now, we are going live to spokane, -- to spokane washington -- to spokane, washington. >> good evening and welcome to the first of only two scheduled debates for the candidates running for the u.s. senate. we are coming to you live from spokane, washington. the debate is seen locally. we are also being heard on news radio 920. i want to begin by introducing the candidates to you. senator patty murray is the incumbent candidate. she is johnston this race by republican dean rossi. welcome to you both. -- she is challenged in this race by republican dino rossi. welcome to you both. we're joined tonight by a studio office. thank you to all of you for coming. we want to get to as many questions as we can to the next hour. the audience has agreed to hold the applause until the end of the debate will start with opening statements and mr. rossi will go first. >> america is in trouble. that is why i am running for the u.s. senate. if we do not have a course correction in this election, we will wake up in 24 hours -- 24 months from now with a country we do not recognize. the problem with washing

i am from spokane, washington.y question is this, what will you do to create more jobs for washington state? thank you. >> senator murray, the question is for you. >> thank you for that question. it is a very important one. it is one that i talk about all the time because so many families are hurting in our state because they have lost their homes. we need to make sure they get back on the job. i come home every weekend and i talk to community leaders all over the state about the needs in their community. then i get back to washington, d.c., and fight for them so that we can get people back on the job. here in spokane, i talked to your community leaders about the university district and creating a river. campus -- creating a riverpoint campus. we have students there now studying and getting jobs in the health-care industry. my opponent says he will fight for those targeted investments. it is my job to fight for those investments to get you back to work again. it is why i went to talk to so many mainstream businesse

dan springer live in spokane.ate go, dan. >> yeah, shep it was contentious but no knock out punches were thrown. both candidates sticking to the. economy, joblessness and 18 years? sentencing. she is a big part of the problem. and patty murray saying that her 18 years gives her a chance to be the most effective leader back here in the state of washington. rossy would take us back to the bush era. they also sparred over health care. >> tens of thousands of jobs in the state of washington could be lost or not created because of senator murray's 60th and deciding vote on this piece of legislation. >> mr. rossi wants to repeal health care reform. tell that to the woman to ho just told me for the few weeks ago for the first time she could sleep at night because her daughter with cystic fibrosis won't be denied coverage for her health care. >> so you can see the strategy there. rossi wants to make this a national race, a national referendum on congress and the direction of the country. murray wants to keep it local. she

joining us live is kimberly spokane one of the shop's owners.e arguments the store doesn't fit into old town. it will bring perverts and pedophiles. how do you respond to that? >> basically we have said again many times wait until we are open. people are judging us like the cover of a become. we are not open yet. and i think people are assuming we are going to be something that we are not going to be. >> but wouldn't you agree that in a place like old time menasis where you have a lot of families again some of the arguments that some have raised that this sex shop, if you will, will force some parents with kids passing by to talk to their kids a little more prematurely than they wanted to. you are a parent. can you understand that concern? >> basically i feel old time is a go ahead place for it. there is a lot of restaurants. a lot of activity. a lot of couples. a lot of married couples. a lot of single people. i think our store is good. i don't think it's any different than a child asking to see a rated r movie and the parent having to explain

showers across seattle, spokane -- spokane, right? >> spokane. >> spokane. uh.n sierras. showers and -- i think he might be done. i'm not sure. >> got me. >> who cares about the weather at this point? take a look at it. it's right there. >> there's the map. 60 in washington. 57 in boston. 68 in new orleans. 72 in dallas. 50 in st. louis, chicago, and minneapolis. >> i want to see it one more time. there he is. >> you guys are good. >> thank the lord it wasn't a light clambering down. many of us have tried our hand at pumpkin carving -- he's leaving again. he doesn't like this story. but this is taking it to the nth degree. >> that's for sure. a literally breathtaking collection of jack-o'-lanterns is on display in suburban new york. you're looking at 4,000 individually hand-carved pumpkins constructed into everything from super size dinosaurs to giant spider webbs to caskets complete with mummies inside. >> it's the jack-o'-lantern blaze not far from sleepy hollow. >> it's a little village crawling with lots of eerie images perfectly suited for halloween. i went

a cool air mass only 54 in spokane. >>> weekend forecast coming right up. >> ah we love that one. bill, thank you. >>> banks take a hit. the government is seeing red, and a barbie doll with bling. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, it's a battle of the generations at the box office this weekend. who will come out on top? >>> a homecoming for the red wings mike madano, rangers and yankees ready for the alcs and another tough day for brett farve. >>> you're watching "early today." >> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning -- nbc news has learned that seven of eight nato native service members are killed in afghanistan yesterday were americans. at least 42 nato troops have been killed in afghanistan so far this month. violence in afghanistan is at its highest level since the overthrow of the taliban nine years ago. >>> a reopen this morning. two visitors after being shut down by protesters three days. yesterday police clashed with government workers upset over unpaid wages and layo

if you're waging us on q, hq, that's q 6 right now in spokane, washington, with the weather cooling down, time to dust off the ice skates and head to the opening day of of the ice palace at the riverfront park. that's your pick event of the day, lynn. >> about that time. all right, bill. thanks. >>> now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. it is election season, and one big named hollywood direct sir doing some hard campaigning to land a big upcoming project. james cameron, the man behind "titanic" and "avatar" tells the "new york times" cleopatra has always fascinated him. sony executives reportedly decided on angelina jolie would play the egyptian queen. it sounds hot. doesn't it? it had him gushing, to me, that's a slam dunk. >>> action start jean-claude van dam suffered a heart attack while shooting a movie in romania. he is expected to make a full recovery. >>> and jodie foster tells extra despite mel gibson's recent troubles, she still "the most loved man in show business." >>> finally, the vatican has declared homer and bart simpson are catholics and that pa

i am from spokane. my question to the candidates is this.hat will you do to create more jobs for washington state? thank you. >> senator murray? >> that is a very important question. i talk about it all the time because so many families are hurting because they have lost their jobs, homes, mortgages. we have to make sure they do get back on the job. i come home every weekend and i talked to community leaders about what the needs are in their communities. i go back to washington, d.c., and fight for those investments so we can get people back on the job. here in spokane, i talked to your community leaders about the university district and creating the river point campus so we can start creating jobs, and health care is a very important economic sector. i got investment to help them get that off the ground. mr. rossi says he will not fight for those targeted investments. i say it is my job to fight for investment to help you in your community to get back to work again. it is why i talked to so many mainstream businesses, who said they could no

dan springer, live in spokane, washington.re. >> reporter: gregg, there was no major gaffe or a knockout punch thrown by either candidate in spokane, and that could be bad news for dino rossi, who trails in the latest poll and who, some say, has to win for republicans to take control of the senate. >> changed patty murray? >> reporter: after weeks of hard-hitting attacks on the airwaves, democratic senator murray and republican challen challenger rossi, went after each other. >> jobs will be lost or not created because of the senator murray's deciding vote on this piece of legislation. >> he wants to repeal health care reform and tem it to the woman who told me, for the first time she can sleep at night, because her daughter with cystic fibrosis won't be denied coverage for her health care. >> reporter: rossi tried to standpoint into voter anger over the economy, blasting murray for the $13 trillion national debt, and her party's spending. unlike some democrats, in tight races the senator is not distancing herself from her par

back towards spokane, rain for you this morning too. that's kind of a look at your wet weather picture today. in l.a., i think tomorrow is your better chance of get some of that wet weather. that's a look atw. and mostly cloudy. lynn, someone told me there's something happening on sunday, like an important forecast for the kids. i'll try to figure out what that is. >> and get back to us. >> get back to you. >> we have a little time. thanks. >>> wall street waits, microsoft surprises and blame it all on mcdonald's. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, this halloween weekend at the box office there's battle building between two horror franchises with bad blood in the past. >>> the magic spoil john wall's debut and the giants do it again. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. north korean troops opened fire on a south korean guard post in a heavily armed demilitarized zone. the south returned fire briefl

less rainfall than yesterday, the rain tapering off but showers now moving inland to places like spokanethat is your forecast around the country. >> this >> this weather report has been brought to you by volkswagen. dan and bianna. >> all right, paul, thank you. >>> coming up on "good morning america," nightmare party. police say young women were intentionally drugged at a party at this house. we've got some tips for keeping yourself and your teenagers safe. >>> and grizzly stories. people who have survived grizzly bear attacks return to the scene and tell us about it. ♪ [ engine revs, tires screeching ] we give to you the all-new volkswagen jetta. we have one more surprise for you. fifteen-thousand nine-hundred neunzig dollar? [ sobbing ] [ camera shutters clicking ] ♪ whoo-hoo, yeah ♪ whoo-hoo, yeah nothing beats prevacid®24hr. just one pill helps keep you heartburn free for a full 24 hours. prevent the acid that causes frequent heartburn with prevacid®24hr, all day, all night. nothing works better. all day, all night. twizzlers. the twist you can't resist. >>> well, this next story is

last night's debate here in spokane was the first of two televised debates in the state, the second onettle. and while it was heated at times, there didn't appear to be any game-changing moments. both patty murray and dino rossi stuck close to the major themes of their campaigns and ad strategies. rossi making it a referendum on the economy, specifically the budget deficit, unemployment and government spending. senator murray defending virtually all the spending including the hundreds of millions of dollars in federal earmarks she's supported last year calling them, quote, targeted investments. the two also clashed on health care reform. >> tens of thousands of jobs in the state of washington are going to be lost or not created because of senator murray's 60th deciding vote on this legislation. >> mr. rossi want to repeal health care reform. tell that to the woman who for the first time can sleep at night because her daughter with cystic fibrosis won't be denied coverage for her health care. >> reporter: democrats feel even if they lose the other close races around the country, if they