paul ryan ready to hit the road, mitt romney's new running mate, flying solo on the campaign trail today. with democrats sharpening their knives and ready to go on the attack. >> more than 300 people killed, thousands injured after two earthquakes rock iran. we have the latest from that region for you. and next stop, rio. london promised a party and boy did it deliver. the summer olympics are over and we'll have all the details from the closing ceremonies in a live report. >> did you watch the closing ceremonies? >> i was asleep. what are you talking about. >> i didn't get to see it either. twitter was all abuzz about it.

>> boy were they amazing. >> welcome to "early start," i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. 5:00 a.m. in the east. what we're all talking about is morning is politics. after 36 hours joined at the hip, mitt romney and his new running mate are going their separate ways today. the former massachusetts governor says he's happy with his new teammate. at one point, ryan teared up with emotion during a stop in wisconsin. on "60 minutes," romney praised his vp pick for being a lot like him. of course, the president is weighing in, too. >> this is a man who's dedicated the last 14 years working in washington in ways that are not highly partisan. this is a man who's also analytical. he's a policy guy. people know him as a policy guy. that's one of the reasons he has such respect on both sides of the aisle. i'm a policy guy, believe it or not. i love policy. i love solving tough problems.

>> congressman ryan is a decent man. he is a family man. he's an articulate spokesman for governor romney's vision. but it's a vision that i fundamentally disagree with. >> today ryan will make his first solo appearance as romney's running mate. he's going to the iowa state fair in des moines. romney's bus tour makes two stops in st. augustine and miami. vice president biden has a campaign event in north carolina and obama will be out there as well. paul steinhauser joins us live. the tone of this race is somehow reset. >> it really is reset. the choice of ryan makes this election more of a choice election rather than an election which seem to be a referendum on barack obama. you're right, john, you saw that tough tone.

beth from paul ryan and mitt romney at that rally last night in waukesha and wisconsin with both candidates talking pretty tough about the president. and you're going to hear more of that today from paul ryan in iowa where he'll continue to go with the romney theme, attacking president obama over welfare, something we heard first last week. the president obama, his requirements would end requirements for welfare. the obama campaign pushing back on that. you heard mitt romney take a tough tone against the president, against those negative attacks from the president and super pacs supporting him. take a listen. >> there's no question but if you follow the campaign of barack obama he's going to do everything in his power to make this the lowest, meanest, negative campaign in history. we're not going to let that happen. this is going to be a campaign about ideas, about the future of america. >> mr. president, take your campaign out of the gutter, let's talk about the real issues that american faces. >> you'll hear that sound bite a lot, i'm sure, this morning, john and zoraida.

paul ryan will be releasing two years of his tax returns. does that sound familiar? mitt romney has released two years of his tax returns. no more. >> paul, i do have to ask, though, the democrats, a lot of them in congress have been sort of chomping at the bit to take on ryan and the so-called ryan budget plan. what are you hearing from democratic sources this morning? >> from the moment we learned it would be paul ryan. you saw statements aing toing ryan over that house budget which would alter medicare significantly. you're saying from democrats attacks that the ryan plan would hurt senior citizens, even though nobody over 55 would be affected. you'll hear more of that on campaign trail. sources telling me you'll hear it not only from the president and vice president in north carolina but pro groups, romney, pro obama groups. you were there four years ago. you saw when john mccain picked sarah palin. two similar results over the

first 48 hours, increase in crowd size, increase in the base, and also increase in fund-raising. there seems to be chemistry between mitt romney and paul ryan which we did not see four years ago between sarah palin and john mccain. >> paul steinhauser. thank you very much. we're keeping a close watch on tropical storm hector. it's clocking in max winds at 40 miles per hour. rob marciano joins us live. where is hector heading? could it get stronger and welcome back. >> thanks. good to be back after a week away. good morning. hello, john. we're looking at this storm, the satellite picture it goes from very established tropical system to kind of lose a lot of its gusto. even if this thing re-organizes itself, we don't think it will do much as far as the southern tip of the baja, california.

that includes mexico. off the coast by about 300 miles. we expect it to not even get to hurricane strength. watching a couple other systems in the atlantic basin, this one in the atlantic ocean. we have time to deal with that. this one is south of the island of hispaniola. winds are set up great to have it explode into something significant anytime soon. we'll watch it but at this point not terribly concern. we're watching th system moving across the midsection of the country. severe storms potentially across the midsouth, north into parts of the hey high river as well. temperatures will be warm down across parts of the south, 103 in dallas, 85 degrees expected in new york city. and a cool 71 with a little bit of rain in chicago. toss it back up to you. >> thank you very much. >> i like how rob says the storm isn't looking good when it's breaking up. two strong earthquakes kill at least 306 people in iran.

the semiofficial farsi news agency reporting another 3,000 injured, 11 aftershocks followed. the deputy interior minister saying 110 villages were damaged as were historic monuments. evangelist billy graham was admitted this past weekend for treatment of a pulmonary infection that is believed to be bronchitis. graham's spokesman says no date has been set for his discharge. we wish him well. >> a ceremony of cleansing and birth. a sikh temple re-opened for services. the president's son said in his words, quote, a coward tried to cause a race war but ended up uniting people. an illinois man charged with shooting his air rifle at a

mosque during ramadan services will appear in court today. the leader of the mosque says he thinks the suspect, 51-year-old david conrad should be charged with a hate crime. prosecutors rejected hate crime charges in this case. penn state's board of trustees says it will comply with ncaa sanctions over how it handled the jerry sandusky molestation scandal. they also expressed a desire to move forward. penn state was fined $60 million, among other penalties. the mars rover curiosity is getting what nasa calls a brain transplant. it's no small feat considering the remote upgrade is happening from 350 miles away. if anything goes wrong, it could be the last time nasa has contact with curiosity. the upgrade should be wrapped up later today. curiosity's been sending back amazing pictures of the death

valley like environment around its landing site on mars. the color pictures are amazing. >> we hope that upgrade goes well. >> if it doesn't that is horrid news. >> rio, here we come. plenty of music, fireworks and star power. you'll have a live report about the closing ceremonies and the really cool passing of the torch, just ahead. i'm feeling ag male spirit present. it's the priceline negotiator. >>what? >>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals. it's a faster way to get a great hotel deal without bidding. pick one with a pool, a gym, a great guest rating. >>and save big. >>thanks negotiator. wherever you are. ya, no. he's over here. >>in the refrigerator? ♪ three, six, nine ♪ the goose drank wine ♪ the monkey chew tobacco on the streetcar line ♪ ♪

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. it's about 13 minutes after the hour. so glad you're here, i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. the 2012 summer games, finally, officially over but they did not end quietly. london rocked it out. amanda davies was lucky enough to be there to see the handoff of the next host city, rio, in 2016. it was fun to watch, i hear and bittersweet. tell us all about it. >> reporter: you'll have to come and forcibly remove me from this balcony. i'm hanging on to these games as long as i possibly can. it has been the most fantastic 17 days. and really, really odd here this morning. olympic park which has been so packed and hustling and bustling for the last 2 1/2 weeks is eerily quiet. they're packing up the barriers. it's just been superb. there was that fabulous climax at the stadium last night. the best of 50 years of british

music with the spice girls performing, george michael, the who, the most spectacular light display with those fitted boxes behind all the 80,000 seats in the stadium. now the concern here is that the olympic hangover is kicking in. it's a case very much of roll on the paralympics, which is just 16 days away. >> the men's basketball got the gold yesterday. i hear there was some level of competition going on. >> reporter: yes. it wasn't the cake walk the men's basketball final that maybe the usa had thought it was going to be.coach k. had been saying he was just going to sit there, put his feet up, he felt his team were playing so well they'd easily claim the gold. it went right down to the closing seconds of the final quarter. the usa did beat spain 107-100 to claim their 14th olympic gold medal in the basketball and successfully defend their title, of course.

people saying maybe you know, it's a sign of the improvements of european basketball, that it did go as far as it did. in terms of the usa, what that gold men the is that they finished the top of the medal tables, 104 medals in all, 46 gold. and usa's best olympics outside of the states ever. so big success for the usa. >> yes. a really big success. my producer was saying that the bouquets looked like boutonnieres in the hands of those big guys. let's look forward, the next stop is rio. they have a whole lot to live up to. some folks are saying that this is probably the most successful olympics ever. how about that handoff? >> roll on, reyop. it's a busy four years for them. they've in 2014 got the football, the soccer world cup in brazil, haven't they? then two years later they have the next olympic games in rio. jacques rogue, the president of

the olympic committee says these games refreshed the olympic movement. there are concerns for rio in terms of the transport in place and the structures, the arenas and how much work needs to be done with them. we do know it's going to be a warm welcome. they're very good at throwing a party in rio, particularly, are they? it's going to be a great amount going on at copacabana beach. i for one am putting my hand up already. >> i'm joining you. >> you have been a good sport bringing us all of the special moments. what was yours? >> mine is, i'm afraid to say is a team gb moment. i'm lucky enough to have gotten around some of the venues and seen incredible occasions, the final sbim from michael phelps, for example, saying farewell to him at the olympics for a final time. for me it was super saturday as it was described, the middle saturday hear at the olympics, i

got into the stadium, literally as the bell went for the final lap of the 10,000 meters, the men's 10,000 meters to see farah roar to victory. it was just sensational. the whole stadium with union jacks flying and his utter delight. for me, that was the day that really put this olympics on the map. and it was a real, real honor to be there. >> john berman here, amanda. that was my favorite moment of the whole olympics, too. yes, i liked how your guy came in first but you can see running close behind him in galen rupp from oregon. he trains with farah. the 10,000 works, they run so close together for the entire race until there's basically one lap to go and then these guys start to sprint with everything they have. you have this pack of men, including farah and rupp, giving it everything they've got. you can see the emotion in their faces, racing down. my son and i were screaming for

galen rupp there. we were happy when he won the silver. rupp was thrilled, too. it was so emotional. >> these guys are -- sorry. i was just going to say, they're great rivals. it was fabulous to see the two of them celebrating together. it's a journey for all of them. to be at the olympics is fantast fantastic. >> i know we'll talk to you again, amanda. my favorite moment, they said it had to be within the last 24 hours. i watched the men's swimming finals and david boudia, he overcame his fear of heights. and he came from behind. he was 18. he got the last spot for the semifinals. and look at what he was capable of doing. >> it is amazing. >> all those moments were spectacular. what was your favorite moment? tell us. tweet us at earlystartcnn.

>> i'm going to miss the olympics and the jokes about tape delay also. 18 minutes after the hour right now. what we're talking about in this country right now, politics. paul ryan is hitting the road two days after being introduced as mitt romney's running mate. the congressman will be campaigning by himself in des moines, iowa today. ryan enjoyed a rousing welcome when he campaigned yesterday in his home state of wisconsin. he was wiping away tears before taking the stage to thank his supporters. switching gears here. let's get you up to date. gabrielle giffords is finally home again, 19 months after being shot during a political event. the former congresswoman and her husband moved back to tucson. they are there permanently. giffords had been spending most of her time in houston, rehabbing. her husband, retired astronaut mark kelly tweeting gabby has been waiting for this day for a long time.

>> all right. we're getting an early look at local news making national headlines. if you live in florida right now, miami, one of the things making headlines, sports. chad ochocinco, now he's known as chad johnson. he's a former dolphin, because the dolphins waived him after a dust-up that really seems nasty. he got in a fight apparently with his wife. the police arrested him saying he headtted here in the car, according to the reports down there. the two were fighting in the car after she found a receipt -- i'm going to say it out loud -- for condoms in the car. a fight ensued. police say he headbutted here. he said it was her fault that his head hit hers. he's not playing for the dolphins. >> it was her fault that his head hit hers. >> he said her head was moving forward. >> okay. all right. i have another one for you. the university of central florida is rolling out a website

to make class registration easier. time arnold, he's a senior marketing major. he was put on probation for creating a website called youcouldfinish.com. he plugged into the school's registration server and it allows the students to search for classes and send a text when classes becomes available. that was something the system and school could not do. he got punished because he never asked for permission. >> he's the kind of guy that is going to be worth billions in a few years. he'll be begging for his money in a few years. >> he was ordered to write two research papers on the error of his ways and ordered to pay $15 for a counseling session as well. >> bill gates, mark zuckerberg, this kid's next. >> there you go. >> and why is barnes & noble slashing the price of their ereader, the nook? we'll tell you why.

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the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. minding your business this morning, stocks are set for a lower opening after notching solid gains last week. keep in mind the trading volume has been light lately, which is normal for this time of year but it means there is more volatility and that is something you could see this week, too. on the move this week, gas prices. alison kosik with where things stand. >> this is significant. gas prices are up to $3.70 for a

gallon, that's the national average. gas prices are up 31 cents in a month. that makes a difference when you head to the gas station. i know it does when i do. this is a culmination of sort of the perfect storm of circumstances. first of all, there are refinery problems all across the country, in california, there was a fire at a refinery last monday. our gas supply has taken a hit and gas prices are being pushed up. it's not just the supply. it's also corn. did you know that current law mandates that 10% of gas in your tank has to be made up of ethanol. ethanol is made up of corn and corn prices are up, because the corn prices are expected to be the high nest 17 years. you have higher gas prices when all of that is rolled together. we'll see relief most likely in september. because the peak deman for driving season rolls down. >> it's back-to-school season. price wars are going on now.

>> barnes & noble says that it is chopping prices on three models of its nook e-readers and tablets, anywhere from $20 to $50 depending on the model. part of it is clearing out the old inventory for new versions of the tablet. it's about competition. apple, the speculation is may be coming out with a smaller version of its ipad. it's about the kindle fire tablet. there's speculation that amazon is going to be rolling out a new version of that. so barnes & noble is feeling the pressure, cutting these prices. as of sunday, you can get three versions of its nook cheaper. >> love that. >> it is such a competitive m marketplace for something that didn't exist five years ago. >> i'm in the market for one. i appreciate the news. >> you got it. >> it helps. the backpack gets full. you put that in there and it's one as opposed to ten books. >> they are fun to use. >> they are.

>> 27 minutes after the hour right now. one year after a deadly stage collapse at an inen state fair, another scary moment, this team vo involving a stagecoach. details, just ahead. ed a good ml and a good family. so we gave her purina cat chow complete. it's the best because it has something for all of our cats! and after a couple of weeks she was part of the family. we're so lucky that lucy picked us. [ female announcer ] purina cat chow complete. and for a delicious way to help maintain a healthy weight, try new purina cat chow healthy weight. ♪ i'd do anything for you, dear ♪ ♪ anything 'cause you mean everything to me ♪

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mitt romney's new running mate, congressman paul ryan ready to fly solo on the campaign trail today. conservatives are cheering the choice while democrats lick their chops and prepare to attack. >> a disturbing breach at new york's jfk airport. how a stranded jet skier managed to beat the airport's $100 million detection system. wait until you hear the details. >> unreal. >> shocking.

>> terror and panic caught on camera. a crowded kansas city bus crashes and flips over on its side, sending more than a dozen people to the hospital. terrifying. >> oh, my goodness. >> i'm john berman, welcome back to "early start." >> i'm zoraida sambolin. happy to have you with us. 31 minutes past the hour. >> just who is congressman ryan? >> our next guest recently spent several hours with him right before ryan got the news from mitt romney. he wrote an article for the "new yorker" called "fussbudget." were you shocked? >> i was. i was. i wrote the piece because paul ryan has become a rising intellectual ideological force in the republican party as mitt romney said when he interests deuce e -- introduced him.

i was surprised when he brought him into the ticket. paul ryan's ideas were going to be front and center in a romney administration and in a republican congress. that's why i wrote the piece. paul ryan has basically defind the republican agenda. so didn't matter if he was vp or not, he was worth writing about. the question for romney was, does he distance himself from the set of ideas that paul ryan defined for the republican party or does he fully embrace them? obviously he's fully embraced them. >> those ideas have to do with the debt and deficit. i want to listen to what paul ryan has been saying for years now about this. >> we feel, as your fellow citizens, that we owe you a choice, a choice of two futures. we can either stay on the current path that we are on, a nation in debt, a nation in doubt, a nace in despiaidespair nation with high unemployment,

where we're giving our children a diminished future or we can change this thing and get this country back on the right track. >> the phrase game change is so cliche now, it makes me cringe every time i hear it right now. does this shift the discussion and the race? and if it does shift it, is it a permanent shift? >> i think it does. i think the romney strategy going into this pick was really not to make the race about himself or even his ideas. he wanted to focus wholly on obama's failures and get the country thinking when they go into the voting booth. this isn't a choice between romney's vision for the future and obama's vision for the future, it's a choice on whether obama did a good job over the last few years or not. that's now changed. romney has given up that strategy or at least he's added another component. he said this is going to be a big choice election and from the voters perspective, i think it's a great thing. we are going to have a big, bold, defining choice. this isn't going to be like the

2000 election where gore and bush, they tried to paper over the differences. these two guys are not going to do that. they're going to put forward two extremely different visions about the role of government in american life. that's what paul ryan does. he makes this a much more definitional choice. >> he's an incredibly passionate man. >> you saw that in the clip. >> very warm, very inviting, kind of like the anti-mitt romney. do you think that factored in at all when making this decision? at the end of the day, don't people have to connect somehow? and it's been disconnected. >> the danger is that you overshadow the guy on top. he has more personality than romney, let's be frank. he's more definitional when it comes to policy. why do you want this to be all about your number two? maybe that will even out. >> this is interesting, second race in a row where the base of the republican party identifies more closely with the number two on the ticket than the number one. >> absolutely. i don't -- if romney chose this

guy to shore up the republican base, it seems like he didn't really need to do that. if you look at the polls, since april, the republican party has been consolidated and very exciteded to vote. they're not that excited about romney specifically but they're very excited to vote against obama. the polls have consistently shown that. you can say politically that romney actually needed to do that. the numbers just don't show that. >> what about the big spotlight that is being put on ryan's budget and how that will affect the election? >> once we get past who is paul ryan and the biography, what's going to come into focus is, do his numbers add up? he's specific on medicare and medicaid. there are big, big holes in his plan that the democrats will go after. they will go after what specifically he wants to cut and on tax reform, what tax loopholes he wants to close. two big things he hasn't spelled out yet. >> ryan lizza. >> great article.

i thought clairvoyance all the way. >> i knew it all along. >> we'll read your next article closely to see what's going to happen next in the future. >> it is 36 minutes after the hour right now. overseas, big changes in egypt. president mohamed morsi, forces several top military chiefs out and replacing a constitutional declaration with one that gives him broad, legislative and executive powers. it gives him potentially a key role in drafting egypt's still new constitution. the queen of the indiana state fair, one of five people injured when a stagecoach overturn. 20-year-old erica burkhart was riding on top of the stagecoach next to the driver when it tipped over. all of the injuries we're happy to report are kno nonlife-threatening. that coming one day after the one-year anniversary of the

stage collapse. >> so much for the $100 million security system at jfk. the perimeter intrusion detection system is no match for a jet skier from queens. daniel he climbed out the airport's eight-foot perimeter fence, crossed two separate one ways and walked right into terminal three undetected. castillo was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing after he approached an airline worker for help. the port authority is in charge of security at jfk. it says it is reviewing the incident. >> the army brigadier general tammy smith is the u.s. military's first openly gay flag officer. the 26-year army veteran received her stars in a private ceremony at arlington national cemetery. it was also the first day she publicly acknowledged her sexuality. >> junk food laws may actually

work. that at least according to a new study. finds children who live in states with strict laws were less likely to gain weight. they tracked more than 6,000 students from 5th grade to 8th grade. very interesting study. >> that is interesting. a terrifying bus accident, caught on tape. it sends more than a dozen people to the hospital in kansas city. look at this. an investigation is now under way. authorities say a car pulled out in front of a bus and the driver swerved to avoid a cash. the bus slipped down an embankment, flip over at least once, 13 people including the bus driver were injured. officials say none of the injuries are life threatening. >> we have a crazy video for you today. coming up, a navy destroyer ripped up by an oil tanker. more amazing pictures. the story behind these after this quick break.

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homicide of young people in america has an impact on all of us. how can we save these young people's lives? as a police chief, i have an opportunity to affect what happens in a major city. if you want to make a difference, you have to have the right education. university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i am committed to making a difference, and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. good morning. welcome-to-back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. >> having a happy time this morning. >> check out amazing video of a dust storm and wind storm that blew through the phoenix area last week. >> of course it's phoenix. >> a cnn i-reporter captured

this video. look how dark it gets. >> gone. >> officials say the storm brought wind gusts as high as 40 miles an hour. >> this morning we're keeping a close watch on tropical storm hector. it's clocking in at maximum winds at 40 miles per hour. the storm is far off the coast of mexico. cnn's rob marciano joins us now live. you are keeping track of this. was that a haboob by the way. >> yes, any dust storm that's kicked up by a thunderstorm is certainly a haboob teb nickally speaking. they get them in phoenix quite a bit. hector, not too impressive, a weakening 40 mile-an-hour winds. westerly movement at 7 miles an hour. well offshore of mexico by 350 miles. the track of this thing is to keep it offshore and not strengthen it very much. there are one or two other spots

just off mexico where a system may develop and we're watching a couple things in the atlantic. southern california temperatures, heat advisories today, 115 expected in palm springs which had a record high-low temperature of 89 degrees yesterday. not cooling down tonight. 114 in phoenix. this is the time of year where it's not a terribly dry heat. they get a little bit of humidity. when they say 115 in phoenix, it's pretty toasty this time of year. across the midsouth, memphis, you're going to be in the gun here, possibly seeing thunderstorms that could produce large hail or damaging winds, maybe even an isolate ed tornad. it does have rainfall with it. you're feeling it now in chicago and will feel cooler air that will come in behind the rain. 71 degrees is probably about the best you'll do in chicago. 86 degrees expecteded in new york. beautiful day across the east coast. that system, going through chicago now will get to the i-59

corridor tomorrow afternoon. enjoy today, your second stretch of good weather. here's two other spots we're watching in the atlantic, atlantic ocean, caribbean, there's florida. 10% chance of this storm south of hispaniola to develop into something. at this point, conditions not terribly favored for that. >> can you hop on twitter and explains what makes a dust storm a haboob? give us an education this morning? >> all rit, since you asked. i haven't said hello. that's a good reason to do it. >> perfect. thank you. >> giving rob a home work assignment. >> you're working but go do this right now. it's 45 minutes after the hour. congressman paul ryan will be hitting the campaign trail today. he's appearing in his first join the interview alongside mitt romney one day after being tapped to his running mate. listen to him tell cbs "60 minutes" how he'll be handling the release of his tax returns now that he's officially on gop ticket. >> how many years of tax returns did you turn over to the

campaign? >> it was a very exhaustive vetting process. it's confidential vetting process. there are several years but i'm going to release the same amount of years that governor romney has. i have to tell you, bob -- >> how many was that? >> two. i'll be releasing two, which is what he's releasing. what i hear from people around this country, they're not asking where are the tax returns. they're asking where the jobs are. >> romney has released one so far plus a summary of his second. the full second year will come out this fall. mitt romney has two stops in florida today. paul ryan makes his first solo appearance as romney's running mate, this at the eye way state fair in des moines this afternoon. president obama leaving his chicago home this morning to kick off a three-day bus tour in iowa himself. >> obama was celebrating his berth day in chicago with a lot of fund-raisers. >> party. >> darrell issa isn't dropping his complaints with attorney

general eric holder over the fast and furious failed gun-running probe. today the committee plans to file a civil contempt suit against holder. last night, issa tweeted that he plans to file the charges. earlier this summer, the house voted to hold holder in contempt of congress for not turning over subpoenaed fast and furious documents. they did turn over quite a volume of documents. >> general motors is recalling more than 38,000 chevy impala police cars in the u.s. and canada. according to the automaker, a control arm in theront suspension can crack and cause the driver to lose control. gm says it doesn't know of any injures caused by the problem yet and the impalas made for the public are not affected because they have different suspension parts. >> the "uss porter" hit a tanker early sunday in the persian

gulf. photos released by the military show a large dent on the side of the missile destroyer. officials say the collision was not combat related. >> wikileaks says web attacks have slowed or shut down its site for more than a week now. the group says it's been hit with denial of service attacks which work by flooding a website with bogus traffic. wikileaks says it's been overwhelmed by thousands of different internet addresses. and next stop, rio. london promised a party and it delivered. the spice girls, george michael, annie lennox, the who, ray davies, even an apassenger by monty python great eric idle. in a new twist, the 10,000 athletes entered the stadium through the stands high-fiving spectators as they made their way to the field. the u.s. topped the medal couldn't the with the most total, 104 and the most golds, 46. >> on to rio.

"the bourne legacy" topping the box office. taking in $43.3 million in ticket sales. it's the fourth film of the spy franchise that previously starred matt damon. it's grossed more than $1 billion overall. the comedy, the campaign took second, knocking "the dark knight rises" to third. >> do you play the lottery. >> when it gets to be $300 million. >> the fever is spreading. wednesday's powerball jackpot swelling to $305 million. >> i'm in! >> that is after no one matched all six numbers in saturday night's multistate draw. we're all in here. they'll take home a cool million dollars each for matching five numbers. >> not a bad day. >> terrell owens playing up his bad-boy image and shocking his new teammates. the awkward moment he created on his first day, just ahead.

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all right. welcome back to "early start," everyone. it is 53 minutes after the hour. i'm john berman along with zoraida sambolin. we're taking a look at what is trending on the internet this morning. >> trending really high. mckayla maroney shows she's a good sport by embracing the internet name after she took silver in the olympics. >> she tweet this photo of herself along with her teammates by a pool. hopefully we'll see that. you're seeing the photos that people have photo shopped and put on tumbler. this she put up. they're by a pool. what they're saying, mckayla maroney not impressed. i think it's funny.

you think she's grumpy. >> smile at the podium. this is a spectacular moment for you and for us. >> at least she's being a good sport about people not being happy with her. >> on the subject of strange senses of humor, the newest as a result seahawk, terrell owens is already punking his teammates. they pull off an elaborate prank. first carroll called owens up to introduce himself to his new team with a heartfelt story. >> he's giving a speech about how he's already angry with his new team. he was promised jersey 81 which currently belongs to another player, golden tate. keep listening.

in the end pete carroll and owens left everyone in on the joke. it was just a big joke. let's hope they're better at football than they are at comedy. >> no kidding. >> one of their teammates clint

grisham tweeted, wow, that was the most awkward moment ever, so glad it was a joke. congressman paul ryan taking up his first big campaign duties today. he's hitting a swing state and flying solo. will he be able to convince voters he's vp material? a live report, top of the hour. ♪ [ female announcer ] life is full of little tests, but bounty basic can handle them. in this lab demo, bounty basic is stronger than the leading bargain brand. everyday life. bring it with affordably priced bounty basic. [ thunk ] sweet!

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paul ryan ready to hit the road. mitt romney's new running mate flying solo on the campaign trail with democrats sharpening their knives and ready to go on the attack. tracking tropical storm

hector, it is moving in the pacific and clocking in at 40-mile-per-hour winds. saudi arabialans to put more women to work by creating a business zone exclusively for women. it is a real life no man's land. >> it's an interesting story. >> it really is. >> good morning and welcome to "early start," i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. america gets up close and personal with paul ryan starting today. mitt romney says he's very happy with his new running mate and ryan seems moved by the appointment. at one point he teared up with emotion during a stop in wisconsin. last night on "60 minutes", he said romney has been battling on an uneven playing field for too long. >> going to help him win the race for the american place. we're going to split up more often thanot and double our efforts. to me, it was one against two.

now it's two against two. we're going to redouble our efforts and bring a message to the country, here's how you get the country back on track. >> president obama leaves chicago to kick off a three-day bus tour across iowa. and vice president biden is in durham, north carolina. ryan will make his first solo appearance in the iowa state fair and romney makes two stops in florida. that is where we find cnn's national political correspondent, jim acosta, joining us live from saint augustine where a reenergied mitt romney will take the stand in a little while. >> reporter: that is something we saw all weekend long. basically there was a change in mitt romney that we saw almost immediately after he made the selection of paul ryan. he was looser with reporters and chatting with us on the campaign

plane crisscrossing into north carolina on saturday. then i think what the campaign has been saying, what mitt romney and paul ryan have been saying, they like the way they changed what the debate is about. they've been talking about personal attacks on mitt romney's business experience, now they feel they have a campaign that will be on issues, even some of the issues and proposals from paul ryan are somewhat controversial, this talk of partially privatizing medicare and now they hav adopted some kind of version of that proposal as their own. it is something they'll be taking into the fall campaign. john and zoraida, the campaign also likes the visuals coming from the ticket. they like the fact they have a generation x vice presidential candidate with a young family and arranging a photo show with "people" but you mentioned a few moments ago they will be

splitting up and sort of trying to tag team the president and joe biden from different states at the same time and we saw them parting company, parting ways on an airport tarmac in wisconsin. they shook hands and went on their separate planes. nfs after what was a very emotional home coming for paul ryan in his home state of wisconsin. he teared up about this event talking about his family and his rise to this position. >> i'm fifth generation from this state. my family came here back in the 1800s, made a go of it. it's where we've all raised our families ever since. this is such a phenomenal place to live, to work, to raise your family. my veins run with cheese,

bratwurst and a little spot of -- and some miller. >> now the spotted cow, the linies and miller, i'm sure john berman, i think those are all beer references, john. home brewed beers from the state of wisconsin. we got a reference to that from paul ryan. but make no mistake, this is going to be a bare knuckle campaign. you heard david axelrod refer to paul ryan as a right wing ideologue. basically the president had to say, we respect paul ryan and definitely disagree on the issues. mitt romney goes down to miami later today where he'll be campaigning with marco rubio. >> by the way, my research does say that you are correct, about that wisconsin beer. thanks very much. enjoy your day in florida.

>> i want to bring in ron brownstein. ron, you've been writing about something that democrats have sort of been talking about from before ryan was even picked. the title is, why ryan could make a romney victory harder. >> he clears brings a lot of assets, dynamic and articulate and intellectual leader of conservatives. his budget plan has galvanized conservatives more than anything since the tax cuts in the '70s. the modern gop coalition as we've talked about, john, is much more dependent then it used to be on both blue collar own older voters. while they are very dubious of transfer programs and don't like welfare and food stamps and anything seen as transferring income from people who work who they say is not working.

they are much more supportive of middle class entitlements. he has never been able to generate support for his proposal which the house approved twice to convert medicare, in part because it faces large opposition from the same blue collar and older whites that mitt romney will need commanding margins upon come november. >> you've written about the changing demographics and we've been talking recently about the rising minority vote in this country. does paul ryan do anything to address that for the republican ticket? >> i think not. look, by and large, the republicans have a number of problems with minority vote. 80% voted for barack obama in '08. polls show he's on track to do that again. by and large, minority voters are more receptive to the safety net. they should more support for the safety net than white voters, particularly post '08.

this is really more a pick about mobilizing that conserve -- consolidating the conservative support among whites who are skeptical of government spending in general than it is about reaching out. paul ryan is not a reaching out kind of pick, more of a galvanizing kind of pick. >> there's amazing pictures with great energy on the trail between romney and ryan. you're a presidential historian and been covering campaigns since fdr as we talked about last week. will we still be talking about paul ryan of every minute of every day on september 15th? >> short answer is not every minute of every day. won't be talking about paul ryan. but the plan will matter. in the end, of course, this is going to be fundamentally about the candidates on the ticket. the vice presidential picks always fade in importance. the romney side has accepted a gauntlet that obama wanted hem to pick up.

for the first eight months he tried to structure this campaign as a retrospective referendum believing most people believe america has been on the wrong check. obama wanted to convert this into a forward looking choice. by secretaryilecting paul ryan, level not seen since 1950, romney has accepted that a con instruct in which the choice element might loom larger than a nondescript vice presidential nominee. >> always great to have you here. ron brownstein. rescue operations end in northwest iran after two strong earthquakes kill 300 people. the semiofficial agency reporting another 3,000 injured.

11 aftershocks followed. the deputy interior minister saying 110 villages damaged and major monuments. people were asked to spend the night outdoors as a safety precaution. billy graham is alert and in good spirits. he has been battling a poultull monetary infection believed to be bronchitis. no date is set for discharge. a ceremony of cleansing and rebirth. a sikh temple resumed services exactly one week after a gunman open fire killing six people, including the temple president. his son saying in his word, a coward tried to cause a race war but ended up uniting people. the gunman killed himself after being wounded by police. we're keeping a close watch on tropical storm hector. it is clocking in maximum winds

at 40 miles per hour. right now the storm is far off the coast of mexico. will that change? rob marciano joins us live. where is hector headed and could it gain strength? >> it could. it's heading further off the coast of mexico. there's a couple of other areas that might develop into something. you can see on the satellite picture falling apart. here's the forecast track from the national hurricane center. hikely continuing to head oilt to sea. closer to home, we're looking at heat advisories for the desert southwest. we had record highs across phoenix and tucson and palm springs as well. this is the kind of year where they do get humidity. it's not the dry heat we often talk about. severe thunderstorms potentially across the midsection. we're see being cool rains across the country. forecast high for chi-town, 86. good looking day in new york.

>> starting to feel like fall these days. >> football season. >> that's true. >> it's the season of sports. next stop, rio, london promised to party and boy did it deliver. the spice girls, george michael, annie lenox and appearance by monte python great eric idle. we're going to take you live to london for more on the finale. a workplace staff with women only. >> i like that idea. >> saudi arabia is backing plans for female only firms and say the plan would put more women to work and protect islamic world. we'll explain in a full report just ahead. at purina one,

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cnn's nic robertson joins us. why do officials feel the need to create this special zone? >> reporter: what it does do, it sets down that men and women cannot work in the same place side by side. if you want to employ the half of your population that are women, you need to give them somewhere to do that. right now when you look at the statistics saudi arabian, only 15% are employed. united emirates, 60% are employed. malaysia, 50% of the population, almost of the female population are employed. what saudi arabia has done in the past is produce a lot of female graduates, but when you look at the unemployed women in saudi arabia, 80% are graduates. tiny handful that do manage to get jobs end up in the education

sector and 90% are employed in the government sector and 85% in education. what happens? those that can't find jobs leave the country or stay at home dissatisfied. this addresses a deep-rooted problem in saudi arabia that women can't find anywhere to get in the work space. this provides a solution for that. >> in the saudi way. are they getting any assistance in setting up the businesses? >> well, what's happening a government body trying to establish a city where there will be businesses up to 50 different businesses, men and women can bid to run the businesses. but in the women run business areas. it will be women only. that's about -- well they are expecting perhaps strs 5,000 jobs and investment of $130 million, hoping to rep my

indicate this in other cities. female employment is slightly better in the capital. so for the saudis, you've got to look at this from where they are coming from is what their officials say. and that is, they want change, they want more women in the workplace but can't break the laws and do it quickly because it's a conservative country and plenty of people would like to shut them down quickly if they tried to do that. >> i suppose baby steps better than no steps at all. nic robertson, thank you. >> paul ryan is hitting the road solo today. the congressman will be campaigning on his own in des moines, iowa. ryan enjoyed a enthusiastic welcome in his home state of wisconsin, wiping tears before taking the stage to thank supporters. gabby giffords is back home after 19 months after being shot

from a political event. they moved back to tucson yesterday, they say permanently. she had been spending her time in houston in rehab. her husband, mark kelly, tweet,ing, gabby has been waiting for this day for a long time. the police responded appropriatery when they fatally shot a knife wielding man near times square. it happened in broad daylight over the weekend. 51-year-old darius kennedy threatened officers with an 11-inch knife and repeatedly resisted attempts to arrest him. stocks are set to fall today. what's driving the slowdown on wall street and what it means for you, coming up next.

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we are minding your business this morning. stocks are set to fall today. a new report could drive trading. sales can be declining quickly because worried americans haven't been shopping that much. >> gamers delight, an oldie but goody could be coming back. the popular game pit fall has a new game in the works, alison kosik is in for christine. >> you do recognize the name of the game that he created that made his name so famous, pit fall. 1982, it's the 30-year anniversary. you remember harry, used to move through the maze like jungle and

rolling logs which i would always get caught on when i would play this game. one of the best selling games and he wants to design a new game with a jungle theme with a modern twist on the old one. he says this could be produced under a million dollars, he's gone on to kick starter. he's trying to get $900,000 in funding. so far he's got $7500 in the pot. if you want to take part in this, i'm hearing, you could put in a minimum contribution of $15 and that means you could get a full version of the final game and maybe have an impact on the game as well. he hopes it comes out by the end of next year. you look excited. >> 1982, like gaming in 1982. >> $100 million apartment. what's t special? >> the view. there are 360-degree panoramic views of this $100 million apartment being listed in new york. the most expensive apartment ever listed here.

six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, the dining room set can seat 20 to 30 people. there's an elevator in there. and you wonder who's interesting and who can afford this. there are locals showing interest. foreign investors are also interested. plenty of buyers, but what you see there, that is the selling point, those views are tremendous. check this out. if we can go back to the video. tp to have the of the building is this dome. if you live in the -- the top pent house is where it is and you can control when the dome is lit up. >> there it is, play with the lights. >> we'll look at the pictures, as close as we will ever get. >> thank you very much, alison. mitt romney has picked his running mate and a lot of people are talking about it. up next, we'll talk to key members of congress from both

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the romney/ryan team is hitting the campaign trial this morning but they won't be traveling together. prominent republicans and democrats coinue to weigh in on romney's vp choice. we'll hear live from both sides in just a moment.

how one man managed to sneak past the $100 million security system at jfkirport and walk into the terminal undetected. this is not an action movie plot. pentagon scientists are right now working to build the soldier of the future, real life super men, faster and stronger than the average human today. you'll have to check that one out. welcome back. i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. is 31 minutes past the hour. mitt romney and paul ryan on the campaign trail today separately. it was a whirlwind weekend that began with the two of them joining us to announce ryan's addition to the ticket. the pair visited two swing states, including his home state of wisconsin where they were welcomed with roaring applause. romney told the crowd why he chose the congressman to be his running mate. >> i wanted someone who was a leader. leadership comes from character. this is a man who has real

character who loves america and has passion for america, who understands what it takes to get america on the right track. and this leader is going to help get america strong! >> nan hayworth, a congresswoman from new york and member of the financial services committee and romney campaign surrogate. it's dr. hayworth as well, right? >> yes. >> you know paul ryan really well. we're just getting to know him. here are a couple of highlights from the weekend. he is an extraordinary workout enthusiast, p 90-x workout. he first took office at the age of 28. we heard about the tragedy when he was a teenager and found his father dead in bed. dead of a heart attack. there are a lot of people that don't know him. as a matter of fact, there was an opinion poll that shows 54% of the people don't know who he is. you call him a friend. >> he is. >> tell us a little bit about

paul ryan. >> well, paul ryan is sincere and substantive and serious about what he does. he is deeply patriotic and he is courageous and he is principled and has presented a plan that really will fulfill the obligations we have to those most in need and those relying on our safety net. and still allow the economy to grow. that's the key to making all of our future opportunities succeed. and the programs that we depend upon succeed. we have to have an economy that grows. >> now, this is a young man, he's 42 years old. he has a ung family. give us a little glimpse on that side. >> he's very dedicated to his family. and ithink that is again an indication of his caring and his principles and the responsible nature of someone like paul ryan. he is a great friend and mentor

to members of the freshman class, one of the young guns who inspired so many of us like me, a citizen legislator to run for office. and he has been the architect of and teacher and mentor, architect of a budget plan that actually will work for the united states. >> let's talk about that budget plan because you know, there is quite a bit of unpopularity behind it. and you actually ran on the budget plan. so here are some of the details of it. it cuts nearly $6 trillion in spending, cuts tax revenues about $4 trillion. drops tax rates on wealthy and corporations to 25%. nonpartisan tax policy analysis of ryan similar to those of romney plans and says that the wealthy would get the most tax cuts and bottom 20% would pay more. what's your reaction to that? >> well, zoraida, it's crucial to uerstand that under the

current law, everybody is going to pay more, including folks in the lowest bracket. so the idea is not to make anybody pay more in taxes and it is not to burden those who can least afford to contribute to that but grow the economy so that everybody will benefit from greater revenues to the federal government, without impeding progress by having the federal government take more than we can afford to take. >> somebody everybody has highlighted. the cuts to medicare particularly and women's issues and health issues. you're a doctor, does that concern you? >> not at all. because women's concerns are the same as those of every other american, primarily, they are that we have an economy that can accommodate their needs, their family's needs and allow them to have jobs angrowth. medicare will be strengthened and stabilized by the pathway to prospect budget which we did

pass in the house of representatives in 2011 and 2012. in fact, it's to responsibly cares for those obligations that it doesn't come into full balance until 2037 because we have so much to do for medicare and social security. so it's a very responsible budget. >> congressman nan hayworth, thanks for joining us, we appreciate it. >> my pleasure. >> i want to get the democratic response and maryland congressman chris van hollen. he is a surrogate for the obama campaign. first thing i want to ask you, you have worked cloegsly with paul ryan on the budget committee. how is your working relationship? how do you get along? >> i get along very well personally with paul ryan. he is a personalable guy and we have lots of conversations. and the issue of course during the campaign here is going to be what the american people think about the plan that he's

authored because as nan said, he is the chief architect of the house republican plan. it's a very idealogical plan. it's a very right wing plan. and i think it would have terrible consequences for the vast majority of the american people. >> but it is a plan. can you illustrate to me what the obama plan is currently for medicare? >> absolutely. the president has put forward a plan that strengthens medicare. under the affordable care act, if you look at the medicare act weary's number, the obama plan extends the life of medicare. the difference is we do it in a very different way. we start to control the medicare cost rather than simply transferring those costs on to seniors. the thing about the ryan plan is it's great for people like mitt romney. in fact, roll call newspaper did an independent analysis yesterday that showed under the ryan road map, mitt romney's tax burden would go down to 1% at the same time under the ryan

budget plan. you're asking seniors who have $23,000 median income, seniors on medicare to pay much higher costs over time. whereas, what the obama plan does, is reduce the overall cost in the medicare system by changing the payment incentives in the plan. >> one of the things mitt romney and paul ryan have done, go on offense, saying the only person who proposed cuts in medicare is president obama, saying it will remove $700 billion in funding for medicare. how do you respond to that? >> i'm glad you raised this. this is the grossest of hypocrisy. what the democrat plan is make savings in meds care by getting rid of the excessive subsidies into health plans, 114% of the regular medicare plan.

it was a great bon nan za. so we got rid of that and recycled the savings into medicare benefits including what is called the doughnut hole. what's really hip critical. if you look at the ryan budget, they took every penny of the savings that were part of the affordable care act of medicare, every penny but don't recycle a single penny back into medicare. they would reopen immediately the prescription drug doughnut hole for seniors on medicare. they two require immediately seniors on medicare to pay much higher costs for preventive services and i should say the gs hthinpen immeately der the ryan t years >>quti. m a peo e have been saying is that paul ryan changes the focus of this campaign to serious issues to matter to all americans and also say what the obama team has been doing in recent weeks is focusing on the trivial, mitt romney's tax returns, the arguments from the

health care. do you think there's any truth, any merit in the argument that the obama team has been moving this campaign away from issues that really matter to the american people? >> no, in fact what the president has been talking about is the fact that his jobs plan has been sitting in front of the house republican representatives since last september. we haven't had a single vote on his most recent jobs initiative. we had 36 votes in the house to repeal obama care to repeal affordable care act but not one -- i would say the romney tax returns are very relevant because they do go the to heart of this issue. i mentioned that fall ryan's plan would give mitt romney a huge tax break. now, who pays for that? if you're serious about long-term deficit reduction, the way you have to make that up is by culting everyone and everything else like education. this does present very clear choices to the american public and i look forward to the debate.

>> chris van hollen, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. a security system that coast $100 million. how did a man get through it undetected at one of the nation's busiest airports? the report straight ahead. [ female announcer ] quaker yogurt granola bars. they're whole grain good...

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top of the morning to you, atlanta. look how lovely your city looks. 62 degrees, later 89 and mostly sunny. >> welcome back to "early start." it is 44 minutes after the hour, i'm john berman. >> the 2012 -- we'll get you up to date with the morning top stories first.

>> regime forces publicly executing 10 people in damascus this morning. at least 33 people have been killed across the country so far today. government snipers are preventing people from retrieving the bodies of the victims. state-run tv has blamed terrorists for the attacks. the queen of the indiana state fair, one of five people injured when a stage coach overturned. she was riding on top of the stage coach next to the driver when it tipped over yesterday. all of the injuries are nonlife threatening. look at the pictures. the accident coming one day before the one-year anniversary of a stage collapse at the fair that killed seven people. >> so much for the $100 million security system at jfk airport. it seems the perimeter intrusion detection system is no match for a jet skier from queens. he broke down swimming three miles to shore then climbed the

airport's 8-foot perimeter fence and crossed two separate runways and walked into terminal three, all of this undetected. he was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing but only after he approached an airline worker and asked for help. the port authority is in charge of security at jfk and says it is looking into the incident. chad johnson is now a former miami dolphin. the team announcing it has terminated the wide receiver's contract after he was arrested at his florida home for allegedly head butting his newlywed wife. he married evelyn lasada of "basketball wives." he was asking about a receipt for condoms that she found when he grabbed her and head butted her causing a laceration. johnson tells police lasada head butted him.

>> scientists are researching gene manipulation to build the soldier of tomorrow. they are hoping to create troops who will one day be able to run at olympic speeds -- this is like captain america, all of this without requiring food or sleep or long periods of time. it was revealed to the sunday express and he said he was allowed behind the scenes and access to the defense department's advanced research products agency. >> it's the plot of captain america. >> soledad joins us with what's ahead on "starting point." >> i'm happy to be back. we'll talk about the vp pick, paul ryan happened while i was off, breathing new life into romney's presidential campaign. democrats are pouncing on the choice. who is paul ryan and what does he stand for we'll have an all-star lineup this morning, we've got congressman randy forbes, a republican governor bob mcdonnell from virginia and

former press secretary to president bush, area fleischer is our guest. jack march kel and chris van hollen and debbie wasserman shultz all stopping by this morning. musical madness, the london olympic games close in style. it was a fun end i thought. it is on to rea i donio. we'll talk to peekaboo street. and "sparkle" opens this week, the big screen appearance of the late singer, whitney houston, her last performance. spiritual leader turned film leader will be our guest this morning. all of that after the short commercial break and i'll see you at the top of the hour.

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welcome back, it is 51 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. one critic says ryan's proposal would end medicare as we know it and others suspect it would kauds mitt romney challenges with senior citizens. he addressed questions in a joint interview sunday on cbs. >> paul ryan and i have talked about is saving medicare, is providing people greater choice in medicare making sure it's there for current seniors, no changes for current seniors or those nearing retirement, but looking for young people down the road saying we're going to give you a bigger choice. >> elizabeth cohen joins us. everyone is talking about medicare and so-called ryan plan. put meat on the bones for us. what does medicare look like now

and how doespaul ryan want to change it. >> medicare right now is a federally funded program run by the federal government. it is very popular with seniors and what the ryan plan says is this, starting in 2023, seniors can stay with medicare the way it is now or get a voucher from the federal government and use that voucher to buy a policy from a private insurance company. now, if that policy happens to cost more than what the voucher is for, the senior citizen would have to pay that money himself or herself. if the policy cost less, then that senior citizen could pocket the money. >> the number of the criticism seems to be health care costs are rising faster than the amount that the vouchers will be. is that the only criticism of the plan or are there others as well? >> you got it. that's one of the big criticisms and senior citizens would have to pay for that on their own. there's another sort of more complex criticism. and this is it. it's that if medicare -- if in

plan were to go into function, what would happen is that wealthiest, healthier senior citizens would opt for private plane and that would leave poor unhealthy citizens in traditional medicare and that's not financially sustainable. medicare would run out of money. >> the argument the democrats are make it would break medicare overall. one of the things to remember, paul ryan is not first name on the ticket. it's still a romney ryan ticket even though we're talking about the ryan plan. what kind of space exists between paul ryan's plan and whatever plan mitt romney may have? >> senior advisers to romney were asked that this weekend and they were a little murky, they said on the one hand, it's the romney/ryan ticket. mr. romney will make his own decisions but on the other end they said, if the ryan plan were part of the budget, mr. romney would sign it. so it's a little bit unclear exactly how romney feels

completely about this and whether he would definitely sign off on it. >> trying to create at least some space there. elizabeth cohen, thanks so much for joining us this morning. >> 54 minutes past the hour. today's best advice comes from senator joe lieberman. he'll tell us his best way to start his morning. most efficient line of luxury hybrids on the road, including the all-new esh. ♪ while many automakers are just beginning to dabble with the idea of hybrid technology... ♪ ...it's already ingrained in our dna. during the golden opportunity sales event, get great values on some of our newest models. this is the pursuit of perfection.

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get up, feel blelgsed that you're alive. i start every day and this was in my upbringing in thanking god that i got another day and another opportunity to make the most of it. at the end of the day, look back and see where you failed and where you succeeded and have the re assuassuring confidence that you'll get up the next morning and have another day. >> i love that. >> absolutely. you'll have another day. >> hopefully you'll have another day. i like starting the day out with being thankful for the day. then with reflection at the end. we may have to take him up on that advice. >> that is "early start," i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. >> good morning, welcome, everybody, our starting point this morning, a campaign jolt, mitt romney and his new running mate, paul ryan drewing huge engized crow a