virginia. ryan monroe is the editor of cnnpolitics.com. he's joining us from our washington bureau. sources telling cnn that it will be paul ryan. what do you think? what do you think he brings to the ticket? >> this is either going to be his boldest move or probably his riskiest mistake. paul ryan is a galvanizing force. for conservative republicans, he's seen as the voice behind conservatism. he is the voice that wants to get rid of medicare. if either of those are truthful, it will be a lightning rod in this campaign. >> why make the announcement today, saturday morning, olympics going on, he's about to kick off his bus tour. a lot thought he would do this later on. >> a saturday announcement get us sunday morning air time on the sunday morning talk show, sunday newspapers, and gets you a nice really good ramp up for a full week of coverage in the media. >> what do you think is going on in the obama white house. how do you think they're reacting to this? >> you have to imagine they've laid out their battle plans for a romney-ryan ticket. they know where to attack ryan on his budget plan. they know they can look back and see which votes he and ryan differ on. paul ryan voted for t.a.r.p., he voted for a tax on the millionaires who benefitted from the aig scandal. he looks young but he's been in congress for 13 years. almost a decade and a half. voted for debt ceiling increases that he's rallying against. >> three new polls show president obama is widening his lead over romney. romney is coming off the rough overseas trip as well. do you really think this will be a game changer today? >> this is certainly a bold move for romney either way. he may have been hurting. last poll said he has taken a nose dive. his approval and favorable ratings have gone down. those numbers may have been just enough of an edge, just enough of a push to have him decide between a more safe, maybe some would say a boring choice like portman than someone who is more bold and aggressive as paul ryan. >> is this his way of attracting blue collar voters as well? >> he goes back to wisconsin, fifth generation local native. much like joe biden did when he was in congress. he knows that town. he's a blue collar town and of those folks. >> he also wants to reverse what he calls deep spending mistakes made by the bush administration, he doesn't want to go down that road again. big attraction for the romney campaign knowing that. >> he's very much against heavy government spending. and in fact also does not want to raise taxes. his plan cuts spending, and, as he says, closes loopholes. if you look back at home votes he made when he was in congress. you have to wonder is he now trying to undo some things that he helped do as a member of congress? >> it's going to be an interesting environment three hours ago. thank you very much. >> thanks. >> we have election day three months away. new polls to suggest rom obama is slipping. romney leads by 45%. more bad news, his unfavorable numbers went up 6 percentage.slast month with registered voters. those numbers may have something to do with negative ads from the obama campaign. in may, only 47 pacers said they were strongly behind him. that's now jumped to 56%. will paul ryan help boost romney's approval rating. 54% of voters don't have a favorable or unfavorable opinion about ryan. the majority of americans don't know enough about him. 45% of republicans said they were unsure about ryan. if they were to choose. they told us they would prefer to see marco rubio, ahead of chris christie or paul ryan. congressman paul ryan is likely to be a lightning rod for republicans and democrats. our chief national correspondent, john king has more on that. >>. >> reporter: for paul ryan, debating joe biden might feel like a donation. >> would you support a line item veto in helping us get a vote on it in the house. >> let me respond to the two specific questions, but i want to push back a little bit on the underlying premise about us increasing spending by 80%. >> discretionary spending. the bills congress signed in law has increased 84%. >> we'll have a longer debate on the budget numbers there. all right? >> reporter: ryan is the gop numbers guy. the house committee chairman that isn't afraid to say the only way back to fiscal sanity is to shrink government and get rid of medicare. >> if you don't fix these problems now, the more you delay fixing them the much uglier the solutions will be. >> reporter: in short he's a lightning rod. he will dramatically reshape the race. >> it will be a bold choice. a risky choice. hard to see mitt romney who played it safe making that kind of gamble. >> reporter: there are upsides, ryan is an energetic debater and campaigner. at just 42, he would add youthful vigor to the ticket. ryan would help romney in wisconsin and across the midwest. >> i think he does get wisconsin but more importantly he gets blue collar conservative that i think is the heart of the republican party. >> reporter: tapping ryan is a big gamble because of the house gop budget that bears his name. up to now romney has done everything to make the campaign a referendum. add ryan to the ticket and there's no escaping this. other potential downsides, ryan never ran statewide. he has no foreign policy experience and some question whether a 42-year-old house member is ready to be commander in chief. >> one of the stars over the next 10, 20 years. whether he's ready at this moment only the campaign trail can tell. he's going to get -- i tell you he's going to take a real beating. >> reporter: ryan said family history makes him a fitness fen attics. >> my dad died of a heart attack at 55 my grandfather at 57. i've had an incentive to stay healthy. >> reporter: and a avid hunter. >> i got a terse response saying i'm sitting in a deer stand it's hunting season, leave me alone. >> reporter: he's a self-described nerd but don't underestimate his ambition or competitive streak. if he had his druthers, he would rather debate the president. >> i love the fact that we've elected an african-american man as president. i think that's a cool thing. >> reporter: but it is romney who will share the biggest fall debate stage. >> governor mitt romney, hopefully the next president of the united states. >> reporter: and romney who decides whether to place a risky bet on paul ryan. john king, cnn, washington. and be sure to stay with cnn this morning as mitt romney unveils his running mate. it happens at 9:00 a.m. eastern live from nor folk, virginia. cnn is there and will bring it to you live. jim costa is on the scene with us, we'll speak with him live in just a moment. 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"uss wisconsin" is behind me. a u.s. flag, flag for the state of virginia. but there are no signs that say paul ryan, from an official standpoint from the campaign nothing has been suggested on the event site. but you were saying a few moments ago, is this a daring pick? yes, this is a daring pick. mitt romney could have gone with a safe pick when this was more than a 50/50 pick. he could have gone tim pawlenty and rob portman. a few days before this announcement was made that they were going to come out with this pick today. the polls were starting to widen between the president and mitt romney. you saw the poll that had the president up by a few points then another poll showed romney down by 9 points. whether or not that factored into the considerations inside the romney campaign we have not gotten that sense yet. my guess is they will not acknowledge that yet at this point. they've always exact ped. they've told me this will be a tight 50/50 race down the wire. i talked to a strategist in recent days, we were talking about all of that bain capital and personal attacks coming from the campaign directed at mitt romney. he told me in the end this campaign will be about big ideas, big contrast and the paul ryan announcement if that's what we have in a few hours, certainly suggests that. paul ryan is no shrinking violet. he doesn't tip toe through the tulips with policy proposals. what they are proposing is different than what the people have been accustomed today. the republicans maintain that safety net would be in place. everything will work fine in terms of senior citizens getting medicare, but would make dramatic adjustments to the social safety net and i think that's what this campaign is about. >> those ideas have been well criticized by the democrats. romney has to own those, has to own paul ryan's ideas. >> that's right. i will tell you that the romney campaign and mitt romney himself did come out with a proposal similar to paul ryan. >> you can sort of see this train coming for months. mitt romney is talking about sending medicaid back to the states. talking about some kind of premium support plan for medicare. in the romney plan seniors have a choice sticking with the traditional medicare plan. and buy into the private insurance market. democrats say hey, that changes welfare as we know it. a phrase you'll hear a lot in the months ahead. randi. this is sort of like deja vu. everybody expected this to be 2004 the way bush went off john kerry in a personal way. this is now starting to shape up like 1996, bill clinton versus bob do bob dole. bill clinton went after bob legal and said they'll change welfare as we know it. that phrase will be coming back. it will be back to the future in the months ahead. >> this is what we're waiting for. it's really exciting now. jim acosta at the nor norfolk "uss wisconsin" thank you very much. we want to tell you important news, including syria's relentless violence. hillary clinton in talks with turkish leaders. we'll have the latest for you next. [ female announcer ] quaker yogurt granola bars. they're whole grain good... and yummy good. real fruit pieces. 12 grams of whole grains and a creamy yogurt flavored coating. quaker yogurt granola bars. treat yourself good. quaker yogurt granola bars. it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. good morning. if you're just joining us, we'll have much more on the breaking news coverage on mitt romney's pick, but first a look at major news we're watching right now. as the violence in syria escalates, hillary clinton is in istanbul to hold talks about the crisis. clinton is expected to strategize how to handle the civil war unfolding in syria. it comes after they slapped syria's oil company in sanctions. tens of thousands of syrians are living in refugee camps. back in the u.s. residents living near a massive sinkhole in louisiana will be unable to return to their homes at least another month. the sink hole swallowed 100-foot cyprus trees and is getting picker. take a look at this. authorities suggesting an underground salt cavern could be to blame. an act of terrorism, hatred. a height trim. those are the words of attorney general, eric holder. who sooek two sikh and imagine responder were killed. mitt romney reportedly making a bold choice. what does paul ryan think romney needs in a running make? we have cnn team coverage straight ahead. . in just a few hours, mitt romney is expected to unveil his pick. sources tell cnn he'll unveil paul ryan, wisconsin congressman as his pick. the announcement is expected 9:00 eastern in nor folk, virginia. wolf blitzer is waking up early with us this morning. glad you're with us, wolf. what do you think? bold move? what do you think he'll bring to the ticket? >> i think he'll really energize the conservative base. they love paul ryan. they'll go out and vote. it will reassure many of them that mitt romney is in fact himself a conservative. this is the post important decision the candidate can make. telling american people who would take over who would take over god forbid if something were to happen to the president of the united states. it says who mitt romney is. he decided to go bold. there's so much speculation that he would ask senator rob portman of ohio or tim pawlenty of minnesota to be his running mate. both totally qualified, both excellent men with relative experience. relatively bland, compared to someone like paul ryan, or if he would have gone with bob jindal or chris christie. he is saying i want to energize the race and want the economy to be issue number one. that's paul ryan's strength. he's been in washington for almost 20 years. he knows these economic issues, chairman of the house. budget issues. i think it gives this race a real distinction between what the romney-ryan plan is on one hand as opposed to joe biden's plan on the other. there's serious major differences on the key economic tax issues related to the two tickets. there's a big substance of debate so i look forward to it. >> it's interesting, romney and ryan have not agreed on everything along the way if you look at t.a.r.p. and auto bailouts. it's an interesting pick. >> they won't agree on everything. president obama didn't agree with joe biden on everything along the way. when ronald reagan picked george h.w. bush to be his running made they didn't agree on everything but they have forged by all accounts and i've spoken to romney people. romney and ryan afford a really strong, positive personal relationships, they are families, they like each other. they work well together. this will be a strong ticket. i know the democrats, a lot of democrats, a lot of obama supporters are salivating right now, because paul ryan said for folks under55 years old he wants dramatic changes in the way medicare is conducted. they think this opens up a great opportunity to go after him in one of the most popular programs the federal government has. this will be a good serious debate on serious issues. paul ryan is not something that likes to get into the mud and starts name calling or anything like that. he likes to discuss important economic issues, he is after all a student of jack kemp from new york state. former house secretary and vice presidential running mate, bob dole back in 1996. he learned from jack kemp and that's the kind of republican he's going to be. i wouldn't necessarily -- if i were a democrat or obama supporter, i wouldn't be high fiving each other right now. this will be a serious, strong debate. >> wolf blitzer, nice to have you on the program this morning. we'll see you coming up later on about 7:00 a.m. eastern. thank you, wolf. >> thank you. >> all of those attack ads may finally be taking a poll. we'll look at ads and how they are shaping people's opinions. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. 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