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Debt Deal Expected to Pass; Voting Yes, Despite Pitfalls; Down Day for the Markets; Interview with Chris Van Hollen; Interview with FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt

Aired August 02, 2011 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Very good to see all of you live from Studio 7, I'm Martin Savidge in for Suzanne Malveaux. And let's get you up to speed for this Tuesday, August 2.

We are, as you've heard, about an hour away from a Senate vote on raising the country's debt limit and preventing a government default. It took a long time and it wasn't easy, but President Obama is also scheduled to speak about this whole project at 12:15 Eastern Time. We'll have live coverage of both of those events.

The House approved a debt deal last night. And some on the left and the right are not exactly happy with it. But House Speaker John Boehner says it's a start.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How do you feel, Sir?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I feel great.

BOLDUAN: What do you think of the vote this evening?

BOEHNER: It was a strong vote, but the first step in many steps yet to go.

BOLDUAN: What do you hope the American people take -- what do you think the message is for the American people tonight?

BOEHNER: The process works. It may not be pretty, but it works.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: May not be pretty is right. Let's take a look at how it's impacting Wall Street.

Stocks are down. Despite forward movement on that debt deal, another weak economic report today added to investors' concerns. And the Commerce Department says that personal spending slipped in June for the first time in 20 months. Not a good indicator.

We will be watching the markets throughout the day, but right now the Dow is down as you take a look there about 86 points.

Meanwhile, the country needed a moment of unity. And we got it yesterday in the return of Gabrielle Giffords to Congress.

The Arizona representative cast her vote to help end that debt ceiling battle. It was her first time back in the House since being shot in the head in an assassination attempt back in January. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta noticed she wasn't moving her right arm much.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is what's sort of expected if you survive a head injury like this. A left-sided brain injury controls the right side of the body. That's why the right arm is weak, the right leg likely weak.

It also in part is responsible for speech. Speech, more specifically meaning the ability to express yourself, to say words, to write words, to make gestures that are meaningful. So that is still part of her rehab process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Emily expected to reach Haiti and the Dominican Republic by tonight or early tomorrow. Forecasters say it could cause flash floods and mudslides. A tropical storm watch is in effect now for the much the eastern Caribbean. Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas could be in the storm's path by the weekend.

(CHANTING)

SAVIDGE: The death toll rising in Syria following overnight protests. A human rights group says that at least two dozen people were killed by security forces, many more injured. The international community is intensifying its pressure on Syria's government to stop its brutal crackdown.

Iraqi lawmakers are deciding whether to ask U.S. troops to stay beyond the year-end deadline. A decision could come within a day or two. Currently, about 44,000 American forces remain active in Iraq in a support role.

Radiation coming from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant is now registering at the highest level since right after the earthquake and tsunami back in March. A 60-minute dose could kill someone within weeks.

Our Kyung Lah says investigators are trying to determine the source and how to clean it up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You can see a worker in a white suit there holding a very long pole that is three meters long. The level measured at the end of that pole was the 10,000 millisieverts per hour. So TEPCO saying that it does appear to be more of an isolated spot where the radiation was detected.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SAVIDGE: I remember that story well.

If you own a Ford pickup, listen up. A huge recall from Ford.

More than one million pickup trucks from model years 1997 through 2003, including the popular F-150. A problem with straps that hold the fuel tank could cause the vehicle to catch fire. So far, one person has been injured.

So, after months of negotiations and partisan bickering, we have a debt limit deal that nobody thinks is all that great. But it does solve the immediate issue of raising the debt ceiling.

We will talk about the deal, what happens next, as well as the political and economic impact with our CNN correspondents and analysts. Joe Johns is on Capitol Hill. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange. And Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger is in our Washington bureau.

So let's begin with Joe Johns, where he is at the center of where the action will be, and that's on Capitol Hill.

Joe, the debt deal is expected to pass. I don't believe any real drama. But how many votes does it need, and could there be any problems?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It needs 60 votes, and that is to avoid the threat of a filibuster, if you will. Not clear whether anybody would employ delaying tactics on this bill, which is really at the 11th hour and 59th minute almost. However, because the Senate is configured in terms of votes the way it is, you need to have 60 votes in order to assure passage, Marty.

We've been watching the Senate floor for some time, and I just wanted to give you a bit of the flavor of what people are saying. We've seen a number of Republicans come to the floor supporting it, a few Republicans opposed.

Interestingly, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, who possibly could face a challenge from his right for reelection, saying he won't vote for this bill because, in his view, it doesn't go far enough. Senator David Vitter of Louisiana basically taking that same position, not on the floor, at least so far, but in fact in a tweet that he sent out to people who are following him.

A number of Democrats also voicing a lot of concern about the bill, saying they don't like some of the provisions inside it. There are concerns about entitlements, there are concerns about being able to raise revenue. In other words, tax increases.

Nonetheless, a number of Democrats we've seen actually saying they'll vote for it with a little bit of heartburn. Joe Lieberman, the Independent who votes Democrat, or at least leans Democrat, has also said he'll vote for it, too.

Back to you, Marty. SAVIDGE: I like that, a bit of heartburn.

All right. Joe Johns, watching things on Capitol Hill.

Let's bring in our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger.

Gloria, lawmakers of course, as Joe just pointed out there, seem to be holding their noses and voting for this plan. Is this a good deal for anybody? And how does it shape the political debate for the White House and Congress moving forward?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, it's a deal that there is something in it for everyone to hate, and everyone does hate something in it, because that's the essence of compromise, and it was the only way to get to raising the debt ceiling, which was the goal. But I think if you step back for a moment, Marty, what we're seeing right now is a real shift in the political discussion from an era in which we were involved in stimulus spending to get the economy moving to a real era of restraint on fiscal policy.

And there are huge economic arguments that are being made right now whether at this point in the economy, we ought to be shifting from restraint to spending. But the politicians understand that the political movement right now is towards restraint, and that's the effect of the Tea Party movement that we've seen on the Congress.

And so it really is a sea change from what we've seen over the last couple of years, where we've been spending money in order to get the economy moving, and now we're really putting the brakes on. And the debate will continue about whether that is in fact the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do. Whether it's right or wrong, that is exactly the way we're headed.

SAVIDGE: Yes, the old adage, time will tell. And we will see.

Gloria, thanks very much for that.

BORGER: Yes.

SAVIDGE: All right. Here is your chance to "Talk Back" on the story of the day. Today's question: What would it take to restore your faith in lawmakers?

Carol Costello joins us from New York -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ooh, that's a loaded question, isn't it?

SAVIDGE: It is.

COSTELLO: Hey, Martin.

If you're thinking everyone will soon forget the battle over the debt ceiling, think again. It was partisan rancor and political dysfunction at its worst. And it delivered a huge blow to American self-esteem.

In a Pew Research poll taken this weekend, 72 percent described the debt fight in words like "ridiculous," "disgusting," "stupid," and "frustrating." They also used terms like "terrible," "disappointing," "childish" and "joke." Only two percent view the debate as a positive thing.

Americans were mad as hell and seemed to have lost respect for their leaders. And then something amazing happened.

There, stepping out of the black hole of partisanship, came Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, ready to cast her vote to avoid economic default, because she said, "Crossing the aisle for the good of the American people is more important than Party politics."

Even Representative Eric Cantor, among the toughest Republican negotiators, was moved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), MAJORITY LEADER: It shows that we're all American, and it is about making sure that we're doing everything we can for the people who put us here, and set aside all the bickering and the differences and actually come together, produce a bill that is a compromise for everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Holy cow. What a concept.

We cheer Gabrielle Giffords not just because of her courage in recovering from a horrible ordeal, but because she represents what, for Americans, has been lacking these days: hope, civility and compromise. But it will take more than once appearance by Gabby Giffords to repair the damage.

So the "Talk Back" question today: What would it take to restore your faith in lawmakers?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: It was a marvelous moment to see. Carol, thanks very much..

Here's a rundown of some of the stories just ahead.

First, the numbers are out. We will tell you how much the debt ceiling debacle has cost so far.

Then, the markets still jittery over the debate ceiling fallout. We are live at the New York Stock Exchange.

Plus, take a look. A school bus carrying high schoolers burst into flame. The school driver springs into action.

And gather strength and barreling toward the Caribbean. We'll get the very latest on Tropical Storm Emily.

And this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congress, do not start your vacation without passing an FAA bill. It is not fair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

SAVIDGE: Well, coming up in just a minute, we'll talk with Representative Chris Van Hollen and get his take on the debt deal that's been struck. And he votes for it, but happy is he about the deal? We'll talk about that and more coming up right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: The debt ceiling crisis is already costing taxpayers. Here's a breakdown.

The government had to pay an extra $1.7 billion in interest on treasury bills yesterday. Now, if Congress had stopped the bickering and reached a deal two weeks ago, that money would have been saved.

Add to that the government stands to lose $1.2 billion in tax revenue from airline ticket sales. That's because the House adjourned for the summer recess without resolving an FAA funding impasse.

Meanwhile, after weeks of that gridlock, the House finally went along with a compromise on that national debt, but a lot of folks had to swallow hard before voting yes. One of those reluctant votes was cast by Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee. And he is good enough to join us now live to talk about it.

Thanks very much for being with us.

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), MARYLAND: Martin, good to be with you.

SAVIDGE: You know, you voted yes for the bill, but this is hardly a deal that you wanted. So tell us specifically what the negative consequences are your vote will have by going for this bill on your constituents. And what did you have to sacrifice?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, Martin, this was an exercise in damage control. We had a situation where the first time in history, the history of the republic, you had a group within the House of Representatives, some of the Tea Party Republicans, who were manufacturing a crisis over the debt ceiling to try and get 100 percent of what they wanted on the budget. They wanted to end the Medicare guarantee, they wanted to slash Medicaid and the social safety net, they wanted to cut education.

SAVIDGE: You know what? I got this. We've been over this part. But let's go to why you went for it and how you feel your constituents are going to suffer as a result.

VAN HOLLEN: Well, I was in fact telling you that, because they were not successful at the end of the day in doing that. They were not successful in trying to do that again in six months.

I thought it was important to put this behind us so that we could get on with talking about jobs and the economy, and have a conversation about how you have a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, which will be what this super committee is charged to look at. And if they don't succeed, that will be the debate going into the next election.

SAVIDGE: So we get the bill passed -- we presume it's going to get by the Senate -- but only in the nick of time. And did it have to it take this long? What do you say to the majority of Americans who are ticked off, as we've seen in the polls, they are very unhappy with the way the House does business these days?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, they should be ticked off, because we've never had to go through this before. Again, this is the first time in history that somebody has sort of taken this whole issue hostage, taken the creditworthiness of the United States hostage.

I know we've heard it before, but that's the reality. That's why we pointed out that when Ronald Reagan was president, he lifted the debt ceiling 18 times.

Look, there's always been some debate, a little controversy about this, but nobody has ever tried to use it to threaten the creditworthiness of the United States in order to get a particular budget agenda through. And the sad thing about this is, I think they have done lasting damage to the creditworthiness of the United States, and they didn't get what they want in the end because we know that the American people do not want to end the Medicare guarantee and all those things.

So it is an unfortunate episode. I think that the president and everyone was successful at containing the damage here.

SAVIDGE: Do you think that the anger is really going to be focused on Tea Party members, as you would like to see it, or do you think that the American public is just angry at all members of Congress?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, they may well be angry at all members of Congress. I would just encourage the American people to really follow closely the debate. Look at this in the historical perspective, recognize that never before in American history has anybody sort of taken the entire economy, threatened the entire economy and the creditworthiness of the United States, in order to get what I think most Americans view as a fairly extreme agenda. And at the end of the day, they did not get the agenda through. There were some things that they got through, but for the most part, they didn't.

Unfortunately, we do not have in the budget portion of this an elimination of a lot of the special interest tax breaks that are adding to our deficit. But that will have to be a part of the conversation going forward.

As I said, first, that will be part of the discussion in the so- called super committee. And if it doesn't resolved there, I'm sure President Obama will make that a discussion about our values and priorities going forward into the next election.

SAVIDGE: All right. Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.

Thanks very much for joining us today.

VAN HOLLEN: Thanks.

SAVIDGE: We'll see how the Senate votes.

VAN HOLLEN: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: We'll find out what's moving the markets as the Senate prepares for that vote on the debt deal. A live report from the New York Stock Exchange.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Here's a rundown of some of the stories we are working on right now.

Up next, it is up to the Senate now to raise the debt ceiling. We're counting down to the big vote at noon.

Right now you are taking a look at Senator Mike Lee. He is the Republican from Utah. Probably consider him a no vote at this point.

Then, 4,000 FAA workers out of a job for another month. I'll explain how lawmakers on summer recess left them hanging.

And then later, in the end Tea Party muscle got behind the debt ceiling deal, but most Republican presidential hopefuls are against it. We will see what is brewing in the GOP.

Right now, though, let's get a look at the markets. CNN's Alison Kosik joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange.

And Alison, where do the numbers stand right now?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The numbers right now are trading in the negative column ahead of that Senate vote on the debt deal. You know, some weak economic numbers, that's holding back any optimism that we could see in the markets at this point. And if the Dow doesn't rebound today, it's going to mark the eighth trading day in a row of losses. It would be the longest losing streak since October of 2008. That's one month after Lehman Brothers collapsed.

You know, it's just not a pretty picture for the marketplace right now, Martin. A lot of investors very hesitant to make any big moves in the current climate -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Alison, thank you very much.

Well, let's take a look now -- a reminder of course that we are going to have live coverage of the Senate vote on the debt deal. That is expected at the top of the hour.

We'll also bring you President Obama's remarks, and those are scheduled for 12:15 Eastern Time.

The debt deal calls for more than $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years, and it sets up a special congressional commission to recommend where much of those savings should come from. And that's the tricky part.

Joining us from Washington to talk about that, CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger.

And let's start. Tell us how this committee is supposed to work, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: What they're supposed to have is six Democrats, six Republicans. They'll be named by the Republican and Democratic leadership.

They're supposed to have between now and Thanksgiving, in effect, the end of November, to come up with a plan to have significant cuts -- tax reform, what they call tax reform -- in effect, meaning tax increases, more revenue for more taxes -- entitlement reform at the same time, in effect. That's Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security decreases, decreases in projected spending.

It's going to be difficult. It's going to be very difficult. They'll make recommendations. Then they'll send them to the House and Senate, where there will be up-and-down votes.

If the members of this 12-member panel, if they can't come up with a set of plans, or if the House and Senate reject it, or if the president were, for some reason, not to sign it into law, then that would trigger automatic spending cut, half defense spending, half non- defense spending. Republicans don't like any more cuts in defense spending. Democrats don't like more cuts in domestic spending.

And there would be some cuts in Medicare-related programs, specifically for vendors, for providers, doctors, hospitals. Medicare providers would have cuts, and that would be painful. So there's an incentive to come up with a deal. That's what this second tier, the second process is supposed to result in, Martin. SAVIDGE: Gloria, there was a lot of dissatisfaction by Democrats that there were no new taxes. And already there now seems to be some disagreement between Democrats and Republicans over whether that commission can or will recommend tax increases.

I guess, you know, is this a sign of things to come?

BORGER: Yes, it sure is a sign of things to come. In fact, some have suggested, by the way, that the bipartisan gang of six in the Senate, which has a bipartisan balanced plan should actually be appointed to this special commission so that maybe something could get done.

I think we don't know what the commission is going to recommend. For example, if the commission recommends some level of tax reform which would lower rates for everybody but take away certain deductions, would that be tax increases to a certain degree? And don't forget, you've got the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy which are going to expire early in 2013. How will that play into this, because the president has vowed to veto any attempt to extend those tax cuts.

So, I think you have to presume that taxes are going to be in play. But I was talking to a senior administration official who said to me, look, we're going to know what's going to happen on this commission the minute we see who's appointed to it. So we've got it look and see who gets on it.

SAVIDGE: Yes, and I was going to ask you that. Do we know or have any inkling who may be on it and what will the faces tell us about how this is all going to go down?

BORGER: I mean, you know, we don't know. I would presume, for example, and I don't know if Wolf agrees with me, that the House budget chairman Paul Ryan would be likely to be appointed to this. He was on the deficit commission, the Bowles-Simpson deficit commission and he voted against that plan because it included tax increases. But, he's for tax reform. So --

SAVIDGE: Yes. Wolf, you've got any ideas of who may be on this?

BLITZER: I think Paul Ryan is a logical choice. With the members of the gang of six, three Democrats in the Senate, three Republicans in the Senate, that would be a logical choice, as well. But in this kind of situation, as Gloria and our viewers know, logic isn't necessarily always going to rule the day when it comes to naming these 12 members of this commission.

As far as the tax increase is concerned, what the purists who have signed Grover Norquist, for example, pledge, what they say is that there can be tax reform. You can eliminate certain deductions, certain subsidies, certain loopholes and you can lower the overall tax rates. What they can't do is part of a package. They can't see an increase in tax revenue in effect coming up.

In other words, if you're going to eliminate loophole, you have to make sure when all is said and done, there is no increase in the amount of money that the government's getting from taxes otherwise they would view that as a violation of that pledge no new taxes. In other words, there can't be an increase in the amount of tax money coming in from a change in the tax revenue.

There can be an increase in the amount of tax revenue coming in from an improved economy. In other words, if there's greater prosperity and more people are working, more people as a result are paying taxes. There will be enhanced revenue from taxes, but they don't want to do that as a result of any changes what's called tax reform.

BORGER: And Marty, I was listening to your interview with Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, with great interest because what he essentially said it seems to me is that that this will frame the 2012 debate, because I think the Democrats would be very happy to go back to where they were when they were complaining about Paul Ryan's budget saying that Republicans want to cut entitlements like Medicare and Social Security, et cetera, because they don't want to raise taxes on the wealthy.

So I think Chris Van Hollen would be very happy to go back to that political debate. They were making head way with it before the debt ceiling debate started.

SAVIDGE: All right. I have to stop you both there. We'll come back and talk about this in just a short while because as we remind our viewers, the vote in the Senate is going to be at high noon. The President of the United States will be speaking thereafter around 12:15. Of course these are all Eastern Times. Meanwhile, picture this. Right now in airports all across the country, FAA inspectors are doing their jobs without pay. Why? Because Congress couldn't get their vote together -- some might say their act together -- to extend funding before taking off on their summer break. What does that mean -- the question is -- for your safety and your next flight? We'll ask FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt to explain all of this and what's going on here in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: As already noted, it was a big day in the House yesterday. But not quite big enough. Lawmakers went home for summer recess without deciding how to fund the Federal Aviation Administration. That means 4,000 FAA employees will remain furloughed for the next month. The federal government will lose more than $1 billion in tax revenues before Congress returns in September. And Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says construction projects at airports have been halted costing more jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: It is not fair to the 70,000 construction workers who need these jobs. It is not fair to the FAA employees.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SAVIDGE: I am joined now by FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt to talk about what's happened here.

Thanks very much for being with us.

And let me begin by asking, does this impact the men and women in the towers in the control centers and who are tracking our planes in the sky?

RANDY BABBITT, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: No, I want to assure everybody in the traveling public, the safety system is up and running. All of our air traffic control, all of our inspections of airplane, pilots, mechanics, facilities, those are all ongoing. What has been furloughed as a result of this are literally thousands of FAA employees but tens of thousands of construction workers that are doing airport projects and, of course, the people that we have that oversee those projects have been furloughed.

SAVIDGE: These airport inspectors, they are, as I understand, working without pay right now? In other words, they're still doing the job, they're just not getting the money and not, I presume, getting reimbursed for their own expenses?

BABBITT: That's exactly right. These folks, to be clear, they will when the funding is restored, they will be paid retroactively. But right now we're asking literally hundreds of airport inspectors to did their jobs without compensation. We're asking them to carry the burden of whether it's airline tickets, hotel expenses as they travel on their own credit cards and carry those burdens. That's just not right. That's not fair.

SAVIDGE: And I wonder how long can they manage to do that? I mean, these are very difficult times for everyone economically. So a month or more?

BABBITT: Well, about if this goes on, we're trying everything we can. The secretary and I have really encouraged to have some very thoughtful discussions here to resolve this. This can't go on a day longer, much less six weeks longer.

We're going to suffer a lot of long-term damage. We have billions of dollars in construction money that should be going out the door that's not. This is money that's available. It's simply -- we can't spend it under this construct. Again, we have 4,000 employees put out of work. The long-term damage here to our national airspace system is going to take an impact.

SAVIDGE: And so what's at the heart of the debate here? Explain to us why apparently this was not voted upon, why Congress didn't see it as so important that they -- that it had to wait until after recess.

BABBITT: Well, the FAA's reauthorization actually expired way back in '07, September of '07. And we've been living with extensions. And that for 20 consecutive times, they have extended, simply approving our funding to go on another four to six weeks. In it of itself, that's a very inefficient way to run the great transportation system we have. But it does allow to us work.

This particular extension had with it some other issues making it not a clean extension and the Senate was opposed to those and they simply won't pass it.

(CROSSTALK)

SAVIDGE: In a nutshell --

(CROSSTALK)

BABBITT: In a nutshell, the issues had to do with essential air service which is not part of the FAA reauthorization. That's for a broader political debate somewhere else. But that's what's hanging it up.

SAVIDGE: All right. Randy Babbitt, thanks very much. He is with the head of the FAA. We will continue to follow the story, because, of course, for anybody who flies, it impacts all of us.

Thank you very much, sir.

Let's have some good news now for travelers depending on how you look at that time it. Delta Airlines says that it will give out tax refunds to customers who are traveling during the suspension of nonessential FAA services. They are awaiting guidelines from the IRS, our good friends, on how to return that money.

Meanwhile, a lot of folks are saying that the Tea Party won the battle in the big debate, but did they get what they wanted? We'll talk about it in the CNN political ticker.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: The House finally did its part to push through the debt bill, but a new CNN poll shows that the public is less than impressed with how that was done.

Jim Acosta, part of "The Best Political Team on Television" -- that just all flows together -- live from the Political Desk in Washington.

And what are people saying, you know, about the work that the House has been doing these days? I imagine not good things.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, Martin, it's a good thing that Congress is about to go on its August recess, because the public is pretty much dissatisfied with the job that they're doing here in Washington right now.

There's a new CNN/ORC poll which we released this morning at 10:00 a.m., it was conducted yesterday as sort of an instant response to get the public's attitude about this debt ceiling deal, and I think there is one number that really sums up pretty much everybody's feelings on this subject. Elected officials, how they dealt with the debt ceiling: "responsible adults," 17 percent according to this poll, "spoiled children," a little bit of hyperbole, but perhaps appropriate for this subject, 77 percent according to our poll.

So Americans are not feeling very good about what they just witnessed over the last few weeks. And who can blame them, it's been pretty nasty. And even people inside the Capitol in both parties will agree with that sentiment, I think, to a certain extent, if not publicly, privately, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Absolutely. Well, Jim, you know, a lot of people have been saying the Tea Party had a lot of sway when it came to bargaining over this bill. Did they really get what they wanted?

ACOSTA: They really did. If there's one winner in all of this, and I think most people agree, it is the Tea Party. I mean, they changed the debate here in Washington.

You remember that the president, for months and months, was advocating a balanced approach he called it. He wanted some tax increases in there. Initially, he wanted tax increases on people making more than $250,000 a year, then he moved to the position, well, we'll just eliminate some loopholes on some of the items in the tax code that pertain to wealthy individuals and corporations, oil companies. You remember hearing him talk about those corporate jets. And in the end, the Democrats and the White House got none of that. They moved toward the Tea Party on all of this.

And it's interesting, one of the things that we saw in the Tea Party members of Congress, the Tea Party backed members of Congress, is that there was somewhat of a split. There were some Tea Party- backed Republican House freshmen that voted for the deal, there were some who did not.

And I talked to one prominent Tea Party organizer yesterday, Freedom Works, and they're not really holding anybody's feet to the fire on this. They're just satisfied, and if you talk to just about any Tea Party group, they will tell you this, they're dissatisfied with the fact that they moved the debate during all the talks on the debt ceiling. So they feel like it's mission accomplished, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Well, they may have won now. We'll see how it turns out, I guess, next time we vote.

ACOSTA: That's right.

SAVIDGE: Jim, thanks very much.

Well, for the latest political news, of course, you know where to go, that is CNNPolitics.com.

According to polls, Americans are overwhelming frustrated in the way that Washington has been handling the debt ceiling raise. You saw that just a moment ago. So today's "Talk Back" question: What would it talk to restore your faith in lawmakers? Carol Costello back with your responses.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: The Senate is expected to start voting on the debt ceiling proposal just about 10 minutes from now. Most Americans, though, are frustrated at the back and forth in Washington that led up to this vote, and that brings us to today's "Talk Back" topic. Carol Costello is here with your responses -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, Martin, it was a loaded question, too.

Today's "Talk Back" question: What would it take to restore your faith in lawmakers?

This from Kathy, "A good start would be to do what the majority of the economists and Americans have called for and raise taxes on the rich, end corporate welfare, take away the unnecessary oil subsidies and remember who they represent, 'We the people,' not 'We the corporations.'"

This from Skip, "I think you may have to restore my faith in voters first. How can you vote for representatives who ply you with lies and half-truths and play on your fears? Keep away from extremist pundits. Do some research and think for yourself."

This from Earl, "A complete reboot like they do in the movies. The abolishment of the political parties would be a good start. A second good start would be line-item veto, also the elimination of all riders."

And this from Michael, "If they all got on the same health plan as the rest of us, if they stood up to and resisted lobbyists, if they stopped voting themselves midnight pay raises, if they didn't get a pension for life deal that none of the rest of us get, and if they got the hell out after a two-max term. Oh, and if they were just honest, but I think that's asking too much."

Please continue the conversation, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. And thanks, as always, for your comments.

SAVIDGE: You have tapped into a gusher of public outcry, Carol. Thank you very much.

Well, the Senate will take up the debt deal at the top of the hour. Wolf Blitzer and, of course, "The Best Political Team on Television" will join us live with the special coverage in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: We are just a few minutes away from the top of the hour, when the Senate's expected to begin voting on the debt limit deal.

So let's go to CNN's Wolf Blitzer for our special coverage of the Senate vote -- Wolf. (INTERRUPTED BY COVERAGE OF A LIVE EVENT)