a speech which ringingly endorsed president obama and answered accusations launched at last week's republican convention. nbc's tracie potts is live for us in charlotte. she has more on this. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. he is arguably the strongest voice in the democratic party right now. last night he was right here explaining why he thinks the current president needs four more years. the democrats' most popular living president, bill clinton, making the case to re-elect barack obama. >> no one could have fully repaired all the damage that he found in just four years. >> defending health reform -- >> are we better off because president obama fought for health care reform? you bet we are. >> he attacked what he called lies about medicare cuts and welfare reform and condemned mitt romney's plan to reduce the debt and boost the economy. >> we simply cannot afford to give the reins of government to someone who will double down on trickle-down. >> in the official state-by-state vote, ohio put president obama over the top. >> all 188 votes for the president and the next president of the united states, barack obama! >> in a surprise appearance, president obama joined clinton on stage. the president speaks tonight. vice president biden did a late-night walk-through while breakdown continues at bank of america stadium. his speech and all today's events moved inside amid the threat of severe weather dampening the democrats' final day. and we're still waiting to see what changes may happen here as a result of all of that, trying to now accommodate as many as they possibly can. thousands more people than this arena can hold. lynn? >> all right. tracie potts there for us in charlotte. tracie, thank you. well, the secret service says it is investigating the reported theft of copies of mitt romney's income tax returns. and the tax documents were allegedly stolen from an accounting office in tennessee. an anonymous letter to romney's accountants asked for $1 million to prevent the tax records from being made public. the accounting company says there's no evidence that anything was taken. romney has refused to make public more than two years of his taxes. a federal judge in arizona has cleared the way for the most contentious portion of arizona's most controversial immigration law. on wednesday a u.s. district court judge refused to ban the so-called "show me your papers" provision, which requires police while enforcing other laws to question the immigration status of anyone they suspect is in the country illegally. well, the rise of insider attacks against international service members in afghanistan has led to the removal of hundreds of afghan soldiers. afghan authorities say they are re-evaluating personnel to help stem the attacks, which are complicating plans to train afghan soldiers before the troops withdraw in 2014. the u.s. recently stopped training about 1,000 members of the afghan local police as a result of the rise of insider violence. so far this year 45 international service members have been killed, most of them americans. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in hawaii, just horrific video that was released, and it shows a deadly jet ski collision last month. the 20-year-old australian man at the controls pleaded no contest to negligent homicide charges. and yesterday a judge freed him based on time already served. in new jersey video from a police car camera shows officers saving an 86-year-old man from the burning wreckage of a car. the officers can be seen dragging the victim to safety after risking their own lives to free him. one suffered second-degree burns. >> in louisiana, humans are not the only victims of hurricane isaac. about a thousand head of cattle are stranded in the lower plaquemines parish. efforts are being made to round up the herd. more than a hundred have already been shipped out of the area. in alabama, oil has been turning up on the surf. the 13 mile stretch of beach from alabama to louisiana has been closed for clean up. and, finally, in florida there is a massive invasion of giant african snails. more than 78,000 have already been scooped up. they can grow up to 8 inches and can eat more than 500 different plants along with the stucco on the sides of homes. authorities say it could take years to stop the snails. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. >> random, huh? >> and totally gross. >> well, yesterday at this time up in alaska, a big wind event was taking place. in total about 50,000 people lost power. those numbers most have been returned, but quite a wind event. usually in anchorage a lot of the mountains kind of block the winds so it was rare for the valley flor or to get winds lik that. many areas will be cloudy today with a chance of rain. the temperatures are starting to drop as the amount of sunlight goes down as we get ready for the winter season. not bad, juneau about 56. as far as the forecast for the west, yesterday we did see showers in central california. some area hadn't seen rain in weeks got a few drops. clear skies in southern california this morning. so as warm air conditions, this area of low pressure coming down through montana, this is kind a big pattern change the middle of the country was waiting for, so much cooler air is going to arrive in the middle of the nature including areas like texas, they'll drop to the 80s. the front moves through areas like billing, but no relief whatsoever. we'll stay warm and dry it looks like through much of oregon to in the low 70s. and dry weather returning for the weekend. coming up, euro stimulus fever, a new phone gets no buzz, and shoes with soul make legal history. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, kim lays down the law. what kim kardashian reportedly says will have to happen before she'll marry kanye. coming up, a hit parade in our nation's capital, the end of the line for andy roddick, and the cowboys knock out the champs. you're watching "early today." good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. two people were killed in a powerful earthquake that shook costa rica wednesday, registering a magnitude 7.6, causing cracks in buildings and other damage. in france it took only a few second for the demolition of a 14-story structure in a paris suburb. but the crowd that watched got a surprise when the wind shifted and it carried thick dust in their direction, sending many running. >> in russia, endangered cranes got a helping had from russia president vladimir putin. he wore a baggy white suit and helmet to fly in a motorized light airplane to lead the cranes on their migration route. and a viral video from canada shows a mother duck and her eight ducklings trying to cross five lanes of highway near toronto. they dodged cars and they waited for trucks to pass, and some of the ducklings were even sent flying when the vehicles got too close. after a heart-stopping trip that took more than a minute, they miraculously arrived safely on the other side. and now here's an early look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,047 after adding 11 points yesterday. the s&p was down a point. the nasdaq lost 5. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei was up a fraction while in hong kong the hang seng gained 64. ahead of today's crucial european central bank meeting, investors held off on any big moves wednesday. expectation european policymakers will introduce a bond-buying plan to bring down crippling borrowing costs in hard-hit eurozone economies may have boosted optimism, but still wasn't enough to get anyone to buy stocks. the euro traded just off its two-month high against the dollar in anticipation of the ecb plan. stocks opened lower with both fedex and ups falling after fedex cut its quarterly profit outlook late tuesday due to global weakness. nokia and microsoft unveiled their most powerful smartphone yet wednesday, but the new lumia failed to impress traders. nokia tumbled 16%. moving to soothe nervous investors, facebook rebounded almost 5% off an all-time low after the company promised not to sell stock to cover a nearly $2 billion tax bill. moving to soothe its own staff, facebook also said it will allow employees to cash in their stocks weeks ahead of schedule. mens warehouse quarterly results narrowly beat estimates, thanks to strong demand at its higher tuxedo rental unit. elsewhere companies got more productivity from their workers this spring than the government originally estimated. a world economic forum survey found the u.s. ability to compete on the global business stage has fallen for a fourth straight year. and, finally, a big ruling in fashion business and the law. an appeals court has ruled the bright red soles on french-wear designer christian louboutin's high-heeled shoes are so distinctive, they deserve trademark protection. us ladies do love those shoes. well, coming up a nationals slugfest, an a's gets nailed in the noggin, and the u.s. open tennis quarterfinals. plus, the cowboys upset the reigning champions in last night's nfl season opener. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and we're finally forecasting some changes in the middle of the country. we're going to get rid of those hot temperatures. that's coming up. you're watching "early today." good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports the dallas cowboys upset the defending champion new york giants last night in the nfl season opener. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the nfl kicked off the regular season last night, but the super bowl champs were late to the dance. we go to new york. phil simms and other giants greats on hand to celebrate new york's fourth super bowl championship. tony romo and the cowboys crashed that party in the second quarter. hit kevin ogletree in the end zone, and dallas was up 7-3 at the half. we go to the third. more ogletree, please. romo, 40 yards to his new favorite receiver. the champs were on the ropes. dallas up, 14-3. then in the fourth, on first and 30, no problem for romo. jump ball for miles austin. he hauled it down and went 34 to the house. giants scored late, but it didn't matter. the cowboys foiled the champs' night with a 24-17 win. tennis, fourth round of the u.s. open was the end of the line for andy roddick. rode off into the sunset after losing to juan martin del potro. roddick won the first set tie-break. then the argentine slowly took over. match point after a short rally. roddick's return was long. an emotional end for one of the great american tennis players with his wife brooklyn decker looking on. andy struggled to hold back the tears. he ended his 13-year career on the same court where he won his only grand slam in 2003. roger federer's u.s. open is over. he was upset by thomas berdych. serena williams advanced with a straight set win. scary moment in baseball. happened in the angels/a's game. brandon mccarthy hit in the side of the head by a come-backer. immediately went down. he was dazed and, as you can imagine, confused. mccarthy sat on the grass for several minutes -- who would blame him -- left the game, taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons. he's all right, but he's going to have a huge headache in the morning. the angels won it, 7-1. finally, the hit parade has been rolling through washington, d.c. the nationals belted six home runs tuesday, another six yesterday. bryce harper with a pair. the nats, deep six the cubs, 9-1. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, why britney spears can't be like kim kardashian, and the actress whose driving record is giving lindsay lohan a run for her money. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, it's all happening at the democratic national convention, but not all the action is taking place inside the arena. you're watching "early today." welcome back to "early today." we're watching a strong cold front heading down through montana and northern idaho. 87 in portland. middle of the summer like p temperatures. still very warm in the desert southwest. salt lake city 89. and you're now working on your second hottest summer all-time. and for friday, 90 in portland. like beach weather. go to the pool. if you're watching us on news channel 21, get up close to lizards and scorpions at the high desert museum. and that's your pacific event of the day. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. well, britney spears says she couldn't be kim kardashian. she told "elle" she won't put up with daily pressure to look glamorous. spears loves her jeans and sweats and says it's really hard for her to be hair and makeup-ready every time she goes out of the house. well, speaking of kardashian, "ok" magazine reports she's given kanye west a wedding ultimatum. the magazine claims kardashian told west she won't marry him until she's worth $50 million. she's currently worth about $38 million. he's reportedly worth a hundred. well, kardashian's ex kris humphries is being accused of having an affair that may have taken place while married to kardashian. humphries' lawyer denies the allegation, claiming the woman making them demanded $24 million to stay quiet. >> and, finally, actress amanda bines will face charges for not one but two hit-and-run accidents. that is in addition to a dui charge after she sideswiped a police car in april. something tells me she'll be grounded. >> maybe behind some bars. >> we'll see about that. >> don't let me be the judge. and this comes to us from charlotte, north carolina, where the best show in town may not be inside the halls of the national democratic convention but outside. traffic officers on loan from georgia to deal with all the visitors had decided to get a little creative, showing off their moves. they're literally dancing to the beat of the streets as they get local commuters and delegates on their way. they have some serious moves. it includes tributes to michael jackson's "thriller" music video as well as swiveling their hips just like elvis. >> you have to be careful what you order. >> true. is that dancing or just an isolated incident? >> you have to imagine they knew what they were getting. >> everyone's enjoying it. >> i'm not complaining. >> i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. it's slim pickings for house hunters in poland. architects are claiming the newest home in warsaw is the slimmest property in the world. measured 4 feet at its widest and 2 feet at its narrowest, the owner may have trouble even flipping an egg in there. the creator says he wanted the house to be restricting, something he looks to have accomplished. in england one super serpent has a visit to the vet. so if you thought it was tough to get your kids to a doctor's appointment, try this 23-foot-long python, which required the aid of seven keepers for its annual checkup. it weighs almost 200 pounds and is considered one of the largest in the country. and, finally, in south korea, why wait for halloween for some horror. thrill seekers spent the night in a faux village dressed as ghosts as they roam around at will. ooh, that's scary. and instead of celebrating all things spooky during the fall, south koreans believe a good scare is a good way to keep cool during the summer heat. i don't understand that theory. have you ever done one of those things at a theme park where it turns into a haunted house? have you done that? >> about once. never happened again. how about you? >> i did it once. i didn't care for it either. >> you're just as big a sissy as i am. >> more. it's time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. jury selection begins in a federal corruption trial against former detroit mayor kwame kilpatrick. kilpatrick and three others, including his father, are charged with extortion, fraud, threats, bribery, and obstruction of justice. if convicted, the four defendants face 20 years in prison. in los angeles country music crooner vince gill will be honored with a star on the hollywood walk of fame. gill's star will be placed next to his wife, singer amy grant. happy birthday to actress and "saturday night live" alum jane curtin who turns 65 today. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and more as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. in a "today" exclusive, president obama's sister and the first lady's brother give an inside look at the obama family, and actress eva longoria previews the speech she is scheduled to give at tonight's democratic national convention. and now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," st your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. have a good one.