some witnesses are coming forward to say bieber was the actual victim "today," october forward to say bieber was the actual victim "today," october 18, 2008. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today" on a monday morning, i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm ann curry. a terror warning over the weekend. >> it's the latest of a series of warnings. a nonspecific threat stepped up security across the continent and led the u.s. state department to warn americans traveling there to be on alert. we're going to get the latest on this newest situation in just a couple of minutes. >> and we're learning what it was like for those miners who spent 70 days under ground. we'll get a live report coming up on that. expectant mothers know not to drink ormoke during a pregnancy. but scientists are discovering that during that nine months before birth, even the air a woman breathes can impact a child much later in life. let's begin with this new terror alert in europe and it's reportedly coming from the same al qaeda group that attempted to blow up a detroit-bound jet last christmas. we have been hearing about this uptick in terror threats for the past month, but sunday's remarks are from france's interior minister, an said for the first time he links what's called threats to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. >> aqap did attempt the flight 253 attack inside the united states, but most of their attacks up to this point have been focuseded on yemen and other parts of the arraiabian peninsula. what the intelligence hasold the french is that they have credible information that aqap is looking to attk targets in france. >> al qaeda and the arabian peninsula has been linked to th nigerian plan who tried to bring down a northwest plane last christmas. u.s. troops have called this the most operationally active group in the al qaeda operation. what does that mean? >> reporter: ap was always a threat within the arabian peninsula, but after the attempt on flight 253, they know believe that aqap can project power. they certainly want to get into the united states. when we step back, we have al qaeda central being a very serious threat in europe, we now have aqap with threats against the united states and europe. so it paints a pretty grim picture, but it's also one that law enforcement and the intelligence community is on on the of. >> thers a quote of a senior nato official saying that osama bin laden is hiding in houses in northwest pakistan, that, quote, nobody in al qaeda is living in cave and that some members of pakistan's intelligence services are protecting osama bin laden. are you surprised at all by any of this? >> not at all. the only thing that surprises me is that a nato official is make these statements. nato and the united states have beeved for years that bin laden is hiding in the northwest frontier region of pakistan. it's geography that's very difficult even for u.s. intelligence to identify specific individuals and maybe the pakistani intelligence service is providing some support. we're gng to get bin laden and his deputzawahri with a little bit of luck but we have failed for years already. let's get a check of the rest of the morning's top sties, tamron hall is oveat the news desk. >> we began with two high profile court cases, nine years avue the death of washington internal chandra levy. levy was attackewhile jogging in 2001. and in connecticut, the penalty phase begins for stephen hayes convicted of three murders in a home invasion case. parts of asia are being pournded by a so-called supertyphoon with severe flooding and winds topping 160-mile-per-hour. the storm is blamed for dozens of deaths, some hado be rescued from raging waters. hopes are fading from a mine in china after a -- zena-mine coll over the weekend. whenning the cpr, start with hard, fast chest compressions before giving mouth to mouth. it chaed fro previous guidelines it recommended 30 chest presses for adults and children. three popular facebook applications have been sending information to advertising and internet tracking companies. according to the paper, the site -- among the popular applications farmville. facebook says it will implement new technology to fix the problem. trish, what is the focus today? >> earnings, earnings, earnings, we're getting into the full earnings season. we have got citi report s today so that's going to have an affect on the sector. the other thing to keep an eye on of course is theech stock with apple today is close, but investors are looking to see top line growth, it's not enough just to make a profit. >> thank you very much and tonight the yankees and the rangers, tied for the lead after one game each. game three is tomorrow, it is 7:07, back to matt, ann and al and my rangers have to come through, sorry, new york. >> i'm out of here, i'm going to have to get beat up. >> tamron hall on her last here. >> why don't you go watch it on cable vision. >> she looks beautiful by the way today. >> awe, thanks, ann. one friend in the building. let's get a check of the weather, mr. roker is here. >> andhe good news we have got good morning. we're still about ten minutes away from sunse and it's mostly clear on this monday morning and 's chilly. just in the 40s throughout most of the region except in washington and near the bay, low and mid-50s. highs today into the 60s to near 70 with thickening clouds from the west of the cloudy tonight, rain likely tomorrow morning, light rain, and a little sun back in the afternoon. highs low 60s. low to mid-60s wednesday, chance of a passing shower. then partly sunny on thursday. friday into theeekend dry and cool with highs near 60. >> and that's your latest weather. now the runup to the midterm elections just 15 days from right now, with democrat s fighting to hold on to seat sea >> reporter: the president will be working another night shift raising mfin foney for democrat maryland after a weekend road trip trying to help his matter. this time in the campaign, you'll see candidates knockin each other prettyard and trying to get voters involved. meant to fee like a flash back from campaign 2008, the obamas in columbus, ohio sunday night, together on the trail for the first time this year. >> so i'm going to ask you something, can we do this? >> yes we can! >> can we do thi >> yes, we can! >> from the president, those old slogans sounded hoarse. >> i hope you don't mind, i'm losing my vce but i'm still fired up. >> reporter: sarah palin's pep talk ask vers tooll out. >> so let me ask you, are you ready to fight for your freedom. >> reporter: you can forgethe uplifting words watching the kentucky senate debate on sunday night. >> you should be ashamed of yourself, you should apologize, have you no decency? >> reporter: rand paul angry little demanded that democrat ron paul apologize for a tv ad. >> why was rand paul a member of a secret society that called the holy bible a hoax that mocked christianity and christ. >> why did he freely join a group mocking or making fun of people of faith? >> reporter: kentucky's attorney general repeated another ad. >> when is it ever a good idea to tie up a woman and ask her to kneel before a false idol, your god that you call aqua buddha. >> you're going to stand up there and accuse me of arime from 30 ars ago from some anonymous source? how ridiculous are you? you embarrass this race. >> reporter: at the end of the debate, paul refused to shake conway's hand. colorado's senate candidates debated on "meet the press." tea par endorsed republican ken buck told david gregory he supports the ban on gays serving open in the military. >> do you believe in being gay as highway as -- >> i think beautiful we have a choice. >> reporter: and there's plenty disagreement in that colorado race that they have been able to contain it a bit more than what we saw in kentucky. now colorado's particularly important becae it is a chance for buck who prefers to call himself a grass roots candidate more than a tea party candidate a chance for republicans to pick up that seat now held by a democrat. in kentucky, the venom really is pouring out there and rand paul says this is reay an attack on his religion as well as on his background. >> kelly o'donnell thank you very much, david gregory is moderator of "meet the press," david good morning to you. let's talk about the president and the first lady campaigning together, first time since 2008, obviously they're looking to generate some of that energy and mojo from that previous campaign. how is it going to go over in your opinion? >> i think there's se signs, there's some evidence that there are more democrats around the country that are getting a little bit more interested in the race, a little bit more innse about theseaces around the country. that's what the president is trying to tap into. he's also issuing a warning, which is to raise the specter of republicans, particularly those associated with president bush trying to influence the campaign, trying to take a step backwards. these are the wnings the president's issuing. >> we have been hearing that the president has been become a liability to some democratic candidates in some regions of the country. is he less of a liability with the first lady at his side? >> yes, and it also depends where they go they went to ohio state for that rally. that's whether you have younger voters, that's where you're more likely to get part of that coalition that he built in 2008. african-americans, younger voters, traditional pillars of the democratic party that he can motivate and say this is an important election, don't sit on the sidelines. and the first lady, she's very popular, if it does raise the positive images of the '08 campaign again. >> over the summer, he said that the democrats might lose control of congress, now he's saying on your show yesterday, he thinks actuly they should hold the house an the senate. is it just a better spin, or is there a better scenario developing out there. >> it's a better spin rather than a better scenario. remember, there's early voting going on in parts of the country, in colorado, in illinois. they don't want to send a message to the white house that they think all is lost. they want to get people out there to try to mitigate the damage. >> with 15 days to go until the election, where are the parties spending the bulk of their money. >> you're going to see them work on getting out the vote, absent tee voting, and they'll look to some key senate races a well, illinois, west virginia, nevada maybe even california and washington state where they can pump some money into it. >> finally let's go into this other interview y had, the republican from colorado and you ask him if homosexuality was a choice and he said yes. clearly that's going to ruffle some feathers but in this season, the election is about jobs, jobs, jobs. >> only if the predent is able to raise the specter of social issuings and ken buck has taken positions to raise the need t ask that kind of question to clarify his views, but i have talked to democrats in colorado and what a lot of coloradoans will ask about is what the gdp to debt ratio. >> david gregory, fastenour seat belts, it's going to be an interesting couple of weeks. those 33 rescued miners in chile are beginning to open up about their 70-day ordeal under ground >> reporter: and good morning to you, yes, it's been a weekend of celebrations, of homecomings, but also for these miners, at times some difficult adjustment. i spent some time with them this weekend. as you can see, they're very much haunted by what they have been through. just four days out of the mine, they're seeing the museum now open in honor of the 33. it's like being there again, every moment, he says. i ask them to show me where they are in the photo of all 33, faces that now tell a story of horror, courage and survival. the first break through, what was that moment like for you? it was very emotional,s you can see by my smile, we knew somethg good was coming soon. victor escaped his hell in the poems he wrote every day, he shared them with his 32 brothers and now with me. physically they're okay, emotionally, they have a lon way to go. when we became trapped, i screamed, we're not going to get out of here. i thought of my kids. it was very painful. desperation set in during those first 19 days, although discovered on day 17, it took two days to get them food, they were dying andhey knew it. i think for my part, i survived thanks to god. he was always with us. all have said they felt god watching over them, he was the 34th. they even wrote farewell letters to tir families. you prepared yourselves? i delivered myself, i wrote two letters, they stayed below in the mine. what did you say in those letters? i told my wife to take care of my son and to give him good values. but i also told her to live her life. she's a beautiful woman. they missed their families, they missed celebrations. victor turned 34 under ground. above they threw him a party. together, but still so far apart. finally, day 69, the capsule arrives. carlos was the 13th. for him, it was a joyride. he first saw his dad and the light ofay. victor was next, he said his rebirth was like a rose about to bloom. up top he reunited with his angel. did your life change a lot, carlos? yes, it's like we have lost a part of ourselves, we still don't feel whole, we're not 100%. but the men are beginning to open up, this weekend they were on chile's version of the tonight show and i was invited to jn them. i also spent time with their families, a homecoming party that lasted well into th morning where the oldest of the miners,3-year-old mario goemds. but for carlos and victor, what seemed unimaginable to us is their very life. >> are you going to go back to mining knowing the riskses? >> i'll go back,t's a passion. we're miners. we're proud to be miners. it's a family. some of the video you saw was licensed by nbc news, but amazing the miners say they want to go back to what they know and they reall don't need to, because we're learning as of tomorrow, one of chile's wealthiest businessmen is going to offer them a million dollars. coming up, justin bier reportedly under investigation for assault. 12-year-old claims a singer hit him during a game of laser tag, but is bieber really the victim? bob ehrlich ys he wants to fix maryland. but he increased state spending by record amounts. ehrlich raised $3 billion in taxes andees... including property taxes... and 40% increase in college tuition. and now he's made over $1 billion in new promises... with no plans to pay for them... except for cutting education. cuts that will lay off teachers and increase class siz. that's not a bget. and bob ehrlich's not the kind of leader... we can trust. just ahead, what did she tell them? investigators looking into the alleged murder of an american tourist say they have new information in the case after reinterviewing the victim's wife. 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[ female announcer ] sharing america's softest tissues has never been easier. now you can mail a kleenex brand share package for free at kleenex.com. you can even track your tissue as it starts a chain of softness round the country. ♪ ♪ log on today and discover why kleenex brand is softness worth sharing. good morning. it's 7:26 on this monday, the 18th of october. i'm joe krebs. we have breaking news on the beltway. a bad tractor-trailer crash. let's go right to jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. >> joe, good morning. authorities remain on the scene of the accident that occurred a couple ofours ago. inner loop of the beltway between the 270 spur and old georgetown road. only one lane of traffic sneaking by very, very slowly. it will reclose later this morning as authorities need to clean up the accident. now, trouble on 270, southbound 270 at falls road. an accident. very little trfic getting by. fire and rescue crews are on the scene. we'll keep you updated on that. busy morning. tom will have the forecast right after this. stay with us. just drive, we'll get there! adventure runs on dunkin', with our maple cheddar breakfast ndwich. breakfast just got a whole lot sweeter. > mostly clear and chilly on this monday morning. temperaturesoday, though, should climb into the 60s to near 70 with increasing clouds. rain likely tomorrow morning, perhaps a passing shower on wednesday and cooler. cing up on nbc 4 this afternoon, actress sally field stops by the nate berkus show to stops by the nate berkus show to talk about life as an empt bob ehrlich says he wants to fix maryland. buhe increased state spending by record amounts. ehrlich raised $3 billion in taxes and fees... including prerty taxes... and a 40% increase in college tuition. and now he's made over $1 billion in new promises... with no plans to pay for them... except for cuttingducation. cuts that will lay off teachers and increase class sizes. that's not a budget. and bob ehrlich's not the kind of leader... we can trust. new look. new style. new sears. come see our brand new side. at sears. it's 7:30 now on a monday morning, the 18th of october 2010. a cool, calm, falmorning on rockefeller plaza. m matt lauer alongside ann curry who's in for meredith "today." new details on the death of that american jet skier allegedly killed my mexican tourists. >> t latest straight ahead. also ahead, a very moving video that has become a rage on the internet, a city councilman in texas gave an emotial speech about his own experience growing up gay to help teens who are gay and who are now being bullied. we're going to talk to that councilman. as i just said, i think 1.5 miion people have gone online to watch that tape. >> that's ry courageous. also the wider side of the upcoming midterm elections, wild whacky and sometimes outrageous political s of this campaign season. we'll listen to those comg up. we begin this half hour with justin bieber, the focus of a police investigation. tamron hall has the details on that. >> the investigaon stems from an alleged altercation at a laser tag park between the 16-year-old pop star and a 12-year-old boy. ♪ >> reporter: he's an international superstar, teen that's right throb. bieber fever has taken the world by storm, but now it seems the 16-year-old singing sensation m