winds of up to 70 miles per hou blowing. multiple states, as many as 460,000 people were without power. new york's emergency operations center has been activated in advance of the storm and officials are avoiding driving in the waterlogged roads and telling you to stay indoors if possible. this comes on the 5th anniversary of super storm sandy which pummelled the region killing 182 people and causing more than $71 billion in damage. >> nbc meteorologist raphael miranda is with us this morning. raphael, whats the latest on this nasty storm? >> good morning, philip. we're getting numerous reports of trees down around the new york city area. watch out for big travel delays this morning. as far as the heavy rain, that is pushing into boston, cape cod, new england, new york area getting a bit of a break, but there are more showers moving in. and the winds will continue to be dangerous throughout the day today. gusting over 60 miles per hour at times. now, the rain will taper off as we enter the evening hours. the storm moves north into canada. tomorrow will be breezy as well, but improving conditions for halloween as we head into new england and across the rest of the northeast, some more showers continue across the great lakes. the winds again the big story today. we'll have more on that coming up in just a few minutes. frances, bill? >> thank you. >> in washington today the political establishment weighai with anticipation after the federal grand jury approved the first indictment or indictments in special counsel robert mueller's russia investigation. two sources tell nibs news with the public on the verge of learning the identity of the person or persons set to be charged later today. it marks a momentous shift with political reporting, mr. trump's white house and personal lawyers scrambled to learn where the knife might fall in the investigation. as attorneys involved in the case said their cell phones have been ringing nonstop as they connected with each other and reporters trying to gather more concrete details. >> all this as the president's popularity drops to an historic new low. our latest new nbc news and "wall street journal" poll showing 38% of voters approve of the job he's doing in office, with 58% disapproving. it is the lowest in modern times for a president in the first year of his presidency. so, the question, will the president's base care or believe today's indictment? with a full 81% of republican saying they approve of mr. trump's work in office. and it's that group of conservatives the president spoke to, as he bemoaned the russia investigation calling it phony trump-russia collusion which doesn't exist. nbc's kelly o'donnell has more from the white house. >> reporter: on a dreary gray sunday, president trump stayed inside the white house. but active like a cloud burst on twitter. venting broadly about the russia investigation, blaming democrats for a, quote, witch hunt for evil politics. while washington, a town that thrives on being in the know, waits in the dark for special counsel robert mueller's first indictment. >> we haven't been informed of who it is, and i don't think it would have been appropriate for bob mueller to tell us. >> reporter: reports that an indictment is coming makes secrecy a factor itself. investigators and by law grand juries work behind closed doors. >> have to be very careful about this. grand jury secrecy is important to the effectiveness of a grand jury investigation. >> reporter: the big unknowns, who has mueller targeted and for what kind of alleged crime? >> it's going to be really important whether or not this indictment involves 15-year-old business transactions or 15-day old conversations with russia. >> reporter: among those under scrutiny, foreign lobbying work done by former campaign manager paul manafort whose virginia condo was raided in july. and former national security advisor michael flynn, who had not fully disclosed his business ties to russia. both manafort and flynn deny any wrongdoing. and others who have received less public attention could be in jeopardy. >> it's also possible that they are charging a number of people at once and they want to see who is the first one through the door. >> reporter: a white house lawyer said the president's tweets today are not a reaction to anything involving the special counsel with whom the white house continues to cooperate. president trump also claimed on twitter that all the so-called russia talk is an intentional distraction from his agenda. no coincidence, he says, that it's coming at a time when republicans are pushing hard for tax cuts. so far the white house has not commented directly on any anticipated indictment from the mueller investigation. frances? >> kelly o'donnell. kelly, thank you. >> puerto rico's electric power authority says it is moving to cancel a controversial contract with a small montana energy company. the announcement coming just hours after governor richard roseo asked them to pull the plug on the $300 million deal with white fish energy came under scrutiny after questions were raised about the company's possible ties to interior secretary ryan zinke who is also from white fish montana. the ceo says neither zinke nor the white house administration had anything to do with the contract. he is disappointed with having to cancel the contract, but he does think it is necessary. >> we are managing risks. there is a perception risk. a reputational risk. and a delay risk. >> over 70% of puerto rico remains without power five weeks after hurricane maria devastated the island. officials say the cancellation could delay power restoration by several months. >> the majority of players on the houston texans football team took a knee during the national anthem before their game against the seattle seahawks. they were responding to a controversial mark by texans owner bob mcnair. espn magazine reported whield he was in a meeting earlier this month to discuss players negotiating, pardon me, over the right to protest, mcnair told his fellow owners, we can't have the inmates running the prison. well, his words spurred outrage among players. seahawks quarterback richard sherman tweeted, don't apologize. you meant what you said, showing true colors allows people to see you for who you are. mcnair said he wasn't referring to the athletes. i'm sorry for the players how this has impacted them of a perception that could not be further from the truth. texts ans said they were unconvinced by his apology before last sunday's game. and according to the washington post, players are proposing to meet today with nfl commissioner roger goodell, mcnair and former san francisco 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick to talk about the protesting issue. however, an espn source claims the proposed meeting has been postponed. >> let's check in with nbc meteorologist raphael mir an da with our monday moring forecast. good morning. >> good morning. it is a stormy start to the northeast. heavy rain pushing towards new england, showers continuing in new york city, but the other big story, the wind today. high wind warnings in effect for so many across northeast. we expect to see gusts up to 65 miles per hour. additional power outages, downed trees and tree limbs possible throughout the day. thatill affect w fall chill. 48 degrees in chicago. light snow possible in northern minnesota. back to you. >> all right, raphael, thank you so much. just seven weeks after hurricane irma blew through the florida keys, a lavish parade capped the fantasy fest. it featured floats and marching groups and dance troupes. several drew attention to the recovery. it pumps $30 million to the local economy each year and it is so good to see the florida keys, specifically key west there, rebounding after such a devastating experience. >> yeah, they deserve that. good times there. just ahead, new details surrounding possible $1 million payoff for rose mcgowen. developing overnight, actor kevin spacey responds to sexual advances to an under aged male. smile honey this thing is like... first kid here we go second kid you coming in mommy? 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>> on an average about two to three. >> reporter: working in a customer service industry means you're at higher risk for sexual harassment. >> i'm not bothering with that. >> reporter: another high risk area, a workplace where a so-called superstar is at the helm. recent allegations from hollywood and media to the halls of power in washington. >> when you're a star they let you do it. you can do anything. >> reporter: the attitude expressed by president bush in that access hollywood incident raised the issue of public figures abusing their power. one in four women say they have experienced sexual harassment at work. in all industries and occupations. that number jumps to 60% if you include sexist or crude language. >> it is very pervasive. it's blue collar, it's white collar. it's differing income levels. it is literally every day everywhere. >> reporter: and researchers say harassment is under reported. >> upwards of 75% of women do not report it. >> thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess. >> reporter: in 1991, people thought this was the watershed moment for change. when anita hill spoke out against supreme court justice nominee clarence thomas. charges he denied. >> i did not make these statements or do these things. >> reporter: still, sexual harassment has remained a constant problem. >> our thanks to stephanie ruhle for that report. the equal opportunity commission says that there are steps companies can take to manage sexual harassment in the workplace and they include implementing clear sexual harassment policies, having regular workplace sexual harassment training, and providing civility and bystander training. >> still ahead we'll show you how the social media bots try to influence the election and fright films rule the box office. we'll have that for you next. plus, when you get a flu shot at walgreens, you help provide a lifesaving vaccine to a child in need through the un foundation. it's that easy to get your flu shot and make a difference. so swing by your local walgreens today. walgreens. at the corner of happy & healthy. ltry align probiotic.n your digestive system? 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>> i do. we have some scary weather today in the northeast. actually we have damaging wind potential again. i would watch out for travel delays, high wind warnings gusts up to 60 miles per hour, even higher at times and flooding rainfall there. in the midwest it will be nice and quiet by chilly, temperatures in the 40s in chicago. mainly quiet out west as well. looking ahead to your halloween forecast, trick or treaters want to know the skimpier costumes will leave you chilly in the midwest to northeast. it will be brisk and breezy there. warm across the southeast, maybe wh some rain in texas. 35 degrees. plan your costumes accordingly. >> all right, raphael, thank you. just ahead how twitter is battling bots many say influenced the 2016 presidential election. you're watching "early today." try nivea essentially enriched body lotion, the unique formula with nourishing almond oil leaves skin smoother moisturized for 24 hours. enjoy smoother skin and now try new oil infused lotions moisturize with indulging scents (vo) more "dper rollres for mom" bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50% longer than the leading ordinary brand. so you get more "life" per roll. bounty the quicker picker upper but he hasoke up wwork to do.in. so he took aleve. if he'd taken tylenol, he'd be stopping for more pills right now. only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. aleve. all day strong. so find a venus smooth that contours to curves, the smoother the skin, the more comfortable you are in it. flexes for comfort, and has a disposable made for you. skin smoothing venus razors. facebook has announced stricter rules for political advertisers after aid mitting thousands of ads linked to russia appeared on its platform during the election. >> this comes after twitter revealed bots linked with russia also tried to influence the election. >> nbc's jo ling kent explains how bots work and how fast they can sway the conversation on social media. >> reporter: inside the intelligence lab at the institute for the future sam has been tracking how bots influenced the 2016 election. >> so-called fake news can have real world consequence. >> fake news, it's fake. >> reporter: bots are fake automated social media accounts that can post, retweet, like and share thousands of times faster than a real person. >> politicians, journalists, people that really spread and make news were actually sharing bot content online. they were sharing fake stories, because like us, they didn't really know what was going on. >> reporter: bots can add thousands of fake followers to a politician's account to make them appear more influential. they retweet posts to spread information quickly and widely. often using popular hashtags and trending topics to get more users to engage in a disinformation attack. >> it helps real people see that stuff and engage in it, right? >> exactly, yeah. it's more subtle, more insidious, it spreads better. >> reporter: nick monaco found russia was buying armies of bots that were difficult to trace. for $25 i'm buying 10,000 retweets? >> the whole goal is to seed and fertilize the conversation. one thing the russians did is use bots to get momentum. >> reporter: we retweeted our tweet 500 times, in ten days, 2000. >> there is an arms race going on between at which timer and bot builders. >> reporter: they track 450,000 suspicious accounts every day and will continue to strengthen against attempted manipulation. experts say the 2018 election is already under threat as russian bots attempt to sow confusion among american voters. >> if the person that speaks the loudest is able to win we look like a authoritarian country. >> reporter: the truth is at stake. jo ling kent, nbc news, palo alto, california. >> one halloween costume contest gave the phrase best in show. pooches in peru competed for best dressed. owners got into the spirit. halloween event also offered a free antiparasite treatments and rescue dogs were available for adoption. >> too cute. especially when you have the pets matching their owners when it comes to the halloween costumes. it's the best. hey, we have one more day to go before halloween so great way to start it off. >> and the adoptions are available, too. that's all for a good cause as well. thanks for starting monday with us. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. keep it right here. more news is straight ahead for you. washington rattled. the russia probe reaches a new faze as it is set to be public this morning five months into the investigation. lights out. the contract between puerto rico and a montana power company is canceled, setting back recovery for months. >> kevin spacey apologizes. an exciting world series game ever played. the nail biter that kept millions up past their bedtime. "early today" starts right now. >> i'm frances rivera. >> i'm phillip mena. we begin with the

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