bruised today, thursday, october 18th, 2012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a thursday morning. i'm savannah gurthrie. >> and i'm matt lauer. the suspect in that terror plot came to this country a little earlier this year on a student visa. but authorities say his real motivation was to carry out a deadly attack on americans. >> he was arrested wednesday after he allegedly tried to set off what he thought, according to investigators was a bomb at the federal reserve in lower manhattan. but the device was made of inoperable materials, part of an elaborate sting operation. more on the story straight ahead. also rough weather over parts of the south. powerful storms toppled trees and knocked out power to thousands in places like arkansas and mississippi. al's going to tell us what to expect today. and we're going to talk politics including a comment from mitt romney's son tagg. he said he wanted to quote take a swing at the president for some of the attacks on his dad. the romney campaign said this was just a joke. we'll get into that. let us begin on this thursday morning with that foiled terror plot targeting the federal reserve building here in new york city. wnbc's chief investigative reporter, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. the fbi says this bangladeshi man had been scouting several buildings in lower manhattan but ultimately choosing the federal reserve building. he boasted about wanting to kill hundreds of people and he hoped to quote destroy america. a 21-year-old from bangladesh entered the united states in january on a student visa. but authorities say his real purpose for coming was violent jihad. he was arrested and appeared in court late wednesday charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. >> this individual came with an express purpose of committing a terrorist attack. he was motivated by al qaeda. >> reporter: his residence in queens was searched by investigators looking for cell phones, blackberries, computers, anything the suspect may have used to carry out his terror plot. >> when i saw him, i saw him alone. i didn't see anyone with him. >> reporter: after one semester at southwest missouri state university, he moved to new york. federal agents say in july he was trying to recruit others to help carry out his attack. meeting with one man several times, once in new york central park. that man turned out to be an fbi informant. and from that moment on, he was under intense surveillance by the fbi, homeland security agents, and new york police. court documents say he wrote an article he hoped would be published by a jihadist website saying quote, targeting america's economy is the most efficient way to draw the path of obliteration of america. authorities say he first set his sights on the new york stock exchange but was scared off by the amount of security. by last month, he decided to target the federal reserve. both buildings just a few blocks from ground zero. >> new york is the top of the terrorist target list in this country. and i think this just reaffirms that. >> reporter: last week, the fbi informant purchased 1,000 pounds of what he thought was fertilizer, that could be used to make a bomb. and helped assemble a device in a warehouse. on wednesday morning, authorities say he drove his would be bomb in a van and parked it in front of new york's federal reserve building. he repeatedly dialed a cell phone he thought would detonate the bomb. >> reporter: again, officials say he was trying to recruit others, he commucated online, we're told with a san diego man. that san diego man was arrested, but not for terror charges. officials say a search of that man's computer turned up child pornography. new york investigators tell us they believe he was acting alone in the bomb plot. matt, back to you. >> jonathan, thank you very much. nbc terror analyst is the former director of the national counterterrorism center. michael, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> this guy comes to this country on a student visa, studies for a semester at this university in southern missouri studying, i think, cyber security. so he's not on any watch list and he doesn't raise any red flags. how troubling is that? >> i don't think it's particularly troubling, matt. obviously when someone comes to the u.s. on any kind of visa. to include a student visa, visas used by some of the hijackers on 9/11, they get a lot of scrutiny. but it's very possible he would be what would be known there's no previous activity that would suggest terrorism. and the good piece was that the fbi identified him early on through his communications and saw he was radicalized and seeking to -- seeking to attack the u.s. >> you talk about that. so he reaches out to someone trying to recruit that other person to become a part of the jihad and carry out an attack. the man he contacted turns out to be an fbi informant. was this just luck? is that how this was uncovered? >> it really isn't luck. this is very good investigative work by the joint terrorism task force, the fbi, and the new york police department. in new york city, and it goes on across the country. it is making sure that these agents and these informants are in circles where someone like a student reaches out for accomplices. and in this case he did reach out to an fbi source. it is good positioning, it is understanding where these people interact and being in the right place. >> according to court documents, he was very concerned his attack fall under the al qaeda label. he allegedly asked that fbi informant, quote, the thing i want to ask you about is this that the thing i am doing, is it under al qaeda? the undercover agent said yes. and michael, he'd originally told that informant he was willing to die in this attempted attack. but he was told by the informant it wasn't necessary. he could detonate this device by remote control. anything jump out there? >> well, it's not that uncommon that even these lone wolves want to do this in al qaeda's name and they want to feel like they are part of something larger. so one of the great ways that the fbi's been able to get these people to work with them is say, oh, yes, we work with al qaeda when communications with al qaeda overseas. and that has convinced these people that they can trust these informants. >> michael, thank you very much. >> thanks, matt. >> savannah? thanks. two days after trading jabs in the debate, president obama and governor romney will be back in new york tonight on the same stage. while a comment from one of romney's sons is making some waves. nbc's peter alexander has the latest from the campaign trail this morning. good morning to you. >> savannah, good morning to you. we'll play that comment for you from tagg romney in a moment. but first, the next debate isn't until monday in florida. but both candidates will share the spotlight one more time before then. that is tonight taking part in the al smith dinner, a presidential tradition takes place in manhattan. they're going to speak back-to-back at the formal evening that's supposed to be filled with laughs, not partisan swipes. but of course, comes in the middle of a decidedly bitter week. >> we need to take back america. it's up to you guys in virginia. >> reporter: after a fiery debate, the heated arguments between mitt romney and barack obama showed no signs of cooling wednesday night. >> actually, he seems to spend most of his time in these debates talking about why my plans aren't going to work. i wish he'd spend a little more time explaining why his plans have not worked. >> you've heard of the new deal, ohio. you've heard of the fair deal. mitt romney's trying to sell you a sketchy deal. but we're not buying it. >> reporter: at his evening stop in ohio, his 16th trip to the battleground this year, the president's even made this plea. >> i want your vote. i am not too proud to beg. i want you to vote. >> reporter: the latest flash point between the two men, women. the nation's largest demographic, with recent polls showing a narrowing gap between the two. both sides trying to cast the other as an economic threat. >> this president has failed america's women. they've suffered in terms of getting jobs -- >> reporter: the obama campaign tried to capitalize on the town hall's most enduring lines. governor romney recalled his efforts to hire more women in massachusetts. >> i said, can you help us find folks? and brought us whole binders full of women. >> we don't have to collect a bunch of binders to find qualified, talented young women ready to learn and teach in these fields right now. >> reporter: mr. romney's binders comment was quickly mocked across the internet and drove a democratic group to buy the website bindersfullofwomen.com. producing this video of the former cabinet members praising his leadership. >> he totally gets working women. >> reporter: meanwhile, wednesday, governor romney's oldest son tagg joked about his reaction about some of the contentious exchanges during tuesday's debate. >> what is it like for you to hear the president of the united states call your dad a liar? >> you know -- >> how does that make you feel? >> well, you want to rush out and take a swing at him. but you know you can't do that. well, first, there's a lot of secret service between you and women, but also, this is the nature of the process. they're going to try to do everything they can do to try to make my dad into something he's not. we signed up for it, we've got to sit there and take our punches and then send them right back the other way. >> and this morning, a romney campaign spokesperson told me that tagg was just joking about how frustrating this process can be for a family. tuesday's debate had another huge audience, more than 65 million americans watched. that's shy of the total from the first faceoff from denver. >> joe scarborough and mika brzezinski, good to see you. >> good morning, great to see you too. >> joe, i'll start with you as the dust settles on this debate. do you think either candidate gets a balance? or is it just neck and neck until election day? >> well, it's going to lk like the race has stabilized, but actually something much bigger happened. mitt romney had a tremendous amount of momentum coming out of the first debate. he was like secretariat charging up on the rest of the field. and was about to blow past and had the dynamic remained the same, i think mitt romney would've won the election going away. the second debate stopped that momentum, and i think we have him now in a place where they're neck and neck. neck and neck in florida, north carolina, virginia, now in wisconsin according to a new poll. and so it's going to be a tight race all the way to the end. and i really do predict by the end of the night, we're going to be looking at one state and one state only, it's going to be in the words of tim russert, ohio, ohio, ohio. >> yeah, some people think we'll be counting ballots late into the night in ohio. mika, i want to bring you in on this. the term binders full of women. it has taken on a life of its own. the democrats love it. they think it shows mitt romney at his most awkward. but the fight for independent, undecided women voters, do you think this is weighty enough to resinate? >> yeah, because i think women care about the economy, they want jobs, and by the way, want to be paid the same as their male counterparts. and that comment the other night showed, first of all, that he was at the very least misleading about exactly what he did with those binders. he says he sought them out and asked for lists of women to hire. the truth, apparently is, that both candidates running for governor were given binders with names of women in them. so he changed that story to fit the narrative of the night. the bigger picture is he wouldn't have supported the lily ledbetter act which is the first piece of legislation the president signed when in office. the president set up the white house council on women and girls, working on getting women equal pay every step of the way down the road here in this administration, and mitt romney just completely doesn't have any leg to stand on when it comes to women and the economy. >> well, let me just -- >> he claims to. >> let me just say. willie geist and i find this highly offensive. we used to have binders filled with women, as well. >> i don't want to hear about your college days. >> well, yeah. >> ridiculous. >> i know you do take a different view on the binders full of women, maybe now we know why given your past history with binders. let me ask you a more serious question. the recurring criticism of both of these candidates is that neither have been very specific, and in particular the president really going on the attack against mitt romney the other night. do you think he's really laid out a vision of what he wants to do for the next four years? >> no, he hasn't. and neither has mitt romney. neither one of these candidates have told americans, okay, you're having problems right now, this has been the roughest four years you've had in your entire adult lifetime, we were just talking on the set with steve rattner today, this may be the first time that we've had growth below 2% four years in a row since the 1930s. but mitt romney's a challenger. when people go into the voting booth, they're going to be looking at the guy that's been running the country over the past four years and there's a very simple decision to make. do i rehire him or try the other guy? and really, the burden of proof is on the guy that's been in the white house for the past four years. are his policies working? and where is he going to take us over the next four years. for some reason, savannah, i'm not really sure why, both campaigns decided a year ago that they were not going to be specific about the future. and i think right now that's costing the president a bit more than it's costing mitt romney. >> so the answer to that question is, are his policies working? yes, they are, housing prices are up, unemployment is down, consumer confidence is up, foreclosures are down. the list goes on. >> all right. >> and the president claims he wants to build this economy from the middle out. if you look at the manufacturing numbers, that shows. if you look at the auto industry -- >> mika -- mika's going to the senate. she's filibustering. savannah. >> there's a reason you have a three-hour show. and i just got three minutes. >> all right. >> dogs and cats living together, the bad four years ahead. thank you for that. >> enjoy the rest of your show. joe scarborough, mika brzezinski, great to have you. >> you can't take her out anywhere. >> it's going to be a long afternoon there. let's get the other top stories of the morning from natalie over at the news desk. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. wild weather in our nation's midsection overnight in mississippi and tennessee, emergency officials say a severe storm toppled trees, power lines, and damaged mobil homes. and at least five preliminary reports of tornadoes touching down in the area. power outages have thousands of residents in the dark this morning across mississippi and arkansas. meantime, out west in denver, crews are working to restore power after high winds knocked down power lines. progress overnight for crews battling a vicious wildfire just outside santa barbara, california. evacuation orders have now been lifted after firefighters launched an aggressive air and ground attack with the help of tamer than predicted winds. the fire had been threatening about 100 homes at its height. new evidence that taking a daily multi-vitamin pill can reduce cancer risk for middle-aged and older men. researchers studied 15,000 men over age 50 for 11 years and found that those taking the daily vitamin cut their risk of several types of cancer by 8%. well, this year's deadly west nile virus outbreak is now the second worst in our nation's history. the total number of cases has now topped 4,500 and another 15 deaths were reported last week alone due to the mosquito-bourn disease. mary thompson at the new york stock exchange for us. good morning. >> european summit, investors are expressing little progress on dealing with the region's debt crisis. earnings in focus as tech giants microsoft and google report their results after the bell. and a late-day rally helped the dow eke out a small gain. 2/3 of the graduating class of 2011 left college in debt. on average owed $26,000. that's a 5% increase from 2010. back to you. >> mary thompson at the new york stock exchange, thank you. and in politics, as you know, it's better to be up than down. well, julia gillard, high heels, really delivered a low blow in new delhi when her shoe got stuck in soft grass at the ghandi memorial. she explained she is fine, but unlike men who get to wear flat shoes all day, being a female leader has one extra challenge. one that we certainly can relate to, savannah gurthrie. >> we certainly can. >> still not easy. >> no, no. >> at least once a year. >> exactly. >>yes, we can. >> thank you. at least once a year. >> exactly. what's up, mr. roker? >> a strong storm system over the great lakes causing problems on both sides of the country. behind the system, windy weather and wet weather. we have wind and heavy wind watches. wind gusts over 50 to 60 miles per hour. we have high wind warnings and high wind watches. ahead of the front, warmer weather and stormier weather from charleston to pittsburgh. a lot of rain and a lot of hail. two to three inches of rain. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. sunrise on the way. a live view overlooking the potomac river on this thursday morning. breezy and chilly. reagan national at 54. elsewhere, much of the region, in the 40s with winds five to ten miles per hour. in and that's your latest weather. matt? >> thank you very much. lance armstrong has taken some major new blows in the latest fallout from that doping scandal surrounding the legendary cyclist. anne thompson is here with more on that story. >> good morning, matt. it's been a brutal 24 hours for lance armstrong. he's been dropped by his big-name sponsors, nike, anheuser-busch, and trek cycles. and he stepped aside live strong. now some are wondering if live strong can survive. >> reporter: for cancer survivors, lance armstrong embodied triumph. but no more. nike ended its relationship with armstrong pointing to, quote, seemingly insurmountable evidence he doped. nike has long stood by athletes in trouble. kobe bryant accused of rape, tiger woods fiphilandering. david epstein said the reports portraying armstrong as a cheat and bully left nike with little choice. >> they had underestimated the amount of pressure brought to bear. there were ex-pro cyclists going physically to nike headquarters with signs saying drop lance. >> reporter: peter wears one of the live strong bracelets nike created. he read the anti-doping report. >> turns out lance wasn't honest. >> reporter: but the illinois wine store manager won't drop the wristband or the charity. >> live strong to me is a motto and something that we all need to aspire to. especially those that are afflicted with cancer. >> reporter: since august, when the agency moved to strip armstrong of his cycling title, live strong officials say donations have actually increased by $250,000. armstrong has always denied doping. but the scandal won't go away. in a statement, armstrong said, to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of my cycling career, i will conclude my chairmanship. >> i worry that people will see this as a sign of weakness when it's truly a sign of leadership. and it's truly a statement that this organization and mission means more to la