this morning on "early today" -- divide and conquer. mitt romney and paul ryan take on president obama. snap attack. a live alligator show in ohio goes terribly wrong. nasa's curiosity rover send back a photo ofs of a strangely familiar terrain. >> announcer: this is "early today" for monday, august 13, 2012. hello and good morning. today we begin with running mates. after a weekend of being side by side, mitt romney and his newly minuted vp pick paul ryan will be campaigning solo until the republican convention. the two drew huge crowds in ryan's home state of wisconsin after making a pit stop in north

carolina sunday morning. nbc's brian mooar reports. >> reporter: mitt romney took his new running mate for a test drive in nascar country. >> you know what, north carolina, we can do better than this. help is on the way. >> reporter: and if these overflow crowds in north carolina are any indication, republicans are embracing paul ryan as romney's vice presidential pick. the house budget committee chairman and powerful wisconsin congressman has become the big draw on the campaign trail. he's the last missing chess piece in the 2012 presidential race. >> i'm so proud to have him on our team and to make sure we take back america. >> reporter: ryan has given a much needed well-timed shot in the arm to a romney campaign that seemed stuck in low gear. >> we will get this country back on the right track. >> reporter: in chicago, president obama welcomed ryan to the race. >> congressman ryan is a decent

man. he is a family man. he is an arctic lack spokesman for governor romney's vision. but it's a vision that i fundementally disagree with. >> reporter: brian mooar, nbc news, washington. overseas now. syrian activists and rebels are renewing their call for a no-fly zone to counter president bashar assad's increasing air attacks. it came a day after hillary clinton discussed with turkey a number of oppositions. no decisions were made. as syrian jets attacked areas in and around aleppo, the country's large's city on sunday. two bomb attacks were reported in damascus. president mohammed morsi made the surprise move yesterday to order the retirement of the defense minister and chief of staff and commanders of the navy, air defense and air force.

he canceled the military declared constitutional amendments that gave top generals wide powers. morsi also swor worry in a new defense minister and appointed a pro reform judge as new vice president. a navy ship is in port dubai after colliding with a oil tanker. the ship was left with a gaping ten foot by ten foot hole in the starboard side after the accident. they say the porter can still operate on its own. they say the cause of the accident was being investigate. there were no injuries. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in ohio an alligator hammil allr is recovering after the animal he showed bit down on his arm.

children were among those who watched in horror for 21 seconds until the reptile released its grip. in florida crime is all in the family surveillance video shows what deps say was a mom and son theft ring. they allegedly stole more than $1 million worth of merchandise for stores nationwide for more than a decade. they say they used big bocks meant for cheaper items to hide more expensive goods. near phoenix this year's epic drought may be to blame for the massive dust clouds. winds up to 40 miles an hour powered it and had roads should down while it blew through. in california if you thought flying could be a chore try pulling the plane. race teams competed to see who could pull an airbus jet the fastest. they raised $75,000 for the special olympics.

and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc's meteorologist bill karins. >> welcome. >> good to be here with you. >> did you have a good weekend? >> great weekend. >> wasn't bad around the country. >> nice. humidity and heat, par fort course. >> tail end of summer. a lot of people going back to school in the southern half of the country. a pretty simple forecast. nothing in the tropics to worry about. only a couple weeks now from the peak of the hurricane season the beginning of september. if we have nothing to worry about now, count our blessings. areas of rain and we'll be tracking a few cold fronts and that's good because we won't be talking about any blistering heat waves. we have a lot of drought conditions but a little rain perform some of the rain in your area, essentipecially through illinois deal deal with rain and texas and even into areas of new mexico. a few spots on a cold front here. stronger storms in arkansas this morning. just a shield of light rain has moved through the state of

illinois. that's really about it. otherwise it's been a pretty tranquil weekend. temperatures today still warm. if not hot around d.c., 90 degrees. in the areas in new england even will still be in the 80s but humidity will be down. a lot of thunderstorms throughout the southeast. not bad today through the carolinas and georgia. storms in florida will continue. the only areas that continue to be unusually hot, especially most of texas, back through arizona and even interior california. that's about it. as i mentioned, besides the cool, cloudy weather heading through illinois and areas into indiana, it's a rather nice monday morning. that's a look at your national forecast. here's a look at the weather outside your window. tampa, florida, along with the rest of florida, your typical afternoon thunderstorms, but memphis, tennessee, you could see an afternoon storm as the storm system and cold front try to head through. still pretty warm day in oklahoma. overall, looks like a quiet week

weatherwise. >> nice summer. >> no complaint from me. >> me either. gas prices soar, tablet prices heat up and retail therapy to cure your case of olympic withdrawal. plus, what goes up must come down. "the dark knight's" rise at the box office ends. a sparkling debut for andrew luck. chad johnson's nfl career is in jeopardy. quite possibly, the catch of the year. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." and here are some of your top headlines this morning. morning 5,000 people injured in deadly earthquakes in iran over the weekend are crowding hospitals today. more than 300 people were killed in the quakes that affected more than 1,000 villages, 20 of which were completely destroyed.

london was hit by its worst fire in years as a blaze broke out at a recycling center. fortunately, there were no injuries. the fire sent a plume of smoke into the air but more than 200 firefighters were able to contain the flame with no affects on the olympic's closing ceremonies about seven miles away. here at home the powerball jackpot has grown to $305 million for wednesday's drawing after no one hit all six numbers in saturday night's drawing. five winners did get $1 million for matching five numbers each and power ball officials expect a surge in ticket sales new from mars the curiosity rover sent back to earth i first high resotion color mosaic of the environment around its landing site. it shows a death valley-like landscape including the areas the rover will be exploring in days to come. it will be getting a brain transplant in stages over the days. the software yup daupdate.

a look at top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study finds drug that lower cholesterol may cloer risk for cancer. those who took statin had a lower risk of cancer, by 31%. statins cut the risk of heart disease and stroke and the disk of rhett from the flu and pneumonia. for stories like this and others check out the health page on msnbc.com. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the d opens at 13,207 after gaining 42 points friday. the s&p was up 3. the nasdaq added 2. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo the nikkei lost six point while in hong kong the hang seng fell 54. and september's market curse looms ahead, stocks could continue to climb during the d

days of summer. this weethe consumer takes center stage with earnings from home depot, walmart and the gap. invsters will get an update on how much americans are spending. other important data on deck includes consumer and producer inflation numbers and more updates on the housing market. overseas asian markets struggled to make head way this morning after news japan's economy grew at a slower than expected rate inhe second quarter thanks in part to the effects of europe's debt crisis. in china occupy protesters in hong kong learn they'll have to relocate by the end of the month after a judge ruled hsbc has the right to clear activists out of a public space below the bank's headquarters. atm marker ncr says it's investigating u.s. embargoes in syria through a subsidiary. here at home the latest lundberg survey find the nation saw the two biggest two-week gas price hike this year with the

cost of regular jumping 18 cents to an average $3.69 a gallon. back to school season has barnes & noble slashing prices on nook tablets as it battles amazon's kindle fire. if you're suffering from olympic withdrawal, maybe owning a piece of london 2012 history will help. that's right. more than a million items, everything from bean bag chairs to night stands from the athletes' village are up for sale online. a runaway victory at pga championship and he already dropped the last name ochocinco but he may be losing the number. one blue jay takes flight and robs a home run. urly morning sports headlines arstraight ahead. a quiet start to the work week forecast. but tuesday i'll let you know coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sport, as summer wind down, major league teams are gearing up for the hunt for october and a hot at playoff baseball. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headline. good morning. with the olympics now over, the focus turns to america's pastime, baseball phillies and cards, tied in the 11th, one on for juan pierre, grounded to short but furcal can't gun him

down and phillies with an 8-0 win. josh hamilton with his third homer in the last four games. rangers cage the tigers 8-3. san francisco, hunter pence hit higz first home run with the giants caps off a five-run eighth with a three-run blast. giant rally to beat the rockies 9-6. golf when rorycmcilroy wins, he win big. tiger woods finished tied for 1 19. chad johnson's nfl career is likely over. the dolphins cut the wide receiver after he was arrested on a domestic battery charge. according to reports a classic case of he said/she said, johnson's wife said chad head-butted her. he claim the two accidentally knocked heads. one thing for sure ochocinco's time in miami is over. andrew luck's career is off to a propsing start. a touchdown on his first ever

nfl pass, donald brown's 63 yards to the house. colts beat the rams 38-3. finally, back to baseball for what could be the catch of the year. blue jays and yankees. case mcgehee, to left. davis climb the wall. davis, 5'9", times it perfectly, using the wall as a step ladder and making the spectacular catch. that's highway robber. blue jays down the yankees 10-7. that's your look at sports on "early today." which former "friend" star is headed back down the aisle? plus, everyone has a favorite pizza. how far would you go to get it? you're watching "early today." 

welcome back to "early today." unusual morning in the ohio valley. cloudy, cool and rainy. where was this in june and july when we needed this for the crops? we'll take it. thunderstorms roll through st. louis. tail end has thunder and lightning. northern portion sliding into northern and central indiana, cloudy with a shield of light rain. maybe about a quarter to half an inch as it goes through indianapolis. not a lot of rain but it will keep those temperatures down. only in the low to mid-70s today from northern portions of indiana and illinois and southern portions of michigan. thunderstorms are possible this

afternoon down along the gulf coast. that's really one of the spots where high humidity exists. much of texas will be hot but clouds this morning and hopefully that will keep you cooler. tomorrow's forecast, the storm today near chicago and st. louis will head to the east coast. expect a rainy afternoon from d.c. to new york. if you're watching us on columbia, south carolina, see a display of titanic recently recovered and preserved treasures. titanic: the artifact exhibit. that's your early event of the day. >> fascination with titanic even all this time. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. stepping into matt damon's shoes is no small feat but renner did it topping the box office with an estimated $40.3 million, the fourth bourne movie. in second place the will

ferrell election come daycomedy campaign," and "dark knight rises" fell to the third spot after a three-week domination. in fourth place "hope springs" earning a respectable $15.6 million. finally, seven years after her marriage to brad pitt ended in divorce, 43-year-old jennifer aniston is ready to try again. a rep tells "us weekly" that her boyfriend justin theroux popped the question. no date for the nuptials. i'm sure she'll be happy not to look at tabloids how she's not lonely any more. >> but it will go right for the wedding. >> a lot of people were rooting for her to be happy. they'll welcome this news. >> it will be a big we hadding. >> yeah. it's good news for jennifer aniston.

this comes to us from whdh boston 7, there's proof you can't beat hometown cooking. even when home is more than 1500 miles away. that's why every year a mississippi man drives all the way back to the place where he new up in massachusetts to pick up pizza for his family back in the south. this year he loaded up 250 pies for his relatives and, of course, himself. last year's haul fed his family for the entire year. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. hope you had a nice weekend. very comfortable. dew points to the low 50's. the temperature is in the mid 60's in most locations. 64 in parkton. mostly sunny skies today. high temperature between 85 and 90. we will check the seven-day forecast going all the way into the weekend. >> 4:56. a look at the memorable moments from the london olympics. >> the man accused of the murder

of phylicia barnes is set to go on trial today. >> sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. we will update you on the major roads,

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. i am lisa robinson. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. a great weekend was clear skies. >> we get rid of the humidity. this is a little gem. let's look to the current conditions. 66 at the airport. the dew points are the upper 50's and low 60's. it will feel very comfortable today. a mixture of sun and clouds. a mixture of sun and clouds. we will