On monday with two other potent weather systems. Call it a hybrid storm. Its expected to send the full force of sandy careening somewhere in new york with damaging winds and torrential storms. The storm will impact some 64 Million People. Tonight, eight states and the District Of Columbia are under states of emergency as officials brace for severe flooding and prolonged power outages. Some mandatory evacuations are already under way. Forecasters sparing no words in warning just how dangerous this storm is. Weve got our team in place to cover it all. Lets start in new york with Weather Channel meteorologist jim cantore. Jim, good evening. Reporter good evening, lester. More and more preparations under way. Then by the time tomorrow night rolls around, we will start to feel the impacts in earnest across much of the northeast. Lets talk about this and lay out the impacts of the storm. First of all, the satellite shows a hybrid transition you spoke of. You have a cloud canopy that stretches over the entire eastern seaboard with the Storms Center currently about 730 mimes to the south of new york city. Heres the track. This wild sshape that has all of us as meteorologists shaking our heads. Because never really seen this left hook. It will bring it 150 miles to the south of new york city early Tuesday Morning. Then there is the impact. Lets lay them out. We start with the storm surge. In irene at battery park which is where i am tonight, we had three to six feet. Were expecting four to eight feet with this storm here and down the jersey shore as well. That will be higher than what they dealt with during irene. So plan on similar scenarios there. Then look at the rainfall. Huge areas of two inches plus, four inches plus. Locally ten inches in spots in parts of new jersey and the chesapeake bay. If you remember the state of new jersey was one of those heavily fladed flooded back here with irene. Then snowfall. To add insult to injury, west virginia, ohio, maryland, pennsylvania and parts of virginia could get 50 inches of snow with this. Add all these ingredients together, that means power outages, some which will last for weeks. Pennsylvania, new york, west virginia, an 800milewide damage path with this. On the 108th anniversary of the opening of the subway system in new york, were hoping that in 48 hours parts of it wont be under water. Places are holding their breath tonight. Jim cantore in Lower Manhattan for us tonight. Thanks. As we come on the air, theyre just beginning to feel the effects on North Carolinas outer banks. Weather channel meteorologist julie martin joins us now from nags head. Julie, how are things there . Reporter good evening, lester. Things are definitely deteriorating in nags head. We are getting lashed with outer rain bands from sandy, even though it is still well offshore from the carolinas and to my south. Just goes to show you the size and strength of this storm. The worst, however, is yet to come here in the outer banks. In fact, late tonight and overnight were going to be dealing with Tropical Storm conditions, high winds, coastal flooding. Possibly even power outages. Now, most of the residents here, theyve been through noreasters and hurricanes and tropic the systems many time, and theyve decided to ride it out, but one man here told me a long time resident that hes not sure about this strange storm named sandy. And hes not really letting his guard down just yet. Probably shouldnt do so. Its already been full of meteorological surprises for us, that is for sure, but this is really just a taste of what is to come in the northeast and probably worse. Lester . Julie martin along North Carolinas outer banks tonight. Julie, thanks. Tonight, millions of americans are heeding the warnings which are becoming increasingly dire as the storm approaches. Long lines at stores up and down the coast and all the way west to ohio. Ron allen has that end of the story for us from Point Pleasant beach, new jersey, tonight. Ron, good evening to you. Reporter good evening, to you, lester. The ocean is about 100 yards in that direction which is pretty close to the town over here. The businesses, the boardwalk and the homes. Thats why there will be a mandatory evacuation that will end tomorrow afternoon at 4 00 p. M. Today was the day to scramble around doing Everything Possible to be prepared. There is every indication that further inland most people are heeding the warning that the storm could be something extraordinary. They are used to taking on Mother Nature along the jersey shore where they rolled out the heavy equipment, trying to protect towns from the sea in what forecasters say could be storm surges up to eight feet high. Because its so unpredictable, i think we dont know whats going to happen. We are just going to prepare for the worst. Reporter the problem is it is just 300 to 400 yards wide at its nay ohhest narrowest point. So they are boarding up and cleaning up everything thats not nailed or tied down. I dont think the house will be washed away. I think the front yard will probably be gone. I dont want to take a chance. Reporter getting prepared from North Carolina up to new england for a storm expected to be bigger and last longer than irene which ripped through the same densely populated corridor last year causing billions in damage and leaving millions without power. Today it took a long time to get gas in connecticut and find supplies at the supermarket as governors urged residents to take this storm seriously. Let me just be real clear on this at the end. We should not under estimate the impact of this storm. We should not assume the predictions will be wrong. Folks, this could be bad really bad. Reporter at the naval station in norfolk, virginia, it was all hands on deck. For now the ships are staying in port. At this marina in new jersey, started taking boats out of the water at the crack of dawn. Just getting as many as we can. Dont want to turn any down and leave them in the water. Reporter meanwhile, everyone is watching the forecast. In new york city, as early as tomorrow morning officials will decide whether to shut down the subways, tunnels and bridges. Near philadelphia, concern about six oil refineries, 7 of the nations capacity. In atlantic city, the casinos will be shut down tomorrow and the list of cities and towns calling for evacuations will likely grow. But despite the warnings to leave, some still plan to stay. We have been able to get through all of the storms without any problem. We just anticipate that well be able to do the same thing now. Reporter to give you an idea of the scale of things, if the storm turns out to be as bad as predicted, the ocean, the water here along this entire beach, mile after mile in each direction and six blocks in that direction will be several feet deep. Lester . Ron allen on the jersey shore for us this evening. Ron, thank you. This storm is already having an effect on the obama and Romney Campaigns. Just ten days until the election. It could have a big effect on early voting in several swing states and already both campaigns have cancelled or rescheduled events to get out of the way of the storm. Weve got both campaigns covered. We want to begin with Kristen Welker whos traveling with the pret in New Hampshire. Kristen, good evening. Reporter good evening, lester. President obama is facing a big challenge. Hes got to juggle campaigning in the final days with managing a potentially devastating storm. Now this hurricane has already impacted his schedule to some extent. He was able to make a stop here in New Hampshire. This is a small state that carries a lot of significance. President obama trying to get ahead of Hurricane Sandy which could diminish his Campaign Schedule this week. Today he visited New Hampshire, a state with only four electoral votes, but with the race deadlocked, the president cant afford to leave anything to chance. Ten days, New Hampshire ten days. Reporter the president didnt mention the hurricane in his remarks. Aboard air force one today he held a Conference Call with top Homeland Security advisers who briefed him on storm preparation. Hurricane sandy has affected early voting in key swing states like North Carolina and could impact the Obama Campaign strategy of encouraging core supporters to cast ballots before election day. Today in New Hampshire the president tried to win over the states undecided voters, arguing mitt romney made empty promises to keep taxes low for middle class americans, accusing him of raising fees as governor of neighboring massachusetts. When hes asked about it he said these werent taxes. These were fees. But keep in mind, there were higher fees to be a barber. Higher fees to become a nurse. Reporter the Romney Campaign fired back calling the president s accusations desperate. Meanwhile, mr. Obama continues to field questions about his administrations response to the attack on the u. S. Consulate on benghazi including with msnbcs morning joe cohosts Joe Scarborough and mika brzezinski. If we find out that there was a big breakdown, they will be held accountable. Ultimately as commander in chief im responsible. And i dont shy away from that responsibility. Reporter the full interview will air monday. Traveling with the president , in New Hampshire, Kristen Welker, nbc news. Reporter this is peter zander in lando lakes, florida, where mitt romney is trying to pump up the vote on opening day of the inperson early voting here. Vowing he would be a bipartisan leader mr. Romney laid into the president. He promised that his would be a post partisan presidency. We have watched him over the last four years and hes been divisive and demonized any group that opposed him. Reporter minutes earlier marco rubio attacked president obamas proposals with his sharp partisan rebuke. They are the ideas of countries that people come here to get away from. Reporter mr. Romneys touring includes stops first in the heavily republican panhandle. Then in a democratic leaning county trying to slice into the president s lead before closing the day near tampa, a battleground within this swing state. Meanwhile not wanting to risk appearing to put politics before public safety. I was looking forward to being in virginia tomorrow, but you know the hurricane is headed up there. I just spoke with governor mcdonald. The governor and i talked about that. He said, you know, the First Responders really need to focus on preparation for the storms. Reporter the Romney Campaign said it rescheduled sunday stops in virginia where Hurricane Sandy is taking aim. As ohio goes, so goes america. Reporter the republican nominee will join paul ryan tomorrow on the second day of his bus tour through ohio. You know its you. You know what you have in front of you. You know the responsibility. Reporter trying to look like its in the drivers seat the Romney Campaign launched a fundraising effort to compete in two states the president considers his pennsylvania and minnesota. Peter, i want to bring in kristen as well and get a sense where things are going now. Kristen, let me start with you. Ten days to go. You noted this race is essentially deadlocked. Whats the obama strategy now down the stretch . Reporter well, lester, president obama is focusing his Closing Argument on the issue of trust. Hes kind of made the chase mitt romney cant be trusted, because he said he has moved to the middle on key issues, like taxes, Foreign Policy and education. The president arguing that hes still the best candidate to get the economy back on track. He continues to enlist former president bill clinton to help. The two will be campaigning together in florida on monday. The one thing looming over the Closing Argument, the october jobs report. It comes out the friday before voters head to the polls. Lester . Peter, a candidate cant be in many places at one time. Whats the plan now for romney with ten days . Where will his focus be . Reporter its a good question. Mitt romney will focus on an optimistic jobs oriented theme for the last ten days. Theyre trying to make a clear contrast between the two candidates. Referring to his own candidacy as one of big change and the president is one of status quo. That word big we heard 24 times from romney today. We are likely to hear it again several times tonight. Lester . All right. Peter and kristen on the campaign trail for us tonight. Thank you. We want to let you know, from now through election day you can watch every president ial Campaign Event streaming live online at nbc news. Com. Other news tonight. Authorities in michigan launched a manhunt to catch a possible serial shooter. At least 24 drivers have been shot at along i96 in the last two weeks. The latest happening today. Two cars were shot at. One man was hit while driving to the world series. The bullet came through the drivers side door. Authorities say hes expected to be okay. Nover seas now to the crisis in syria where a muslim holiday ceasefire deal appears to be over after just a day. Government forces launched air strikes around damascus today, flattening buildings. Rebel forces responded with bomb blasts of their own. At least 16 people died in back and forth attacks. A lot more to tell you about on this saturday night as we continue on nightly news. What did they know and when did they know it . A new twist tonight in the investigation to that deadly meningitis outbreak. Later, lady liberty like we havent quite seen her before. Were back now with an update on the deadly outbreak of viral meningitis tied to tainted steroid injections. The cdc said today 25 people have died. The number of cases up to 344 in 18 states. There are disturbing new findings involving the massachusetts pharmacy that made the drugs. The latest from nbc Senior Investigative correspondent lisa myers. Reporter george kerrys wife lillian died of meningitis after she and her husband received injections of tainted steroids for back pain. Its a tragedy that my wife and i and the thousands of other people have been exposed to this contaminated medication. Reporter now his family says george is in the hospital with meningitis, though its not yet confirmed that tainted steroids are the cause. This is a large and ongoing catastrophe. Reporter one leading expert predicts there will be many more victims. I think we are in the middle of the meningitis outbreak. And the end is not yet in sight. Reporter the fda revealed friday that federal inspectors who investigated the new england compounding facility found greenish black foreign matter and white filamentous material in supposedly ste really vials of steroids and green, yellow and reddish residue in clean rooms or rooms used to mix medicines. The fda said the pharmacys sampling repeatedly found bacteria and mold in supposedly sterile rooms between january and september 2012. Yet no documented corrective actions were taken. An necc spokesman said, we will review this report and will continue our cooperation with the fda. The fact that this has been occurring, it seems like under the noses of both the federal and state regulators is shocking. Reporter massachusetts regulators are under fire for rejecting a staff recommendation six years ago to reprimand the company and put it on probation after necc claimed that could put it out of business. The company was allowed to simply agree to change procedures. State Officials Say they are now reviewing the decision. The fda said its authority over compounding farm sirs is limited, but it is committed to strengthant system to prevent future tragedies. Lisa myers, nbc news, washington. More bad news tonight for Lance Armstrong days after being stripped of seven Tour De France titles for doping armstrong is being asked to return nearly 4 million in prize money for those victories from 1999 through 2005. The International Cycling union says it wont award those titles to the secondplace finishers due to the cloud of suspicion hanging over the sport in those years. Up next here tonight at 126 shes looking better than ever. But lets say shes had a little work done. She may have to share the spotlight with Hurricane Sandy, but the statue of liberty is set to reopen tomorrow on her 126th birthday after a 30 million renovation. Nbcs Michelle Franzen got a preview today. Reporter for much of the past year this is how lady liberty appeared. Construction teams revamping the pedestal and parts of her interior, all to give visitors better access to the crown. For Rachel Ingram its the view from outside that takes her breath away. Its the symbolism, what it represents to america and what it means to all of us. Reporter during the yearlong renovations, the grounds were open to the public. Now people will have a chance to get a new and improved look from the inside of this historic landmark. The way people make the journey to the top has dramatically changed. Out of date staircases and the glass enclosed elevator shaft have been upgraded. We now have fire separated staircases. We have a a fire separated elevator shaft. We have for the First Time Ever a lift that will take handicapped folks from the end of th