National News This Morning - 11/1/12

Now the latest national news this morning...

NEW JERSEY

President Obama got a bird's eye view of the damage Hurricane Sandy caused to the Jersey Shoreline.

The president was joined by Governor Chris Chris Christie and FEMA administrator Craig Fugate as Marine One flew over the devastation in Atlantic City.

Afterwards, President Obama and the governor visited a community shelter and spoke with several residents.

THE NORTHEAST

Transportation services in the northeast are slowly starting to return. There are some automobile restrictions in New York City, but mass transit is coming back.

Part of the city's subway system will be up and running today. Some train lines still have no power with some stations and tunnels still flooded.

AMTRAK will also provide modified service on its northeast corridor. Service will still be out between Newark, New Jersey and New Haven, Connecticut.

And as airports return to normal, New York's LaGuardia is set to reopen this morning at 7 am.

KEY STATES

It's crunch time. Five days until election day and the campaign shifts into high gear as all the candidates are out luring those last undecided voters.

President Obama will be in Wisconsin, Nevada and Colorado, while Vice President Joe Biden heads for Iowa. Meanwhile Governor Romney will be in Virginia and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, is campaigning in Colorado.

ACROSS THE COUNRTY

That monthly jobs report will be released as scheduled on Friday Despite mega-storm Sandy.

There had been concern that Sandy might dampen the much-anticipated October jobs report since the federal government was closed on Monday due to the storm.

The Labor Department said they intended to release the report on time but didn't rule out a delay. Department officials say some employees went in Tuesday to work on the report and government offices reopened on Wednesday.

The report will be the final jobs report before Tuesday's presidential election.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Sam's Club is helping to recharge those left in the dark by Sandy. A total of 18 Sam's Clubs in five states affected by the mega-storm are now open to members and non-members still affected by power outages.

The locations are serving as power recharging stations, offering extra power outlets free of charge to recharge personal laptops, cell phones, iPads and other electronic devices.

The store will remain open to the public until November 9.

NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY

Getting cell phone reception in waterlogged New York and New Jersey could get a bit easier.

Wireless providers AT&T and T-Mobile have agreed to share networks in the days following super-storm Sandy.

The move by the two cellular giants allows customers to use whichever network gets coverage in their area. Subscribers don't need to pay or do anything extra, just dial out.

Calls will automatically connect through the network with the strongest signal in the area.