kaine's challenges, make clinton seem more trustworthy, combat attacks his ticket is too much of the status quo, and push pence off his game, without looking too mean. >> this is something that you should expect senator kaine to push him on. is he going to defend all of the offensive things that donald trump has said? >> reporter: it's their first and only face-off. both with experience in congress, both have sons who serve in the marines, both relative unknowns. even now, far from vice president. >> i don't know who they are. >> this is -- >> i know it! right on the tip of my tongue. >> pence and kaine will be seated around this table tonight. a more intimate dynamic for two men who have never met until now. one will be just a heart beat away from the presidency, especially relevant, because trump would be the oldest president toic ta office, lester? >> and while their running mates duke it out on that stage, clinton and trump launched more attacks on the campaign trail. clinton continuing to hammer away at trump's alleged treatment of women. while remarks from her own husband, the former president, have put her in an awkward position. >> reporter: tonight donald trump in arizona. >> i made my money as a very successful private business person. hillary clinton made her money as the official. >> reporter: and hillary clinton in pennsylvania today, trying to remind suburban republican women about the past week. in this moment, with a 15-year-old girl. >> you see with my own eyes the damage donald trump does, when he talks about women and how they look. >> you are more than the way you look. you should be healthy, you should take care of yourself. but we're not all going to end up being miss universe. i hate to tell you. >> reporter: clinton's surrogates out in force, including michelle obama, knocking trump for complaining about his >> when she gets knocked down, she doesn't complain. she doesn't cry foul. >> reporter: but clinton's husband -- >> so you have this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million people have health care and then the people are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half. >> can you imagine what he went through after making that statement? >> reporter: bill clinton and the campaign walking that back today. talked about that, that obamacare needs to be improved. it doesn't need to be sacked and scrapped. >> reporter: awkward moments on the trail for republicans too. like new hampshire senator kelly ayotte, asked if she would point to trump as a good role model for children. >> and i believe he's -- he can serve as president, so absolutely i would do that. >> reporter: gary johnson defending his foreign policy flub. >> you're running to be commander in chief. is and cross the ts on a foreign leader or -- >> reporter: as clinton's lead widens, she's less worried about gary johnson taking away votes. lester? >> andrea mitchell, thank you. our primetime coverage of the vice presidential debate begins at 9:00 eastern time here on nbc. there's a new report out tonight that says the beleaguered internet giant yahoo secretly searched every snooping through hundreds of millions of its own customers' messages looking for a specific term at the request of the u.s. government. the revelation again igniting concern over privacy and our justice correspondent pete williams has late details on this. >> reporter: yahoo, one of the world's largest providers of e-mail services, scanned hundreds of millions of incoming messages looking for a specific term last year, according to the reuters news agency. abiding company and complies with the laws of the united states. the decision to obey, not fight a court order was made by the ceo, the former google executive running yahoo since 2012. >> well, the news is troubling. this is precisely the type of mass surveillance that gave rise to so many objections here in the united states. and of course also in europe. >> reporter: documents leaked three years ago by edward snowden disclosed that the national security agency tapped into e-mail tic search for specific terms connected to terrorism. but reuters says yahoo itself was doing the searching itself last year in realtime, looking for an item specified by the government. the company would have to do that search, experts say, after yahoo began encrypting traffic last year, making it impossible for the government to read. the idea that yahoo scans e-mail isn't new. the website spells it out, yahoo analyzes outgoing e-mail. u.s. intelligence agencies aren't commenting tonight on what's apparently a classified program. in the past they've said they'll use all lawful means to prevent terrorism. there were terrifying moments today when an explosion leveled a pair of homes in a new jersey neighborhood. federal statistics show that gas pipeline incidents have destroyed property or hurt or killed someone every other day in the u.s. for the last 20 years. is that what's behind today's bl now with troubling questions. >> reporter: the cause to this explosion was the hiss of gas and a rotten eggs smell. >> i said, why are you coming out of the house? he said, i smell gas, and it's a really bad odor. >> reporter: warning signs that allowed all the people in these two shattered buildings to get out before the blast. >> all of a sudden we heard the explosion and it was a surprise. it was such a big explosion, i couldn't believe it. >> we just had an cause is under investigation and some wonder if this incident, like others, was ignited by a pipeline problem. in 2010, a natural gas explosion leveled the san bruno, california, neighborhood, killing eight people. eight people died when an explosion brought down two apartment buildings in east harlem, new york, two years ago. and police dash cam video caught this house blown to bits in ocean county, new jersey, last year. tonight the utility pseg says the jersey, neighborhood was replaced 30 years ago and had been routinely inspected. >> when it comes to gas and electric, if you smell something, take it as serious as it needs to be taken. >> reporter: because quick action can save lives. still ahead tonight, surprise revelations from actor ben stiller, opening up about his private battle with cancer. the controversial test that he says saved his life. we're back now with the major health revelation today from hollywood funny man ben stiller, going public about a private battle with prostate cancer, hoping to save lives by raising awareness about a cancer test, he says, saved his own life, fryer. >> reporter: typically funny, today ben stiller made a serious revelation. >> i had prostate cancer a couple years ago. at first, i didn't know what was going to happen. i was scared. >> reporter: stiller writes, i was lucky enough to have a doctor who gave me what they call a baseline psa test when i was about 46. as his ps a-levels rose over the next two years, doctors looked closer, discovering a tumor, mid range aggressive cancer. >> i learned that i was someone who had a treated. there are a lot of people who can't. >> reporter: the tumor was removed and stiller is cancer free. he said, taking the psa test saved my life, literally. stiller's surgeon offered a study that found dramatic increase in advanced prostate cancer cases as fewer men are getting screened. >> in my mind, the data is clear that screening for prostate cancer saves lives. >> reporter: it's a controversial issue. some orgs recommend can lead to overtreatment with painful side effects. the american cancer society recommends men talk to their doctor about the benefits and risk of having the test. starting at age 50 for those with an average risk, and age 45 for those at increased risk. stiller worries 50 would have been too late. >> you got very lucky. >> yeah. that's why i went from, oh, poor got cancer, to, i'm so lucky. >> reporter: joe fryer, nbc news, los angeles. we are back in a moment with why the a second black box has been recovered from the scene of a deadly train crash in new jersey last week. investigators hope they can learn more from it than the first black box recovered, which wasn't working. the ntsb also obtained video from an outward facing camera on the train and the engineer's cell phone. many witnesses have said the train was speeding, but yet. an emotional day for some of the biggest names in golf as they said farewell to the king. thousands gathered for the memorial service for the legendary arnold palmer in his home state of pennsylvania. among those attending, jack nicholas and much of the usa golf team which just reclaimed the ryder cup for the first time since 2008. it's taken 20 years, but for som fans, the future has arrived. you can get your hands on a marty mcfly's self-lacing nikes from the movie "back to the future 2." only 89 pairs are available through a raffle. when we come back, finally tonight, we're closing in on this evening's first and only vice presidential debate of this election. as we've seen in the past, it's a face-off that can give us moments that go down in political history or infamy that we'll be talking about for decades to come. comes to memorable moments. >> that's a bunch of malarkey. >> reporter: running mates haven't always played second fiddle. take sarah palin with her unforgettable introduction to joe biden. >> nice to meet you. >> reporter: a campaign strategy after she kept calling him senator o'biden during debate prep. or benson dismiging dan quayle after he credentials to jack kennedy. >> jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> reporter: the devastating attack didn't stop bush from winning the white house. >> there's never been a vice presidential debate that ever changed the outcome of a presidential election. >> reporter: but they can impact how the top of the ticket is viewed. >> i'm not a politician, everybody knows that. >> reporter: in 1992 ross perot came under fire for his vp pick. >> reporter: his performance, a field day for "saturday night live." >> they say you're a drag on the ticket. they must have been watching a different show. when you were quiet there for an hour, that was world class. >> reporter: but the vp debates have also made history, like the first time a woman ever joined a major party ticket, setting up this dramatic duel. >> let me help you with the difference, miss ferraro between iran and the embassy in lebanon. your -- >> reporter: they're number two on the ticket, but tonight on the stage, it's one-on-one. peter alexander, nbc news, washington. that's going to do it for us on a tuesday night. we'll see you tonight for our primetime coverage of the vice presidential debate at 9:00 eastern. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and . hurricane mathew continues its deadly path towards the eastern seaboard with over a million already ordered evacuated. late-breaking details ahead. >> the number twos on the ticket go he ticket. >> six times tonight i said to mike pence i can't understand how you can defend your runing mate on each issue. on both issues. >> let's don't put words in my mouth. you have to give me time. >> yet he is asking everybody to vote for somebody he cannot defend. >> and a life saving revelation to howard stern that you have to hear. . plus, vice president joe or die. >> got the moves. >> are you ready, mr. vice president? >> it's rock 'n' roll, man. >> "early today" starts right now. >> it's good to be with you. i'm frances rivera. >> i'm ayman mohyeldin. the eastern seaboard is on high alert as hurricane mathew the strongest storm in years closes in on the u.s. >> overnight, the eye of the storm made landfall in eastern cuba with its strength and tact, a category 4, winds reaching up to 140 miles per hour. eight deaths have been tolled so far. this after it tore through haiti, flooding streets, flattening homes in what could be the worst crisis to hit the nation since the deadly earthquake in 2010. weakening. officials are taking zero chances. a state of emergency is in effect from florida to the carolinas. south carolina, calling for a complete coastal shutdown. >> our goal is to make sure you basically get 100 miles awoi from the coast. -- away from the coast. what i will tell those people thinking of fought leaving, if you think you can take care of yourself. think about l and my national guardsmen. pause they are going to have to be the ones that go out and try to get you. you are putting their lives at stake. >> let's get an update how this storm is playing out. officials not calling for evacuations. bill karins is keeping an eye on it, bill. >> reporter: the bottom line is 36 hours from now, hurricane force winds are arriving in florida. it's off the coast of cuba. we will see if it can regenerate it could easily go up to a category 4 over the warm waters over the next 48 hours. this is thursday, 8:00 p.m. near freeport. clo those areas near ft. lauderdale, that's when it will be along the florida coastline. we go 24 hour hours, at least, with hurricane force winds, all across the east coast of florida, from west palm beach, indian riff, ft. pierce, melbourne, daytona beach, savannah with damaging winds, storm surge issues on the coast and the possibility of flooding rains. if one improvement has been up here in areas of north carolina. the trend is further to the south. i won put too much credence into this at this point here. so again, our computer models are targeting areas along the east coastline of florida and for about 24 hours along florida's space coast all the way up in the northeast corridor. now to the only vice presidential debate of the campaign, it was combative. democrat tim kane and republican mike pence squared off in a 90 minutes hotly contested showdown. most of the night was about defending their running pate, sparring over a whole range of topics from domestic issues to foreign policy. at very times, the issues of trump taxes re actually is designed to encourage entrepreneurship. >> why won't he release his taxes? >> we're asking the question about the business thing. >> i do want to come back on this. >> his tax returns showed he went through a very difficult time, but he used the tax code just the way it's supposed to be used. he did it brilliantly. >> how do you know that? in there first and foremost, donald trump supports our troops. donald trump supports our veterans. >> donald trump has paid all the taxes -- do you not take deduction, how does it work? ho? it is about our troops. >> i understand why you want to change the subject. >> kane continued to attack pens's running mate in a heat discussion about nuclear weapons. >> ronald reagan said something interesting about nuclear proliferation in the ''80s, he said the problem is nuclear proliferation some fool or maniac could trigger a catastrophic evechlt i think that's who governor pens's running mate is, who ronald reagan warned us about. >> senator,s that was even below you and hillary clinton. that's pretty low. >> reporter: pence was mild mannered, kane was far more aggressive. the two battled over which campaign hurls more insults. >> he says ours is an insult-driven campaign. ours is an insult-driven campaign. to be honest with you, donald trump had said all the things you said he said in the way you said he said them, he still wouldn't have a fraction of the insults that hillary clinton levelled when she said that half of our supporters were a basket of deplorables. she said they were irredeemable. they were not america. i mean, it's extraordinary. >> did donald trump apologize for taking after somebody in a rape? did he apologize for saying african-americans are living in hell? did he apologize for saying president obama was not even a citizen of the united states? will you look in vain to see donald trump ever taking responsible for anybody and apologizing. >> the combative kane repeatedly challenged pence to defend trump. >> six times tonight i have said to governor pence, i can't imagine how you can defend your running mate's position on one issue after the next. refused to defend his running mate. >> don't put words in my mouth. if he's going to do that, you have to give me time. >> yet he is asking everybody to vote for somebody he cannot defend. >> you heard there tim cane bringing up donald trump. donald trump was watching the debate. he tweeted through the entirety, mike pence won big. we should be proud of mike. cnbc john harwood tweeted a trump but missed opportunities to defend the presidential pick t. pundits will argue over who won, debate, there is early word on what americans think. a new cnn-orc poll taken after the debate thought 48% thought pence won. 42% gave the nod to kane. >> as for the presidential candidates, themself, earlier in the day, donald trump and hillary clinton made campaign stops. as usual, they launched more