>> hi, wolf.g the economy is far from satisfactory, ben bernanke hinted a third round of asset purchases or so-called quantitative easing could be coming and that would inject more money into the economy. it would be controversial though for the fed to stimulate the economy without congressional approval. at the fed's annual retreat in wyoming bernanke said the previous two rounds of easing drove stocks higher and created more than 2 million jobs. the market reacted favorably holding onto gains today and closing out the month higher. the dow etched up .7%. and months of drought and extreme heat have sent food prices soaring. the world bank reports global prices are up by 10% in july. staples like corn and soybeans increased by 25% to an all-time high. the report emphasized the consequences of spiraling food prices citing riots in africa and the middle east in 2008. and more than 600,000 mr. coffee single cup brewers are being recalled because of a burn hazard. according to mr. coffee recall.com bu

wolf? >> he was a lovely, lovely guy. i got to tell you, when i heard the news i was just really, really saddened that we lost one of the great american geniuses in the music world. he was fabulous. we will miss marvin hamlisch. >> we will. >>> all right. let's move on. a plea bargain for the man who shot congresswoman gabrielle giffords in that tucson rampage. why did prosecutors strike a deal with jared lee loughner? also a possible copycat plot. police arrested a man inside a late-night showing of the new batman movie. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense.

wolf?ccess inside the sikh temple in wisconsin where that deadly shooting massacre happened. you are going to see it just ahead coming up in our next hour. >>> also, the curiosity rover tweeting out amazing photos of itself from mars. up next, we are going to tell you why they are more than just glamour shots. e millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> now that mitt romney has teamed up with paul ryan, you might think he'd let his running mate take on the traditional role of attack dog. but it's romney putting the brass on in an ugly war of words with the obama/biden camp. jim acosta's in the battleground state of ohio right now. tell us what's going on, jim? what's the latest? >> reporter: wolf, mitt romney doesn't have any rallies today, but paul ryan, his running mate, will be here on his campus of his al mater. it was thought a few days ago that romney's selection of ryan would elevate this campaign to a debate on the ideas. but not anymore. earlier this morning on one of the morning talk shows romney accused the president of waging a campaign of "hatred." >> this is what an angry and desperate presidency looks like. >> reporter: the race for the white house has become a race to the bottom. >> this campaign strategy is to smash america apart and then try to cobble together 51% of the pieces. >

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

if we lost wolf, we will go to john. i think we lost wolf. we have been having a little problems with the connection there, but we will get it back. john king, if i can get you to pick up on that, we are resetting here and wanting to tell people that the announcement is just hours away. we don't know who it is, but remind us of the possibilities. >> a little under nine hours from now, the former massachusetts governor will be the republican nominee for president. the convention is a couple of weeks away. we have been waiting who will be his partner and the nominee. we are now told by the campaign that announcement will come tomorrow in norfolk, virginia. that's the beginning of the bus where he is taking through the key swing states. romney needs to carry it this year. he is trying to get enough interest and make a statement about what kind of a partner he wants in the white house and could be making a statement about which issues he wants to move front and center as we go to the final stretch of the campaign. the economy is "issue #1." who m

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> energy is front and center in the presidentiarace today. we've been watching as mitt romney and president obama trade long distance jabs that accuse their opponent of keeping the country from developing all of its potential energy resources. romney drove home his point during a stop in ohio's coal country today. our national political correspondent, jim acosta, is following romney's bus tour. he's joining us now live. what happened today, jim? >> reporter: wolf, move over medicare, there are other wars of words breaking out right and left over energy. and something joe biden said earlier today. >> i see how he's been waging war on coal. >> reporter: mining for votes in eastern ohio, mitt romney accused president obama of leaving coal in the dust in favor of green energy. when romney took his hammer to vice president biden, he had the coal miners standing behind him fuming. >> h vice president said coal is more dangerous than terrorists. can you imag

i'm wolf blitzer. i'm wolf blitzer.aptions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> once again a gunman's bullets have peers americans' sense of security this time striking inside a house of worship. we now know the names of the six people killed at a sikh temple in wisconsin yesterday morning and know more about the gunman who died at the scene, a u.s. army veteran who may have had ties to white supremacist organizations. brian todd joins us from oak creek, wisconsin. you've been talking to a witness as well as tols officials. what are you hearing? >> wolf, we've got a lot of important new information this hour. we've got names of some of the people who played pivotal roles in this event and new details about the shooter's path at the temple. narinda can't escape it, a moment of horror. she was among the first to see the shooter as he started his rampage at the temple at wisconsin. she says she was parking her car when she saw the suspect now identified as wade michael page approach the lead priest near the entrance. >> did he say

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 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

wolf?vering over the gulf coast, pounding it with fierce winds and rain. we will have the latest on the storm in the next hour. >>> and paul ryan's big night at the republican national convention. he will officially become mitt romney's running mate, present a conservative vision for turning around the economy. much more on the convention coming up. there are a lot of warning lights 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. it's me? alright emma, i know it's not your favorite but it's time for your medicine, okay? you ready? one, two, three. [ both ] ♪ emma, emma bo-bemma ♪ banana-fana-fo-femma ♪ fee-fi-fo-femma ♪ em-ma very good sweety, how do you feel? good. yeah? you di

>> hi, wolf. 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 threatened to shoot and kill the troopers w

wolf?ing him to christopher columbus when all the history books eventually will be read. fascinating. neil armstrong did amazing, amazing work. >> certainly a sad loss for this country. a lot of people were very sad on saturday to hear that news, wolf. >> yep. i was very sad. i was surprised, i didn't know how ill he was. heart surgery complications. a very, very sad time for all of us, especially those of us who remember living through that summer of 1969 when he was the first person to walk on the surface of the moon. thanks very much. >>> a new technology that uses artificial intelligence to predict threats is now being used by security officials in tampa during this republican convention. we're about to give you details. ♪ atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from

i'm wolf blitzer.just coming in, the latest forecast for tropical storm isaac. warnings are up from island to island across the caribbean where hundreds of thousands of people are extremely vulnerable right now and tensions are rising in tampa, where a potential hurricane slamming into the bay area could send waters rising over the site of the republican national convention. here's the latest from the national hurricane center. the government of the bahamas has issued a tropical storm warning for the southeastern bahamas, including the acklands. crooked islands, the turks and caicos as well. chad myers is also watching this very closely, our severe weather expert. chad, tell us more about this. only moments ago we got this new update. >> brapd nnd new. yeah, the hurricane center not seeing enough organization to raise the wind speed. still 40 miles per hour. but they do see how large the storm is and now we're getting, again, warm water but also a lack of other wind in the area to break the storm apart

wolf? >> i remember that first day. they had to abbreviate all of their convention activities because they didn't want to be in the middle of a lot of hoopla as people were suffering in texas and elsewhere. all right, mark. see you in a couple days. i'll be down there myself. mark preston reporting for us. >>> we are also right now in the midst of one of the biggest outbreaks of west nile virus ever. the centers for disease control and prevention reports a dramatic increase in the number of cases over the past week. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is following these ominous developments for us. how bad, first of all, has it gotten, elizabeth? >> wolf, this is a really big jump for just one week. in fact, if you look at the third week in august in previous years, we've had more cases this year than in any previous year. let's take a look at this jump. last week the cdc reported that there were -- i'm sorry, there were 26 deaths. this week that number has gone up to 41. again, a

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> todd akin resisting deafen calls to drop out of aey senate race in the wake of his explosive legitimate rain comments. he has since apologized for the remarks asking voters for forgiveness in a new ad. it hasn't stopped the backlash. it's only intensifying. and republicans only have two hours left to change his mind. at that point getting out of the race becomes much more complicated. let's bring in our senior congressional correspondent dana bash. she's got the very latest. this is a fast-moving story, dana. the clock is ticking. >> the clock is ticking, but it's not pushing todd akin at all to step aside. he went op a friendly forum radio show, mike hhe made it cl he's not going anywhere. listen. >> it does seem misspoke one word and one sentence on one day, i hadn't done anything that was morally or ethically wrong as sometimes people in politics do. we do a lot of talking. and to get a word in the wrong place, you know, that's not a good thing t

i'm wolf blitzerlong with erin bernette. erin, we've heard powerful speeches tonight including from the vice presidential nominee. >> we certainly have. vice presidential nominee paul ryan just wrapped up his acceptance speech, it was one of many memorable moments tonight. take a look. >>> ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the third session of the 2012 republican national convention. the convention will come to order. >> our nation is in desperate need of leadership. we believe mitt romney is the man for this moment. after four long years, help is on the way. >> our snags coming apart at the seams and the president seems to point foings and blame others. president obama's administration will add $6 trillion to our national in just one term and i'm hoping it's just one term. >> everywhere i go in the world, people tell me that they still have faith in america. what they want to know is whether we still have faith in ourselves. i trust that mitt romney has that faith, and i trust him to lead us. [ applause ] >> i trust him to k

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we begin with mitt romney's preparations for what may be the most crucial week of his presidential campaign. with several new polls out including our own showing him losing ground to president obama, romney begins a bus tour on saturday through four swing states he absolutely needs to win. but he's still traveling without a running mate. dana bash is here in "the situation room" taking a closer look. these are going to be huge days the next week. >> look, the day is young traveling without a running mate as we speak. you never know what's going to happen. regardless, mitt romney is going to have several vp-buzz generating news with him. but the campaign knows it first has to do some refining about the man on the top of the ticket, romney himself. >> oh beautiful, for spacious skies. >> reporter: if you turned on your television last month, there's a good chance you saw this brutal attack ad against mitt romney. it ran 12,402 times in the last half o

i'm wolf blitzer.situation room." >>> new information just in from the state department about active potentially imminent terror attacks likely being planned in europe and elsewhere around the world by a group the united states government considers to be a major terrorist organization. let's go straight to our intelligence correspondent susan kelly. she's got all the latest information for us. pretty alarming stuff. what's going on? >> it is alarming. the lebanese-based shiite group hezbollah actively planning attacks in europe. that's according to to daniel benjamin, the counterterrorism coordinator at the state department. not only benjamin says the group is continuing a heightened level of terrorist activity, he added those attacks could happen with little or no warning. remember, this is a terrorist organization that was responsible for the deaths of more americans than any other terrorist organization before 9/11 when of course al qaeda claimed that title. what's the connection to iran? well, hezb

they are wolf hybrids.is using a pack of wolf dog mixes to keep the prisoners from escaping and angola houses hard core criminals. you have 86% violent offenders. more than half are in for life. they have very little to lose if they break out. >> we've had to shut down a lot of towers to reduce the man hours. the dogs are doing an excellent job patrolling the fences at night. they know the dogs will bite and for how long and how hard is a different story. we've had several convicts told us they would have hit the fence if it had not been for the dogs. >> the warden said a corrections officer cost $34,000 a year but the 80 dogs altogether cost 60,000 a year. they're saving some serious money with this. is this really the right thing to do? let's talk to wendy spencer. she's the director of animal care at wolf haven international. welcome. you know these animals so well. let me ask you this, if you have these wolf hybrids outside this fence area and someone does try to escape. tell me what's the natural insti

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

>> reporter: hi, wolf.l ryan's house, but we spent the whole day, talking to people right across town. and as you might imagine, wolf, people here are of two minds about congressman ryan and what it will mean for the republican ticket. folks here in paul ryan's hometown of janesville, wisconsin, are reacting to the big news. >> i think he's an excellent candidate. >> i personally don't like what he stands for. >> reporter: the seven-term congressman who comes from a prominent local family is well-known in this town of 63,000 people, southwest of milwaukee. he attended school here, is a parishioner at the catholic church, and his brick home on a quiet street sits near the home of extended family. neighbors describe him down to earth. >> we've spoken to him in the neighborhood, so we're friendly that way. just a down-home kind of guy. you know, he's in the labor day parade with his kids and his daughter was selling lemonade. >> reporter: at a water ski tournament on the river, voters celebrated what they call

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. you're in "the situation room." >>> but first, the surprising moment for mitt romney out there on the campaign trail. the republican presidential candidate who is only days away from taking the national stage in tampa made an unscripted apparent joke about his birth certificate and in a matter of seconds reignited the heated political controversy over where president obama was a born. cnn's national political correspondent jim acosta has the very latest. >> reporter: just as mitt romney was about to reintroduce himself to voters, he made a birth certificate joke and the obama campaign is not laughing. mitt romney was on a roll, riding into michigan on his campaign bus with his wife and running mate at his side. but moments later the gop contender took what appeared to be a sharp turn into birtherism, cracking what sounded like a joke at the president's expense. >> now, i love being home in this place where ann and i were raised, where both of us were born. ann was born at henry ford h

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> in this special hour, we're taking a close look at the man mitt romney has asked to join him on the republican presidential ticket, paul ryan. fittingly, romney made the announcement in front of the battleship "the uss wisconsin." ryan, chairman of the house budget committee, made a name for himself here in washington by battling deficits and fighting for cuts in government spending. listen to how mitt romney broke the news. >> it's an honor to announce my running mate and the next vice president of the united states, paul ryan! his leadership -- his leadership begins with character and values. paul is a man of tremendous character shaped in large part by his early life. paul's father died when he was in high school. that forced him to grow up earlier than any young man should. but paul did. with the help of his devoted mother, s brothers and sister, and a supportive community. and as he did, he internalized the virtues and hardworking ethic of the

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> in this special hour, we're taking a close look at the man mitt romney's asked to join him on the republican presidential ticket, congressman paul ryan of wisconsin. fittingly, romney made the big announcement in front of the battle ship, the "uss wisconsin." ryan is chairman of the house budget committee, made a name for himself here in washington, by battling deficits and fighting for cuts in government spending. listen to how mitt romney broke the news. >> it's an honor to announce my running mate and the next vice president of the united states, paul ryan! [ cheers and applause ] his leadership -- his leadership begins with character and values. paul is a man of tremendous character, shaped in large part by his early life. paul's father died when he was in high school. that forced him to grow up earlier than any young man should, but paul did, with the help of his devoted mother, his brothers and sister, and a supportive community. and as he did

>> reporter: hi, wolf.l, you can expect to hear the word "ryan" used as part of a phrase an awful lot between now and november as the obama team. you'll hear it part of the phrase "romney/ryan budget" or "extreme house republican budget." that is because their goal is try to bind mitt romney to paul ryan's budget, which they believe is an example, or they'll try to tie him to the narrative they've already built, which is that mitt romney wants to give tax breaks to the upper income americans at the expense of middle class americans. and they think that the pick of paul ryan helps them make the case that he is committed to doing that. that will be what they'll try to do, wolf. they do know, as you can see, he's an enormously charismatic campaigner. but on the other hand, they can make this argument on entitlements and tax reform and on deficit cutting that mitt romney would go about it in a way that will hurt the middle class, whereas the president would not, wolf. >> you know, a lot of democrats believe --

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we begin with the suddenly rejuvenated race for president and the all important race to define mitt romney's new raining mate, wisconsin congressman paul ryan. from the president on down today, democrats are pounding ryan and his ideas. the republican candidates are fighting back even as they campaign separately. we're standing by to bring you a question and answer session with romney and reporters. also, jim acosta is following the romney campaign. he's following the campaign in florida. >> reporter: wolf, mitt romney did not have paul ryan by his side today, but the gop's new running mate is not far from his thoughts. >> i'm delighted to have picked paul ryan. a great leader. >> the crowds are getting bigger, maybe too big, as mitt romney noted for his own security measures. >> we didn't have enough to get everybody in in time. >> but romney is finding exciting the republican base comes at a price. he must also defend ryan from the attacks on the cont

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

>> reporter: hi, wolf.utside of paul ryan's house. we spent the whole day talking to people all across town. and as you might imagine, wolf, people here are of two minds of congressman ryan and what it will mean for the republican ticket. folks here in paul ryan's hometown of janesville, wisconsin, are reacting to the big news. >> i think he's an excellent candidate. >> i personally don't like what he stands for. >> reporter: the seven-term congressman who comes from a prominent local family is well known in this town southwest of milwaukee. he attended school here, is a parishioner of the catholic church and his brik home on a quiet street sits near the home of extended family. neighbors describe him as down-to-earth. >> we've spoken to him in the neighborhood. we're friendly that way. just a downhome kind of guy. he's in the labor day parade with his kids and his daughter was selling lemonade. >> reporter: at a water ski tournament on the river, voters celebrated what they called ryan's vision and express

>> reporter: hi, wolf. expect to hear the word "ryan" used as part of a phrase an awful lot between now and november as the obama team. you'll hear it part of the phrase "romney/ryan budget" or "extreme house republican budget." that is because their goal is try to bind mitt romney to paul ryan's budget, which they believe is an example, or they'll try to tie him to the narrative they've already built, which is that mitt romney wants to give tax breaks to the upper income americans at the expense of middle class americans. and they think that the pick of paul ryan helps them make the case that he is committed to doing that. that will be what they'll try to do, wolf. they do fwhoknow, as you can se he's an enormously charismatic campaigner. but on the other hand, they can make this argument on entitlements and tax reform and on deficit cutting that mitt romney would go about it in a way that will hurt the middle class, whereas the president would not, wolf. >> you know, a lot of democrats believe -- they say