during a u.s. senate debate in indiana last night. richard murdock and his opponents were asked about abortion when murdock said this. >> i believe that life begins at conception. the only exception i have for -- to have an abortion is in that case of the life of the mother. i just -- i struggled with it myself for a long time, but i came to realize life is that gift from god and i think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that god intended to happen. >> and after the debate murdock told a news conference he was only trying to explain his view that god creates life. >> does that -- are you trying to suggest that somehow i think god ordained or preordained rape? no, i don't believe that. anyone who would suggest

i'm lynn berry. well, after the third debate between president obama and republican nominee mitt romney, there are just 14 days left before american voters choose their next president. and according to a cbs news instant poll of uncommitted voters, president obama was a clear two-to-one victor with 53% saying he won. governor romney got 23%. 24% called it a tie. a cnn orc international poll called the debate a little closer with 48% saying obama won while 40% picked obama. for more on last night's heated foreign policy debate we go now to nbc's steve handlesman. he's in florida for us. steve, good morning. >> reporter: hi, lynn. thanks. good morning from boca raton, florida. well, the debate here last night was clearly the most combative so far. though surprising to some, not on the issue of libya. but mitt romney was able to make his larger point, his claim that america is weaker now overseas than it was four years ago. mitt romney and barack obama came to their third and final debate tied in nation

i'm lynn berry. well, with less than 300 hours until election day, the candidates are campaigning hard in several key states. and according to a new "time" magazine poll from battleground ohio, it is paying off for president obama. in a survey taken earlier this week of both likely and early ohio voters, the president leads governor romney 49% to 44%. late last night, katy perry fired up the crowd before the president took the stage in las vegas, where he pushed his message of moving forward and criticized his republican rival's policies as backward-looking. meanwhile, governor romney stoked his supporters in iowa with attacks on the president's economic agenda. >> they have been unable to lay out an agenda for what they're going to do to help america. they have been unable to defend and describe what they do to get our economy going again, and that's why with a president that's out of ideas and out of excuses, why on november 6th, you're going to make sure to put him out of office. >>> also in iowa,

i'm lynn berry. well, joe biden and paul ryan went head to head in their only face-off of the campaign. the two vp candidates clashed on almost every issue, but who won? well, two post debate polls give us very different views. a cnn/orc flash poll found paul ryan four points ahead of joe biden 48 to 44% among likely voters who watched the debate. but cbs news' flash poll of uncommitted voters gave biden the win with 50% compared to 31% for ryan and 19% called the debate a tie. well, for a look at some of the highlights from last night's debate we go now to nbc's steve handelsman. he is at the debate site in danville, kentucky. steve, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, thanks. good morning from danville, kentucky, where they differed sharply on practically all the big issues, but these are smart, well-informed politicians. paul ryan and joe biden both had reason to feel good about how that came across here last night. a long-time democratic insider versus a republican young gun whose ticket has new mom

i'm lynn berry. well, while the nation is focused on tonight's second presidential debate, secretary of state hillary clinton is now stepping forward volunteering to become the lightning rod for criticism of security concerns ahead of the deadly consulate attack in libya. last night after arriving in peru clinton pushed back on the idea that president obama and vice president biden ignored warning signs, and clinton rejected any suggestion the white house was shifting blame to the state department. >> i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department. 60,000 plus people all over the world, 275 posts. the president and the vice president certainly wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. they're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision. >> and today "the new york times" is reporting the administration is speeding up efforts to help the libyan government to create an anti-terror command

i'm lynn berry. the second debate in the battle for the white house was political confrontation at its best. >> there were a whole bunch of oil companies. >> no, i had a question, and the question was how much did you cut them which? >> do you want me to answer? >> how much do you want me to cut them by? >> not true. >> by how much did you cut them by? you'll get your chance in a moment. i'm still speaking. the answer is i don't believe people think that's the case. >> you're asking a question. >> that wasn't a question. >> we're a little off topic. >> we're completely off. >> i thought we were talking about immigration. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> it is the morning after the second presidential debate. one thing everyone can agree on, the president showed up with something to approve. 46% of registered voters thought president obama did the better job. that's compared to 39% that put governor romney on top. that is a stark contrast from the candidate's first showdown in denver

i'm lynn berry. well, with just 18 days left in the campaign, it may be the final time president obama and former governor mitt romney can share a few laughs. they did just that. last night the two shook hands and smiled just 48 hours after their contentious debate laying down their political swords to headline the most famous dining experience in politics, the al smith dinner in new york city, hosted by the catholic archdiocese. both men worked the one-liners as artfully as they sparred tuesday night. here are a few moments people will likely be talking to about today. >> i was actually hoping the president would bring joe biden along this evening because he'll laugh at anything. >> i felt really well rested after the nice, long nap i had in the first debate. >> i particularly want to apologize to chris matthews. four years ago i gave him a thrill up his leg. this time around i gave him a stroke. >> as president obama surveys the waldorf banquet room with everyone in white tie and finery, you have t

i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

@lynn berry underscore. and then facebook.com/lynn m berry. your morning dish of scrambled politics. and now your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow closed at 13473 after dropping 110 points yesterday. the s&p fell 14, the nasdaq sank 47. taking a look overseas, in tokyo, the nikkei plunged 173 points while in hong kong, the hang seng lost 17. >>> so how will investors react to the unofficial start to earnings season? after the bell, alcoa lowered its 2012 outlook for aluminum demand but reported slightly better than expected earnings and revenue. also yum brands said it saw strong quarterly sales in china. >>> the international monetary fund says global financial risks have risen in the past six months. that's thanks mostly to the eurozone debt crisis. >>> on tuesday, protests got heated in greece as german chancellor angela merkel pledged her support for strict austerity measures there. >>> this morning toyota is recalling nearly 7.a 5 million vehicles worldwide to replace defects in power window switches in more th

i'm lynn berry. today we're going to begin with an economic show down. president obama and mitt romney squared off for the first of three presidential debates last night and what some are calling a polite war of words, the candidates sparred over job creation, taxes and the future of health care. nbc's steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: the pressure was on mitt romney who needed a turn around. president obama came into the debate ahead in every battleground state. with an estimated 60 million americans watching on tv, cable and the web, moderator jim leherer asked can you put more people to work? >> the answer is, yes, we can help. >> reporter: romney would cut taxes and regulations on small business. >> my priority is jobs, and so what i do is i bring down the tax rates. >> governor romney's proposal that he's been promoting for 18 months calls for a $5 trillion tax cut. >> reporter: which the president claimed would help the rich at others' expense. >> the average middle class family with young children would pay $2,000 more. >> everything he said

i'm lynn berry, this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> joe biden and paul ryan went head-to-head in their only face-off. they clashed on almost two issues. who won? two polls gave two different views. one showed ryan 48% to 44% ahead. cbs news' flash poll gave biden the win with 50% compared to 31% for ryan and 19% called the debate a tie. for a look at some of the highlights, we go to steve handelsman at the debate sight in danville, kentucky. good morning. >> reporter: good morning from danville, kentucky where they differ sharply on practically all the big issues. these are smart, well informed politicians. paul rye yand and joe biden had reason to feel good last night. a long time democratic insider versus a republican young gun whose ticket has new momentum. mitt romney was watching, barack obama, too. the moderator from abc. they tangled on iran. >> they are closer to a nuclear weapon. >> we will not allow the iranians to get a nuclear weapon. you gonna go to war? is that what you want to do now? >> we want to prevent war. >> what about 47% of americans feeling entitled to benefits.

i'm lynn berry and the east coast is bracing for a direct hit by hurricane sandy. officials are busy making emergency plans. the category 2 storm is churning out in the caribbean where it's being blamed for at least 21 deaths. 11 of those in cuba alone. let's begin with nbc's jay gray. >> sandy's early warning came as the storm lashed the caribbean. violent winds and driving rains battering the islands and cuba take aing the most vicious hit and now the storm turns its attention towards the east coast. >> i have been watching it for the last two or three days and i saw this morning it is headed this way. >> reporter: models show sandy brushing the mid-atlantic through the weekend and targeting the east coast early next week. if the current forecast holds, new york could take a direct hit. >> we've opened the office emergency management situation room already and the nyc coastal storm plan was activated early this morning. >> reporter: early signs of the storms are showing up along the beaches in florida. thick clouds and a growing surf. >> it's beautiful. devastati

i'm lynn berry. joe biden and paul ryan went head to head in their only face-off. they clashed on almost every issue. who won? two post debate polls give us very different views. a cnn/orc pole showed paul ryan ahead of joe biden 48% over 44%. this pole showed 50% compared to 31% for ryan and 19% called the debate a tie. for a look at some of the highlights from last night's debate we go now to nbc's steve handles men who is at the site in danville, kentucky. steve, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, thanks. good morning from danville, kentucky, where they differed sharply on practically all the big issues but these are smart, well-informed politicians. paul ryan and joe biden both had reason to feel good about how that came across here last night. a long-time democratic insider versus a republican young gun whose ticket has new momentum. mitt romney was watching. barack obama too. moderator martha raddatz of abc. they tangled on iran. >> we're moving faster toward a nuclear weapon. it's because this administration has no credibility on this issue. >> we will not all

i'm lynn berry. 46 people have now been killed in the disastrous wrath of hurricane sandy and many more remain trapped. the storm could wind up costing $50 billion in property damage and lost business. just minutes ago we received brand new pictures from the jersey shore where fire is burning in a neighborhood just feet from the ocean. this may be the result of a rap toured gas line or downed fire line. the fire is one of the barrier islands. so far there's no sign anyone including fire crews can get near the flames. a mandatory evacuation order was given for that area before the storm hit. on staten island, some residents were trapped in their homes as a result of it. members of the aviation and scuba unit were able to lower a basket to the roof and rescue those five adults and one child. this is newly released video from the height of the storm monday night. surveillance video shows water filling a tunnel used by amtrak and commuter trains that go under new york's east river. the damage along the j