role at the republican national convention? 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 of july. not including local cable. it's the crown jewel of the obama campaign's summer strategy to define mitt romney as an out of touch wealthy businessman with something to hide since he won't release most of his tax returns. >> let him prove that he ha paid taxes, because he hasn't. >> reporter: all that plus some self-inflicted wounds like questioning great britain's readiness for the olympics add up to a rough month for romney. and it appears to be taking a toll in a crucial area for voters, likability. a new cnn/orc poll shows romney's unfavorable rating climbed six points over the last month with registered voters and skyrocketed 12 points among those critical independent voters. and president obama opened up a seven-point lead over romney. one month ago it was just three points. a statistical dead heat. privately, frustrated senior republicans continue to complain to cnn that the romney camp can't find its footing in an economic environment that should be devastating for the president. now, team romney is trying to get back on offense launching a bus tour entirely on the president's turf, virginia, north carolina, florida, ohio. all states the president won in 2008 up for grabs now. >> it is good to be with you guys. >> reporter: the romney camp is trying to course correct not just with where the candidate goes but what he says. it's a two-pronged approach. streamline his economic message and reclaim the idea of romney the businessman as a positive, not a negative. >> i know what it's like to hire people and to wonder whether you're going to be able to make ends meet down the road. >> reporter: and try to shred the president's calling card, his credibility and character. like with this brand new ad slamming the president for a pro-obama super pac commercial which blamed romney for a woman's death. it was an ad cnn found to be inaccurate. >> what does it say about a president's character when his campaign tries to use the tragedy of a woman's death for political gain? doesn't america deserve better than a president who will say or do anything to stay in power? >> and of course the romney campaign really hopes to change the narrative by unveiling the vp pick and with the gop convention in tampa at the ejd of the month. a senior romney official said today they expect to get a significant bounce from both. but if romney does get a bounce, wolf, it will defy history big time. interesting statistic, over the past two election cycles, the nominees for neither party got more than a two-point bump from the conventions. it just hasn't happened in recent history. >> not in recent history. i had been told earlier, romney, to release his vice presidential pick before the bus tour so the two could go out on the bus tour. it doesn't look like that is necessarily going to happen. but given all these poll numbers, not just our poll but other polls showing obama's building a national lead among registered voters out there, is the pressure growing on mitt romney to pick someone necessarily outside the box a little less safe, maybe paul ryan of wisconsin? >> you know, i think the pressure is growing on him to -- certainly, the answer is yes from conservatives. you saw "the wall street journal" and other conservative grass roots organizations saying they very much want someone like paul ryan. again, looking back at history, you have to go back pretty far to show the have tvice presiden pick will make that much of a difference. >> the top of the ticket is the most important. we'll be fascinated as well. thanks, dana. good report. a romney insider today accused president obama of diminishing his office by allowing his re-election team to get away with -- i'm quoting him now "unbelievable distortions." but desperate tactics to get a sympathic reaction. let's go to the white house. brianna keilar is standing by. >> reporter: that's the thing we heard over and over today from jay carney, wolf. he said the white house does not speak for third parties. so the white house and the campaign trying to keep their hands clean while they see this super pac backing president obama putting this ad out. this is just one of a number of ads coming from both sides. we're seeing tons of negative ads. we're seeing negative ads about negative ads. and while it might be enough you'd think for some people to want to turn off their tvs, it's also enough to get some people to head to the polls. and that's why this is going to continue until election day. negative ads like this one just released by the obama campaign are all over the air waves. >> did romney pay 10% in taxes? 5%? zero? >> reporter: this one out by the romney campaign falsely claims president obama gutted work requirements for welfare. >> under obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. they just send you your welfare check. >> reporter: and an ad by a pro-obama super pac includes a claim that cnn found to be yb accurate, that mitt romney's responsible for the death of a steel worker's wife. >> when romney and bain closed the plant, i lost my health care. a short time after that my wife became ill. >> reporter: that hasn't even been on tv yet but it's gotten plenty of news coverage. it seems like the ad war is reaching a fever pitch, but campaign ad expert ken goldstein says it's been this way for a while. >> i don't know if things are getting uglier. they've been ugly for quite some time. and actually we're seeing more rotations of positive ads this past couple days than we've seen previously. there were weeks in late july and early august when there wasn't a single positive ad airing. >> reporter: most of the negative ads are running in just eight battleground states, colorado, nevada, iowa, ohio, new hampshire, virginia, north carolina and florida. the onslaught of advertising will continue becoming even more intense. but is it working? goldstein says of course or else these campaigns and super pacs wouldn't be running the ads. >> in fact, the evidence is if anything negative advertisements tend to engage the electorate or inform the electorate. sure, we can always point to that one -- >> reporter: and, wolf, an election of course always comes down to undecided voters making a decision about who they're going to pick. but the pool of undecided voters this cycle is quite small. smaller than it was in 2008. and that's whyou actually heard ken goldstein there in part of that sound bite that was cut off talking about how this is important for motivating the base. it's crucial for president obama and governor romney to motivate their base. and that's who these ads are targeting. >> good point. thanks very much, brianna keilar, working her sources over at the white house. and it's not just the presidential race. coming up in about 20 minutes here in "the situation room," the outrageous ad depicting a united states congressman of punching two different women. we'll have a full report on that. meanwhile, hundreds of mourners attended a memorial service today for the victims of sunday's deadly shooting rampage in a wisconsin sikh temple. many wept openly as they passed by the caskets containing the bodies of the five men and one woman who were gunned down. cnn's ted rowlands is in oak creek. >> reporter: wolf, it was an emotional day here in oak creek, wisconsin. thousands of people came to this small town to pay their respects for the six victims that were lost in sunday's tragic temple shooting. inside the gymnasium behind me here all six of the victims were out in open caskets, people took their time to walk by and pay their respects. attorney general eric holder was here, wisconsin governor scott walker was here. and members of the victims' families. and they all spoke at the ceremony. >> there's not enough words in the dictionary that could explain how thankful and grateful i am for everyone for offering their unconditional love and support to our family and our community. believe it or not even the acknowledgment of our deceased and of our injured just makes our pain a little less. >> today, we mourn with you, we pray with you and we support you. no matter where you worship, no matter what your background, as americans we are one. and when you attack one of us, you attack all of us. we are united today not only by a shared sense of loss, but also by a common belief in the healing power of faith. and in the universal principles that are glorified in our nation's churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, guduwars and other houses of worship. >> reporter: there were a number of emotional poignant moments during the ceremony and visitation. one of the most was when a group of law enforcement officers came and met with victim family members. a few of them broke down in tears. it was one of just several very emotional moments today. following the ceremony at the high school, the families had a private ceremony at the temple. wolf. >> ted rowlands reporting for us. a sad day indeed. thank you. after days of fighting, egypt's going after extremists by trying to seal off their not so secret tunnels. we're going there. also, we're on the scene of a big troop buildup in what's become the most dangerous part of egypt. we have a full report. and the mystery of the missing athletes. why six men and a woman may have nished from the olympics. at purina one, we believe small things can make a big difference. like how a little oil from here can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. we discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks. it's just one way purina one is making the world a better place... one pet at a time. discover vibrant maturity and more at purinaone.com. in your car. now count the number of buttons on your tablet. isn't it time the automobile advanced? 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>> reporter: wolf, one thing i can tell you, over the past couple days you and i have had conversations about the military buildup. today we saw for the first time m-16 tanks. one of the military commanders says this is the first time egyptian tanks have been on sinai soil in decades. this is definitely an escalation, a stronger presence of the military heavy weaponry. this is the scene that we're seeing in sinai now. reinforcements have arrived in northern sinai. armored personnel carriers or apcs and troops roll into the city. this is the second mechanized infantry and they're tasked with two goals. to reinforce the strategic cities and border city with gaza. their second mission is to root out and crush any militant positions. it's this area they'll be going. the border with the gaza strip in israel. it's arguably the most dangerous part of egypt. it's also home to tunnels delivering goods, weapons and people to and from gaza. the egyptian military is trying to block the hundreds of tunnels that dot this landscape just off militants coming from gaza. but they can't do it alone. this man is one of the area's tribal leaders and tunnel owner. we warned them not to neglect sinai, it's vulnerable throu the tunnels. it's normal to witn such a attack ae're not surprised. there's no security. and offer to cooperate d set up checkpoints, but the government refused. the attack he's referring to happened last sunday when militants killed 16 egyptian soldiers. the militants then tried to attack israel with a stolen apc, but an air strike stopped them. egypt's president, mohamed morsi and army vowed revenge. and through coordination with israel, egyptian troops started crossing sinai, the first time since the 1973 war with israel to impose security. in the capital of north sinai, residents celebrated as the army rolled in. to many, their arrival couldn't come soon enough. the army should have come earlier, he says. we don't feel secure since the revolution. we want 100% security. they arrived late, says this reside resident. i watched the tanks coming in today, and i was very happy. all we care about is security for our children. and, wolf, one other thing, president mohamed morsi actually came to the cities today. he went to the spot where the 16 soldiers were killed. he broke the ramadan fast with the troops. he also went with field marshall head of the egyptian military. this is another strong side, strong show that these two forces, the president and the military, are determined to crush these militants, wolf. >> and who are these militants? because as i've asked you over the past few days, there's some ggestion they may be al qaeda related, if you will, or at least al qaeda-inspired. who are they? >> reporter: what we're hearing this is called the islamic army. and it's a group of a few hundred people. and they cross in gaza. and they're on the egyptian side, the border. and they're extreme conservatives. they have an extreme ideology. people here say they could be affiliated with al qaeda, most say that they're just inspired by al qaeda. they want to continue this global jihad. and this is one of their first steps, wolf. >> ian lee is in northern sinai for us. thank you, ian. friday is a day of prayer in the muslim world and a big day for muslims in tennessee as well. a mosque finally opens after two years of court battles, vandalism and even bomb threats. plus, donald trump at the republican national convention. you're going to find out what he might be doing in tampa. i'm feeling a very strong male spirit present. it's the priceline negotiator. >>what? 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[ screaming with excitement ] and move out now. ♪ [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats. ♪ a tennessee mosque opened its doors today after two years of bomb threats, protests and vandalism. lisa sylvester's monitoring that and some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what's the latest, lisa? >> wolf, the newly built islamic center of murfreesboro. the building was vandalized and suffered an arson attempt. the mosque's leaders say they hope to build bridges with the area's community. and the closing bell has rung on wall street. the stock market wrapped up the week in positive territory. the dow rose more than 42 points. the s&p 500 and nasdaq also closed higher. a florida man is in court today for alleged parole and traffic violations. but police are more concerned about what they found at his home. a stash of fake military and law enforcement ids. they also found badges, uniforms and hospital access badges and scrubs. the suspect told police he lives in "a fantasy world," but authorities are not entirely convinced and intend to dig deeper. miami's real estate market got a big boost. an anonymous buyer is shelling out $47 million for a palatial mansion overlooking byscane bay. it's $47 million price tag is a record for miami. but that record, it may fall soon. the south beach mansion owned by the late designer up for sale for $125 million. some people they certainly know how to roll. that is definitely living large, wolf. >> $125 million, wow. >> yeah. 3d movie theater, all the bathrooms. i bet they're going to have some nice parties there, wolf. >> as they say, location, location, location. >> that's right. >> that's what they're looking for. thanks so much. up next, the nasty campaign ads reaching a whole new level with a congressman shown punching two women. has all of this gone too far? alex and james carville standing by for our strategy session. and while we wait for mitt romney to pick his running mate, you're getting a chance to vote for your favorite possible candidate. we'll explain. sorry, my liege. honestly. our sales have increased by 20%. what is this mystical device i see before me? it's an ultrabook. he signed the purchase order. with an ultrabook, everything else seems old fashioned. introducing the ultra sleek, ultra responsive ultrabook. a whole new class of computers powered by intel. 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