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American Morning: Wake Up Call
Tropical Storm Emily to Hit Puerto Rico; Senate's Turn to Vote on Debt Deal; Israel Ready to Discuss Borders; Warren Jeffs: God Demands Judge Be Removed; Vial Of Ted Bundy's Blood Found; Debt Debate Cost Extra $1.7 Billion
Aired August 02, 2011 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It is Tuesday, August 2nd. This is your A.M.: WAKE-UP CALL.
I'm Ali Velshi, joining you live this morning from New York.
Let's start with a story that needs to be on your radar this week because it is on the weather radar. Tropical storm Emily could hit Puerto Rico. Take a look that weather track. There's chance that it could pick up strength and approach south Florida by Friday.
We're going to talk to Rob Marciano about that in just a few minutes. For those of you in Florida, you may want to change some of your plans.
Now, your daily debt ceiling update: The Senate votes on the bills today with just a few sand granules left in the hourglass, and all the dithering and delays didn't come for free. This might make you spit out your coffee or trip on your treadmill, so get ready for this.
The price tag: more than 1 $.7 billion. That is how much extra interest the government will have to pay investors because it had to sell treasury bills to finance its operations in the middle of this mess. If the mess had been worked out even two weeks ago, that money would have been saved. Now, there could be prices for politicians, too.
Here's some wisdom from CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger who is part of a panel on "A.C. 360."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I was talking to a senior White House official today who said, look, if you look at this down the road, we have some other landmarks that are coming up in November and again in December, and he said, look, this could frame the debate for the White House for 2012. If Republicans are only for cuts and entitlements and not for any kind of revenue, that's something that our public opinion show the public does not support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Yes, I was part of that panel late last night, too. No, haven't slept much. So, did the Tea Party act like hobbits or terrorists? Well, critics can't have it both ways. Terrorists have much smaller feat, for instance. Democratic Congressman Mike Doyle from Pennsylvania was quoted as saying "the Tea Party acted like terrorists threatening to blow up the economy," end quote. Apparently, some other Democrats used the T-word to describe the Tea Party's rule in the debt negotiations.
Now, some Republicans didn't appreciate the analogy. Senator Rand Paul says he refers to himself as a freedom fighter. Anderson talked with him a few hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: Some people would argue that by adding $2 trillion more in debt to our country, that threatens our country more than a temporary inconvenience of not raising the debt ceiling.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "A.C. 360": Has this been a victory, do you think, for the Tea Party?
PAUL: In some ways, yes. We didn't win the legislative battle. I didn't get what I want. But I would say that the public debate now, everyone comes up to me and says whether you're with me or not, they say the debate now is all about cutting spending. And before, it was where to spend the projects, where's the earmark s going to go.
REP. EMANUEL CLEAVER (D), MISSOURI: I'm disappointed in the way the debate went. I mean, we have a fact-free debate. You know? But, let me e say this. I want to give kudos to the Tea Party members because they pretty much had their way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: The second man you heard from was -- the second man you heard from was the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. His name is Emanuel Cleaver.
Pew Researcher surveyed Americans about the debt ceil and they asked them to sum up the whole thing in one word. These are top words, the bigger they are, the more they were used. You see ridiculous, disgusting, disappointing, frustrating, stupid. One of the big ones was asinine was in there? There were a lot of big words in there.
Concern was the big one. Not a whole lot of kudos, by the way, in there. Seventy-two percent of respondents used negative words to describe the talks and disgust was one that crossed party lines.
A whopping 2 percent uttered something positive. I'd be curious what those 2 percent are thinking.
OK. Take a look at this kid. He looks like your son's friend who spends way too much time in the Xbox. The British authorities say 18- year-old Jake Davis is the notorious LulzSec hacker known as Topiary. He's accused of several crimes including a conspiracy to take a British agency's Web site offline. \ Look at this little guy. That's him?
According to "Forbes," prosecutors say Davis laptop had a folder with details and passwords of about 750,000 people on it. How did that happen, Jake? He's free on bail. He's not allowed near the Internet and he does get to keep the cool shades.
Ford recalling more than a million older pickup trucks. It seems the gas tank can come loose and drag on the ground. Ford says it's aware of three fires and one injury from the problem. We're talking about F-150s, F-250s, and some Lincoln Blackwood, model years 1997 to 2003. Ford says dealers will fix the problem for free.
Time now for your punch line. After all that to seal a deal on the debt, someone is going to take the heat. Who is that going to be?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Obama changes from "yes, we can," to "yes, we cave."
President Obama turns 50 this week. If you'd like to get him a gift, he's registered at bed, bath, and can I still blame Bush.
JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": The president has got to be pretty upset about what's taken place here.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank the American people. It's been your voices, your letters, your e-mails, your tweets, your phone calls that have compelled Washington to act in the final days.
STEWART: Let me just stop you right there. You're not pinning this turd on us.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
VELSHI: Time now for a check on world markets.
The Nikkei and the Hang Seng both closed lower. Right now, the FTSE and the DAX are also down.
Let's go right to Kristie Lu Stout live in Hong Kong for a market check.
Good morning, Kristie.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Good morning, Ali.
It has been a downbeat day here in Asia, with almost all of Monday's gains reverse. That initial relief over the resolution of the U.S. debt deadlock, that has given way to pessimism as investors focus on the fundamentals. And those are weak manufacturing data from the U.S., which exporters around here in Asia and a strong yen which is hurting Japanese exporters.
It is a similar story in Europe. All the gains that we saw yesterday, all in the reverse. Ali, it's a very weak session across the board.
VELSHI: All right. We got first quarter results yesterday -- or today, I guess, from Toyota. We've been hearing from the major automakers and the major manufacturers in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami. What's Toyota looking like?
STOUT: Yes, I hate to say I've about got more gloomy news for you. Toyota has just posts its first full quarterly results since that devastating earthquake and tsunami back in March. Ali, the numbers don't look good at all. Toyota made a net profit of just $14 million in the first quarter. That's it. And to put the number in perspective for you, a year ago, the company posted profit of $2.25 billion.
So, Ali, it was not a lost, but still a devastating result for Toyota.
VELSHI: All right. And, Kristie, finally, this next headline sounds like it came straight out of a movie, robots in, humans out. What does that mean?
STOUT: Sorry, it's like Isaac Asimov novel or something. Foxconn plans to replace half a million worker with robots over the next three years and it sound like the stuff of sci-fi, but it's apparently true. Now, Foxconn's chairman, Terry Gou, he told the "China Business News" he plans to use up to 1 billion robots to do simple work.
Now, Foxconn, this is a company that most likely makes your iPod, maker of computer components. It's also been hit by a spate of suicides at its factories. Activists have blamed those deaths on tough working conditions. You've got to wonder about this latest announcement.
VELSHI: No kidding.
All right. Kristie, thank you so much I'll check in with you later -- Kristie Lu Stout live from Hong Kong.
Let's go back to Atlanta, Rob Marciano live from the weather center.
You're tracking tropical storm, Emily -- could approach Florida by Friday. What's the latest that you have there?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it hasn't organized much. It's got a couple of obstacles, Ali, that's a good thing, for it to overcome before it gets to the U.S. mainland, specifically Florida. It's got to go through the Caribbean right now.
It's 250 miles southeast of San Juan and Puerto Rico. So it's banging around a little bit in the northeastern Caribbean islands. But the winds are right now are only 40 miles an hour. So, just barely a tropical storm. It's got a ton of heavy rain with this.
This thing, already, though, is much, much larger than Don, and we think that will be the case going forward. It does have to go over the island of Hispaniola, which has a lot of mountains, and that may very well knock it down just a touch. This is a future radar. It's our forecast computer model which shows the track going toward the Dominican Republic and eventually toward the southern Bahamas and likely toward the state of Florida, at least the East Coast. The models this morning have nudged a little bit farther to the east, so not guaranteed to make landfall in Miami, that's for sure. So, just prepare right now mentally and then we'll update this forecast going forward.
But certainly, the southern tip of Florida all the way up to the Carolina Coast and even the northeast will have to watch this one very, very carefully and be prepared to act.
Heat indices, up and over 105 again today and expanding the heat warnings across the Central Plains. Our streak continues in Dallas, Texas, in Oklahoma City, in Little Rock, hazy, hot, and humid, a little bit of relief across the Northeast today with that cool front coming through yesterday. But I use the term lightly. It will be 92 degrees in New York City today and 96. The heat is coming back.
Chicago, Detroit, you'll probably see delays later on today. Minneapolis, some morning thunderstorms as well.
All right, you know our producer here's in Atlanta, I try to find you bits of science that surprise us, and this one, quite frankly, a little bit disappointing. Apparently, there's a researcher, Ali, has discovered that letting off steam by swearing is not healthy. You know, the long held belief that if something goes wrong --
VELSHI: Yes, yes, expletive.
MARCIANO: A string of expletive -- I mean, that makes you feel good, doesn't it?
VELSHI: Not healthy?
MARCIANO: No. It apparently makes you more stressful.
VELSHI: Really?
MARCIANO: I'm sure going to have to start changing my actions if I want to live longer. But --
VELSHI: What are you supposed to do? Do they give you an obvious thing? You know if you smoke and you try to smoke, they tell you to occupy yourself, eat carrots or apples, chew gum or --
MARCIANO: Breathe.
VELSHI: What's the thing?
MARCIANO: Breathe.
VELSHI: Really?
MARCIANO: Yes.
VELSHI: So, when I want to swear -- instead of swearing I just --
MARCIANO: I feel better.
VELSHI: I'm going try it all day and report back to you.
MARCIANO: Let's do that.
VELSHI: All right. Rob, good to see you -- Rob Marciano in weather center. We'll check in with him.
Hey, Lady Gaga comes to the defense of Hillary Clinton. I can tell you it's got nothing to do with Clinton's job as America's top diplomat. Every bit to do with her sense of style. You want to see this.
But, first, here is our quote of the day. Quote, "This deal is a sugar-coated Satan sandwich," end quote. Find out who's newsmaker said that about the debt deal.
It's 11 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Fourteen minutes after the hour. This is your A.M.: WAKE-UP CALL.
Now back to the quote of the day, quote, "This deal is a sugar-coated Satan sandwich." The head of the Congressional Black Caucus, Emanuel Cleaver, tweeted this out about the debt deal.
By the way, Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi agreed. She told ABC's Diane Sawyer she was going to vote yes on the deal even though she also considers it a Satan sandwich with, quote, "some Satan fries on the side."
There's actually recipe for a Satan sandwich that was posted on recipeswiki.org back in May. It involves one slice of bread, butter, piece of ham, mayo, two spoonfuls of bleeping darkness. I'm serious. I didn't make that up.
All right. The debt deal, was that a bunch p of broken promises? Here's Jon Stewart's take.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
STEWART: They must have forgotten to add and with the new balanced approach to deficit reduction forged by rational adults, there are some revenue increases closing the bucket gap while preserving some vital government functions.
Can we roll the clip of that, please? Can we roll we have clip?
There must be revenue increases in this compromise because I was told just how crucial that was to this negotiation.
OBAMA: We would have revenues. Revenues should come from the people who can most afford them. Serious cuts balanced by some revenues. If you don't have revenues, it means you're putting more of a burden on the people who can least afford it.
STEWART: I'm sorry, one second. Really? All right. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) just roll the clip.
REPORTER: The president has failed to include any revenues in his deal.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No tax increases, if you will.
ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC NEWS: There are no tax revenues in this.
STEWART: I was really hoping that clip was going to be a lemur with its head stuck in a tub of mayonnaise. But --
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
VELSHI: Time now for your Political Ticker with Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius XM POTUS, live from Washington.
We get the point there, Tim. There are no revenues in this, and theoretically, that committee, that super powerful committee, might add some. But nobody believes that's going to happen. But that's in the future, Tim. Let's talk about today.
The Senate is going to vote on this bill today, right? They're going to do it, right?
TIM FARLEY, "MORNING BRIEFING," SIRIUS XM POTUS: It's a done deal. It's pretty much going to pass. And there can be nothing quite so inspiring as Gabrielle Giffords showing up as she did last night.
VELSHI: Yes.
FARLEY: That was truly an amazing moment.
But skunks, lemurs, whatever animal you want to choose, whatever's in the room and all the work you had before associated with this process, Ali, it goes through the Senate today, it gets on the president's desk, it gets signed, that extra billion or so in interest rates, it all happens.
The key I think you hit on, who's going to be on this super committee? This six-member committee -- because they have a very difficult time ahead of them. They're going to make suggests that the Congress is going to either have to accept or they're going to see triggers go into effect which will cut spending automatically.
So, I'm really, really fascinated to see who the choice is going to be, who these six people are going to be on.
VELSHI: I think they're clamoring to be on it. But you know, the danger, the number of deficit hawks and economists I spoke to said, if they don't get it done and those triggers activate entitlements and defense cuts across the board, those are not going be strategic and that's not necessarily going to be helpful.
But let's talk about something else that's supposed to be happening today at the Senate.
FARLEY: Sure.
VELSHI: Supposedly a hearing on the strategy going forward in Afghanistan. Is that still happening?
FARLEY: This is a bit of frustration. This has been cancelled. It's been postponed. Here we are almost on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the tenth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, people are still getting shot at, people are dying, and unfortunately because of what has been quoted as debt ceiling-related craziness, although that's an off-the-record non-attributable quote, there are people who can't just get this work done evidently.
So chewing gum and walking at the same time might be too much of a challenge but the Senate Arms Committee is pushing this off until after the recess.
VELSHI: All right, Tim, what's going on? What's Lady Gaga got to do with Hillary Clinton?
FARLEY: You know, I don't know this guy. What's his name, Bill Gunn (ph) or something like that? I said -- evidently, he said something about Hillary Clinton and her predisposition to often wearing pants suits.
So, Lady Gaga felt on that "The View," she had to come to the defense of the secretary of state.
VELSHI: And she just sort of said it's OK? The pant suits are all right?
FARLEY: She said she's got more important things to worry about than what she's -- she's got more important things to worry about than whether or not she's -- her wardrobe is in place.
VELSHI: That's -- I can probably see it. All right. Tim, good to see you, my friend. Have a good show this morning.
Tim Farley, host of morning briefing on Sirius XM POTUS.
Here's a story people will still be talking about today. Millions of women will soon be able to get birth control for free, no co-pay, no deductible, just one part of sweeping new guidelines for women's care from the Department of Health and Human Services. The focus is preventive care. So free HIV screenings, free counseling, even free breast pumps are covered under the plan which could start as soon as next August.
Warning, bad habits can shrink your brain -- high blood pressure, smoking, obesity. A new study they can age your mind by as much as a decade. U.C. Davis researchers say that if you're dealing with these issues, treat them now or you could be dealing with a tiny brain later in life.
Washington, D.C., tops the nation when it comes to alcohol abuse among adults. A new report from the federal government says over 8 percent of Washingtonians over the age of 26 abuse alcohol or struggle with dependence. That is much higher than the national average of just over 6 percent. Experts say blame high stress and wide availability of alcohol.
Wide availability, isn't alcohol available everywhere?
The same report says nationwide, by the way, half of all Americans over the age of 12 drink alcohol. Over the age of 12? I thought we had the numbers of backwards there. A quarter of the binged in the past month.
In our holy cow that's creepy story of the day, there are now glow-in- the-dark puppies. You've got to see it to believe it. I'll show you in a little while.
But, first, channel your inner child and buy an ice cream sandwich on your way home from work. That's because August 2nd is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day.
Twenty minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-three minutes after the hour. This is your A.M.: WAKE-UP CALL.
Here are three things you need to have on your radar today:
Today at noon, the Senate is set to vote on the debt ceiling deal. We're waiting for the final verdict on the country's AAA credit rating from the credit agencies -- sorry. I'm still eating my ice cream sandwich.
We're tracking the very latest on tropical storm Emily. Tropical storm warning and watches are up for the parts of the Caribbean. Now, computer models show the storm approaching south Florida by Friday. If you're there, going there, you might want to look at your plans.
And Iraq is considering whether to ask the U.S. to extend the stay of American troops past 2011. Iraq's prime minister is hoping for a final decision in the next day or two.
Let's go around the world with Zain Verjee. She is in London.
Zain, interesting new developments in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now getting ready to discuss redrawing the map, changing some of Israeli's borders to revive peace talks. Tell us what's going on.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a dramatic policy shift. Benjamin Netanyahu is basically saying let's discuss it to the Palestinians, using the 1967 cease-fire line. He's also telling the Palestinians, look, you've got to recognize the state of Israel and that it is a Jewish state and that do not go to the United Nations later this year and unilaterally declare a Palestinian state.
Now, the Palestinians, Ali, are saying what proposal? We haven't got a proposal. They want details and information.
Remember, too, the U.S. President Barack Obama had previously proposed having talks about a Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders.
So, this is a significant development. The prime minister is changing course, but let's get the details first here, Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Also, workers are finding high levels of radiation around Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant. What's the news there?
VERJEE: Yes. Let me show you some of these pictures coming out of the plant. They have detected the highest levels of radiation since the earthquake and tsunami happened back in March of this year. If you're looking at this picture, this is actually in between reactor one and two, and it's at the bottom of the ventilation system that right there, that they found such high levels of radiation that they say could kill humans within weeks if they're exposed to it.
VELSHI: All right. Finally, Zain, this one I don't even understand --
VERJEE: My favorite story.
VELSHI: But they tell me you know their story. Genetically modified puppies? What are you talking about?
VERJEE: Right. Well, it is a little bit complicated, but let's break it down for you here. Look at that picture? Isn't it amazing?
Well, basically they genetically modified this cute little puppy by injecting a fluorescent green gene by way of a DNA fragment. Basically what that means is they created it in an embryo and put it in a surrogate dog that delivered this little puppy. When you put his foot, for example, under the ultra-violent light it glows the green gene.
Why are they doing this, you ask?
VELSHI: Yes. That's a good question, I ask.
VERJEE: It's not just a pretty thing to look at. It's going to be really helpful when you're looking at the evolution of disease like Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's. What doctors can do is inject a gene like that into a puppy and watch it involved. That way we understand disease better.
VELSHI: OK. There you go. That's interesting.
VERJEE: Got it.
VELSHI: Thank you. Thank you, Zain. You always bring us stuff of value.
Zain Verjee in London for us.
Hey, Lady Gaga is just all over this show today. We talked about her commenting on Hillary Clinton's dressing. Today's "Businessman Special," Lady Gaga and the five things you can teach your marketing department about building a community you little monsters. That's coming after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Good morning. It's Tuesday, August 2nd. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Ali Velshi joining you live this morning from New York. It is 30 minutes after the hour.
Here we are, deadline day for a debt deal. It has been grueling, it has been painful. It has been heated, but finally, a big step forward. The House voted to raise the debt ceiling through the end of 2012, cut government spending by over $2 trillion in the next decade. Our Kate Bolduan caught up with House Speaker, John Boehner, right after the vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: what do you think the message is for the American people tonight?
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE SPEAKER: The process works. It may not be pretty, but it works.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Next up, a noon vote in the Senate where the plan is supposed to get a green light. Then, it's onto the president's desk with just hour to spare before the treasury says it can no longer pay America's bills.
Tropical storm, Emily, is churning through the Caribbean this morning, heading northwest and triggering watches and warnings in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. We're keeping a close eye on Emily. It's getting stronger, and a long-term forecast from the National Hurricane Center shows the storm tracking close to Florida by the weekend, but it is still early to know where it is headed.
Polygamist leader, Warren Jeffs, says he's quoting God when he demands the removal of the judge in his child sex assault case. He filed a motion Monday written as a revelation, telling the judge to recuse herself of the trial, goes on. Jeffs is accused of taking two child brides age 12 and 15 and sexually assaulting them. One of those girls has a child of her own, and a forensic analyst testified she's 99.9 percent certain that Jeffs is the father of that child.
A vial of Ted Bundy's blood could help investigators close cold cases. The serial killer was executed in 1989 after confessing to more than 30 murders, but, he could be pinned with more killings, thanks to a detective who came across a vial of blood taken in 1978. It was still on file. A complete DNA profile on Bundy will be uploaded to the FBI's national database this week.
"Consumer Reports" is panning the new Honda Civic. The magazine says the redesigned compact car is worse than the old one, and for the first time ever, the super-popular car scored too low to a recommendation. It says the steering is numb, and the car's body leans too far in turns. On the upside, it gets 30 miles a gallon, which is among the best in its class.
Now, for a punch line, once upon a time, there was a fight between President Obama and Republican. Stephen Colbert finishes the fairy tale for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, THE COLBERT REPORT: It's like the Billy Goats Gruff. Obama is the troll.
(LAUGHTER)
COLBERT: Back in December, the smallest Billy Goat said, Mr. Troll, let me cross your bridge so I can go to the other side and renew the Bush tax cuts or I will call you a job killer. He made the political calculation to let the goat pass and bring this issue up again later. This spring, the medium sized Billy Goat showed up and said, Mr. Troll, let me cross your bridge so I can cut spending or I will shut down the government.
Everybody had seen this exact match-up in 1995 and knew a troll could win by eating the goat and then celebrating by having sex with the troll intern, but Obama troll said now is not the time. Then, the this summer, the largest Billy Goat came clapping up and said, Mr. Troll, I will not raise the debt ceiling, unless, I get to gouge out your eyes and throw you off the bridge.
(LAUGHTER)
COLBERT: So, the troll had to compromise by gouging out his own eyes and throwing himself off the bridge.
(LAUGHTER)
COLBERT: And the moral of the story is when the first goat comes along, you've got to tear its head off and then mail the carcass back to its brothers and say any of you other goat mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED) want to put a hoof on my brain?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Now, for a "Political Ticker," let's bring in CNN's Joe Johns on the phone from Washington. That's not exactly how it went down, Joe, but it is the Senate's turn to vote on this thing six and a half hours from now, hopefully? VOICE OF JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Around noon eastern time, Ali, is the time we've been given. You know, that time slips, but, at the end of the day, we're told it looks pretty good in the United States Senate. I mean, this has been ugly and brutal, and frankly, it's not the last step. I mean, it's the last step toward avoiding default, but it's really the only beginning of this conversation on reducing spending that could be quite painful and difficult going forward.
The House vote was dramatic in the sense that we're only hours away from the August 2nd deadline, but it was one of those famous sort of hold-your-nose vote almost for every lawmaker I spoke with. Nobody liked this thing, not even the leadership. A lot of conservatives and Republicans thought it didn't go far enough. A lot of Democrats including liberals thought it goes way too far.
And, you know, there's been so much made about the drama, if you will, of the vote over on the House side. By Congressional standards, though, the drama of the moment was really just totally upstaged by the appearance of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who was shot earlier this year, was making her first appearance on the House floor since the shooting.
So, a long road toward this. It is expected to pass the Senate, though they won't say that. Always a possibility for some hiccups, but at the end of the day, most people, I think, here believe this thing is going to be on the president's desk by the end of the day.
VELSHI: Good. OK. We'll stay on top of it with you. And boy, you're right about that Gabrielle Giffords walked into that chamber. At first, nobody knew what was going on, and then, it was her. She got a standing ovation, the first vote she cast. We're going to bring you that video in just a couple of minutes so you can see it for yourself.
Now, back to our businessman special. Five things that Lady Gaga can teach your marketing department about community building. As you know, she has a lot of followers on Twitter. This list is from the great folks over at Fast Company. Number one, target like-minded people. Don't focus on ethnicity or gender. Focus on people with common interests.
Number two, be vulnerable. You'll attract followers by being open and honest. Number three, the consumer is the boss. Lady Gaga always honors her fans. Honor your customers the same way. Number four, create a collective experience. Make sure your social media strategy is authentic. The final way marketers can learn from Lady Gaga, be a better company for your community.
Be careful. Sport news just got crazy this morning. There's a new flying squirrel wrestling movie. We had the video for you right after this quick break, but first, here is today's "Get Smart" question. Which job is rated as the most stressful according to careerfast.com? A. Emergency Medical Technician, EMT, B. Commercial airline pilot, and C. Newscaster. The answer after this quick break. Thirty-seven minutes after the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It is 40 minutes after the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
OK. Now, it's time for you to get smart. Which job is rated as the most stressful according to careercast.com. A. Emergency Medical technician, B. Commercial airline pilot, or C. newscaster. All right. It's not newscaster. It's commercial airline pilot. That's interesting. Here is the rest of careerfast top ten list of most stressful jobs.
Public relations officer, corporate executive -- where's the public relations? I like them (ph) into that. Photojournalist, newscaster -- we made the list. Interesting. Account executive, architect, stock broker, EMT, real estate agent. For the list, careercast.com scored the jobs based on physical demands, work environment, income, outlook, and stress.
I guess, when you put income and outlook into it, that's where you get real estate on that list. The list is based on the stress part, by the way, stress part of the survey. I'm not sure some of those fit the right way. I don't think I've got the most stressful job in the world. Do you, Carter Evans? You look -- he looks relaxed. Cool as a cucumber. He's at the NASDAQ market site live for us this morning. I think our jobs are fun. I don't think they're that stressful.
CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a lot of fun, you know? It's nice to get up every morning that's early and talk to you. Makes like --
VELSHI: Take all the time you need to discuss whatever you want to discuss, Carter.
EVANS: Well, let's talk about how they do things a little differently in Washington than we do at home. Apparently there, you spend money to save money. The last two weeks, the theatrics over the debt ceiling debate cost us, taxpayers, $1.7 billion. You see, that's the amount of additional interest the government had to pay investors yesterday to sell treasury bills and finance its operations.
All the uncertainty that lawmakers created during this debacle drove up interest rate. Investors now consider those T-bills a bigger risk. So, they want to get paid more, and it cost us $1.7 billion.
I also wanted to talk to you about FAA funding today. You know, we're not paying those federal taxes when we buy an airline ticket, and one of the reasons is because funding for the FAA was held up in the Senate. Four thousand workers are furloughed right now, and they're expected to stay on furlough when Congress adjourns. Senators say the impasse is over the new national mediation board rules.
Those rules make it easier for airlines to unionize. Senator Hutchison is urging funding extensions minus policy issues, but the failure to act is getting expensive for taxpayer. You see, the airlines stopped collecting those taxes, and that's a cost of $25 million a day to the government, total expected cost of the funding feud, $1.2 billion. So, just these two discussions over the last couple of weeks.
VELSHI: Yes. $3 billion right there. Real money --
EVANS: Yes.
VELSHI: Because Washington didn't have its act together. Remarkable. Carter Evans, thank you so much, my friend. Good to see you as always. We'll check in with you in just a little bit.
The NBA and its players' union have had their first formal bargaining talks. They made no progress to speak of. The lockout has been going on for more than a month now. Here are Kobe Bryant's two cents on the whole thing. He hinted about playing overseas if the season is canceled.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOBE BRYANT, FIVE-TIME NBA CHAMPION: I don't know. You know, it's not looking too good right now. We're going to hold our ground. So, we'll just to have --
VELSHI (voice-over): Watch the wrestler in the blue. He's wrestling the other dude and gravity and beating both of them. Alex Collins (ph) move is called the flying squirrel. Watch. Wow! Check it out on YouTube if you got some time to kill. Coleman, by the way, took the bronze in his weight division at the Junior World Championship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI (on-camera): Check out this day in history. On August 2nd, 1790, the first United States census was conducted back in 1970. Almost four million people called the United States home. But boy, as the U.S grown, America's population now top to 308 million people according to the last year census. It's 44 minute after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Good morning. It's Tuesday, August 2nd. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Ali Velshi joining you live this morning from New York. It's 47 minutes after the hour. Let's go straight to Zain Verjee around the world. She's covering an interesting story. Good morning, Zain. Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, had been watching the debt ceiling debate in the U.S., and he says America is a parasite.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. He says that U.S. is a parasite on the global economy. He was speaking to -- a youth group in Russia when he came up with this, and he went on to say the U.S. has just been living beyond its mean. He said the dominance of the dollar is also a big threat to financial market. He then added to this group said, thank God, they had enough common sense and responsibility to make a balanced decision.
Russia holds a lot of bonds in U.S. treasuries, Ali, doesn't it? So, he was really watching very, very closely the situation and what ultimately ended up happening, but Vladimir Putin saying the U.S. is nothing but a parasite on the global economy.
VELSHI: Forget parasites. Let's talk fungus. Last time, by the way, you're talking about a glow in the dark --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Yes. No kidding. A giant fungus has been found, and somebody wants to know how giant this is. It's half a ton. Where is this famous fungus?
VERJEE: This is growing on the underside of a tree in China. It is one of the biggest funguses or fungi ever found in the world. It is about half a ton, and the people are pretty amazed by this. The previous record was actually here in England (INAUDIBLE), but if you look at the pictures there, you know, they're taking the record of the biggest fungus in the world in China -- Ali.
VELSHI: Is it edible? What do you do with this fungus?
VERJEE: You just look at it and you grossed out by it. I don't think it's edible. No.
VELSHI: OK. Well, I guess, there are so many things you can do in the fungus, but we will get into hole (ph) -- Zain, good to see you, my friend. I'll talk to you later on this morning. Zain Verjee in London.
Let's start with a story that needs to be on your radar this week because it's a player on the weather radar.
Tropical storm, Emily, could hit Puerto Rico today, and there's a chance it could pick-up strength. Check that out and approach South Florida by Friday. We're going to talk more about it with Rob Marciano on the other side of this break.
The Senate votes on the debt bill today just in the nick of time. All that dithering and delays has come with a hefty price. Check out the price tag. More than $1.7 billion is how much extra money the government had to pay investors or in interest to sell treasury bonds to finance its operation, and if the mess had been worked out even two weeks ago, that money would have been saved. There could be prices from politicians, too. Here's some wisdom from CNN's chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, part of a panel on "AC 360."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: But I was talking to a senior White House official today who said, look, if you look at this down the road, we have some other landmarks that are coming up in November and again in December. And he said, look, this could frame the debate for the White House for 2012. If Republicans are only for cuts and entitlements and not for any kind of revenue, that's something that our public opinion show the public does not support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And by the way, I was on that panel. You probably saw me there late last night. I haven't slept all that much since then. I'm going to be really glad when this debt ceiling debate passes this afternoon if it passes.
All right. Pew Research surveyed Americans about the debt ceiling talks, asked them to sum up the whole thing in one word. These are the top words in a word climb where the biggest words mean they show up the most.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI (voice-over): Ridiculous is the big one right there. Stupid, disgusting, childish, messy, joke are all words in there.
Those are some of the nicer ones, by the way. Seventy-two percent have responded and use negative words to describe the talks and the disgust crossed party lines. Two percent, by the way, a whopping two percent, uttered something positive about this.
Look who is in the White House for the vote last night. Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona. Listen to the welcome she got from her colleagues.
(APPLAUSE)
VELSHI: That is amazing. I saw that last night. Gave me shivers. It was the first time back on the House floor for her since she was shot in the head in that Tucson shooting back in January. You've heard support of the bill. She was there in case it was a tight vote, and her vote was going to be needed. In the end, it wasn't that tight. Wow.
All right. Double wow for this. Take a look at this kid. It looks like your friend's son who plays to much Xbox, but British authorities say 18-year-old Jake Davis is the notorious LulzSec hacker known as topiary. He's accused of several crimes, including conspiracy to take a British agency's website-off line.
He's (INAUDIBLE). He's not allowed near the internet. I don't know what that kid is going to do. He's from the remote Shetland Island. The place that gave us little sheepdogs and a nice wolf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI (on-camera): Let's get to Rob Marciano live in Atlanta. You're trap and -- what do we do (ph) with Emily?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Emily is going through another batch of violence right now, the eastern Caribbean, Ali, and it developed last night. We've, obviously, been watching this for a couple of days. Finally had enough circulation to deem tropical storm. So, Emily right now, minimal with winds of 40 miles an hour. It's about 240 miles southeast of San Juan, but the size of storm is pretty large as far as the amount of convection with this. So, we've got a fair amount of confidence. They'll at least hold together as a tropical storm even though the forecast track, you just see there on the forecast radar, take us toward the Dominican Republican which has its fair share of mountains which typically would tear these things down. So, there's an outlying chance that it fizzles, but I wouldn't bet the bank on that. Let's plan on the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center, which brings it over the island of Hispaniola, eastern tip of Cuba.
And then, somewhere into the Southern Bahamas as we get closer to the weekend. That mean that South Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas are in play with this. The latest computer models shifting a little bit to the right, but still, too far out there to nail it down. Floridians, mentally if not physically, start preparing. Heat indices, 105 to 115 today. There you go. The heat warnings have expanded north and ease.
My goodness. It never ends. These are the potential records that will fall today. Oklahoma City, the record's 110. We're going for 111. Dallas, 110 is the forecast. 110 is -- 110 is the forecast as measured in the shade. And some afternoon thunderstorm expected in Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis. So, the heat's going to continue to build and we'll probably see some record high.
The past couple of week, I'm sorry to say, Ali, for those areas in the central and southern plains, it's just been a warm-up quite literally, and we're really getting steamy now.
VELSHI: All right. Rob, we'll check you on --
MARCIANO: Hey, one other thing. I forgot this. Sorry. Check this out. This Burmese python in South Florida, 11-footer, was stuck underneath the trailer --
VELSHI: Good God!
MARCIANO: And they could see the tail wiggling. So, what would you do? They grabbed the thing and waited for the venom police to arrive because they were tired of this particular snake eating all the grass.
VELSHI: If I were grabbing it, I'd do this. I'd grab the head, not the tail. Grab the tail. The guy is going to spin around and bite you in the neck.
MARCIANO: What are you? Some sort of snake handler? You're going to grab the head of a Burmese python. Really?
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: You need some more sleep, dude. Your judgment is off. You run from that thing and call somebody who knows what they're doing down.
VELSHI: That's the right answer. Rob, good to see you, my friend. I'll talk to you on AMERICAN MORNING. Rob Marciano. Let's take a look at the word of the day. It is super majority. Find out what it means and why you need to know it today with reference to this debt deal. It's important. Coming up right after the break. Fifty-four minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It's 58 minutes after the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. Now, back to the word of the day. It's super majority. That's the required amount of votes to pass the debt plan in the Senate today. The approval will take 60 votes. There are 100 members in the Senate. They need 60 to get this through.
Let's go to Carter Evans for a look at your money this morning. He joins us live from the NASDAQ market site right here in New York. How are futures shaping up this morning, Carter?
EVANS: Well, you know, our futures are a lot lower this morning, Ali. Dow futures down about 88 points right now. Check this out. The Nikkei in Japan closing down 1.2 percent today. It's this weak manufacturing data that we got yesterday that's really concerning the investors around the world. Today, we are going to get reports on personal income and spending.
We'll also get new auto sales number. But I also wanted to talk about one of the main things on the CNNMoney.com website today. The debt ceiling deal won't restart hiring. So, this is a big concern for a lot of people. A lot of people thought, OK, once this debt deal is passed, businesses are going to start hiring again, but experts are saying not necessarily. First, some economists are afraid that $2.1 trillion in spending cuts alone will slow down the economy, and it's already slow.
We saw a gain of only 43,000 jobs in May and June combined. Economists are forecasting a gain of only 77 jobs. For July, we'll find that out on Friday. It certainly would have been worse without a debt deal, but small businesses, Ali, are really concerned right now about high raw material prices and weak demand, also high cost, the cost of health care. So, there's still lots of uncertainty out there.
VELSHI: All right. That's a good point. What else are you following on money.com, by the way? What are the other big headlines out there?
EVANS: Well, you know, some of the other things we're looking at involve that, the effect of this debt ceiling deal on the economy, and essentially, deal or no deal, the economy still stinks, but keep in mind, Ali, even though the economy may stink a little bit, it's still one of the best in the world.
VELSHI: All right. What an optimistic way to start the morning. Carter Evans, God bless you for that. That is fantastic. And all of this mud and muck that's all over the place, Carter sees the bright spot. We'll be back with him. He's coming back tomorrow morning, 5:00 a.m. eastern. You can catch him on CNNMoney.com.
That's it for us on WAKE-UP CALL. AMERICAN MORNING, cheery as ever, starts right now.
