i'm glad you're with us. i'm randi kaye. some reaction after republican presidential hopeful mitt romney picked paul ryan to be his running mate. our political analyst acosta takes us on the road for a view of what they're calling amera's comeback team. >> reporter: mitt romney descended from the battle ship "uss wisconsin" to call for a campaign of republican arms. >> we take another step in helping to restore the promise of america. >> reporter: and there's no bigger gun in the conservative movement than the gop's vice-presidential candidate congressman paul ryan. >> wow. hey! and right in front of the "uss wisconsin," huh? >> reporter: his persona is fiscal nice delivered a message right out of train gospel. >> we won't duck the issues, we will lead. we won't blame others. we will take responsibility. >> reporter: romney campaign officials say the gop contender made his decision and called ryan on august 1st, one day after he returned from his overseas trip. the two men then met four days later when ryan accepted the offer. for the first time, campaigning as running mates across virginia they sharpen their rhetoric on the economy. >> it doesn't have to be this way. we can turn this thing around. >> reporter: but he also warned romney will soon come under attack of democrats, after all it was once ryan who laid out a blue print tore prove tight medicare for potential seniors, potential worry for older seniors. >> we're going to talk about issues and a vision for america and not drag it out in the dirt like you're seeing from the obama campaign. >> reporter: the romney campaign released an internal memo that says romney will be putting together his own plan for putting together the deficit and putting the budget on a path to blachbls but as one romney adviser described the ryan pick, this was an important pick on how the governor plans to govern as president. still, there could be a generational upside. the 42-year-old ryan who was joined on stage by his wife and small children could help the gop tickets appeal to younger voters. a campaign aide tweeting pictures of ryan's children making sandwiches and playing on the romney bus, but the day was not without its glitches. romney inadvertently introduced ryan as the man at the torch the ticket. >> join me -- [ cheers and applause ] >> join me in welcoming the next president of the united states, paul ryan. >> reporter: a mistake romney quickly corrected. >> every now and then i'm known to make a mistake. i didot make a mistake with this guy. but i can tell you this. he's going to be the next vice president of the united states. >> reporter: as it turns out president obama made the same mistake introducing joe biden four years ago. if that's the worst mishap of the day, the romney campaign will roll this out as a success. they'll go to north carolina and then paul ryan's home state of wisconsin. jim acosta, cnn, manassas, virginia. now we know the name of romney's running mate but what exactly does paul ryan bring to the ticket? that's one of the questions i'll ask our republican strategist. you can hear his answer coming up in a few minutes at 6:15 eastern time. some anxious families here in the u.s. right now are waiting to find out what has happened to their loved ones in iran. a third quick hit northwest iran today one day after two powerful quakes rocked the region. at least 250 people were killed. iran's ministry says thousands were injured. saturday's quake and dozens of aftershocks destroyed four villages and another 60 are badly damaged. buildings are in ruins. telephone lines are down and cell phone services are not working in some of the areas. rescue teams are combing through the rubble, of course, looking for anyone who may have been trapped. the u.s. and turkey joining forces in case the embattled syrian regime falls. in istanbul secretary of state hillary clinton said they'll start up a joint team to share in information planning. they're starting a military aide for refugees fleeing the civilian war. she said the number one goal is to hasten the end of the the bloodshed and syrian regime. back here at home first lady michelle obama made a surprise visit to the colorado hospital to meet the victims of last month's shooting victims. she personally thanked the doctors, nurses and emergency room staffers who treated the survivors. 12 were hurt and dozens injured after james holmes opened fire at the midnight screening of the new batman movie. it will likely be another emotional day in oak creek, wisconsin. they're holding their first sunday services since a gunman killed six people there one weekly ago. he then turned the gun on himself. to honor the shooting victims, candlelight vigils are taking place across the country including one across interest from the white house tonight. after more than two weeks of intense competition and new world records the london olympics will come to a close later today. london will hand the games over to the next host city, rio de janeiro in the closing ceremony. now in last night's big moment usain bolt lead the 400-meter relay. the team finished in less than 37 seconds. the u.s. took second. canada was in third but was disqualified when a runner stepped out of a lane. so turin bad and toe bagtoebago the bronze. we'll have a full report on today's events in just about a half an hour. chad johnson is in jail on a domestic violence charge. he's accused of head-butting his wife last night. he married her last month. the two started arguing in the car when she found a receipt for condoms and johnson claims they accidentally butted heads. this next story has a whole lot of people talked. it's a story of a man who was in police custody in arkansas. police say 21-year-old chavis carter was handcuffed behind his pack late last month but police say still managed to shoot himself in the head. he had been arrested after police say they found a small amount of marijuana on him. his family and others don't believe chavis carter killed himself. i traveled to jonesboro this week and pressed the police chief for some answers. >> reporter: is it even possible, physically, to be handcuffed behind your back and somehow pull the trigger on a gun that you weren't holding when you were handcuffed? >> for the average person who's never been in handcuffs, never been around in inmates in custody would react exactly the same way that you just did about how can that be possible. well, the fact of it is, it's very possible and it's quite easy. >> ial should add police searched carter twice prior to his arrest and never found a gun on him, yet they were able to find a small bag of marijuana. we want to hear from you about this story. do you think a man handcuffed behind his back, double locked, by the way many, in the back of a squad car would be able to shoot himself in the head? you can tweet me about this @randikayecnn. >>want to be vice president? get ready to share your personal details and a whole lot of them. one of romney's trusted advisers opened up about the process to pick his running mate. male spirit present.trong 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? 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[ ale announcer ] it's back. the volkswagen beetle. we believe small things can make a big difference.e, like how a little oil from here can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. we discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks. it's just one way purina one is making the world a better place... one pet at a time. discover vibrant maturity and re at purinaone.com. first there was a phone call after mitt romney returned from overseas. then there was an in-person meeting and a few days later wisconsin congressman paul ryan was officially part of the 2012 presidential ticket. the process of picking ryan was a top secret one led by one of romney's long-time aides beth myers. she spoke to glorj ya about how mitt romney vetted his picks. >> the first swath was brought. we got a good cut of information about people. he then narrowed it down and we got more information. personal information from each of the potential candidates. and then mitt took these candidate dossiers and he thought about them. he read all of them word for word. we narrowed it down once again and we did, you know, an even more deep dive on them and then gave them the final product. >> so what was romney's number one criteria? myers said that his running mate would be qualified to be president. for more let's bring in republican strategist ron bonjean. good morning, ron. >> good morning to you. >> one of the things you notice about this team is a general asian difference. romney is seasoned while ryan is the rising sta just 42 years old. is this the jolt that the romney campaign needed, do you think, not just with the base but with the broader electorate? >> i think absolutely, you know. that's the thing, especially right now in august. the campaigns have been doing this in-fighting, this small batter-type over, you know, advertising and who said what and now you've about got a vice-presidential pick in paul ryan. he's young, he's energetic, he is a star among republicans, he's rising in the ranks, and he brings the fight now instead of the small battle to large ideas. he propels the campaign up to talk about the two distinct futures, whether or not you're going to go with president obama and more taxes and spending or you're going to choose the romney/ryan ticket which is talking about economic growth and fiscal responsibility. >> now but if you look at name recognition, 54% of americans say that they don't even know enough about paul ryan to form an opinion of him. and as a strategist, how would you advise the campaign to turn that possibly into a strength? >> well, i'll tell you what. people are going to get to know paul ryan right away. i know him and i think he's a fantastic legislator. and you know what? most vice presidents, people don't necessarily know who they are, but now they're going to because paul ryan is going to be on the stump for mitt romn. they're going to do lots and lots -- there's going to be lots and lots of media coverage about him. 's very charming, very telegenic. it's going to be able to explain the platform and he's going to take it to president obama. that's one of the key issues -- key attributes that a v.p. pick has to have is they have go after the other side. >> yeah, he certainly hasn't been shy about going after president obama, that's for sure. but what about his experience? i mean paul ryan has spent his entire political career in washington, very little work in foreign policy. what do you make of that and will that be trouble for him? >> you know what's interesting? i watched several interviews with him on foreign policy and he's very well versed. he's actually traveled to the middle east several times. he understands what's going on with the rest of the world so i feel very comfortable with that. i think republicans do too. i think you're going to see him wax poetic. if anyone thinks he's weak in that area, they'd better. he's very good at this and a very quick study and he's been around for a long time. he may be young, but he is certainly smart and certainly expressive. and as a guy -- as a -- from wisconsin like i am, i've been a big fan of his for a long time. >> let me ask you how this conversation of the campaign mine chat. before he was hammering the president on the economy. and now with the budget and the ryan plan, picking him as v.p., the debate could shift, right, from economy to entitlements and taxes. so is this election no longer about the president's record and defending that but instead about the vision for the country? >> well, it certainly is going to be about the vision of the country, and, you know, the romney/ryan ticket's going to keep it focused on economic growth, but it's going to talk about fiscal responsibility too. you know, and this forces the president to talk about the issues and not try to distract people away by going after -- you know, by going after the small issues we were dealing with earlier on. you're going to see two distinct battles now, two distinct futures now, a battle over where we take america. >> republican strategist ron bonjean, thank you so much for your time. >> hey, thanks a lot. meanwhile president obama is building up the war cheft he'll need to fight the romney/ryan war chest. he's back for a fund-raiser including one for his home that costs $40,000 a person and onmond romney heads to iowa making a key appearance on the battleground day the same day as vice-presidential candidate paul ryan. here's a sight you don't see every day. a pit bull and a goat cuddling together in the same cage. we'll tell you why. ♪ ♪ i want to go ♪ i want to win [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪ ♪ i want to grow ♪ i want to try ♪ i can almost touch the sky [ male announcer ] even the planet has an olympic dream. dow is proud to support that dream by helping provide greener, more sustainable solutions from the olympic village to the stadium. solutiism. the new optimism.™ ♪ this dream 18 minutes past the hour. checking stories cross-country. first in aurora, colorado, people organized an convenient called "take back the movies." jason al raised $9,000 to hand out free movie tickets at five movie theaters. >> i wanted to try to find something that was the exact opposite of what this guy did in the dark and to try and find a way to spread a little bit of light. >> my oldest daughter had a friend who was shot three times in the back. my youngest daughter at the last minute made the decision to go to a different theater. >> it's okay, mama. i know, this is why we're here. >> and when people asked what they could do in return, volunteers told them to pay it forward. now, to michigan's upper peninsula where a teen with down syndrome can finally play football with his high school team. eric donpierre can finally play. his family got the state to change the rules and now eric was pretty excited to score. >> i feel like part of the team because the team is working hard for me to go on the field, to kick. >> eric's father says he wants the rule to be extended nationwide to help all athletes with disabilities. now, to tulsa, oklahoma, where a pit bull and a baby goat have become pals. the pets' owner says the goat thinks the dog is its mother. it was born with a leg problem and the dog piper comforted it until it got better. they've even named the goat g.f., which is short for goat puppy. what a cute story. to the southern louisiana bayou where a massive sinkhole is swallowing trees that are nearly 100 feet tall. a hundred people living near the area have been told to evacuate. they may not be able to return home for a month. authorities think a nearby salt cavern may be to blame and they ordered the company to drill a relief well. if you're planning a late summer road trip, be prepared to pay a lot more for gasoline as prices keep going up and up. i'll tell you what's fueling that spike. but first, good morning, atlanta. check that out. a gorgeous shot of downtown atlanta this morning. sun just coming up, and it's picture perfect. thanks for waking up with us. e. ♪ express yourself [ female announcer ] why not try coffee-mate? with over 25 delicious flavors for a fraction of the cost of the coffee house. add your flavor, with coffee-mate, from nestle. add your flavor, it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. pinch when you go to bigas lean, you are not alone. aaa reports the national average has climbed 3.f $9 a gallon. that's up about eight scecents m last week's average. alison kosik has more on what's fueling the increase in prices. >> it's the culmination of a perfect storm of circumstances. first there have been refinery problems across the country. in the midwest a pipeline was shut down because of a leak and there were problems at bp and marathon refineries in the region. and in california there was a fire at a refinery this past monday. now, all of these problems have been temporary, but it means our supply of gas has taken a hit. that pushes up prices. but supply isn't the only issue here. the drought in the midwest has a lot to do with gas prices. current law mandates that 10% of the gas in your tank is made of ethanol. ethanol is made of corn. and that's a product we don't have a lot of these days. the usda said on friday that the nation's corn harvest this year will be the smallest in 17 years, so you roll all that together and it means higher gas prices. tom kloza at the oil price information service thinks it will keep rising but we should get some relief after labor day. randi, back to you. >> thank you. if you've grown accustomed to seeing your favorite olympians on tv, don't worry. they're not going away. a whole lot of them are going to be reality tv stars. north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems. and, using state-of-the-art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment. we're america's natural gas. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, 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. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung f