waiting for to begin at any moment now? >> reporter: what we're hoping to hear is some more small pieces to go into the puzzle that we now know as wade michael page. what we know so far is not enough to draw any conclusions about what any kind of motivation there might have been for the attacks that he carried out on the temple here. but what we do know is showing problems in his past. first of all, the u.s. military, pentagon source tells cnn that he was discharged from the army back in 1998, this was because of "patterns of misconduct" but no elaboration on what that misconduct was or what patterns led to his discharge. also, we're finding out about the handgun that he used. this was a .9 millimeter semiautomatic pistol. it was recovered at the scene right where he was killed by a police officer. that pistol we now found out was legally purchased.

he did have that gun legally. it was purchased recently in the milwaukee area. so, again, two more small pieces but nothing that gives us a clear idea of what any kind of motivation there might have been behind this attack. right now we're just waiting to hear from the city's police chief and possibly some other oec officials about what was going on. last night i watched very closely as federal, state, and local authorities converged on the house where page lived. and at that house they were approaching it as if there might still be somebody inside. they were prepared for anything, also prepared if there might have been some explosives inside. but they were able to get inside without any kind of incident. after their sf, they came out with a couple boxes of materials. we don't know what was in those boxes. perhaps the authorities will be able to share also what kind of evidence they're gathering against him. but right now the motivation behind this, the thing that everybody is asking, why would

he do this? he lived about five miles away from this temple. he had no connection that we know of to anyone at the temple. why he would pick it out, why he would carry out this attack and why now are complete mysteries right now. that's what we're hoping authorities will help us with here. >> complete mysteries right now. we're awaiting for this briefing to begin any moment now. i think in the last live picture we had, it looked as if it was going to be getting under way shortly. we'll all be waiting for answers to manufacture the questions. david mattingly, thank you very much. we're also learning he was part of a rock band. drew griffin is investigating this part of the story. drew, what you have learned? >> reporter: not just any rock band, kate, but a white supremacist congress band. they say it's been tracking this very person, michael -- michael wade page since about 2000 that,

is two years after he got out of the army. he started the rock band of one person. fwhut 2005 picked up a couple other members and began a band called end apathy. that group played for a white -- a known white supremacist label called label 56. no incidents of violence according to the southern poverty law center. but this was a neonazi skinhead in the very thick of the white supremacist rock band movement. they didn't classify him as a leader. but again, the group has been tracking him. if this is the same person that they had been tracking since 2000 and was very much involved in white supremacy and white supremacy rock bands and festivals where the rock bands converge around the country. kate? >> an amazing detail that you really uncovered there, drew. obviously, this is extremely early on. we don't want to put apples and oranges together so early on in an investigation.

you are hearing anything that is possibly saying they linked this man's involvement in this white supremacist band and motives in this shooting? >> of course, we do not know, you know, what his motivations are. what was inside his head. we can tell that you the white supremacy rock band he was in, end apathy, was very much involved in this white supremacist movement. this feeling that the -- >> drew, i'm going to cut you off. i'm so sorry. i believe we have the press conference start right now and the latest involving this shooting at the sikh temple. let's go to it live. >> a couple of ground rules for this morning. i'm going to introduce tout order of speakers this morning. after which we'll -- after their presentations, we'll follow it up with questions. first will be the mayor. second will be police chief john edwards. third is fire chief tom rosenditch. fourth is united states attorney james santel.

fifth is fbi special agent in charge teresa charlson. and fifth is bernard zeeper, special agent in charge for atl. thank you. john edwards, police chief. >> i'm sorry. the mayor is first. >> sunday was a tragic day for our city. especially given the fact that it occurred in a place of worship at a sunday service on a quiet sunny morning in wisconsin. our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims, for our wounded officer, all our responders, fire, police, other agencies and the community which is still in shock. there is no doubt in my mind that the heroic actions of our police officers prevented an even greater tragedy and they should be commended for that. oak creek is a diverse welcoming

city. we host 23 places of worship. in the sikh community is part of that, what makes our city strong. we will recover from this. but i want to assure everyone that we're doing everything we can, cooperating with federal agencies, state and local state agencies to get the answers we need to resolve this situation and to begin the healing process. that's parts of that. we'll have a community wide vigil as part of our national night out event tomorrow night. at 8:30, adjacent to the oak creek community center. >> hello, i'm police chief john edwards. first i'd like to echo what the mayor said as far as our condolences to the sikh community. we consider them a partner in our community and they work with us. this is a tragedy for all, including us. i'd like to first of all thank all the agencies that assisted

yesterday. we had quite the outpouring of help and resources. i'm just going to say what we have in milwaukee county is a smart response. we put that out instead of naming all those agencies, there were 27 agencies throughout the milwaukee area that responded and assisted and gave us officers and resources including tactical teams, canine, and search unit investigators. as part of that, we also had milwaukee county sheriffs, milwaukee police department were huge as far as assisting us not only in the tactical portion but in the investigative portion. milwaukee pd is assisting us in the officer involved shooting portion of this investigation with the district attorney's office. i'd like to thank the fbi, atf and also dci from the state of

wisconsin. fbi, we're working with and with atf currently on this investigation. it's a joint operation. fbi's lead on the investigation. dci provided agents for interviews. there were many witnesses that needed to be interviews and people to talk to. i thank all of the agencies. i would like to also thank the police department, their chief is here today. they assisted in some of the follow up that had to be done last night in their city. i'd like to introduce at this time to explain the fire response, fire chief tom rosenditch. >> first off, the fire sest can be very proud of the response that the fire and ems did to this incident. we also would thank our communities that responded mutually to us. we went to what was called a second alarm mutual aid box life

safety card which bought in division 109 city of milwaukee, division 107, the milwaukee county suburbs and division 102. in that response included over 22 units, 60 personnel which also included tactical ems that worked directly with the police department and also our paramedic units that transported by ground to the respective hospitals that were designated for this. we also worked directly with our milwaukee county paramedic base in coordinating this mass casual incident and in its regards we would call this a minor in this case but also we are ready to upgrade it and he can had several resource that's were available to us if this had upgra upgraded. also in the activation we also proceeded in this was a partial activation of our eoc which brought in supporting agencies and our local county emergency

management. thank you. >> what i like to do is start off with a synopsis of what happened in the time frame. yesterday at 10:25 a.m. we received our initial call from inside the sikh temple that there was a problem going on and someone was firing inside of there. we had officers responding to that scene. they responded there and arrived within minutes of the initial call. our first officer on scene as he entered into the driveway area, he came upon a victim in the parking lot and exited his vehicle and went to assist that individual. went to render aid. at that point that he was met by the suspect who basically ambushed him around his vehicle. the officer was shot eight to nine times at this incident at very close range with a handgun.

at that point, other officers were arriving on scene and heard the gun shots. we're not aware that other officer had been shot. they took a position and did observe the suspect in the parking lot walking and at that point began to give him commands as far as dropping his weapon and putting his hands up. our officers are equipped with squad rifles. the officers armed themselves with the rifles once they exited their vehicle. under protocol when we react to an active shooter. that's what they were treating this as. after giving commands to the individual which he didn't respond to, did he fire one of our vehicles took some rounds through the windshield and another one also took some rounds. one of the officers returned fire with his squad rifle putting the individual down. they then secured that individual and at that point did what is a officer rescue.

they did a check which is common in the fire service which we've incorporated and it's a way to find out where everybody's at. one of our officers are, seen your officers on scene called for that check and they weren't getting a response. what that is, you call for a check, you respond with your badge number so they know that everyone is okay. they knew they had to start looking for him. they went to where they last knew his location was. as they approached him, he waved them off. he was shot nine times. one of them very serious in the neck area. and he waved them off and told them to go into the temple to assist those in there. the officers did a officer rescue, provided cover and carried him to a squad and got him out of the scene even though he was trying to get them to go into the temple. the officers at that point made sure that the suspect was not a threat anymore as far as securing him and they started to

set up a perimeter at that point. we didn't know how many individuals may be out there. there was multiple reports. we're confident this time that was the only shooter involved in this. and they did set up a perimeter and then it turned into a tactical situation. we had tactical teams from around our county, other counties that came through. the milwaukee county sheriff's department coordinated that with our captain michael bowlinger and they did a fantastic job with quite a large area that we had to cover and secure. we went to the city of oak creek citizens to understand that what we did and the reason it took so long is that we are reports of others in there. we did a grid search of approximately, i'm guessing about three square miles with the tactical teams with air

support. after that was completed, we did a door to door knock and talk of every resident approximately 200 in that area to make sure everybody was okay and everybody was safe. i want them all to know this was the only shooter and that there is nothing more to worry about as far as this situation goes. at that point the investigation was -- we locked down the scene, called in the tac teams and then called in so we could start clearing that scene and turning it over to the fbi as far as their response and evidence collection. as far as our officers, i just want to explain some of the things they we did. we train for active shooters. in my mind they're all heroes. they did exactly what was expected of them. they are senior officers. i asked what do you think of their actions? didn't surprise me in the least what they did. they all did what they had to do, helped another officer and stopped a worse tragedy from happening by their actions.

the officer would was shot is listed right now as critical condition. his information, his name is lieutenant brian murphy. he's a 51-year-old officer with our department. he has 21 years on the department. he was a member of our tac team for years. he was a tactical team leader for years. so he right now is with his family resting at the hospital. we brought family in from out of state also. the other officers involved in the shooting are not available to speak and nor will we be identifying them because there is a separate investigation going on because we have an officer involved shooting. we're working with the district attorney's office and milwaukee pd is assisting in that and they

are not allowed to talk and we do not identify them at this point. that will be forthcoming when the investigation cis completed. at this point what i'd like to do is we do have available sheets with the victim's information. and i'm going to read out some ages and i don't know that i would be able to -- unless sh someone would assist me from the sikh community, you would tlwou to come up and pronounce the names properly so you get them properly? if you just want to give the age, name and if they were male or female. >> sure. 41 years old, male. [ inaudible ] 49 years old, male.

[ inaudible ] 6 62 years old, male. [ inaudible ] 39 years old, male. [ inaudible ] 41 years old, female. [ inaudible ] 84 years old, male. >> thank you. >> we'll provide a list for you all to have. the other injured parties in this, we do have some other individuals who were injured. we had one individual who was taken from the scene and taken to one of the local hospitals. he's in critical condition at a local hospital in icu. second individual came in to one of the local hospitals with chest wounds. he's also in critical condition. we had a third individual come into a hospital with a wound that was treated and then they

were released because of that wound. the information on the suspect, his name is wade michael page. that is spelled wade, michael, page. he's 40 years of age. date of birth is 11/01/71. some of the information on the investigation on this individual will cover with sac carlson as far as some of the information obtained on him. i know there's much that's been put out in the media already regarding him. and some of that we're looking at. we can say that he was in the military. 1992 to 1998. he had a general discharge. and that he was ineligible for re-enlistment. i want to make it perfectly clear right now he is the only shooter that was involved at the

temple. we will be following up with the sikh community, myself, some of the dignitaries from the city, the mayor and meeting with them privately on this. afterwards away from the media and discussing some of the follow up that we need to do with both of our communities. and we look forward to that. at this time, i'd like to turn this over to u.s. attorney james santelli. >> chief, thank you. my name is james santel, united states attorney for the eastern district of wisconsin and i'm the federal law enforcement for this federal district. on behalf of attorney general eric holder, i want to convey the profound sympathy and deep sorrow of the united states department of justice to all the

members of the sikh community here in oak creek, throughout this district, throughout the state of wisconsin, and throughout the nation. the terrible event that we witnessed yesterday should not be a part of america. the president of the united states of america yesterday also conveyed thinks similar condolences and his sympathies to this population and to all citizens of the united states of america who are caring and loving and justice seeking. we are profoundly saddened by the events yesterday and the work that has been done by this law enforcement community about which i will speak in just a moment or so is reflection of and is animated principally by our profound respect and great sorrow about the losses the sikh community has suffered in the past 24 hours. our hearts are deep. our sadness is profound. and we share with you great tears.

the chief has already spoken this morning about the response to this time by state, local, and federal law enforcement. i want to comment more about that and assure all the members of the citizenry here in wisconsin, the members of the sikh temple and all those who may be watching in businesses and homes around the country that law enforcement has been prompt, responsive, focused and targeted virtually since the very moment that initial calls came in about this matter. we speak often about the partnership that happens here in wisconsin and throughout this country between federal, state, and local law enforcement. that is a result of the directive and the animation provided by our attorney general, by our deputy attorney general, by united states attorneys around the country and by all of our state and local and tribal partners. that partnership that

cooperation that, collaboration animated and has animated every moment since 24 hours ago today. it is fair to say that the tremendous work still on going that has been as a result of the findings that the chief and my colleagues will discuss with you in just a moment or so is a direct result of that very cooperative, very focused and very collaborative association and partnership among the law enforcement. we could not benefit more from the tremendous assistance and support provided by the oak creek police department and by all of our federal, state, and local colleagues. as the chief just said, oak creek is secure. and the people of oak creek, the people of eastern wisconsin, people of the state of wisconsin, the people of this nation should know that we are continuing to do everything in our powers and beyond to insure that remains the case. there is no reason for the

citizenry of oak creek to be concerned today about repetition of this kind of activity at the sikh temple or based upon other pursuits of this law enforcement effort that are on going today. among other things, many of you have already reported on the important and productive work of the brookfield police department, for example, in insuring the continued safety of the sikh temple in that community. that is an example of the kind of concentrated and focused and target law enforcement that continues at this time. i am very proud of that. and all of you should be very proud of that as well. it is fair to say that people in this room and beyond have not slept in 24 hours. not that that is all that important but is a commitment to insuring that this community, including the members of the congregation of the sikh temple know that law enforcement, know that their elected officials, know that their appointed officials only take this seriously but regard this kind

of activity as at the top of our responsibilities as responsible law enforcement, leaders and leaders of this community. that kind of commitment will continue today, tomorrow, and the weeks ahead and the months ahead and the years ahead. and the sikh community should know that we remain committed to insuring your safety and your security here in oak creek and around the nation. that is the commitment of this attorney general, of this president, and of all of us in federal, state, local, and tribal government here in the state of wisconsin. we share, as i said, in your great sorrow. inside that all important and continuing law enforcement work i would like to join the chief in his comments about the critically important and prompt responsive bowork of the first responders. he described the specifics of those events, horrific, terrible, life threatening, life taking.

>> we're listening right now to a press conference ongoing in oak creek, wisconsin. local and federal authorities coming together to brief the media and really the public on the latest in the investigation into the shooting at the sikh temple in oak creek, wisconsin. learning a lot in this briefing. i want to bring in our david mattingly to talk about this briefly. he's been listening to this as well. david is on the ground in oak creek, wisconsin. so we finally, at least, get official confirmation from authorities publicly on the identity of the alleged shooter. what else did you gather from this press briefing? >> reporter: what jumped out at me is the gripping account we got of that first few minutes as the first responders arrived there on the scene. they got the call at 10:25 local time of emergency 911 call from inside the temple. when the first officer arrived, he saw someone who had been shot in the parking lot. that officer went to assist that

person who had been shot. and that's when according to authorities here described it, that officer was ambushed by wade michael page. page, short range and then shot that officer eight to nine times. again, that was at short range. they're using the word ambush here that he shot that officer eight to nine times. we know that officer is now gone through two rounds of surgery and that he is resting comfortably. another big thing we heard from this, we're hearing from federal and local authorities trying to reassure the people who live here that there was no other shooter and that oak creek is now secure. >> absolutely. and also trying to acknowledge a very obvious statement that this really is a tragedy for all. david, thank you so much. we did also learn the names, identities of the six victims would were fatally wounded in this shooting. they range from ages of 39 to 84 years old. male victims and one female victim. of course, the shooter himself

was -- the alleged shooter himself was also fatally wounded in that shooting as well. learned the identity of the officer would was wounded in this shooting, lieutenant brian murphy, 51 years old, a 21-year veteran of the police department there. much more information to come. first, before we go to break, i want to bring what you we believe is the first look that we are getting of this alleged shooter. we have two photographs. i believe we'll put them on the screen from you. this is coming from the band's myspace page. this is a band that drew griffin was telling us about. this far right punk band called end apathy. we're told by two neighbors that these are photos of the singer is that of michael -- of wade michael page. of course, we do not have independent confirmation of this yet. we wanted to bring this information to you. this is the first look we're getting of this alleged shooter, wade michael page. confirmed by two neighbors that these are photographs of him

from the far right punk band myspace page that he was a member of called end apathy. we'll have much more on this to come. ♪ this is the sound... you feel that? no. the eassist is working. right now. that's spandau ballet, man. you did this all the way to the restaurant. yeah. we were going up a hill. getting extra horsepower. from a battery-powered generator. ♪ ah, ah ah, ah, ah ♪ it's helping us conserve fuel. this is important. [ male announcer ] the all-new, 37 mpg chevy malibu eco. from new technology to old friends. chevy runs deep. from new technology to old friends. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world.

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. nasa's rover curiosity could answer key questions about life on mars after eight long months of hurling through space for 325 million miles, if can you even believe it. it came down to seven minutes of terror. but when the clock ran down, there was this -- >> touchdown confirmed. >> and it seems like curiosity is living up to its name. within minutes of landing, curiosity beamed back these images that you're getting a glimpse of here. glimpses of the red planet with hints of the sophisticated science, lab on wheels behind the lens. john zarella is joining us live from pasadena, california, after a very long night, john. i don't know when you're going to get a nap. i hope you get one in soon. you can almost feel the joy in that control room. it was absolutely amazing. so give us a better understanding of what the

curiosity is kind of -- what that seven minutes of terror actually meant. >> reporter: yeah. you know, it was -- they never before attempted a landing of this kind on mars. the reason they had to do it this way, if you look behind me there, the rover back there, that is a model of it, 2,000 pounds, the size of a small car. in the past they used air bags that bounced on the surface. the air bags would stop. they deflate and the little rover would ride off the pedals. this thing is way too big to do that. they to come up with this unique landing method, hit the atmosphere at 13,000 miles an hour, steering its way through the atmosphere. then the parachute deploys. then the sky crane drops it down to the surface. and then the tethers have to all snap at the same time. and if any one thing did not go right, kate, the entire mission would have been lost. there was no other way about it. it was do or die down to the planet. and they actually pulled it off.

just swimmingly. they know that they landed in the perfect spot inside the gale crater. pretty close to exactly where they wanted to be. >> absolutely amazing. 13,000 miles an hour. completely blows my mind. so for viewers, what is the goal of exploring mars other than that it is pretty neat for no other word, to no betterwar wao. >> curiosity does not have the ability to detect life itself. it has the ability that's no other rover has ever had. it has chemistry lab onboard that will analyze and look for the signatures of life. we talked to one of the mars scientists earlier about just what they're hoping to find. >> we would like to find the kind of chemical fingerprints of the science that mars could have been a habitual world, maybe in a different time in a different place, you know, than earth.

that will tell us that we're not alone. so this mission is all about understanding the record in rocks and soils on mars as if we were chemical fossil hunters. >> you know, to keep our audience completely glued to this coverage, i've been told by multiple sources that in the next 30 minutes nasa is going to hold a briefing here and they're going to release an image that they say is stunning. now we'll see if they're baiting me on this. supposedly it's an image taken from an orbitter that was flying overhead as curiosity was landing. and the shot is supposedly of curiosity on the end of the parachute as it's descending to the martian surface. that will be stunning if that's what it is. we'll have to wait and see. but in about 25, 30 minutes we should have that. >> well, they have my attention, that's for sure. real quick, john, how long do

they actually think the curiosity will last on mars? is that anything that they're handing out yet? >> reporter: well, yeah. the mission is at least two years long. that's the design life of the mission. but it has a radio isotope thermal electronic generator, a nuclear power source. that could last 50 years. the rest of the mechanics on there won't last that long. they can certainly do the two years and probably far beyond that if there's money. >> yeah, money. that is a huge question especially in these tough budgetary times when nasa is also feeling the budget crunch. thanks. great work. president obama hailed the mission in curiosity's landing as "an unprecedented feat of technology." so... [ gasps ]

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wisconsin, as they struggle to understand why a gunman would open fire on a sikh temple. law enforcement are still debriefing reporters right now in this news conference that we have been monitoring and brought you to earlier. federal and state authorities are still in the very early stages of their investigation. we are getting a disturbing but clearer picture about the gunman himself and a possible motive. police say the man behind the shooting rampage is 40-year-old wade michael page. two neighbors have confirmed with cnn that these pictures you're seeing right there, these are pictures of page himself. we got ahold of these from the myspace account of a far right punk band which neighbors say page was a singer in. he was also an army veteran who apparently served on active duty. according to a official, he was discharged 14 years ago for patterns of misconduct. what's more, investigators believe page may have been a white supremacist. here's what law enforcement authorities said about page. >> as far as some of the

information that was obtained on him, i know there's much that's been put out in the media already regarding him. and some of that we're looking at. we can say that he was in the military. 1992 to 1998. he had a general discharge. and that he was ineligible for re-enlistment. i want to make it perfectly clear right now he is the only shooter that was involved at the temple. >> now this tragedy has put sikhism as international headlines, a religion some viewers may not know much about which is why i want to bring in my colleague, a very good friend and also one of the smartest people who i know and is also the co-editor of cnn's belief blog. the easiest place to start is what should people know about sikhism, a religion they may not be familiar w. >> sure, sikhism which here in the united states is sometimes also pronounced as sikhism.

it begins about 500 years ago in india. its the devinely revealed religion with script tours and practices. there are elements of heroindui and islam. but here in the united states there is about 700,000 members of the faith around the world there is about 25 million. many of them come from an ethnic heritage out of india. now, kate, there are several important parts of the faith we want to talk about. one is medication on god. the other is honest living and clean living. the other is service to the community. and in those areas, that's where we see a lot of the practices of the faith come out and where we saw the worship service going on sunday in that community. there is no set day of worship in the faith but here in the united states it often follows the american work week. we see a lot of worship services for sikhs taking place on the weekend. >> and following this tragedy, we've also been reminded that the sikh community has been targeted time and again post 9/11. why is that?

>> one of the important tenants for the faith that many observers keep is they keep the hair long, men and women. in the men in particular, they wrap their hair in turbins. that is a sign of the acceptance of god's will. here in the united states, people who are looking to perpetrate hate crimes in particular against muslims have mistaken sikhs for muslims. in the last ten years we've seen sikhs taking the brunt of these attacks on hate crimes because of their turbins. it's the men who wear the turbins who get targeted. that happens a lot in the sikh community. that is such an important tenant of their faith to keep their hair long. not all the men do it m, many of them do. >> as you and i were talking about this, one aspect of this story that you mentioned and you found most intriguing is the fact that the sikh community following this tragedy are

talking about opening up their doors rather than slamming them shut in light of another tragedy hitting their community. what do you make of that? >> well, one of the two key aspects the faith is that meditation service where they read the script tours under that canopy, some of that video we are showing comes from a service last rear in the washington, d.c. area. another part is the langor meal. it's a big kmucommunal meal. they talked about coming together and sharing a meal. everyone comes down and sits together and shares that communal meal. that meal is open to the entire community of any race, of any religion, of any creed. and one thing i heard from sikh leaders here in the suits they want people to come and share that meal with them this weekend and open their doors. like you said, there's this temptation after shooting like this to want to lock the doors and isolate yourself as a community. but it's really intriguing to me to hear sikh leaders talking about opening the doors and welcoming everyone in to help

kind of get a better understanding of the faith. >> right. and hopefully something good could come from this horrible, horrible tragedy. eric, thank you so much for your insights. i'll talk to you soon. >> you got i, kate. this summer, save up to 30%, plus get up to $100 on us. welcome to hotels.com. and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward.

. the gop convention starts three weeks from today. mark your calendars. while we don't know who will fill out the presidential ticket, we're learning more about the program, the party is awarded speaking spots to condoleeza rice, mike huckabee, john mccain and four republican governors including rick scott of florida. my colleague jim acosta is joining me now to talk about a little bit more about this very interesting who is getting some of the speaking slots. i also can't help but noticing who isn't on that list yet, jim. >> reporter: that's right, kate. it wasn't, i guess it wasn't a big surprise that we didn't see some of the names on this list that we may see later on. it just sort of all depends on this vice-presidential selection process. of course, vice presidential selection process so we are not seeing names like rob portman or tim pawlenty at this point, because those two gentlemen are said to be high on mitt romney's vice presidential selection list, so we may hear more about that later, but it

was interesting to see, susana martinez on the list which means she won't be the running mate, and condoleezza rice, and remember there was a big buzz that she is on the list, but that means she is out. this san intereis an interestin narrow it down, but rick santorum and newt gingrich is not on the list nor ron paul, and they are not going to be the running mate, but we will watch where they get the slot, because it means the way that things are coming together in the republican party and where the wounds have healed. >> and the focus of the platform going forward and this is the most fun in washington these days to whether we will hear a keynote speak ore possibly -- speaker or possibly a running mate announcement. >> i i downloaded mitt romney's

vp app and they can download it on their phones for our viewers, but you will find out before the national news media or before the press finds out and this is interesting and it goes to show you how the romney campaign will keep it close to the vest. this morning when he was out doing grocery shopping in new hampshire this morning, the protective press pool who was follow following him asked him what all of the groceriers were for and he said that he was having people over and he said what about the vice presidential prospects r they coming out to the lakehouse, and he laughed off that question. that is the question on all of our mind, but my guess is that we won't find out until we get closer to the convention. it is still too soon to let the cat out of the bag. >> post olympics or pre-convention, leaving some room there. jim acosta, thank you so much. >> you bet. the gop convention starts

august 27th in tampa, and the democrats meet the following week in charlotte. all off that is coming up. president obama is spending a low-key day at the white house so far before heading out to campaign in connecticut. he has a bill signing on the schedule a measure boosting health, and education and housing benefit s fs for the veterans. and also bars protests from military services two hours before services to two hours after services conclude, and protesters will have to stay at least 100 yards away from a mourners and a fringe group as you know calling themselves the westboro baptist church makes a practice of spewing hate at military funerals, and also america's embrace of homosexuality. [ male announcer ] count the number of buttons in your car.

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firefighters in oklahoma still have their hands full battling a series of wildfires that have torched more than 100 homes and charred hundreds of buildings and charred hundreds of acres. one of the hardest hit is creek county and the fires are fuelled in part by one of the worst droughts in history. look at the pictures. the drought is gripping much of the country. meteorologist chad meyers is monitoring the developments in atlanta.

chad, you helped me out explain this on friday whether it is helping or hurting, the weather, and what about today? >> well, today, the winds are only going to be 10 miles per hour, and over the weekend and friday the temperatures reached 112 degrees and the winds were 130 miles per hour. firefighters had no chance. fires were just leaping from one spot to another. they thought they had a handle on it and a fire line and then two miles later, you will see a spark fly and ember fly and another fire was set. this is just natural fires. most of them, and we heard one possibility of an arson fire, but most of the them were naturally occurring fires and when you get that type of heat and wind and low humidity, it can happen. when we talked about the drought, kate, the issue with the drought is that it was not a drought six to eight weeks ago and nice spring and wet spring and things began the grow, and weeds began to grow higher than usual and then all of the sudden

the rain stopped. all of the sudden, you have tall weeds and tall things around growing, and the rain stops and everything dried out and everything has completely dried out in oklahoma. this is just the beginning of the fire season. i lived in oklahoma for a couple of years and forest fires and grass fires are not that uncommon, because they happen all of the time, but with those winds, there was no chance of those firefighters stopping the flames, and we lost a lot of homes. >> as usual, we are running out of time, but you say that the weather is helping this em hel and any idea whether the weather will help them in the days to come? >> well, the hot spots will jump again when the winds pick up, u but the winds are calm right now, so that is very good. >> that is a good thing, and we continue the hope that they will have weather in the favor. thank you, chad myers. thank you all for watching, i'm

kate bolduan and newsroom international starts with michael holmes after a short break. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com.

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hello, everyone. welcome to newsroom international, i'm michael holmes sitting in for suzanne malveaux and we are taking you around the world in 60 minutes. here is what is going on out here is what is going on out there. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the man who shot and killed six people at a wisconsin sikh temple was an army veteran. we will have more details ahead in a live report. syria's prime minister has fled to jordan. opposition leaders say that ree haw di jihad has fled, and israeli television says he was fired. he is the highest official to

have left hasan al assad's regime. and officials in damascus say that several people were injured at a television station, but the station did continue to broadcast. you hear it there, syrian jets have been fire pounding a city of aleppo, as thousands of troops get in position around it. people are fearing a full-scale assault is imminent. a militant attack in a sinai peninsula has killed 15 egyptian soldiers and masked gunmen with weapons mounted on the cars enb tered the checkpoint near egypt and gaza and israel. israel says that the forces killed about five gunmen who crossed over into its territory in a armored vehicle. they sent gunship s s to the ar hunting for the militants they believe are behi t