the company. after the bell today facebook will report earnings any time after the closing bell. but look how the stock has performed since it went public in may, the stock is down 25%. and wait for facebook to report watching shares drop more than 8%. really not seeing the optimism coming from investors as we wait on the edge of our seats for this report, brooke. >> yes, we are. a buck and some change. alison kosik, thank you so much. i'm brooke baldwin. thanks for being with me. wolf blitzer live in aspen. "the situation room" begins now. >> brooke, thanks very much. happening now, he's the man who planned the raid that killed osama bin laden. for the first time he's speaking publicly and in depth about the mission that took out the world's most-wanted terrorist. this hour my exclusive interview with admiral william mcraven. standby. also the olympic torch getting a royal welcome from william, kathrine and harry. and a public relations nightmare

unfolding right now over chick-fil-a. the issue, same sex marriage. i'm wolf blitzer in aspen, colorado. you're in "the situation room." they're not the headlines mitt romney's campaign was hoping to see as the candidate met britain's prime minister today. romney sparked an uproar with remas about london's readiness for the olympic games and promptedprompt ed pointed rebuke against himself. jim acosta is in london traveling with romney right now. what's going on with the republican candidate? what happened? >> reporter: wolf, earlier today mitt romney told british leaders he's hoping to take in an olympic swimming event during his time here in london. but with no pool in sight he's making some waves of his own.

as mitt romney chatted up the olympics in meeting after meeting with former and current british leaders, the london media were already off to the races with comments the gop contender made about the city's preparations for the games. >> you know, it's hard to know just how well it will turn out. >> reporter: in an interview with nbc, romney noted some of london's problems in getting ready for the olympics. >> do they come together and celebrate the olympic moment? that's something which we only find out once the games actually begin. >> reporter: it was that remark that drew a sharp response from british prime minister david cameron in the hours before his own scheduled meeting with romney, cameron put diplomacy aside and took issue with the republican candidate -- >> i think we'll show the world not only we come together as a united kingdom but we're extremely good at welcoming people from across the world. >> reporter: what sounded like a jab straight from a gold medal boxing match he drew contrast between staging the games in london versus salt lake city where romney had guided the

olympics to success. >> we are holding an olympic games in one of the busiest, most active bustling cities anywhere in the world. i mean, of course it's easier if you hold an olympic games in the middle of nowhere. >> reporter: after his meeting with cameron romney faced reporters outside number 10 downing street where he tried to walk back his comments. >> did you intend to criticize the way london had prepared for these games? >> i'm very delighted with the prospects of a highly successful olympic games. what i've seen shows imagination and forethought and a lot of organization. and expect the games to be highly successful. >> reporter: on the same day the torch made its way through london, it was a diplomatic flameout for romney who had come to the city hoping to tout his olympics experience to voters back home. he did receive shoutouts from british leaders. >> it's great to have somebody here who's organized a successful olympic game. >> reporter: not so much on the streets of london.

>> mitt romney is rude in what he says. he comes to visit the prime minister of the country and then criticizes the country for the effort of putting on the olympics. >> reporter: now, earlier this afternoon here in london, the mayor of this city was holding a rally, wolf. we should tell you that at that rally the mayor of london actually called romney out for his comments that he made about the olympic games to nbc saying to a crowd "there's a guy called mitt romney who wants to know whether we are ready. are we ready? yes, we are." just some comments from the street tonight. there's no indication any of this will have an effect on the campaign back home where you know romney is pummelling the president with tv ads on the economy. romney is planning to attend opening ceremonies with his wife tomorrow before heading off to israel this weekend. wolf. >> thanks very much, jim acosta. he's traveling with mitt romney in london right now. as you said, romney's next stop is israel. i'll be traveling to jerusalem

this weekend for a one-on-one interview with the republican presidential candidate. you'll see the full interview with mitt romney right here in "the situation room." that will air on monday. this week some of the world's top experts on fighting terrorism are here in colorado for the aspen institute security forum that's co-sponsored with cnn and "new york times." today i had a chance to conduct the first-ever public in-depth interview with u.s. navy admiral who planned the raid that killed osama bin laden. admiral william mcraven may not be a household name, but as you're about to see, he's a genuine u.s. hero. this is the guy who's sitting right here who had the guts to tell the commander in chief we should do it, let's do it. and when you ordered that raid and when you said -- you didn't even know for sure that bin laden was abbottabad at that compound about a mile or so away from the west point of pakistan, did you?

>> let me make one thing clear, i didn't order the raid. >> but he told the president of the united states that he thought he could do it. [ laughter ] >> i mean, and this is not a small point. the fact of the matter is it was the president of the united states that ordered the raid. >> and he deserves an enormous amount of credit for that decision. >> he does. [ applause ] >> and when he came to the head of special operations, that would be you, and said what do you think? what did you say? >> well, first, i will tell you that it was a long process to get there. and our piece, the military piece, i look at in three components was probably the easiest aspect of the entire raid. the two other pieces of this were the cia's role. and i think when the history is finally written and outlined and exposed on how the cia determined that bin laden was there, it will be one of the

great intelligence operations in the history of intelligence organizations. and a tremendous amount of that credit goes to director leon panetta at the time because he built the right team, he had the right people, he made some very gutsy calls. and he was not concerned about who got the credit. so when you take a look at how he built that team, which was a military and intelligence team, tremendous amount of credit goes to the agency. and the other piece of this really is the president and his national security team. i've made it very clear to people, again, the military piece of this we did i think 11 other raids that evening in afghanistan. now, i don't want to diminish the nature of this raid. it was a little bit more sporty. [ laughter ] and we understood that there were some strategic implications to it. but at the end of the day it was what we had been doin really for ten years. the president and his national

security team -- i'm not a political guy, but i will tell you as an interested observer in this, they were magnificent in how they handled the start to finish. we went through a number of meetings. the president asked all the right questions. his national security team with secretary gates, secretary clinton, chairman mullen, the vice chairman, tom donland, dennis mcdun new and tom brennan and others did a fine job of finding out the facts to make their recommendations based on the facts. and the president gave me ample time to prepare once the concept was approved. but at the end of the day, make no istake about it, it was the president of the united states that shouldered the burden for this operation, that made the hard decisions that was instrumental in the planning process because i pitched every plan to him. so any indication that bill

mcraven ordered this raid, led this raid was, you know, the key piece of this raid is just patently false. >> but you're a navy seal. >> yes. [ laughter ] >> and these men who went in there, navy seals, they were taking orders from you directly. >> they were. >> you were speaking to all of them. you knew each one of them personally. here's just a technical question, did you rehearse it in advance? >> well, i'm not going to talk about the tactical details. obviously we're not going to do a mission like that without rehearsing. we rehearse every operation. particularly significant ones like that. as i said, i have made a point of not talking about the tactical piece of this other than to say that it is what we do. we get on helicopters, we go to objectives, we secure the objectives, we get back on helicopters and we come home. i was short one helicopter. >> well, that stealth helicopter, when it went down -- all of us have read about it,

we've heard about it, i've spoken to people in that room -- the white house situation room as opposed to another situation room, but when that helicopter went down, there was a gasp because a lot of the folks there, correct me if i'm wrong, thought of desert 1 in 1980 jimmy carter's plan to rescue americans in iran. >> i wouldn't pretend to tell you what they were thinking. >> what were you thinking? >> i was too busy frankly -- i mean, we had a backup plan. we executedhe backup plan. at that point in time you're worried about getting the mission done and getting the boys back home. so we had a plan suffice to say. >> and it worked. >> and it worked. >> that helicopter, by the way, all the stealth technology and all that, is that gone? has it been shared with bad guys? >> i'm not going to address that. >> you don't want to talk about that. curious. i want to nail this down as best as i can. you didn't have 100% knowledge,

the president didn't have 100% knowledge that bin laden was holed up in that compound. did you have 80%? 50%? give me a ballpark -- how confident were you that a tall guy was hiding out in that compound? >> again, i'm not going to address the tactical piece of that. suffice to say we were not sure he was there. and, again, that gets back to some tough decisions that were made. my job was to get him if he was there. if he wasn't there, we would know that pretty quickly. and our intent was to get up and get out. >> i suspect you're not going to want to answer this question, but i'll ask it anyhow. as the admiral and i know we just spent some quality time together, this is the united states of america, we can ask the questions. he doesn't have to answer them. but we can ask the questions. and i think it's an important question that at least i've always been very, very curious about. was the mission to capture bin laden?

or was the mission to kill bin laden? >> you know, that's a great question. i'm not going to answer it. [ laughter ] >> all right. but there were contingencies this guy would be brought out in a helicopter and brought somewhere? >> did they teach you this to do the end around -- >> you don't want to discuss that? >> no. >> all right. there's much more ahead. my interview will continue with admiral william mcraven. in our next hour we're going to talk about the deadly challenges the u.s. is facing in afghanistan right now. and later in our new 6:00 p.m. eastern hour we'll have part three of the interview where we discuss whether or not gays serving openly in the u.s. military has had any impact at all on special operations forces and he commands some 66,000 special-ops forces. we'll talk about leaks to the news media about national security. a lot more coming up with admiral william mcraven.

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so their footsteps can help the next generation find their own path. all of us serving you. us bank get to jack cafferty. he's got the cafferty file. jack. >> before i do this, admiral mcraven is as good as it gets. and this country is so very fortunate to have people like that at the highest levels of our military protecting us around the clock. i watched that interview. and i got to tell you, it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. what a magnificent job he and his people did for all of us. we should be grateful.

anyway, onto more mundane things, politics. >> yeah. i agree completely. >> fired up or not? turns out the rallying cry for democrats in 2008 may not apply to this presidential campaign. a new poll shows democratic voter enthusiasm is down sharply from the last two presidential elections. just 39% of democrats say that they are more enthusiastic about voting than usual. that's down from 61% who felt that way in 2008, and 68% in 2004. and it's lower than the 51% of republicans who say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting for president. voter enthusiasm often gives a sense of possible turnout. but it also reflects voters' expectations of their party's chances of winning cht translation, democrats might be less optimistic about president obama winning a second term than they were four years ago. when you consider the fact that republicans are more excited at

this point and that they historically vote in higher rates than democrats, not a good sign for the obama campaign. but it's early. on the other hand, it's possible democrats may just not be too into the race yet and come election day they will turn out and vote. maybe they won't be excited about it, but they'll vote. meanwhile, in another sign democrats are not revved up, the party's having some serious fund raising issues. for two months now president obama and the democrats have lagged behind mitt romney and the republicans to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. it's not just the race for president. nancy pelosi having a tough time getting democratic house members to contribute to the democratic party. in june gop lawmakers gave as much as three times as much money as democrats did to their respective congressional campaign committee. here's the question, why aren't democrats as excited to vote this year? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on my blog. or go to our post on the "the situation room" facebook page. i know you're excited, wolf.

>> i'm always excited when it comes to covering politics because i'm a political news junkie. i totally agree about admiral mcraven. much more in the next hour and our 6:00 p.m. eastern hour. and we're going to do a special, jack, i want to announce to our viewers right now. saturday 6:00 p.m. the full hour with admiral mcraven. i think our viewers will want to see and get context on what's going on on a whole bunch of issues affecting the u.s. military. jack, thanks so much. >> i can't wait to see it and people ought to get their kids in front of the tv set and make them watch. that's the tradition that this country was built around. men like that. great stuff. >> yep. all right. thank you, jack. appreciate it. the olympic torch is now in london making its way throughout the city in a relay that included a stop at buckingham palace where it got a royal welcome from prince william and his wife. our royal correspondent, max foster, joining us with details. max, tell us about that upclose look. what happened? >> reporter: yeah, just lost the

end of that, wolf, but a fantastic day. get the sense that olympics are here. such a big buildup hasn't there been and then the torch finally going to the big landmarks in london, downing street, river of the thames. in many ways the face of this olympics to the outside world because when they're involved everyone involved. they're wearing the british team outfits but fully involved in all the commonwealth countries. we'll be back again there, wolf, because we think michelle obama will be at buckingham palace. that's just before the opening ceremonies. less than 24 hours to go now, wolf. >> i noticed, max, that they didn't run with the torch. here's the question, are the royals getting involved in any of the actual events? >> reporter: yeah. big disappointment, wasn't it? actually, this morning what they

did is they went to an inner city school, and they're all about making sport inclusive for all and the olympics inclusive for all. so what better way of showing that than throwing themselves into sports themselves. and they went into various parts of this school. first of all the duchess of cambridge, we saw her playing some table tennis which has made a few headlines here. she performed pretty badly against this young girl who was fantastic at table tennis. one of the best in london. but she was throwing herself in. and then the next room next door we had prince harry shooting hoops with the young team. missing all of the hoops. but, again, throwing himself in. outside prince william ha a go at football and missed the goal. it wasn't a great day for royal sport but certainly got the cameras there getting everyone in the mood. i think everyone is in the mood now, wolf. >> they certainly are. i'm getting excited. i think a lot of our viewers around the world are all getting excited as well. i thought her table tennis or ping-pong wasn't so bad.

better than mine, i think. that's just my opinion. hey, max, thanks very much. there's lots of spornt consumer news here in the united states today. mortgage rates just hit another all-time low. wait until you see the numbers. and jpmorgan chase just agree today a multi-million-dollar settlement in a case involving its credit card customers. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." won't need... ♪ hajimemashite. hajimemashite. hajimemashite. you guys like football ? thank you so much. i'm stoked. you stoked ? totally. ... and he says, "under the mattress." souse le matelas. ( laughter ) why's the new guy sending me emails from paris ? paris, france ? verizon's 4g lte devices are global-ready. plus, global data for just $25. only from verizon. ♪

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all right. this just coming in to "the situation room." we have new details on facebook's financial health. lisa sylvester has the details and some of the other top stories whachlt are we learning, lisa? >> wolf, just now facebook beat

analyst expectations by reporting a 32% increase in revenue compared to a year ago. still, the company lost money in its first quarter as a publicly traded company. and it's been wild in afterhours trading. at first facebook stock soared but now it's down. and jpmorgan chase will pay $100 million to settle accusations it unfairly raised minimum payments and fees for many of its credit card customers. settles a class action lawsuit back to the start of the financial crisis in late 2008. the bank argued the changes were a sensible way to reduce its risk. and mortgage rates have hit yet another all-time low. this week the average rate for a 30-year mortgage fell to 3.49%. despite the record low though, a separate report says pending home sales in june slipped 1.4% compared to may. wolf. lisa, thanks very much. hurdles, diving, gymnastics and more. it's not the london olympics

we're talking about. it's the political olympics. a closer look at the competition between president obama and mitt romney. and romney says he can do for the united states what he did for the salt lake winter olympics. we'll talk about that and more in our strategy session. donna brazile and ana navarro are standing by. chase scene netflix coming soon extra butter tickets swoon penguin journey junior mints movie phone evil prince bollywood 3d shark attack ned the head 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback on movies through september. it pays to discover.

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starting tomorrow the world

will be watching the olympic games in london. but they only last a couple of weeks whereas the political olympics here in the united states pitting mitt romney against president obama will last all summer and then go into the fall. the competition i must say is already in full swing. john berman is joining us now. are the candidates competing in -- what are these events? give us a sense. >> both president obama and mitt romney are very fit, which is a good thing because when you think about it, our candidates today are like modern day decathlon athletes. they're events are harder because only the gold medal counts. sadly the 2012 games do not feature golf or jet skiing as official events. so neither president obama nor mitt romney will compete in london. but that doesn't mean they don't have their own games. no. they have the political

olympics. take the hurdles. mitt romney had to leap over his gop foes just to get here. you think jumping over cain, perry and gingrich was easy? just ask rick santorum. he ended up with the silver. >> we will suspend our campaign effective today. >> reporter: pole vault, the latest "the wall street journal" nbc poll showed the president to a lead. both campaigns medal in endless precision repetition. >> middle class. >> the middle class. >> create jobs. >> create jobs. >> reporter: while we're in the pool, a politician's least favorite event, the backstroke. former new hampshire governor john sununu just visited the podium after saying the president needed to learn how to be an american. check out his backstroke. >> frankly i made a mistake. i shouldn't have used those words. and i apologize for using those words. >> reporter: weight lifting,

mitt romney better have big arms to lift the bags of money his campaign has raked in. finally, if there's one olympic sport our leaders know all too well, it's gymnastics. not all of them can handle the flips. this was gary bower in 2000. but today's crop is adept at the verbal gymnastics, the contortions, turns and, yes, the twists. >> he's been twisting my words around to suggest that i don't value small business. >> their opposition people look for anything they can find to distort, to twist and try and make negative. >> reporter: with all that twisting, let's get these guys on the balance beam. meanwhile, we can only hope they don't discover beach volleyball. america couldn't bear the outfits. it's also a good thing it's not winter or we would be talking about ice dancing. now, in terms of what the candidates will be watching, we know president obama met with the men's basketball team. we know he's a big fan of theirs. and mitt romney says he hopes to

check out some swimming before he leaves london. and you could say he's already been worng on his backstroke after this ckerfuffle. >> who writes that material? do you write that yourself? >> i have a staff of thousands. >> that's terrific writing. >> thank you. i appreciate that very much. >> great stuff. john berman, excellent stuff. i loved it. important note to all of our viewers, you can catch john along with zoraida sambolin on "early start" from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. eastern only on cnn. get up early and check it out. mitt romney himself is making the political olympic strategy touting his experience organizing the winter games in 2002. listen to what he tells piers morgan in an interview in london that will air later tonight. >> the country is in need of a

turnaround. the olympics was a turnaround for businesses i've been associated with that needed a turnaround. that kind of experience of focusing on the most critical issue, building the most effective team possible, creating a common vision, unifying around that vision and then delivering results is something i think the american people would like to see in our economy right now. >> once again that interview with romney on piers morgan later tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern. let's talk a little bit about that and more in our strategy session joining us our cnn political contributor, the democratic strategist donna brazile and our cnn contributor ana navarro, the hispanic co-chair for jon huntsman campaign. ana, so far not starting off on a great note in britain especially when you compare -- [ technical difficulties ] >> i just lost wolf.

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we are experiencing some technical issues with wolf from aspen, colorado. so we will get back to him in just a moment. in the meantime we'll continue on here from washington, d.c. some russian government officials in the u.s. are up in arms about a montana ranch housing children with behavioral problems. the russians claim the children are being abandoned after they were adopted in russia by american parents. cnn's kyung lah has the details. >> why wouldn't you come just to talk? >> reporter: arriving in a caravan wearing dark suits and carrying cameras, russian government officials demanding

entry onto a private ranch of a small home. the russians demanded to see children adopted from russia and sent to this remote ranch by their american parents. this is the russian children's rights commissioner in moscow. there are so many lies regarding the well-being of our kids he tells the tv crew and he's here to see the children for himself. he claims russian children are abandoned by their children at this ranch and then neglected here. that's a lie says joyce. she runs the unlicensed facility called the ranch for kids, a church mission for adopted children -- >> this is the united states of america. this is the sovereign state of montana. and a foreign government cannot come in here and push your way into a private residence and

private program. that's completely uncalled for. >> reporter: but that's what he tried to do. >> that's what he tried to do. >> reporter: two sides deeply suspicious of each other. fueled by a bilateral agreement on adoptions between the u.s. and russia which aims to protect both children and american parents. he says key to the agreement it fundamentally gives his country more authority to check on adopted children like at the ranch for kids. he spoke to cnn via skype from russia. >> we have a right to ask the permission from state department to visit russian children which we are interested and we want to see and to control the situation basically we have a chance and we have a right. >> reporter: only cases of suspected neglect will be targeted. but american families are asking how much power does a foreign government have in an american home? the fear goes beyond what happened here at the gate with the russians.

this ranch and adoptive parents believe it's a signal about the bilateral agreemt and what they'll lose as their rights as adoptive parents. >> which boy is sean? >> sean is in the brown. >> reporter: sharon adopted her son sean when he was 19 months old. she says he flies into fits of violent rage caused by fetal alcohol syndrome. the ranch has helped dramatically she says, and no foreign government should tell her what's best for her son. >> when you make that commitment, they're yours. and to have a foreign government have the ability to come in to qution my child and make those determinations about his well-being, i find that just not acceptable. >> reporter: the state department says it supports appropriate access for concerned foreign officials to children who have both u.s. and foreign citizenship consistent with privacy rights and only with consent of parents or legal guardians. bottom line, the state department says parents will never be force today let anyone

see their children under the new agreement. but the ranch owner who's already seen russians on her doorstep doesn't believe the deal will actually protect american parents. what do you tell the state department when they tell us this isn't going to happen. >> it just did. it just did. it happened. >> reporter: kyung lah, cnn, eureka, montana. and we have now sorted out our technical issues so we're going to throw it back to wolf blitzer who is in aspen, colorado. good to see you, wolf. >> got excellent technical people. they can sort it out very, very quickly. appreciate it, lisa. don't go too far away in case we have more technical problems, you'll be ready to take over. lisa, thanks. we have a lot more coming up in "the situation room" including new poll's eye-opening findings that a growing number of republicans and conservatives think president obama is a muslim. and, later, the backlash against the popular restaurant chain

because of the political and religious views of its bos i'm barack obama and i approve this message. [romney singing]: oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain,

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and donna brazile, ana navarro, they're still here with the strategy session. ladies, this is a poll that jumped out at me. it's shocking when you think about it. take a look at this from the puh research center. they asked the question if you believe that president obama is a muslim. and look at this. over the past four years among republicans four years ago 16% said yes, 30% said no. among conservative republicans self-identified, 16% to 34%, independents 11% to 16%, democrats 9% four years ago, 8% now think he's a muslim.

donna, what's going on here? why do more americans especially republicans and conservative republicans so dramatically believe that the president of the united states who is a christian as we all know, why do they believe he's a muslim? >> because they want to believe what they've been told or what they hear on the radio. wolf, the campaign to smear president obama from day one is still a very active, well-financed campaign. for some odd reason there are millions of americans who believe that he wasn't born in america and he's muslim. let me say there's nothing wrong with being muslim, jewish, american, unfortunately people smear muslims in this country. i find it offensive because muslim-americans like most other americans care deeply about our country, they protect our country, they want to help our country. and i find it all offensive. but people don't want to believe he's a christian, don't go to church with him. >> what's going on over here,

ana? what do you think? >> you know, i think it's crazy. he's obviously a christian. mitt romney has said he believes he's a christian, john mccain said four years ago he believed he was a christian. there are people who are going to have issues. there are people who have issues with mitt romney being a mormon. there are issues with people who want to have issues with barack obama's religion. bottom line it's not about religion. it's about the economy. it's about the problems facing america. and we shouldn't be focusing on this. it's a minor part of what's going on. and, you know, it's just crazy, i think. and people have to get over it. the man is a christian. most americans, most republicans believe he is a christian. and let's get on with the big issues facing this country. >> yeah, but a third believe he's a muslim. as donna says, nothing wrong with being a muslim. but it's amazing four years into his presidency a lot of people believe that. donna, you're at the national urban league convention in new orleans. yesterday john king was here in "the situation room."

he pointed out if african-americans don't show up at the polls in big numbers as they did four years ago, the president might lose florida, north carolina, maybe even ohio and pennsylvania because of the lack of enthusiasm. what's going on here? >> wolf, first of all, i think the folks here in new orleans, the folks at the urban league conference, they are wildly enthusiastic about re-electing president barack obama. but as you all know, wolf, this economy has taken a toll on most americans including african-americans, latino americans, young americans. so once again democrats will have to go out there and persuade them to vote and help them turnout. of course we have these onerous restricted id laws. we'll have to educate them and make sure they're prepared to show all multiple forms of id. i think at the end of the day, african-americans will surprise the country once again. and they will turn out in record numbers like most other americans who support the re-election of barack obama. >> what about the hispanic community, ana?

the president does remarkably well there, much better than mitt romney by almost all accounts, well over 60%. some polls showing closer to even 70%. will there be that enthusiasm for the president this time around over mitt romney? there they show up? >> i think that's one of the big problems that barack obama has four years later. that with practically every constituency he's facing a problem -- african-americans are unenthusiastic because they're at over 14% unemployment. there were huge expectations for obama. he has not delivered to these constituents. he's not delivered on promises. he's not delivered on what people expected of him. and that's going to be a great problem because there were two aspects of his victory. one was the wide margin of victory with groups like hispanics, with groups like african-americans. but number two was the turnout. if he gets one, the margin, but doesn't get the second, the turnout, he's going to be in trouble in places like florida.

>> well, speaking about florida, about the hispanic vote -- donna, hold on one second. i want to get ana to tell me somebody about jeb bush, the former governor of florida. still very popular. he's obviously not going to be the vice presidential running mate. he's effectively taken himself out. he's not being vetted according to his son who told me that. but here's the question, jeb bush says marco rubio should be, senator marco rubio should be romney's running mate. what are you hearing about that, ana? >> well, i think that, you know, when jeb bush speaks, mitt romney should listen. nobody knows jeb bush politically. nobody knows marco rubio politically better than jeb bush. marco rubio was jeb bush's men tee. he's been around working with jeb bush since he was practically a teenager volunt r volunteering on republican campaigns in florida. and jeb bush worked with marco when marco was a legislator and jeb bush was a governor.

so jeb bush knows his talents, knows his ability. and i also think jeb bush greatly understands that mitt romney, has a problem with the hispanic vote and that marco rubio could move that needle. >> what do you think, donna? >> oh, i think marco rubio would be an attractive candidate, but i don't believe he's on the first, second tier. it doesn't matter. the problem is the top of the ticket. i mean, we saw just today over in europe, i mean, he went over, i thought, to listen and learn. and he put his foot in his mouth. so i think the problem is mitt romney. we talk about enthusiasm, the one thing that really gets people cheering and on their feet is listening to president obama outline his vision for the country and where he intends to go in the next four years compared to where they know mitt romney will go, which is to go back to the same failed policies that got us in the mess in the first place. >> oh, donna, i think the brits are used to it by now -- >> hold on, ana, we're out of

time. so we can't continue this. but you know what, we got still a long time before november 6th. >> 100 days. thank you. >> thanks to both of you for coming in. all right. a fast food chain is facing a huge backlash right now after the company president denounces same sex marriage. and coming up in our new 6:00 p.m. eastern hour right here in "the situation room," a medical technician is now being called a "seri "serialin fecto. [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day,

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i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request

your free decision guide. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and you never need a referral. see why millions of people have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. don't wait. call now. ...we inspected his brakes for free. free is good. free is very good. my money. my choice. my meineke. let's get right to jack for the cafferty file. jack. >> wolf, the question this hour is, why aren't the democrats as

excited to vote this year as they were in 2008 or even 2004? two reasons, they don't have bush and, two, obama isn't delivering on his promises. he smoked his hard core followers. another one, i've been a democrat in 40 years and believed in the party flat form until now. i'm extremely disappointed in how the president has performed so far. i have no faith whatsoever in our current congress. and i don't want to vote for either candidate. val in north carolina, the 2008 election was thank heavens bush is going, and this intelligent educated young man will be the first african-american president. that was a very exciting election. this year we know many of the things the president wanted to do to help the country didn't happen. ken in california, maybe the media helped create the excitement three or so years ago. some are suggesting that george w. bush would go down as a terrible president. i was one of those. i don't understand why the democrats aren't excited or even

frantic. the last time i looked the republican congress has shut down the country in the last three and a half years. i think election day will answer this question. lou writes i was excited about electing obama because he ran on the platform of providing universal health care. what we ended up with was more money and power going to the insurance giants with the mandate. he caved on the biggest issue of our time. it's hard to get excited about that. and any in atlanta writes, hey, democrat here, i'm more excited to vote this year than i was in 2008. if you want to read more on this, go to the blog, cnn.com/caffertyfile or through our post on the "the situation room" facebook page. wolf. jack, thank you. and you're in "the situation room." happening now there are new concerns that syria's chemical weapons stockpiles could fall into the wrong hands. just ahead we're getting new information from a top u.s. intelligence official right here in aspen, colorado.

also, north korea's supreme leader shows off his new bride amid new reports he's really been married for years and may already have a child. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." a ruthless seesaw battle for control of one of syria's cities. rebel fighters aren't backing down from government forces even with more than 150 new deaths reported just today. security forces are barrelling through the streets of aleppo while gunships fire from overhead. cnn's ivan watson is inside syria. he'll join us in awe moments. first, we're hearing from the u.s. counterterror chief here in

aspen, colorado. and he's raising concerns about the security of syria's chemical weapons stockpile. cnn intelligence correspondent suzanne kelly is covering this. >> spoke on the forum and asked a question about chemical weapons and whether the u.s. knows where the chemical weapons are. there was some concern over the way he answered that question. i think we have that. let's take a listen to that. >> are we able to identify where those weapons are? are they safe? are they secure? are they falling into the wrong hands? it's an important question for us. >> have you got any preliminary conclusions on that? >> no. not really. again, this is a very sensitive time in this situation. it's an important question that we're following. >> really interesting detail here, wolf. i just spent the last half an hour or so talking with one on one with matt olsen. he said u.s. officials don't

know where they are, but they have ground troops and it's difficult to be sure. >> did they say anything about the u.s. or others have a plan to deal with these chemical weapons, and there are plenty of them in syria, if in fact the syrian regime, a, loses control, they wind up in the hands overal qaeda or others, or if they start using chemical weapons against their own people. >> it is a concern for them. we did talk about the fact they're worried about that border and people crossing that border. members of al qaeda in iraq specifically crossing the border and going into syria to get thaer hands. that is active concern. he didn't talk about the status of how the u.s. is planning to deal with that once it becomes an issue. >> he gave an ambiguous answer whether or not the u.s. knew where they were, whether or not they were secure. is that what i'm hearing? >> that's what we heard on the panel this morning. that's where the misinterpretation comes in. he tells us what he actually meant to say is that the u.s. does believe that the syrian government knows and has control of all of those weapons but that

it's difficult for them to know for sure. so i think, you know, this is the same thing i've heard from other u.s. officials and other people on background in the last couple weeks is it's very difficult because of the challenges, the u.s. has very little human intelligence on the grountd in syria is what we're hearing. and because of those challenges it's hard to know for sure whether they have control -- the syrian government has control of those weapons. >> it's a huge issue. >> it is a huge issue. >> thanks very much, suzanne kelly here in aspen. cnn's ivan watson is in syria right now following the fighting in aleppo. ivan, are both sides gearing up for a big battle in aleppo on friday? >> reporter: absolutely. wolf, in the cycle of violence over the last 17 months, fridays have always been the bloodiest, deadliest days of the week because that's often when the opposition gathers in mosques and then pours out and that's when the clashes occur with the syrian security forces. we just got off the phone with a rebel commander in one town to

the north of aleppo and he says as we speak he's sending an additional 300 fighters into aleppo to bolster the current rebel forces there. he insists that the rebels are on the offensive now not hunkering down on the defensive. another town we visited today out of 22 rebel brigades, 18 a commander said were in aleppo. and they're preparing for the worst. they're setting up medical clinics in apartments, in homes in that city knowing that they may not be able to get their wounded out to clinics outside of the city walls. we're expecting a bloody day on friday. >> i know you also spent as you say some times in other villages around aleppo. the commercial heart of syria right now, aleppo. what else did you see, ivan? >> reporter: well, we're about six miles to the northwest of

aleppo, utterly devoid of civilian population. they've all fled. that town is totally battle-scarred. we saw at one point a helicopter circling overhead coming from the direction of aleppo. and definitely making fighters nervous as it circled overhead. they don't really have the weaponry to battle syrian government aircraft. though we were shown a surprising amount of heavy weaponry that the rebels have captured. vehicles with mounted mortars that can shoot 120-millimeter rounds that also have anti-aircraft guns. one fighter claimed he'd shot down a helicopter a couple weeks ago even captured armored personnel carriers. these are not the rebels i saw four months ago. these guys now have much heavier weaponry. but unlike libya, these guys go running around shooting their guns off in the air to show off. they don't have enough bullets to do it. they're saving it for the real battle. >> we're also hearing, ivan,

that one community in syria -- we're talking about the ethnic kurds, they are beginning to take matters into their own hands. they're breaking with the regime. what are you seeing the signs this could impact the entire conflict? what's the latest? >> reporter: it could definitely complicate matters. the kurds make up about 10% of the population, denied citizenship by the assad regime. they've sat out the uprising for the past 16 or 17 months. in the last week we've seen one of the strongest of the kurdish political factions with pkk claiming control over a number of kurdish communities. today we drove through one of those kurdish villages and went through a kurdish/pkk checkpoint. the trouble is the pkk is the sworn enemy of syria's neighbor to the north, turkey.

and turkey's prime minister issued a threat. he said that if the kurds -- if what he considers a terrorist organization sets up ministate lets along the turkish border with syria, that could give cause for turkey to intervene militarily into syria and vastly complicate what is already a great big bloody mess. wolf. >> it's a horrendous situation. ivan watson is right in the middle of it. he's reporting exclusively for cnn inside syria. ivan, be careful. thanks very, very much. let's turn now to my exclusive interview with the man behind the raid that took down osama bin laden. we're talking about u.s. navy admiral william mcraven. he's talking about it for the first time here at the aspen institute national security forum co-sponsored with cnn and the "new york times." we're also spending some time talking with admiral mcraven on other critical issues including

afghanistan. in this part of my discussion with admiral mcraven, i asked him about those night raids in afghanistan and the thousands of troops risking their lives for a country that doesn't always seem to appreciate the u.s. and nato effort. how do you deal with that? when you're dealing with someone, you have a mission to do and the host country occasionally not only says bad things but isn't necessarily all that receptive to what you're trying to do? >> well, it is a sovereign country. we absolutely respect the sovereignty. i don't conduct in my role that's the per view of general alan. general jim mad is and his controls report to the secretary and the president. so what i can tell you is that on the night raids in the course of our operations in afghanistan we are completely partnered with the afghans now. and that has really mitigated a

lot of i think the senior afghan concern about these night raids. the night raids are important from -- for a lot of reasons. tactically the enemy as we say beds down at night. so they will stop in the compound at night and makes it easier for us to locate them. also at nighttime the local population is not moving around as much. so frankly the opportunity to have an unfortunate civilian casualty is lessened by the fact if it's at night. but we absolutely understand the afghans concerns about night raid. nobody wants somebody coming into their house in the middle of the night. having said that, we are working with the afghans, within the afghan legal system to be able to execute raids both daytime and where required nighttime in order to get after a target that is beneficial to the afghans and to the united states. >> in recent months and maybe it's been longer, there have been incidents where afghans dressed in military uniforms have killed american troops

raising the question, do you trust these guys that you go on a sensitive night raid with? because they're armed, they're loaded. they may be totally loyal to the taliban. >> we trust them 100%. the fact of the matter is when you spend time with the guys we spend time with, i mean, you realize they are just as patriotic, just as committed, just as tough, just as courageous as the american soldier that's partnered with them. so for the folks that we work with, i don't think trust has ever been an issue. that's not to say there aren't people out there that aren't trustworthy. we need to recognize that and always be a little bit on-guard. but the afghans are wonderful people. candidly i think we've done a good job of partnering with them and i think we'll continue to do that moving forward. >> when all u.s. troops are out by the end of 2014 starting next year, you're going to be withdrawing those numbers big time, you think that that

country is really going to be a stable, friendly country to the united states? >> well, again, that's, one, i'm not sure all u.s. troops will be out by 2014. that's certainly a decision by the president and president karzai. >> so they'll negotiate how many troops, trainers and others might stay afterwards, special operations forces for example. >> i think that is the case, yes. >> because i heard the same arguments, the same points being made when the u.s. was withdrawing all troops from iraq. even after the u.s. withdrew troops from iraq, there would still be continued u.s. military presence in iraq. but guess what? there's no continued u.s. military presence in iraq right now because the iraqis did not want to give the u.s. military immunity for iraqi prosecution. and i suspect, i could be wrong,

that the afghanis probably won't want to do that either. >> again, that's a policy decision, wolf. not in my lane, so to speak. >> all right. we're going to have more of this exclusive interview with admiral mcraven. that's coming up in our next hour, our brand new 6:00 p.m. eastern hour. among other things we're going to talk about that raid that wound up killing osama bin laden as well as gays serving openly now for the first time in the u.s. military. how is that impacting u.s. special operations forces, 66,000 troops under the command of admiral mcraven? is this working out, gays and lesbians serving openly among these special operations forces? you're going to want to hear what he has to say. that part of the interview coming up in our new hour, our 6:00 p.m. eastern hour. president obama wades back into the gun debate saying guns belong in the hands of soldiers, not criminals. now in an interview with our own piers morgan, mitt romney is responding. plus, police release photos of

the man they believe abducted the baseball icon, kal ripken, jr.'s mother. that's coming up. and there are sky divers and then stratosphere divers. just ahead, the man who survived a test jump from 96,000 feet.

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jack cafferty's here with the cafferty file. jack. >> wolf, that horrific massacre in a colorado movie theater has revived the debatd over violent films contribute to violence in real life. talked to a hollywood reporter about this "violence on the screen is increased tenfold, it's almost pornographic. in fact, it is pornographic. video games are violent too. it's all out of control. i can see where it would drive somebody crazy." he knows violence. his first film in 1968 showed a

sniper killing moviegoers at a drive-in theater. now there are other ways to talk about violence without showing people getting blown up. he believes there's been a general numbing of the audiences because there's just too much murder and killing on the screens. he says people have become insensitive to it and as a result there's a general lac of respect for human life. meanwhile, the "new york times" reports how warner brothers studios, which put out "the dark knight rises" has a decades long history of violent films starting with gangster movies in the '30s, warner brothers shares parent company with cnn is also responsible for films like "bonnie and clyde" and "the matrix." there have been several copy cats after these films. background checks for people wanting to buy guns in colorado have spiked by more than 40%. and in multiple theaters around the country, screenings of that

same batman film accompanied by panic, evacuations and even gunshots being fired. so here's the question, what, if anything, ought to be done about violence in movies? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog. or go to our post on the "the situation room" facebook page. wolf. >> thanks, jack. thanks very much. friday's massacre at a movie theater in aurora, colorado, as you just heard is bringing that entire debate over gun control front and center. president obama addressed the issue head-on in a speech in new orleans last night. listen precisely to what he said. >> i, like most americans, believe that the second amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms. i think we recognize the traditions of gun ownership passed on from generation to generation. that hunting and shooting are part of a cherished national

heritage. but i also believe in a lot of gun owners would agree that ak-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals. [ applause ] >> okay. just to be precise, he didn't say guns belong in the hands only of soldiers, he said ak-47s belong in the hands of soldiers and not criminals. earlier i misspoke on that. i want to be precise he's talking about ak-47s, not guns. mitt romney responded today in an interview with cnn's piers morgan in london. >> i think that the effort to continue to look for some law to somehow make violence go away is missing the point. the real point has to relate to individuals that are deranged and distressed and to find them and help them and to keep them from carrying out terrible acts. timothy mcvay, how many people did he kill with fertilizer? with products that can be

purchased legally anywhere in the world. he was able to carry out vast mayhem. somehow thinking laws against the instruments of violence would make violence go away i think is misguided. >> and the full interview with mitt romney and piers morgan ann romney participating as well, that will air later tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn, piers morgan tonight. you're going to want to see that interview. let's bring in rick stengel right now, managing editor of our sister publication "time" magazine highlights the issue of gun control hw guns won in the latest issue. you see the cover right there. what happened here? what's the bottom line conclusion in your cover story, rick? >> well, the bottom line, wolf, is it's a great story by joe klein. joe klein talks about why there is this consensus among democrats and republicans to basically do nothing about guns and it comes from the semi-automatic weapons ban part

of bill clinton's crime bill in 1994. both sides in effect we say overlearned the lessons of that bill. a lot of democrats lost the seats and republicans thought this is necessary for our fund raising and for winning in the future. that's why nothing has been done since and probably nothing is going to be done now. >> and you listen to the precise words how the president framed his position on guns before the national urban league last night. it was very, very specific. when you heard that, what did you think? >> well, i thought, it's a good question. i thought he wanted to talk to both sides. he wanted to talk to conservatives afraid of the government taking their guns away by saying, look, the second amendment is part of law and people believe it's part of our dna and then speaking to those that need of regulation of guns,

there's no sporting purpose and no reason they should be allowed for people to buy them. >> the cover story in "time" magazine. rick stengel is the managing editor. rick, thanks very much. authorities suspect poison was used in the death of a british businessman. we're getting new information, who killed him, the wife of a prominent politician is being charged with murder. plus, the olympics opening ceremony hasn't happened yet and we have a huge upset. details coming up in "the situation room."

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that and other top stories in "the situation room" right now. lisa, what's going on? >> wolf, suspected of poisoning a chinese businessman over "economic difference." it's been an embarrassment. her husband was a prominent party member after being kicked out over a power struggle. the businessman's body was k cremated before autopsies could be performed. and police in maryland released these photos of a man they believe abducted baseball legend cal ripken, jr.'s mother. she was found bound in the back of her car. the man appeared to use her credit cards, but police are still looking for motives. still a day before the olympic opening ceremony. spain's soccer team stunned. won back-to-back euro cup

championships and the 2010 world cup, but spain's olympic squad had been expected to win the gold, which will be tougher now after this early loss. and another sign of just how serious college football has become. according to espn, a rising eighth grader -- yes, a 14-year-old, h committed to play at the university of washington after high school. it's just a verbal commitment because the school can't offer anything in writing until february of 2017. but the school thinks so highly of this quarterback, they are trying to sign him five years before he graduates. they are just getting younger and younger, wolf. >> that's amazing. all right, lisa, thank you. what are the three biggest threats facing the united states today when it comes to national security? i'll pose that question to someone who knows the risks very well. the former national intelligence director is here in colorado at this forum. and more fascinating details emerging right now about north korean leaders and the new

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>> you know, wolf, the focus on chick-fil-a and its company's stance on same sex marriage is taking a new turn with debate over first amendment rights, city officials step into this controversy. the grand opening of a chick-fil-a restaurant in laguna hills, calling for boycotts after the president of the chain said he opposed same sex marriage. >> those kinds of messages and rhetoric is hurtful to our families. >> reporter: chicago is the latest city to yank the welcome mat. >> chick-fil-a's values are not chicago values. they're not respectful of our residence, our neighbors and our family members. >> reporter: mayor rahm emanuel echoed sentiments of a city official who threatened to block construction of a chick-fil-a restaurant. the chain has become a lightning rod for controversy after its president made it clear he believes marriage should only be between a man and a woman.

>> i think we're abiding god's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, you know, we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage. >> reporter: chick-fil-a says the company has always applied "b "biblically" -- chick-fil-a culture and service in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation and gender." but boston's mayor isn't sold repeating his message to the chain to stay away. >> i don't want an individual who will continue to advocate against people's rights. and that's who i am. that's what boston's all about. >> reporter: but can politicians block businesses because of the words of a company president? lawyers say they have no legal ground to stand on. one christian radio host calls it disturbing. >> i mean, it seems to me that these are bullying tactics.

diversity is celebrated provided that you are towing the line of the radical left. >> reporter: also supporting the restaurant chain is former presidential candidate rick santorum and fellow republican mike huckabee calling for chick-fil-a appreciation day next week. on the other side some gay rights advocates are announcing a national kiss in. new york's mayor is now weighing in, a spokeswoman telling us in a statement mayor bloomberg believes government shouldn't treat people differently based on who they love, which is why he lobbied so aggressively for marriage equality. similarly, he believes that government shouldn't treat businesses differently based on their owners' personal political views. wolf. >> so in other words he's saying the owner or the president of chick-fil-a has a right to believe whatever he wants. that shouldn't necessarily impact the chick-fil-a's

opportunity to do business in new york city. is that what he's saying? >> that is what he's saying. and not taking the stand that the mayors of chicago and boston have taken. >> mary, thanks very, very much. a very bloody day in syria unfolding as well. ivan watson is inside syria traveling with rebel fighters inside the war-torn country. at the top of our next hour we'll go back to ivan live with new information. and the stratosphere diver who survived a test jump from 96,000 feet. [ male announcer ] it's a golden opportunity...

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[ speaking in a foreign language ] that's the north korean leader kim jong-un.

you just heard it there, on a ride at an amusement park in pyongyang. rare and fascinating video, but the details emerging about the so-called supreme leader's marriage are even more intriguing. let's bring back lisa sylvester. she's following this part of the story. lisa, what are you learning? >> wolf, we are certainly seeing more of the private side of north korean leader kim jong-un and the woman we now know is his wife. north korea has always been a reclusive country, but here you see pictures of kim at an amusement park. the woman has been identified now by north korean state television as ri sol ju. and they have actually been married since 2009. there were rumors circulating in korean media that they may even have a 3-year-old child. but the intelligence service hasn't been able to confirm that. take a look here. this certainly falls in the

category of something you just don't see everyday. north korea supreme leader kim jong-un on an amusement park ride. definitely this has all the looks of a photo op. are these signs of greater openness? one north korean expert puts it this way. >> even though it is really a dictatorship, it's like a big ship. you can't change things on a dime. you've got to get people conditioned and used to the fact that kim jong-un has a wife and this is the way they normally roll things out. >> let's go back to that video again. if you look closely at the video, you can see a lot of men wearing some suits. some of them actually wearing ties on that ride. of course between the music and the enthusiasm of the state television broadcaster, this is all making for a very colorful some would even say quite frankly, wolf, a little bizarre moment that we're seeing, wolf. >> yeah, when i was in pyongyang for six days back in december 2010 i went to that amusement park. you can spot it all over the

city. it's obviously one of the most popular areas in pyongyang. it was built several years ago. but, you know what, if he's now been confirmed he's married and may even have a child as you point out, i guess that's politically very significant because it says to the people of north korea there will be yet another generation from his father, his grandfather, now him. and now a son if you will, a child. so this generation of leaders will continue. that's very, very important politically by all accounts, lisa. >> yeah. >> that's what some of the experts have told me over the years. >> and one other thing about that is that seeing him, he's believed to be in his late 20s. so seeing him now with a wife, possibly even a child, that that sends a message that essentially he's a grown-up. we're not talking about a child, we're talking about somebody clearly in charge and trying to make that very well-established as well, wolf. >> yep. all righ well, congratulations to kim

jong-un and his lovely bride, even though they may have been married for a few years. thank you. we're learning more about a lab technician accused of infecting perhaps thousands of people right here in the united states with hepatitis c. he's worked at hospitals in at least eight states. and concern is spreading right now across the country. o

at white house today president obama held his first cabinet meeting since january. he avoided reporters questioning about gun control after the colorado massacre. but the president did talk about it last night. and that made some of his fellow democrats shall we say a little bit uncomfortable. let's bring in our senior congressional correspondent dana

bash. dana, what's going on? >> uncomfortable is a good word for it, wolf. we've been reporting since late last week that gun politics are dicey politics for democrats. and that was oh, so evident in the halls of congress today. president obama breaking his post-movie massacre silence about gun control. >> we should check someone's criminal record before they can check out a gun sell. that a mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on a gun so easily. these steps shouldn't be controversial. they should be common sense. >> reporter: shouldn't be controversial? common sense? the president's fellow democrats see gun control as political dynamite. still, obama is the party's leader. so do his democratic colleagues agree? >> i don't know how anyone could disagree about what the president said yesterday. >> reporter: harry reid agrees, but, wait a minute, he can actually do something about it. rooetd controls the senate agenda. so cnn's ted barrett asked the

next question. >> with the schedule we have, we're not going to debate on gun control. but i'm very happy. i'm glad the president made the statement. it's something that needs to be done. but we're not going to address n control. >> reporter: okay. no time this year, what about next year? >> if you win majority next year, would that be a good time -- >> nice try. >> reporter: over in the house the democratic leader was prepped and ready for a question about the president's gun comments. >> i thought his comments were very thoughtful, provided leadership. >> reporter: nancy pelosi is a seasoned pall who wants the majority back. watch this delicate dance. >> we all recognize the importance of the second amendment and the need -- and also the need to reduce violence in our communities. >> reporter: we took the president's remarks to rank and file democrats, joe crowley is from new york city where being anti-gun isn't so dangerous politically. >> but when something like this of this magnitude happens, i think it begs the moral

question, let's talk about it. >> reporter: but arizona's is a democrat from the kind of pro-gun district his party is panicked about losing. still. >> i thought it was an important ice-breaker to have this discussion. >> reporter: is this a tough thing -- >> i think it's a tough thing because nra carries with it a threat. a threat that if you speak against any point on gun control, you automatically face a political threat. >> reporter: so you see there the reluctance by democratic leaders here in congress to move on gun legislation. you might be wondering what about the republicans? after all they still run very much run the house of representatives. well, house speaker john boehner simply said today a couple of times actually to reporters that if the president has specific proposals, he would be glad to look atd them, wolf. i think in football terms that would be a punt. >> yeah. so bottom line all of this. you've been reporting this for days. there's not going to be any action, any significant action,

maybe even not insignificant action between now and november when it comes to guns in the united states. >> i think the chances of that are slim to none. and that's pretty high. >> all right. high. >> all right, thanks very much. let's go back to jack with the cafferty file. >> the other question is what, if anything, should be done about violence in movies. marilyn writes how about putting back some boundaries, enforcing ratings, enforcing curfews. no good comes from little children watching r or pg movies at 2:00 in the morning. the outcome of this tragedy in aurora might still have been 12 killed, but there wouldn't be children placed at risk by their parents and enabled by movie theaters. dee in minnesota, no one gets hurt in the movies, it is all fake. now psycho i did yots that shoot up theaters is a different story. it is like trying to find a way to blame 9/11 on the plane and not the terrorists.

another, all this violence we are shoving down the throats of our kids has to have an effect on their minds. the other part of the dilemma is news and coverage of war. do we really need to show video of helicopter gun ships killing combatants over and over? in this way, people would be reminded violence is not entertainment, but rather has tragic, painful, life altering consequences. rich writes watching a movie, a madman starts killing people. was it the movie that caused it, no. the movie was just the venue he chose. he could have picked a mcdonald's, people would have been just as dead. movies don't kill people, idiots kill people. if you take out the gun

violence, the nra is poed. if you substitute sex, the christian right will get poed. stays home. maybe that's why i don't go to the movies any more. more on this subject, interesting mail on this. go to cnn.com/caffertyfile or through our posts on "the situation room's" facebook page. wolf? >> thanks very much. the director of national intelligence is standing by. we have some important issues to discuss. we will be right back. ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network.

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the man behind the raid that took down osama bin laden sits

down with me for the first time, shares his enormous pride in a truly historic operation. listen to this. >> i think when the history is finally written and outlined and exposed on how the cia determined that bin laden was there it will be one of the great intelligence operations in history. >> that's admiral william mcraven, an interview with him in the next hour. in aspen, talk about that and more with former u.s. director of national intelligence, admiral dennis blair, retired from the u.s. navy. was this one of the greatest intelligence operations in history as admiral mcraven says, the killing of bin laden? >> you mean the intelligence that led to -- >> you were intimately involved over the years until you retired in 2010 in gathering a lot of that intelligence. >> it took us ten years, wolf, longer than any of us would have liked. it was the sort of grinding,

detailed, multi agency intelligence and eventually will get results. in that sense, i think it was classic. but i wish we had done it faster and wish we had been able to take him down sooner. >> you retired in may of 2010. was this compound, i don't want you to violate national security secrets, was this compound in abbottabad on the radar screen during any of the time you were director of national intelligence? >> our filter was wider than a town. we were following a number of leads, thank goodness one of them turned out to be right. >> you didn't know about abbottabad. >> i'm not going to tell you. >> you may have known. >> can't tell you that either. >> let's talk about you were quoted in "the new york times" in a piece on president obama's kill list, the process of that. you said at the time, may 29th, the steady refrain in the white house was this is the only game in town, reminded me of body

counts in vietnam. those of us lived through vietnam, we remember the body counts in vietnam. explain that. that quote was a little confusing. >> i think we have to judge our progress against bin laden and against the al qaeda organization in terms of capabilities that we take away from it. multi team, 9/11 raids, small raids, individuals, that's how you measure whether we make success, not how many of their people we killed. >> was that a criticism of the white house strategy? >> it is a criticism of national strategy which was focused on counting thing, not outputs. >> would you rather capture or kill the terrorists? >> in every case, i would rather capture, we can get more information from them. >> in the case of bin laden, if he was captured alive, brought to guantanamo, that would be a nightmare down the road.

>> every nightmare has its own thing. i don't know if we would have talked. if we had a chance of getting him to talk, that would be good. >> if the united states is holding bin laden, all his supporters would have gone shall we say on the war path to get the united states to release him for some sort of -- and do whatever they were doing, trying to do bad things to them. >> i don't think what al qaeda was trying to do was different from a dead osama bin laden from a live osama bin laden. they would have tried to do anything they could, and they did. they couldn't do very much. >> what is the biggest national security threat facing the united states now? >> our biggest threat i would say is failure to use our position of great power to establish some rules of international conduct which will make it the kind of world we want to live in. we are the big leader. we've got to set the rules, get

everybody to go along. we have ability to do that. that will take care of individual threats as they come along. >> good starting point for the next conversation in "the situation room." >> okay. >> admiral, thanks for coming in. >> good to see you, wolf. >> appreciate it very much. happening now, mitt romney upsets the british in london, gets an earful from the prime minister. the admiral that planned the radon osama bin laden shares details with me that he never revealed in public before. and learning about the lab technician accused of infecting thousands of people possibly with hepatitis c. i am wolf blitzer in aspen, colorado. you're in "the situation room." [ gunshots ] syrian rebels fighting to the death to take control of the country's second largest city, the battle for aleppa could be

decisive in the battle with the assad regime. look at this report filed on the rebels and what they're up against. >> reporter: syrian rebel fighters show off captured weapons of war. the largest weapons yet in rebel hands. a vehicle mounted mortar that fires giant 120 millimeter rounds. an armored personnel carrier, and this mounted on a pickup. this has gotten use in battle. a couple weeks ago, i shot down a helicopter, says this bus driver, now a rebel. moments later a helicopter flies high overhead. >> we're looking at a helicopter circling over this town now, and hearing gunfire, and this is

what scares the fighters the most. this is what has been killing e most rebels that we've come across, the most casualtiecasua. this came from aleppa. they say they're fighting for freedom from the assad regime and succeeded pushing government forces from this town of anadon. look at the cost, not a single civilian resident left in this town. it has been blasted and is almost completely deserted, except for fighters. it is scarred by artillery fire, eerily empty. this is why the town is so deserted. two days ago, three people, curds from out of town were driving this small vehicle, small truck up this road, and they were hit from a military checkpoint. it looks like right about here. it still smells like rotting

flesh right now. >> a fighter tells us there's a government army base in the farmland a few miles away, and the soldiers fire at us. bullets whiz overhead as we film a statue of the current syrian president's father. nearby in the mansion of a wealthy business man, we find a squad of rebels taking up temporary residence. they show me an entire armory of weapons they say are captured from syrian security forces. it's a small arsenal, stacked up next to the original house owner's gilded chairs and dainty pillows. have you even captured armor? what happened to the guy you captured this from? he died, the rebel commander says, god willing, he went to hell. unlike libya, these rebels don't show off by constantly firing

weapons in the air. syria's rebels aren't getting nearly as much help from the outside world. for them, every bullet is precious. >> ivan watson joins us live from inside syria. obviously a dangerous assignment that you have. ivan, the rebels you're with, do they think this is going to be a long, drawn out war or do they see indications that there's been a tipping point and the handwriting is on the wall, might take weeks or months, but for all practical purposes they think they're going to win? >> reporter: certainly already has been a long, drawn out struggle, 17 months, deaths of at least 15, 16,000 people. depending who you talk to, some are optimistic, particularly after a big bomb went off in damascus, killed four top security chiefs. but the inroads the rebels made into the capital, damascus last

week, kind of faded as a result of the very strong syrian military counter attack, and now i think the rebels see that aleppo, the commercial city, is the linchpin. that's why they're throwing apparently all their man power in the north of the country into the struggle for control of that city. >> yeah, sort of reminds me of the struggle in libya, a lot of differences, but if they control aleppo like the rebels in libya controlled benghazi, not the capitol, tripoli, but benghazi, they have a base then to set up opposition government and that would be a huge, huge development. ivan watson doing amazing reporting for us here in the united states and around the world. ivan, thanks so, so much. mitt romney was hoping to make a big impression on the world stage weeks before he officially becomes the republican presidential nominee. that will happen at the republican convention in tampa at the end of august, but not

necessarily like this trip, which is a trip that got off to a bit of a rough start, very undiplomatic remarks about the olympic games in london, only making matters worse. jim acosta is traveling with romney in london. >> reporter: wolf, with no olympic swimming pool in sight, mitt romney is making waves of his own in london. >> welcome to london. >> reporter: as mitt romney chatted up the olympics in meeting after meeting with former and current british leaders, the london media were already off to the races with comments the gop contender made about the preparations for the games. >> you know, it is hard to know how well it will turn out. >> reporter: in an interview with nbc, romney noted some of london's problems getting ready for the olympics. >> do they come together, celebrate the olympic moment. that's something we only find out once the games actually begin. >> reporter: that remark drew a sharp response from david cameron in the hours before a

scheduled meeting with romney, he put diplomacy aside, took issue with the republican candidate's comments. >> i think we're showing the whole world not just that we come together as a united kingdom, but we're also extremely good at welcoming people across the world. >> reporter: then a jab from a boxing match, it appeared to draw contrast between staging games in london versus salt lake city, where romney guided the olympics to success. >> we are holding olympic games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world. it is easier if you hold the olympic games in the middle of nowhere. >> reporter: after his meeting with cameron, raumomney faced reporters. >> did you intend to criticize the way london prepared the games? >> i am delighted with the prospects of a highly successful olympic games. what i have seen shows imagination and forethought and

a lot of organization, and expect the games will be highly successful. >> reporter: on the same day the torch made its way through london, it was a diplomat i can flame out for romney, who had come to the city hoping to tout olympic experience to voters back home. he received some shoutouts from british leaders. >> great to have somebody here that organized a successful olympic games. >> reporter: not so much on the streets of london. >> mitt romney is rude in what he said, to the prime minister, and criticizing the country about the olympics. >> reporter: it is not clear if any of this has an effect on the campaign back home. romney and his wife plan to attend the opening ceremonies before he heads to israel this weekend. wolf? >> all right, jim acosta reporting from london. let's dig deeper into romney's trip to london. joined by chief political analyst, gloria borger. gloria, this was supposed to be

a victory lap for romney to remind people of success at turning around the 2002 winter games in salt lake city. now will romney's campaign live to regret this trip to london? >> depends how it all turns out, how the european trip turns out. this isn't going the way they intended. it is supposed to be a victory lap. even later today, the mayor of london mentioned romney saying he wants to know whether we're ready. are we ready? he was being ribbed by the mayor of london. seems to me he had a pretty uncomfortable conversation with david cameron, the prime minister, i wasn't in the room, but this trip was supposed to remind all of us back here that mitt romney ran a very successful olympics in 2002, that he came into a scandal plagued olympics, about $400 million in debt, and that at the other end, it turned out to be incredibly successful and ended up in the black. so this was supposed to be the

reminder to us. and by the way, wolf, also it was an olympics that came after 9/11 with a real security problem, and wound up being just fine. so when you heard romney's comments about security, i thought back to his own olympics where he had a security problem and managed to overcome it. but clearly, cameron was not happy. >> yeah, i think it is fair to say salt lake city games, he did an excellent job organizing those games. besides the olympics, what's the rest of the overseas trip supposed to accomplish for the republican candidate? >> it is supposed to put him on the international stage. the one area where he has a real deficit against president obama is the question of ability on foreign policy. so these conversations with international leaders are supposed to put him on that stage. much in the same way as candidate barack obama did back in july, 2008. of course, he had a couple

hundred thousand people as audience in berlin. i don't think mitt romney will have that. but he is going to go to israel as you well know, and in israel they're making a really big point and in fact probably an indirect slap at president obama who has not been back in israel since he was candidate obama and jewish voters have had some problems with president obama in terms of mideast policy, and don't like that he hasn't visited since he has been president. it is a clear message for the romney campaign that he is there. >> and a lot of israel supporters say the president had the time to go to cairo, to go to istanbul in turkey, yet didn't have the time to go to israel. so they're upset about that. he did go to israel several times. as a senator, there four years ago. >> as a candidate. >> and his campaign now says he will be there if reelected. he promises to make a visit to

israel. all right. we will see what romney does in israel over the next few days. mitt romney isn't letting his misstep in london discourage him touting his own experience running the olympic games. he and his wife ann sat down for an interview with piers morgan in london. romney told piers he sees parallels between turning around the olympics and turning around the country. >> i was able to establish with them a clear vision of what we needed to do. we tackled a budget crisis that we faced, and we were able to come together in a way through unity that produced an extraordinary success. the country is in need of a turnaround. the olympics was a turn around. there are businesses i was associated with that needed a turnaround. that kind of experience of focusing on the critical issue, building the most effective team possible, creating a common vision, unifying around that vision, and then delivering results is something i think the american people would like to

see in our economy right now. >> and you can see piers' interview with mitt and ann romney tonight. it airs 9:00 p.m. eastern, only on cnn. and by the way, i'll be heading this weekend to israel to interview mitt romney myself. during the visit there, i will be in jerusalem for the interview. see my interview with mitt romney on "the situation room" coming up on monday. perhaps thousands of americans may be infected with hepatitis c all because of one man accused of being what they call a serial infector. talking to somebody that knows him. and he's a hero that planned the assault on osama bin laden. admiral william mcraven has an exclusive interview coming up. ♪

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thousands of patients in new hampshire have to be tested for hepatitis c because they may have been in contact with a serial infector. concern is spreading across the country now. he worked in hospitals in at least eight states. the senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is at a community meeting in exeter. the community groups have been silent. you talked to a man today, what did he say. >> reporter: i talked to a man that went in for a heart procedure in february, and then was told we may have given you hepatitis c in that procedure because the technician was drug sharing, taking some drugs for himself, giving dirty syringe then to patients. here is what ron cross had to say. the scary thing is this could happen to any of us. >> yeah, i know, huh?

i mean, kind of changes how you're going to approach things from now on. i mean, you have to ask for credentials at the door of the hospital, see who you really are, what you're really going to do. >> reporter: because there's nothing you could have done to -- >> nothing. and some people, i don't know, some morbid, it is a death sentence for some people. i'm hoping i'm not one of them. >> reporter: now, ron had his surgery in mid to late february. he won't know until next month whether he has hepatitis c or not because it takes a couple of months the way the tests are designed. wolf? >> did this man ever suspect anything was wrong? >> reporter: you know, he knew kwiatkowski from the hospital and knew him from a restaurant and he would come into eat. he said when he minute him, something was odd. the minute he met him,

kwiatkowski said my fiance died five days before the wedding, my dog has diabetes, telling sad stories that turned out not to be true. when ron found out one of the employees was involved in his drug sharing incident, he thought of kwiatkowski. he was surprised hospital personnel didn't realize something was wrong with him. >> what a story, unfortunately. thanks very much, elizabeth cohen on the scene for us. also getting a first look tonight at the man suspected of abducting cal ripken's mother, still out there, armed and dangerous. that's coming up. ort sedan. but hurry before this opportunity...disappears. the mercedes-benz summer event ends july 31st. the mercedes-benz summer event last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years. in florida we had more sunta... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water.

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picture of a suspect in a high profile kidnapping case. lisa sylvester is monitoring that and other stories. lisa, what do you have? >> reporter: maryland police say this is the man that abducted the mother of baseball legend cal ripken junior. they say he is armed and dangerous, they want help tracking him down. officers still don't know why violet ripken was taken from her home at gunpoint, but she was found yesterday in her car with her hands tied, and the suspect appears to have used her credit cards. mortgage rates hit another all time low this week. average rate for 30 year mortgage fell to 3.49%, despite the record low, a separate report says pending home sales slipped 1.4% compared to may. and facebook shares plummeted to new all time lows after the company's first earnings report. failed to wow investors. shares of facebook fell more than 10% after closing bell to about $24. that's nearly 40% below the company's initial public

offering price in may. but the social networking giant is showing growth. it generated $1.2 billion last quarter, beating analyst expectations. if you worry about picking up a cold or worse when you fly, consider this, the airport you are taking off from, it could effect your health. mit researchers say airports in new york, los angeles, honolulu, san francisco, and newark are likely to spread disease in outbreak. in honolulu, rankings aren't tied to airport size or busyness, and honolulu is well connected to big hubs in far places. wolf, these are places you traveled to and from. also know you're catching a plane shortly, too, wolf. >> heading out of the beautiful aspen, colorado airport, one of the best in the country to be sure. don't think there's a lot of disease in aspen. thanks, lisa. don't go too far, i'm going to need you. the admiral that planned a

raid that killed osama bin laden tells me what he thinks about president obama. stand by for more of my exclusive interview with admiral william mcraven, head of special operations. and a final test before a record breaking free fall from the edge of space. 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.

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that planned the raid that took out osama bin laden. you will hear from admiral welcome mcraven talk about that historic night last may. he is also going to give us his thoughts on gays serving openly in the u.s. military. let's start with his assessment of president obama's performance as commander in chief. the admiral, shall i say, is a fan. what kind of commander in chief is he? >> the president of the united states is fantastic. and again, i am not a political guy. i've worked in both administrations. i very much enjoyed working for president bush and i very much enjoy working for president obama. and it's -- this isn't about politics, this is about a commander in chief who i have the opportunity to engage with on a routine basis, and watching him and the decisions he makes along with his national security team. they're a very impressive group of guys and gals.

so as an operational, as a commander, i feel comfortable that when we present our best military advice to the president and his team, they take it very seriously, they consult routinely with senior leadership of the military, and they do the best they can to make the right decision. >> the fact he never served in the military and mitt romney never served in the minute, is that at all a factor that the american people should consider at all? >> well, i know from the uniform military standpoint, we serve the president and commander in chief, andrrespective of whether they served in uniform or not. so again, i'm not getting into the political discussion, but i will tell you, we're proud to serve whoever sits in the white house. >> share with us one nugget, one nugget that without violating sources, methods, classified information, that you believe is important that the american people know about this raid that

they may not have read about, don't know about, something that you want to share. >> yeah. i think what the american people, they probably know but may not appreciate is how great our interagency process is, and i look around the audience at some of our great interagency representatives here, but when you look at the cia, the fbi, the defense intelligence agency, nga, homeland security, national counter terrorism center, all these folks day-in and day-out that are going after the threat that's out there, looking at the threat, protecting the american people, and how well they work together day-in and day-out, and you don't see that. you tend to think the fbi's lane is clear, the cia's lane is very clear, and defense intelligence is very clear, but in reality, they're all talking to each other all day long, making sure

the information they've got and intelligence they've got is right. they're checking, double checking. as we went into the bin laden raid, this thought that this is going to be difficult pulling the military and cia together along with the support we have from the national security agency, nga and others, this was easy for us. it was easy for us because for the last ten years, we have been doing this, we have been building this interagency team, and i got to tell you today, it hums. >> how good is the intelligence. without good intelligence in the bin laden raid, if you didn't have good intelligence, you wouldn't have known anything. >> sure. >> when you go into a mission in afghanistan or anywhere else in the world, do you have confidence in the intelligence? >> we have the best intelligence in the world, bar none. there's nobody even close to us. [ applause ] >> now that gays are allowed to serve openly in the u.s. military, i assume special

operations, among the 66,000 troops that you command, there are gays and lesbians that served. how is that working out. we heard all sorts of horror stories, fears this would be a disaster. >> but at the end of the day, all we care about is whether you carry your rough sack and do your job. whether you're a female, whether gay or lesbian, whether you're a minority is immaterial to the guy in the military. we just want somebody that steps up, does their job. >> close quarters, has that been an issue? we heard fears, it would be bad. >> i don't want to speak for other services and folks down range. i haven't had to deal with any of those issues. not to say they're not out there, somebody else has to deal with them. for right now, nothing has been raised to my level. >> there's a huge uproar now, from your perspective, i am anxious to get your sense about the leaks of the bin laden raid,

whether it did undermine sources and methods, it went too far, there are investigations as you know on the hill right now. can you share a thought with us on how you feel about all of this? >> well, we're never happy when leaks occur obviously. we go to great lengths to protect our national security, very great lengths to protect our sources and methods. so all of that we guard very carefully. unfortunately, not everybody guards it very carefully. and i think what you've seen is the secretary and the president and capitol hill of taking the leaks very seriously, as they should, and we need to do the best we can to clamp down on it. sooner or later, it is going to cost people their lives or cost us our national security. so it is important and frankly, it is important, i would tell you, for reporters that are here. you're going to hear things, you're going to see things that you think the public needs to know. and i will tell you, i'm not sure the public needs to know all of that. a lot of times y'all are racing

to a deadline to try and trump the next network, potentially at the expense of somebody's life. and i have had discussions with editors -- [ applause ] -- i have had discussions with editors about the sensitive nature of some of the things they're about to print, and they have been very candid with me, said you know, if so and so is going to beat us to the story, i'm going to print it, and all you can do is make the best case you can. that's not to say the american people don't need to have a completely transparent government, i got it, and i'm the guy working to protect that transparency for all of the right reasons. but i do think as reporters you have an obligation as well. and i would encourage every reporter in this room to respect that responsibility.

>> fascinating interview with admiral mcraven. raising a lot more questions among other things after the death of bin laden, is the u.s. really safer. we will talk about that and more with two special guests. stay with us. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it helps pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs. to me, relationships matter. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] with these types of plans,

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for the first time, the man that planned the raid that took down osama bin laden is giving a frank, public interview about what happened that night. you heard some of it. let's talk about what we heard from admiral mcraven. joining us now, two guests, clark kent irvin with aspen institute's homeland security program, also a former inspector general over at the department of homeland security. also joining us, steve call, president of new american foundation and staff writer at "the new yorker." also a best selling author.

guys, thanks for coming in. do you think the u.s. is really safer no that bin laden is dead? >> that's a complicated question, wolf. there's no question the killing of bin laden was a huge psychological victory, cut off the head of the snake, great retaliation for 9/11. on the other hand, there are no question that there are affiliates in yemen, somalia, west africa, on the march, pose a threat to the home land. aurora, colorado incident that happened last week could easily have been a terror attack by a lone wolf or terrorist. so the thread picture is more complicated now than at any time in a long time. so there's a lot of work to be done. >> are you surprised the number two al qaeda leader is still roaming around? >> it is a big area, he has gone underground, shut off all communications. al qaeda in that part of the world is under enormous pressure, i think it won't be too long before eventually he

gets detected or sold out by one of his colleagues for reward money. >> it is unusual. this is the first time admiral mcraven has really spoken out about any of this publicly on television since the death of bin laden. were you surprised he was willing to come to the aspen institute forum, which i must say, we are co-sponsoring this forum with "the new york times" and cnn. were you surprised he was willing to be public, talk about it, he was measured, but he did open up. >> i was surprised by it, wolf, but i think he understands it. talked about it last night. the american people have a right to know what they can be told about what the country -- what is done to defend the country, at the same time not compromising sources and methods. i think he walked that fine line well last night. >> steve, you're a journalist like i am. you heard a clip, i'll play it again about the leaks. he is obviously very concerned about what the news media sometimes reports in books and elsewhere. >> are people effected by the information that comes out? you bet they are.

are lives at risk? absolutely. >> what did you think of the lecture he basically gave you and me and all our colleagues. >> with respect to admiral mcraven, he deserves respect. i wouldn't take the leader of the most secret unit in the united states evaluating where the line in the first amendment lies. there are operational details no responsible journalist would disclose if they jeopardized lives in a concrete way. i found his lecture a bit brought, sweeping, typical of those on the frontlines. it is not their responsibility to judge how the first amendment operates in our society, but his voice is an important one. it was good to hear from him. >> do you think this administration, obama administration, has a leak problem? >> appears to be the case. on the other hand, the president seems determined in a way the bush administration wasn't to go after leakers. the military has been strong on this. we will see where it goes. >> what do you think? >> look, the bush administration, if you go back,

look at the journalism that followed 9/11 was full of just as much national security information as the obama administration. if anything, the obama administration has gone further than any recent american frez cracking down on whistle blowers, even when it involves misappropriation of taxpayer money. my concern about obama administration goes the other way, i think they're taking hard use of criminal statutes to punish dissenters inside the government in a way prior presidents haven't done. >> he commands 66,000 special ops forces. since don't ask, don't tell went away, hasn't had one problem with gays and lesbians serving openly under his command. were you surprised? >> not really. that's the history of the military. during the 1940s and '50s, same things were raised about the degree it would compromise the force and there was no problem there. we need a military that's more diverse, more reflective american, i am not at all

surprised. i was glad to hear the admiral say it on the record. >> 20 years, hearing from nato allies, they allow gays to serve openly, never understood why the u.s. had this big problem with letting them serve openly. that's all history now. i take it that that's just the rhetoric of the past. >> i think on the frontlines, american militar noncommissioned officers, as he put it down range, officers down range have a lot of learning to do about how to create the right environment for the diversity clark describes as the goal, but it is encouraging that a commander like admiral mcraven can readily acknowledge it is not a problem. >> not only him, heard it from other generals and admirals recently. appreciate it. thanks for organizing this. >> thanks. >> you have a new book coming out? >> one out in may, i'll keep you posted. >> thanks very much. the price of facebook stock

plunged to a new all time low. the company's first quarterly earnings came out since going public. that failed to wow investors. bring in cnn's erin burnett, back from reporting in mali in africa. right back into the swing of things. you did amazing work there, erin. you made all of us very proud. >> thank you very much, wolf. i appreciate that. we are talking about facebook tonight, what's going to happen with nearly a billion people using facebook. how big a failure was the ipo. we have a special report on that. and wolf, from where you're from, the assistant secretary for special operations michael sheehan was speaking in aspen, said all options are on the table when it comes to mali. this is a crucial situation for the country to consider for perspective of islamic terrorism, and a humanitarian perspective. we have a special report on that tonight, and exactly what u.s. forces might decide to do in mali. also, wolf, i don't know if you know, the other day, i called the military leader of one of

the main al qaeda militia, tried to speak with him in northern mali, he said i won't speak to you because you're a woman, you're violating my religion by calling me. we will play a message of something he said to the united states, a chilling reminder of the fact that the ambition of this organization remains bigger than gaining territory in remote parts of this planet. back to you. >> excellent reporting, erin. glad you're back safe and sound. we'll be watching at the top of the hour. thank you. i have a plane to catch back to washington. lisa sylvester is going to be here with all of the day's other news, including a sky diver testing himself one more time before a death defying jump that could shatter a record and the sound barrier. and stand by for the camera thief who's a real shark. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

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if you've ever looked out the window of an 30,000 feet i. well, that's the flying at attitude of most commercial flights. now imagine you're three times higher than that and it's just you with no plane. that's what one daredevil did just yesterday. in a few weeks, he'll try pushing the limits even further. this is a man who, just minutes ago, was going 536 miles an hour in free fall with nothing but a flight suit. >> well, it feels great. >> the skydiver, after surviving a jump from nearly 18 miles, that's 96,000 feet, over the new mexico desert. it's his final test before attempting a record-breaking 120,000 feet, and trying to break the sound barrier on his way down. >> the sky was totally black, you know, i could see the curve

of the earth so it was amazing today. >> in the extreme cold and near vacuum where a drop of water would vaporize instantly, any puncture of the suit or a malfunction of his life support system would mean instant death. boarding his capsule at dawn, baumgartner was launched with the help of a crane. then an hour and a half trip up with a helium balloon to a flight about three times your average jetliner cruising altitude. >> i have to be focused. otherwise, you're going to die. >> then the critical jump. >> you have absolutely no control when you exit so it turned me around a couple times because there's no supportive air so there's no way to get off stable. that was the big learning from this one. >> then the free fall. just three minutes, 48 seconds, followed by seven minutes with a parachute. his life depended on not getting caught in a spin and on his chute deploying successfully. >> and fee libs has landed safely back to earth.

>> one of his advisers, retired captain joe kitinger, who set the record in 1960. >> now there's only two of us that have jumped that high. >> kitinger jumped from a little higher. a daring jump in spite of an alarming suit malfunction that caused one of his hand to swell up. baumgartner has done thousands of jumps from planes, cliffs, even the giant statue in rio. his next jump, if he breaks the sound barrier, would be over 700 miles an hour. >> nobody can tell you what happened to the human body if you break or travel at the speed of sound. this is -- until the very end, still the biggest unknown. >> and if he succeeds, he would be the first person to go mach 1 with no equipment, nothing but his body and a flight suit. here are some other top stories we're working on this hour. florida health officials are looking for the source of a mystery illness that hit dozens

of tourists at walt disney world's wild africa trek. about 30 people who visited in june and july came down with stomach cramps and diarrhea and they think it may be the same virus that sometimes hits cruise ships. disney world is taking extra cleaning precautionings. and an indonesian zoo is taking desperate measures to help an orangutan kick its smoking habit. she used to pick up still lit cigarette butts investmenters to visitors tossed to ground and somehow she got hooked. if you're ever tempted to get up close to a shark with a camera in hand, beware, we'll show you what can happen. jim twitchel is this true? yes it's true. how is this possible? proper tire inflation, by using proper grades of oil, your car runs more efficiently, saves gas. you could be doing this right now?

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you may want to say cheese. she's a thief and she has snagged some very expensive camera equipment. here's jeanne moos. >> reporter: officer, i'd like to report a theft in progress. the perpetrator's already getting away. somebody arrest that shark. >> we've known this shark for several years. her name is emma. she's 14 feet long. >> reporter: george should know, he's the one shooting the theft which occurred at tiger beach in the bahamas known for its tiger sharks. the divers were shooting a documentary called "shark obsession" when emma swiped their gear. leaving the dive master in her wake. now, the only thing is, i don't think she knows how to press the shutter. >> that's right, that's right.

it's actually -- she was on the wrong side. >> reporter: maybe the shark's just sick of all the annoying underwater paparazzi. always sticking cameras in her face. never giving her credit on shark week. the gear was worth about 15,000 bucks. and it weighed about 30 pounds. sort of a heavy snack. so heavy, emma dropped it within 100 feet or so and the dive master was able to recover it undamaged. and though emma's camera wasn't rolling -- the one stolen a couple of years ago by this tiger shark was. it happened at the stuart cove's dive team in the bahamas. >> he opened his mouth. closed his mouth around the video camera. >> reporter: now we know what it would look like to be a morsel in that mouth. this shark also spat out the camera about 30 feet away. even an octopus has stolen a

little camera. though its photography skills seem, shall we say, expressionistic? the diver einvestigation wale poekd the octopus with his spear gun. as the octopus latched on to the spear gun instead. if you put bait on your camera, you greatly increase the chances of having a shark steal it. the divers documenting emma didn't hold her attempted theft against her. they're on such friendly terps they do head-butts. >> it's very much like your dog swimming up to you to give you a kiss. >> reporter: at least they didn't have to kiss the camera good-bye. sea life stealing from humans, it's enough to make a walrus whistle. >> whistle. [ walrus whistles ] >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> am i the only one who thinks those people are absolutely crazy for swimming with those tiger sharks like that? well, wolf is back on monday with an interview with mitt romn