refusing to recognize russian laws or the authority of mainstream muslim leaders. isolation that allowed them to keep their activities literally underground. matthew chance, cnn, london. >> and i'm alina cho. see you back in new york. "the situation room" with wolf blitzer starts right now. alina, thanks very much. happening now, we're releasing the results of our brand new polling in the presidential race. you're going to want to see this. the candidates are moving in opposite directions. and the numbers indicate a big reason why. also, inside a life of hate, a former skinhead gives us a chilling look at the lifestyle and mindset of people like the gunman in the wisconsin temple shooting. and an updated and ominous forecast for the rest of the atlantic hurricane season. we have new information. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

we begin this hour with a very important change in the presidential race. according to our brand new cnn/orc poll, a majority of the nation's voters now say they want to re-elect president obama. take a look at this. the president has 52%. he's seven points ahead of mitt romney who's at 45%. just a month ago the president in our poll was ahead 49% to 46%. significantly the president now according to our latest poll is above 50%. our polls also show what voters think of mitt romney's potential vice presidential picks. let's bring in our national political correspondent jim acosta. he's taking a closer look at all of these numbers. >> that's right. >> at least on the surface, should bring a smile to the obama campaign. >> and perhaps a warning to mitt romney and his campaign to go

big in the vice presidential search with mitt romney heading out on a potential rollout of his running mate. the results on the veepstakes are even more fascinating. the two men that seem to be the safe bets in washington are not the top choices in their own party. with perhaps just days to go before mitt romney makes his vice presidential pick, the conventional wisdom in washington has narrowedit down to the two ps. tim pawlenty and rob portman. >> it's an honor to be considered. it's -- it certainly would be an honor for anybody to be considered. >> reporter: widely considered the safest choices of the bunch, the two ps are saying all the right things. >> i'm in the senate. i just got elected two years ago. >> reporter: as a new cnn/orc poll, republicans want a flashier pick like the gop's rising star marco rubio, the bombastic chris christie or conservative heartthrob paul

ryan. all at the head of the pack. why? likability. >> in the end nobody votes for vice president. >> reporter: among all americans the new jersey governor has the highest favorability numbers of the seven men in the poll followed closely by the florida senator. name recognition is also a factor. the public still doesn't know much about pawlenty and even less about portman. >> governor mitt romney! >> reporter: it could be a warning sign for romney, who's about to embark on a bus tour that his campaign has hinted could be a running mate debut. the nominee could use some pi sdaz, his numbers are holding steady. >> president obama used his health care plan to declare war on religion. >> reporter: romney is trying to change that. by waging wars by requiring religious employers to cover

contraception under the health care law. obama campaign notes those rules have since been relaxed. but according to our new poll, the vast majority of americans want romney to release more of his tax returns. and on the driving force of romney's campaign, the economy slightly more americans believe things will get better under the president. as chris christie put it this week, it's the candidate at the top of the ticket that matters. >> i mean, you really think people in the united states i'm not sure about this obama guy but i love biden. i'm voting for him for that reason. people don't do that. they just don't do it. >> our new poll also finds that despite a close race, two-thirds of americans believe the president will win re-election. and as for all of the nasty ads in recent days, the poll is split over whether the candidates have been attacking each other unfairly. wolf, just getting back to that factor of unknowability, if that's a word i could use about rob portman and tim pawlenty, very interesting in these poll numbers, 72% in the polls said they were unsure about rob

portman. 58% about tim pawlenty. there's a lot of people out there who just don't know who either of these guys really is. and they might be on that running mate slot. >> on that specific issue, who the vice presidential running mate should be, there's only one person, maybe t, that would be mitt romney and ann romney, who will make that final decision and he has to really feel comfortable with his running mate because if he's elected president, that person's going to be vice president. they're going to be working very, very closely. so while the american public might not know a lot about rob portman, for example, the senator from ohio, i think he knows a lot about him and spent a lot of quality time with them as well. >> everything about the romney campaign and everything about mitt romney is data-driven and risk averse. they try to avoid risk at all costs. that's why everybody's going back to rob portman and tim pawlenty. they don't want another sarah palin situation. but our polling finds that if they want to spice things up out there, there are certainly other picks out there that the party, their own party, would like to

see on that ticket. >> originally there was a push to get this announcement before the start of this bus tour. that could be delayed, right? >> well, we were thinking it could happen any time during this bus tour. it doesn't make much sense to do it while the olympics are goin on because the olympics are taking up so much of the public's attention right now. that's why folks are focusing on the last two legs of this bus tour, florida and ohio on monday and tuesday going through marco rubio's territory. there's plenty of time between the end of the bus tour and that convention. >> we'll see what happens. good work. thanks very much, jim acosta. let's dig a bit deeper now. let's bring in cnn senior political analyst ron bronsteen. ron, you're an expert on this subject. registered voters choice for president of the united states. a month ago obama was at 49%, now he's up to 52%. a month ago romney was at 46%, now he's down to 45%. how much should we read into

what is happened over the past month in our own poll? >> well, i think there are two really important things in this poll. your 52 is a little at the high end for obama now. but, wolf, it's now the fifth national poll since mid-july that's put the president at 49 or above. and also in the last two weeks quinnipiac university with cbs and "new york times" have polled six of the key swing states. in five of them obama is at 49 or above. clearly the polls are converging that the president is moving right to or even above that magic 50% marker now. the second really important thing in this, paul, i think is if you look in the internals, the formula for victory for president obama is what you can call the 80/40 solution. four years ago in 2008 he won a combined 80% of all minority voters. if he holds that vote in 2012, he only needs 40% of whites, an incredible number really, to get to a national majority. look at your new poll today, 81% of nonwhites, 41% of whites and 52% overall, that is the formula

for esident obama if he's going to win a second term. >> let me put more numbers up on the screen, ron. favorability. a favorable opinion of president obama, 56% say they have a favorable opinion of the incumbent president. 47% have a favorable opinion of mitt romney. what do those numbers say to you? >> this is really striking. in your poll president obama's approval rating reaches 50%. in most polls he's just under 50, which means to win re-election he has to convince some people who think he hasn't done a good job that they would prefer mitt romney even less. and what these numbers suggest is they are having success at that. that mitt romney has an unfavorable image net on balance in most polls where the public certainly in many of the swing states we've seen in the last few weeks where they've seen the advertising. and it does make you wonder. the focus of the romney campaign by and large has been raising questions in their advertising about president obama. they have not put a big push into defining mitt romney and what this suggests is that that has created a vacuum to allow

president obama's team to make ground at doing that first. >> the economy is certainly issue number one, creation of jobs. we asked the question, the economy will get better with the president or if romney wins? look at this. in may 47% thought the economy would get better with the president. that has stayed the same. 47% right now. in may 50% thought economy would get better if romney wins, but that's gone down now to 45%. what happened? >> well, i think you probably have to look first of all at the effect of the advertising, i think, in the swing states. in other polling similar question, who is more concerned about the problems of people like you? mitt romney has lost ground on that as well. this is the core argument of course for the romney campaign. not surprisingly in a period of the longest economic downturn since the great depression that he can do a better job than the president at bringing us out of this. what this shows again is that it's not made as much progress as needs to in making the case. there are a lot of voters

uncertain whether they want to give president obama a second term, but what obama and his team have successfully done so far is make the case to them, the uncertain voters, that romney is not the answer. as the ad said, he's more part of the problem than the solution. and that i think is clearly the challenge for mitt romney heading into his convention and beyond. >> ron brownstein, thanks very much. releasing more numbers later this hour. more analysis of our poll numbers in our next hour a well including a closer look at what voters think of some of mitt romney's potential running mates. standby for that. let's go to jack caffertright now. he's got the cafferty file. jack. >> wolf, more than 100 million people in the united states of america get welfare from the federal government. 100 million. according to the weekly standard, senate republicans say the federal government ovlappinderalmeans testedferent weare rams this fi of 100 million don'lu who only t ci security or icare. the most popular welfare

programs are food stamps and medicaid. the numb of rpin both ese programs hass in 2000 to 45 million in 2011. and these 100 million people on welfare include citizens and noncitizens. in fact, a new report by the center for immigration studies finds that 36% of immigrant-headed households get at least one form of welfare. that's compared to 23% of native born american households. immigrants from some countries rely on welfare more than others. more than half of those coming from mexico, guatemala and the dominican republic get welfare. meanwhile, mitt romney's accusing president obama of loosening welfare requirements. a new ad charges the president with gutting the 1996 welfare reform law that requires recipients to work in order to collect benefits. but president obama's campaign, the white house and former

president clinton, who signed the welfare reform bill into law, are all pushing back against the romney ad calling it false and misleading. our question is this, where is this country headed if more than 100 million people get welfare? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on my blog. or go to our post on "the situation room" facebook page. wolf. >> that's a huge number. i had not heard that number before, jack. >> startling. >> we have 350 million people in the country. 100 million get some form of welfare from the federal government -- this is federal government, not state, right? >> yeah, no. federal government. 80 different federal means tested welfare programs and 100 million americans are getting money from those programs. >> wow. okay, jack. good question. thanks very much. we're about to meet a man who says he can identify with the gunman who killed six people in a sikh temple in wisconsin. you're going to want to hear how he turned his life around and about this country's deeply

disturbing subculture of hate. also, a new offensive against violent extremists and the tunnels they use to carry out their attacks. and later, spreading drought. it's continuing. the heat especially. and now an updated forecast for the rest of this hurricane season. informs you need to know. 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. ♪ i'd do anything for you, dear ♪ ♪ aything 'cause you mean everything to me ♪

♪ i'd know that i'd go anywhere ♪ ♪ for your smile ♪ anywhere ♪ yes, i'd do anything ♪ anything for you ♪

humans -- sometimes life trips us up. and sometimes, we trip ourselves up, but that's okay. at liberty mutual insurance we can "untrip" you as you go throug your life with personalized policies and discounts when you need them most. just call... and speak with a licensed representative about saving on your policy when you get married, move into a new house... [crash!] or add a car to your policy. don't forget to ask about saving up to 10%

when you combine your auto and home insurance with liberty mutual. security, coverage, and savings. all the things humans need to make our beautifully imperfect world a little less imperfect. call... and lock in your rate for 12 months. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? the fbi's now ended its on scene investigation of sunday's deadly attack on a sikh temple in suburban milwaukee. there it is right there. members of the temple have been allowed to return. and doctors say two of the three hospitalized victims of the shooting are getting better while a third remains in critical condition. a white supremacist, wade michael page, killed six people at the temple before he killed himself. cnn's brian todd is in wisconsin where he's been all week. he met with a man who used to believe many of the things that

page believed in. what are you finding out, brian? >> reporter: well, wolf, while law enforcement officials try to ascertain some kind of specific motive for the shootings, we are getting some idea of the possible mindset, the lifestyle of the shooter, from a man who says he's been in those shoes. he never met wade michael page but says he can identify with him. >> i can identify with him because i was there. if it wasn't for things that very fortunate things that happened to me along the way and help i got from other people, many of whom i claimed to hate, i could have very easily ended up where wade page ended up on sunday. >> reporter: you could have done those killings? >> well,t's imptanto nderstandha wade p wa living in this realityof terror that he had created. >> reporter: a similar reality no says created for hielf a

mnts ha linked on his arm. >> the ruins here are north ruins and says sort of a contraction of racial holy war. >> reporter: like page, he fronted a supremacist band, his was called centurion he says his parents wnot racist but that there was alcoholism and verbal abuse in his family which made him want to lash out. by age 16 he was moving in skinhead circles in milwaukee. he estimates he violently attacked people of other races or religions about once a week for four or five years. what's the worst thing you did? >> i've beaten people and left them for dead. >> reporter: he believes that if wade michael page was anything like how he was,age was suffering in his final days. >> his day-to-day life was nothing but terror. er wre he looked aroun im.

gog to work, coming home from work. everything threatened him. when you are in that environment,here is no room for happiness. there's no room for joy. >> reporter: michaelis says he attempted suicide twice. but a seed was planted in arno to change. it came in a place he wouldn't have figured from someone he never could have imagined. he'd started going to mcdonald's on paydays. he says he came upon an older, kindly african-american woman working behind the counter who greeted him warmly as she took his order. >> i was really kind of disconcerted. it was hard when black people were very kind to me when i was trying to hate them. >> reporter: once after getting a swastika tattooed on his middle finger, michaelis went back into that mcdonald's and found himself trying to hide that from the lady, but she saw it. >> she looked me right in the eye and she said, i know you're

a better person than that. that's not who you are. and i was like could i please have my big mac? and i got my food and i went and ate it and i never went back to that mcdonald's. >> reporter: you never saw her again? >> never saw her again. but 20 years later i haven't forgotten that moment. >> reporter: it led him to eventually move away from those groups and to start his own. an organization called life after hate dedicated to helping people transition out of that existence. i asked him what he'd say if a supremacist was sitting kro int from him now contemplating a similar horrific act. >> i would challenge them to think about what happens after that. and to think about someone in eie who love. >> reporter: michaelis says his real slap in the face moment came after a friend of his was murdered in a street fight.

he believes sundayhoo were a slap in theacet help them. he wants them to go to his website. it's called lifeafterhate.org, so they can start to climb out that hole, wolf. >> powerful story indeed. thanks for bringing it to us, brian todd. in the wake of the mass shootings in wisconsin and earlier in colorado, our laters cnn/orc poll shows no change, repeat, no change in american's general attitudes towards gun control. 50% say they want minor restrictions or no restrictions at all. 48% want major restrictions or a complete ban. these numbers by the way are almost exactly the same as they were last year. this is the first poll done immediately after both of these most cent killing incidents. shrinking usership, big losses and missed payments. new fiscal hurdles and a deeper struggle out of the hole. and he's the fastest texter in

the country. we're going to show you the teen with abnormally speedy thumbs. powerful and secure cloud. y that cloud is in the network, so it can deliver all the power of the network itself. bringing people together to develop the best ideas -- and providing the apps and computing power to make new ideas real. it's the cloud from at&t. with new ways to work together, business works better. ♪ [ male announcer ] you work hard. stretch every penny. but chances are you pay a higher tax rate than him... mitt romney made twenty million dollars in two thousand ten but paid only fourteen percent in taxes... probably less than you now he has a plan that would give millionaires another tax break... and raises taxes on middle class families by up to two thousand dollars a year. mitt romney's middle class tax increase. he pays less. you pay more.

mitt romney's middle class tax increase. we believe small things can make a big difference.e, like how a little oil from here can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. we discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks. it's just one way purina one is making the world a better place... one pet at a time. discover vibrant maturity and more at purinaone.com. where we switched their steaks with walmart's choice premium steak. ♪ this is really good. like what i grew up with. onlyne out of five steaks is good enough to be called walmart choice premium beef. can i let you in on a secret? you're eating a walmart steak. no kidding. noooo! i promise. it's very tender. you could almost cut it with a fork. it is delicious! we need to start buying those at walmart. walmart usda choice premium steaks. try it. tell us what you think about it on facebook. it's 100% guaranteed.

u.s. mail is swimming in red ink. lis si sylvester's monitoring that and other stories in "the situation room." >> hi, wolf. the red ink keeps flowing at the u.s. postal service reporting a $5.2 billion loss for the second quarter of the year. officials blame declining volume in everyday mail with the loss coupled with a mandate to prefund health care benefits for retirees. the agency defaulted on a $5.5 billion payment to that fund that was due august 1st. and corn prices soar today to new record highs. they spiked to $8.28 per bushel.

prices up more than 60% over the last seven weeks. the u.s. drought is credited with driving up prices worldwide due to a shortfall in production against high demand for corn and other crops. and the dramatic evacuation from a research facility in one of the world's harshest places, the australian team landed on an ice runway at mcmortar station on dark winter bound antarctica to pick up a person in need of medical distress. the team had to wait in new zealand until today for enough light to land and take off. the patient is not identified but believed to be an american. and a teenager from wisconsin has been named the fastest texter in america. for the second year running. 17-year-old austin wierschke defended his title at the sixth annual lg national texting competition in new york's times

square. texted forward, back ward and blindfolded. he credits abnormally fast thumbs for his victory. he's going to use his $50,000 prize to help pay for college. impressive stuff. he's got the thumbs quick in motion. i'm not that fast of a texter myself, wolf. what about you? >> i'm pretty good at it. but i'm sure i can't beat him. he sounds very, very impressive. i wouldn't want to go into a thumb war with him either. >> that's a talent to be able to do it blindfold. i don't know how people can do it. >> no. i can't do it. congratulations to him. the gloves are coming off in the presidential ad game. accusations are flying from one camp to the other. but do they stand up? could they backfire? our strategy session is coming up next. and new predictions about this hurricane season. information you need to know. and guess what? we could be in a lot more storms than expected. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees.

tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd# 1-80045-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee. in your car. now count the number of buttons on your tablet. isn't it time the automobile advanced? introducing cue in the all-new cadillac xts. the simplicity of a tablet has come to your car. ♪ the all-new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward.

you're not using too much are you, hon? ♪ nope. [ female announcer ] charmin ultra soft is so soft you'll have to remind your family they can use less. charmin ultra soft is made with extra cushions that are soft and more absorbent. plus you can use four times less versus the leading value brand. don't worry, there's plenty left for you dad. we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra soft? why not enjoy the go you see us, at the start of the day. on the company phone list at's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highways.

on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand, grow stronger and get back to work. everyday you see all of us serving you, around the country, around the corner. us bank.

we've been watching as president obama wraps up a two-day campaign swing through colorado. he won the state in 2008, but the latest polling there shows him trailing mitt romney by five points. our white house correspondent brianna keilar is traveling with the president. brianna's joining us right now. he's courting a specific group of voters, today, tell us about that.

>> reporter: that's right, wolf. it was very obvious he was courting women voters yesterday. it's not quite as tailored to the hispanic voter, but this is very important for president obama. he started off the day in pueblo, colorado. started at a tex-mex restaurant where he had en das for breaast. ionap n see fromhe s, aá enrtaini trowd he talked a little bit about immigration, and ken salazar, the secretary of the interior and former senator here from colorado appearing at both of his events today. yes, he's trailing according to the latest poll, but he has a 40-point lead with hispanics. and between hispanics and women, he's hoping, wolf, to build a winning coalition that can deliver him colorado's nine electoral votes. >> brianna, yesterday you and i spoke about the controversial

obama super pac ad that gives the impression that romney is responsible indirectly for a woman's death. today the obama campaign is speaking out about it. what are they saying now? >> reporter: yesterday what we heard from the obama campaign is as they tried to sort of distance themselves from this ad, we heard from spokeswoman jen psaki that the campaign was not aware of this man's personal story. then it came to light, wolf, that he'd been featured in a campaign conference call where he very much told the exact same story that he told in this ad by this super pac. so you can see the obama campaign today getting a little nd of caught up in those words, psaki dropped that sentence today saying they had no awareness of his personal story. instead, they're emphasizing that the ad has not even run. wolf, i e-mailed the founder of that super pac and he said the plan is for it still to run even though it hasn't in battleground states, even though in a way it has because it's gotten so much

publicity, but i also think that seeing is going to be believing because the campaign is facing -- the campaign and super pac is facing so much pressure and so much criticism over this ad that it really does seem to draw this connection between the steel worker's wife's death and mitt romney. >> brianna keilar out on the campaign trail for us covering the president in colorado. thank you. let's get to our strategy session right now. we'll dig a little deeper. joining us are two cnn political contributors. donna brazile and republican strategist alex. both of these ads have caused commotion and both are misleading if not false. a romney campaign ad and an obama super pac campaign ad. and then we'll discuss. >> president obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. under obama's plan you wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. they just send you your welfare

check. and welfare to work goes back to plain old welfare. >> when romney and bain closed the plant, i lost my health care. and my family lost their health care. and a short time after that my wife became ill. i don't know how long she was sick. and i think maybe she didn't say anything because she knew that we couldn't afford the insurance. >> we've done our own cnn fact check. both of these ads are both totally wrong. they're both misleading at best false is probably a more accurate description. but here's the question for two people who have worked in campaigns, know how to raise money, energize the base. does it make any difference, do these ads do for the respective campaigns the job they need to do, energize the right or the left? >> wolf, i think they energized the obama campaign because their campaign is about getting out their base. the republican campaign has to persuade the voters in the middle. they need a very different strategy. so ads that overreach i think

frankly would hurt romney more than obama. but i've looked at that romney ad. there's a section in that welfare reform ad that says you can't take out work requirements. and president obama for t first time actually does that specifically. >> he mandates that every state that wants a waiver including two republican governors who sought that waiver, they must show the federal government there's a 20% increase in people going fromelfa to wrkf tht to remnligibr at. t hls ouwork ein reiremen at pre h done. why did he do something that specifically the law says they can't do? >> because the governors asked the federal government hand over these responsibilities to the states. >> but no governor asked him to pull theorkrequirements. >> bute' pulling the work governor mitt romney requestealso to basically modify the welfare requirements in terms of the work requirement. but look, wolf, i think we need to lay it on the table.

the truth is is this is about the narrative. the republicans have a way of trying to paint every democrat including those who are moderate or pragmatic somehow this liberal trying to send a check to people who are not working. we know that there are misleading ads out there. the point is, wolf, these ads are misleading at this point because they're trying to paint or distort the picture. so these super pacs, whether they're on our side, their side or we don't know what side they're on because there's a lot of anomous misleading information out there. >> is this pro-obama super pac ad which effectively accuses mitt romney at least indirectly of seeing this woman die and it's an outrageous ad, is that going to be counterproductive to the obama campaign? or will it help the obama campaign by raising more money from the hard core left, shall we say? >> i'm sure because i'm not involved in any campaign, but i'm sure the obama campaign is not coordinating with their

super pac. >> they're not coordinating, but is it going to help or hurt? i know that bill burton, paul begala and the priorities usa action, they want to help the president. i'm asking, will this help the campaign or hurt? >> well, wolf, i haven't seen all of the ad i mean what i read today about the ad is that this is part of a story that we're going to see more and more of. we have all these workers in these plants that mitt romney while during his tenure at bain whether he bankrupted the company or whether he sold the company or whether the company basically went belly up. >> that's all fair. but it's not fair to suggest that the woman died because of mitt romney. >> and that's the big difference here, i think, donna, between these two ads. one of them we're interpreting the law. these two campaigns are interpreting the law in very different ways. that may be a debate on the facts, but now o.j. simpson can stop looking for the real killer, according to team obama because it turns out it was mitt romney all along. that's going over the line. >> maybe the ads that you

produce for mitt romney four years ago were accurate and intelligent. the ads that i've seen from their super pacs, they've been nasty, destructive, misleading. and there have been so many politifact fact checkers. i haven't seen the ad -- >> answer my question though. >> i'm sure he was not responsible for -- i'm sure he was not. that's not the kind of question i believe i'm -- >> then we both agree that we can do better than that. >> but do you think president obama is telling people they don't get a check regardless whether or not they work? that democrats helped to pass? no. >> i think he's weaken welfare reform to the fact that comes back on the table. i really do. >> alex, this is a president that's done more -- >> quick question. >> -- this so-called liberal slant will not work on president obama. >> quick answer from both of you. we asked the question, who do you think -- these are registered voters out there, who do you think, democrats, republicans, intent

independents, obama gets 63%, romney gets 33%. that's a huge margin. somebody's done a lot of work in politics, what does that number say to you less than three months from election? >> it's a scary moment for republicans. obama doesn't have to win as many states as romney. and team romney has not made its case as why he's the alternative. people may be tired of obama, but they don't know mitt romney is the better choice yet. >> what does that say to you? >> that people trust president obama and he understands the issues facing this country and give him credit for stabilizing a country at a time when the republicans decided not to do anything but watch and scream. >> it's hard to beat the heavyweight champ. that's obama right now. >> we're going to show you that ad. you'll see it, study it, get the impression that most people get when they see that impression, which is a false impression. >> i've been on cable blackout alday dealing with some other issues. >> it's been out for a couple

day. we're going to show it to you. in our next hour, an eye opening look at what republicans think of mitt romney's potential running mates. the safest choices aren't necessarily the most popular. and tunnels, that's right, tunnels, they may be the key to cutting down on the violence in a part of the world that's growing more and more dangerous by the day. you know what i love about this country?

trick question. i love everything about this country! including prilosec otc. you know one pill each morning treats your frequent heartburn so yocan enjoy all this great land of ours has to offer like demolition derbies.

and drive thru weddings. so if you're one of those people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day, block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

in egypt violence has ticked up another notch in northern sanai where gunmen fired on a police station today. the attacks come on the heels of coordinated attacks yesterday and a fierce assault on sunday that left 16 egyptian soldiers dead. ian lee is joining us on the phone from sanai.

ian, they've been destroying the tunnels separating egypt from gaza. tell us what's going on. >> reporter: that's exactly right, wolf. they're trying to seal off a connection between gaza and egypt. and this is where people believe that the militants were able to come through these tunnels, infiltrate egypt and attack the soldiers last sunday. right now i'm standing at the security headquarters in northern sanai. and the minister interior is meeting with roughly 100 tribal leaders. he's going to need their help if he hopes to control these tunnels to shut down these tunnels because ultimately the tunnels are -- the veterans run the tunnels and they know where all the tunnels are. so he's going to need their full cooperation if he hopes to shut down these tunnels and sever the link between egypt and gaza, wolf. >> who are these militants? that's the word you used. who are these militants that are causing the turmoil in sanai right now? >> reporter: we talked to one of the tribal leaders today and put

that question to him. he told us it's a group called jubza. a very extreme group, a very conservative group. he said they have hundreds of members. and they span the egypt/gaza border. and they have an extreme ideology. he says these are the ones that are in charge. these are the ones attacking not only the military but also attacking police here. he said these are the ones that we need to watch out for. >> the israelis as you know are watching all of this very carefully. i was in jerusalem last week and interviewed the israeli defense minister ahud barack. what are you seeing there? >> reporter: al qaeda has been thrown around quite a bit. if you talk to some of the security officials here, they will tell you that al qaeda is present in sanai. but you go around and talk to the tribal leaders, they deny this. they say the groups are not really al qaeda but they're al

qaeda-inspired. they aspire to be like al qaeda, but they don't have the organization. they don't have the backing of actual al qaeda itself. >> let's not forget there are about 700 u.s. army troops in sinai right now. they've been there for more than 30 years watching what's going on. presumably they are in trouble potentially at at least. we'll stay on top of that part of the story as well. thanks very much for that report, ian lee, our man on the scene in sinai. you've probably noticed the weather in the united states has been extraordinary this summer. now noaa says we're in for more atlantic storms in this hurricane season. and later in "the situation room," the view from the cockpit of a plane as it's going down. we have the dramatic video. e lo. i'm done. i'm going to... drink this... on the porch! ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] mops can be a hassle,

but swiffer wetjet's spray cleaner and absorbent pads can clean better in half the time so you don't miss a thing. swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. and for dry messes big and small try swiffer sweeper vac. and for dry messes big and small mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs g of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

four course seafood feast, just $14.99 start with soup salad and cheddar bay biscuits then choose one of 7 entrees plus dessert! four courses, $14.99. offer ends soon. come into red lobster and sea food differently. she's not just natalie coughlin. she's every 5-year-old who ever jumped in a pool and didn't want to get out. ♪ every coach, every rival who ever pushed her. she's the tip of a spear that goes all the way back to the beginning. it's amazing how far you can go with a little help along the way. td ameritrade. proud sponsor of the 2012 u.s. olympic team.

let's get back to jack for the cafferty file. jack. >> wolf, the question this hour is where's the united states headed if more than 100 million americans get welfare? david in missouri writes, we're headed for the nanny state. and we're going to run out of money. and then there will be no more free stuff. this is a huge social mistake that we'll regret. sean writes from thousand oaks, california, another sign the american dream as we knew it was shipped off to china and gutted by the vampire ceos who want to suck up every dime they can get. we're transforming into a two-class society. the middle class being stomped upon by a patton leather dress shoe and will soon disappear. don writes this country's probably going to hit an all-new low. it's a hard one to call, but in relation to the big picture, our debt is just going to get bigger and bigger because right now the

government just can't afford it all. ken in connecticut writes many of those on welfare don't realize they are caught in a web. the state of the union is far worse than we're led to believe. if 100 million people are getting welfare, we are a socialized country already. ron in north carolina writes, in the democrats get another four years, we'll all be on welfare. and david says it starts to suggest that pretty soon we will come up on the road sign that reads "last exit before greece." if you want to read more on the subject, go to the blog cnn.com/caffertyfile or through our post on the "the situation room" facebook page. wolf. >> jack, thank you. here in the united states the first seven months of this year are now the warmest on record. but get this, the old record for the country's hottest year was set way back in 1936. stay with us. we're going to ask our meteorologist chad myers what's going on with our wild weather. and in our next hour cnn's ben wedeman reports from a city

that's under siege right now. [ slap! slap! slap! slap! ] ow! [ male announcer ] when your favorite foods fight you, fight back fast with tums smoothies. so fast and smooth, you'll forget you had heartburn. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums [ male announcer ] tums smoothies. hand-carved on the side of a cliff is the guoliang tunnel. what?! you've got to be kidding me. [ derek ] i've never seen a road like this. there's jagged rock all the way around. this is really gonna test the ats on all levels. [ derek ] this road is the most uneven surface, and it gets very narrow. magnetic ride control is going to be working hard. the shock absorbers react to the road 1,000 times a second. it keeps you firmly in control. whoa! [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats. who dreamed she could fly. like others who braved the sky before her, it took a mighty machine, and plain old ingenuity to go where no fifth grader had gone before. ♪ and she flew and she flew,

into the sky and beyond. my name is annie and i'm the girl who dreamed she could fly. powered by intel core processors. ♪ powered by intel core processors. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now.

i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. let's take a look at this hour's hot shots. in the philippines, look at this, flood victims wait in line to receive relief items. in india children sip cold drinks during a religious celebration. in germany an amusement ride spins people at a fair. and in france workers harvest ripe grapes in a vineyard. hot shots, pictures coming in from around the world. it's official. that hot july in the continental united states was not your imagination. in fact, the national oceanic and atmospheric association or noaa says it was the hottest july ever, ever, since the recordkeeping began in the

united states in 1895. our meteorologist chad myers is joining us now from the cnn weather center. it was pretty hot out there. what is going on, chad? >> well, it was hot and it was dry. and so we broke a record that we set back in 1936. what happened in the '30s? dust bowl. it was all dry. so it was kind of a dry heat. think about it, if we don't have clouds that will make rain, therefore we have a drought, we don't have clouds that block out the sun and block out the heat. so it gets hotter at the surface wi no clouds. and then you don't have water on the ground to evaporate to make more clouds. and it just one thing after another and it just rolls. so altogether 77.6 the all-time record high for july. actually, virginia the only state that actually broke the record for it, but there were 32 other states that were in the top ten of hot temperatures of all-time. and that was enough to get it over the top. 32 states there. the hottest on record also for the past 12 months as well.

what did that do to the corn crop? literally this is happening in the bread basket of america. right now 50%, 5-0 percent of the corn crop is poor to very poor. i know you're not a farmer probably out there. i know there are some farmers watching. that means we're losing yield. that means some crops may not produce anything. other crops that are poor even to fair only get a 50% yield, which means what we thought we were going to grow in america to sell to other countries may in fact not be there. only 23% of the corn crop right now is good to excellent. that's a very low number on any year, wolf. >> i can't tell you how many people have tweeted to me or sent me e-mails or asked questions saying july is the hottest month ever in the continental united states, the lower 48, going back to when records were started back in 1895. but the second hottest july ever was way back in 1936. so what does that say, if anything, about global warming? >> it tells us that this really

happened because there was a drought. and there was obviously a big drought in 1936. there had been other droughts since, but when you get the lack of rainfall and you get the lack of cloud cover, you're going to get very hot temperatures. and that's what we have now. it means that we have now broken a record from a record we have never seen before even though we were close in the '30s, we're above that now. and the past 12 months, add it all together are the hottest 12 months in a row ever as well. so not just july. this has been a very hot year. and that tells us that global warming is pretty real. >> chad, thanks very, very much. >> you're welcome. and you're in "the situation room." happening now, mitt romney expected to reveal any day now his pick to be the republican vice presidential candidate. now in our brand new cnn/orc poll, voters are weighing in with their choice. and you might be surprised to see who comes out on top. also, the alleged colorado theater shooter james holmes, his case is back in court today

as his lawyers battle major media outlets including cnn to keep sensitive details in his court records sealed. and it's pizza with a slice of politics. the ceo of papa john's pizza says obama care m end up costing customers up to 14 cents more a pie. is he right? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." syria's largest city under siege and a tense days long battle neither side can afford to lose. government forces are reviving their brutal assault on aleppo forcing rebels to temporarily retreat under very, very heavy shelling. the death toll has reportedly

climbed to more than 90 people across the country just today, over 20 of them believed to be in aleppo alone. cnn senior international correspondent ben wedeman is joining us. ben, tell us where you are first of all. >> reporter: okay. we're in northern syria outside of aleppo. the latest, wolf, is that we just got off the phone with someone we spent some time with in aleppo. he's in sort of a high building overlooking the city. and he says he's watching as syrian jets fly over the city bombing multiple neighborhoods all evening long. this at the same time while other parts of the city are under intense artillery bombardment. because of the intensity of the bombing at the moment, we have no idea of how many people killed. you mentioned the number of 20, but that's a number from earlier in the day. and according to our sources in aleppo, the number is probably much higher. now, earlier in the day much of

the fighting was gng on i hborhoight nex t the main highway betwele and dascere it's really been a a bloody violent fight, back and forth between the syrian army, which is trying to gain ground in that area. and the fighters of the free syrian army whoaruch lighte-- hchavmu lig s they're familiar with the territory like no one else. and of course they are fighting in their neighborhood. they're fighting with their backs against the wall. and they insist that they are not going to give anymore ground despite the intensity of the syrian government assault on that part of the city. >> looks like a battle to the death in aleppo. hold on for a moment, ben. i want to show our viewers some of what you and your crew experienced inside syria's largest city aleppo. [ gunfire ]

[ gunfire ] >> we've made it in. we drove from a government-controlled area but made it around the checkpoint. now we're inside. there are very few people actually here. there are some civilians walking around. but the biggest danger is snipers that are on buildings this direction firing like this. so we've had to sort of make a very roundabout route into this area. [ gunfire ] now we're out of aleppo. we're heading northwest

direction. it's been a rather interesting ride. apparently the most of the fsa from which we took this truck got hit by a mig shortly after we left. we're told of serious injuries, but, anyway, good to be out of aleppo. maybe we'll be going back soon. >> and ben's back with us live from northern syria right now. ben, you've covered a lot of wars for cnn. recently in libya, in egypt. yesterday you told me what you're seeing in syria right now makes all of that look rather pale. give us a little flavor of what's going on in aleppo right now. it looks awful. and obviously so dangerous not only to you and your fellow journalists out there, but to everyone. >> reporter: yeah. the conditions really are awful. i mean, when we spent the night in aleppo we really could not

sleep because of the bombardment that went on all night long and intensified when you would be in your deepest sleep at about 3:00 the morning. several rounds, artillery rounds, fell just about 400 meters from where we were staying. but we're lucky. we were in and out. most of the people in the rebel-controlled parts of the city cannot leave. they're huddling, for instance, in their stairwells, which are the safest place to hide when there's a bombardment. they're scrounging around for things like firewood to cook their meals, if they have enough food to eat. they're lining up for hours to get the little bread that's available. doctors are desperate. they say they're running short on all medical supplies and medicine as well. as well as staff people simply don't want to go into those areas controlled by the rebels at the moment. and the situation is only getting worse. we left during a brief lull in the fighting. it's gotten only worse since we left.

and of course there's always that looming possibility with the people in aleppo have to deal with that the government forces will indeed break through the rebel defenses and regain control of the city. and when they do, obviously there's going to be a high price to pay for the residents of aleppo who decided to revolt against the regime of bashar al assad. >> we saw you in that video in that truck lying down as you were leaving aleppo. what was going through your mind then? why were you on the bottom of that van? >> reporter: i have to say, wolf, it was because i was tired. actually, this was a vegetable truck. and it was very hot. but i was relieved to get out. but what was going on -- my mind was really just, we made it out safely. because of course when we went in it was a completely different picture. we literally drove through

sniper alley where we were shot at. and just moments later once we got through one of those streets that was exposed to snipers, another taxi showed up with a man who had just been shot in the head by one of the snipers. he was covered with blood and slumped over. he was sitting in the front passenger seat. and the back windows of the taxi were blown out. so, honestly, compared to our entrance, our exit from aleppo was relatively easy. wolf. >> ben wedeman, one of our courageous journalists on the scene for us. ben, thanks for that report. amazing, amazing what's going on right now. let's turn to the battle for the white house here in united states where veepstakes suspense is building as we all await to see who mitt romney selects to be his vice presidential running mate. brand new cnn/orc poll is revealing who republicans would

like. joining us is michael sheer. thanks for coming in. this is the new cover of "time" magazine. mars cover. nothing to do with politics. >> little bit of politics. >> a little politics. but let's talk about veepstakes as we like to call it. these are republicans asked who you see as vice presidential running mate. marco rubio with 28%, chris k christie 16%, ryan, 16%, bobby jindal, 8%, tim pawlenty only 4%, rob portman 6%. should we be at all surprised that marco rubio, among republicans tops the list? >> he's the closest on the list to the sort of tea party star. he came in in 2010. he also gets a lot of appeal from hispanics -- conservative hispanics who want to see someone who speaks spanish on

the ticket. there are a bunch of qualifications. generally speaking, candidates don't pick their veep based on popularity. this is the first rule of picking a vice president is do no harm. you're trying to find somebody who can do the job, can represent you in the debates and be a governing partner for you, who can take over if something happens to the president. but not necessarily someone who's going to be bringing big numbers to the polls. the exception was last time with sarah palin and john mccain and the results there were probably mixed. >> and didn't exactly work out that great for john mccain. and you make a good point because barack obama could have picked hillary clinton who was very popular as his vice presidential running mate. instead he went with joe biden, who was way, way, way down that list. >> and he would tell you today he made the rielgt choice. he's very happy with the choice of biden. >> they make a good team together governing over at the white house. a lot of folks think rob portman, the ohio senator, is atop the list even though he's near the bottom of this list. we asked favorability opinion of

rob portman. 17%, these are republicans, thought they had a favorable attitude. 11% unfavorable. but 72% were unsure. meaning they basically never heard of this guy. so does that help or hurt him in the race for the vice presidential running mate slot? >> all that matters with rob partman is what he does in ohio. the reason you pick rob portman other than being a solid guy with ton of washington experience is that in ohio he gave you a couple crucial points. so the national numbers probably don't matter as much. it's definitely true if portman or anybody else is selected the first couple weeks the obama campaign will come out hard to dry to define an unnamed person and the romney camp will have the task of naming portman. we already know the attack is he's omb director for bush, taking back to the policies that failed before. the romney campaign will be faced with the task of overcoming that initial attack. >> there's a lot of push on

romney right now to pick paul ryan. >> that's right. >> the popular young congressman from wisconsin. the case for mr. ryan is that he best exemplifies the nature and stakes of this election. more than any other politician the house budget chairman has defined those stakes well as a generational choice about the role of government and whether america will once again become a groit any or sink into interest-group dominated decline. how much pressure is he under right now to select paul ryan? >> he's definitely the choice of the movement, conservative policy people. the problem for romney is he doesn't want this election to be a debate over the ryan bunlt over these sort of policies. they don't always poll very well for him. he wants an election about what obama has done over the last three years and whether his policies have failed or not and whether the economy is. with romney clearly you can please the base, special editorial writers, "the wall street journal," the movement

conservatives by making this pick. but right now you're going to have to start playing towards the center. you're going to have to start moving undecided voters who don't really care about these policies that much who aren't attracted to these conservative policies and convince them that you should come your way. >> the republicans as we say has won the white house without carrying ohio. if it's close in ohio, rob portman might be able to deliver votes if there's a 20,000 or 30,000 vote difference, he could presumably help. a lot of folks are still betting on him even thoughe's not well-known and at the bottom of the list. >> and wisconsin is not that clear swing state. it's not clear ryan would have the same impact if you put him on the ticket. >> thanks very much. we should know soon enough. maybe as soon as this weekend. >> i'm looking forward to it. >> okay. michael, thank you. the alleged colorado theater gunman's case back in court today as a battle unfolds with the news media that could unseal some sensitive personal information. cnn was inside the courtroom. we're going there live. plus, pizza and politics. why the papa john's ceo now says

obama care could drive up the price of your next pie. and dozens of children and adults forced to live much of their lives underground. ahead, the massive eight-level prison many didn't know even existed until now. with the spark cash card from capital one, sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. what's in your wallet? [ dog ] we found it together.upbeat ] on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. d you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere.

because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you. and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward. it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology.

we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. [ "the odd couple" theme playing ] humans. even when we cross our "t"s and dot our "i"s, we still run into problems -- mainly other humans. at liberty mutual insurance, we understand. that's why our auto policies come with accident forgiveness if you qualify, where your rates won't go up due to your first accident, and new car replacement, where if you total your new car, we give you the money for a new one. call... to talk to an insurance expert about everything else that comes standard with our base auto policy. [ tires squeal ] and if you get into an accident and use one of our certified repair shops, your repairs are guaranteed for life.

call... to switch, and you could save hundreds. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? get to jack cafferty for the cafferty file, jack. >> wolf, it turns out the golden years are not so golden anymore for a lot of americans. new study finds many americans die with virtually no financial assets. 46% of us, that translates to less than $10,000 at death, the study put out by a group called the national bureau of economic research finds that many americans spend their golden years dependent on the government. researchers say many older americans have no housing wealth and rely almost entirely on social security. and since many seniors have so little in the way of financial

assets, they are of course unprepared to deal with unanticipated financial needs, things like major health expenses and things like entertainment and travel are simply out of the question. all of this raises more questions about the future of social security. if the government were to decide to reduce benefits for seniors, it could directly effect the day-to-day lives of millions of older americans who rely almost exclusively on these payments just to get by. the study highlights a connection between health and wealth finding that healthier seniors are likely to have more assets than those who aren't as healthy. that makes sense. no surprise here wealthier seniors are likely to live longer than poorer seniors. one more thing to remember, marriage might help you out in old age. according to this study, single seniors had a significantly lower median wealth than continuously married senior citizens. for some of us that would seem to be counterintuitive. here's the question, what does it mean if almost half of americans die with less than $10,000 in assets?

go to cnn.com/caffertyfile post a comment on the blog or go to our post on "the situation room" facebook page. wolf. >> pretty depressing number, i must say indeed. i didn't know that. jack, thank you. it was back to court today for the man accused of killing a dozen people and injuring almost 60 others inside a crowded colorado movie theater. cameras were not allowed inside, but our kyung lah was inside. kyung is joining us now. kyung, what happened there? >> reporter: we can tell you the judge hasn't ruled yet, wolf. it's a little unclear as to when the judge is going to decide whether these case filings, what the media lawyer's trying to argue for it to become public, when he's going to have a decision about that. but here's what the argument is. the media attorney is saying that this sort o gag order is overreaching, that this sort of information, the university of colorado documents, the criminal investigations, some of this needs to be in the public sphere. what we heard from holmes' attorney is that this is the early part of the investigation.

so far the attorney says he has 2,677 pages in this discovery process. and at this point they still can't assess the depth of mental illness that james holmes' has. and as far as the prosecution arguing on the same side as the defense to keep the records sealed saying that this is a large-scale investigation. there are still hundreds of people to be interviewed and at this point there are still some victims who have not been interviewed yet. as far as the victims, wolf, they were present in the courtroom. there was a young man who i had interviewed in the hospital, pierce o farrell, he was there with his arm in a sling paying very close attention as james holmes sat there listening to the entire proceedings, wolf. >> this is the third time, kyung, that we have seen james holmes in court. have you noticed any major changes in his demeanor? >> reporter: at first plublush

looks exactly the same as the video that's become familiar to us. the orange colored hair, in shackles wearing a maroon prison jump suit. he appears more lucid now. he did follow things in the courtroom with his eyes. but at times he looked bored. at times he looked tired. but he did appear more lucid this time. one thing i would like to mention, wolf, there was a rather unusual moment in the courtroom. nothing alarming, but a bit of an unusual moment when someone in the public stood up and said she had information for his defense attorney and she wasn't being heard. she was escorted out. there was not a security problem, but it was a rather unusual moment in this hearing. >> kyung lah on the scene for us. thank you very much for that update. you could be risking a fire every time you do the dishes. it's a major company with a massive recall on more than a million appliances in need of immediate repair. is there a threat to your kitchen? and a pop-up appears on your computer screen and demands you pay before it will go away. do you know what to do?

we'll tell you. that's coming up next. so i really enjoy the design and creative process and pulling lile levers there and tweaking little details from a design perspective. but what really gets me excited is when i literally when i hand an inventor their product for the first time. a product they conceived on a napkin and posted on the internet. and here i am some random dude handing it to them. and it's a real life physical thing they're going to be able to buy at target next week. that to me is the most special part of the project. [ male announcer ] it's a golden opportunity... to experience the ultimate expression of power -- control. ♪ during the golden opportunity sales event,

get great values on some of our newest models. this is the pursuit of perfection. get great values on some of our newest models. 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.

it's a story that could have been ripped from a crime novel. the wife of a top political figure accused of murder by poison. lisa sylvester's monitoring that and other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what's the latest, lisa? >> okay, wolf. this is actually involving the wife of a former top chinese politician. court officials say she's not objecting to charges she poisoned a british businessman. she is asking for leniency. authorities say she and an aide drank with the man at his hotel and poisoned him to protect her son. until earlier this year her husband had appeared destined to join the elite committee of leaders at the top of china's ruling party. and ge is recalling more than a million dish washers because they could catch fire. they were sold under the ge and hot point brands between 2006 and 2009.

ge says there have been 15 reports of the heating element failing including seven fires. three caused extensive damage. the dishwashers have front controls and a plastic tub. ge will repair them for free. when you board an airplane, you generally expect it to land where your ticket says it will. but that's not what happened for 11 passengers aboard a regional flight tuesday. and now the faa is investigating. the flight was supposed to go from morgantown, west virginia, to clarksburg, but instead it landed in fairmount, about ten miles from where it was supposed to be. and a new internet virus locking up computer screens saying you broke the law and demanding money for you to get control back. this virus installs itself if you click on a compromised website. you don't even have to open a file or an attachment. if you do fall victim to the virus, do not, do not pay any money or provide personal information. a professional will, however, have to remove it. so that's going to be a pain for anybody who gets caught up with

that, wolf. >> it will help those professionals make a few extra dollars,o doubt about that. thanks very much, lisa, for that report. papa john's says president obama's health care law will cost the company millions of dollars and it will pass that cost onto you with each pizza you order. but does the claim really add up? we're doing the math for you. and the candidates are starting to get creative. romney hood, obamalony, what's going on here? standby. start with soup salad and cheddar bay biscuits then choose one of 7 entrees plus dessert! four courses, $14.99. offer ends soon. come into red lobster and sea food differently.

offer ends soon. i'm one of six children that my mother raised by herself, and so college was a dream when i was a kid. i didn't know how i was gonna to do it, but i knew i was gonna get that opportunity one day, and that's what happened with university of phoenix. nothing can stop me now. i feel like the sky's the limit with what i can do and what i can accomplish. my name is naphtali bryant and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. i've got a nice long life ahead. 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, 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 to see a specialist. so don't wait. call now and request this free decision guide to help you better understand medicare... and which aarp medicare supplement plan might be best for you. there's a wide range to choose from. we love to travel -- and there's so much more to see. anywhere in the country.

[ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is.

it's the latest in a string of businesses gone public and created backlashes in the process. the ceo of the papa john's pia chain now saying he's going to have to raise the price of his pizzas because of president obama's health care law. lisa sylvester's here in "the situation room" working the details. >> wolf, there used to be a time when company leaders could say even controversial things and it would fly under the radar. that's no longer the case largely because of social media and bloggers. the latest ceo's political comments making headlines, the ceo of papa john's. the ceo of papa john's pizza is getting his slice of politics. on a conference call with analysts he was asked about the impact of the federal health care law. >> we're not supportive of obama care, like most businees in our industry. but our business model and economics are about as ideal as

you can get for a food company to absorb obama care. >> reporter: he says obama care will likely cost 11 cents to 14 cents per pizza. likely to be passed onto customers. opensecrets.org shows he's donated about $40,000 to republicans in recent years. in april he held a fundraiser for mitt romney at his home outside louisville, kentucky. but the company in a statement said "we certainly understand the importance of health care to our customers, our employees, small business owners and their employees. when certain business costs increase such as fuel, ingredients or employee health care, there's an impact to products and services. he may not have realized his comments would be picked up by the political blogs, but what corporate bosses say even to a small audience can quickly go viral. that's what happened to the executive dan cathy of

chick-fil-a. >> ceos can no longer act stealthily in their participation in politics. folks are going to know where they stand. but if they take strong views on hot button issues, like abort n abortion, gay rights, things of that nature. >> risky, maybe. but it hasn't stopped other executives from dipping toes in politics. amazon's ceo jeff besos pledging and howard schultz ripping washington and pledging not to donate to political campaigns. >> well, it's always a risk when you put yourself out there politically. you're going to maybe make some friends and maybe make some enemies. so it's always a political risk for a company to do that. but this is america. they can choose to do that if they want. >> okay. as for those papa john's customers, at least the ones that we talk to, they say 11

cents, 14-cent difference, that isn't going to stop them from buying a pizza. a number added especially if that means actually that more people will have access to health care. 11 cents, 14 cents, not a lot of money when you're talking a pizza buy. >> per slice or whole pizza. >> whole pizza. >> lisa, thanks very much. i want to dig deeper into this pizza story. tom foreman is joining us right now. he's got a little fact checking of papa john's claims. what are you finding out, tom? >> wolf, like restaurant chains all over the country, papa john's does not want to pick up this extra cost to cover obama care. unlike others papa is putting a price tag on that extra pepperoni. our best estimate is that obama care will cost 11 to 14 cents per pizza. that's the quote. how did papa come up with that number? let's open the pizza oven and pull out the math here. and this is complicated. it's a lot of carry the two, move this around. but suffice to say we did it. and if papa john's ran up against the worst case scenario, having to pay a penalty for not providing medical coverage for

all 14,000 of its restaurant employees, that could add up to $28 million. now, taking the company's own estimate that obama care would cost at least 11 cents a pizza, papa would have to sell about 250,000 pmillion a year. papa john would not tell us how many pizzas they sell or explain their math or tell us how many of their employees are part-time or how much they're providing in health care currently for their employees and how much that costs the company, wolf. >> so, tom, if we don't know that, how can we judge if the statement is actually true or false? >> because, wolf, you're going to hear me say something i almost never say. in this case, the math does not matter. that's why. a treasury official came and talked to us about this. and basically what he said was that on background in the worst case scenario that we're talking about here, that just can't happen for papa john's. employers have no obligation to

provide health care for part time workers, those working fewer than 30 hours a week. papa john's certainly has plenty of those even if they won't tell us how many. so that would reduce their burden. the great bulk of papa john's operations are through franchise operators, not the parent company. and many of them would be too small to bepenad. rememb, thexemose ions f busisses wh fewer tn 50 workers, t wou happen to many of theises. and the relation hbo and when and who will pay these penalties under the obama care ouanges are stilleing paohn'esuran ity owned by small business eople, eawhom will be impacted in different ways by costs associated with the patient protection and affordable care act. our bottom line is this, this estimate that papa john's threw out there came out of the oven a little bit too soon. it's not fully cooked. since papa won't deliver the

documents to support the claim, we're going to have to say that this claim is false. wolf. >> bottom line false. thanks very much for that, tom foreman. i actually understood what you were saying. pretty good. good explanation. cnn has just received exclusive access inside the sikh temple where the deadly massacre went down. you're going to see it just ahead. that's coming up at the top of the next hour here in "the situation room." and it's being called an eight-level ant hill. up next, the massive underground bunker where dozens of children and adults were forced to liv eir entire lives. have you seen this road we're going down? ♪ there is no relief for the brakes. we'll put them to the test today. all right, let's move out! [ ross ] we're pushing the ats brakes to the limit. going as fast as we can down the hill. we are making these sharp turns, slamming on the brembo brakes. [ derek ] it's like instant response, incredibly consistent. this is the challenge, machine vs. mountain. [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats.

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like a lot of things, the market has changed, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and your plans probably have too. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we'll give you personalized recommendations tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 on how to reinvest that old 401(k). tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and bring your old 401(k) into the 21st century. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 rollover your 401(k) or ira and receive up to $600. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 see schwab.com for terms and conditions. chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance. geico, see how much you could save.

they're whole grain good... and yummy good. real fruit pieces. 12 grams of whole grains and a creamy yogurt flavored coating. quaker yogurt granola bars. treat yourself good.

it's a startdling discovery. more than a dozen children living underground for their

entire lives. russian police have discovered a cult that had been living understood ground for years. cnn's senior international correspondent with the story -- >> reporter: been forcing members including children to live underground for more than a decade. the authorities in russia have charged the sect leaders and taken the children described as dirty but in good health into care. russian police say 27 children along with more than 30 adults lived in cells described as an eight-level underground bunker. some children have never left the compound or even seen the light of day. >> translator: the premises consistents of cells without natural light located in the basement and foundation and dug into the ground as it was said

in the official report. it's an eight-level ant hill. not only adults were living on these premises but also children. >> reporter: at least 19 of the children age between 1 and 17 years old were removed by the authorities. some placed in care. others in hospital. >> translator: the children were in satisfactory condition. the children were all fed although they were dirty. upon receiving them we washed them. they have undergone a full examination. all the russian specialists have examined them and taken all the analysis. tomorrow the full analysis will be finished. and we will give our final conclusion about the condition of their health. >> reporter: the islamist sect was unearthed last week in the suburb of the city of kazan during an investigation into militant groups. chance of defiance police detained some of its members including its reclusive 83-year-old leader. they're facing charges. russian media reports say his

followers lived in isolation, refusing to recognize russian laws or the authority of mainstream muslim leaders. isolation that allowed them to keep their activities literally underground. well, the raid on the sect has come amid a wider investigation to militant groups in the area. following a number of high profile attacks against leading muslim figures in the region, there's no suggestion that this bizarre sect is in any way connected. wolf. >> matthew chance reporting for us. what a story. thank you. we're seeing more negative ads in new lines of attack between democrats and republicans every day. but it's the creative slams that are catching our attention. we're going inside the name-calling political style. and it's harrowing video, the view from inside the cockpit as a plane goes down. we have the story behind the dramatic video. that's coming up in our next hour. living, breathing intelligence helping business, do more business. in here, opportunities are created and protected.

gonna need more wool! demand is instantly recognized and securely acted on across the company. around the world. turning a new trend, into a global phenomenon. it's the at&t network -- securing a world of new opportunities. ♪ until i got a job in the big apple. becoming a fulltime indoor cat wasn't easy for atti. but he had purina cat chow indoor. he absolutely loved it. and i knew he was getting everything he needed to stay healthy indoors. and after a couple of weeks, i knew we were finally home! [ female announcer ] purina cat chow indoor. and for a delicious way to help maintain a healthy weight, try new purina cat chow healthy weight.

there are 89 days left until election day. nal stretchecnn's john into berman. it gets interesting when candidates get rather creative, shall we say, with their choice of words. >> there's been so much attention this week to the negativity of the campaign, the attack ads, the finger pointing. but now the candidates seem to have discovered the cherished political art of name calling. because there's nothing in politics apparently more threatening than actually using a candidate's name. it's practically the worst thing you can utter about a politician. his actual name. >> it's like robin hood in reverse. it's romney hood. >> reporter: combine that name

with anything, anything at all, including lunch meat, you have a vicious attack. >> and if i were to coin a term, it would be obamalony. >> reporter: because apparently campaigns are like "harry potter," there is some sort of mystical cosmic brutal threat with using someone's name. who can forget. >> hillary care. >> reporter: or how about. >> obama care. >> reporter: and. >> romney care. >> reporter: or illicit love child. >> obamney care. >> reporter: removed from michele bachmann. >> newt romney. >> reporter: names weren't always a dicey situation. no one complains about jeffersonian democracy. let's just say hooverville was not meant as a compliment. imagine if it was located in tax

massachusetts. the only thing you can do in politics worse than using someone's name is slap a gate on the end of it. >> watergate. >> reporter: imagine if mitt romney can find a scandal associated with the president's rhetoric. would we actually have obamalonyge or mall feasance, truly with the number of degrees these campaigns have, the name calling seems lazy, almost off the wall. you could say it's the definition of linsanity or baract-tually, a load of mitt. i guess you could say the problem here, wolf, ithey could be more creative. i messed your anniversary yesterday. happy seventh anniversary of "the situation room." you've been blitzering things up for seven years now. >> we have a situation going on as well here in "the situation room" every single day.

>> absolutely. no question about that. >> so, yeah, seven years yesterday. so we're now in our eighth year of "the situation room." it's very, very exciting. you know one thing we here "the situation room," we never cry wolf. >> you're getting the hang of t you are as good as they are. >> beginning to feel some of that but there is a blitz going on, as you point out. >> sign up for a campaign right away. they need your help. >> okay. john. be sure to join john every weekday morning here on cnn, they are at the helm of early start, starts at 5 a.m. eastern, goes until 7 a.m. eastern. i want to you watch "early start" every week, john berman, good to have him here at cnn. also good to have jack cafferty here at cnn as well. jack? >> you're very kind. yet this hour what does it mean if almost half of americans die with less than $10,000 in assets? jim writes, it means most people are completely unprepared for their retirement this is the result of the switch to 401(k) accounts from the pensions that

people used to get. there is much sadness for seniors now. jack writes, actually, as the last few decades have gone by, there is not too much incentives to require assets since housing, retirement plans, savings and others have all been robbed in one fashion or another. going out so the cash curve and the end of life curve both meet at zero sounds like a fair plan. johnny writes, i believe this is a function of individuals living to the extent of their means. and what's wrong with that? why save hundreds of thousands of dollars and not have the best of what you can afford? david writes, read "die broke" for all the answers. the problem is timing, isn't it? liz florida writes, my husband and i are retired, life is sweet. we travel when we want, see a medical professional when necessary. we never made lots of money but we started saving for retirement in our 20s. for all those seniors who chose not to save, all i can say is i bet they wish they had. steve writes, it means my kids are going to have to find a job.

and royce says the goal in life is when you have your funeral, the check bounces. if you want to read more about this, go to blog, cnn.com/caffertyfile or through our post on the situation room's facebook page. wolf? >> jack, thank you. cnn getting exclusive access inside the sikh temple in wisconsin where that deadly shooting massacre happened. you are going to see it just ahead coming up in our next hour. also, the curiosity rover tweeting out amazing photos of itself from mars. up next, we are going to tell you why they are more than just glamour shots. e millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally.

ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself.

it's law that just makes sense.

here is is a look at this hour's hotshots. check them out.

in the philippines, victims use a truck as temporary shelter n japan, a child adds the last piece to a lego mosaic n germany, look at this two circus elephants walk through a park in their break. hotshots, pictures from around the world. nasa's curiosity rover is a twitter sensation right now, raking in about 1,000 new followers an hour since landing on mars and it's not surprising, with all the new photos being tweeted out from the red planet. these pictures are more than just glamour shots. cnn's john zarrella is joining us once again from nasa's jet propulsion laboratory in pasadena, california, with the latest details. john, what's going on? >> reporter: you know, wolf, all the attention that curiosity is getting, it is certainly no doubt because of the tremendous pictures. in fact, more tremendous pictures came out today from these cameras up here, the navigation cameras, two on either side, the round ones, and those mass cams, the square

cameras. and they showed us pictures of the deck of curiosity taken from above, looking down, showing all kinds of little pebbles and rocks on there. also, a panorama shot, a color panorama that came back in thumbnail of the whole surroundings around the rover. and of course, we hope to get full resolution pictures, perhaps as early as tomorrow. if you know what, through all of this curiosity is taking on a personality of its own. it may seem like the curiosity rover is your worst friend on twitter. st sending brag pictures from exotic places, me and my shad kind mount sharp, its operators tweeted on day one. now, it's begging for more attention. head's up, no, really, my head's up. as it beamed another shadow pic back to earth. then sent the first 360-degree photo from mars of, you guessed it, itself. but curiosity's operators say

it's all for good reason. >> we also took panorama of the deck, we call that the deck pan, and we took this to document the state of the deck after landing. >> reporter: the team is just giving the rovary good look before it starts on the science of the mission, making sure it functions just as you see in this animation. so far, so good. >> you can see the shadow of the arm in the image and also see the mast is deployed, which is excellent what we are looking for. >> reporter: they show a wide field of gravel and pebbles around the rover that is the lip of the gail crater off in the distance. dark spots dug out during landing reveal underlying bedrock, a relatively smooth road trip is ahead. >> some question about can we move the rover? is it safe to move the rover? there is nothing around it, so it is safe to move the rover. there is nothing under it because we do have an image closer in as well. >> reporter: mission managers say with the spacecraft being as

healthy as it is, and with the capability that it has, all of their options are open for science. you know, the science team in talking to them, are saying they are just amazed at how absolutely perfectly everything is going to this point. and some of them said that has us a little bit worried what's coming down the pike. but they are going to take it for now, wolf. they could not be happier with the way curious sit performing. >> when are they going to start the experiments, john? >> reporter: going to be another couple, three weeks, wolf, before they finally finished the checkouts, then they will take off and start moving curiosity and begin some of that science. you know, it is going to make a two-year mission on the surface, at least two years, the ultimate goal, to find signs, the building blocks of life that may once have existed on mars and perhaps, wolf, still do. >> john zarrella reporting for us.

john, thanks very much. happening now, playing the vp game. why this man is getting so much attention as a potential romney running mate. a former skinhead opens up about hate and how it messes with your mind. and remarkable video from inside the cockpit of a plane as it's crashing. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we begin with a cnn exclusive. police in suburban milwaukee, wisconsin, allowed members of the sikh community back into their temple just minutes ago to begin cleaning up from sunday's massacre, where a white supremacist gunman killed six people before killing himself. cnn's ted rowlands and his crew went along today for an exclusive look inside the temple. ted is joining us now. tell us what you saw, ted. >> reporter: well, wolf, it was emotional, that's for sure. the temple is now in the hands

of the members and a lot of them have shown up to help clean up, as you mentioned. they are painting in there they fixed some windows that were broken. they left one bullet hole at the entrance of their main prayer area. and they say they are going to leave that forever. they have patched up all of the other bullet holes and they say there were a number of them throughout the temple. we were able to see where the women and the children hid, in a very small pantry. we were able to see the prayer area where the only woman that died died in the corner. her son was there, helping to clean up. at one point, though, he collapsed on top of the area where his mother died. reverend jesse jackson was also there, praying with people. it was amazingly upbeat atmosphere though, wolf, i must tell you. and their hope is that this will be taken as a lesson to stop hatred and to stop the violence which afflicted them so deeply. most of the family members were

there that lost loved ones. they wanted to be part of this reuniting with their temple. they are cleaning it up for tomorrow. of course, there's a public prayer service here where all of the bodies will be laid out, all six of them, for members of the public to come in and pay respects. and then following that public ceremony will be a private ceremony here at the temple. so they are working diligently to try to clean up and get back to normal, as they say, as soon as possible, although they know things will never be normal again inside. that is why they are leaving that one bullet hole in front of the main prayer area so that they do never forget and they never forget the lives that were lost and they don't want those lives to be lost in vain. they really are hoping that the nation, the world, will take away something from this and that something is that people will think twice about hatred in their own minds and violence as well. it was a very emotional scene in

there as you might imagine. >> saying this smell mo ing thi will take place tomorrow, friday. will the temple have regular services this coming sunday? >> reporter: absolutely. that is part of what they are trying to do, get back into the normal flow and have a special service tomorrow following the public service, a two-hour public service from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. here at a local high school in the milwaukee area. they are asking anybody in the midwest who wants to come and come and the bodies will be displayed there and then following that the temple will have a private service and then on sunday, they will have their normal service and trying to get back to a sense of normalcy as soon as possible. >> i assume they will have beefed up security, at least for the time being? is that what you are hearing? what are you hearing about that, ted? >> reporter: absolutely. and there's heavy security now, too, outside the entrance of the temple. you have to drive up a fairly long driveway and in order to get in, you have to get by a sheriff's deputy or two and then

near -- at the actual entrance to the temple itself, there's security you plan to have security for as long as it takes. they haven't had any specific threats, however, as you can imagine, and you predicted, they don't want to take any chances, they are beefing up security i not only at the temple but the public event happening tomorrow at the high school as well. >> we wish them only the best. ted, thanks very much for that report. let's go over to kate bolduan. she has some other stories we are watching. we wish all those folks at that sikh temple only, only the best. they have gone through a lot. >> the entire community that bullet hole, quite a reminder forever. that was some amazing video. some other stories that we are watching, accused theater massacre gunman james holmes back in court today in colorado but cameras were not allowed like they were at the first hearing when his appearance and demeanor were so startling. today, holmes looked much the same but cnn reports that he appeared more lucid, following things in the courtroom with his eyes, although at times he looked bored and tired.

we continue to stay on that story. the drought withering american crops is driving up food crisis around the world. united nations says they jumped 6% in july, driven largely by the rising price of corn, a staple particularly hard hit by the drought. it was up almost 23% last month. cnn meteorologist chad myers says even the corn that's surviving the drought is in bad shape. >> right now, 50%, 5-0 percent of the corn crop is poor to very poor. and i know you're not a farmer probably out there, although i know there are farmers watching. that means we are losing yield. some crops may not produce anything, other crops that are fair only a 50% yield, which bheens we thought we were going to grow in america to sell to other countries may, in fact, not be there. >> despite the drought, government weather experts are calling for a busier hurricane season than originally forecast. they are now predicting 12 to 17 named storms, up from 9 to 15

forecast in may. the new estimate includes five to eight hurricanes, two or three of them category three or higher. we are already up to six named storms so far this hurricane season, which continues, as i'm sure you well know, through november. and back to the drawing board it appears for nasa engineers working on the more feeious lander. it crashed and burned, as you are going to see in this video today, during a test at the kennedy space center. more feeious is designed to carry 1100 pounds of cargo to the moon and uses fuel that's cheaper, safer and lasts longer in space. clearly, there are a few glitches that needs to be worked out. nasa says it is investigating today's crash. must know, wolf, no one was injured in this accident but mars, success. this one, not yet. >> not so much. they got some work to do hopefully they will get their act together and make that work. thanks very much. president obama inching further ahead of mitt romney in our polling, less than three months until election day. in our latest cnn/orc survey just out today, it shows that president obama is the choice of

52% of registered voters nationwide, while 45% choose mitt romney for president. that's small but significant increase from last month for the president when the same poll had him only three points ahead of mitt romney. president obama's returning to the white house this evening from colorado, where he has been rallying some of his strongest supporters. yesterday, women. today, latinos. our white house correspondent brianna keeler is in colorado springs. she is traveling with the president. what was the president's basic message to hispanic voters today, brianna? >> reporter: well, wolf, i will tell you it was not as tailed as we saw yesterday when he was talking to women. it was basically his standard stump speech, he was talking about fighting for the middle class but particularly during his first stop today, which was in pueblo, colorado. he talked about immigration really riling up the crowd and targeting a part of the state that has a large population of

hispanic voters. president obama woke up in pueblo, colorado, and had breakfast, but his normal egg order gave way to tex mex. >> so, what do you recommend? >> enchiladas, chile. >> reporter: he ended up getting breakfast enchiladas. across town, traditional mexican dancers entertained obama supporters in one of the most prominent hispanic members of his cabinet, interior secretary and former colorado senator, ken salazar, addressed the crowd and a latina supporter, crystal meyez, introduced president obama. even though the obama campaigned billed this as an event about support for a wind energy tax cred the day that mitt romney does not support, the visuals made clear, this trip is about the hispanic vote. >> i think we did the right thing to save a young person who comes to america is brought here, is raised here, is friends with our kids, is going to

scho with our kids, is american in every single way except for a piece of paper should have a chance to be a part of the american family. >> reporter: a new poll by quinnipiac university, cbs news and the "new york times" shows obama trailing romney in colorado by five points but with hispanics, he leads by 40. colorado is 21% hispanic and growing, but pueblo county is more than twice that. hispanics, coupled with women, who the president focused on wednesday, are the key to the centennial state's nine electoral votes. the obama campaign is into the reinventing the wheel on how to win here, they are borough the playbook of senator michael bennet, who spoke for the president on two of his campaign swings. >> we know how to win tough states in come come, with to have win colorado for barack obama, we have to win it for us. our nine electoral votes can make the difference it will make the difference and every vote

will make the difference in colorado, take it from me. >> reporter: and he should know, wolf. senator bennet won a tough battle in 2010 and he did so by building a coalition of voters that included hispanics and women, both of which president obama was targeting on this trip. he really needs them, especially when you look at how he is doing with men. back in 2008 in colorado, he lost men by just one point to john mccain, according to our exit polls. that latest quinnipiac university, cbs news, "new york times" poll shows him down 17 points to mitt romney when it comes to men, wolf. >> he needs that turnout as he had four years ago as well. not just enough to get a big gap in the vote but needs this tomy show up, women, hnics and others. all gh thas very,ery much. > he isntromn runningeo could help deliver itical state, talking about ohio. we are about to take a closer look at the vice presidential short list. and at 40 past the hour, a

wisconsilesss on the thfee leehind. st thing yo >> i've beaten people and left them for dead.

mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs g of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover. you know what's exciting? graduation. when i look up into my students faces, i see pride. you know, i have done something worthwhile. when i earned my doctorate through university of phoenix, that pride, that was on my face.

i am jocelyn taylor. i'm committed to making a difference in people's lives, and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. humans -- sometimes life trips us up. and sometimes, we trip ourselves up, but that's okay. at liberty mutual insurance we can "untrip" you as you go through your life with personalized policies and discounts when you need them most. just call... and speak with a licensed representative about saving on your policy when you get married, move into a new house... [crash!] or add a car to your policy. don't forget to ask about saving up to 10% when you combine your auto and home insurance with liberty mutual. security, coverage, and savings. all the things humans need to make our beautifully imperfect world

a little less imperfect. call... and lock in your rate for 12 months. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? mitt romney will be announcing his vice presidential running mate any day now but republican voters are already telling us who they want. take a look at this new cnn/orc poll, florida senator marco rubio is a clear favorite at 28%, 12 points ahead of new jersey governor chris christie and house budget chairman, paul ryan. bobby jindal 8% followed by virginia governor, bob mcdonnell and ohio senator, rob portman at 6% each and former minnesota governor, tim pawlenty, at 4%. our chief national correspondent john kagan taken a closayin kin

at us. what are we learning today? >> reporter: senator portman, you mentioned, relatively low numbers. rob portman had a behind-the-scenes role in presidential and vice presidential debates going back nearly 20 years. the big question this year, will he get a big debate of his own? rob portman is at the farm for a firsthand look at a punishing drought. on the one hand, politics 101, a freshman senator checking in on a big issue back home. but there's something bigger at play here and phyllis salt gets right to the point. >> i really want to ask but being vice president. >> reporter: if senator portman shares the gop tickets, the history of his home state will be a driving force. >> the road to the white house cuts through ohio. >> reporter: it is a must-win for ohio so ohio roots a are major portman plus. others, a former budget director who knows every knock of the federal pure rock crass circumstance foreign policy

experience and portman is a pragmatic conservative respected by democratic colleagues. sources tell cnn the former vice president dick cheney tells romney he views portman as the best choice. former house colleague and portman friend, rick lazio, shares that view. >> if you want controversy, go watch "jersey shore." if you want to solve the problems facing america, pick a competent vice president to run with a competent president. >> reporter: some potential portman downsides? bush baggage. he served a president who left office very unpopular among independents. that experience many value translates into washington insider to others. and a low-key style some call bland, even boring. when some of your friends say, you know, portman good guy but he would be a safe pick, be bold, governor, be bold. what goes through your mind? >> that's fine. i mean, i am a guy who has worked across the aisle to get stuff done. i'm someone who believes that when you get elected to office, you're hired to actually achieve a result.

>> reporter: republicans across ohio say portmanould give romney a boost in the must-win state but democrats, like hamilton county chairman tim burke, portman's old house district, aren't so sure. >> like so many republicans, he has been driven so far to the right right now and he is a bush republican who helped give us the economy that we are still trying to recover from right now. i don't think he gives them the state of ohio. >> reporter: senator portman is a case study in campaigning for the vp slot. rule number one, insist you're happy right where you are. rule number two, rebut the critics. >> i'm proud of my service in the bush administration. i was there as the budget director for just over a year. and during that time period, we were able to put earmarks online. i was also able to propose a balanced budget over a five-year period. imagine that today. >> reporter: my dad did that for me. he insists he can rev up a room but also says the incumbent is proof pizazz is overrated. looking back to 2008, you know,

we hired somebody to be president who made a lot of commitments, a lot of promises, but in a sense, it was a celebrity pick. and unfortunately, accident have the experience or the record or the policies to be able to do what has to be done to move our country forward. >> reporter: portman's unique niche in gop politics, going back to the bob dole 1996 campaign is serving as a debate standard, al gore for george w. bush, a famous woman in his friend laz zoe's failed senate campaign. how is hillary clinton? >> his hillary clinton is very good obviously not good enough. >> reporter: so, will portman be preparing for his own big debate this time? are you ready for this decision to be made? are you tired of the questions? >> i'm ready for it to be made, you know? i am. >> reporter: wolf, you could hear that exasperation, a little bit of a sigh there i'm ready for a it to be made, yes i am. senator portman is not the only one. if you are on the short list, you are getting asked this question just about every day. all of them, senator portman

included, waiting, waiting for governor romney. >> a lot of people don't know -- outside of ohio don't know him that is an issue. i know that the first criteria is from romney's perspective, is he qualified to be president of the united states? they have concluded he is. is he an effective debater? they think he could be pretty good. but i will ask you, how would he do against joe biden if he is, in fact, the vice presidential running mate? >> reporter: that is a great question because behind the scenes, anyone who has had rob portman in the room, ask george w. bush, if you ask dick cheney, asked rick lazio, what is it like? he is a good debater, studies the body language of the person he is impersonating and tries get under your skin n 2000, he walked over to george w. bush during the debate press and warned him al gore might do the same, get in his face, if you will. if you remember, wolf, back in the 2000 debates, al gore did just that. president bush told rob portman later, thanks, that help made lot. >> all right. thank you very much. we are going to continue our look at all these vice

presidential contenders tomorrow with john. the man "the wall street journal" now wants to see as romney's running mate, the house budget committee chairman, paul ryan, we will focus in on him tomorrow and once again, expecting any day now, mitt romney to make the announcement. we will watch it closely. >> yeah, and our recent poll, reminding myself of the numbers, 72% of americans did not have an impression of rob portman. >> they don't know who he is. >> don't know who he is. >> if he gets to be the vice president, they will know quickly. so, we are watching several trending stories coming into the situation room right now, especially this very troubling, troubling story, allegations of abuse that are truly hard to comprehend. an 11-year-old says her father, a doctor, water boarded her. the rest of our list is coming up next. uhuh yep uch let's find you a room. at hotels.com, you'll always find the perfect hotel. because we only do hotels. wow. i like that. nice no. laugh...

awe uch ooh, yeah hmm nice huh book it! oh boy call me... this summer, we're finding you the perfect place - plus giving you up to $100 at hotels.com where we switched their steaks for walmart's choice premium steak. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, let's see what people think. it could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs. it's a steak-over. it's juicy. it's tender. call now to request it seems like it just melts in my mouth. that's a nice steak. your free decision guide. only one in five steaks is good enough i've been with my doctor for 12 years. to be called walmart choice premium beef. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. you are eating walmart steaks. really? you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital this is fabulous. the steak is excellent. i'm goa go to walmart and bring it here. that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, [ laughter ] and you never need a referral. walmart choice premium steak. try it, tell us what you think on facebook. see why millions of people have already enrolled by the way, it's 100% money back guaranteed. in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. i've got a nice long life ahead. don't wait. call now. 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.

here's a look at some of the stories trending in a sittion aelare door a h te wker she was punishedy wl%ter th tol authorities boarding. pediatrician melvin morse specializes in children's near-death experiences. listen to what a reporter from affiliate wboc told me earlier about the allegations. >> she told detectives that he would actually hold her head under the faucet while it was running. it would go up her nose, the water would go all over her face. and now we are learning even more details on this alleged punishment, based on court documents. according to the court documents, the girl also told detectives that her father said that she could go five minutes without brain damage. >> morse is in jail while his wife is free on bail. they both have been told, obviously, to have no contact

with their 11-year-old daughter or her 5-year-old sister. and a plane lands in christchurch, new zealand, returning from dark, winter-bound antarctica. a team responding to a distress call had a narrow window of twilight to land on a runway at a research facility to pick up a person in need of medical attention. the person is believed to be an american citizen. and the latest rover pictures from mars include a 360-degree color panorama of the planet's surface. engineers say they boosted the brightness to compensate for the dimness of the afternoon. the colors are untouched. nasa says the rover is performing flawlesslism keep those pictures coming. >> love those pictures. love the rover. how cool is that? >> a great thing. i think is fun. >> manipulating it from here. thank you. there are wild claims and name-calling going on, presidential attack ads, they seem to be getting nastier and nastier. some say they are already over the top. so, what happened to all the key issues? we are going to debate it,

that's coming up at the half hour, next. and at 50 past the hour, a front-row seat as a plane goes down. we have the dramatic moments all on video. stay with us here in the situation room. we found it together. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you. 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. by what's getting done. measure commitment the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through.

to experience the lexus performance line... including the gs and is. [ engines revving ] because control is the ultimate expression of power. [ revving continues ] ♪ during the golden opportunity sales event, get great values on some of our newest models. this is the pursuit of perfection.

happening now, name-calling, exaggerated attack ads, why is the presidential campaign getting so ugly? passengers keep their cameras rolling as their plane crashes in the idaho woods.

and fast fingers. meet america's new texting champion. i'm lf blitzer, you're in the situation room. they are exaggerated and misleading at best. they certainly don't address the very serious problems facing the united states. talking about the increasingly ugly attack ads both presidential campaigns and their surrogates are using even though both candidates decry them. >> i'm seeing some of the ads out there. i don't know whatever happened to a campaign of hope and change. >> yeah. >> i thought he was a new kind of politician. instead, the his campaign and the people working with him have focused almost exclusively on person a.m. attacks and not at all on the issues of the day. >> these super pacs, these guys are writing $10 million checks, giving them to mr. romney's supporters and basically they

all have just the same argument. they all say the same thing. they say the economy's bad and it's obama's fault. every -- every -- every ad's the same argument. >> let's get some more now with former democratic congressman robert wexler of florida now president of the s daniel abraham center for middle east peace. also joining us, republican strategist barbara com stock, an adviser to the romney campaign. and robert, let me let you respond, first of all to what we heard it is really getting ugly out there you decry all of these false ads from either side, right? >> sure. false ads on either side are not appropriate. >> so, this pro-obama super pac ad that effectively says that mitt romney was indirectly responsible for the death of a woman because his company, bain capital, shutdown a steel plant, that's over the limit, that's over the -- beyond the pale? >> i would disagree, respectfully, wolf with the predicate.

nobody is suggesting that governor romney is a killer or responsible for someone's death. >> have you seen the ad? >> yes. what the ad portrays is a situation where a plant closed down and governor romney's whole entire predicate for his presidential campaign is his ability as a businessman to create jobs. the fact his work at bain has not been so profitable for the people in many of these towns where he, in fact, bought business andan -- >> the ad shows this woman died and the implication is because bain capital, which he was the ceo of, shutdown this plant. >> well, when a plant shuts down, people lose their health care. and when they lose their health care, oftentimes they don't have the ability to buy the cobra or whatever it may be. >> let let barbara respond to that. >> barbara obviously respond. the romney campaign clearly decrying this ad, saying it appears deceptive. one thing i found interesting came through late this afternoon, they may not like the

ad but the romney campaign is fund-raising off of t we just got an e-mail came through that says we are not going to whine about this ad because politics is a rough spot but goes on to then ask to donate $5 or more to defeat barack obama s this a new low? >> not at all. the obama ad is definitely a new level the obama campaign has now been proven that they were lying yesterday about knowing the story of this gentleman. been disproven right here on cnn as well as msnbc and "washington post" and all the fact checkers, desperate. but i think the whole thing is because they don't want to talk about the economy and the 8.3% unemployment and the 42 months of unemployment over 8%. and the fact obama isn't working. his economic policies aren't working. he think it is great. today, he said he wants to -- he wants to go in and do what he did i guess with health care and the auto industry. he wants to take over a whole bunch more industries and wants another $1 trillion spending spree. we cannot afford this kind of out-of-control spending and this is why they don't want to talk about t they are frying to

change the subject and they are desperate and they are willing to lie because they can't talk about economics. >> but fund raising off of something that they decry. >> because it is false. when people are -- >> is that just lowering the level of where these campaigns are? >> not at all. what we are doing pointing out we know we have reached the point where the obama campaign will not talk about the economy and jobs, which is what the american people want to talk about. i was in virginia all day today campaigning all around the state and i can tell you, number one, two and three issue, jobs and the economy. and they don't talk about that. 401,000 women -- >> i want you to respond, frankly surprised that you are associating yourself and defending this rather controversial ad with this dead woman. >> i'm not associating myself. >> you are defending t. >> nor am i defending it. >> you are not? >> just call and say it was a bad ad? >> it was false. >> it was false. >> it certainly is false if it conveys that mitt romney is a killer. but i don't think it conveys

that mitt romney is not a killer. >> doesn't's killer but suggest what is he did contributed to the death of this woman. >> doesn't suggest the death of any woman is his responsibility. >> that's what it says. >> it shouldn't. but the bigger point is that governor romney has a set of policies and a set of experiences that do not favor the working group of people in the plants that we are talking about in that commercial and president obama has talked about the economy ad nauseam. >> the plant gone for years -- >> president obama has gone on tour after tour talking about his tax policies which correctly impact in a very positive wait middle class versus governor romney's plan which, of course is, a plan that favors the most affluent among us. and your own poll, wolf, today that you just talked about conveys the point that most americans are actually getting the message that governor romney is not supportive of the working and middle class of america. >> i want you to listen to how a

spokeswoman for the romney campaign, andrea salt, a woman i presume you know, how she responded to this ad. >> to that point, if people had been in massachusetts under governor romney's health care plan, they would have had health care. there are a lot of people losing their jobs and losing their health care in president obama's economy. >> you know, there are some romney supporters, ann coulter, says andrea saul should be fired for even raising the issue of romney care in massachusetts right now. >> but listen, the point we are making is when you get governor romney in there, he has got a record of creating jobs, going to put people back to work and when you have a job, you have health care, good high-paying jobs, which are the kind of things we have been doing in virgin and governor romney is talking about when he goes around the states, he wants to get jobs, private sector health care, not this big behemoth -- >> what do you think? >> i didn't really pay attention to that.

i think the issue here is the obama campaign -- >> we played a clip for u. >> the obama campaign doesn't want to talk about jobs. you have good, high-paying jobs, which governor romney has a record of doing, when he turned around all kinds of companies, you get health care with those jobs. did he have health care in massachusetts but good, high-paying, private sector jobs is what ceates -- what creates health care around having it. >> you are talking about jobs now, but something stuck out to me in the "wall street journal" today when "the wall street journal" was saying paul ryan should be the vice presidential candidate, should you can the running mate this is what part stuck out to me and why what you just said, mr. romney and the democrats want to make this a small election over small things. it's taxes, his wealth, bain capital. mr. romney will lose that kind of election. to win, mr. romney and the republicans have to rise above those smaller issues. >> that's why we are taking -- the obama campaign doesn't want to talk about the big issues of the economy and how we get it turned around. we need to start -- i hear investors are every day -- >> just came out today, barbara,

does not indicate that he is winning on the economic -- >> i hate to break it to you, cnn's poll in 2008 came in sixth, rasmussen poll came out number one in 2008 has us 47-43 romney that is likely voters, your poll was registered voters. everyone know it is going to be close. i think the poll on election day is what we wear about a recent poll in northern virginia that had northern virginia tied, pretty incredible talking about northern virginia being tied. i think everyone knows it is going to be a close race, when you get through this convention, you meet this candidate -- >> robert the last word. go ahead and respond to t. >> the obama administration's record in terms of private sector growth is extradinary, almost three years of straight private sector growth. we are losing, unfortunately, jobs in the public sector, largely because the congress doesn't implement the president's program. so, americans are beginning to truly understand this is a very difficult situation but the president's plan will continue us on a very steady and aggressive growth in the private

sector, hopefully the public sector will even out, but governor romney, unfortunately, hasn't offered anything new in this regard. in terms of the bold actions that the "wall street journal" was talking about some of that bold action is vouchering medicare and doing things with health care programs, particularly those that are sake kre -- sacred to seniors. >> to virginia on saturday when governor romney is there you will see bold policies and supporters there >> this quinnipiac/"new york times"/cbs poll has the president ahead in virginia. i nose you are helping romney in virginia, a lot of work ahead to you. i will take our poll over rasmussen's poll any day of the week, barbara. but that's just me and a lot of other experts would probably agree with me as well. you can disagree. this is a free country. robert wexler, thanks very much for coming in, barbara com stock, thanks to you as well. he says he can identify with the gunman who shot six testimony to death at a sikh temple.

the moving story how this former skinhead turned his life around. >> could i have very easily ended up where wade page ended up on sunday. with the spark cash card from capital one, olaf's pizza palace gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! pizza!!!!! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! put it on my spark card! [ high-pitched ] nice doin' business with you! [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve the most rewards!

awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet?

members of the sikh temple in wisconsin where wade page shot and killed six people before killing himself are now inside cleaning up the mess they left -- that was left behind. the ramp page struck a chord with one former skinhead who is now helping others trying to leave hate behind. talkzed to cnn's brian todd in oak creek, wisconsin, for us. he has a rather compelling story to tell? >> reporter: he certainly does, wolf. you know, while law enforcement

officials try to ascertain some kind of motive for the shooting, wither getting some idea of the possible mindset, the lifestyle of the suspect, from someone who has been in those shoes. arnold mikhail his never met wade michael page but says he can identify with him. >> i can identify with him because i was there. if it wasn't for things that -- very fortunate things that happened to me along the way and help i got from other people, many of whom i claimed to harkts could i have very easily have ended up where wade page ended up on sunday? >> could you have done those killings. >> well, it's important to understand that wade page was living in this reality of terror that he had created. >> reporter: a similar reality, michaelis says he created for himself, for seven years, as a white supremacist skinhead, remnants of that life inked on his left arm. >> the ruins below are north ruins and it says rahalla, a

contraction of racial holly war. >> like page, heronted a band, his called centurion. there wasn't a single episode that drove him into that life, he sys his parents were not racist but that there was alcoholism and verbal abuse in his family, which made him want to lash out. by age 16, he was moving in skinhead circles in milwaukee. he estimates he violently attacked people of other races or religions about once a week for four or five years. what was the worst thing you did? >> i've beaten people and left them for dead. >> reporter: michaelis believes if wade michael page was anything like how he was, page was suffering in his final days. >> his daily life was nothing but terror. everywhere he looked in the world around him, going to work, at work, getting home from work. everything threatened him.

and when you are in that environment, there is no room for happiness. there's no room for joy. >> reporter: michaelis says he attempted suicide twice. but in what can only be described as a twist in life, a seed was planted in arno michaelis to change. it names in a place he wouldn't have figured from someone he never could have imagined. he had started going to mcdonald's on pay days. he says he came upon an older, kindly, african-american woman working behind the counter who greeted him warmly as she took his order. >> i was really kind of disconcerted. it was -- it was hard when black people were very kind to me when i was trying to hate them. >> reporter: once, after getting a swastika tattooed on his middle finger, michaelis went back into that mcdonald's, he found himself trying to hide the swastika from that lady, but she saw it. >> she looked me right in the eye and she says i know you're a better person than that. that's not who you are.

and i -- i just said could i please have my big mac and i got my food and i went and ate it i never went took that mcdonald's. >> you never saw her again? >> never saw her again, but 20 years later, haven't forgotten that moment. >> reporter: it led him to eventually move away from those groups and to start his own, an organization called life after hate, dedicated to helping people transition out of that existence. i asked michaelis what he would say if a supremacist was sitting across from him now, contemplating a similar, horrific act. >> i would challenge them to think about what happens after that and to think about someone in their life who they love. >> reporter: michaelis says his real slap in the face moment came after a friend of his was murdered in a street fight. he says he is convinced that sunday's shootings were a slap in the face moment for someone

in a hate group somewhere and he desperately wants to help them. he wants them to go to his website, called life "afterhate.org to try to climb out of that home wolf? >> thanks for that report. good, useful inform information all of us to digest. let's check in with erin burn tote see what she is working on coming up in our next hour. erin what is "out front" tonight? >> i was listening to that fascinating report, we have the latest, maybe some miracle is going to happen, out of the three victims still fighting for their lives after the shooting at the sikh temple on sunday. and we are going to be talking about the rnc and the prayer. will there be a mormon prayer? this is an important and momentous decision. we will explain why. hypocrisy, wolf, in washington. i know you roll your eyes there is a lot of it. someone says i really want to care about cutting spending, i want to close loopholes and goes and ardently champions their own loopholes. who are the worst offenders both parties top of the hour? back to you. >> looking forwardo it erin. thanks very, very much.

a heart-stopping event that no one wants to experience, above the trees one minute, going down the next. you are going to see it as it happens. [ male announcer ] this is the at&t network. in here, every powerful collaboration is backed by an equally powerful and secure cloud. that cloud is in the network, so it can deliver all the power of the network itself. bringing people together to develop the best ideas -- and providing the apps and computing power to make new ideas real. it's the cloud from at&t. with new ways to work together, business works better.

♪

it's not eve day we see video of a plane crash as it happens. they were shot from inside the cockpit as the plane was going down. the four men lived to share the near death ordeal. they all caught on videotape. we have more on this dramatic vid video, give us the story behind the story. >> it was a group of hikers. after their morning hike, they wanted to fly their small single engine plane to a nearby town for dinner.

take a look at this drap matic video to see what happened next. it started out all smiles during takeoff. four men on board a single engine plane. capturing nature's beauty with their video cameras. just minutes after takeoff, things went terribly wrong. the plane is struggling to climb. then it drops, flying so low, it started skimming tree tops. yet, no panic from those on board. then -- the footage goes black. the cameras keep rolling. all four men survive. as they were getting into

trouble, toll had competence in his father, who flew helicopters in vietnam. >> i still felt even as i saw us coming closer to the trees that we'd be okay. i remember hitting the trees. is sounded like rapid fire. gunfire it sounded like. then we were all upside down, seat belted in. you can hear in the video my dad asking if everyone is all right. >> reporter: we showed the video to some pilots for their take on what went wrong. >> the field elevation was very high. the temperature that day was very high. the air just wasn't dense enough for the engine to produce the power it's rated to produce. >> reporter: the pilot was the only one seriously injured. his jaw broke in three places. but in the end, nobody's spirits were broken that day. all of them thankful to be alive. >> i honestly believed my dad saved our lives by the way he

continued to fly the plane through the trees and making sure he didn't give up. >> luckily, two campers rushed to the camp site, then they went to get help. >> all four of them are okay. thanks for that gripping, gripping report. >> amazing video. thank you so much, sandra. it isn't quite the olympics but standby for the fastest thumbs in the country. i'm feeling a very strong male spirit present. it's the priceline negotiator. >>what? >>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals. it's a faster way to get a great hotel deal without bidding. pick one with a pool, a gym, a great guest rating. >>and save big. >>thanks negotiator. wherever you are. ya, no. he's over here. >>in the refrigerator? ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about market volatility.

ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 in times like these, ican be tough to know which ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 way the wind is blowing. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we're ready with objective insights about ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 the present market and economic conditions. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 and can help turn those insights into ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 a plan of action that's right for you. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 so don't let the current situation take you off course. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 talk to chuck. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward.

it's something you don't want to miss. it might make you a little dizzy. it's a swimming pool with a view that's hard to beat. it's our picture of the day. this is at a holiday inn hotel

in shanghai. part of the glass bottom pool justs out from the building. giving swimmers the illusion of floating in the sky. we're looking up at it right now. amazing stuff. also amazing, a teenager from wisconsin has been named the fastest texter in america. he defended his title at the texting competition. he texted 149 characters in 39 seconds with capitalization, punctuation, symbols and no errors. 11 competitors texted forward, backward and blindfolded. austin credits abnormally fast thumbs for his victory. >> well, obviously, i text a lot. i text my friends. i text my family. as i'm riding passenger in the car, i text just street signs going by. anything with words and symbols in it. >> he says he'll use his