plus, disturbing video of a deadly police beating. the victim, a meanta willy ill homeless man who can be heard calling out to his father "they're killing me." i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> while we begin this hour with the romney campaign, having some trouble staying on message. let's go straight to our national political correspondent jim acosta. he's on the campaign trail with the presumptive republican nominee. you're in lansing, michigan, right now. tell us what's going on, jim. >> reporter: wolf, earlier today mitt romney accused president obama of governing to the left of bill clinton and bringing big government back with a vengeance. it is a new message for a campaign that is sometimes straight off script in recent days. in michigan, mitt romney tried to steer his campaign back on message. >> america is going in the wrong direction. not forward, but sideways, or worse. >> reporter: he not only hit the president's campaign slogan forward, but also the fictional character on mr. obama's website julia seesh receiving help from government programs all her life. >> what does it is a about a president's policies when he has to use a cartoon character rather than real people to justify his record. >> reporter: keeping his campaign on script hasn't been easy take monday's town hall in ohio where the supporter suggested the president is a traitor. romney didn't correct her. >> reporter: why did not you correct her? >> i don't correct the questions that get asked of me. i obviously don't agree. >> reporter: romney failed the john mccain test knowing how the senator handled an unruly supporter. >> he is an arab. >> no ma'am. >> no? >> no, ma'am. he's a decent, family man, citizen that i just happen to have disagreements with. >> reporter: democrats says another gift when shortly after romney's town hall he gained credit for the survival of the auto industry. >> i punished the idea of a managed bankruptcy so i'll take credit for the fact that the industry has come back. >> reporter: just across the street from romney's event, protesters reminded the contender he opposed the auto bailout. >> i don't know how he can take credit for anything. >> reporter: now the off-script bug may be catching just as the director of hispanic outreach for the republican national committee. she held a briefing with reporters earlier today and when asked about mitt romney's position on immigration, she said, quote, to my understanding he's still deciding what his position on immigration is and in that same conference call or in that same briefing with reporters an rnc press secretary said we never said that the government -- that the governor is still deciding on immigration, so sort of correcting one of their own officials with the rnc, wolf, but there were other off-script moments that did not go the romney campaign's way in the last 24 hours. consider the endorsement of rick santorum. it came at 11:00 last night and caught a lot of reporters off guard and santorum doesn't get around to endorsing romney until the 13th democrats. the democrats have their own off-message man in vice president joe biden as you will report in a few moments, joe biden said we were the problem, talking about the united states, when it came to iran, dealing with iran. the romney campaign blasted out a statement to reporters earlier this afternoon accusing the obama administration of having a blame america first policy when it comes to iran. >> we'll have much more on joe biden, and very quickly on michigan where you are right now. did the romney folks really believe michigan is in play given the perception in michigan that the president saved the american auto industry? >> well, i think they would like it to be in play and you mentioned the issue of the auto industry and mitt romney talked to the local reporter in cleveland yesterday and basically claimed credit or partial credit for the fact that the auto industry has survived and he has to take that posture, wolf, because that industry is so important in the state and there's a lot at stake for mitt romney, keep in mind, this was his boyhood home and he was facing the prospect of losing massachusetts where he was governor. >> jim acosta, traveling with the republican presidential candidate. thanks very much. the charged politics of seym-sex marriage in north carolina. a measure that's expected to pass. president obama already under pressure on the issue is trying to stay far away from it in a very literal sense. our white house correspondent brianna keilar is traveling with the president and she's in albany, new york. the president was supposed to be in north carolina today. not exactly happening. what happened? >> reporter: no, he was here in albany, wolf, talking about the economy and giving congress a to-do list on the economy. he was not talking about his position on same-sex marriage which is equal rights for gay couples, civil unions and not same-sex marriage. it's interesting. had he been in north carolina he would have been in the middle of this debate over same-sex marriage. president obama was supposed to speak in north carolina as voters are poised to pass a constitutional amendment, banning civil unions and same-sex marriage. late last week congressional offices were notified that the president would no longer be coming according to a democratic source. instead -- >> the president traveled to albany, new york, to talk about the economy. >> the only way we can accelerate the job creation that takes place on a scale that is need side bold action from congress. >> president obama has said his views on same-sex marriage are evolving, but officially his policy hasn't changed from when he was a candidate. >> define marriage. >> i believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. >> reporter: the north carolina vote and recent comments by vice president biden have put his position under the microscope again. >> i am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexuals are entitled to the same, exact right, all of the civil rights and all of the civil liberties. >> reporter: that was sunday. on monday, obama's education secretary was asked if he believed in same-sex marriage. >> yes, i do. >> reporter: now advocates are renewing their calls for the president to change his position. >> i would like to hear from the president what i have always wanted to hear from the president and what virtually all members of the lgbt community would like to hear from the president which is he supports marriage equality and it's something he can hear southeastern rather than later. >> even in albany, couldn't escape a reminder of the issue and he was introduced by current new york governor, andrew cuomo. >> today is a much different day in that your leadership has brought this nation through the storm and we thank you. >> reporter: who headed up the effort to legalize same-sex marriage here last year. now, wolf, republicans are very happy to seize on what's been a bit of a wedge issue for democrats. same-sex marriage is something that many democratic voters including young voters are very much in support of, but there are other voters like black democratic voters, hispanic voters who are not so much in favor of it. we heard george pataki, the former governor of new york on a conference call telling reporters that the president needs to decide one way or the other. on another note, should i mention, the white house about this change of plans for the president being here in albany instead of north carolina spokesman for the white house, saying any confusion around today's travel plans is due to miscommunication at the white house. the president will travel to north carolina again soon, wolf. >> i'm sure he won north carolina four years ago and he'll be much, much more difficult this time around and everyone agrees on that. thanks very much, brianna. this isn't the first time vice president joe biden has put the white house in an awkward position with his remarks. let's dig deeper with gloria borger and our chief white house correspondent jessica yell iin. he sort of joked at the beginning when he said this. >> no one's ever doubted i mean what i say. the problem is i sometimes say all that i mean. got a nice little bit of laughter. he was joking, but there was an element of truth there. >> it's a very difficult transition when you go from being a senior senator and center of the universe, master of the universe in the senate to being a subsidiary to the president of the united states. and you have to learn as joe biden has had to learn and sometimes he doesn't learn very well that sometimes he's not answering questions for himself, but answering questions on behalf of the president. he did not mean to establish a gulf or division with the president of the united states on the issue of gay marriage, but he answered that question honestly and he has had his evolution and this is the man who voted for the defense of marriage act in the '90s and has come to believe in gay marriage. he didn't mean to speak for the president, but he created problems. >> bill clinton supported the defense of marriage act, as well. there's been an evolving position, shall we say. joe biden, what's the sense over at the white house, jessica? has he helped the president? hurt the president? give me a little flavor. >> he causes headaches and i can report that some of the president's top vaadvisers are struggling with how to deal with or clean up on the president's position now that biden went further on the issue. >> they weren't happy he was saying this. >> this was not planned. but on the other hand, on will bahhance he's far more helped than hurt. the president not known for his strength in building relationships, for example on capitol hill and joe biden and the vice president has had historic great relationships on both sides of the aisle and the vice president because of his history on the foreign relations committee has relationships with foreign leads are. the vice president is known as a contrarian in the room when having debates. he's the first one to say you all have the obligation to speak up and tell the president what you truly believe and he's known to have a soft touch with staff. when people need a shoulder to cry on or somebody to come to, joe biden is the guy that you can turn to sometimes. >> he's a very smart guy. he will playa i significant role as a strategist in the re-election campaign. >> a strategist and as a spokesman for the president when he gets it right. i think joe biden sees himself as the warm-up act for the president because he plays to the blue-collar audiences that the president may have some difficulty with. he's been assigned six or seven battleground states to appear in, most notably ohio and florida. he's also going to be very important in about half a dozen senate races. so the white house understands that they can use joe biden very well, it's just that sometimes he does cause these headaches and i'm told that he hasn't yet spoken with the president directly about this, but you can bet they will some time soon. >> how are they reacting? white house officials and biden officials to the criticism from romney and republicans on joe biden that he's once again blaming the united states first when it comes to iran? >> they're not bothered by that at all. they believe that joe biden was delivering the president's me message today, that he was on message and on the point that jim acosta raised they said he doesn't see it quite as cleanly as he did in his speech to nyu earlier, but what the vice president had said then is that when the president originally took office the pressure on iran was stuck in neutral and that president obama understood, this is quoting joe biden that by seeking to engage iran in the first place, by going the extra diplomatic mile the u.s. would demonstrate to the world that iran, not the u.s., was the problem. in other words, showing that the president means business, all options are on the table. >> no doubt that biden delivered a very strong speech. >> if the iranians don't cooperate, the economy will be in shambles and he predicted that ahmadinejad would not be in power in two years. he was flat on that. >> we'll hold him to it. >> we'll see what happens. >> we'll find out what the romney campaign is saying about all of this and more and the senior adviser of the campaign brian jones is standing by and he'll join us live this hour. we'll have the latest on the foiled al qaeda bomb plot to try to bomb a u.s. airliner. lawmakers on capitol hill are outraged, but perhaps for a different reason than you might think. and courtroom video that is so hard to watch. the judge had to pause -- pause it to let some people leave the court. we are following this case of a deadly police beating. ♪ how are things on the west coast? ♪ ♪ i hear you... ♪ rocky mountain high ♪ rocky, rocky mountain high ♪ ♪ all my exes live in texas ♪ ♪ born on the bayou [ female announcer ] the perfect song for everywhere can be downloaded almost anywhere. ♪ i'm back, back in the new york groove ♪ [ male announcer ] the nation's largest 4g network. covering 2,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. rethink possible. covering 2,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. homicide of young people in america has an impact on all of us. how can we save these young people's lives? as a police chief, i have an opportunity to affect what happens in a major city. if you want to make a difference, you have to have the right education. university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i am committed to making a difference, and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." jack? >> indeed, when it comes to presidential campaign ads it's getting ugly out there. very ugly. a new study shows negative campaign ads in the race for the white house have skyrocketed since 2008. according to the wesley an media project, 70% of campaign earn comes run so far have been negative. that's 70%. that compares to only 9% at this point in the 2008 campaign. experts say part of the reason for all of the negativity is the skyrocketing involvement of interest groups. their activity is up a stunning 1100 percent from four years ago. we'll tell you the reason in a minute. it's not just the interest groups going negative, though. the campaigns are also to blame. the study shows more than half of the ads have been negative as well as 86% of the commercials put out by independent groups like super pacs. all in all, that's a lot of trash talking. they're dominating the airwaves, accounting for 60% of commercials and campaigns just 36% of the spots so far. compare that to 2008 when virtually all of the ads in the white house raised 96% came from the campaigns. we had the supreme court to thank for this. the outsized role this time of these outside groups, the 2010 citizens united decision allows for unlimited donations by corporations as long as they're made up of groups independent of the candidates like super pacs. meanwhile, six months to go until election day, get red for an onslaught of negative ads for fr both sides. even though voters don't like the negative campaigning, the ads are effective. they tap into emotions like anxiety, fear and disgust and can actually push a voter away from a candidate. here's our question. why do you think the negative campaign ads work so well? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog or go to "the situation room's" facebook page. a lot of trash talking, wolf. >> there will be more with the super pacs. hundreds of millions of dollars. george soros is giving millions now to some of the pro-democrat, pro-democratic super pacs. republicans have their billionaires as well so the ads will be flying out there big time, jack. >> the supreme court has taken the system to beyond thinking about it being corrupted. it's completely corrupted now with money. 40, 50 billionaires can control the outcome of any election in the country. >> money talks. >> i've heard that. >> jack, thank you. experts are studying an explosive device which a u.s. official say was made by al qaeda terrorists in yemen who designed it to get past airport security and on to a plane. we got word of a plot almost exactly 24 hours ago and lawmakers are holding hearings to find out exactly what happened. our congressional correspondent kate bolduan is joining us. what are they finding out? >> reporter: wolf, one of these intelligence briefings is ongoing here in the senate, but members of the house intelligence committee received a briefing earlier from members of the cia and more details into how this foiled bomb plot really unfolded. as they, merged, key members of the house intelligence committee emerged with bipartisan agreement that they thought this was an intelligent success in their words, but they emerged with key lawmakers blasting what they're saying is a devastating leak to the media of information about this sensitive operation. just listen here to two key members from the house intel jens committee. republican congressman peter king. >> the pressing issue right now is how it was leaked and what can be done to make sure this doesn't happen again. i can't emphasize how closed this it was and how compartmentalized it was and the fact that it could have gotten out in any detail at all. it is very, very shocking. >> we have to be vigilant, and strong and have to work as a team. we can't have the stove pops and not corroborate. you can't have leaks. leaks can kill people. leaks can deter us getting information. >> reporter: now both congressmen came out to say that they did not know where the leak came from, but they did note that the cia is akre about this and also insist the that the leak could not, did not come from congress because members of congress, key members of congress were not informed and were not briefed on this until yesterday. that in and of itself has been a source of criticism by members up here and top members of the house intelligence committee did say they will be investigating and this is where a lot of the focus is at this point. how and why the information leaked out prematurely and that's where a lot of the focus is from key members on capitol hill today, wolf. >> thank you. next hour we'll go in-depth on the foiled plot. could the bomb have gotten through airport security undetected? the chairman of the house intelligence committee mike rogers has seen the device and a picture of it. he'll share with us some of the details and the president says his view of gay marriage are evolving and where does mitt romney stand? i'll ask a campaign senior advis adviser. that's coming up next. ♪ ♪ one, two, three, four ♪ you say ♪ flip it over and replay ♪ we'll make everything okay ♪ walk together the right way ♪ do, do, do, do would you mind if to be i go ahead of you?omer. 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. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? 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