and good wednesday morning. coming up on "early today," breaking news in ohio. the man who kidnapped and held three women hostage for ten years is dead. we have the breaking details. international support. as president obama arrives in sweden, can he persuade other nations to join the u.s. position on syria? plus, a report al qaeda is working feverishly to stop u.s. drones. and a familiar face returns to late night. >> i've missed you so much. you don't know what it's like out there. >> we've missed you, too. "early today" starts right

now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for wednesday, september 4th. good morning to you. i'm richard lui. we start this morning with breaking news overnight out of ohio. ariel castro, the man accused of holding three women in his home for a decade has been found dead in his prison cell of an apparent suicide. our affiliate with the latest. chris? >> reporter: we have learned overnight that ariel castro has killed himself. he was found around 9:20 last night. authorities performed cpr, brought him up to a columbus-area hospital where he died around 11:00 p.m. tuesday evening. he was in protective custody, being monitored every 30 minutes in a cell all to his own. it's unclear how he did this. an investigation is under way this morning. consider how fast this has all

happened. four months ago those three women he kidnapped, raped, and tortured were still held in a home once held behind us, now replaced by a park on cleveland's westside. many are applauding, while some are questioning how there can be such a lapse in the system. again, an investigation under way as word spreads ariel castro, the man put away for 1,000 years, killed himself just weeks into his prison sentence. chris tie in cleveland, back to you. >> thank you so much, chris. the senate has reached agreement on a draft resolution for u.s. military force in syria. nbc news has obtained an advanced copy of that resolution, it would bar u.s. troops from combat operations and sets a time limit of 60 days. the president could extend 30 more days under certain conditions unless congress votes no. testimony from several top officials from the obama administration.

>> we need to send to syria and to the world to dictators and to terrorists, to allies and to civilians alike, the unmistakable message that when the united states of america and the world say never again, we don't mean some times, we don't mean somewhere, never means never. >> a refusal to act would undermine the credibility of america's other security commitments. the word of the united states must mean something. >> now the hearing was interrupted by protesters. they held signs against military intervention in syria. susan rice joining president obama at the g20 summit on thursday, but first the president will meet with nordic leaders in sweden this morning. tracie potts live in washington for us. good morning to you. what's the president hoping to accomplish here during his trip? >> beginning in sweden he's hoping to have serious discussions on climate change. he's got an energy event this

afternoon and in about an hour and a half we'll hear from president obama and the prime minister of sweden in a joint news conference. of course, what's overshadowing this entire trip there and in st. petersburg is syria and whether the president can get more international support for strikes he wants to do. great britain has said no, but president obama is scheduled to sit down with the president of france on the sidelines of this meeting. now, we are also getting a look at what's happening here on capitol hill with the senate, now hearing from secretary of state john kerry, the house will also hear from him today. and it looks like the vote is breaking down more in favor in the senate. according to "the washington post", yes and no votes as they count them now are about even with the majority 60%, or 60,

still undecided. on the house side, a lot more "no" votes and almost 100 still undecided. back to you, richard. >> tracie potts live for us there in washington with the latest. thank you so much. a key figure behind the scenes, national security adviser susan rice. key figure susan rice at the moment saying that the administration has no expectation of losing the vote in congress. rice speaking with nbc news's brian williams in an exclusive interview. take a listen. >> do you draw that bright an distinction between a death of incendiary bomb by a school, machine gun fires, and chemical weapons, which seems to be the bright line on this? >> chemical weapons, which can kill with indiscriminate abandonment, people who are innocent are employed in conflict, it is of a greater magnitude, because if terrorists get ahold of those weapons, they

can be used on a massive scale. >> president vladimir putin also speaking out on the subject of syria, saying he will consider military action. he's one of bashar al assad's greatest allies. jim live in turkey, good morning to you. what more did the president say here, vladimir putin, and what are the implications? >> hi, richard. well, these comments from vladimir putin made in an interview with the associated press, they could be another tricky feint by the president or a potential breakthrough. never before, however, has putin said he would, quote, not exclude supporting a u.n. security council resolution that would back military strikes against syria. and let's remember, that's russia's only ally in the middle east. if, and again, a big if, he can be swayed assad's forces used chemical weapons. historically, russia -- when

russia votes in favor of something on the security council, china also follows, so this could be very interesting. obama must now and hopefully he will find time on the sidelines of the g20 starting tomorrow in st. petersburg to personally make that case. still, putin also warned any military action without u.n. security council approval would be seen as an aggression. tough talk still. back to you. >> thank you so much there in turkey. "the washington post" reports on a new al qaeda drived at attacking u.s. predator drones and details how the terrorist organization is finding ways to shoot down and remotely hijack the unmanned aircraft in afghanistan. government documents reveal the u.s. has been aware of al qaeda's strategy since 2010. drones are believed to have killed thousands of suspected militants. a late summer storm in south dakota to tell you about.

lasted just a few minutes. nearly 4,000 cars, including inventory from a car dealership, were pelted with golf ball-sized hail at the sioux falls fairgrounds, smashing windshields. the cost of the damage estimated in the millions. dylan dreyer, meteorologist from nbc joins us right now. they store those things outside. that's always a risk. >> there's no cover. that's going to cause a lot of damage. our best chance of storms today is going to be in the pacific northwest, especially interior pacific northwest. right now, though, most of the country is pretty quiet. a couple heavier downpours, but those should fizzle out eastward. closer look at the west coast, things quiet down in the morning, but we'll see more heavier rain into this afternoon, and it's this area over spokane into northeastern oregon and northwestern idaho where we could end up with large

hail and damaging wind gusts, but keep in mind part of this region is dry because of recent wildfires, so if we get those heavier downpours, we could end up seeing flash flooding. because of that, we have watches in effect for parts of the interior northwest and parts of nevada, could see flooding there, as well. that's the bluff, california, sacramento looks nice, lots of sun with a high of 87. it's not a typical area where you see severe weather with the hail and threat of damaging winds, but spokane, washington, today under the gun. >> you in yellow today, you're keeping summer around. >> as long as possible, just not white. >> we'll take every day we can get. the texas national guard says no to same-sex benefits.

and the most bizarre story you'll hear today about where a prison inmate hid a gun on his body. plus, what's nasa have up its sleeve now? "early today" is back in two minutes.

now to some other stories this morning for you, the texas national guard defied the pentagon tuesday when it refused to process requests for benefits by same-sex couples. the commanding general of the texas military force wrote in a letter the texas constitution defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. here's something you don't see every day, a loaded gun was found inside the rectum of an inmate at an oklahoma prison, only because the prisoner decided to brag about his little stunt to other inmates. dennis rodman landed in north korea tuesday for his second visit this year. the former basketball star said he was looking forward to seeing his friend, kim jong-un.

>> he loves sports, he loves basketball. i guess me and him have something in common. come over here to visit him to see how he's doing, how the family's doing, and revisit the country. >> there you go. nasa has taken an old spy plane and turned it into a flying laboratory. the reason for the high-tech plane that goes as high as 70,000 feet, well, scientists want to better understand climate. experts say it isn't too early from protecting your family. the concern, 24,000 americans die each year from the flu, so the american academy of pediatrics wants parents and kids to get vaccinated as soon as flu vaccines become available and say it's better to be protected before the virus is circulating before waiting for a specific vaccine. let's take you to business. cnbc's bertha kunz joins us.

good morning, bertha. >> good morning, richard. august sales are expected to be strong for pickups and crossover suvs. auto sales are an early indicator on the state of the consumers' buying power. americans are getting less paid vacation than they were 20 years ago. the biggest decliners are for part-time workers and those at companies with less than 100 employees. and samsung reportedly plans to install security software on android phones. the move is aimed at business customers as hackers have found ways to steal corporate data off mobile devices and plans to unveil a smart watch today, getting the jump on apple's iwatch. we're expected to hear more from apple on september 10th. straight ahead for you, derek jeter's assault on the record books and the trick shot to put all other trick shots to rest. sports next.

and now let's get the latest in sports for you. the yankees' derek jeter beats a throw to first after that hit. well, that hit is career hit number 3,314, putting jeter ninth on the all-time hits list, passing hall of famer eddie collins. score tied in the ninth

inning, pittsburgh's travis snider blasts this home run. pirates take it 4-3 over milwaukee. for the first time in 20 years, pittsburgh locks up at least a .500 season. fans liking that. a's donaldson dives over the tarp, makes the catch, falls over. yeah, he gets it after that, but you know, the a's don't win that unfortunately. they lose to the rangers 5-1. he's okay, by the way. more gymnastics. diamondbacks in phoenix. who is that? olympic gold medalist does a cartwheel, then throws the first pitch. she's still got it. andy murray gets a scare, then bounces back. this shot lobbing deep, showing how he regained his game with nice shots. inside the line, it makes it, so does murray, he wins in four

sets. notre dame cannot spell. drinking cups got it wrong. look at that, fig thing irish. they'll be replaced by the next home game. maybe they can spell "go blue" by then. miami heat's lebron james is developing a sitcom. lebron won't be on the show, but he is one of the executive producers. the show will be based on his rise to stardom. you might remember the group how ridiculous, that makes dozens of trick shot videos, these are some of them, crazy baskets in unusual places and ways they've done them. the newest, in the netherlands, here it is, it is a shot from 321 feet. do they make it? they do! they are saying it's a new world record for the highest shot. they were a little happy. it took them about 62 shots to get that one in, by the way. just ahead, katie couric

gets an offer she cannot refuse. and what did jon stewart have to say about his 12-week hiatus? that's next.

good morning, welcome back. we're starting off with pretty comfortable temperatures up and down the west coast in the 60s and 70s. we will see scattered showers in storms in areas like spokane, washington, northeastern oregon and idaho, we could see stronger

storms later this afternoon. then tomorrow, just a few scattered showers, temperatures in seattle about 72 degrees, but las vegas is back to 103. we will have to keep an eye out for stronger storms this afternoon. folks might be watching this, jon stewart, he's back now. after how long? it was a 12-week hiatus here, dylan. he was directing a movie in the middle east and it was clear he needed to be reamericanized, shall we say. take a listen. >> jon, clear! >> that's hilarious. congratulations to katie couric and john molner, by the way, the two got engaged over the holiday weekend. sony pictures hopes domestic sales moves past the $100 million mark. some bad news for true blood, it will be the seventh and last season for them. no awes in the studio. aaron paul loves his character on "breaking bad,"

almost as much as we do. while eating at a restaurant, the actor left a note for his waiter, quote, stay away from mr. white and don't do meth. >> see, i don't watch "breaking bad," so that would just confuse me if i was the waiter. what does this mean, who am i supposed to be staying away from? >> of course, mr. white. jon stewart being back, isn't it great? you can take a three-month vacation, everyone is like, hey, good to have you back. >> if we disappeared for three months, what, who? >> you, they would know. i'm richard lui, this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc.

leading the news in "the denver post," naacp-kkk meeting in wyoming believed to be a first. this meeting was requested by casper's local naacp chapter while reports of kkk literature being delivered in that region. boston mayor on detroit, blow the place up and start all over. the mayor now apologizing for his remarks. they've been criticized by detroit's mayor as an unfortunate choice of words after this year's boston bombing. ariel castro has committed suicide. castro sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus 1,000 years for holding three women captive in his home for nearly a decade. we're still waiting for

confirmed responses from those three victims to what has happened. the senate reaches an agreement for u.s. military force. nbc news obtained an advance copy of that. the resolution would bar u.s. troops from combat and limit the action up to 90 days. montana judge orders a new sentencing hearing for a former teacher who received just 30 days in prison for the rape of a student. after review, appears montana law requires a two-year minimum sentence. and what a sight in peru, the violent moment a volcano erupted on monday. explosions were minor and there's no public danger, but what a picture. when technofile michael thomas tied the knot last month, he captured the moment from every angle. he built a high-resolution high glass mounted video camera. it's similar to google glass but was covert enough to go unnoticed at the altar. the camera recorded raw moments

from the groom's point of view. i wonder how she reacted to all of this video when she saw it after. honey, what's up with the camera here? >> then you look back and find the video and it's very one-sided, you know, you wish she had a pair, too. >> on their one of year anniversary, they have something to look at. officials reveal the results of the 2012 annual survey of drug use in the u.s. provides details on which prescription and illegal drugs are being used and by how many americans. robert mueller officially steps down today. mueller took office a week before the 9/11 attacks. happy birthday to beyonce knowles, 32, mike piazza turns 45, and tom watson 54. coming up, hidden camera report on how dangerous it is to buy the club drug molly. along with dylan dreier, thanks

for watching

the man who kidnapped three cleveland girls, holding them captive for more than a decade, found dead inside his prison cell. new developments overnight in the death of ariel castro. a 49ers star accused of shooting a partygoer at his south bay home. the new exclusive details. and santa clara county could be without an ambulance provider, what the current provider's saying about it's contract. a live look outside this morning. you can see the bay bridge. not the new part, but a beautiful part. light show going on now. wednesday, september 4th. this is "today in the bay." good