focus on our own failings. we also are committed to helping to build greater awareness of the societal issue of child abuse. >> cnn's susan candiotti is joining us now. louis freeh led this study. it was very, very bitter and damming. >> reporter: it was, wolf. right out of the gate, louis freeh made it clear that children were victimized because four top penn state officials did nothing to stop jerry sandusky. and named names including a man's name synonymous with penn state university, the late coach joe paterno. from the moment jerry sandusky was marched before the public branded a predatory pedophile, a troubling question lingered, what did those at penn state university do to stop him? now the public has an answer.

>> our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of sandusky's child victims by the most senior leaders at penn state. >> reporter: louis freeh, hired by the university to investigate its role in the jerry sandusky scandal delivered a scathing 267-page report. 430 interviews, 3.5 million pieces of evidence adding up to one major finding about what they did with evidence of child rape. >> the most powerful people in penn state university made a decision to conceal this information. >> reporter: the powerful people named are former president graham spanier, former vice president gary schultz, former athletic director tim curley, and the man that made penn state a national football giant, former head coach, joe paterno. the report suggesting they engaged in a cover-up exchanging

damming e-mails first revealed by cnn. the four men never demonstrated through actions or words any concern for the safety and well being of sandusky's victims until after sandusky's arrest, freeh wrote. the board of trustees issued this statement. we expect a comprehensive analysis of our policies, procedures and controls related to identifying and reporting crimes and misconduct. the report stating a top four penn state leaders knew all about 1998 allegations sandusky abused boys in the shower. but feared opening a "pandora's box of victims" freeh said sandusky's 1999 retirement was not connected to the allegations. he continued to abuse children and had access to the university until his arrest. >> they were worried about sandusky showering with a boy because of bad publicity. >> reporter: janitors who witnessed "horrific abuse" feared reporting it. >> if that's the culture on the

bottom -- top. >> reporter: when graduate coach mike mcqueary did report it, officials kept quiet. in a statement joe paterno's family said, he is still the only leader to step forward and say that with the benefit of hindsight, he wished he had done more. to think however that he would have protected jerry sandusky to avoid bad publicity is simply not realistic. however, freeh's report disagreed stating that those four top penn state officials were more worried about bad publicity for penn state than having empathy for child abuse victims. and, wolf, it appears as though the fallout from this scandal is growing because several attorneys representing victims in this case were at today's press conference with louis freeh and said they are gaining even more ammunition for their expected lawsuits. wolf. >> i'm sure there will be a lot of lawsuits. the question is will there be

any criminal charges filed against any of these high-ranking penn state university officials for allegedly covering up what they saw? >> reporter: well, remember two of them are already charged, curley and schultz, vice president and former athletic director are charged with lying to a grand jury and failing to report child abuse. graham spanier, the former president, has not been charged. it is possible certainly this is in the hands of state prosecutors here in pennsylvania as a part of their ongoing criminal investigation. they didn't originally have these e-mails until just a few months ago when louis freeh's group turned them over to authorities. >> susan, thanks so much. this note during our new 6:00 p.m. eastern hour of "the situation room," we'll get reaction from the campus, jason carol is talking to students, faculty and others. now to presidential politics. both the romney and obama campaign say their opponent is a liar.

team romney makes the accusation in a new campaign ad. and the obama campaign's pouncing on a new report that raises serious questions about exactly when mitt romney left his job at bain capital management. cnn national political correspondent jim acosta has a look at the accusations. these are getting nasty. they're getting ugly. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. the romney campaign is sticking to its claim that the gop contender left his former private investment firm, bain capital, in 1999. but democrats are pointing to government documents that appear to show otherwise. >> what a day. >> reporter: mitt romney has said repeatedly he left his private investment firm, bain capital, in 1999. >> i left that business in 1999 to help with the salt lake city olympics back on track. >> reporter: but this bain capital filing at the securities and exchange commission first reported by talking points memo in "the boston globe" and obtained by cnn shows romney as

the coo and president two years after the gop contender says he left the firm. the obama campaign pounced on the document as proof romney has misled the public about his career. >> either mitt romney through his own words and his own signature was misrepresenting his position at bain to the s.e.c., which is a felony, or he was misrepresenting his position at bain to the american people. >> reporter: the obama campaign says the s.e.c. documents are crucial because they prove their attack ads are accurate in claiming romney was at bain when the firm was advising companies on outsourcing. >> show mitt romney's firms were pioneers at helping companies outsource manufacturing. >> reporter: in its own spot the romney campaign insists the obama ad is a lie because the republican candidate had left bain before the outsourcing work began. democrats say it's romney who's lying pointing to the massachusetts financial

disclosure form from his time as governor saying he made more than $100,000 in 2001 from bain. roberta says the government documents raise serious questions. >> either the statements in the s.e.c. filings are untrue and as a former s.e.c. commissioner, i regard that as a serious problem. or they're true but he wasn't really on the job. >> reporter: but in a statement to cnn, a romney campaign official said s.e.c. regulations are complicated and do not square with common sense in this case. although governor romney was not involved with bain capital after he left to head the winter olympics in 1999, he was still listed on some technical filings. this is nothing more than a quirk in the law. a bain capital executive also a democrat said romney's name remained on documents due to his sudden departure from the firm, adding mitt romney left bain capital in february 19990 run

the olympics and has had absolutely no involvement with the management or investment activities with the firm or any of its portfolio companies since the day of his departure. and the romney campaign is also pointing to a report from factcheck.org which recently described that obama outsourcing ad as misleading, factcheck.org says today it is sticking to that assessment of the obama outsourcing ad. wolf, i want to share with you a document we just obtained from a democratic official in the last hour. it is a document filed by bain capital with the massachusetts secretary of state's office in the year 2001. it was signed and filed with that office in 2001. the document shows mitt romney listed as the president of bain capital. wolf. >> but the company bain capital and the romney caaign says that was just a technicality, a quirk in the law i think was the exact quote coming from the campaign. >> reporter: that's right. >> they have a little more

explaining to do i assume. >> reporter: that's right. i did ask the romney campaign for a statement about this new document which we just obtained. i haven't gotten that response back from the romney campaign. but what they've said all day long, wolf, is that, yes, his name does appear on some of these government documents, but that does not prove that he was doing anything more than having his name officially still with the company. they claim and they've been claiming all day long, wolf, they're not backing away from it, that mitt romney left this company in 1999 to run the olympics. and that's all they're saying about that point at this point, wolf. >> are they saying he did earn $100,000 a year in 2000, 2001 salaries in both of those years? >> reporter: they have not explained why that massachusetts financial disclosure form shows he was still earning some kind of large income from bain capital. and when i talked to that woman with the s.e.c. roberta karmel,

she explained to me there are some serious questions being raised here, wolf, because if an s.e.c. form shows mitt romney as the president of bain capital in 2001, that is a form that investors look at, that firms look at, that outsiders look at to see who's in charge over at bain capital. and so if people inside bain capital knew that mitt romney was not leading that company at that time, was not involved in running that company at that time, that information according to this s.e.c. commissioner might not have been widely known to the rest of the world. and so she said they do have more explaining to do. >> yeah. all right. good. we'll stay on top of this. thanks so much, jim acosta. meanwhile, the booing turned to rousing cheers over the naacp convention in houston. the vice president, joe biden, he gave a speech jabbing mitt romney on health care reform, on a lot of other issues opening a new line of attack on voting rights as well. white house correspondent brianna keilar has the story. >> reporter: president obama appeared at the naacp convention

in houston, but not in person. >> if you keep standing with me, if you keep persevering like the naacp always has, then i know we can arrive there together. >> reporter: it was vice president biden who showed up to slam mitt romney. he talked about romney's support for voter id laws that biden described as counter to the group's vowing principles. >> it was about the right to vote. because when you have the right to vote, you have the right to change things. they see a different future. voting is made harder not easier. >> reporter: the obama campaign cited a scheduling conflict for the president's absence though there were no public events on his schedule. in the afternoon, president and mrs. obama sat down for an interview with cbs news. but the white house wouldn't say that was the reason for the no-show. >> he has meetings all the time.

i don't know who his presidential daily briefing -- >> reporter: the campaign suggested this was a snub. michelle obama's speech there in 2010. present or not, the president and vice president remain popular with this crowd. mitt romney, not so much. as proven by the response he got wednesday during his speech where he outlined how he would cut government spending. >> so to do that i'm going to eliminate every nonessential expensive program i can find. that includes obama care. and i'm going to work to reform and save -- >> reporter: now, wolf, biden was booed as well, but only when he mentioned he was wrapping up his speech. you better believe that the obama campaign is pointing that out. >> he got a rousing reception today, the vice president at the naacp. our producer, reporter, shannon travis does tell me that as recently as a week ago top officials of the naacp thought there was a good chance the

president himself would attend this convention in houston. he decided in the end not to go. to send a video and joe biden instead. more on this story later this hour. also in our new 6:00 p.m. eastern hour as well. the obama campaign blames a scheduling conflict, but lots of people aren't satisfied with the obama campaign's excuse for why the president skipped the naacp convention. we're also hearing demands for a fuller explanation of what's wrong with congressman jesse jackson jr. he's dropped from sight. his staff says it's for treatment of what they call mood disorder. and hackers claim they just posted the names and logins of half a million yahoo! users. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge.

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right now. he's got the cafferty file. jack. >> thanks, wolf. see what this quote reminds you of. this is not a football scandal and should not be treated as one. it's not an academic scandal and does not in any way tarnish the hard-earned well-deserved reputation of penn state university. in this case the voice belonged to the late, once great, joe paterno, who wrote that letter shortly before he died. paterno achieved legendary status at the coach of the penn state football team. yet he was busy just like everyone else on that campus turning a blind eye to the pedophile on his staff who had been given carte blanche by mr. paterno and the administration at the university to prey on young boys. a newly released scathing investigation by former fbi director louis freeh says everybody knew about jerry sandusky for 14 years and did nothing. kids were raped. kids' lives were ruined.

and these hollier than now football coaches and school administrators turned a blind eye rather than jeopardize one of the most successful college programs ever. the money and prestige of the football program were more important to joe paterno and his bosses than the ruined lives of young children who were molested, sodomized, raped and otherwise abused by jerry sandusky, who was a high-ranking member of that e louse trous football program. had joe paterno lived, he should have gone to prison with jerry sandusky. in the end, joe paterno lived in denial. here's the question, how wrong was the late joe paterno when he said the sandusky scandal didn't tarnish penn state? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on our blog or go to our post on the "the situation room" facebook page. i will venture a guess that that school will never recover from this. >> yeah. it's sickening.

it's so painful to a lot of us. a couple years ago i gave the commencement address at penn state university, got an honorary degree, i met some of those high ranking administration officials over at penn state university. it's just so shocking, so hurtful to see what was covered up for so many years when i heard louis freeh talk about it today. it just made me sick to think about. >> turns your stomach. >> oh, yeah. awful. jack, thanks. we'll get a lot of reaction to that. back to politics right now. former massachusetts governor mitt romney is now the target of new accusations stemming from his association with bain capital. at issue are when he left the firm and how he documented it with the securities and exchange commission. joining us former deputy white house communications director under president obama. she is now his campaign press secretary. she's joining us in "the situation room." serious, ugly, nasty accusations being hurled by both campaigns. stephanie cut tar, the deputy campaign manager working for the

obama campaign on a conference call today said this. >> either mitt romney through his own words and his own signature was misrepresenting his position at bain to the s.e.c., which is a felony, or he was misrepresenting his position at bain to the american people to avoid responsibility for some of the consequences of his investments. >> that generated this reaction from the romney campaign manager. i'll put it up on the screen. president obama's campaign hit a new low today when one of his senior advisors made a reckless and unsubstantiated charge that calls into the integrity of the entire campaign. he ought to apologize for the out of control behavior of his staff. campaigns are supposed to be hard-fought. but statements like those made by stephanie cut tar belittle

the process and candidate on behalf she works. you're speaking for the obama campaign right now ready to apologize for those words. >> i think that statement is traditional distraction politics by the romney campaign. this wasn't a random person at a dunkin donuts making accusations about mitt romney and how long he was at bain. these are official s.e.c. government documents. what stephanie cutter was saying on the call today was you have one choice here. you can't have both. either the information is inaccurate in these documents, and he was misleading in terms of how long he was at bain. or he's been misleading the american public. it doesn't take us -- >> there's a third choice which is what they say and what baib executives say. there was a quirk in the law. he left in 1999 to go run the winter olympics in salt lake. severed his ties. but a quirk in the law put his name on those s.e.c. documents even though he had no involvement whatsoever in the firm. that's a possibility. >> well, wolf, the documents listed him as being the ceo of the company.

i think it's hard for most people to believe that he wasn't involved in the decision making during that period of time. >> the guy at bain capital who is a democrat says he has no -- just complications in the s.e.c. filing. why would stephanie cutter jump to this felony accusation. no one suggested mitt romney ever did anything criminally wrong. >> by no means, wolf, i think what she was saying was if he did mislead, which we don't know, the problem with mitt romney is unanswered questions. >> before you make an accusation, shopt there be more investigation when you start raidsing the possibility in her words felony, that's a serious accusation. >> this is a case that's very much in mitt romney's camp. they can release more documents, they can release tax returns, they can share with the american people where his investments are and what it's all about and get the questions answered. it's as simple as that. >> you have a new ad, the romney

campaign has a new ad. i'll play a clip of the ad they have about the obama campaign. i want to get your reaction. >> i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. >> when a president doesn't tell the truth, how can we trust him to lead? the obama outsourcing attacks, misleading, unfair and untrue. there was no evidence that mitt romney shipped jobs overseas. candidate obama lied about hillary clinton. >> so shame on you, barack obama. >> but america expects more from a president. obama's dishonest campaign, another reason america has lost confidence in barack obama. >> that's a pretty -- ad accusing the president of the united states of lying. what's your reaction? >> it's a political campaign. mitt romney has an abysmal record on outsourcing. he profited when he was at bain from companies that did

outsource. and he supports tax credits today for companies that ship jobs overseas. that's pretty clear. we know they're going to try to cloud the record here because it's a political campaign. when it comes down toyota, the american people are pretty smart. >> a lot of the fact checkers said that all that outsourcing at bain capital was done after he left bain capital to go run the elections. >> well, we don't know when he left, do we, wolf? so there's a question there. there's no question that companies that he did benefit from financially did outsource. but he also supported it as governor and he supports tax credits now. so the records just don't line up. >> should the president have gone to the naacp convention and shown his respect for the nation's oldest civil rights organization? >> look, the president has nothing but absolute respect for the naacp. everything they represent in their history. and they've been incredible supporters of him and his agenda. he sent the vice president, who did a pretty fantastic job today and was only booed at the end when he was ending. they were ready for more. i know he wishes he could go to

every event he was invited to. unfortunately he can't. but he was there in 2009. i would bet he'll be back again. >> three years in a row he didn't go. >> that's true. i bet he'll be back again. he supports the naacp. he wishes he could go to everything he is invited to but he just can't. >> i think he missed the opportunity. but i said that yesterday. jen, thanks for coming. >> thanks, wolf. my pleasure. new numbers on jobless claims have experts sitting uptaking note. fewer first-time filers last week. has the jobless picture turned or was it just because the 4th. washington, d.c. mayor under fire and under the microscope into suspicious 2010 campaign funds. producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems.

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lisa sylvester's joining us. she's got some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. >> hi, wolf. united airline has cut a deal with boeing to build 150 737s for its fleet over the next ten years. united did not disclose the value of the order, but at list price the planes are worth $14.7 billion. boeing is sole supplier under the deal giving the aircraft

manufacturer a leg up against its main competitor, air bus. and u.s. jobless claims by first-time filers have taken a surprisingly steep dip. the bureau of labor statistic show down 26,000 from the previous week. the number is the lowest since march of 2008. fourth of july and fewer planned auto factory layoffs may have skewed the figures. and yahoo! hacked. and the ones who did it are boasting about it online. yahoo! confirms yahoo! voice, part of its new service, was breached and the user names and pass words of about 450,000 people were filched. the hackers dumped the documents to a web page where they posted the note that the action was not a threat but a wakeup call to yahoo!. wolf. >> all right. you've got to be careful with all those hackers out there. thanks. lisa, stick around. i want you to see our hot shot we're showing right now bringing out this hour's hot shot. something all of us here in "the

situation room" have been anxiously awaiting. it's our first look at violate sterling, the brand new daughter of our senior producer vaughn sterling and his lovely wife robin. violet was born at 11:00 p.m. eastern last night right here in washington. we're told her middle name is a work in progress. there she is. violet sterling. congratulations to the entire family. >> gorgeous. gorgeous. i can hear a lot of the ohhhs and ahhhs behind me as everybody reacts to those pictures. absolutely beautiful. congratulations to them. >> we all love violet. >> absolutely love the name violet, wolf. >> thanks, lisa. thanks very much. congratulations to vaughn and robin. congressman jesse jackson jr. has dropped out of sight and being treated for a so-called mood disorder. does he owe us a better explanation. and former vice president dick cheney's way of helping mitt romney. really help my headache, i don't think. aspirin is just old school.

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a relatively long-term presence on capitol hill is con speck would you sayly out of sight lately. representative jesse jackson jr.'s office says he's being treated for what's being called a mood disorder. cnn's ted rowlands tells us this coincides with an investigation into ethics allegations dating back to 2008. >> hr 1. >> reporter: jesse jackson jr. is serving his ninth term in the u.s. house of representatives.

his journey into politics started when he was just a kid going to military school and watching his famous father in the spotlight. >> look, i have raised the young man. i know jesse jr. i grew up with his dad, with his whole family. i know them all. and it's a great family. he's done a great service. >> reporter: jackson jr. won his first congressional election at age 30 going against the advice of his father who thought he was too young. in 2005 jackson lost more than 50 pounds after undergoing gastric bypass surgery. over the years jackson has enjoyed landslide re-election victories and developed a reputation for being a deal maker without the heavy-handed racially dividing tactics some associate with his father. but like his father, jesse jackson jr. is comfortable in front of a microphone, which he showed at the 2008 democratic convention in denver. >> so it was at lexington and

concord, so it was at ap mattics, so it was in selma, alabama. tonight i would add and so it shall be in denver, colorado, with the nomination of barack obama to be president of the united states of america. [ inaudible question ] >> reporter: jackson jr. was investigated by the office of congressional ethics after a fundraiser said he was linked to a scheme to raise money for illinois governor rob blagojevich. jackson was never charged in the case and maintains he has done nothing wrong. while his health situation is unclear, his popularity in his district is not. jackson will likely be able to keep his job if he wants it. >> if he wants to run, they'll back him. will he win? yes. does he have problems?

i would think so. >> reporter: and, wolf, i talked to a senior level staffer this afternoon who has been in contact with congressman jackson. he told me that he believes the treatment that he's currently receiving will last at least another week or two. and not to expect any information about his medical condition or his future until that treatment is over. >> ted rowlands watching the story for us in chicago. thank you, ted. let's bring in our strategy session. right now joining us cnn political contributor, democratic specialist donna brazile. donna, do his constituents deserve more information about what's wrong right now rather than just a statement saying he's got some sort of mood disorder? >> wolf, i believe in due time and due course his constituents will be informed of what is jesse jr.'s condition. look, i've known congressman jackson -- i call him jr., i

call him jesse jr. i've known him all of my adult life. i've known him practically all of his adult life. he's a great man, wonderful public servant, hard working individual, very smart, very tentative, i know when he recovers from this ailment, he will not only inform his constituents, but i know his office is working very hard right now to maintain rapport with those constituents whether they're calling for assistance or just calling for information. so right now the focus is on his recovery. his health is a private matter clearly. but my thoughts and prayers are with his family. >> what do you think, erick? >> wolf, i think it doesn't really matter. there's a lot of media speculation about what's going on. there have been rumors and misrumors and all sorts of reports but his constituents would re-elect him as regardless. i don't think they're concerned as much as the media's concerned. until then, prayers with him and his family. >> let's change to mitt romney

and the presidential campaign for a moment. erick, while i have you, he's going to be a major fundraiser in jackson hole, wyoming with former president dick cheney, the huge super pac billionaire raised about $2 billion or so for that super pac supporting rick santorum is going to be there among others. what role would you expect dick cheney to play assuming his health allows it and he seems to be making a nice recovery from the heart transplant in march, what role would you expect him to play in this campaign over the next four months? >> oh, god loving vice president, please. i'm sure he'll be talking about foreign policy with the romney camp if anything at all. i think this is a good show of support tying the party together for mitt romney. i'm sure donna will have something to say about it being dick cheney. but the republican base loves him. i wish he'd be president. >> i think it does energize a certain element to that republican base, donna, don't you think?

>> there's no question for all of the reasons that erick just stated. but look i think it also raises some questions in terms of, you know, mitt romney's position on so many issues that the american people are clearly opposed to. i mean, the iraq war, of course the bush foreign policy in general. so, look, i understand mitt romney got to raise money wherever he can and however he can, but you are the company you keep. and it's going to also raise some questions about mr. romney's own views on foreign policy. good luck raising money. i'm sure it's a nice time to visit that part of the country. >> listen to joe biden today at the naacp, erick. he really got that crowd going by saying this. >> just close your eyes and imagine, imagine what the romney justice department will look like. imagine when his senior advisor on issues is robert boric.

imagine who is likely to be picked as attorney general head of the civil rights division, or those other incredibly important positions in justice. >> erick, what do you think of those comments? >> robert boric? wow, he's living back in the 1980s. you know, the naacp by and large are not going to vote for mitt romney to begin with. this is playing to the base. mitt romney doesn't have the problems with blue collar white voters that barack obama does. but mitt romney has problems with black voters that barack obama doesn't. >> donna, he did get a great reception today, joe biden. >> wolf, this was like a sunday sermon. it was energetic, it was inspirational. and i have to tell you, there was a lot of truth that he said today. i enjoyed his speech. then again this was a reunion for vice president joe biden. he is beloved in the civil rights community because he's been a champion of equality all

of his life. and i think today seeing the vice president there, many people left there uplifted. and of course they're probably still talking about it this afternoon. >> i can only imagine if the president himself would have gone to that convention how he would have been received because the vice president was well-received. can only imagine how the president would have been received before that group. all right, guys. thanks very much for coming in. the international community is imposing a deadline on the syrian leader, bashar al-assad as the war reaches damascus, that's the capital. has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through.

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fighting in syria claimed at least 84 lives today. cnn's foreign affairs correspondent, jill dougherty, has learned pressure is mounting for the united nations to do something that makes a difference. >> reporter: right, wolf. on the ground where people are dying, the situation is rapidly deteriorating. and at the united nations where people are talking there's growing frustration over how to stop this killing. shelling hits the syrian capital of damascus for the first time, western allies at the united nations are setting a deadline

for the assad regime. a draft resolution that gives it ten days to silence its heavy weapons, stop attacking civilians with tanks and helicopters and withdraw its troops, or face strong economic and diplomatic sanctions. the threat is part of the so-called chapter 7 resolution that potentially could include authorizing military action. but the ink on that draft resolution was hardly dry when russia threatened to veto it. deputy foreign minister of telling russia's interfax news agency if they decide this knowing that for us the text is unacceptable, then we will not allow it to pass. traveling in cambodia, secretary of state hillary clinton nevertheless said she was encouraged that u.n. joined special envoy kofi annan is pushing for a resolution that has real consequences for noncompliance. >> our experience of the last year makes it absolutely clear

that the assad regime will not do anything without additional further pressure. >> reporter: but one syria expert says all these diplomatic efforts are too little, too late. >> i think president assad stepping aside as part of that process any time soon, the hopes for that are dim. that doesn't mean assad can't go through other ways. and i think that's going to be increasingly the debate going forward. how much do we put on diplomacy and some kind of ground up strategy. >> ground up strategy. of course that means so far there is no willingness at this point, wolf, for any type of military action. and there's no agreement among the members of the security council about whether assad has to step down as the u.s. and many other nations want. so bottom line, prospects right now for ending this killing very soon are very bleak. >> yeah. probably nil. the key words very soon.

jill dougherty, thanks very much. the scandal at penn state university has jack cafferty asking how wrong was coach joe paterno when he wrote the jerry sandusky scandal shouldn't damage the organization's athletic reputation. also, a destructive and deadly avalanche. we'll have the latest. i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80%

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a study in contrast. our chief political the host os "state of the union" candy crowley is joining us. it's almost like a tale of two parties.

24 hours earlier the same crowd disagreed with mitt romney. not guilty because he was leaving too soon, but because he wants to end obama care. >> i want to eliminate every nonessential expensive program i could find. that includes obama care. and i'm going to work to reform and save -- >> reporter: if romney's wednesday speech was a trip to unfriendly territory, joe biden's thursday appearance was like home week. >> hey, mouse, you out there? how you doing, man? >> reporter: the latest gallup poll show 87% african-americans support obama. down from 2008 but still solid and just as critical in swing states like north carolina, virginia and florida. still with black unemployment over 14% and some criticism that the president has not done everything he could for the community, the question is whether the enthusiasm that

drove turnout last time remains. joe biden's appearance was designed to make sure it does. it was a political revival meeting, the time and place to preach to the faithful. >> he saved the nation's financial system. in doing so he prevented a worldwide depression. it wasn't a popular decision, but it wasn't a central decision. and he was right. >> reporter: biden's high profile speech essentially his standard fair was aimed not just at the room but hope and change voters of '08 who may now be the unenthused or swing voters of 2012. he comes not just to praise president obama, but to bury mitt romney. >> romney and his allies see health care a different way. controlled by the insurance companies. where pregnancy's a pre-existing condition. where coverage can be taken away if you get sick or hit your limit. >> reporter: there was applause, but no full-throated wars for mitt romney. he too used the scene to send a message beyond the confines of

that ballroom. first, to unwrite the etch a sketch story line his message remains constant even in the face of opposition. and in the latest round of polls showing the votes of independents split down the middle, romney's willingness to show up at the naacp meeting was also to swing voters turned off by the party politics. >> i hope to represent all americans of every race, creed and sexual orientation. from the poorest to the richest and everyone in between. >> 24 hours apart, same group and wildly different reactions. still, you can't help but think both men got what they just expected but, wolf, exactly what they came for. >> do you think romney expected when he spoke about "obama care" he would be booed? >> i don't know whether they looked at that line and thought this will get boos. but they knew that this was not

going to be the warmest reception. they knew they were going to be followed by what would be a very warm reception whether it was president obama or whether it was mitt romney. so i think in the end they knew it wouldn't hurt them. that showing up -- what was that great line ronald reagan quoted all the time, showing up is 98% of life or something. they knew showing up -- and i was told talked to a romney advisor yesterday, there was never any question about whether he would go or not. >> he did the right thing absolutely. politically and morally as well if you will. >> yeah. it's good to see. i must say the other thing that sort of struck me while i was watching this unfold is that it also helps to go there and say i'm going to be the president of all the people. because if you do have folks going i'm really upset with president romney, he really didn't deliver and then you have, you know, a possible person who could replace him go i'm going to be president over all the people, that might just help in that column as well. >> i think it's respectful to

show respect for the nation's oldest civil rights organization. and showing up and half the battle right there if not 98%. >> 96 or whatever it was. >> whatever it was. thanks very much. the united states is putting new and additional sanctions on iran. the treasury department says 11 companies and four individuals are being barred from doing any business with u.s. firms and it publicly identified whether it called front companies involved in iran's oil trade. meanwhile, the pentagon is keeping an eagle eye on iran following recent threats including one to shut down one of the world's most vital oil shipping lanes. and as tension rises, so is the u.s. naval presence in the region. cnn's pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, is following developments and joining us now. what's the latest, barbara. >> reporter: wolf, the pentagon has been beefing up in the persian gulf for a long time. now it looks like it's not going to stop soon. there's just one reason defense secretary leon panetta may

decide to keep two aircraft carriers in or near the persian gulf for at least another year. it's all about oil. according to the u.s. energy department, one-third of all oil traded worldwide, some 15 million barrels a day, passes through the choke point strait of hormuz. iran has threatened to shut down the strait, a potential disaster for the global economy. >> part of the challenge in the region is frankly iran. i mean, just need to be honest about that. and they have been in the past at least verbally threatening. and have made it -- you know, made their intentions pretty clear. >> reporter: now the pentagon is sending a message back to tehran. >> if you continue to develop a nuclear capability, there will be an american and coalition capability to address those threats. >> reporter: the two aircraft

carriers on duty right now, the uss lincoln, which is actually headed home through the red sea, and the uss enterprise, which is just outside the strait of hormuz. this comes as the navy is keeping a hefty presence in the region. right now there are 17 combat ships inside the persian gulf including destroyers with advanced radars and missiles to detect iranian military movement. in bahrain there are six ships designed to look for iranian undersea mines as well as the uss pontse, essentially a floating military base that gives the u.s. the ability to conduct operations without needing approval from a host nation. there are also three amphibious ships that could put marines quickly into action. there are also new underwater drones to find iranian mines. the mines can be marked so ships can avoid them or they can be blown up.

but is the u.s. looking at the right threat? even as worries grow about iran's nuclear weapons and missile programs, the head of the u.s. navy says iranian naval forces are behaving. >> they have been professional and courteous of committing to the rules of the road. >> reporter: but still as those sanctions continue to tighten, the concern is that iran might lash out. and the thing it might lash out against are those critical oil shipping lanes. that's why the u.s. navy is there. wolf. >> a rather tense situation i should say. barbara, thank you. in france right now at least nine people climbing mont blonc sending snow down on them. chad myers has been monitoring this. chad, what do we know about this avalanche? >> we know it was a six-foot

slab of snow and ice came off the alps. people climb up the alps all the time. france, italy, switzerland, we're talking about the area, the boundary right there. the climbers were going up right through here today. now it has been warm in this area. two to three degrees above normal this summer. and it has rained. you start to melt the snow, then you rain on top of the snow. and you will get pieces of snow that wants to go down with gravity. now, this isn't a realtime picture. but this is from google earth. you can see cracks in the snow where it has slid before. and this is where the climbers were in the avalanche zone here on the west face going up mont moldi. this is from a previous climber. this is not really a difficult climb, although i'm not a climber. they tell me it's a decent climb. lots of people do it. make it much bigger for you here. but that's a very steep slope. and you get snow coming down that hill at the rate that snow is coming down, those guys didn't have any chances. i guess they're still looking for a few people, but most of

them have beened accounted for at that time. nine people lost their lives. >> thanks for the explanation. chad myers reporting. shocking numbers on suicide in the united states military. more american soldiers have killed themselves than have died in the afghan war. so what's behind the soaring numbers? and video hard to watch. a disabled girl apparently being abused by the very woman who's supposed to care for her. and amid the uproar over outsourcing, we learn u.s. olympic team uniforms were actually made in china. this is $100,000.

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jack cafferty's here with the cafferty file. jack. >> here we go. one in five voters has a problem with mitt romney's money. according to a new gallup poll, 20% of those surveyed say romney's net worth of over $200 million makes them less likely to vote for him for president. most americans 75% say romney's money makes no difference. only 4% say his money makes

people more likely to vote for him. democrats and independents make upmost of those who say they're less likely to support romney because he's rich. he's really rich. most of the democrats probably wouldn't vote for romney anyway. but when it comes to the independents, we all know how important they are especially in the swing states. voter income plays a role in all this. nearly 30% of those making under $24,000 a year say they're less likely to support romney because he's rich. romney's money has become a campaign strategy for president obama and the democrats. call it class warfare. they've been highlighting romney's wealth, how he made many of those millions working for the venture capital firm, bain capital. and how he has yet to release all of his tax returns for the last decade. president obama, who is also a multi-millionaire, wants to convince americans that romney cannot relate to poor and middle class americans and that his policies as president would mostly help the wealthy. of course this is america. and it's no crime to be rich.

you can also make the argument that as the economy keeps sputtering along, a businessman in the white house as opposed to a community organizer wouldn't be the worst thing for this country. at this point it's unclear if poverty and high unemployment will prevent americans from voting for a rich guy, a very rich guy. here's the question, you got a problem with mitt romney's money? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on the blog. or go to the post on the "the situation room" facebook page. wolf. >> jack, thank you. grim numbers, very grim numbers flagging a growing crisis in the united states military. suicide among active duty troops is up 18% this year with an average of one service member a day taking his or her own life. even more stunning among all veterans a suicide occurs every 80 minutes. it's the cover story of the new issue of "time" magazine which along with cnn is owned by time warner, rick stengel is here to

talk about it with us. rick, a shocking article. amazing statistic in your piece that nearly one-third of the suicides -- military suicides between 2005 and 2010 were troops who were never even deployed to the war zone. so what's going on here? >> yes. i mean, wolf, intuitively we would think that these are men and women who are risking their lives, risking their lives on our behalf who are in the line of fire. of course there would be terrible anxiety and depression afterwards. but so many of these military suicides are among people who were on active duty but not in combat. and so it's a very bewildering and perplexing problem. you know, the secretary of defense, leon panetta, said in some ways it's the most vexing problem that the u.s. military faces. >> a clip from what panetta said. let me play that sound bite from leon panetta right now, the defense secretary of the united states.

>> suicides is perhaps the most frustrating challenge that i've come across since becoming secretary of defense last year. >> the article in "time" magazine and excellent article by mark thompson and nancy gibbs points out so many of these military personnel, they get depressed, but they're reluctant to seek professional help because that could hurt them in terms of their military advancement, promotions and things like that. how big of an issue is this? >> it is a big issue, wolf. if you look, however, at the story itself which follows two men, two officers who happen to commit suicide on the same day, they each sought help. and they each in a form got help. but for many, many other servicemen and women, they feel that it can jeopardize their career. it can make -- it can -- it's the sort of thing they don't

want higher officers to know. so that is part of the problem. although in this case both of these people did seek and get help. >> is the military doing enough, the department of veterans affairs, the department of defense, to help these troops? >> you know, wolf, i don't know the answer. and, again, these are men and women who are risking their lives in many cases for all of us. the military -- personally think that amount of money is very large. it has to be applied though in the right ways. and there cannot be an onous against those that seek help. it can't get in the way as a hindrance to their own career success. >> even the wars in iraq now over and afghanistan beginning to wind down, the casualties over there are going down. but suicide -- the suicide rate is going up. 18% we reported. do we have any explanation for this? >> you know, it's hard to know.

and without seeming fa sell, sometimes the most dangerous place is not being in combat but being at home. so many of these suicides are men and women who are at home, who are off duty, who are getting rest, r & r away from their actual service. so that is part of what's so perplexing about it. and what's so complex about the problem. >> the cover story, one a day. what a shocking, shocking development. rick stengel, thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you, wolf. scientists make a big announcement on alzheimer's research. why it could potentially pave the way for successful treatment. and a woman gets a lot more than what she was fishing for. you're going to see what we're talking about.

scientists are announcing what could be a significant breakthrough in alzheimer's research. lisa sylvester's monitoring that and some other top stories in "the situation room." li lisa, what are they finding? >> hi, wolf. they have found a rare genetic mutation that slows the production of a protein long thought to be a cause of the disease. researchers say the mutation is so rare that it's not actually worth testing for, but they say

that it points drug companies in the right direction for developing a successful drug treatment. more than 5 million americans have alzheimer's. and a milestone this afternoon in the senate republican senator susan collins of maine passed her 5,000th consecutive role call vote. impressive, historic, but it's actually not a record. she ranks third behind senator chuck grassley of iowa who has cast 6,400 votes. the all-time leader from wisconsin cast 10,252 consecutive votes. and a bomb threat closed a major tunnel between detroit and windsor, ontario, causing traffic backups on both sides of the u.s./canadian border. the anonymous phone call to tunnel employees came around midday. authorities evacuated the tunnel in search for any possible device. officials say the call came from the canadian side of the border. and president obama is acknowledging some criticism against him and admitting there

are some things he could do better. listen so what he said in an interview with charlie rose. >> and then my first two years i think the notion was, well, you know, he's been juggling and managing a lot of stuff. but where's the story that tells us where he's going? and i think that was a legitimate criticism. and so getting out of this town, spending more time with the american people, listening to them and also then being in a conversation with them about where do we go together as a country, i need to do a better job of that in my second term. >> job of explaining. >> explaining but also inspiring. >> his hope is still there. >> okay. and this next story, this is not your average fishing home video. watch what happens as this woman reels in her first fish.

[ bleep ]. >> it's on mine. it's on mine. get it. [ bleep ]. >> it's a shark! a shark! >> my, my, yes, you heard it right there. it's a huge shark. it jumps in and takes it. her fee yaiancee caught the who thing on tape. it weighed more than 200 pounds. imagine that as your first catch. you catch a shark. pretty incredible stuff, wolf. >> they're lucky that shark didn't jump higher. that's pretty scary stuff. a lot of bleeping in that video. >> some colorful and creative language, right, wolf? >> correct. all right. lisa, thank you. lives and livelihoods destroyed in major disasters. we're going to talk to a man with a seemingly impossible task of determining how much they're all worth. also, the heartbreaking abuse of a disabled girl. apparently by her own care

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an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. ken fienberg is both a lawyer and policymaker. it's also his job to compensate people for some of the biggest tragedies of our time.

victims affected by 9/11. witnesses of the virginia tech massacre. executives from companies who received t.a.r.p. money. and the americans who lost their savings in the gulf bp oil spill. how to determine livelihoods and lives. in his new book entitled "who gets what" he reveals how he decides how much to give. he's joining us here in "the situation room" right now. ken, thanks very much for coming. >> thank you. >> thanks for all the work you've done over the years. thanks for writing this book. you did get a call, this is a little newsy from penn state university at one point to maybe come in and help with compensation for the victims, the young children, their families, others from what happened there. what was the upshot? what happened there? >> that was about eight or nine months ago before the trial and everything. they just gave me a call. they want to do the right thing. they want to do right by people. and they just called and asked some questions about how to design the program. sexual abuse claims, you

announce the program and you're going to get a flood of claims. how do you approve them? how do you verify them? how much do you pay them? these are some of the initial questions they posed. >> just some general advice. but if they were to ask you to come in and say, ken, you've done an excellent job with other claims, we need your help. what would you say? >> i would be glad to chat with them. they want to do the right thing. i think they're trying to feel their way along and decide how best to do it. >> you were involved in the 9/11 victim compensation fund. you gave away a lot of money to folks. but you say congress should never do such a thing again. why? >> bad things, wolf, happen to good people in this country every single day. and you don't have a 9/11 fund paying millions of dollars very generous taxpayer money. there was no katrina fund. there was no oklahoma city fund. the victims of the first world trade center in '93, they weren't compensated. be very careful about setting up

very special programs just for these people when innocent victims are harmed every day and they have to fend for themselves. >> you were involved in the bp oil spill, the gulf coast claim facilities and all of that. there were a lot of angry folks down there. i'm going to play a little clip just to remind our viewers what was going on. >> you know what i'm tired of proving my damages, sir? you can sit there and shake your head all you want. you don't know what i've been going through. >> how do we trust that these people are going to know what they're doing? this is my life. >> you opened the door for everybody to come in and get money to make yourself look good. >> you remember -- you call yourself a human pinata. but it was important to hear these folks, wasn't it? >> absolutely. anger like that, wolf, is human nature. if you're going to do this, you better be prepared to take the heat because people through no fault of their own don't know about their financial future, the impact of the spill in the

gulf. absolutely understandable. and you have to take it. and you've got to confront them. you have to talk with them and explain what i can and can't do under the program. >> this has been a very emotional experience for you. and in the book you write movingly at one point where you broke down. what happened? >> well, i think in the book what i'm talking about is 9/11 when i met with families of 9/11 and i held individual hearings with family after family that lost a loved one. and there was one case in particular i'll never forget where a woman came to see me and said, mr. fienberg, you're going to give me money, give it to me immediately. my husband was a fireman. he died at the world trade center. but i have terminal cancer. i only have ten weeks to live. my kids are going to be orphans. a story like that you just don't forget. >> you didn't really show a lot of emotion in public. but when you were alone in your

hotel room, it was a different situation. >> absolutely. you'd have to have a heart of stone not to be -- no matter how professional you want to be, when you're talking about people who are innocent, they've lost loved ones and you hold eight, nine, ten hearings a day, it gets to you. >> we've done some math. it likes like you've distributed at least $13 billion if you add up all these two decades, agent orange, 9/11, virginia tech shooting, gulf oil spill, $13 billion, is that about right? >> about right. give or take. but that's probably right. >> but that's probably close. you say one of your biggest mistakes was overpromising victims of the gulf oil spill. why was that? >> big mistake. as i say in the book, you raise false expectation about how quickly people are going to get paid. and if you can't live up to your promise, right away the credibility of the program is undercut. i made the mistake when i went

down to the gulf of telling people you'll have money in 24 hours or one week. and then when we got the claims, the claims were written in crayon, there was no corroboration, no proof. we do things with a handshake. and immediately they jumped on me. well, where's my money? finally, after three months of having to deal with this as the money flowed $6 billion in the first 18 months, people saw the wisdom of the program. but at the beginning a serious mistake that i made. >> ken feinberg is the author of who gets what, fair compensation after tragedy and upheaval. ken, thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you, sir. the video is very, very disturbing. what it appears to show is outrageous. authorities in one state are investigating just what this supposed caregiver was doing to this mentally ill girl. and authorities uncover a drug tunnel more than two football fields long. in our new 6:00 p.m. eastern hour you're going to find out

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it's a video that's both heartbreaking and angering. a woman responsible for taking

care of a mentally disabled patient repeatedly strikes her and even kicks her. a warning, some of the video you're about to see is disturbing. it was dropped off with authorities and with a cnn affiliate. here's wsfb's eric parker. >> reporter: the video was shot at this east hartford group home. it's only about 30 seconds long, but the commissioner of the state department of developmental services calls it the most heinous thing he's ever seen. >> why would any one human being do this to another human being? why would they do it knowing full well this person can't defend themselves? >> reporter: the video shows a young disabled woman being kicked in the gut. then she's hit with what appears to be a belt. finally, she's dragged out of frame by her hair. the state says the caregiver was suspended immediately. >> this person was immediately put off duty with no pay. and pending an investigation, which now will be conducted by

the east hartford police. >> reporter: the group home is run by options unlimited, a bloomfield company that runs six group homes and cares for two dozen disabled adults. >> this is a person who requires a lot of support, bathing assistance and eating and certainly shots taken makes you wonder. there was a belt in one case. you're intimidating somebody and scaring the daylights out of them. it is so outrageous. >> reporter: after seeing the video, state staff rushed to check on the residents of this home but found no bruises or other signs of recent abuse. the iteam has learned this group home was the focus of an investigation last year. after that investigation cameras were installed in the home. since this abuse wasn't seen on those cameras, the state believes this video was shot at least four to five months ago. those cameras were installed after several staff members were fired.

this latest investigation will also try to determine who shot the video. the state says that person could face charges too. >> anybody who had any role in this should be prosecuted. >> report from our affiliate wfsb's eric parker. the group that runs the home tells our affiliate and i'm quoting, we are deeply saddened and appalled by this incident. as soon as we became aware of it, we took prompt action and placed the employee on unpaid administrative leave. we are working closely with the department of developmental services and the east hartford police department on the investigation. the national rifle association takes on the united nations accusing the world body of trying to step on americans' second amendment rights. and team usa uniforms made in china. details of an olympic-sized controversy that's brewing right now. cation. ♪ sometimes, we go for a ride in the park.

maybe do a little sightseeing. or, get some fresh air. but this summer, we used our thank youpoints to just hang out with a few friends in london. [ male announcer ] the citi thankyou visa card. redeem the points you've earned to travel with no restrictions. rewarding you, every step of the way. delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices, slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. house bill 2309 is not the answer.

the athletes representing the united states of america in the upcoming olympic games are american of course. but there's outrage growing in the united states because the clothes they'll be wearing are not. lisa sylvester's looking into this story for us. lisa, their clothes won't be

made in the usa. >> yeah. that is right, wolf. the official outfitter for team usa is ralph lauren. and instead of using a u.s. manufacturer, the company has gone overseas. they are the pride of america. the u.s. olympic team. but their 2012 uniforms strictly made in china. ralph lauren touts on its website that it's the proud outfitter of team usa. but not everybody's happy with the company's sourcing. >> i am so upset that i think the olympic committee should be ashamed of themselves. i think they should be embarrassed. i think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again. >> reporter: that was senate majority leader harry reid going off on the u.s. olympic committee. reid isn't the only one with strong opinions about it. u.s. fashion designer says this was an opportunity to help support u.s. jobs. >> it's very disturbing because it completely could have been

manufactured here in the united states in new york city or in any other city where there's factories that still exist. and it's frustrating for us because it's a cause we've been fighting for and we've been trying to raise awareness and trying to convince designers to move work back to our shores and stop offshoring and start onshoring. this would have been the perfect opportunity. >> reporter: the u.s. olympic committee responded with this statement "unlike most olympic teams around the world, the u.s. olympic team is privately funded and we're grateful for the support of our sponsors. we're proud of our pap partnership with ralph lauren and excited to watch the america finest athletes compete at the upcoming games in london." manufacturing companies will be drawn to companies where the costs are lowest. >> when companies are able to outsource, they are able to produce most competitively. they're able to attend to their costs. if they can do that, then they can deliver better quality,

greater variety at lower prices for u.s. consumers. >> and we have a total here that one man's outfit if you tallied it all up would be $1,609.50. we've reached out to ralph lauren. the company is saying that it has no comment at this time. wolf. >> i suspect they will at some point. thanks, lisa. stay in touch. jack cafferty's here with the cafferty file. jack. >> you can't make this stuff up, you know. you know the richest president was, wolf? >> i don't know. who was that? >> adjusted for inflation, george washington, was worth more than $500 million. anyway, the question this hour is, do you have a problem with mitt romney's money? ted writes romney's money is no different than the kennedy money, john kerry's money, charlie rangel, nancy pelosi or hollywood money. the rule is liberals are allowed to have money. not conservatives. anyone who has money invested in the stock market know a lot of investments are overseas.

too many people listen to the talk and don't do their homework. ruth writes from indiana, it's not the money, it's the low rate of taxes he pays and it's how he got it and where it is now. i would never consider voting for him without a lot more information and tax returns for multiple years. jimmy in north carolina says his money is his business. i'm glad i live in a country where people have the opportunity to make money. how much does lebron make? tigers woods? bill gates? president obama? martha in pennsylvania, no, my problem is he doesn't understand the rest of us don't have any. gary in arizona says i don't, jack, the fact he's rich is his business. some people dislike his wealth overlooks the fact that virtually all american presidents have been among the 1%. you don't get to be president by being a joe lunch bucket. michael writes we have a choice. a president who has sent us into debt to the tune of multiple trillions of dollars with more debt to come because of obama care, or a candidate who is wealthy because he knows how to turn a buck and shown he can turn our economy around. tough choice.

and craig writes from florida, i'm more bothered by his actions like tying his dog to the roof of a car than how he manages to hide his money. if elected he'll most likely make a few more billion dollars and continue to treat the rest of us like his dog. if you want to read more about this, go to the blog cnn.com/caffertyfile or our post on post on "the situation room" facebook page. surprised to hear that about washington. >> and adjusted for inflation, $500 million. he was a rich guy. >> if that estate were to be sold, and it won't, national treasure, but beautiful land. basically what people remember about presidential candidates, you know, putting the dog on the roof of the car, or john kerry wind surfing, stuff like that obviously has an impact. >> and it will be with him, whether he becomes president or not, it will be in the consciousness of the people of

this country forever now. tied his dog to the roof of the car. who does that. >> i don't know. stuff happens. thank you. the explosion so strong, windows were blown clear across the street. you're going to find out what firefighters think blasted this house right off its foundation. and while it is too late to get your free slurpee from 7-eleven, it isn't the only store with a free chilly treat. free starbucks, anyone? stand by. [ manager 1 ] out here in the winds, i have to know the weather patterns. i upgraded to the new sprint direct connect. so i can get three times the coverage. [ chirp ] [ manager 2 ] it's like working in a giant sandbox with all these huge toys. and with the fastest push-to-talk... i can keep track of them all. [ chirp ]

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here is a look at this hour's hot shots. sri lanka. in washington, a general salutes troops at a ceremony at the pentagon. in new york, rare phenomenon caught by a cnn ireporter, rachel coven. this can be viewed at the end of every east, west street when it alliance. a baby on its mother's chest. and look at this video from an i

reporter. shows a window washer dangling in a broken rig on the side of a skyscraper in new york. he and his partner were stuck outside the 42nd floor. firefighters were able to pull them both to safety, and our i reporter caught it all on video. lisa sylvester is watching stories, payout from wells fargo in a discrimination case. what happened? >> the justice department announced wells fargo agreed to pay $175 million to settle charges it discriminated against minority borrowers, justice accused them of pushing thousands of them into subprime loans and charging higher fees than white borrowers. they will pay $125 million to victims, 50 million will go to down payment assistance to borrowers in effected communities. the woman that lives in this house says she thanks god she was not inside when it exploded.

last night's blast collapsed the back side of the house, blew the windows across the street. the fire chief says it knocked the house clear off the foundation. firefighters are investigating the cause, but say natural gas was involved. and a milestone for the rolling stones. 50 years ago today, the band played its first gig at a london club. they changed somewhat over time. the band went on to sell 200 million records, entering their sixth decade. members say the band is already rehearsing. if hungry, thirsty, daring, check it out. tomorrow, chick-fil-a offers a full meal to anybody that shows up dressed as a cow. i am sure a few will do that. tomorrow, some starbucks stores

offer the new refresher beverage for free between noon and 3:00. and saturday, dippin' dots is giving away free clusterz. >> admiring mick jagger after all these years. met him in south africa at the world cup soccer games, a great thrill. he walked in, and you know how amazed i must have been when he said hi, wolf. blew me away. >> that's amazing. mick jagger and wolf blitzer. >> he was moving like jagger. going global, the way the nra sees it. they are fighting a united nations arms treaty that says it would take away americans' gun rights. cnn debra far imcompetents reports. >> reporter: from syria to

sudden and, civilians caught in violent conflicts around the world of dying, by some estimates 1500 a day, almost one person every minute. >> it is a huge problem that the international community has never come to grips with. >> reporter: the treaty negotiated by members of the united nations is designed to stem the violence in search of refugees, by monitoring the international weapons trade. among key goals, preventing dealers from transferring weapons to armed groups. terrorists and other actors like syria and iran were violating human rights. even though the treaty doesn't ban weapons, american program activists are trying to block it anyway. >> anybody that thinks it is not about civilian firearms is naive on the whole process. >> wayne la pierre heads the national rifle association. >> americans don't want their dead bodies to be added to the pile of the dead when they've been left defenseless by u.n.

policies. >> dead american bodies, talking people that are there as peace keepers? what are you talking about. certainly not talking about dead bodies in america because of an international arms treaty. >> i mean americans know -- >> are you suggesting it is possible? >> you're darn right. >> reporter: the proposed u.n. treaty wouldn't take away any u.s. citizens' guns which we pointed out to la pierre. >> the fact they may want to regulate guns so they know who is getting what where, why is that so problematic? >> that's not what the u.n. is saying. the u.n. wants a civilian ban. they don't want you to have the right of personal protection. >> reporter: nowhere in the treaty does it say that, focusing instead on illegal flow of weapons creating humanitarian crises around the world. but what is so wrong, for example, about a treaty that basically says that anyone who's under a u.n. arms embargo like iran, north korea, they should

not be entitled to guns. why is that wrong? >> all i'm saying is keep your hands off the united states of america. >> reporter: the state department said it will not support any treaty that restricts legal gun ownership in the u.s. or that infringes on the constitution. >> i want to know what it says that you're so against. >> we have told the u.n. stay away from our second amendment, stay away from our freedoms, and we're sure not going to let you anywhere near our guns. >> reporter: even with the treaty, american gun ownership will remain untouched. five permanent members of the u.n. security council will -- they will have to individually ratify that treaty at home. >> thank you. happening now. mitt romney suggests the president of the united states is a liar. folks at penn state university are responding to the scathing new report on the coverup of child sex abuse.

and a secret tunnel to smug he will drugs into the united states is found under a bathroom sink. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." if you look at the latest presidential campaign ads, you know outsourcing is the new dirty word in american politics. >> mitt romney's companies were pioneers in outsourcing u.s. jobs to low wage countries. he supports tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. >> when a president doesn't tell the truth, how can we trust him to lead? the obama outsourcing attacks, misleading, unfair, and untrue. there was no evidence that mitt romney shipped jobs overseas. >> it is getting ugly out there. but there's something the romney

and obama camps aren't telling you. there are winners as well as losers when u.s. companies ship jobs overseas. american workers lose big time when their jobs go to workers in china, india, other countries. but american consumers often win. just walk into any walmart. most of the low cost products there are made in other countries, usually china. if they were made in the united states, they would almost certainly cost a lot, lot more. think about that when low and middle class families buy clothes for back to school at the end of the summer. the same for apple products so many of us use. american consumers can spend about $500 for a new ipad that's mostly made in china, but it might cost a thousand dollars or more if made in california silicon valley. don't get me wrong. i know how painful it can be for american workers to lose jobs to outsourcing.

i speak as someone that grew up in buffalo, new york, saw the collapse of the automobile and steel industry in my hometown. the population in buffalo used to be almost 600,000, the city itself. now it is down to less than 300,000. i fully understand the pain my fellow buff loanians suffered. as much as politicians rant about outsourcing, i think we all need to remember tens of millions of american consumers who win by saving a lot of their hard earned money buying products made overseas. we're going to have more on outsourcing coming up later this hour, including mitt romney's new ad attack against the president. let's go over to kate right now, where we're watching this story, a lot of other news as well. >> a lot of other news coming in now, wolf. there are more red flags here than you can count, said the former fbi director, louis freeh, announcing results of the independent investigation into the penn state scandal. a key charge, the most powerful people at penn state failed to do anything to stop former

assistant football coach jerry sandusky from abusing children for more than a decade, and those men, including joe paterno disregarded the victims. >> most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of sandusky's child victims by the most senior leaders at penn state. the most powerful men at penn state failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who sandusky victimized. >> got your hands on a statement from the former athletic director, one of the people implicated in today's report. what is he saying? >> reporter: as you know, tim curley, his name thrown around a lot, the former athletic director at penn state. from the curley camp, the feeling is they have not had an opportunity to get their side of the story out. that's why the statement is so important. i want to read you, basically in

its entirety. says the freeh group was limited in its investigation by lack of subpoena power and reluctance of many people to be interviewed. therefore, the freeh report has limited impact on the defense of tim curley, at the request of penn state attorney general, the freeh group didn't interview key witnesses, critical key witnesses like mike mcqueary and others. the result is a lopsided document that leaves the majority of the story untold. thus conclusions reached in the freeh report are based on an incomplete record. not only are we now getting a statement from the curley camp, also getting a statement from gary schultz, former senior vp, represented by tom farrell. let me read you part of his statement. itization when the complete factual story is told before an impartial jury, it will be clear that mike mcqueary never told mr. schultz that he witnessed mr. sandusky engaging in a sexual act with a young boy, that mr. schultz did not possess

or maintain any secret files about mr. sandusky. so what we're seeing now is finally we're starting to get the other side of this story from some of those mentioned in the freeh report. they feel as though the freeh report didn't treat them fairly and feel as though their side of the story will be ultimately told in a court of law. back to you. >> that was a scathing criticism coming from curley. jason, thanks for bringing that to us. thanks. several witnesses say the man that shot trayvon martin is not a racist. cnn has been sifting through documents released by prosecutors in that case. they say agents interviewed more than 30 people about george zimmerman, not one says they saw racism, including the lead detective that said that zimmerman had a, quote, little hero complex. zimmerman said he shot in self defense. martin's family says the teen was racially profiled. united airlines is placing a big order with boeing, 150 new 737 jets in the next decade. no word on the actual value of

the deal. list price, all together, those are worth $14.7 billion. boeing will be the sole supplier of the order, a major win over the european rifle, airbus. the ceo when announcing this of united said the new jets will be more reliable, more fuel efficient. big win for an american company. >> 14 billion, they better be. >> no kidding. >> thanks. there's new dust over mitt romney's tenure at bain capital. they raised questions about when he left the private he can quit firm. romney said he left to run the 2002 winter olympic games in salt lake city. boston globe says he was listed as chairman of bain on some government documents until 2002. jim acosta obtained a bain capital document that lists him as director of the company in 2000. why would this matter? the obama campaign says it is

proof, proof romney should be blamed for job losses at bain after 1999. romney's campaign stands by its claim he had no active involvement with bain after he left to run the olympic games. a romney spokeswoman says that boston globe report is not accurate. we are joined by chief national correspondent john king and political analyst gloria borger. john, first to you. you spoke to a bain partner today. what did he tell you about the complicated nature of when mitt romney ended his tenure at bain? >> steve, one of four bain officials, the only to go on the record. a close friend of mitt romney's, make that clear. he is the only one that would go on the record. he says the boston globe report and what the obama campaign is saying is not true. he said mitt romney left bain capital in february, 1999 to run the olympics and he has had absolutely no involvement with the management or investment activities of the firm or with any of its portfolio companies since the day of his departure.

three other sources were consistent with that, wolf. of the four sources, three are democrats, two are active obama supporters in campaign 2012. they say they were all there at bain at the time, they say mitt romney left quickly, the deal with the olympics was struck quickly. they said we need you, need you to come now. all four insist he left in february of 1999, never saw him around the office, never involved in any dealings. to explain the sec filings, they say yes, it is his name. took about two years, because it was sudden to get a new management team in place. had to split up the company, divide among existing partners, that took two years. in that time, they insist they were required by law to leave his name on those documents. that's the appointment of contention. >> major point of contention. gloria, the little fallout is intense. it is not only getting nasty but ugly between the two campaigns. >> it really is getting ugly. i was over at romney headquarters today in boston, and i can tell you that senior

advicers are outraged, defiant, in dig nant about all of this. let me read you something a senior adviser said about the obama campaign. he said either they don't understand what they're talking about or they're completely reckless. so they believe this is totally out of bounds. he described it as an act of desperation to me. you know the romney campaign had an ad out today, essentially calling the president a liar. they think this is one way the obama campaign was trying to shift the conversation. they believe in the end the american people will say we're going to see through this. this is what was required by law and that's why romney's name was on the documents. >> john, when you think about it, one campaign calls the sitting president a liar, the other campaign says the republican nominee may have been committed a felony. this is brutal. >> it is brutal rhetoric. tells you two things.

number one, forget about a polite campaign, unfortunately forget about more time spent on big challenges facing the country, look for it to be personal, nasty, and for both sides to question the character of the other. we are inside 120 days. this is as close as it comes. the romney campaign would concede privately, i am sure gloria got it there today, recent attacks from the obama campaign, they are on tv with sharp critical attacks, romney negatives on the rise. inside team obama, they're happy it is a 50/50 race because of the jobs reports. one of the reasons, the ad campaign raised romney's negatives. what we have seen today, they don't plan on stopping. >> did they concede that, gloria? >> well, yeah. here is what's happening. the obama campaign is going for the jugular early. they're trying to define mitt romney, someone in the obama campaign said this could be a felony. what the romney people are saying is they're trying to get

us off our game, trying to distract us from our strategy. we're going to continue to pursue our strategy. however, i will tell you, the romney team is getting criticized by fellow conservatives. republicans who are saying you know what, you have to understand that the obama team is experienced at this, they're very good, you have to strike back, and you've got to strike back harder than you've done in the past. that's why they jumped on this today. that's why they did their ad calling the president a liar, and as john said, we're going to see a lot more of this and it is only july. >> thanks very much, guys. appreciate it. a corruption scandal is exploding in washington, d.c., and it is around the mayor of washington. there's new evidence he may have known about some shady campaign money earlier than a lot of us realized. at 55 past the hour, a diver wearing a camera on his head records his close encounter with a huge shark.

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here in the nation's capital, the mayor is under pressure to resign because of an exploding corruption scandal. when did he learn about a shadow campaign conducted on his behalf? brian todd has been investigating. has national ramifications. what have you learned? >> we learned he knew last january campaign money from 2010 wasn't reported. he dodged us when we asked if he knew about it when it was happening. >> mr. mayor, did you know in january that money for the 2010 campaign.

>> sorry. >> we're allowed to ask. >> the embattled mayor vincent gray wants to talk about a 911 service, evades questions about a campaign finance scandal that suddenly ungulfed his office. federal prosecutors are investigating what they call the mayor's shadow campaign in 2010, when secret money they say was not reported to campaign finance officials. an ally of the mayor, jeannie clark harris admitted she helped steer illicit money from a wealthy business man to the mayor's campaign. i spoke with the u.s. attorney. >> what kind of money are we talking about, how was it handled? >> talking over $650,000 funneled from a co-conspirator's company to miss jeannie clark harris's company, and then that money was used to buy campaign materials for mayoral campaign. >> a source tells cnn mayor gray

learned from jeannie harris january of this year that some of the money spent for his 2010 campaign was not properly reported. the source says gray told harris then to report it immediately. prosecutors' documents don't indicate whether gray knew of the spending at the time it was happening. >> i never saw any evidence during the campaign that he knew anything about it at the time. >> for the ds council who went against her constituents to endorse gray, that's not good enough. >> people were acting in his name, for his benefit, they committed probably the biggest election fraud in the history of the district. i asked him to resign. >> she's joined by two our council members. the swirl of scandal is nothing new. others have been accused of corruption. marion barry was in a sting

operation. he spent time in jail. barry's successor, sharon pratt kelly built up huge budget budget deficits. more recently, a mayor investigated for steering contracts to a friend. he was cleared. i asked this analyst what tainted the d.c. mayor's office. >> i think if we had these higher positions that people could aspire to and attain, then the people at the starting level would be of a different caliber. >> he is talking about the fact washington who no real voting on the floor. we reached out to gray's attorney to respond. he declined, citing pending investigation. >> brian, what has the mayor said, mayor gray, about the increasing calls for him to resign? >> caught up to him late this afternoon. he told us he would not resign. the mayor said he is disappointed that council

members called for him to step down. mark plotkin thinks it is a matter of time before he resigns. he says even if mayor gray is exonerated, his legitimacy has been thrown into question because of the scandal. >> brian todd looking at that story. mark plotkin makes a good point. residents of district of columbia are citizens, should not only have representation but voting rights. they pay taxes. taxation without representation. >> i am biased in this debate, i live in the district. that's how it has been. this story is definitely not going away. that's right. here is a look. want to look at what's trending in "the situation room." number four on the list, viacom is pulling the plug on free online episodes of shows like "the daily show" and sponge bob square pants. earlier this week, they let viacom stations go dark in a

fight over programming fees. a minnesota man accidently kills a 40,000 square foot lawn spraying it with grass killer rather than weed killer. he blames confusing labels. he had to cancel a fundraiser for the cystic fibrosis foundation. the top two trending stories coming your way next.

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back for a list of what's trending in "the situation room." number four, viacom is pulling the plug on free online episodes of some shows, upping the ante in a fight with direct tv. and a minnesota man accidentally kills a 40,000 square foot lawn, mistaking grass killer for weed killer. he says labels were confusing. poor man. number two, half million yahoo! accounts were hacked. yahoo! says it is working to fix that vulnerability. number one, a piers morgan interview you have to see to believe. actor robert blake talking about his arrest, trial, acquittal for the murder of his wife. just listen. >> why are you being so defensive?

>> because you just insulted me. >> i didn't insult you. >> yes, you did. nobody tells me i'm a liar. >> i didn't call you a liar. >> you said i might not be telling the truth. what the hell is the difference? >> wolf, this is one of those interviews you couldn't tear your eyes from the screen. he went on there to promote his book. i think the take away was very different take away. >> certainly piers did an excellent job. thank you. here is what's making news. the medical unit is looking at mood disorders after congressman jesse jackson junior's office released a statement from his doctor saying he is being treated for a mood disorder. hasn't been on capitol hill since late may. they only said he was suffering from a medical condition. the senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen spoke with suzanne malveaux about the diagnosis. >> a mood disorder is not very specific. it sort of covers a whole bunch of different disorders.

let's go over what the two big ones are. two big mood disorders are depression. you hear a lot about depression, all of us probably know someone that suffers from depression, and bipolar which some call manic depression. those are the two big diagnoses that come under mood disorders. >> is this the kind of thing he could be treated and simply go back to work? >> the psychiatrists we talked to said sure. people that have these disorders work all the time. but at the same time, it is something they deal with usually for the rest of their lives. it's not something you go in, get treatment, and you're fine. they said often you will have to go back for treatment, outpatient for the next time. it is not something that gets cured with one hospitalization. >> jackson's doctor was never revealed by the congressman's office. the statement says jackson is responding positively to treatment he is receiving at a residential facility and is expected to make a full recovery. meanwhile, a new romney

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isn't being honest about when he left the private equity firm, bain capital. romney campaign says president obama is the dishonest one. we have tom foreman fact checking that ad. tom, what's this all about? >> kate, put aside the question of when he left bain. that's being hashed out. president obama and his team have been hammering mitt romney in general with claims that he has a long record of outsourcing jobs. and now romney is hitting back hard. take a look. >> i am mitt romney, i approved this message. >> when a president doesn't tell the truth, how can we trust him to lead. obama outsourcing attacks, misleading, unfair, and untrue. there was no evidence that mitt romney shipped jobs overseas. candidate obama lied about hillary clinton. >> so shame on you, barack obama. >> that's the core, the meat of this ad. very strong words. let's break them down.

start with a key question. did mitt romney outsource jobs while he was the governor of massachusetts, the state had a contract with citigroup to handle calls about food stamps. citigroup sent some of that work to india. that did happen. when legislation was proposed to forbid such outsourcing, mitt romney vetoed it. he said he did that because those jobs would not likely come back to massachusetts anyway because the state doesn't run a whole lot of call centers. he said the legislation, quote, didn't necessarily protect a single job here. and it is worth noting when those jobs came back, they went to utah, not to massachusetts, as he predicted. what about his time at bain? it is true bain invested in some companies that had some outsourcing going on. one notably, motus media. but there's little evidence to show romney played a roll in promoting that practice. kate, all the evidence we find

suggests that the obama camp is at least misleading voters with very thin evidence to back its claims on this, and this part of the romney ad is quite simply true. kate? >> tom, what about including that quote from hillary clinton in this ad? >> that is where the romney camp runs into a bit of trouble. it is correct that hillary clinton was calling out barack obama for essentially the same tactic, using thin evidence to support a claim to voters, misleading evidence. but it doesn't really make clear that hillary clinton's scolding of obama was from the 2008 democratic primary and on entirely different issues and on that front, you could easily say the romney ad is itself misleading. kate? >> tom foreman, thank you so much. >> may be misleading but powerful. talk about what's going on with bill burton from priorities usa action, a pro-democratic super

pac, and bay buchanon, senior adviser to the romney campaign. author of a book, bay and her boys. good book. first of all, talk about this romney ad accusing the sitting president of the united states of being a liar. isn't that going way too far? >> no, it's certainly not. what we've seen in the last couple weeks is the president's campaign put ad after ad saying clearly he did something at bain which he simply did not do, and he continued to run the ad after "the washington post" and all kinds of newspapers, documents showed clearly he was not part of bain when that outsourcing was done, those decisions were made. it was overwhelming, the evidence, that he was not part of bain. not only did he say it, bain said it, documents proved it, and across the board, people in fact checking groups affirmed it. >> so you don't have a problem calling the president a liar?

>> i think this is what's wrong. >> it is not very respectful. >> it is not very respectful when you reduce your campaign as president of the united states to tear down a man's reputation for one reason and one reason alone, because he had the audacity to run against you. mitt romney spent a lifetime building a stellar reputation as a businessman, as an individual. this campaign is out there making one false accusation after another. >> bill burton, respond to the specific charges, not backing away from her campaign calling the president of the united states a liar. >> look, it was mitt romney made the centerpiece of his campaign his business experience. truth is, he won't even talk about it. he does not have a good explanation for what he did in private industry would make him a better president of the united states. this ad that the romney campaign is specifically attacking is based on a "the washington post" report that they're trying to get retracted, "the washington post" stood by the reporting. as for when mitt romney was at bain, we will get to this in the discussion, again, romney campaign went over boston globe

that reported that. he was on documents long after he said he wasn't. and they tried to get that retracted, couldn't get that retracted either, boston globe stood by the reporting. truth is, mitt romney has a problem with time in private industry, and the more voters learn about it, less likely they are to think he would be a good president of the united states. >> he has no problem running on his record, my friend. none whatsoever. as a businessman, he made it very clear, there's documents, fortune magazine came out, said all of the documents show he left bain in february, 1999, had no managerial interaction with them after that point. and that's the point that you guys keep wanting to fail to make. so when you suggest he won't run on his record, he will run on his record as a businessman and does as governor, as head of the olympics. it is your fellow, president of the united states, that will not, cannot run on his failed record. >> i have to say i respect your work and what you do, but what you're saying is not accurate. the documents we're talking

about, sec filings have mitt romney's signature on them. >> yes, they do. >> between 1999 and 2001, the boston globe report is 100% accurate. romney was the ceo, chairman, the sole shareholder of bain capital. he was responsible for what bain was doing. to suggest he wasn't involved when he was all those things. when you sit as chairman of a board, you are actually very responsible for the things your company is doing. i understand why he wants to distance himself from those years. more people were laid off, more jobs were sent out of the country, more companies went under. if i'm mitt romney and the romney campaign, i want to distance. >> you keep repeating, but what's clear from the evidence and again today, we see it once more in records that have come forward, sure, his name is on there as owner, ceo. what happened was very abrupt when he left for the olympics. he was running that company, it was his company. at that time he turned it over to a management team who took total responsibility for management. it took several years for a

legal transition to take place, all the documents to be done. that was done and it was effective as of 1999. just because there's some documents out there which are accurate, he did continue to hold those titles while the transition was being made, he had no managerial -- >> take a break. go ahead and respond, we'll take a break and continue. >> it is astounding to suggest a company known for its management experience and for a man who's running on his management experience that it would take three years, not a couple of months, not one year, but three years for him to extract himself from the company. >> the facts are clear and there was documents that went out as they went to equity funds for offers and listed the management team in the offers after 1999, and he was never listed in them. >> a selective bunch of documents that bain released. one release to the public doesn't make the case. >> they're sticking around.

>> because i am enjoying this. >> we have more to discuss when we come back. stay with us. ♪ hajimemashite. hajimemashite. hajimemashite. you guys like football ? thank you so much. i'm stoked. you stoked ? totally. ... and he says, "under the mattress." souse le matelas. ( laughter ) why's the new guy sending me emails from paris ? paris, france ? verizon's 4g lte devices are global-ready. plus, global data for just $25. only from verizon.

we are in the middle of a

lively conversation. bay buchanan, bill burton. >> president obama gave an interview to cbs. listen to this. >> in the first two years, i think the notion was well, he has been juggling, managing a lot of stuff, but where's the story that tells us where he's going. i think that was a legitimate criticism. and so getting out of this town, spending more time with the american people, listening to them and also then being in a conversation with them about where do we go together as a country, i need to do a better job of that in my second term. >> better job explaining. >> well, explaining, but also inspiring. >> his hope is still there. >> the romney campaign has released a response to this. i want to read this. it says president obama believes millions of americans have lost their homes, their jobs and

their livelihood because he failed to tell a good story. being president is not about telling stories. being president is about leading and president obama has failed to lead. no wonder americans are losing faith in his presidency. so bill, this begs a serious question. does governor romney have a point? president obama says his biggest mistake is not explaining and inspiring enough? is that a good answer? >> the campaign is so bitter. if you look at what -- >> clarify, romney campaign? >> romney campaign. as the first lady said, there's still hope. if you look at what the president has done in the course of the last couple years, he inherited an economy that was shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs a month. he has created more than 4 million jobs. the economy is growing instead of shrinking, the auto industry was saved, the financial industry was saved, the war in iraq was ended, the war in afghanistan is on the road to ending. osama bin laden is no longer a threat to this country, you know, and you look at all of the things that happened in this

country, there wasn't a lot of time for the president to go out and do press conferences, interviews, town halls to explain all of the different things he was doing and what impact it was having on the lives of americans. the president would be the first person to tell you there's a lot more work to be done in the economy, no doubt about that. for the president to say he wished he had more time to speak with the american people talking about policies and impact it would have on people's lives -- >> is it just communications? >> clearly it is not. we have more people have lost their jobs, lost their homes, fallen into poverty, three-and-a-half years this man has been president. worst job record of any president since the great depression. you don't have to tell the american people that they're in trouble, that times are really bad, that the jobs are being lost, that they feel insecure about the future. you don't have to tell them gas prices are going up. they are well aware of the problems in this country, and where this president failed is lack of understanding how to

create jobs, and the regulatory burdens he is putting on businesses, crushing them, tax policies, outrages spending, huge deficits. >> can he run on are you better off today than four years ago when the country was losing 700,000 jobs a month. >> looks like we're headed back into recession. this should have come up slowly, maybe slower than most of us would like, it should still be climbing. what happened, last quarter, worst jobs report in two years. things are bad again, going the wrong direction. that's what's wrong with america, we're moving in the wrong direction. >> i want to ask you, do you agree with what john king said, personal attacks we're seeing, does that mean it is all about personal attacks? they're completely off message talking about issues that effect americans. that's all we're seeing --

>> if you look at the advertisements, the president is doing a good job telling his story through the advertising that's happening. what's also happening is people are learning a story about mitt romney, and it is not all positive. so yes, that is getting more attention. what you're not hearing from mitt romney with any specificity, how he would create jobs, what it is about his record that would suggest he would do a better job. >> the proposal he put out awhile ago. doesn't talk about it. 59 proposals. guys, we have to end it there. i'll wrap it up saying i don't remember when a challenger has accused a sitting president of being a liar and when the other campaign has accused the challenger of committing potentially a felony. but that's what we've been seeing the past 24 hours. >> character assassination. >> hope it calms down, both sides. let everyone debate the issues. >> bring the issues on.

we are getting up close look at another secret tunnel for smuggling drugs that's been discovered. we're going to take you there live. feeling a very strong male spirit present. it's the priceline negotiator. >>what? >>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals. it's a faster way to get a great hotel deal without bidding. pick one with a pool, a gym, a great guest rating. >>and save big. >>thanks negotiator. wherever you are. ya, no. he's over here. >>in the refrigerator? ...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts

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mexican drug smugglers going to new lengths and depths to get to the united states. casey wine and is in arizona. officials discovered a tunnel into mexico. casey, tell us what this is about? >> reporter: wolf, i have to tell you, i've seen a lot of tunnels over the years, this is one of the most incredible fetes of drug smuggling engineering. started here. look at the above ground view of it. that building behind me is where the tunnel began in the united states. then we swing around, across this park, then over there, you see the first layer of border fence. that is on the u.s. side. another layer of border fence, then the mexican side. 240 yards underground. we have pictures we shot awhile ago of what the tunnel looks like in that warehouse. it is incredible. it dropped down 57 feet below the surface.

our photographer went down to shoot some photos for you. it was incredible. good thing he is in good physical condition. it is a narrow, difficult trek trying to get down there. there is rebar that's used as a ladder to get down, also there's wood, reinforced all the way around this entire structure that stretches 240 yards underneath the u.s./mexico border. here's what the dea's top man in arizona had to say about this tunnel. >> this is the most sophisticated one i've ever seen in arizona. because of the way that it's designed. most of the tunnels we have in arizona are just digging through dirt to get into the sewer system, using the sewer system, and then punching out again. this one, when you look down that hole, you're going to see, it is completely 4 x 6'd all the way, plywood all the way around it. there's a ventilation in there. the air down there is exactly the same as the air up here.

there's a lighting system. all they're going to do is just put eventually, i'm sure, a pulley system into this, between the two, to pull the dope from one side to the other. they haven't got that far yet but i'm sure that's eventually what they were going to end up doing. >> reporter: it's interesting how this tunnel was discovered, wolf. agents say they had this business under surveillance actually since january of this year. they knew something funny was going on in this area. but what happened is the arizona state police pulled over a truck on a highway. a little bit north of here. they found 39 pounds of methamphetamine. they questioned the driver and occupants of the truck. it led them back to this business and they discovered this tunnel on july 6th. three suspects now in custody. investigation, though, is continuing on both sides of the border, wolf. >> casey, what's going to happen to this tunnel now that's been discovered? >> reporter: well, once they get through this with investigation,

they're actually going to pour concrete. they found over 150 of them over the last two decades on the california and arizona borders. they're going to pour it with concrete. they have to secure this area for a long period of time while they fill that up with concrete to make sure it doesn't get reopened by the drug smugglers, wolf. >> got to believe they'll find another tunnel. thanks very much. up next, our video of the day, and jeanne moos with two fish tales you don't want to miss. ♪

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a pair of scissors like you've never seen before. that's next.

you know when you really need a pair of scissors but just can't scrounge up a pair? well, this man has a solution, a very interesting. use a piranha. he doesn't seem to be afraid of those notorious teeth. holding on to the carnivorous fish with his bare hands while the jaws snap down on a stick. this video has racked up 1 million views on you tootube so.

>> tough stuff over there. >> he clearly knows how to handle it. i would not recommend you and i handle a piranha. >> from piranhas to sharks. they can certainly sneak up on you when you least expect it. when there's a video camera involved, it gets really scary and amazing to watch. cue the "jaws" music right now. cnn's jeanne moos has this report. >> reporter: this is a tale of two fish stories. one on a deck in florida tuesday. the other in a boat in australia last year. in both cases, a person fishing hooks a fish only to have a shark snatch it. >> oh, [ bleep ]! >> florida, australia. >> oh, no, [ bleep ]! >> now, both parties took the name of the lord in vain. >> oh, [ bleep ] [ bleep ]! >>. >> reporter: but that's where the similarities end. >> it's a shark! a shark! there's a big shark!

>> pretty cool. >> whoo! >> geez, i hate sharks. >> oh, god! >> what a dirty scum. he's gone. >> that's a big shark! >> reporter: sara had never before caught a fish, let alone encountered a shark. >> is an actually kind of scared. like, it could jump up here and get me. >> reporter: when you combine the ballistic americans -- >> oh, [ bleep ]! >> reporter: -- with the chillin' australians. >> bloody sharks. >> reporter: -- you get the catch of the day. holy bloody shark. last year, australia's 9 network morning show sent a reporter to fish for a shark, supposedly sighted in a lake. >> i'm going to give you one chance to catch this shark. >> reporter: his cast was impressive but his catch missed the mark. >> you got a bird. a bird. >> oh, nice. >> i'd go to another shot. >> stop now, stop now, stop now.

that's enough. >> peking duck anyone? >> awkward. >> reporter: at least the duck was fine. unlike the mackerel that failed to duck the shark. now, the one place you'll never catch a shark is in the new york city subway, right? well, maybe you couldn't catch one but you could buy one. the website obtained photos of a guy selling a live baby shark at 1:00 in the morning. he wanted 100 bucks he said he caught at coney island after it bit him on the butt. seriously, folks, your chances are way better of hooking a bud than hooking jaws. and grabbing a brew sure beats being shark stew. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> she does amazing work. >> all i know, if i caught a shark on a fishing line, my words would not be made for

television. that is for sure. so now it is your turn to ask wolf a question. this i-report was sent in to us asking about religion in presidential politics. >> what's up, wolf? given that there are no more rampant rumors out there about president obama being a muslim and mitt romney is a devout mormon, do you think that americans have finally put the issue of religion aside in a presidential election? >> that's a good question. from one of our i-reporters right here from washington. >> that's right. so what's your answer? >> look, there will always be an element out there that believes the president of the united states is a muslim. there will be an element out there -- romney obviously is a mormon but some people don't like mormons for whatever reason. i think those are, fortunately in our country, small elements. i'm totally confident we have -- most of us have moved way beyond that and this will not be a factor. i'm an optimistic person about that. that's just my opinion.

>> good question, keep them coming. our i-report, facebook -- >> can they ask kate boulden a question too? you're going to get a lot of questions. that's all the time we have. follow kate, @katebouldain. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. next, the u.s. deficit on track today to hit $1 million in just a few months. we are driving off a cliff at full speed. when will congress do something about it? and new questions about when mitt romney actually left his ceo job at bain. we fact-check it. does it add up? the democrats are asking for more information about his career. we talk to joe paterno's son jay about the freeh report and his father's legacy. that's "outfront" tonight. that's "outfront" tonight. let's go.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening, i'm ooierin burnett. a damsel in distress. remember that, tied to the train track, helpless, her only hope is that she's rescued before she is flattened, destroyed, ripped to bits, like a penny on the train track. makes me think of the aflac ad. the government added another $60 billion to the deficit in june. so the grand total on money that we've borrowed so far this fiscal year is $904 billion. the real headline, though, is that that number confirmed that we are on solid track to hit a $1 trillion deficit for the fourth year in a row. well, the sky high numbers start to blur in this country. it's trillions here and trillions there and hundreds of trillions. it gets coin