his interview with our own jim acosta coming up here in "the situation room." also, president obama barnstorms across a battleground state he desperately needs to hold. >>> and the chilling video diary recorded by a man plotting to kill his own family. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> as we await jim acosta's interview with mitt romney, there are important new developments in a search for a running mate. we're seeing reports that there is now a short list of possibilities and the biggest name on that so-called short list is the former secretary of state, condoleezza rice. let's bring in dana bash. she's working the story for us. the name has been floated out there for a while.

jim acosta, as usual, good work. we have lots more to assess on the romney interview with cnn and whether his answers will satisfy voters. ron bron steen is standing by, we will talk about what's going on. ben stein later. paul begala later. >>> and jp morgan says the bad trade debacle is costing a lot more than all of us thought. if you haven't heard the number, brace yourself. >>> and you can see cars flip all over the place in movies and video games. wow. but look at this. we'll show you what happened. stay with us in "the situation room." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> let's talk more about mitt romney cnn interview with jim acosta, and some of the controversy doing the campaign. joined by the editorial director of the journal. >> terrific interview by jim. i thought mitt romney was forceful app calm, but it is unlikely to end the discussion. in fact, wolf, i think we're not going to know the verdict how this issue plays out quite some time. it is something i can see running into the fall. this is one of the central bat

our own jim acosta's going to have a chance to speak with mitt romney today. an important day to speak to the republican presidential candidate. that interview will air in its entirety at exactly 6:00 p.m. eastern in our brand new 6:00 p.m. eastern hour of "the situation room." i want our viewers to know two hours from now the interview with mitt romney and jim acosta airs in "the situation room." lots of news happening though today as you know. syria a big, big story. what's going on in syria right now. professor will join u us in the 5:00 p.m. eastern hour. fran townsend is here as well. we'll talk about syria. also talk about these arrests the u.s. justice department making some important arrests now. two individuals allegedly involved in trying to smuggle sophisticated nuclear-related material to iran. so lots of political news, national security news. all this stuff we do well here in "the situation room," fred, coming up at the top of the hour. >> of course. lots coming our way. wolf blitzer, see you at the top of the hour. >>> another day, another onlin

he told our jim acosta that earlier this evening. he'll release one more year. that's it. which will be the lowest standard of disclosure in modern time. this really causes i think a problem with romney in the eyes a lot of middle-class voters. >> it brings up an interesting question. do you think that is problematic, if mitt romney is not going to release his taxes, do you think that more than -- you know, his answer is i've done what i have to do under the law. which sounds, i think to anyone hearing it, like a bit of a dodge. problematic? >> soledad, i think everybody sees through this tactic. if he released five years, they say, why beyond you release six? there's no end in sight. and what the obama campaign needs to do is invent a new excuse every day for voters not to focus on how high unemployment is. every other topic under the political sun, they will try to invent. but they will not run on the economy. they know in the obama campaign if the issues focus on the things that matter most to the voters, the president cannot win re-election. it's just going to be a shi

he told our jim acosta that earlier this evening. he'll release one more year. that's it. which will be the lowest standard of disclosure in modern time. this really causes i think a problem with romney in the eyes a lot of middle-class voters. >> do you think that is problematic? if mitt romney is not going to release his taxes, do you think -- his answer is, i've done what i have to do under the law. >> soledad, i think everybody sees through this tactic. if he released five years, they say, why beyond you release six? there's no end in sight. and what the obama campaign needs to do is invent a new excuse every day for voters not to focus on how high unemployment is. every other topic under the political sun, they will try to invent. but they will not run on the economy. they know in the obama campaign if the issues focus on the things that matter most to the voters, the president cannot win re-election. it's just going to be a shifting series of things. mitt romney is working his hardest to keep the focus on job creation. that's where this election is going to be won an

jim acosta is with us on the phone. he was in the middle of that. put this into context for us. >> reporter: sure. mitt romney has been carrying out a series of photo opportunities here in poland that started in gdnsk. he visited a world war ii monument in that city and came to poland, warsaw, today and visited this country's tomb of the unknown soldier, and i have to tell you, throughout this trip he has not offered his traveling press corps many opportunities to ask him questions about what his campaign has billed as a very important journey for the gop contender. so this was really the final opportunity for those reporters to get a question to him, and so all of us waited until he moved a very safe distance away from that tomb of the unknown soldier site, about 100 yards, and tried to shout some questions to him. he didn't answer those questions, and then sort of out of nowhere his traveling press secretary rick gorka came over to us and expressed his frustrations. obviously he expressed those protrations in ways he would probablyaike to take bac

we have jim acosta on the phone. so what exactly are they doing, jim? >> they are getting ready for joe biden to come out on this stage he might be running a few minutes late. there was a really big storm that came through houston earlier this morning and it's sort of wreaking havoc with people's flight schedules. people are trying to leave houston. one thing i can tell you, it's about half full. it is a pretty lightly attended audience. this is certainly not packed to the rafters and it's roughly at the same size that mitt romney had yesterday, it will be interesting to kind of watch the crowd's reactions to what joe biden has to say and obviously because of the perception of mitt romney was not always that positive. so we'll see if that changes here today. one thing that we picked up on is that, you know, romney's message, while it may have upset some folks here at the naacp, really wowed conservatives. they were talking all over online and they thought this was one of his best speeches. so he really fired up the conservative and it will be interestin

i want to bring back in, if we have him, our jim acosta. jim, when they set out to write this speech and reach an audience there and very much try to reach an audience here, what were they trying to get across? >> reporter: well, i think they were trying to get across, candy, a contrast with president obama, perhaps not in policy but in tone. i mean, you could not pick a more dramatic backdrop to deliver the message that mitt romney delivered to this crowd here. you know, he did not mention the president during this speech. he stuck to his promise, not criticized the president on foreign soil, but he did lay out some differences between himself and the president. he said that jerusalem should be the capital of israel. that is something that i think that is some news coming from mitt romney today. and that muscular speech that he gave or portions of his speech that he gave on iran. i think will also be remembered by the crowd here and by jewish-americans back home who are obviously very concerned about that country's nuclear program. i will

. >> cnn's jim acosta, who conducted that interview, joins me. along with cnn's chief political analyst gloria borger. there's clearly a strategy here. your interview, other network interviews as well, part of the strategy by the romney campaign. would you say the takeaway is that the campaign is very worried about this bain story and how it's unfolding? >> i think so, soledad. we got very late notice about this interview possibility. heard about it, about 1:00 this afternoon, and found out the governor was doing a round robin of interviews. because of the fact he said almost the same thing to all of us is an indication that, yes, they were working on this message and they wanted to get it out there. >> gloria, you were in boston. you just got back from the romney headquarters in boston. give us a sense of how the campaign is handling this and what changing they're making to deal with some of this. >> i can tell you, as jim said, that romney was outraged, the campaign was pretty outraged. it's clear, though, they believe, by setting up all these

jim acosta is with us on the phone. he was in the middle of that. put this into context for us. >> reporter: sure. mitt romney has been carrying out a series of photo opportunities here in poland that started in gdansk. he visited a world war ii monument in that city and came to poland, warsaw, today and visited this country's tomb of the unknown soldier, and i have to tell you, throughout this trip he has not offered his traveling press corps many opportunities to ask him questions about what his campaign has billed as a very important journey for the gop contender. so this was really the final opportunity for those reporters to get a question to him, and so all of us waited until he moved a very safe distance away from that tomb of the unknown soldier site, about 100 yards, and tried to shout some questions to him. he didn't answer those questions, and then sort of out of nowhere his traveling press secretary rick gorka came over to us and expressed his frustrations. obviously he expressed those protrations in ways he would probably laike to take

jim acosta, stay right there. i want to bring in cnn senior correspondent dana bash covering the campaign and also gloria borger. dana, this is obviously about access. and over the years we all know there are issues and it all depends on which candidate is talking to the media. have you seen big changes in access to these candidates over the years? >> definitely seen gradual changes as i'm sure you have. look, i've had to use my former cheerleading voice many times to get a question to presidents and to candidates for president. but i've had to do that more and more as has jim over the years because, look, i mean it's just the world that we live in from their perspective that with twitter, the internet, with everything going viral immediately, it's hard for them to say anything without altering the message that they're trying to get out that day. having said that, it is frustrating having been a reporter on several presidential mpaignouthere, youe goinon the bus, reng off thbu're siing through every speech anyou n

jim acosta live in london this morning. jim, what's the reaction to the quote that comes from this unnamed advisor? >> well, soledad, as soon as mitt romney landed here in london for his overseas trip he found the controversy surrounding basically what has been hoped by his campaign as what they're calling a listen and learn tour. it has been sort of who said what in the last 24 hours as you mentioned that quote that appeared in an article in the london daily telegraph apparently or allegedly we might even want to say from an unnamed romney advisor and even though the international press could not independently verify whether or not that advisor even uttered those comments, the vice president and the obama campaign jumped on those comments and released a statement from vice president biden and put it up on the screen for you. he said not surprisingly in this statement this is just another feeble attempt by the romney campaign to score political points at the expense of this critical partnership, this assertion is beneath a

cnn's jim acosta is there. >> reporter: mitt romney drew big contrast from mr. obama, the main call, his call for jerusalem to be the undisputed capitol. it's a position that could inflame tensions in this region should romney become president. the other headline from this speech, romney issued a stern warning to iran, should that country continue to develop nuclear weapons, here is a portion from romney's speech. >> make no mistake, the ayatollahs in tehran are testing our moral defenses. they want to know who will object and who will look the other way. my message to the people of israel and the leaders of iran is one in the same, we will not look away, nor will my country ever look away from our passion and commitment to israel. >> reporter: after a bruisinging week for romney, romney and his wife visited the western wall in jerusalem, one of the jewish religion's most sake rhett sites. next up for romney, hoe holds a funneled razor in jerusalem before he heads off to poland. jim acosta, cnn, jerusalem. >> also traveling this weekend, secretary of defense leo

jim acosta for us this morning. thank you for updating that story. >> he does. >> i bet he does. >>> interesting. a lot of pressure clearly, but at the same time it is a difficult sell to spin this as a successful trip. even the biggest cheerleader is going to have a hard time saying that london was a success, that some of the comments about the palestinians was a success, happening in israel, and that this thing happening right here in poland, and that's going to overshadow this trip. >> not to be too flip about it, but he's angered the american press, the palestinians, and all of the british people. that's what the take away from this trip is. that's what people are going to remember. that's what we've all been talking about. it wasn't a success. >> he did get some very positive comments, though, that were powerful. >> basically endorsed him. >> yes. and he is an extraordinary figure in the history of the freedom movement in poland. i thought that was a very good moment for him. >> although other polish leaders cr

our national political correspondent jim acosta is in london. and i know that quote is getting some heated reaction from both the obama and romney campaigns. tell us. >> reporter: that's right, carol. it is getting some attention here in the british press. and also from the two campaigns. vice president joe biden put out a statement yesterday criticizing the romney campaign for those comments that appeared in "the london daily telegraph." i will tell you that the romney campaign has vehemently denied that those comments came from one of their advisers. so that back and forth is going on. but right now we are standing outside number 10 downing street where mitt romney is inside meeting with the british prime minister david cameron. and just a few moments ago, some reporters were inside and were listening in as the former massachusetts governor was talking about the olympics with the prime minister. and it's interesting to note that all of this is going on just on the eve of the olympic games. and something else that is popping up in the british p

jim acosta is there. >> reporter: mitt romney stuck to his pledge not to criticize the president here in jerusalem, but he did draw some big contrast with mr. obama. the main headline from the speech, his call for jerusalem to be the undisputed capital of israel. that's something no other u.s. president has ever called for. it's also a position that could enflame tensions in this region should romney become president. the other headline from this speech, romney issued a stern warning to iran should that country continue to develop nuclear weapons. here's a portion from romney's speech. >> make no mistake, the ayatollahs in tehran are testing our moral defenses. they want to know who will object and who will look the other way. my message to the people of israel and the leaders of iran is one in the same. we will not look away, nor will my couny ever look away from our passion and commitment to israel. [ applause ] >> reporter: after a bruising week for romney in britain, his campaign offered up a new optic to voters back home. that was of romney and his wife visiting the western wall

he addressed it all in an interview with correspondent jim acosta. >> governor, thanks for joining us. let's talk first about this controversy when you left bain capital. i'll put one of the documents in question up on screen. there are s.e.c. filings stating you were ceo past 1999, when you say you left bain to run the olympics. why was your name still on these documents and why didn't you clear this up sooner? >> well, i was the owner of an entity that is filing that information. but i have no role whatsoever in the management of bain capital after february of 1999. not that would have been a problem to have said i was with the firm beyond that, but i wasn't. i left in february of 1999 to run the olympics. i relinquished all management authority and role in bain capital after february of 1999. >> how do you explain tt discrepancy that your name is on these filings and yet you said you left the firm in 1999? weren't you concerned at some point these filings might become public and people would see your name was still on these file sngs >> there's nothing wrong with being associated w

as jim acosta reports, the gaffes have mr. romney walking on eggshells. >> reporter: mitt romney hit the resetbutton. he was asked why he had to walk to the embassy. his response -- he is walking on eggshells and eager to please after he was blasted by british leaders for appearing to question london's readiness to host the olympic games. dubbed, the party pooper in the daily mail, nowhere man and mitt the twit in the sun. he side stepped the controversy in an interview with piers morgan. >> you've been slightly kr criticized for knocking the british enthusiasm. you are feeling it now? >> well, i'm delighted to see the kind of support that has been around the torch, for instance. >> the uproar reached the crescendo when the city's mayor taunted romney in front of 60,000 people at a pregame celebration. >> there is a guy called mitt romney who wants to know whether we're ready. he wants to know whether we're ready. are we ready? >> reporter: romney is taking heat for disclosing he met with the mi-6, a meeting normally kept secr

. >> cnn's jim acosta traveling with romney joins me live. let's talk about what mitt romney was wanting to accomplish in poland. >> well, kyra, what he wanted to accomplish here in poland is basically to pay tribute to the polish for their transformation from a former soviet block country to, basically, the economic envy of europe, the economy here is roaring ahead of the rest of europe right now and romney said there are lessons to be learned from what's happening here in poland. but i have to tell you, it was very interesting to watch this campaign depart from this overseas trip and head back to the u.s. mitt romney is now in the air heading back to the united states, which will basically put him smack dab in the middle of a campaign that will not stop until november. we tried to ask mitt romney about some of these perceived gaffe gaffes that he had. at israel he gave that moving speech defending israel's right to exist and at a fund-raiser he seemed to make a comparison between the israelis and palestinians in terms of their economic vita

as jim acosta reports, the gaffes have mr. romney walking on eggshells. >> reporter: mitt romney hit the resetbutton. he was asked why he had to walk to the embassy. his response -- he is walking on eggshells and eager to please after he was blasted by british leaders for appearing to question london's readiness to host the olympic games. dubbed, the party pooper in the daily mal, nowhere man and mitt the twit in the sun. he side stepped the controversy in an interview with piers morgan. >> you've been slightly kr criticized for knocking the british enthusiasm. you are feeling it now? >> well, i'm delighted to see the kind of support that has been around the torch, for instance. >> the uproar reached the crescendo when the city's mayor taunted romney in front of 60,000 people at a pregame celebration. >> there is a guy called mitt romney who wants to know whether we'rready. he wants to know whether we're ready. are we ready? >> reporter: romney is taking heat for disclosing he met with the mi-6, a meeting normally kept secret.

he addressed it all in an interview with correspondent jim acosta. >> governor, thanks for joining us. let's talk first about this controversy when you left bain capital. i'll put one of the documents in question up on screen. there are s.e.c. filings stating you were ceo past 1999, when you say you left bain to run the olympics. why was your name still on these documents and why didn't you clear this up sooner? >> well, i was the owner of an entity that is filing that information. but i have no role whatsoever in the management of bain capital after february of 1999. not that would have been a problem to have said i was with the firm beyond that, but i wasn't. i left in february of 1999 to run the olympics. i relinquished all management authority and role in bain capital after february of 1999. >> how do you explain that discrepancy that your name is on these filings and yet you said you left the firm in 1999? weren't you concerned at some point these filings might become public and people would see your name was still on these file sngs >> there's nothing wrong with being associated

cnn's jim acosta is there. >> mitt romney stuck to his pledge but drew big contrast with mr. obama. the may headline, his call for jerusalem to be the undisputed capital of israel. that's something no other u.s. president has called for. it could in flame tensions should romney become president. romney issued a stern warning to iran. should that country continue to develop weapons. here's a portion of the speech. >> make no mistake, they are testing our moral defenses. they want to know who will object and who will look the other way. my message to the people of israel and the leaders of iran is one in the same. we will not look away nor will my country ever look away from my passion and commitment to israel. >> after a bruising week for romney, romney and his wife visited the western wall here in jerusalem. that's one of the jewish religion's most sacred sites. he paused and left a note in the wall's crack. next up, he holds a fund-raiser before he heads off to the last leg of his trip, poland. jim acosta, cnn, jerusalem. >>> the colorado suspect linked to a shooting rampage in a m

jim acosta is standing by in the hall right now. jim, show our viewers, tell our viewers, what happened in houston. >> reporter: wolf, naacp leaders told cnn they praised mitt romney for showing what they called courage in coming to this convention today. but safe to say mitt romney did not hide

jim acosta is standing by on downing street. i understand romney caused a few ripples with his remarks on olympic security. >> reporter: yeah, kyra. he made some waves here in london when he gave an interview to nbc yesterday. during that interview he talked about some of the problems that london has encountered in preparing for the olympic games and he said that those problems were in his words disconcerting. he said it was hard to see how things would turn out here in london. well, the prime minister david cameron, who mitt romney just met with a short while ago took issue with those comments talking to reporters at an olympic venue earlier this morning. i'll read you just a bit of what he said to reporters. he said i think we'll show the whole world not just that we can come together as the united kingdom but we're also extremely good at welcoming people from across the world so i'll obviously make those points to mitt romney. we're not sure exactly how he made those points to mitt romney because much of their meeting was beh

jim acosta is there. >> reporter: mitt romney stuck to his pledge not to criticize the president here in jerusalem, but he did draw some big contrast with mr. obama. the main headline from the speech, his call for jerusalem to be the undisputed capital of israel. that's something no other u.s. president has ever called for. it's also a position that could enflame tensions in this region should romney become president. the other headline from this speech, romney issued a stern warning to iran should that country continue to develop nuclear weapons. here's a portion from romney's speech. >> make no mistake, the ayatollahs in tehran are testing our moral defenses. they want to know who will object and who will look the other way. my message to the people of israel and the leaders of iran is one in the same. we will not look away, nor will my country ever look away from our passion and commitment to israel. [ applause ] >> reporter: after a bruising week for romney in britain, his campaign offered up a new optic to voters back home. that was of romney and his wife visiting the western wal

my colleague jim acosta has seen all that and much more. jim? what do you think? will romney be lying a little low tonight in the ceremony? >> reporter: i think that's safe to say. i think the romney campaign, kyra, has come up with a new use for the olympic torch. they'd probably like to use it on those headlines in the london newspapers this morning and do away with them once and for all. the reception to what mitt romney had to say, like piers morgan said just a few moments ago, has not been good. he is trying to do some damage control. he did that interview with piers morgan last night and one with nbc's "today" show this morning. it's interesting to note, kyra, he did not really acknowledge the controversy that he caused over here in that interview on nbc that he now thinks london is ready for the games. he and ann romney will be at the opening ceremonies tonight. you mentioned his meeting with the leader of ireland. that meeting just wrapped up a few moments ago. and that is basically it for his schedule today. it's a lighter schedule and interesting to note

jim acosta, we appreciate it. yikes. thank you. >>> you have heard some of the damning remarks from the penn state investigation, this independent investigation that's come out today, headed by former fbi director, louis freeh. the students are talking, and also in just a matter of minutes, we will be getting that press conference. we'll bring it to you live here. we'll be hearing from board members at penn state and also another press conference by the governor of pennsylvania. stay tuned. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. >>> we now know happening right this moment, penn state board of directors are now responding to this damning report from independent investigators about the way the university handled the jerry sandusky scandal. let's listen in. >> judge freeh's report is both sad and sobering. he made three clear points. first and foremost, we, the penn st

thank you, jim acosta, thank you for the update from jerusalem. cnn's wolf blitzer is also in israel with mitt romney, and he will be interviewing the candidate in 30 minutes from now and be sure to stay tuned to cnn and as soon as we get the interview in house here, we will bring it to you. >>> and a poll shows that many more people like barack obama and then mr. romney, and the approval ratings may have plummeted and despite recession, an unpopular health care law and string of fights with congress, an overwhelming majority say they like him. here are the results from the gol lup poll. they score him 60% likability and the republican rival gets only 30%. >> i want to leave you with two things and one is that if this coward could do this with much hate, imagine what we can do with this much love. another thing if you are putting your dreams on hold, you stop that right now and you chase those dream, because you don't know how long you have here. >> that is the brother of the colorado shooting victim jessica ghawi. friends and family remember this

jim acosta, cnn, london. >>. >>> all right. let's take to the streets of london and becky an dderson is parliament square, and beck di ki, people in london reacting to romney's comments or are they? and they are watching the torch make the final round around those historic sites. >> it is going to be said that they are more interested in where the torch is. it is passing through london's most iconic landmarks in the 69th day of a 70-day torch relay. the organizers here in london promise it is a truly national event, and that torch after it arrived from athens 69 days ago and police all over the place and real security here and apologies for that siren, and in the uk, it is something like 13 miles and millions of people have seen it winding through the country. people all over from parliament square here, and then it leaves here to buckingham palace where prince harry and the duke and the duchess of cambridge will be seeing it swapped by charity workers who are the torchbearers, and 173 of them. and so back to romney and the com

jim acosta, stay right there. i want to bring in cnn senior correspondent dana bash covering the campaign and also gloria borger. dana, this is obviously about access. and over the years we all know there are issues and it all depends on which candidate is talking to the media. have you seen big changes in access to these candidates over the years? >> definitely seen gradual changes as i'm sure you have. look, i've had to use my former cheerleading voice many times to get a question to presidents and to candidates for president. but i've had to do that more and more as has jim over the years because, look, i mean it's just the world that we live in from their perspective that with twitter, the internet, with everything going viral immediately, it's hard for them to say anything without altering the message that they're trying to get out that day. having said that, it is frustrating having been a reporter on several presidential campaigns, you're there, you're going on the bus, you're going off the bus, you're sitt

. >> well, if you have an out front strategy, jim acosta pushed him on issue of tax returns here on cnn. i wanted to play what jim got him to say. >> i've already put out one year of tax returns. we'll put out the next year of tax returns as soon as the accountants have that ready. and that's what we're going to put out. i know that there will always be calls for more. we're putting out what is required, plus more that is not required. those are the two years that people are going to have. that's all that's necessary for people to understand something about my finances. >> okay. made it very clear you're only getting two years. by the way, i, everybody, have the tax returns. everything that we have. it is a big stack. but how many months does it take? the guy's running for president. it's been three months after tax day. where are they? >> also, there's a precedent actually set by his father of 12 years of tax returns to really put it all out there. kill people with kindness. put it all out there. rather than dragging the feet, two years, and it makes it look like you're hiding somethin