go. engineers back at jpl send the signal. the signal goes back to that. it does maybe 10 or 15 feet, comes back, says i made it. got all the way here. let's do it again. they send another signal the next day or next day. >> can't wait until they head toward mt. sharp. chad myers, thank you. we'll keep talking about it. that's it for me. brooke baldwin here in new york. hope you wake up with me. in the meantime, here's wolf. in the meantime, here's wolf. your situation room begins now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com happening now, the embattled senate candidate todd akin digging in. can republicans across the country whether this storm? plus, all eyes on an actual storm. isaac may be headed toward the gop convention site in tampa. just as festivities get under way. we'll have the latest update from the national hurricane center. it's about to be released. we'll also bring it to you just as soon as it comes in. an explosive outbreak of

west nile virus consuming much of the united states right now. the death toll already topping 40 people and the number of cases has more than doubled to over 1,000. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." first, the headache that won't seem to go away for republicans. just days before what should be a shining moment for mitt romney, the campaign continues to contend with a controversy over the embattled republican senate candidate todd akin. the republican missouri congressman is refusing all calls to get out of the race despite the backlash over his now infamous "legitimate rape" remark. our national political correspondent jim acosta is traveling with mitt romney in iowa right now.

he's joining us with the latest. jim, what's going on? >> reporter: wolf, before mitt romney accepts his party's nomination next week in tampa, he will have to weather a couple of storms first. one named akin. the other named isaac. mitt romney came to iowa with some new lines of attack aimed at getting not just his campaign, but his party back on message. >> his policies of substituting government for free people have not worked. >> reporter: romney's up against a president who's spending much more time out of the white house. >> but republicans in congress -- no, no, no, no. don't boo. vote. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: while his running mate, paul ryan, his whipped up excitement for the gop ticket. >> this is president obama's imaginary recovery. it's not here. >> reporter: the wisconsin congressman is now facing questions about a bill he co-sponsored with embattled missouri republican todd akin

who caused an uproar when he said it's rare for women who are raped to get pregnant. that bill which would have limited taxpayer funding for abortions said only victims of, quote, forcible rape, should be covered. he was pressed by pittsburgh tv station kdka to explain that. >> what is poforcible rape? >> rape is rape, period. >> reporter: later he was asked if he regretted the bill. >> we had 251 votes. 16 democrats. i'm proud of my vote. mitt romney's going to be president. his policy has exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother. >> reporter: the romney campaign is trying to focus back on the economy, seizing on a new report on the massive budget cuts looming. the congressional budget office shows the cliff ryan supported would end years of trillion dollar deficits.

it may also keep unemployment high. still, it's the weather reports that may matter most. forecasters are eyeing isaac, a storm that could strengthen into a hurricane and head toward florida just in time for the convention. >> well, absolutely we're prepared to call it off. human safety and human life trumps politics. i think the rnc recognizes that. the organizers, certainly governor romney recognizes that. >> reporter: and mitt romney will also be competing with president obama next week. mr. obama is planning on campaigning here in iowa. also in virginia and in colorado. that is a lot of distractions for mitt romney during his big moment, wolf. >> it certainly is. all right. stand by, jim acosta reporting for us in iowa. republicans slowly seem to be coming to terms with the fact that todd akin is hunkering down for the long haul to november, whether they like it or not. our senior congressional correspondent dana bash is taking a closer look at this part of this story. i know the republican establishment, the leadership,

the tea party leaders, none of them are happy with akin's decision. >> not at all. in fact, i talked to an exasperated senior republican source earlier today who said the republicans to a high level have concluded they have, to, quote, grind it out for a while. despite throwing todd akin under the proverbal bus, backing it up, going forward again, he still isn't going to quit. >> reporter: todd akin is dug in and defiant. >> this is not about me. it's not about my ego. but it is about the voters of the state of missouri. they've chosen me because of principles that i stand on. >> reporter: appearing on two morning tv shows the embattled gop nominee for senate made clear he won't buckle under the weight of party pressure to quit. >> it makes me uncomfortable to think that the party bosses are going to dictate who runs as opposed to the election process. >> reporter: this was the sentence that set off the firestorm. >> first of all, from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to

shut that whole thing down. >> reporter: akin apologized for using the term legitimate rape and now admits he was wrong to suggest the female body can somehow prevent pregnancy from rape. >> that's not true. i was misinformed, and i recognize that. >> reporter: a pretty big mistake from a republican member of the house science committee. but generally speaking, akin's staunch anti-abortion views match those of the missouri congressional district he currently represents. >> i cringed. because basically, i agree with his stance on abortion. but the way he said it, it could have been worded different. >> reporter: plenty of missouri voters say they're still with him. >> i think people are looking for something to accuse todd or to drag him down. >> reporter: in the last presidential election, 39% of missouri voters, nearly 4 in 10, called themselves evangelical or born again. a lot. but not enough to unseat the incumbent democrat.

and akin's comments caused a national problem for republicans by turning the narrative to divisive social issues. it's why paul ryan, who co-sponsored anti-abortion legislation with akin, called and asked him to quit. but failed. >> he should drop out of the race. he's not. he's going to run his campaign. we're going to run ours. >> reporter: privately senior republican sources are panicked their huge deficit with female voters will get worse. especially since heading into their convention, the akin controversy shined a light on a party platform position opposing abortion without exception for rape. ann stone is a republican for abortion rights. >> the republicans don't know even -- even know what women want. they are gender blind. and i would say gender stupid when it comes to dealing with women and women's policies. >> reporter: even congresswoman marsha blackburn who co-chaired the gop platform committee admits her party has a problem. >> we have some very articulate,

accomplished women who are elected officials at the local, the state and the federal level. they have all shown the ability to lead. and i think what people are wanting to do is to see women step forward and take a more prominent leadership role in our party. >> what blackburn and other gop officials tell me is that even though they did not succeed in forcing akin to drop his bid for senate, they hope they at least were successful in signaling to those key swing voters, especially women, they don't stand for what he said. as far as akin's future goes, republican officials tell me that they're just waiting to watch a couple of key dynamics play out. those dynamics are first of all how much support he really thinks he has now that he's back from his consultant's office in ohio. he's back in missouri. secondly, most importantly, money. whether or not given the fact that the national party key outside groups have said they're not giving him a dime more, whether he can raise money from angry grassroots conservatives who are not happy that the party bailed on him. >> the only person who's really, really happy is claire

mccaskill. the democrat candide who now thinks she has a pretty good chance of staying the united states senator for missouri if, in fact, he stays in the race. there's another deadline at the end of september. he could still withdraw. it would be more complicated but it would give the republicans a chance to put somebody else on the ballot november 6th. >> it would be complicated, it would be financially costly for the party and for him. but it is possible. at this point it would take a lot to get him out of the race. >> we'll see what happens. dana, thanks very much. meanwhile, republicans and democrats alike are playing the blame game when it comes to a new report from the congressional budget office suggesting that if the so-called fiscal cliff takes effect next year, the u.s. deficit will -- the u.s. deficit outlook will improve, but, and it's a huge butt, scheduled tax increases and spending cuts could push the country into aother recession and boost unemployment up to 9%. let's bring in chief national correspondent, john king. he's looking at all of this for us. will this new cbo report put this issue once again front and center? >> it is front and center in the campaign. look, the todd akin controversy

has dominated discussion in recent days. you heard jim acosta. governor romney wants to get back to the economy. governor romney today, a very strongly worded statement blaming this problem on the president. he says the lack of leadership on the white house. the president issued a statement say wk no, it's the lack of leadership in washington, lack of bipartisanship and the house republicans fault, the president says, for not cooperate ing. this is front and center. the akin controversy will be with us. but governor romney hopes to turn the convention much back toward deficits, debt, spending and jobs. >> he's talking about those issues. he's on strong ground. social issues, some of the other issues not necessarily so strong. what are the takeways from the cbo report if you're the obama campaign, romney campaign. >> the romney campaign, another trillion dollar plus deficit, what happened to the broken promise from president obama to cut the deficit in half from his first term. the president can say a deeper

recession than he imagined. no cooperation from republicans. governor romney can say promise made, promise broken. the president can say, this is proof that nothing can get done in washington and he has to make the case that he is the answer and that if you let the republicans win the election, theyill just have more tax cuts for the rich and that won't help the deficit problem where he would get some from the rich. it's a familiar debate. will anything be done in the short term? you read this report, it's pretty ominous. pretty ominous. a recession in 2013 is possible. higher unemployment is possible. before the election, will anything be done? no. potentially a lame duck session after the election, they can deal with this. that will be handily influenced by who wins. not only in the presidential race, but the congressional race as well. >> if you and i think november 6th we're going to be done, we're going to be working hard between then and the end of the year. that lame duck session will have direct impact on all the people watching us right now. thanks, john. >> thank you. >> thapgs very much. republicans may have more than just political storm on their hands. we're also tracking tropical storm isaac which could be

headed straight for the convention site in tampa. plus, could todd akin's plans to stay in a critical senate race mean an automattive win for the democrats? i'll ask the obama campaign national press secretary. he's here. he'll join us live. an explosive west nile outbreak is spreading across the country. the latest on the soaring death toll just reported by the cdc. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays,

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turning now to the gop convention site in tampa where it's -- just isn't a political storm republicans are worried about. tropical storm isaac is gaining strength in the atlantic and could become a hurricane as soon as tomorrow. the storm is expected to have a devastating impact on haiti and the dominican republic. where it goes after this, that is still uncertain. cnn political director, though, mark preston is already at the tampa site of the convention. they'll be bracing for the worst. contingency plans are already in place. what's the latest on this front, mark? >> reporter: wolf, convention organizers are, in fact, expressing optimism that they don't think that the storm is going to march into the gulf and then turn into tampa. however, we heard from the florida governor today. he put out a statement saying, in fact, that they are working with convention officials, they're also working with local officials to address that if it were to happen.

but let me tell you this, wolf. we walked a little bit along the waterfront behind me with the mayor of tampa, bob buckhorn. he explained to us a little bit more about those preparations. he also told us what the devastating effect would be if that turned into a category 3 hurricane, came into tampa bay and marched up right behind us. let's hear what he had to say, wolf. >> the apparatus is already in place. command structures are already in place. we know the evacuation routes. we know what to do. we know how to clean up. the only additional burden would be we'd have the media here to document our success or failure. and you'd have the delegates. you know, it's just all about moving bod ies out of harm's wa. >> what happens if the hurricane comes up to the gulf? going to take all that water and move it up through the bay, which way does it come? >> if you had a cat 3 storm with a direct hit on tampa bay you would literal push 15 to 20 feet of water through davis islands, through the convention center

into downtown tampa. that would require a direct hit. absent that you will get some storm surge depending on what the tides are. >> reporter: you know, wolf, we talk about the politics and how this could affect the mitt romney campaign and certainly his convention. this could also affect so many lives if that hurricane were to hit here in tampa. or if it were to hit anywhere in the united states. even if it doesn't hit in tampa, if it were to make landfall elsewhere and cause devastation, that, too, could affect the romney campaign. the romney convention. much like it did john mccain's convention back in 2008 when we saw hurricane hit on the gulf coast. wolf? >> i remember that first day. they had to abbreviate all of their convention activities because they didn't want to be in the middle of a lot of hoopla as people were suffering in texas and elsewhere. all right, mark. see you in a couple days. i'll be down there myself. mark preston reporting for us. we are also right now in the midst of one of the biggest outbreaks of west nile virus

ever. the centers for disease control and prevention reports a dramatic increase in the number of cases over the past week. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is following these ominous developments for us. how bad, first of all, has it gotten, elizabeth? >> wolf, this is a really big jump for just one week. in fact, if you look at the third week in august in previous years, we've had more cases this year than in any previous year. let's take a look at this jump. last week the cdc reported that there were -- i'm sorry, there were 26 deaths. this week that number has gone up to 41. again, a big jump in one week. when you look at illnesses, we've gone from 693 in this country to 1,118. most states are reporting some westile activity. the activity is really focused on these five states. 75% of the cases are in south dakota, mississippi, oklahoma, louisiana and the state with the most cases is texas. wolf? >> should people be scared right

now? what's the recommendation? >> i think people need to take certain steps to protect themselves. i also think we need to put this in perspective. first of all, of all the mosquitos out there, only about 1% of them carry the west nile virus. most of the mosquitos you meet in your daily life do not carry west nile. even if you were to be bit by a west nile mosquito, 80% of us will not get sick. we wouldn't even know we we bit by a west nile mosquito. 20% of us would have mild symptoms of fever, nausea, wouldn't necessarily have to go to the doctor. 150 people would get severe sytoms, maybe even a coma or paralysis or, you know, sadly even death. elderly people, wolf, are the most at risk. i shouldn't say elderly. i should say people over the age of 50. now that i'm approaching that age i don't like to call it elderly. >> older people. what about prevention? what can we do to prevent west nile virus if we're in one of these high risk areas? >> i think the key here, wolf,

is to remember we're not helpless and hopeless. there are things you can do especially if you live in the hot zone. first of all what you want to do, when you go outside wear an insect repellant with deet. also dress in long sleeves and long pants. dusk and dawn is when mosquitos tend to be out. be really careful turg those two times. if you have standing water like a bird fountain or kiddy pool, get rid of it. drain it. that's where mosquitos like to breed. >> thanks very much. a suspected gunman is formally indicted. we're going to tell you the charges a virginia man is facing in last week's shooting over at the family research council right here in washington, d.c. take the mars rover out for a spin. we're taking a closer look at the new pictures that are just coming back to earth. questions. when you're caring for a loved one

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new developments involving that shooting at the headquarters of a christian conservative group in washington, d.c. lisa sylvester is monitoring that, some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. >> charges were filed today against the accused gunman, 28-year-old floyd corkins ii. he now faces a maximum of 45 years in prison if convicted. police say he opened fire in the headquarters of the family research council last week. the building manager was shot in the arm but was able to wrestle the gun away. corkins volunteered for a center that serves the gay community. according to the criminal complaint, he targeted the organization for its views against homosexuality. the winner of last week's $337 million power ball jackpot has come forward. they're not yet saying who it is. it was sold at this gas station

in la pierre north of detroit. the winner takes home a lump sum of more than $200 million. they have a year to claim it. federal agents rounded up more than $1billion worth of marijuana in raids across seven western states. the so-called operation mountain sweep targeted illegal pot farms on public lands. nearly 100 of those farms have been shut down since the operation began july 1st. more than half a million marijuana plants have now been destroyed. 14 people in california facing charges. rock band kiss is weighing in on the shakeup on "american idol." you know, the judges, they are changing next season. kiss front man gene simmons, he's got an idea. >> the new judge clearly should be wolf blitzer. who else? wolf, you're a cool guy. he needs to get up there and tell everybody everything. which is what he does on cnn. >> we loved him when he was a disk jockey wolfman blitzer.

>> i accept. at least i accept if they offer me to be a judge on "american idol." i'll take that gig. i'll work around that schedule. i'm sure it's not all that much heavy lifting. i love music. >> that's right. >> they want to approach my agent, go ahead. we'll talk. >> you'll, of course, keep your day job here on cnn. >> keep it, absolutely. >> keep your day job. have a little fun on "american idol." you'll be, perhaps, sitting next to mariah carey and the likes. i think it would be terrific. i absolutely think it would be terrific. i'd love to see it, wolf. >> they do that out in los angeles or some place like that? >> you know what they do at least for the "american idol" when they're auditions they go around country to various cities. they should at least have you on as a guest host. >> i accept. i already said, i accept. let the festivities begin. thanks very much. mitt romney makes a point with a campaign backdrop. we're going to talk with president obama's campaign spokesman on the president's, quote, you didn't build that

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campaign trail. especially when it comes to that one key phrase, quote, you didn't build that. joining us now to talk about that and the whole lot more is the obama campaign national press secretary ben la bolt here in washington. thanks very much for coming in. you saw the romney event today, ryan event today. they're making a whole big deal about we did build that. that's the big banner. they're wearing t-shirts along those lines, their supporters. i'm going to make the full context of what the president said a few months ago. we'll discuss this. it's becoming, once again, a sensitive issue. >> sure. >> if you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. there was a great teacher somewhere in your life. somebody helped to create this unbelievable american system that we have that allowed you to thrive. somebody invested in roads and bridges. if you got a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen.

>> that's caused this uproar, as you well know. did the president misspeak? >> what the president was talking about is, in fact, that there are steps we can take to create a strong business climate. he's cut taxes for small businesses 18 times. he's invested in education and research and development and infrastructure. all steps we can take to create a strong business climate. that's why start-ups have gone up under this administration. they went down under governor romney in massachusetts after he cut back in all of those areas and hurt entrepreneurs. >> but the key line, if you got a business, you didn't build that, somebody else made that happen, that's the line that's causing all sorts of controversy out there. the romney campaign is picking up in campaign commercials out on the campaign trail. >> they've ripped that entirely out of context. you've heard right there he was referring to roads and bridges and infrastructure. in fact, investments in those sorts of things, while countries around the world are racing to invest in them, we shouldn't be

cutting back. >> you understand why some small business owners including this one individual, chris mcmurray, owner of crumb and get it cookie company, he refused to allow the vice president to come to his bakery, why he's now saying this on behalf -- in support of the romney campaign. i'll play this little clip. >> you may remember a month or so ago, our president stood in this very city, and he proclaimed the message that if you have a business, you didn't build it. we are gathered here today to send the message to the obama/biden team that we did build it! >> all right. it's working out there on the campaign trail. what to you say to this owner of this small business. >> well, we don't disagree with him that he built that business. but the question wasn't raised in the context of the president's remarks. to you agree with mitt romney that we should be cutting

funding for worker training? do you agree with mitt romney that we should be cutting funding for community colleges? these things ensure that we have a trained work force that's ready to compete in the global economy. and they're all areas where mitt romney would cut back. he did cut back in massachusetts. and you saw the number of start-ups decline during his tenure as governor. >> it's pretty extraordinary for him to refuse to let the vice president of the united states come to his small business because of those words the president uttered. i can see how you say, because in this sentence before, he said if you got a business, you didn't build that, somebody else made that happen. he did say somebody else invested in roads and bridges. what you're saying is the that the president said refers to roads and bridges. as you know a lot of people don't necessarily buy that. >> this is just one more example of the romney campaign not running the sort of campaign they wanted to run. they've criticized our campaign about tone. but they've got a demonstrate bli false ad on the air right now. the administration is working to ensure more people in states

move from welfare to work. if you're a governor and prove you can move 20% more people from welfare to work we'll let yo do t. est clinto has caed thd lse. the architefelfa reform, republican co-author has called it false. yet mitt rneyonties to run these talk about that. let me ask you about missouri right now. a state that's been in the news. is that considered a battleground state? is the obama campaign spending money in missouri, trying to win that state? >> we do have offices -- >> i know you have offices. but are you advertising in missouri? >>e' nrent up on the air. >> are you going to change your mind based on todd akin deciding to stay in the race? >> even before that there were polls that had the state fairly tight. our organization is building an organization on the ground in states across the country. if you're a supporter of the president no matter where you are you can contribute to our campaign efforts. we'll see what tim pahe impact the ground. >> so far you haven't bought any advertising in missouri.

>> i think there's a broader issue here. you're referring to congressman akin's comments. >> i'm going to play this clip. this is claire mccaskill, democratic incumbent senator on what she thinks akin should do. listen to this. >> well, i disagreed with what he said. he is now just in the last few hours really apologized for what he said. and i think what's startling to me is that these party bigwigs are coming down on him and saying that he needs to kick sand in the face of the republican primary voters. >> she clearly wants him in this race. she thinks he's very vulnerable right now. does the obama campaign, you're press secretary, do you think he should stay in this race, todd akins? >> that's ultimately up to the republicans in missouri. there's a broader issue facing vote rs here. that's the republican party, mitt romney's republican party has now adopted congressman akin's policies as part of their platform. congressman ryan, vp candidate,

worked to advance these policies with congressman akin in the house. the human life amendment. romney had previously endorsed a similar amendment which would ban abortion in all forms, including in the cases of rape and incest. could have some implications for birth control. >> mitt romney to be precise, he has said in the past few days, said repeatedly including in interviews with me he does support exemptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. paul ryan used to oppose the race and incest exceptions. now as number two on the ticket he says he goes along with number one, the position of mitt romney. >> i think governor romney has told different things to different audiences. >> i'm saying what he said in the last few days. >> he told -- during a debate during the last election cycle he said he'd be delighted to sign a bill into law that banned abortion in all forms. he said he'd get rid of planned parenthood, strip back funding for it, limit access for free preventative screening for women

for things like breast cancer and cervical cancer. so these have implications across the board. i think is a debate we expected to hear in the 1950s. not one you'd expect to hear in 2012. >> ben la bolt is the national press secretary for the obama re-election campaign. i know you're going to be down in tampa next week during the republican convention. not only the vice president, but ben la bolt will be there as well. >> see you then. mitt romney and president obama have been squaring off on welfare reform and medicare. in our next hour, we're going to fact check the arguments. we're going to talk to a romney adviser. also, in light of the ongoing controversy over congressman todd akin, we'll take a closer look at how women voters will factor into this election. stay with us. 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.

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let's get right to our strategy session right now. joining us, democratic strategist and cnn political contributor maria cardona. and republican strategist and cnn contributor mary matlin. mary, let me start with you and read from today's "new york times" columnist maureen dowd's piece. paul ryan, who teamed up with akin in the house to sponsor

harsh anti-abortion bills may look young and hip, but he's just a fresh face on a taliban creed. the evermore antediluvian core. ryan is the perfect modern leader to rally medieval republicans who believe adam and eve cavorted with dinosaur. that's pretty strong words. how much of a problem, seriously, though, has this akin story been on paul ryan, mitt romney, the national ticket? >> maureen dowd is the -- the most colorful. but the most predictable of liberal pride. what she's saying there is the same old liberal hateful tripe that if you're pro-life, then you're anti-woman. if you're protraditional marriage, you're anti-guy. republican conservatives are not anti-gay. paul ryan is a catholic, roman catholic. he believes in the sankity of

life. there's nothing extreme about that. the other is extreme. to pin the whole party with akin is such an insult to women. if women judged all men by the dumbest one they knew or the dumbest thing that men they knew said, wooee'd be a land of sing. i think women are smart enough to distinguish a really badly and ineptly thing said from a bad candidate and the entire republic party, particularly the romney/ryan ticket. >> todd akin has been rejected by virtually the entire republican establishment from mitt romney on down. >> sure. as he should be. mary's right. i don't think every republican believes that what todd akin said was correct. so i think they're right in disavowing what his words are. here's the problem for republicans. what he said might have been very offensive and actually factually wrong, and it is both of those things. but his policy positions, his stated policy positions, are no

different than vice presidential republican nominee paul ryan's positions. frankly, you know, they're really not all that different from what romney has said in the past. i know romney now says he does -- he won't oppose abortion in the cases of rape and incest. but the fact of the matter is that the party platform basically opposes abortion in every single case. and here's the problem with basically paul ryan saying that he's not the top of the ticket. he dodged a question today when he was asked whether he would oppose abortion even in the case of rape. he completely dodged it saying that he's got his beliefs, but he's not the top of the ticket. guess what? he is one heart beat away from the top of the ticket. i suspect democrats will continue to make that point because of what his position means for many women out there. >> mary, i'd like you to respond to that. also in the context of this latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, among women

voter's choice for president, 51% for obama, 41% for romney. the romney ticket has a problem with women. >> i think that's a great number. this follows six or seven months of the so-called war on women. it follows over $100 million of an attack barrage in the swing states on romney. and months and months and millions of millions of dollars of distorti wha he's omosing stract thcaaign an he icar in the et steshich showsit impact of allheon and attacks that the obama machine is foisting on the romney campaign. so i'm -- actually, that's a pretty good gap for women considering what the and it goes -- they have advantagand always liralset younger liberal women. republicans get women who have -- who are career women, who have a stake in their communities, who are family women, who are married, whoave

children. this is just a distraction. of course, they wa to talk bortn becsewant av distraction. women like men, like children, like everybody in this country, is affected by what he learned today was the fourth consecutive year of trillion dollar deficit. the choice is four more years of failed promises or four more years -- or for good years of positive policy. >> we're out of time. quickly, a final thought, reaction to that, maria. >> i think actually the difference is four more years of a republican ticket wanting to tell women what to do with their bodies. i think that's the reason why you see that gap. i suspect it's going to get larger as we go into the republican convention where they should be focused on jobs and the economy, and they're focused on todd akin's comments. >> maria and mary, thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you so much, wolf. all right. the latest isaac advisory is just coming into "the situation room" right now from the national hurricane center. let's go straight to our

meteorologist, severe weather expert chad myers. chad, what's going on? >> let's go back to weather 101 and talk about a cone. the cone of weather, the cone of where this thing could go. it could be to the left side of the cone, to the right side of the cone. i know we lose this. we stop thinking about this in the middle of the winter. the forecast, brand-new, right off the press here, either from the nasa bahamas area or all the way into the gulf of mexico op monday at 2:00. now i'll just get a little bit sublime because i know we have a convention coming up in tampa. if you look at the center of the cone, this is not the forecast right now. this is the center of the forecast error. that would be very close to ft. myers, possibly tampa, 2:00 p.m. on monday. i know we don't want to think about that, wolf. the potential is there with a storm in the water turning into a hurricane running right over port-au-prince. people there, 400,000 still living in tents from the earthquake. over cuba and up toward florida.

that's five days out. there's a lot of error five days away. but you know where the center of the cone is, just so you know. >> you're going to be a really, really busy guy over these next five days. we'll be watching 2:00 p.m. on monday. can you imagine if that were to hit tampa just as this convention is about to get under way? we'll watch it very closely. we'll watch the entire state of florida in terms of -- and, indeed, the gulf coast to make sure we're all over this. thanks very much. i know you're coming back right agent the top of the hour with more. yesterday's train derailment had a far reaching effect. also, why the terrorism trial of sheikh mohammed had to be delayed at guantanamo. and l.l. cool j, what happened in his los angeles home. [ pilot ] now when you build an aircraft,

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a freight train that derailed near baltimore disrupts an important terror trial in fwa guantanamo bay. what do you have, lisa? >> wolf, yesterday's accident damaged fiberoptic lines and knocked out internet service as far away as cuba. that delayed a pretrial hearing from accused september 11th master mind khalid sheikh mohammed and four others. we are told service is back up now. two college students were killed when the coal train derailed. police say the trains were sitting on a bridge when 21 cars tumbled off the tracks. he plays a crime fighting agent on tv. l.l. cool j helped take down a real bad guy who tried to break into his los angeles area home. he heard a noise this morning and confronted the would be burglar. police say ll cool j was holding

the guy when they arrived. ll is okay. the suspect, the other fguy, hes got a few bruises. that's a lesson learned. don't take on ll cool j. he's a pretty -- >> wouldn't even think about it. once again, we're keeping a close eye on that tropical storm isaac right now. it's moving through the caribbean. we're going to have a full report on where it could be heading. that's coming up the top of the hour. and what's fueling the mars rover? we have the answer, and it may surprise you. scroll... tap... pinch... and zoom... in your car. introducing the all-new cadillac xts with cue. ♪ don't worry. we haven't forgotten, you still like things to push. [ engine revs ] the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward.

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it's a defining moment for the two-year mission on mars. the rover curiosity took a successful test drive today. john zarrella is following all the latest developments for us from miami.

tell us about the pictures we're seeing that are coming back now, john. >> yeah, wolf. nasa releasing one very cool picture today. kind of like the rover getting its learner's permit on mars. you're looking at the animation there that actually shows the rover which moved about 20 feet in all. and during that 20-foot move, you can actually see in the image that they sent back from space, you can see the image of the rover and the tracks it left behind as it moved to where it is currently sitting now. and this all sets the stage, because of the success, for moving the rover to its first destination in the next few days or so. it'll set out and travel about 1,300 feet to that first target rock they're going to go look at. wolf? >> very quickly, give us the latest on that bizarre tie that curiosity has to soviet -- the soviet air and nuclear program. >> reporter: yeah, well, curiosity's powered by what's

calmed an rtg. radio isotope thermal electric generator. the u.s. ran out of 238 supplies. they're getting it now from the russians. wolf? >> john zarrella reporting. thank you. >> reporter: sure. you're in "the situation room." happening now, the latest forecast is just in for tropical storm isaac. already lashing the caribbean. but isaac could soon be a hurricane. that's raising big concerns at the site of the republican national convention in tampa. we're going to show you why. also, republicans hammering president obama on welfare reform, but do they have their facts straight? i'll talk about that and more with -- in a new campaign ad with romney adviser john sununu. also, found in a dusty attic, a long lost recording of dr. martin luther king jr. you're going to hear what he was

saying about the civil rights movementears before his a dream speech. we want to welcome viewers in td stes a aun the world. i' wolf itr. i' wolf itr. you're in "the situation ro." captions by vitac -- www.vitac. the latest forecast is in for tropical stormisac. isaac is kicking up trouble right now in the caribbean. but projected paths show it could also s big trouble for the republican national convention next week in tampa. let's go straight to our meteorologist and severe weather expert chad myers. he's in the cnn weather center. you're taking a closer look at the forecast that just came out. share with our viewers. >> you know, wolf, headline news was in my ear talking to me when you were tossing to me. i have no idea what you just asked me. but i'm going to -- i'm going to

start from here. we'll go from scratch. we have a lot of networks trying to get all this information as well. the leeward islands right there, that's where the storm is. not that far to the southeast of the u.s. virgin islands. then this category 1 hurricane tomorrow and into friday will run right over haiti. i'm very concerned of the people there. haiti is a deforested country. plus now you have 400,000 people living in shelters because they didn't ever get a use rebuilt after the earthquake. then this thing makes a run up at the u.s. it's either going to be all the way into the bahamas or far south here oveand even to the west of havana. that's the cone of error. i want to stress, you cannot look at the middle of this line. even though that's where the dots are always plotted, that's where the hurricane center plots them, the forecast is literally this wide. the forecast is not here. the forecast is this. the cone of error, by the time we get all the way up toward tampa, believe it or not, wolf, from here to here, that's the cone of error. all the way out to here.

as far north as pensacola and even farther north than that. 275 miles in all directions. that's where this storm could be five days from now. 275 miles. could be here. could be here. or here. all we need to realize is that almost everything you see there has florida in its sights. if it's to the east, then we could even be running this up at the carolinas with a miss of florida in that very warm water. remember what irene did to the carolinas. that's the same type of plan if it was over here. in the gulf of mexico, this would also be very warm water. that would be where katrina made all of its big energy exchange. i'm not calling for new orleans, we're not calling for tampa, we're not calling for anywhere in florida at this point. but we will eventually see this thing make a run at the u.s. somewhere. >> we do know that, what, the dominican republic, haiti, cuba, they are in trouble right now, is that true? >> that is absolutely true. let me get that back for you. because of where this plot is coming from, where it is running

right across haiti and the dr. new hurricane warnings from the little national park there on the southeastern tip of the dr, all the way over to the haitian border, now hurricane warnings for this area. 80 mile per hour storm is forecast to arrive there on friday. look at these times. i know it says it's going to be there at 2:00. understand these are very large storms. they arrive, the first parts of this arrive tens of hours before the eye. the time is the eye. the eye is bad, of course. but there is a lot worse stuff and other stuff. tornadoes and all the like. on the outside of this eye. this thing right now is about 600 miles wide and it's about to get bigger. >> the key question, another key question, is this. no matter where it touches, no matter where it makes landfall, are we only expecting -- "only," i use that word. it could be worse. a hurricane category 1? is that right? could it go up to a 2, 3 or beyond? >> let me explain that.

that's an excellent question, wolf. the storm is forecast to be a hurricane. and then to die off to only a tropical storm, tropical storm. then reform and become a hurricane again. only a category 1 there. somewhere in here. that all changes if this hurricane's eye does not stay over land. does not stay over haiti or does not stay over cuba. if that happens, if this thing stays in the warm water, either this side or on this side, it easily, without a question, could be a major category 3 or higher hurricane. because it won't have that land, it won't have the mountains of cuba to tear it up. it's a completely different story if this does not go over cuba. >> it's wednesday now. we're going to wait over the next three, four, five days. obviously we'll see what happens. chad, thanks very much. if isaac finds its way into low lying tampa as a hurricane, it would bring major, major flooding. that's causing major safety concerns. just ahead of the republican national convention which is set

to open up on monday. brian todd has been taking a closer look at this worst case scenario for tampa and the immediate area. >> could be right in the way, wolf. the way the tampa bay area is laid out, it is vulnerable to severe hurricane damage and a tropical storm could do significant harm as one did not long ago. this was only about eight weeks ago in tampa. bay shore boulevard. a main drag under water. this was no hurricane, but tropical storm debbie which delivered significant flooding to downtown tampa just a few blocks from the tampa bay times forum where the republican national convention will be held. if tropical storm isaac turns into a hurricane as projected, tampa could find itself in its crosshairs in the comes days. >> with a category 1 storm tha could come our way, anywhere from three to fix feet of flooding could impact this area. >> reporter: brian lamar, chief meteorologist with the national weather service's branch in tampa says that city is right at

sea level in some places, just above it in others. tampa's mayor says if the storm comes that way, public safety trumps politics. >> if we had to make that decision to cancel or to postpone or to move the convention, we will do that knowing full well my obligation and the city's obligation is to move people out of harm's way. >> reporter: it would be the second straight republican convention affected by a big storm. >> actually, all the -- of the program tonight has been canceled. >> reporter: in 2008 much of the first night of the gop convention was tossed out. that event was in s. paul. nowhere near the storm zone. but officials didn't like the optics of opening a glitzy event while hurricane gustav raged down in louisiana. a worst case scenario for tampa according to lamar and other experts, that a strong hurricane, around category 3 strength, comes ashore here north of ctampa. because hurricanes turn in a counterclockwise direction they say that could drive water from the gulf of mexico up tampa bay,

trap the water, flood this area near tampa and downtown tampa near the convention center. then it would push water this way making this area, st. petersburg, into an island. that has happened. but not for more than 90 years. in october 1921 a category 3 hurricane slammed right into that point north of tampa. back then this region was a lot less populated. isaac's not projected to be that strong and may not even hit tampa. if it does, lamar says, storm surge is the number one killer. >> a lot of people live and work right along the water. a lot of people need to make sure they get out in time before the hurricane comes their way. >> now, tampa city officials insist they are ready with solid evacuation routes planned. but a challenge next week will be the 50,000 or so added people in the downtown tampa area. most of them from out of town. so getting them evacuated may be problematic. wolf, you'll be there. i know you'll keep an eye out. >> we'll see what happens. i've heard it said, brian, some

people say that sometimes a tropical storm could even be more devastating than an actual hurricane. >> it wouldn't seem to make sense. but it actually does. tropical storms, even though they're not as strong, they tend to move slower according to the experts. they hover over areas longer. that means they dump more rainfall and more flooding. that's what happened in tropical storm debbie two months ago down in tampa. that could happen. hurricanes are stronger but they tend to move faster. even if it's tropical storm strength, by the time it hits tampa if it does next week you could see significant flooding. >> they also as you say create tornadoes, too, in the process. >> that's right. >> thanks very, very much. out on the campaign trail, president obama is again sounding dire warnings about what a mitt romney presidency would mean for education in the ited states. president obama talks about massive spending cuts and teacher layoffs. is he right, though? cnn's athena jones is traveling with the president. she's out in las vegas right now. athena, what's going on? >> reporter: hi, wolf. we decided we'd take a closer look at the charges the

president is making to try to answer the question of whether he is, in fact, right. >> i've got a question for governor romney. how many teachers' jobs are worth another tax cut for millionaires and billionaires? >> reporter: president obama spent a second day hitting the republican ticket on education. a pocketbook issue important to middle-class voters. speaking at a high school in the crucial swing state of nevada, he said a romney/ryan victory would mean deep cuts to education programs and larger class sizes. >> cutting back on teachers is the last thing we should be doing as a country. >> reporter: an argument echoed in a new tv spot set to air thursday in virginia and ohio. two key battle fwround states. >> some of our children's greatest experience have been in the smaller classrooms. >> but mitt romney says class sizes don't matter. and he supports paul ryan's budget, which could cut education by 20%. >> these are all issues that really he personally cannot relate to. >> reporter: the romney campaign's response to all this?

not so fast. a spokesperson calling the obama campaign's attacks misleading and hypocrite cal and saying in a statement, president obama's latest ad puts him directly at odds with his own education secretary who has promoted teacher quality, not class size, as the most important factor in a good education. aides say romney has not spelled out cuts he'd make to education and that 20% figure, it's based on an assumption that proposed reductions in government spending in congressman ryan's budget would be applied to all nondefense programs across the board. the problem, romney folks say, is that assumption is just not accurate. what is clear, the republican contender wants to make changes. listen to his response on monday to a question about what he'd do with skyrocketing student debt. >> now, i know it's very tempting as a politician to go out and say, you know what, i'll just give you some money. i'll take some -- the government's just going to give you some money and pay back your loans for you.

i'm not going to tell you something that's not the truth. you know what, that's just taking money from our other pocket and giving it to the other pocket. i want to make sure that we're -- i'm not going to go out and promise all sorts of free stuff i know you're going to end up paying for. >> reporter: now, what still isn't clear, wolf, is what the changes that romney wants to see on education will mean for education funding. that's really the central problem here. this lack of specifics. the two campaigns are being vague on purpose. it makes it more difficult to really examine the counters and countercharges both sides are making on a whole slew of issues, wolf. >> athena, thanks very much. education a critically important issue in this country. other news we're following including syria's brutal civil war, it's spreading beyond its borders. arwa damon will tell us about the shattering impact on syria's neighbors. plus, a new poll shows mitt romney with virtually no support from african-american voters. should he be worried? i'll ask the romney campaign adviser, john sununu. a volcano spews lava and ash

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syria's civil war grows more savage by the day. dozens of people reported killed today. many of them in the damascus area. the united nations humanitarian chief today said the conflict has taken a particularly brutal and violent character. that conflict is now spilling across syria's borders. arwa damon is joining us from beirut right now. arwa, we're getting reports the violence in syria really spreading already deeply into lebanon. what's going on? >> reporter: it most certainly has, wolf. this was the inevitable spillover that so many were really concerned about and we're seeing it manifesting itself along just one of many fault lines, really, up in the northern city of tripoli where

clashes broke out on monday evening between a sunni and an alowite neighborhood separated by a street ironically called syria street. those clashes have left dozens killed and wounded. they have managed to finally broker something of a temporary cease-fire. of course, there are great concerns that it's not going to hold and the effect of the syrian civil war is going to spark up along some other fault line. because there are so many that do exist in lebanon when it comes to syria. the very issue of syria in and of itself has always deeply divided this country. >> reporter: syria borders lebanon. it also borders iraq. is that violence spilling over into iraq as well? >> reporter: there have been a number of clashes right along the iraqi border. according to iraqi officials, members of the syrian army and the rebel fighting force, the free syrian army, were clashing fiercely there as they were

trying to gain control over a major air base in an area that's called bukama. right across from a province in iraq called al anbar province. it's a predominantly sunni area. in 2005-2006 it was an al qaeda stronghold. the fighting has caused at least two dozen people to flee into iraq to try to get treatment. this is a very barren desert landscape. those individuals are struggling to find the adequate medical care. add to that, there have been up to date at least 4,000 syrians who are fleeing into iraq. plus, thousands of iraqis who have been forced to return to their homeland that they fled from back in the days of the iraqi civil war. >> it's amazing what's fwoigoin. the number of refugees, i've seen all sorts of estimates. internally displacedrefugees. hundreds of thousands at least. what's the latest on the refugee problem, especially as it

impacts jordan, another country that borders syria? >> reporter: you know, what's interesting is that the official number of refugees registered in jordan, according to unhcr, is around 40,000. the unofficial estimate, wolf, goes up to 150,000. the jordanians only recently built these masive, sprawling refugee camps, huge tent cities to try to accommodate the influx, the growing influx of refugees. they're really buckling under the strain of all of this. not to mention the dire conditions that the refugees themselves are having to live in. plus, a few days ago, there were at least four shells that fell into a jordanian town very close to the border there. syrian shells, according to the jordanian government, that ended up wounding a little girl. all of these countries that border syria know fully well that they are not immune to the syria impact. each nation trying in its own way to mitigate the consequences of the syria spillover. but everyone, of course, very concerned about what is going to

happen in the future as the violence in syria becomes even more extreme. are we going to see more reflections of that in its neighbors. >> arwa damon covering this important story for us. arwa, thanks as usual. other stories we're following including refuting the report on penn state university. attorneys for the former university president are now speaking out on the child sex abuse scandal. americans are wasting a staggering amount of food. why so much gets thrown out. ♪ you know, ronny... folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. and how happy are they jimmy? i'd say happier than a bodybuilder directing traffic. he does look happy. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

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attorneys for the outed penn state university president disputing allegations he covered

up reports of child sex abuse. lisa sylvester is monitoring that and some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what happened, lisa? what's going on? >> attorneys for graham spanier are hitting back against the university's internal investigation into the jerry sandusky sex abuse scandal. a report last month blames spanier, football coach joe paterno and others for covering up the alleged child sex abuse. spanier has not been charged in the case and he says he was led to believe sandusky was involved in nothing more than horseplay. incredible pictures from ecuador where a volcano has erupted near the capital, quito. it's been spewing molten rock and lava since the weekend, covering villages with ash and forcing evacuations. this volcano has been active since 1999. did you know you may be throwing away almost half of the food that you bring home from the grocery store? according to a report from the national resources defense council americans are wasting 40% of food. that's about $165 billion a year

in waste. fruits and vegetables get tossed out the most followed by seafood, grain products, meat and milk. you can blame portion sizes. our dinner plates are about 36% bigger than they were decades ago. anyone who's been to a grocery store, wolf, will tell you it's not just the dinner plates that have gotten bigger. also the portion sizes of what they sell at grocery stores. it's not just a little bagel. it's a huge bagel. not just a small bag of lettuce. it's a huge bag of lettuce. that probably contributes in some way. >> the notion we're throwing away so much good food when there are so many people hungry out there, it make me sick to even think about that. i hate throwing away good food. >> it's a sad thing to think about, wolf. >> it certainly is. a new romney campaign ad slams president obama on welfare reform. but is there any truth in it? we're going to have a serious fact check. also, you'll hear a never before recording of dr. martin luther king jr. lost for decades

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moment. first, here's cnn's tom foreman with a fact check. >> join me as i sign the welfare reform bill. >> reporter: welfare reform was a big bipartisan success story in the mid-1990s. signed by bill clinton, it fulfilled promises by the democratic president and the republican congress to push welfare recipients to work in exchange for their benefits. to end welfare as we know it. so the idea of another democratic president, barack obama, taking the work requirement off of the table is political dynamite. right? >> on july 12th, president obama quietly ended the work requirement. gutting welfare reform. one of the most respected newspapers in america called it nuts. >> reporter: problem is, president obama calls this claim nuts. >> every single person here who's looked at it says it's patently false. >> reporter: so where did this come from, this notion of a giant change in welfare rules? oddly enough, it tid not originate here in washington,

but rather out in the country. several states, including some with republican governors, asked the federal government for more flexibility in how they hand out welfare dollars. specifically they want to spend less time on federal paperwork and more time experimenting with what they hope will be better ways of getting people connected to jobs. so the administration has granted waivers from some of the existing rules. >> given them, those states, some flexibility in how they manage their welfare rules as long as it produced 20% increases in the number of people who are getting work. >> reporter: that might, in a small way, change precisely how work is calculated. but the essential goal of pushing welfare recipients to work remains in place. that's pretty much it. this clearly not an effort by the president to kill off the welfare work requirement. that's why even some republicans have backed away.

governor romney's claim doesn't work. and we rate it false. tom foreman, cnn, washington. >> let's run this by a key romney campaign adviser. joining us from tampa, former new hampshire governor john ady this campaign? >> if they don't know what they're looking for, they don't find the problem. let me remind you how that law was passed. it was a negotiation between the gingrich congress and president clinton. twice president clinton vetoed it because he didn't like how tight the work provisions were. among them is the fact that you cannot grant waivers to the work provision. it was in a separate section away from the waiver section. so finally on the third time, the congress prevailed and the president signed it. governors have asked for waivers

not to wave the work requirement, but to address other pawaivers and some of the paper work involved. in granting the request, the hhs memo goes well beyond what governors asked for. in fact, invites them to offer alternatives to the traditional work requirement. that's the issue that's here. and the alternatives that had been discussed as possible substitutes are things such as self-training in the home, reading books that motivate you to work and so on. hard core work requirement should not be substituted for with soft requirements, even if you play the game of asking that a larger percentage fall under the soft requirements. >> i'll read to you, governor, the precise language from the health and human services memo outlining what the states who seek this flexibility, and you were once a governor, and i'll read to you what it says.

it says the department of health and human services will only consider approving waivers relating to the work participation requirements that make changes intended to lead to more effective means of meeting the work of the temporary assistance for needy families program. the secretary will not approve a waiver for an initiative that apeerns substantially likely to reduce access for assistant or employment for needy families. >> that's correct. >> they're not going to approve anything unless it leads to greater opportunities for moving people from welfare to work. >> look, to quote the president who signed the bill, it depends on what your definition of access is and expands is and background discussions were. the background discussions talked about broadening it to the point where you soften the hard reality of the work requirement. people have to understand that that really does open the door. if the president doesn't like it, all he has to do is go back

and instruct hhs to undo that. hhs claimed that they were responding to requests from the governor of nevada and the governor of utah. when those governors were asked what their request entailed, it had nothing to do with taking that work requirement away. >> i don't know, governor, if you've actually read the letters from the governors' offices from utah and nevada which i have here in front of me. >> i only heard their comments. i have not read their letters. >> you should read the letters. because i've read them in depth. they were written -- the letter from brian sandoval, the governor of nevada, was written on august 2nd, 2011. the letter from gary herbert, governor of utah, both republicans, written august 1st, 2011. let me read governor sandoval, what his office says in making this request. he says, governor sandoval has been very supportive of the concept of collaborative efforts

among nevada state agents and recently included funding for an employer incentive program targeted to create jobs for the temporary -- the program, the welfare program, tanf recipients in his proposed executive budget. in seeking a waiver, the governor from utah, his office wrote we are very interested in being of assistance in the work of providing flexibility within and among fundi ining sources f more effective outcomes sfwl right. >> when these five governors asked for flexibility, governor, the department of health and human services responded by saying we'll give you flexibility, but only, only if you continue to make sure people go from welfare to work and you increase the work capabilities rather than reduce them. we'll give you some flexibility. >> not quite. not quite, wolf. go back and read what you just read me. that letter says that they want programs inconjunction with employers. they want flexibility. what that was intended to do was

to give flexibility on how they eratrted and ermi coe effortsh employers. proghaeal with employers. but you shouldnot, in responding to that, include in the hhs memo broad enough language that allows it to include aspects that are not employer training, real training, ormployerrelated. what youant to encourages permits people to do those soft self-studies that a lot of people have beenalking ab at people ought to do, be abl tooofor work on the internet instead of going an employer. >> the internetn really help people impirro t skills, as you well know. there are universities out there on the int. but i want to moven to something else. i'm going to just wrap it up and give you a chance to respond to this. you say they couldn't even give the states the waiver under the

original law president clinton signed into law. the house speaker at that time was newt gingrich. if they can't give waivers why would these five republicans be seeking flexibility, be seeking waivers in these formal letters, including two republican governors from the administration, the obama administration? >> i can't -- i can't tell you what was in their mind. i tell you what i do suggest. the gentleman that wrote that language is robert recollect to. he'll take you through it line by line, comma by comma, issue by issue. >> he's in a think tank in washington. i think he's at the heritage foundation. he's a scholar here in washington. i know you're basing your analysis on what he has written. we'll talk to him. we have spoken to him over the years. he's obviously a highly respected person. he knows what he's talking about. but we've done the research. not only us, but every major fact checker has done the research. and the president wants to make sure that in this particular case, that work requirement is

maintained even as he gives the states, and normally republican governors want the states, to have flexibility. not just allow the federal government to run rough shod over them. this is a case where you don't want states to have flexibility. >> all they need to do -- >> we'll make sure we're precise. on this one, governor, on this -- hold on a second. hold on one second. on this one it's not just cnn. it's every major fact checking organization out there says he has not -- has not gutted, has not gutted by any means the work requirements. >> all they need to do is have hhs send out a hard letter making sure that the only things that will qualify under the work requirement is hard training and the -- and the cooperative programs with employers and define it in such a way that what was allowed before is all that's allowed in the future. >> all right. >> that's all that's required. >> okay. a recommendation from the former governor of new hampshire. i know when you were governor of new hampshire you wanted things done in your state the way you wanted. you didn't want the federal

government dictating these kinds of requirements to you. >> absolutely. >> in this particular case there's a reversal. >> but i and republican governors and democrat governors lobbied hard to get the work requirement into welfare. and finally with the support -- bipartisan support of those governors, it came in with the gingrich/clinton agreement. >> absolutely. i remember. i was the white house correspondent at that time. the president at that time, president clinton, he was criticized by a lot of liberals who didn't like that welfare to work regulation in this new law. >> including the current president. >> right. at that time, you're absolutely right. he was a young legislator. he wasn't happy with it at that time either. stand by. we're going to continue our conversation. you're in tampa. we have a lot more to talk about including some it sha-- the lat polls showing a major gap in mitt romney's support. our conversation with john sununu continues in a moment. you know why i sell tools? tools are uncomplicated.

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we're back with the former new hampshire governor john sununu. he's an adviser to the romney campaign. he's joining us once again from tampa. governor, have you ever seen a situation like what's happening in missouri right now where you have the republican senatorial candidate todd akin rejecting what every major republican is saying, what tea party leaders are saying, more moderate republicans are saying, including the leader of the republican party right now, mitt romney, paul ryan, and basically he's snubbing his nose at all of them, refusing to leave this race for the senate? have you ever seen anything like this before? >> no. it's been unusual. you know, he was the candidate that the democrats spent $1.5 million in advertising trying to help in the primary.

now senator mccaskill is drooling at the thought of running against him. he's taking her advice and ignoring the republican advice. i have hopes that over time, there's a short window here, that that sanity will prevail and akin will see that he put his foot and probably three-quarters of his leg in his mouth. and said something disgraceful, horrible, and stupid. and that's quite a combination in a campaign. >> yeah. >> and that without support from republicans, he's not going to get anywhere. >> yesterday reince said they're not going to give him any money. the super pacs, republican super pacs, karl rove's super pac, they're not going to give him any money. here's the question. do you think knowing missouri, knowing the rest of the country as you do, he could go ahead and raise a significant sum of money to go head to head against

claire mccaskill, the democratic incumbent? >> not enough to make i"ta wohwhile r got to sit d d analye it both in terms of his party and hi country and his state. and, frankly, in terms of theish sh hants those issues dealt with he ought not to sacrifice a senate seat to ego. he ought to get out. he ought to understand he demonsated a l of carefulness in his process that wasov ophatit caused this probm. >> i eaier intervien l bolt, the oba campaign's press secretary. he said this about mitt romney's sition on abortion. i'll play the clip and get your reaction. unfortunately, we don't have it. i'll read it to you. this is what ben la bolt said. he said, he referring to the governor, he said he'd get rid of planned parenthood, strip back funding for it, limit

access for preventive screening for women for things like breast cancer and cervical cancer. these have implications across the board and i think this is a debate we expect to hear in the 1950s, not one you'd expect to hear in 2012. you want to respond to ben la bolt? >> sure. la bolt, as has been ms. cutter and others of the campaign, is lying through his teeth when he talks about getting rid of cervical screening and precancerous screening and stretching the pro-life position of the romney/ryan ticket to encompass all those things. that is absolutely, unequivocally not true. >> he has said he does support exceptions for abortion in the case of rape, incest and the life of the mother. and now ryan, who's the number two on o the ticket, says he'll go along with romney's position. >> that's right. >> is that - >> that's the romney/ryan position. >> should they have spelled that out in the republican party platform? >> well, that's the ryan/romney position.

the platform is carrying the language that it has had for the last four or five campaigns. i think there's value to consistency. it is a human life amendment support. i think that's the way to go. >> john sununu who supports governor romney and paul ryan, for that matter. once again, thanks so much. i'll see you down in tampa. i'll beoming down over the weekend. >> yep. >> thanks very much. >> we'll be here. >> good. we'll talk next week as well. under cover video sparking a government investigation. that's coming up in our next hour. what the agriculture department says about the treatment of cattle by a major fast food chain supplier. and the first lady michelle obama, she's speaking right now in florida. we're going to bring you some of that live. stand by. [ annie ] this is the story of a girl named annie who dreamed she could fly. like others who braved the sky before her,

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and as first lady, one of the things that i have been able to see. >> mrs. obama speaking down there in florida. let's listen. >> i want to share something with you as i think it's important for you to know as you go forward. i have seen how the issues that come across a president's desk

are always the hard ones. you know? the problems with no easy solutions. the judgment calls where the states are so high and there is absolutely nom margin for error. and i can see as president you are going to get all kinds of advice and opinions from all kinds of people. but let me tell you something, at the end of the day, when it comes time to make that decision, as president, truly all you have to guide you are your life experiences. do you think me? all you have to guide you are your values. and your vision for this country. because in the end, it does all boil down to who you are and what you stand for. know that. and we all know what barack

obama stands for, don't we? and we have seen time and time again just how hard he's willing to fight for us. remember when folks in washington were telling barack to let the auto industry go under with more than a million jobs on the line? that was the advice he was getting. but fortunately, for us, barack had the backs of american workers. he put his faith in the american people. and as a result, today the auto industry is back on its neat again. people a going bac work aga. re fol tellg n --

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it just takes one. >> we want to go right back to the first lady of the united states, she's speaking in ft. lauderdale. >> we want you to think about bringing in that one more person, because we all know that one person in our lives, we all have them, right? that one person who's not registered to vote, that one person who's not focused and doesn't understand what's going on in the campai yet, that one person who's never been involved, we all know that one person. so if you're making calls and knocking on doors, bring one friend, bring that new neighbor that's never been involved in afternoan election. when you vote early, or on election day, find one person to bring along, one colleague, one person in your family, they

don't even have to leave the house, send them to barackobama.com/1. like barack said, it just takes one voice to change a room. and if a voice can change a room, it can change a city, and if it can change a city it can change a state, and if it can change a state, it can change a nation. that's the power of one. so think about that, just this room alone, if everybody in in room brings in one more person, that can make all the difference. the power of one. i'm not going to kid you, this journey is going to be long, even though it's getting shorter every day. and it is going to be hard. and there will be plenty of twists and turns along the way. but i what i try to remind

myself and others, is that's how change always happens in this country. real change takes time. takes patience and tenacity. but if we keep showing up, if we keep fighting the good fight, if we keep doing what we know is right, then eventually we get there because we always do. >> all right looks like our local affiliate reporter stepping in front of the camera getting ready for his own live shot. so that's the first lady of the united states. we rarely see her as assertive as she is right there on the campaign stump for her husband, the president of the united states making a very, very determined appeal, especially in the very critical battle ground states out there, for people to get their friends and bring them to vote. if the president is going to be re-elected, he's going to need his base out there.

and if mitt romney is going to get elected president of the united states, he's going to need his republican base out there. getting them out to vote will be critical. we just heard from the first lady of the united states. we'll continue to monitor obviously what's going on on the campaign trail. happening now, mitt romney looks ahead to the republican convention, but the abortion issue and a rogue gop lawmaker are blocking the view. plus the obama campaign attacks romney on education in a brutal knnew ad. is it accurate? plus a view from a popular slaughterhouse. i'm wolf blitzer, and you're in "the situation room." the republican presidential campaign is struggling amid the uproar by republicans, todd akins, the notorious remark

about abortion and pregnancy. they're finding abortion driving the discourse only days ahead of the republican convention in tampa. and with a possible hurricane forecast for florida, this could be the storm before the storm. our national political correspondent jim acosta has the latest. >> reporter: before he accepts his party's nomt nation in tampa next week, mitt romney may have to weather a couple of storms, one named akin, one named isaac. romney came to get his campaign, not just his party back on message. romney is up against a president who is spending much more time out of the white house. >> but republicans in congress -- no, no, no. don't boo, vote. >> reporter: while his running

mate paul ryan has whipped up excitement for the gop ticket -- >> this is president obama's imagined recovery. it's not here. >> reporter: and now romney is talking about a bill he -- todd akin caused an uproar that said that it's rare for women to get pregnant when they get raped. ryan was pressedby av station. rape is ra, period, end of story. >> reporter: ryan was asked if he regretted the bill. >> it got 216 votes, 211 democrats. mitt romney has been present, his policy is exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. >> the obama campaign released a statement saying that ryan may hope that american women never learn about his record, but they hope they will learn what he

thinks about rape. the congressional budget office shows the philcliff which ryan supported supported trillion dollar deficits, but also may keep the deficit high. forecasters are eyeing isaac, a form that could strengthen into a hurricane and head towards florida just in time for the convention. >> we're prepared to call it off. human life and human safety trumps politics. >> reporter: romney will also be competing with president obama, the president has plans to campaign in colorado, virginia and iowa just as romney is accepting his party's nomination, a lot of distractions at romney's big moment. >> jim acosta for us. the man who sparked the little firestorm is now fanning the flames, todd akin is speaking

out affirming his plans to stay in the senate race despite being abandoned by his entire party. dana bash is working this part of the story for us, dana, what are you picking up right now? >> i talked to an exasperated republican source saying that officials have need to put grounded out. todd akin is dug in and defiant. >> this is not about me, this is not about my ego. but it is about the voters of the state of missouri, they have chosen me because of principles that i stand on. >> reporter: the embattled gop nominee for -- >> it makes me uncomfortable to think that the party bosses are going to dictate who runs as opposed to the election process. >> this was the sentence that set off the firestorm. >> from what i understand from

doctors, if it's a legitimate rape, the female bodies has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> reporter: akin apologized for saying legitimate rape and apologizes for -- a pretty big mistake from a republican member of the health science committee. but akin's -- >> i cringed because basically i agree with his stance on abortion. but the way he said it, it could have been worded different. >> reporter: plenty of missouri voters say they're still with him. >> i think they're looking for something to accuse todd or drag

him down. >> reporter: akin's comment s caused a national problem for republicans for turning the narrative to social issues. paul ryan who co-wrote an anti-abortion legislation asked him to quit but failed. >> reporter: privately senior republican sources are panicked their huge deficit with female voter also get worse. ann stone is a republican for abortion rights. >> the republicans don't even know what women want, they are gender blind and i would say gender stupid when it comes to dealing with women and women's policies. >> reporter: marsha black stone admits her party has a problem. >> we have some very articulate,

accomplished women who are elected firms at the local, the state and the federal level. they have all shown the ability to lead and i think what people are wanting to do is to see women step forward and take a more prominent leadership role in our party. >> what blackburn and other gop officials told me today is that even though they did not succeed in akin forch forcing akin to - akin's future is, party leaders say they're waiting to see if he can sustain his campaign without gop money. >> all right, dana.

thanks very, very much. watching some of the other top stories in t"the situation room right now. >> there is a lot going on here. mosquito spraying for the west nile virus taking on some urgency. officials are saying this is the biggest west nile outbreak in history. >> let's take a look at this. last week the cdc reported that there were 26 deaths and this week that number has gon to 41. again, a bg jump i o week anen lo atillnesses, we have gone from 693 in this country to 1,118. most states are reporting some west nile activity, but they really focus on these five states, 75% of the cases are in

oklahoma, mississippi, south dakota and louisiana and texas. >> peop a state of emergency is declared in california where two major wildfires have burned more than 80,000 acres. the move headed up by jerry brown, at least 50 buildings are being destroyed, hundreds are threatened and at least 50 thourk a,000 are being forced to evacuate. this video is shot inside a california slaughterhouse. sandra, what do we know about this? >> we know that this slaughterhouse was cited for

inhumane treatment of animals. cattle shot with a bolt gun, one even suffocated. this video shows what the government says is inhumane treatment of animals at hanford meat. an animal rights activist from the group compassionate overkilling shot the video. now the department offing a sure has shut down the slaughterhouse, and the popular in-n-out burger change served ties with the company after the video surfaced saying it would never condone animal cruelty. central valley meat says the allegations are shocking and disturbing since federal officials continue wally monitor the plant. >> these are clear cases of animal abuse and improper animal welfare, improper animal handling. it just raises questions about what's going on in that plant and how they were treating those animals. >> the video also shows what

looks like sick cattle, being poerked, forced to stand up. it makes you wonder is the meat you buy at your local grocery store safe to eat? the usda said while some of the footage provided shows unacceptable treatment of cattle, there is not anything that violates safety standards. we are aggressively continuing to investigate the allegations. now the usda had purchased hundreds of pounds of meats for school lunches. >> that is definitely disturbing video to watch, thank you. >> we're watching a tell all book about the death of the word's most wanted terrorists is due out next month.

it's calmed no easy day. the first -- publisher durks utton. a u.s. defense official tells our barbara starr that the u.s. official command did not know about the book. but they are looking to get their hands on a copy. >> i wonder if that navy s.e.a.l. signed a document that anything he would write after retirement would need to be reviewed. >> i promise you barbara's digging on that one. the obama campaign is hammering mitt romney and paul ryan with some serious charges with a new campaign ad about education. and the worst-case scenario is

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the most highly recommended bed in america. [ female announcer ] for more information or to find a retailer near you, visit tempurpedic.com. the obama campaign is launching a new attack against mitt romney and paul ryan. the republican ticket wants to slash education funding and increase class size. is any of thistrue? we asked tom foreman to do a fact check on this. what's the truth as far as this new ad is concerned. >> the truth is that president obama resonates with a lot of people. he has talked about it a lot. he sees what he thinks is an opportunity. class size and what it mns to ho kidsearn has been long and hotly contested issue, president obama and many

educators clearly believe smalleres with fewer students per teacher is the way too go. so the obama campaign is trying to -- >> mitt romney says class sizes don't matter and he suppos paul ryan's budget. >> reporter: but lets dig into that lesson plan. did romney really say class size don matter? no. >>f you a class of five, that would be -- >> reporter: sometimes schools with small classes fail. sometimes schools with big classes succeed. therefore he says class size should not be given excessive weight when we consider how to make our schools bigger. the president's education commission would not agree, or

would they? arnie duncan says sure, class size may matter up to third gre grade. >> but at the secondary level, classes may be -- in fact teachers in asia sometimes request larger class sizes because they think a broad distribution of skill levels can actually help accelerate student learning across the board. >> reporter: as for ryan's plan to cut education funding, the truth is while education might suffer under a ryan budget, how much is not clear. if you look at everything the president has said on education these past three years, it's not that different than mitt romney is saying right now. we were attempting to give this ad an f for false. but it's really the way they use the information, so we're giving

it an m for misleading. >> we see it in other ads, pro obama ads as well. romney walking off the plane, with a donald trump airplane in the background. that was a real picture. that was not photo shopped. >> it was a real picture, and they love this in the obama campaign. because this is interesting to have the context of this. this picture was taken out in vegas in the spring, he was there for a fund-raiser that involved donald trump, the trump jet just happened to be in the background. he didn't come there on it, he didn't leave on it. th the obama fits their idea of look, this is a fat cat who's hanging out on his jet more than you going to work to make a

living and coming home to fuel the dog. >> not a complete accident, but it wasn't like he was hanging out with donald trump and going golfing in arizona or something. >> the message is that he's really rich and out of touch. so a loflty goal for the romney campaign. aiming for 36% of the latino vote. can they do it and how? also coming up next, the curiosity rover starts roving. details on it's first drive on mars. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air -

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. john lennon's killer is -- lennon was gunned down outside his manhattan apartment in december 1980. no word on whether the board will hand down it's decision, but many will be watching it. 49% of food in the u.s. is never eaten. this is according to to a report by the national defense council, that estimates to $165 billion each year in waste. a day for the mars rover curiosity. >> nasa releasing one very cool

picture today, kind of like the rover getting it's learners permit on marijuas. you're looking at the rove that moved about 20 feet in all, and during that 20-foot move, you could actually see in the image that they st back from space, you can see the image of the rover and the tracks it left behind as it moved to where it is currently sitting now. >> and an extraordinary moment for a major league umpire who has not always been embraced bity fans. according to mlb fans, royce is -- wrong call two years ago at a game between the detroit tigers and the cleveland indians. it cost armando galrag go no game. >> hps he?

>> i don'tenant to repeat the wos that he said. democrats meanwhile announce the details of their convention speaker lineup, spending a clear message on which voters they're targeting, details on some prominent roles for women, that's coming up. with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-nartipill a day, ry, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for childr under 1 oe taking maois thioridazine or with ntrollucoma shou not take cymbalta. ç oeaking it with nsaid paineliespirvers, an, or blood thinners mncrease bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. s e dominal pain lowikin or eye s e dominal pain tell your doctor about all your medicines, including thosfor migraine

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also republicans prepare for a worst-case scenario, what if their convention is hit by a hurricane? plus a royal scandal, prince harry caught on camera nude in las vegas. what it could mean for his future. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." but first the first lady of the united states, michelle obama, she just wrapped up a pretty rousing speech in ft. lauderdale, florida today. listen to this. >> make no mistake about it, this november, we get to decide. are we going to watch these reforms be repealed? or are we going to work for insurance for the people that we love and we care about? what are we going to do? but that's the choice we face. >> all right, let's get some

more on the race for the white house. joining me mali, i assume the w vote first and foremost. >> interesting to watch, she has grown into this role, she was not such a polished campaigner back in 2008. four she is viewed 100% inside the team obama camp would. dispute this. see that group behind her? lots of high level women. in 2010, republicans ran in it. running out and embracing it they think helps very much. >> this was an all out campaign speech, it wasn't just meeting with kidsandalkingbout

fo >> think i heardome amens in that crowd. she's going to be on david letterman during the republican national convention, she's hosting the ivillage site, there's video of her there with her shoes off, kicked up on the couch, she's talking like america's best friend. that's what they're trying to do, they're trying to present herr as sort of the first lady next door. i mean she's a huge asset, not only in terms of fund raising, but rousing debates. >> but you also think that she has very high approval ratings, does she threaten that high approval rating if she's out there campaigning too much? >> their calculation going into 2010, for instance, some people wanted her out there, but their calculations were let's sit on these high approval ratings and

then in 2012, we can have the first lady out there, risking her approval ratings, but certainly having her at the top of the ticket for president obama. >> twe have learn -- lily led better is on a signature piece of legislation that the president signed earlier in his term. but we say that the female vote is very important. but the president is doing very well with women at the moment. >> you want to pay tribute to your best supporters. you reward people who have been good to you at the convention. a very are choice, very pro-abortion rights, pro womens rights. most americans watching the conventions won't see these speeches, what does it help with? the local blogosphere.

find them, get their e-mail addresses, their phone number and turn them out. >> the president doesn't have the enthusiasm in 2012 that he had in 2008. >> everyone is thinking this is going to be a base eelectation, it's going to be all about turnout. and president obama is the keeper of the flame for 2008. she's the one that can keep her out there and really remind people that the campaign is very much about a movement. that's why you see her out there in a very rousing way. >> i want to alert people to the hispanic vote. virginia, colorado, and nevada. one of the coe chairman for the romney committee says our goal is to do better than four years ago and the mccain campaign did. our goal is to do 38% on the hispanic vote.

is that reasonable? >> in a word, no. the president's getting 63%, and romney's getting 28%. the math is kind of simple here when you look at it. if governor romney -- if things stay the same as in 2008, with african-american voting, latino voting. if college educated women don't budge, under that scenario ghov for romney has to keep president obama with about 30% of the white vote. and president obama is doing a little bit better than that. if governor romney wants to adjust that math, he can get higher than the latino vote. if you talk to people in the latino community, we'll say why isn't he doing more, why isn't he trying more? and marco rubio, yes a few others, but they think there should be more. >> also when you look at the

polls, how the president's doing, how they're both doing in the economy. the president still has a very high approval rating on that and how he's handling the economy. but look at the unemployment rate on hispanics, it's a 10.3%. african-american latino unemployment. two of the president's most loyal constituencies, he would introduce -- he recently did the dream act for executive powers. but when you talk to latinos, they'll say we're mad at him, but we have a dialogue with him. >> if you look admit romney, he doesn't have a history with latinos in the way that mccain did, and that president bush did. you wonder, you talk to latino voters as well and they do think there hasn't been a lot of reaching out even among latino

republicans. also remember, that mitt romney was very critical of the sonya sotomayor. they do have disagreements with this president and some disappointment. but they do have things to point to and they just don't with mitt romney. >> thanks very much for coming n will you come back? >> yes, absolutely. >> john, will you come back? >> maybe. >> thanks very, very much. we're also counting down to the republican national convention, starting monday night, 7:00 p.m. eastern, i'll be in tampa wrapping up our coverage, with our expert political analysts, coverages you won't find anywhere else right here on cnn. also speak at the convention, we'll have the latest forecast, which is now in for tropical isaac, it's already slashing the

caribbean, but expected to become a hurricane. that's raising big concerns at the site of the republican convention in tampa, we're about to show you why. this happy couple used capital one venture miles for their "destination wedding." double miles you can "actually" use. but with those single mile travel cards... [ bridesmaid ] blacked out... but i'm a bridesmaid. oh! "x" marks the spot she'll never sit. but i bought a dress! a toast... ...to the capital one venture card. fly any airline, any flight, anytime. double miles you can actually use. what a coincidence? what's in your wallet? [ all screaming ]

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jts an intelligence bulletin lists a possibility of violence at the republican convention. the fbi has intelligence about plans to try to close bridges in the tampa bay area during next week's republican convention. the fbi usually releases bulletins to warn local law enforcement of possible concerns. warnings are up in most of the caribbean as isaacer turns

westward. forecasters show it could be a hurricane as soon as tonight. a hurricane there could certainly bring major flooding and that's causing major safety concerns, let's bring in brian todd, here in the situation room looking at the possibilities. it's not pretty. >> this could be the second consecutive gop convention compromised by a big storm. the last night of the republican c convention was tossed out. this time the storm could hilt right where the convention is being here and it was illustrated recently that tampa is vulnerable to severe storm damage. >> bay shore boulevard, a main drag under water. this was n hurricane, but tropical storm debby, which delivered significant flooding to downtown tampa, just a few

blocks from the tampa bay times forum where the republican national convention will be held. if tropical storm isaac turns into a hurricane as projected, tampa could find itself in the crosshairs in the coming days. >> with the storm coming our way, with a hurricane category 1, anywhere from three to six feet of flooding could hit this area. >> that city is right at sea level in some places, just above it in others. >> a worst-case scario f tampa, that a strorrican around catery 3gths ashore right around jure north of mpa. becaus hurricanes churn in a counter clockwise motion in the northern hemisphere, that could drive water from the gulf of mexico, up tampa, flood this area noear tampa and then flood with this way, making st. petersberg into an island.

>> but that has. n't happened in more than 80 years. isaac's not projected to be that strong and may not even hit tampa, but if it does, lamar says, storm surge is the number one killer. >> a lot of people live and work right around the water, so they need to make sure they get out in time before the hurricane comes airway. >> tampa officials insist they are already with solid evacuation routes for people who already live there. but the challenge next week is going to be the 50,000 or so added people inhe downtow mpa area a >> do they have extra plans for evacuation if it's necessary? we hope that doesn't happen, obviously. >> i spoke to the tampa mayor earlier, they had to go through

all of that when they bid for the convention, but they don't know what they're going to do with the extra people. they don't know if they will have your shelter in place or what they're going to do. >> all right the youngest member of the gop platform committee is speaking out about the party's controversial abortion stance and she's going out front with erin burnett. tell our viewers what's going on. >> it's pretty amazing, she was 22 years old. stood up in front of the more than 100 members of the republican committee yesterday was the only person who mentioned todd akin and brought up the party's position on abortion. but it's not just that, she's talking about a generational divide and what the republican party is going to become, a fascinating voice, we're going to hear from her, plus michelle

obama will be going tomorrow to oak creek, wisconsin to visit with families whose loved ones died in the sikh shooting. we're going to be joined by a member of that family and of course we have the big and wonderful news to report on that shooting tonight which is that the heroic police officer who took all of those bullets was released from the hospital just a couple of hours ago, wolf. back to you. >> thanks erin, you're going to be hanging out in tampa next week, let's hope that hurricane stays far, far away. >> maybe we should stop talking about it, maybe that would be a better omen. >> maybe you're right. >> we will not be able to stop talking about it, that's for sure. some racy photos of prince harry surfacing from a trip to las

vegas.

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prince harry right now at the center of a royal uproar sparked by nude photos of him at what appears to be a wild las vegas party. and it's just the latest in a series of controversies involving the third in line to the throne. let's bring in our own piers morgan who knows a lot about this subject. the reaction from the royal family, what's going on over there, piers? i know you've been -- >> which subject do you think i'm an expert in? >> you're british, you must know a lot about the royal family. i'm an expert on the american families, if you will. >> well, i think, look, this is classic prince harry. he's a bit of a naughty boy.

third in line to the throne, unlikely to be king in our lifetime, unless there's a catastrophe. look, i tried to get worked up about this. but the only sense of fury and indignation i managed to arose in myself was not getting an invitation to what looked like one of the great parties in vegas history. he's 27 years old. he's a happily sing man. he's in the british army. he's a very brave officer. he's been in the battlefields of afghanistan. he's on leave. he's gone to vegas. and vegas is not renown for its piano recitals or its poetry readings. when in vegas, you behave like most people do. and the only tragedy for him is one of his friends in the hotel room has stolen a few pictures. the secondary issue, i guess, is whether the media should run the pictures.

the interesting thing about this is everyone in america is running them, including cnn. but the british newspapers tonight are not running them. and that is a direct consequence of the hacking scandal and the big inquiry into press standards in britain. and you're really seeing the shackling of the british media in a way that i find quite extraordinary. the idea that cnn would run these pictures and "the sun" newspaper in britain feels it can't is an interesting development. >> do you think there's not going to be any fallout from this? we say how big is the fallout going to be when prince harry's shown up in the tabloids over the years? what's your sense on that? >> i think the reality is, his grandmother will have a quiet word in his ear, i'm sure, because the queen will think this is a bit unseemly for a member of the royal family. certainly the army will take a pretty dim view of the embarrassment factor of this for

his regiment. that would be expected. but, again, this has only happened because he's prince harry. a lot of people go to vegas and do silly things. he was apparently playing a game of strip billiards. that's news to me. i suspect it's not news to wolf blitzer. but it's certainly not a sport that i've ever partaken in. >> i've heard of strip poker. first time i heard of strip billiards. >> very dangerous conversation here. >> we do know he's very bad at it because he's stark naked. clearly one of the worst players of strip billiards. >> i spoke earlier with richard quest. and he told me the british tabloids aren't even showing this picture. >> that's the extraordinary thing i was saying. the papers tonight have come out -- i just had word back from britain. at least 90% of them aren't running it because they feel that they've been kowtowed by the inquiry into press standards. you have this unique situation that certainly i can remember as a former british tabloid editor

where the tabloids in britain are not running this extraordinary set of pictures. but very respectable news organizations like cnn and others are all running them here and indeed internationally, including britain. it's a bit of a farce. >> goes to show you what happens in vegas doesn't always just stay in vegas. piers, we'll see you at 9:00 p.m. eastern later tonight. "piers morgan tonight," i'm sure you have a terrific show. we'll be watching. thank you. >> thanks, wolf. nice to talk to you. coming up, bad dogs. find a new home and a huge dienn the internet. cnn's jeanne moos p ne. and zoom... in your car. intducihe all-new cadillac xts with e. ♪ don't worry. we haven't forgotten, you still like things to push. [ engine revs ]

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here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> reporter: humans aren't so appealing when they get shamed for bad behavior. but when a dog confesses, i did meat in the couch, there's no hiding the cute factor. here at the blog dog shaming, doggy sins ranging from sex, i hump every stuffed toy i find, to gluttony are celebrated. i eat the trash, the grosser the cuter, i ate baby poop. owners pose their pets behind shaming signs, often with evidence included in the photo. sometimes they send a tag team of transgres sosors. i hate a herman melville novel. there are even murder confession. we killed a mockingbird. sure, some say, ah, poor dogs and complain of dogploitation.

>> look at that little thing. >> reporter: dog owners and dog walkers had their share of shame-worthy stories. take this dog, he has a habit of jumping into dirty fountains. she had to drag him out. barking is a particular dog shaming topic. i bark at doorbells on tv but we've never had a doorbell. i have beautiful eyes and i bark at any stranger who looks into them. on of the most common misbehaviors seems to be eating underwear. i am an underwear eating jerk accompanied by the briefs to prue it. it's drinking that gets this dog in trouble at the toilet. >> she pries the seat up. they tring from the toilet