i'm wolf blitzer.'re in "the situation room." >>> mitt romney is using ads, web videos, speeches to hammer away at president obama on welfare. romney is taking a lot of heat though over his claims about the administration's policies, but with support from an unlikely ally he's raising the stakes today. here's our national political correspondent jim acosta. >> reporter: wolf, mitt romney is not backing away from his accusation that president obama is trying to make it easier for the poor to receive welfare checks and to help make his case he's getting some help from an old rival. >> they just send you your welfare check. >> reporter: even though his ad accusing the president of weakening work requirements for welfare recipients got a pants on fire from politifact and four pinocchios from "the washington post," mitt romney is doubling down on the claim. >> this is to help people go to work so they can stop drawing a welfare check and start drawing a paycheck. >> reporter: the new video not only touts pr

wolf blitzer in d.c. for us. no matter who it is, once the announcement is made and out there and it's official, how does it change a campaign? >> one thing it does, once you have a vice presidential running mate, that person is important. as far as fund-raising is concerned, this is a reason why several of the romney folks really wanted someone to be announced as quickly as possible. once that person is the vice presidential running mate of mitt romney, that person can go out and raise money going to fund-raisers and if you are the running mate, you can do better raising money with potential big shots than if you are not. if you are a senator or a congressman or a governor or whatever. when you are the running mate, that helps from the fund-raising perspective and it presumably will generate buzz out there and i am surprised why the goff nof wants it do it on a saturday morning as the olympics are not completed. there will be an explanation for that. assume they wanted to wait until the olympics were done and th

let's bring wolf blitzer right now in that town we're talking about. wolf, give us some analysis on -- from the obama camp's perspective. how will the obama camp attack this? >> i think they'll immediately start talking about what paul ryan's budget as the chairman of the house budget committee would have called for if it was obviously approved by the house of representatives whether republicans have a decisive majority. it didn't get approved by the u.s. senate. the democrats don't have a majority. but what i'll say is that paul ryan wants to end medicare as we know it. they'll say he wants to really effectively end social security too. very popular entitlement programs for seniors in the united states. medicare the health plan for seniors in the united states. social security the real relief if you will for so many millions, tens of millions of elderly americans that are retired and elsewhere. they're going to go after paul ryan and mitt romney on this issue, and they're going to try to score some points. i've just been going through some of the reac

. >>> good morning, i'm wolf blitzer in washington.viewers in the united states and around the world. breaking news this hour, mitt romney is about two hours away from revealing vice presidential choice, a move that could redefine the republican presidential campaign. three republican sources telling cnn, romney's choice as congressman paul ryan of wisconsin, the house budget committee chairman. in recent days there's been a good deal of pressure from the right to choose paul ryan. he's seen by many as a bold choice who helps bolster romney's conservative credentials and shows he's serious about economic change. romney will make his announcement in the battleground state of virginia. the military city of norfolk, aboard the uss wisconsin. event kickoff his campaign bus tour with his new running mate, a little more than three weeks before the republican national convention. we have complete coverage leading up to this dramatic announcement. candy crowley is here, gloria borger is here, john king is here, jim acosta is in nor folk. brian

wolf blitzer is off. i'm candy crowley and you're in "the situation room". >>> we begin with the state of unemployment in america, just three months before election day. both democrats and republicans have something to seize on in the newest jobs report. employers say they added 163,000 jobs to the u.s. economy in july. that's better than economists expected, and something for the obama camp to hang its hat on. but the romney camp is pointing to this figure, the overall unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 8.3%, because american households report losing 195,000 jobs. we want to bring in our white house correspondent, dan lothian. so sounds like kind of a wash, politically, dan. >> it does. and what the president is trying to do is highlight the positive, as you pointed out. yes, the unemployment rate did tick up to 8.3%, but what they're focused on is the fact that jobs were created, more jobs than expected. the experts out there, economists had expected that some 95,000 jobs would have been created las

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. >> yaw, let's bring wolf blitzer right now in that town we're talking about. wolf, give us some analysis from the ob camp's perspective. how will the obama camp attack this? >> i think they will immediately start talking about what paul ryan's budget, the determinant of the house bujts committee would have called for if it was obviously approved by the house of representatives. but what i'll say is paul ryan wants to end medicare as we know it. i'll say he wants to really, effectively and social security, two very popular entitlement programs for seniors and the united states, medicare, the health department plan for seniors, united states, social security. the real release, if you will. so they're going to go after paul ryan and mitt romney on this issue. and they're going to try to score some points. i i've jugs been going through reactions from obama supporters. they're saying out loud already this is great news for the president and his team because they think they'll have an issue to run and paul will write the romney ticket. sometimes, they shouldn't be

he likes to look at numbers as much as romney does. >> let me bring in wolf blitzer as well.ou think people will look at paul ryan's experience. he's 42 years old. he has no foreign policy experience. he never ran a statewide campaign. will that play a role here? >> he's a really smart guy. he'll be up to speed soon. the debate he has in october. that's joe biden's real strength. elvery to learn all of the key issues, issues involving war and peace and of course there's tense spots with iran, with china and syria, with north korea. he's going to have to do a lot of studying. he's a chairman of the budget committee, a chairman of the ways and means committee. domestic economic issues are his real bread and butter. that's his real strength. when all is said and done, unless the u.s. is in a real war and there's a national security crisis, those are theish you us that determine this race. it is, after all, the economy. stupid, still after all these years, especially in the time of tough economic pain which the country is going through. yes, he'll learn and come up to speed on th

plenty to talk about with dana bash, wolf blitzer and david gergen. it's well known the president's own campaign manager, stephanie cutter, said that mitt romney possibly committed a felony. did it surprise you that president obama denied that today? >> well, you know, he was being very precise and he's a very precise kind of person, as all of us who have covered him over the years, know. he didn't say that -- he said no one actually accused him of committing a felony. stephanie cutter, the deputy campaign manager for the obama campaign, just said, if, in fact, he had done what was suggested, that potentially could have been a felony. so he was precise. it didn't surprise me because the president wants to be very precise in what he's saying. and stephanie cutter was pretty precise with her parsing words, if you will. >> is that just splitting hairs, parsing words? >> yes, it is splitting hairs. i was surprised. because stephanie cutter introduced the discussion. wolf is right, she did not outright accuse romney of being a felon. she definitely suggest

good to have you, brooke, here at this republican convention. >> wolf blitzer, thank you.l watch for you and the a team reporting from the convention center. in the meantime as you mentioned we're not ignoring other stories either. hundreds of earthquakes have been rattling folks in southern california in something scientists actually call a swarm, this earthquake swarm. it's the most seismic activity in southern california since the '70s. they're expecting thousands, you heard me, thousands more quakes over the next couple of days. casey wian is in california in the city that's apparently closest to this swarm. how strong are these earthquakes, casey? >> reporter: they're ranging in magnitude, brooke. we felt one not long ago 3.8 magnitude. it was a good, sharp jolt that you could really feel. some of them have been as strong as 5.3, even 5.5 magnitude. those are the ones that have actually done some damage. but by our account, nearly 500 er earthquakes in the last 36 hours. 60 of approximately more than 3.0 in magnitude. when we got here last night this pharmacy was an a

i'm wolf blitzer. up to tonight and in about four hours, mitt romney will accept the republican presidential nomination. we've just received some advance excerpts from what he will say. our national political correspondent jim acosta is on the convention floor. what do you know there, jim. share with the viewers. >> wolf, the romney campaign released excerpts of his speech he will be delivering later when he accepts the gop nomination. a key quote to put on screen if we can do that now, mitt romney is going to say, quote, i wish president obama had succeeded because i want america to succeed, but his promises gave way to disappointment and division, romney will say. this isn't something we have to accept. now is the moment when we can do something, with your help, we will do something. that from mitt romney. i can also tell you from looking at the excerpts, he is not only talking about his father but his mother, saying his mother would have been proud of many of the female gop leaders that took the sta

i'm wolf blitzer.ion room." >>> we're learning much more about the shooter and the victims in the sikh temple slaughter in wisconsin. i'll speak with oak creek police chief coming up live. we'll hear exclusively from two men who lost their mother in the killings. first, we're getting new details on the weapon. our own brian todd is joining us now live. he's in oak creek, wisconsin. brian, you've been tracing the gun. what are you finding out? >> reporter: spoke to the gun store manager, wolf. new details on that weapon that authorities believe was used in this shooting. that information comes from the gun store manager who is still shaken by the experience. >> subject down! officers down! i need ambulance. >> we have one officer shot. >> 7512 subject with a gun, balding, white t-shirt. officer down. >> reporter: it was less than a week before this carnage that suspect wade michael page stopped here and picked up the

. >>> good morning, i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. breaking news this hour, mitt romney is about two hours away from revealing vice presidential choice, a move that could redefine the republican presidential campaign. three republican sources telling cnn, romney's choice as congressman paul ryan of wisconsin, the house budget committee chairman. in recent days there's been a good deal of pressure from the right to choose paul ryan. he's seen by many as a bold choice who helps bolster romney's conservative credentials and shows he's serious about economic change. romney will make his announcement in the battleground state of virginia. the military city of norfolk, aboard the uss wisconsin. event kickoff his campaign bus tour with his new running mate, a little more than three weeks before the republican national convention. we have complete coverage leading up to this dramatic announcement. candy crowley is here, gloria borger is here, john king is here, jim acos

. >> i'm wolf blitzer. we have a lot to report coming up. it's time to take a closer look, first of all, at cnn's documentary, "romney revealed." including some moments from the interview we haven't seen before. we're also following very important developments with tropical storm isaac. look at this. the center of the storm now is expected to move away from the florida keys tonight and spend monday in the eastern gulf of mexico. expected to be hurricane strength by tuesday as it approaches the u.s. gulf coast. forecasters say it could hit new orleans tuesday night or early wednesday. that would be the anniversary of hurricane katrina. officials declared a state of emergency. louisiana governor bobby jindal is asking for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas. we'll have a complete updated forecast in a little while. anderson, this is very, very worrisome. >> remarkable to think it could hit on the anniversary of hurricane katrina. florida breathing a sigh of relief. now, the focus turned to the gulf coast. we've all seen something extraord

wolf blitzer is off today. i'm john king. you're in "the situation room." >>> we're heading into a monster week for mitt romney and paul ryan, as they gear up for the republican convention, now just a week away. to start building excitement, the running mates reunite monday in one of this year's all-important swing states. cnn's joe johns is here to look ahead at what else we can expect in a big, big week ahead. >> that's right, john. it certainly looks like the ryan/romney campaign could be changing its strategy already. last week, paul ryan himself said, and campaign aides confirmed, that the initial plan was for the two men to split up, more often than not, in the few weeks leading up to the republican national convention in tampa. but now, mitt romney and paul ryan are already scheduled to reunite for a campaign stop in the manchester area of new hampshire and the campaign has left open the possibility of more stops together, later in the week. early reports are those stops could be in the midwest. new hampshire was the p

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." the news continues next on cnn. >>> hello, i'm deborah feyerick. the choice is made. it is romney-ryan on the republican ticket. paul ryan is 43 years old and considered the party's go-to guy on budget and fiscal issues. the white house has welcomed ryan to the race. we'll find out if president obama's re-election team is worried or energized. looking ahead to the debate and election day. >>> the so-called green on blue attacks in afghanistan may be escalating. an afghan believed to be a police officer opened fire and killed three u.s. marines in the helmand province on friday. it was the second attack on nato troops in less than 24 hours. friday, three american soldiers were killed by a man in an afghan military uniform. >>> rescue teams are combing through the rubble, searching for signs of life after two earthquakes jolted northwest iran. at least 180 people were killed and more than 1300 injured when the quakes shook the province. four villages were reportedly leveled. 60 others s

>>> couple minutes away from "the situation room" with wolf blitzer. hello, wolf blitzer. today? >> we have lots of news coming up in "the situation room." later today we'll hear live from paul ryan out on the campaign trail. we'll also hear live from michelle obama and the president, president barack obama. they're going to be live. they're coming up. we're going to take those remarks later in "the situation room" as well. ed gillespie, a senior advisor, he's going to join us live. wait until you hear and see, brooke, the interview i just taped with former democratic congressman archer davis. he's here in "the situation room." he's seconded the nomination of president obama four years ago in denver. but what a difference four years makes. a major supporter now of mitt romney. wait until you hear what he says about the vice president of the united states. i think this is some of my staff already suggesting must-see tv. the interview with archer davis that will air here in "the situation room." >> isn't all tv with you, wolf blitzer, must-see tv? >> no. it's not all must-se

i'm wolf blitzer.this hour with a very important change in the presidential race. according to our brand new cnn/orc poll, a majority of the nation's voters now say they want to re-elect president obama. take a look at this. the president has 52%. he's seven points ahead of mitt romney who's at 45%. just a month ago the president in our poll was ahead 49% to 46%. significantly the president now according to our latest poll is above 50%. our polls also show what voters think of mitt romney's potential vice presidential picks. let's bring in our national political correspondent jim acosta. he's taking a closer look at all of these numbers. >> that's right. >> at least on the surface, should bring a smile to the obama campaign. >> and perhaps a warning to mitt romney and his campaign to go big in the vice presidential search with mitt romney heading out on a potential rollout of his running mate. the results on the veepstakes are even more fascinating. the two men that seem to be the safe bets in washingt

wolf blitzer joins me with his thoughts on that and other fun little nuggets to get to.f, this wasn't a huge secret, but that's a great spot for chris christy given the fact he was, you know, people wanted him to run for president. >> people wanted him to run for president. people thought marco rubio would be a great vice presidential running mate selection. they weren't going to get the number two slot on the ticket. marco rubio maybe just being not as experienced nationally as he probably should have been in order to be heart beat away from the presidency. still a young guy and opportunities in 2016, 2020 down the road. same was chris christie. i don't think he was ever seriously considered for the running mate slot because he's -- you know, he just has been a little bit too controversial, a little bit too outspoken and would have gone against totally what mitt romney was looking for. although he does have a huge future ahead of him. he's an impressive politician. we'll be there covering every step of the convention. >> you are not all work all the time. you take in a

i'm wolf blitzer. i'm wolf blitzer.ation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> the latest forecast is in for tropical storm isaac. isaac is kicking up trouble right now in the caribbean. but projected paths show it could also spell big trouble for the republican national convention next week in tampa. let's go straight to our meteorologist and severe weather expert chad myers. he's in the cnn weather center. you're taking a closer look at the forecast that just came out. share with our viewers. >> you know, wolf, headline news was in my ear talking to me when you were tossing to me. i have no idea what you just asked me. but i'm going to -- i'm going to start from here. we'll go from scratch. we have a lot of networks trying to get all this information as well. the leeward islands right there, that's where the storm is. not that far to the southeast of the u.s. virgin islands. then this category 1 hurricane tomorrow and into friday will run right over haiti. i'm very concerned of the people there. haiti is a

i'm wolf blitzer.oment in history that made neil armstrong all of our hero. >> go ahead, neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now. >> okay. i just checked the -- getting back up to that first step. it's adequate to get back up. >> roger. we copy. >> it's a pretty good little jump. i'm at the foot of the ladder. the

i'm joined by my colleagues, wolf blitzer, jim acosta. thanks for joining me in the noon hour. woe be to the governor who isn't ready for a national disaster that hits his state. so far as i can tell, he has been out there and out front in talking about it. >> that's right. i mean, if you're the governor of a state had a hurricane is onity way, it's probably a good idea to be at command central rather than at the republican convention. and i don't think it's too surprising that rick scott has done this, and i don't think it's too surprising that convention planners have decided to do this. obviously safety has to come first. >> you still hear in tampa, put he's monitoring what's going on. he's basically canceled his convention-related activities to make sure this state is prepared for what could be a disaster. >> and you know, what we've found -- and here he is, rick scott. so let's hear what he has to say about the storm today. hurricane isaac. this is the governor of florida. >> all right. i guess it's afternoon now. good afternoon. we've got individuals here. we've got the t

i'm wolf blitzer at the republican national convention in tampa. >> good evening, everyone.son cooper in new orleans. politics is taking a back seat to personal safety. a big storm is on the way. >> i want to give you the latest on hurricane isaac. what will be hurricane isaac right now, it is a tropical storm. the national hurricane center says it will be a hurricane very soon. the storm's maximum sustained winds are 70 miles an hour. just four miles an hour under hurricane strength. a hurricane warning stretch from east of morgan city, louisiana, right now, to the alabama, florida border. isaac's forward speed is only about ten miles an hour. and is expected to slow down. that means a lot of rain here. because of that and the normal high tide, a significant storm surge is expected along the northern gulf coast. manner to evacuations have been ordered along the coast of alabama, mississippi and alabama. low lying areas, thousands of people headed inland today. there is a lot to talk about. wolf will be covering it over the next hour and a half. let's go back to you in tampa

cnn's primetime convention coverage continues tonight at 7:00 eastern with wolf blitzer. at 10:00 p.m. eastern time, republican presidential nominee mitt romney will deliver the speech of his life, his acceptance speech. piers morgan wraps up the convention's last full day. >>> we're now getting a closer look at the former navy s.e.a.l. who's giving a first-hand account of the osama bin laden raid in his brand-new book. this book is called "no easy day." and it's written under a phony name, mark owen. the pentagon originally didn't want cnn to reveal the author's true identity for fear he and others in s.e.a.l. team 6 would be targets for terrorists. but now the pentagon says those s.e.a.l.s have had time to protect themselves. so let's show you the real author, matt bissonnette, in his interview with cbs. >> my worry from the beginning is, you know, it's a political season. this book is not political whatsoever. it doesn't bad mouth either party. and we specifically chose september 11 to keep it out of the politics. you know, if these crazies on either side of the aisle

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i'm wolf blitzer in tampa. i'm wolf blitzer in tampa.captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> first, this just coming into "the situation room." we're here at the republican national convention. it has formally opened, immediately recessed the proceedings delayed a day by earlier uncertainties about tropical storm isaac. tampa may have dodged a direct hit but others won't be so lucky. and this is just coming in. the latest forecast for isaac, a storm which eerily and ominously is following a track very close to that of katrina that took place in 2005. seven years ago this week katrina devastated new orleans, much of the gulf coast and urgent preparations are now under way for isaac including evacuations in three states. let's go straight to our meteorologist, our severe weather expert, chad myers. he's at the cnn weather center. the latest forecast just came in, chad. what does it tell us? >> -- >> chad, hold on a minute, chad. unfortunately we aren't getting your audio. we're going to fix that. we're also getting another story in from the

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> mitt romney is using ads, web videos, speeches to hammer away at president obama on welfare. romney is taking a lot of heat though over his claims about the administration's policies, but with support from an unlikely ally he's raising the stakes today. here's our national political correspondent jim acosta. >> reporter: wolf, mitt romney is not backing away from his accusation that president obama is trying to make it easier for the poor to receive welfare checks and to help make his case he's getting some help from an old rival. >> they just send you your welfare check. >> reporter: even though his ad accusing the president of weakening work requirements for welfare recipients got a pants on fire from politifact and four pinocchios from "the washington post," mitt romney is doubling down on the claim. >> this is to help people go to work so they can stop drawing a welfare check and start drawing a paycheck. >> reporter: the new video not only tout