it's a trip designed to make him look presidential, but the headlines mitt romney is generating in london would make any white house cringe. his campaign is doing damage control after british news media seized on a remark romney made questioning london's readiness for the olympics. cnn national correspondent jim acosta is in london for us. jim, what's happening now with mitt romney? >> reporter: candy, mitt romney woke up to headlines he did not anticipate when he embarked on this overseas trip. but his campaign is confident he can clear the next hurdles ahead. mitt romney hit the reset button on his overseas charm offensive during his lone public meeting of the day in london he was asked by the leader of ireland about how he had to walk to the irish embassy due to the city's intense pre-olympic traffic. romney's response. romney is walking on egg shells 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, mitt the twit in the sun, romney sidestepped the controversy in an interview with cnn's piers morgan. >> you've been criticized for knocking the british enthusiasm. are you feeling it now? >> well, i'm delighted to see the kind of support that has been around the torch for instance. >> reporter: the uproar in london reached its crescendo when the city's mayor taunted romney in front of 60,000 people. >> there's a guy called mitt romney who wants to know whether we're ready. he wants to know whether we're ready. are we ready? [ cheers and applause ] are we ready? yes, we are! >> reporter: he's also taking heat that a meeting, norm le kept seek ri. >> i appreciate the insight and perspectives of the leaders as well as the head of the mi6 as we discussed syria. >> reporter: romney's top surrogates are brushing it off saying openings in the next two legs israel in po lapd. >> poland had the rug pulled on them on missile defense. >> reporter: president obama had his own awkward moments in britain last year when he tried to toast queen elizabeth as an orchestra played. >> in the words of shakespeare to this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this england, to the queen. >> sells papers. >> selling papers here. >> reporter: as for that morning headline hangover, we found londoners willing to cut romney some loyal slack. >> anything in the sun should be taken with a bucket load of salt. >> reporter: after he attends the opening ceremonies with his wife, ann, romney's next stop is israel where he has a full slate scheduled wibenjamin netanyahu. and, candy, the romney campaign and candidate himself made it very clear he does not plan on criticizing the president on foreign soil, but his trip to israel has an message to the middle east. >> we saw londoners some anyway seem forgiving of the romney mark. is there any concern within the romney campaign that it might hurt him back home? or is this they're just waiting for the next day to pass? >> reporter: you know, so far, candy, the romney campaign has not really said much about how he's been received here. he not only sidestepped that question with piers morgan, he also did so on "today" show. and they kept directing reporters back to what mitt romney said at an earlier meeting before he met with david cameron when he basically said he was confident that the games would go on without a hitch. so at this point, candy, they're sort of pretending it never really happened. >> probably a good idea. thanks so much jim acosta in london for us. quick note, wolf is traveling to israel right now where he'll interview mitt romney. we'll have that right here monday on "the situation room." president obama is doing his best to dim the spotlight using tools on a president has. chief white house koerpt jessica yellin has that part of the story. jessica, it's good to be president in an election year. >> reporter: sure, it can be, candy. look, the president he is far from london. but he is putting in a strong performance when it comes to trying to overshadow mitt romney's overseas trip. the obama campaign is getting in on the olympics competition sending the most popular member of their team to london. and spending a whopping $6.5 million during the summer games with ads like this. >> i believe that the way you grow the economy is from the middle out. >> reporter: just one way they're countering mitt romney's big european adventure. romney is taking heat for suggesting london may not be ready for the games. but the president, he's said to have. >> the utmost confidence in our close friend and ally, the united kingdom, as they finalize preparations to host the london olympics. >> reporter: take that. romney's next stop, israel. and guess what? the white house has countered there too announcing $70 million to support missile defense technology in israel called the iron dome. >> we're going to be able to lock-in that funding to assure that that program continues and that we are standing by our friends in israel when it comes to these kinds of attacks. >> reporter: an election year offering at a time when pro-israel voters are worried about the threat of possible attacks from iran. >> we are both so pleased and so grateful to this president. >> this bill is the -- in effect is the manifestation of the president's word. >> reporter: then romney's off to poland. he's trying to capitalize on tense relations between the two nations after the obama administration withdrew support for a george w. bush-era plan for a missile defense system partly based there and did it on an important anniversary in poland. >> i just want to thank you and the people of poland for the extraordinary welcome that i've received since i arrived. >> reporter: but the administration has a play there too. secretary of defense panetta just met with the polish defense minister announcing u.s. troops will be stationed in poland. candy, all these moves by the administration also help drown out some bad news on the economy. today the commerce department announced that the gross domestic product,n overall measure of the larger economy, slowed in the spring down to 1.5%. it needs to be about double of that to really spur hiring. now, despite that, the white house is predicting that that economic number will jump upwards by the end of the year to 2.6%. no doubt all of this will be foder for the campaign trail when mitt romney gets back from his european trip. but for now i guess it's mono y mono wherever he goes. >> how much of this is coincidence and not at all coincidence? >> reporter: some of this had to be planned well in advance. the timing happens to be very fortuitous. but as for something like the ad going up during the olympics, that's definitely calculated by the campaign to be a big splash on time when many americans are watching. so that one definitely not coincidence, candy. >> jessica yellin at the white house, thank you. a court filing by the attorney for colorado theater shooting suspect james holmes reveals that holmes was a patient of a university of colorado psychiatrist before the massacre. it also states that a suspicious package found in a school mail room was addressed to that doctor. meanwhile, police in prince george's county, maryland just outside washington displayed an impressive arsenal by a man who threatened to shoot people at his former workplace. he allegedly referred to himself as joker, the same name as holmes allegedly used. joe johns is with us working the story whachlt are you finding out, joe? >> candy, file this under the heading threats police are taking very seriously right now. they thinkaverted a workplace injury. a man in the process ofgetting fired from his job. he worked for a subcontractor. on monday he made a series of calls that got him thinking about james holmes, the alleged movie theater shooter. >> he made significant threats to coming back and harming people at the business. in fact, he said i'm a joker. and i'm going to load my guns and blow everyone up. >> those calls were reported to police and led to an investigation. when police questioned the suspect, they reported he was wearing a shirt that said "guns don't kill people, i do." according to authorities those facts along with the number of guns registered to the suspect was enough for police to bring him in. >> did he own all the guns in that display? >> it was quite a few, wasn't it? it was pretty incredible. the police were surprised by that. authorities say they confiscated 25 different firearms from this man's apartment. 40 steel boxes of ammunition and arsenal much larger than the authorities confiscated in the colorado movie shooting. federal authorities say the suspect appears to have purchased these guns legally. he apparently had a state gun collector's license, which meant he could get around maryland law that says you can't buy more than one gun a month for certain types of firearms. we're not releasing this man's name because he hasn't been formally charged. he's 28 years old. there's a court order for him to have a mental evaluation. >> sounds like at least that's an order. thank you so much, joe johns. appreciate it. the london olympic games officially starts moments ago. you won't see it until later tonight. but we have the first images inside the stadium next. and one of the most difficult tasks in london, keeping everyone safe. we're talking live with a man who knows that all too well. new york police commissioner ray kelly. and the cab craze that's sweeping parts of the country, but it's making some people mad in the nation's capital. 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[romney singing]: oh beautiful, for spacious skies, i'm barack obama and i approve this message. for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain, america, america, god shed his grace on thee, and crowned thy good, with brotherhood... with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. opening ceremonies are just getting underway. if you stay with us, you'll know the highlights before any of your friends waiting for tonight's prime time replay. we saw new images of the stadium. what i'm looking at right now looks pretty much like an english country home. tell us what's going on? >> reporter: candy, if you'd come to me two minutes ago, you'd been absolutely right. but movie director danny boyle's $40 million vision for this opening ceremony is a fast paced one. so already the scene behind olympic stadium has changed from the green and pleasant land, the opening scenes of this opening ceremony to what they're now calling pandemonium. that's the official name in the media notes for this chapter of the opening ceremony. and we have seen vast towers with smoke billowing out of them rising from the floor of the stadium where only going to see the likes of famous track and field athletes take part in their events. the green and present land has been transformed. and this is representing the industrial revolution of the 19th century and the rapidly changing globe. it could all go very quiet behind me in a moment as they signal remembrance. and that was the first world war, often referred to as the great war that had so many casualties. opening ceremonies underway. london welcoming the world at a total cost of more than $14 billion, candy. >> let me see if i have this correct. the tranquil litting farm scene that we saw has now changed over to some sort of march through a little bit of british history which will then be followed by atetes, is that correct? >> exactly. they're going to bring us right up through the 19th century, 20th century, the uk's past to the present. it's gone very quiet. all the actors, the 10,000 volunteers, a lot from the local area traditionally deprived all part of the regeneration process we're seeing poppy fields, the traditional symbol of remembrance in this country. a somber moment. but probably only a brief one. the rest of the opening ceremony as we've got hints from earlier in the week when we heard the rehearsals going to be very upbeat. lots of uk rock music. all sorts of question marks as to who's going to be here. but the uk's famous bands like rolling stones, beatles, the royal family of course, david beckham, james bond, who knows. some, many, if not all of those celebrities could well appear here this evening, candy. >> so another big thing always is who's going to take that final torch walk and then put it into the flame that goes on for all of the olympics? any hints on that? >> reporter: i'll tell you what i heard earlier today that bookmakers were slashing the odds on her majesty the queen herself lighting the olympic flame. whether they have a clue or just a flurry of bets from some optimistic punters, i don't know. i think although secrets have leaked out ahead of the opening ceremony, who's going to light that flame has been a very closely guarded secret. they've been having a social networking campaign with a #savethesurprise. it's been effective so far. the world's media is here, 21,000 of us. that's more than double the number of athletes and we've kept it secret. we've got the notes, we know what's going to happen. but i can't tell you. >> well, that is just so not fun of you, alex. thanks very much. we'll come back to you when you can tell us. i appreciate it. so how do you protect all those volunteers, athletes and fans? 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( laughter ) why's the new guy sending me emails from paris ? paris, france ? verizon's 4g lte devices are global-ready. plus, global data for just $25. only from verizon. mary snow is in new york monitoring some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. mary, mark zuckerberg's facebook is facing some serious trouble on wall street. >> it is, candy. hello there. the dow ended above 13,000 points for the first time since may. major indices saw more than 1% increases overall. yet, investors aren't liking what they see from facebook. shares tumbled on friday despite facebook's initial earning report slightly better than analysts predicts. shares finished at $23.71 down 12% for the day. worries loom how the company will make money from its mobile platform. a deadly showdown could be on the horizon in syria's largest city after rebel forces say the assad regime unleashed tanks and helicopters in aleppo causing what they're calling a horrific massacre. the u.n. secretary general is pleading for the fighting to stop. at least 100 people were killed across syria today. the opposition also says a syrian parliamentarian from aleppo has defected to turkey, the latest of high syrian diplomats to flee the country. here in the u.s. katherine jackson now shares guard yiansh of michael jackson's children. tj jackson has agreed to share. tito's 34-year-old son will be in charge of day-to-day tasks like managing the house and security. the move comes after katherine's somewhat mysterious trip to arizona prompting a missing persons report. and sisters in sacramento share a rare intestinal disorder that's made eating impossible for decades. but now michelle sayers is on track to eat solid food for the first time since she was 6 years old. ucla surgeoning replaced her intestinal tract. her sister is hoping to undergo the same surgery very soon. really amazing, candy. >> wow. that is amazing. thanks so much, mary snow. appreciate it. prominent republicans are weighing in on the republican veepstakes including rudy giuliani. we'll talk about his pick for mitt romney's running mate in strategy session with donna brazile and erick erickson. and killer storms tear across the northeast. we're now learning they spawned at least three tornadoes. male spirit present.trong it's the priceline negotiator. >>what? >>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals. it's a faster way to get a great hotel deal without bidding. pick one with a pool, a gym, a great guest rating. >>and save big. >>thanks negotiator. wherever you are. ya, no. he's over here. >>in the refrigerator? why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. we asked total strangers to wa