as lisa sylvester reports, his time arounn, it seems to be the year of the women. 3 --reporter pkg-asollows -- president obama, courting women for their vote in colorado: "they want to take us back to the policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century." in new york addressing thousands of women bloggers: "you, women, should have control over the decisions that affect your health, your lives, your careers." and in campaign ads: "i think mitt romney's really out of touch with the average woman's health issuee." democrats are tapping out a consistent drum beat, that republicans are a bad choice for women. three words heard repeatedly the so-called war on women. democrats point to rush limbaugh and comments he madd about women's activist sandra fluke over the issue of access to contraception. "it makes her a slut, right?" they highlight proposed gop funding cuts to planned parenthood and a call for a constitutional ban on abortion. and the outrageous statements of missouri republican senate candidate todd akin plays right into it. "if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has w

lisa sylvester reports, the findings are interesting. >> the president's story is well-known. his father is from kenya and his mother from the united states. and ancestry web sites as it has mapped out the obama family tree going back 11 generations. >> he is the 11th great- grandson of the first documented slave. >> his mother was connected to a man named don punch. those children later became known as the bonds family. the findings of the two-year study are now posted on the company's web site. this is how did the research team to give this up? >> as ago from the president to his mother and great- grandmother, you're looking at birth records and death records and as we get further in time they were not kept. >> the university of maryland professor says all this is perfectly plausible. there was a time when indentured servants enslaves intermingled. costs >> lineage has become a fascinating insight topic. since then aunt how home hadn't office affair >> and natalie portman got married over the weekend. she exchanged vows with a dancer and choreographer after a two year engage

as lisa sylvester reports, some in the catholic community do not like ryan linking his budget proposalthe church. 3 --reporter pkg-as follows -- (nats) the nuns on the bus...they traveled 27- hundred miles this summer... (nats) railing against congressman paul ryan's budget proposal that they say would slash social programs and hurt the poor. "congressman ryan claiming that catholicism mantle really set our teeth on edge. and-probably we wouldn't be on the road if he hadn't done that." the nuns were not alone. the us conference of catholic bishops in this letter in april also went on record opposing the ryan budget plan. but ryan argued in a speech at georgetown university this spring that a tight fiscal policy is in keeping with catholic teachings. he argues that when government gets out of the way, local communities and individuals fill the gap. "i don't believe that the preferential option for the poor means a preferential option for big government." (nats) but now that ryan has been nammd as mitt romney's running mate there's been a fresh round of outcry from catholics who oppose d

lisa sylvester is monitoring that right now. what's going on, lisa?porter: across syria fighting is fierce, many are dead and the living are fleeing by the thousands. opposition activist says almost 150 people have been killed in violence just today. cnn is unable to independently confirm the information but heavy fighting was reported in and around damascus, as well as other cities and towns. the united nations say the number of syrian refugees has now risen to more than 200,000. turkey says 3,500 refugees flooded over the border in just one day. and freelance journalist austin tyce has gone missing. and eastman kodak wants to get out of the film business. the iconic but bankrupt company announced yesterday its unit which sells traditional and photographic paper is itself up to sale. it's been overtaken by digital photography over recent years. the ceo says sale of the division would be a major step towards reorganization. >> and this next surveillance video is likely to make you cringe. tack a look here. a distracted mom carrying her 4-year-old son

lisa sylvester is monitoring that. some of the other top stories in "the situation room." st every single day. >> yeah. we certainly continue to get these reports. opposition activists say 157 people were killed across syria today, including 88 in the capital damascus. activists also say they shot down a syrian attack helicopter in a damascus suh bush supposedly seen in this video. but cnn cannot independently confirm its authenticity. the violence comes after a particularly brutal weekend. 100 people were killed in the city of daraya which rebels say was one of the first cities to revolt against the assad regime. >>> police say one teenager is in critical condition and another in custody after a shooting at a high school near baltimore today. according to cnn affiliate wjz the shooting took place on the first day of classes at carrie hall high school. 15-year-old male student was quickly arrested. >>> president obama has ordered all the american flags in the u.s. and abroad to be flown at half staff on friday in honor of astronaut neil armstrong, the first man to walk on t

lisa sylvester's monitoring that and other stories in "the situation room" right now. a? >> hi, wolf. the storm is barrelling toward mexico's yucatan peninsula where it's expected to make landfall tonight. the mexican government has issued a hurricane warning as has neighboring ma. banned boats from setting sail and parts of the region are bracing for what could be up to a foot of rain. and some of the most prominent sports leagues in the country are pushing to keep sports gambling out of new jersey. the ncaa, nfl, nba and others have filed a complaint arguing it would demean the integrity of both professional and amateur sports. the state's proposed gambling regulations were posted last month at new jersey governor chris kristie named in the complaint. and marvin hamlisch has died. even if you don't know his face, you probably know the music behind it. ♪ yes, that's carly simon performing her legendary hit "nobody does it better" from the james bond film "the spy who loved me." also produced scores for classic films like "the way we were" starring barbara striesand and

lisa sylvester taking a closer look a @ story for us. >> paul ryan is catholic.s abortion and same-sex marriage. you would think that the community is running strongly behind mitt romney's running mate, but that doesn't seem to be the case. the nuns on the bus traveled 2,700 mile this is summer. reeling against congressman paul ryan's budget proposal that would slash social programs and hurt the poor. >> congressman ryan claiming the catholicism mantle really set our teeth on the edge. probably we wouldn't have been on the road if he hadn't done that. >> the bishops also went on record, opposing the ryan budget plan. but ryan argued in a speech that a tight fiscal policy isn't keeping with catholic teachings. he argued when government gets out of the way, local communitying and individuals fill the gap. >> i don't believe the preferential option for the poor means a preferential option for big government. >> now that ryan has been named as mitt romney's running mate, there's a fresh round of outcry from catholics who oppose deep slashes in nutrition programs mich

lisa sylvester is monitoring that in "the situation room" right now. what's the latest, lisa?. reported government shelling in aleppo. this video purportedly shows that fighting. a regime officer and 30 soldiers were killed in clashes with rebel fighters. heavy artillery shelling was also reported in homs province. and the u.s. says there's been an influx of syrian refugees. a former navy seal's attorney says his client did not violate anything. warned the writer whose pen name is mark owen that he broke the law and the pentagon was considering legal action against him and his publisher. a full report on this in our 6:00 p.m. eastern hour. and this was the case of sticky fingers. that's apparently worth millions in quebec. thieves took a substantial quantity of maple syrup from a warehouse outside montreal in quebec city. canadian media reports say up to 10 million pounds of syrup was stored in the warehouse. the theft was discovered during a routine inventory check and the empty barrels were found. that maple syrup has to be somewhere though, wolf. >> all right. thanks very m

lisa sylvester's monitoring that and some other top stories in "the situation room" right now. >> hi, wolf. the social media site initially refuse today disclose to authorities the user's personal information but changed course after being served with a subpoena. authorities say the post mentioned an attack at a theater where boxer mike tyson is performing. police are taking the threat seriously after the deadly attacks in colorado and wisconsin. no comment so far from twitter. and a forecast of more than 300 housing markets is predicting we won't see a real recovery in housing prices until spring with numbers dipping another 1% between this year and next. analysts say it won't be until march 2013 before prices begin to gain momentum. they also warn any additional drop in consumer confidence could further delay the recovery process. and country music star randy travis was arrested and charged with retaliation and driving while intoxicated after being found lying naked on a remote texas roadway. authorities say travis was involved in a one-vehicle accident and allegedly threaten

lisa sylvester is in washington and is taking a closer look at this.i there, carol. joe biden, paul ryan, they are both catholic and catholics are represented in swing states. the fact that ryan is a catholic played a role in why he was elected to be mitt romney's running mate. ryan is getting major pushback from catholics that oppose him in one area, his budget policies. the nuns on the bus traveled 2700 miles this summer railing against congressman paul ryan's budget proposal that they say would slash social programs and hurt the poor. >> congressman ryan claiming the catholicism mantel really set our teeth on edge and probably wouldn't have been on the road if he hadn't done that. >> the nuns were not alone. the catholic bishops went on record opposing the ryan plan. but he said that a tight fiscal policy isn't keeping with catholic teachings. when government gets out of the way, local communities and individuals fill the gap. >> i don't believe that the preferential option for the poor means a preferential option for big government. >> but now that

cnn's lisa sylvester is looking closer at who's behind this ad. what's going on here, lisa?, i would say it's safe to say the mud has been flying in this congressional race. keep in mind we are talking about florida. there are a lot of seniors there. medicare is a big issue. and that provides some of the context to this ad. call it the season of controversial ads. in the final sprint to november there have been a number of doozies. >> welfare to work goes back to meaning plain old welfare. >> that's when they found the cancer. >> reporter: the latest comes from a florida congressional race, democratic patrick murphy challenging incumbent allen west for his congressional seat. take a look. >> west has socked it to seniors voting to end medicare as we know it. >> reporter: representative murphy's staff says they had nothing to do with the ad. that was paid for by the american sunrise super pac funded by murphy's father, who has a very successful construction business. we contacted american sunrise for a comment but didn't get a response. congressman allen west, who is a black

lisa sylvester is monitoring that and other top stories in the "situation room" right now. going on, lisa? >> wolf, officials now say all nine people injured were actually wounded by police gunfire. >> officers shot a total of 16 rounds at 58-year-old jeffrey johnson after he shot and killed a former co-worker who had previously filed a complaint saying he feared an attack by johnson. police have released this surveillance video showing johnson apparently pointing something as two officers approached coming within a few feet of him. then he falls abruptly to the ground after apparently being shot. and the u.s. embassy in mexico says two of the american employees shot yesterday by mexican federal police are now in stable condition. mexican authorities aren't commenting on the investigation. the victims were traveling with a mexican naval officer in an embassy vehicle with diplomatic license plate. when confronted by police, they opened fire when the embassy vehicle tried to evade them. >>> and a huge explosion at one of the world's largest oil refineries has left at least 26

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

let's bring in lisa sylvester.ers now out and getting a lot of scrutiny. >> that's right, wolf. this convention speakers list is very useful. it tells us who is not likely to be romney's running mate. that if they're already being penciled into time slots during the convention, chances are they're not on the vp short list. who is at the top of the list? that remains a guarded secret and romney is not giving any clues. in las vegas, mitt romney refused to play the guessing game. >> i will absolutely decide and announce my running mate before the third day of the republican convention in august. but other than that, i have nothing for you. >> but that's not far off to some of us that means, any day now, mr. romney. it's the last missing puzzle piece of this political season. the name of his running mate. the rnc's just announced list of convention headline speakers is a good clue as to who will likely not be the vp pick. among them, south carolina governor nikki haley, former secretary of state, condoleezza rice, flo

lisa sylvester is monitoring that and some of the other top stories. lisa, what's going on?tan and northern india from flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains. more than 20 deaths are confirmed in pakistan and india reports 20 dead. hundreds of homes have been damaged by the rush of water. pakistan's disaster agency says a city in kashmir was hit by a major landslide. roads are blocked and an unknown number are dead and injured. >>> and the federal reserve has cut its final cord related to the government bailout of aig and in the process has turned a tidy profit. the federal reserve bank of new york announced today that it sold the last of its securities dubbed maiden lane three. the final deal brings the total profit for taxpayers to almost $18 billion. it's now up to the treasury department to sell the rest of washington's stake in aig. treasury says it expects to turn a profit too. >>> and a seismic study released today says the washington monument can withstand a worst case earthquake scenario. the findings were announced by the superintendent of the

lisa sylvester's monitoring that and other top stories in "the situation room" right now.s is actually involving the wife of a former top chinese politician. court officials say she's not objecting to charges she poisoned a british businessman. she is asking for leniency. authorities say she and an aide drank with the man at his hotel and poisoned him to protect her son. until earlier this year her husband had appeared destined to join the elite committee of leaders at the top of china's ruling party. and ge is recalling more than a million dish washers because they could catch fire. they were sold under the ge and hot point brands between 2006 and 2009. ge says there have been 15 reports of the heating element failing including seven fires. three caused extensive damage. the dishwashers have front controls and a plastic tub. ge will repair them for free. when you board an airplane, you generally expect it to land where your ticket says it will. but that's not what happened for 11 passengers aboard a regional flight tuesday. and now the faa is investigating. the flight was

. >>> lisa sylvester's monitoring some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. hi, wolf. power companies report more than 750,000 customers are blacked out in louisiana, mississippi, alabama, arkansas and texas from tropical storm isaac. of these energy corporations says more than half a million of its customers in the region have lost power. it says 10,000 company and contract workers from 24 states are responding to help with restoration efforts. and with isaac cutting output from refineries gas prices shot up by a nationwide average of almost 5 cents per gallon today with much bigger jumps in some places. aaa says the average price of a gallon of regular now tops $3.80. but industry experts say the spike should be short-lived. that's the good news. with refineries apparently escaping lasting damage. one analyst says prices at the pump could start easing just in time for labor day. and wholesale prices are already dropping sharply. and after pounding the gulf coast, isaac will move inland. and while the storm has brought certainly plenty of misery, it will like

. >>> lisa sylvester is monitoring other top stories in "the situation room" right now. bout iran's nuclear potential. what's going on? >> that's right, wolf. iran is putting its nuclear program into overdrive, doubling production of high-grade enriched uranium at an underground site. iran has changed the landscape around a key military site that western diplomats believe is used for nuclear testing. the u.n. is demanding an immediate response from iran on its findings. during his fiery speech at an iranian summit egypt's new president mohammed morsi insisted there is a moral obligation to help opposition forces in syria. the newly elected leader says it's time for assad's regime to leave. the syrian delegation walked out in protest. the free syrian army claims it shot down a military jet in idlib province. amateur video showed the pilot ejecting from that smoking aircraft. >>> before holmes went on a shooting rampage in a colorado movie theater, a professor recommended that holmes want be admitted to its graduate program, quote, under any circumstances. another professor

lisa sylvester's monitoring that and some other top stories in "the situation room" right now. >>wolf, dallas county officials announced today that an eleventh person has died from the mosquito born virus. there have been more than 250 cases in dallas county alone. a growing number of cities are signing up to have insecticide sprayed. this year's outbreak is one of the worst since the virus in 1999. and online threats that sparked panic across the country. thousands fled cities across india last week after getting messages that threaten ethnic violence. an indian government official is blaming elements based in pakistan. india has blocked mass messaging and hundreds of web paging from posting harmful content. and diana nyad was in the water for more than 41 hours and about half way through on her trip from cuba to florida. she was stung by jelly fish. it was actually her fourth try at the 103-mile swim. she is still the world record holder for the longest swim, 102.5 miles. and anand naidoo yul list of the 50 richest lawmakers is out today. some of your representatives are doin