From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.
The Presidential campaigns are blitzing states most influential in the outcome of tomorrow's election, including Virginia. In 2008, President Obama became the first Democrat since 1992 to carry the commonwealth. This election, Virginia, with 13 electoral votes is a tossup. Vice President Joe Biden was in Sterling, where he drew on the unity shown during hurricane recovery in the northeast, is an example of what he says, can be achieved again in Washington.
Ladies and gentlemen, that's how people are responding in the crisis now. And that's how we have to go back, what we have to go back to again.
Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan started tapping to an economically weary voter base in Nevada which has the country's highest unemployment rate at 11.8%.
The President sounded great four years ago. He made all these wonderful promises and the hope and change sounded good to a lot of people.
As the New York Times noted the state has been slowed to rebound since President Obama won there four years ago. But the Obama camp is looking for a strong boost from Latino voters.
Tens of millions of Americans have already voted either in person or by mail in advance of election day. NPR's Craig Windham reports there has been a final flurry of early voting today in the battleground states of Ohio and Iowa.
Nearly 30 million ballots nationwide have already been cast. Andrew Kouhut, President of the Pew Research Center, tells NPR that early voting is a significant factor in this election.
We are guesstimating that anywhere from 35% to 40% of the elector will vote before election day.
That's up from 30% in the previous presidential election, in all except one of the battleground states, Colorado, registered Democrats have cast more ballots than registered Republicans in early voting this year. But Republicans have made bigger gains than Democrats in getting out the early voting in this election compared to 2008. Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.
More than 1 million storm victims still don't have electricity, down from over 8 million at the peak. NPR's Elizabeth Shogren has more. Many of the people still without power live in the areas the storm hit hardest. And electric companies say it won't be easy to get their electricity flowing again. The Long Island power authority says that about 100,000 of their customers without power live in the most severely flooded areas on the south shore. It would be unsafe to restore power to many of these homes and businesses. An electric company in New Jersey says a significant number of customers will not be able to receive service until damaged roads, infrastructure and homes are rebuilt. Con Edison, the Utility in New York City and Westchester County, says it is expected to have electricity turned back on for most of its customers by the end of next weekend. Elizabeth Shogren, NPR News.
Dow is up six points.
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The U.S. Attorney General is launching an investigation into price gouging at gas stations in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Eric Schneiderman said today his office had received hundreds of complaints from consumers across the state who said they were forced to pay much higher than usual prices for not only gasoline but also emergency supplies, food, water as well as hotel rooms.
Disney's Wreck-It Ralph is the top draw at the box office in the United States and Canada. NPR's Trina Williams reports the 3D features, the biggest opening for Disney animation.
Wreck-It Ralph, about a video game character debuts with an estimated $49.1 million in ticket sales outpacing expectations. It may have benefited from weary Sandy victims looking for a distraction. The No. 2 movie Flight starring Denzel Washington also surpassed expectations opening with an estimated $25 million. Last weekend's top movie Argo falls to third place, while Kong Fu feature, the Man With the Iron Fists debuts at No. 4. Taken 2 closes out the top five movies on the chart. Trina Williams, NPR News.
Well, storm battered victims in the northeast, are being warned to brace yet another tough storm this week. The National Weather Service says the nor'easter is expected to generate some strong winds, heavy rain and possible flooding this Wednesday or Thursday.
U.S. stocks up, with Dow gaining 11, it's at 13,103.
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