Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Final Farewell for Betty Ford; Panetta in Iraq; Royals Wrap Up U.S. Trip

Aired July 10, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome to the "NEWSROOM." I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Just two hours from now President Obama and congressional leaders meet at the White House. They'll try to get derailed deficit talks back on track. Republicans broke off negotiations yesterday saying the administration's insistence on including tax hikes in any plan is not acceptable.

Straight ahead, we'll have a live report from the White House on the showdown and how its outcome could affect you.

And the U.S. is withholding $800 million in aid to Pakistan. President Obama's chief of staff confirmed the move today. William Daily says Pakistan has, "taken some steps that have given us reason to pause." The Pakistani military tells CNN it has not been officially informed that aid from Washington is being withheld.

With the final edition of Britain's popular tabloid "News of the World" on the stands, Rupert Murdoch is hoping to limit the damage to his media empire. Murdoch arrived in London today. His company's British subsidiary closed "News of the World" after reports the newspaper hacked the phone of a missing teenager who was later found dead. Stay with us for reports from London later on in this hour.

And a strong earthquake rocked Japan's northeastern coast today. This is the same region devastated by a quake and tsunami earlier this year. Today's 7.0 tremor prompted tsunami advisories that were later canceled. So far there have been no reports of injuries or damage. Tremors were felt as far away as Tokyo.

China no longer a rising world power. Instead, China has arrived. Those words today from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen. He is in Beijing on a four-day visit. Mullen told the university audience that China's growing military strength comes with an obligation to the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. MIKE MULLEN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: With greater military power must come greater responsibilities, greater cooperation and just as important, greater transparency. Without these things the expansion of military power in your region, rather than making it more secure and stable, could have the opposite effect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: This China trip is one of Admiral Mullen's final acts as Joint Chiefs chairman. He retires this fall.

All right. The public will have two chances to say good-bye to former first lady Betty Ford. She died late Friday at the age of 93. The first service will be held Tuesday in Palm Desert, California. The second two days later in Michigan. She will be laid to rest alongside her husband on the grounds of the Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids.

And all is well with "Atlantis." The shuttle has arrived at the International Space Station one last time. The astronauts received a hearty welcome aboard from the station's current crew. They have brought along a year's worth of supplies. And it's going to take both crews about a week to unload all of it.

And unloading the nation from its massive deficit will take a whole lot longer. But in less than two hours President Obama and congressional leaders will sit down to discuss ways to make dramatic deficit cuts. And at the same time raise the country's debt limit to avoid defaulting on government loans. Treasury secretary Tim Geithner says forging a deal is a critical priority.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: Well, this is hard. It's politically very hard. But this is a grave moment for the country. We need to do something very big, very substantial to bring our long term deficits down over time. We have to do that in a way that's good for the economy so we give more support to the economy still healing from the great recession. And it's going to require both sides to compromise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Dan Lothian is at the White House right now. So Dan, bipartisan talks fell apart yesterday. What was the breaking point?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the breaking point really was Republicans, in particular House Republicans and Speaker John Boehner saying that Democrats and the president continued pushing for tax increases as part of any deal. As you know, this White House, the president, has been talking about wealthier Americans needing to bear some of the burden here and looking at how you can shave back some of the breaks and the loopholes that wealthy Americans receive. So Boehner walking away from the discussions now looking at perhaps some sort of a smaller deal.

But the White House saying that the president still wants to move forward with this ambitious plan of cutting the deficit by up to $4 trillion, saying that as you heard Secretary Geithner pointing out, that this is the right time. The president wants to seize the moment to accomplish something that's significant. So despite what some here at the White House are calling very disappointing news that Mr. Boehner has decided that he no longer wants to push forward with this bigger deal, they're still saying the president plans to push that at the meeting here at the White House tonight. WHITFIELD: OK. So that's less than two hours from now or so. Compromises were made, you know, before these talks kind of broke off at least last night. What were they exactly and why wasn't that enough to kind of put things back on track before tonight?

LOTHIAN: Well, you're right. There were compromises. All reports that we received were that the president was willing to put social security, also Medicare on the table, something that both the president and Democrats had said they did not want to do. And in fact, this did cause some division among Democrats. Those to the left saying that it was only putting a bigger burden on the Americans who needed the most relief when really they should be targeting those wealthier Americans. Why that did not work out in the end, if you listen to what Mr. Boehner is saying, it all came down to those tax increases. That this was still part of the overall equation. And it was somewhat described politically risky for Mr. Boehner to accept something like this, especially when you're looking at the 2012 election.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Lothian, thanks so much at the White House. Again, less than two hours from now, Republicans, Democrats and the president meeting at the White House.

So the ceiling, by the way, is a cap set by Congress and on the amount of debt the federal government can borrow when it is spending more than it can afford to pay off. The Treasury Department says the U.S. needs to raise that ceiling by August 2nd or risk defaulting on its loans. If that happens, here's how you might be affected. The dollar may plummet. Interest rates could skyrocket. The federal government says just a one percent rise in interest rates could cost taxpayers $973 billion over the next 10 years.

They came, they charmed, they raised awareness. Now the British royals are getting ready to go home. But they've got one big event left. We'll take you there live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In India, inspectors unearthing billions of dollars in hidden treasures have to stop their search due to a Supreme Court order. Five vaults of precious stones and gold have already been opened. They were discovered last week in a centuries old Hindu temple. India's Supreme Court stopped the inspection of the final vault citing security reasons. A lawyer also says an inventory and appraisal must be done.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are wrapping up their first official visit to the U.S.. This hour they're attending a jobs fair that is geared toward helping veterans transition back into civilian life. Our Max Foster is at Sony Studios in Culver City. So Max, you've been following the royals through their entire visit of California. You must be exhausted too?

MAX FOSTER, CNNI ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: I pretty much am. I haven't made all the stops that they have and the events they have been going. But anyway, yes, this is their last day. I'm sure they're looking forward now to going back to the UK and hiding in that cottage in North Wales. They're in this jobs fair that you'll hear very soon and the Duke will give a speech (INAUDIBLE) and meet some war veterans and also they're going to pack one of these boxes. These get sent to children whose parents have gone off to war. You've got a teddy bear that's been patched up so they can understand wounding. Also some books and DVDs in there to help them understand the fact that one of their parents might be away for a very long time.

This morning they went to a charity event in honor of (INAUDIBLE) which is a conservation charity, and some seats were sold at that event, a great expense, not quite sure how much. But they have raised a lot of money. And then they headed down to Skid Row. And they went to safe haven for young homeless kids. And you really saw the Duke and Duchess burying themselves into an art class. They were doing some ceramics and some painting there. This very cleverly combined both their interests. William is very interested in youth homelessness. Catherine is very interested in art and unlocking people's potential through art. So that's a great visit for them this morning down at Skid Row.

Here at Sony Studios, they're pretty excited about seeing them as well and they're going to meet a family who have - who are multigenerational military. So a grandfather who was in Vietnam and then the latest young man in the family went to Afghanistan. So it's all about meeting military veterans. Trying to get them jobs, actually.

WHITFIELD: Wow, they've really rounded out their three days and maximized it, haven't they? I mean, today a lot of meet and greets. Last night they had a lot of meet and greets as well with kind of Hollywood royalty. All before that they were at the polo club playing polo, again, also to raise awareness and try to raise money for good causes.

FOSTER: Yes. That was glamour day on Saturday. That polo match. William saying he was looking forward to letting rip on the polo pitch and he really did. In the end yesterday he won the polo match. The duchess presented the trophy to him, a proud wife. Giving him a kiss. That was what photographers were waiting for. That was in aid of his foundation to raise money for that. Then in the evening the red carpet. I was there. It was a pretty spectacular event really. You had a-listers. You had J Lo, Tom Hanks, Barbara Streisand that went through the back entrance. Everyone very excited to see what Catherine look like in full evening wear, her only opportunity and she didn't disappoint (INAUDIBLE) and the queen lent her some earrings for the occasion. And we spoke to a few of the stars on the catwalk. They were so excited about seeing them.

According to our own Piers Morgan, Fredricka, who was invited, the biggest stars on the planet right now. Even bigger than him.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I guess so. You know, it seems like - look. Barbara Streisand right there. Everybody was trying to get a little face time with the royals. I guess one would expect in Hollywood, it's usually the other way around but instead they weren't the big stars, as you said. Max Foster, thanks so much. I know they can't wait to get back on a plane, maybe, at least to get a little shut eye.

All right. A Yellowstone hiker surprised a bear. You'll see the dramatic pictures and hear how the hiker made it to safety.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It may be hot in much of the country but in Yellowstone Park, a longer winter and delayed spring is leading to more bear sightings, it seems bears didn't move to higher elevation as quickly as they usually do. Here's CNN's Patrick Oppmann on some rather close encounters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just days after a fatal grizzly bear attack here, another too close for comfort brush with a bear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the hiker know?

OPPMANN: This is a black bear. Not as big or aggressive as a grizzly but capable of attacking humans. As the bear approaches her, hiker Erin Prophet runs out of ground to retreat to. The bear doesn't charge her but isn't backing down either. Erin gets ready to make a swim for it. But then kayakers paddling nearby drag her across the lake to safety before the bear also goes for a dip.

ERIN PROPHET, HIKER: When the guys in the kayak offered to pull me across, I thought that seemed like a better plan. The bear seemed like it wanted to be down there by the edge.

OPPMAN (on camera): I got to ask you. How afraid were you?

PROPHET: I was pretty afraid. I really was.

OPPMAN (voice-over): So were her rescuers.

DAVE BEECHAM, PARK VISITOR: When the bear was getting close to her and she dropped her pack. Apparently she had an apple in the pack. And we just thought it was a good idea to go and get her at that point.

OPPMANN: (INAUDIBLE), the park's bear expert takes me back across the lake to retrieve Erin's backpack and look for the bear. He keeps a can of super power mace called bear spray at the ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just recovered Erin's shoes and backpack that she left behind when the bear was sort of coming towards her. We're going to return them to her right now. She'll probably be happy to get those back. Luckily we didn't see the bear.

OPPMANN: Rangers say injuries from the bear attacks at the park are rare. About one per year. And can be prevented.

(on camera): Now if we were walking down a path like this one and we were approached by a bear, what would you do?

KERRY GUNTHER, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: If we encountered a bear I would first try backing away. If the bear followed us then I would stand my ground. If it continued towards us then I would pull out the bear spray, pull the safety tab of and fire.

OPPMAN (voice-over: Sometimes it's not just the animals that get too close.

(on camera): As you can see, Yellowstone animals often venture into public places. That can attract crowds of tourists. The challenge for park rangers is keeping both humans and animals safe.

(voice-over): Because somehow even in thousands of miles of open wilderness, it can get a little crowded.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, at the Yellowstone National Park.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Frightening close encounters. At the same time, is it not just a beautiful sight to see that, Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is.

WHITFIELD: You know, to see the beautiful nature there and the animals. Yes, frightening for sure. That's why she made a beeline for the water.

JERAS: I'm Googling right now. Where to get bear spray.

WHITFIELD: Exactly. They're going to sell out now.

JERAS: They're gone.

WHITFIELD: Next time you go camping, have some bear spray.

JERAS: But stand your ground. You know you hear all these theories of what you're supposed to do if you're approached by a bear. And there's things like - I've heard you're supposed to clang pans. Have you heard of that?

WHITFIELD: No.

JERAS: You're supposed to put your arms up and make yourself look bigger than you actually are so maybe you'll be more intimidating to the bear.

WHITFIELD: That's interesting.

JERAS: He said stand your ground.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I don't know. When skiing, the instructions they usually give you if you come across a bear, you just start dropping things. They're very curious. We're not talking about grizzlies, but other bears. You just let it go. So I'm going to go with that. JERAS: OK.

WHITFIELD: Yes, exactly.

JERAS: All right. Rangers also tell us to stay safe in the heat, don't they. Let's talk about that. Because the heat is seriously a major issue. Not just this weekend but this is going to be lasting well into next week. We've got heat advisories and heat warnings all across the plain states. We're talking about a lot of major metropolitan areas. Oklahoma City into Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis, Kansas City, Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati now. All of these cities are going to be feeling temperatures for your body somewhere between 100 to 110 degrees.

I think tomorrow is going to be the peak of it. It's going to take until Wednesday to start to wane off a little bit when we get some showers and thunderstorms to hopefully provide some of that relief. The current heat index right now is dangerous. Look at Kansas City. It feels like 109. Even Minneapolis-St. Paul, where you're supposed to cool off. It feels like 95. Now tomorrow, temperatures on the thermometer look like this. We're seeing the triple digits but when you add in the humidity which is going to be extremely high, we're talking about 110 plus for many of these cities.

So you really need to hydrate yourself. You need to take it easy. Check on your neighbors. If you need to be able to calculate the heat index, you can just go to weather.gov and you can find a map like this or a chart where you can look at what the air temperature is. Find what the relative humidity is. And then calculate what the heat index is. And you know, on average you're kind of adding somewhere between about three and five degrees to what the temperature on the thermometer is.

Severe weather that's another issue this hour. We got showers and thundershowers popping across the upper Midwest. Some of these have been severe. We got a new tornado watch just issued for parts of south and north Dakota includes you in Fargo. So be aware of those strong storms out there this afternoon.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sometimes that looks like that might make for a really nice cool down. Sometimes it's trouble.

JERAS: But if it's quick you've got to look out because it just adds the humidity in the air.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I get bad hair days.

JERAS: Yes, (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Jacqui.

All right. Some weekends we know, great time to catch a movie. When enough of us actually buy tickets, a few actors and actresses can get very rich. "Forbes" has released its list of the highest paid actresses. Take a look. Julia Roberts ranks fifth on the list earning $20 million between May 2010 and May 2011. Her most recent release, "Larry Crowne" co- starring Tom Hanks has not helped her much though. Getting off to a slow start at the box office. Then Reese Witherspoon. You just saw her picture. She's one step higher on the list at $28 million for the year. She's tied with Jennifer Aniston who also made $28 million. There's another tie at the top of the "Forbes" list. You want to guess on who might be the two highest paid actresses.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. "Forbes" has released its list of the highest paid actresses for the past year. Two big names are tied for the top spot. Did you guess? Perfume salesperson and "Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker pulled in $30 million last year. And she's joined at the top of the list by actress, writer, director Angelina Jolie. Her 2010 film "The Tourist" didn't do well in the U.S. but it made for millions around the world.

All right. Turning to jobs now. Every week we focus on ways to get a jump start in the work force. And our last "Reclaim your Career" segment we gave you tips for managing stress when you have to work more. So that got us thinking. What if you want to get out of the rat race but you want to still keep a job? You just want to work fewer hours. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it?

Valorie Burton is the author of "Where Will You Go From Here?," a new book in today's "Reclaim Your Career." Valorie is here to answer some of the questions of the day. A lot of folks say, you know what? I have a job but I'm pooped. How do I still have a job, I guess, put less into it?

VALORIE BURTON, AUTHOR "WHERE WILL YOU GO FROM HERE?": No. Make enough money that I'm still able to keep going. People are overworked. True, it's called work. It is called work.

WHITFIELD: OK.

BURTON: People's expectations are different these days. And for a lot of people they just realized there's more to life than work and they're trying to find ways to work less as opposed to working more.

WHITFIELD: So this really is for the person who has a job where there's some flexibility.

BURTON: Hopefully. And for a lot of people it's about finding that level of flexibility.

WHITFIELD: And for some -

BURTON: It's also, they've got a family that's coming along. And they want to work as much.

WHITFIELD: OK. And so how do you go about, you know, you're working 40 hours a week or more and somehow you want to I guess feel like you have more time for your life. BURTON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Does it mean simply restructuring your work week?

BURTON: Yes. A lot of it is restructuring. It's about - a lot of people work hard but they don't work smart. So you want to make sure that you have to break some of those bad habits. You know, you think about corporate America. People have so many meetings. Maybe you need to rethink a meeting for everything. Do we have a purpose for this meeting? Do we know how long it's going to be? If you find yourself overworking but you're not necessarily more productive than your co-workers, first one in, last one out. That's a problem.

WHITFIELD: That means you need to stand up and say "Hey, we've got too many meetings and you have to introduce an alternative."

BURTON: That's right.

WHITFIELD: So that nobody thinks that you're just somebody who is, you know, putting a poo poo on everything.

BURTON: And then also, one of the ways you can restructure your day -

WHITFIELD: Technical term.

BURTON: That's real technical - is to find a way to create appointments around whatever it is that you're trying to do. So if you've got a 5:30 workout session with your personal trainer, you're more likely to leave work at 5:00. Sometimes we need to create structure that forces us out of the workplace.

WHITFIELD: To be more productive.

BURTON: That's right.

WHITFIELD: OK. And you know, perhaps, you know, your company, you know has kind of a mantra where you know the more you work, the more rewards you get.

BURTON: Yes. So you have to know your company. So if you want to work less, one, know your company. Know that you might be in a company where that means no promotions or slow promotions. And if you are OK with that because, for example, you want to focus on family right now, that may be fine. But there are a lot of companies right now, Fred, that would welcome the opportunity for an employee to work less -

WHITFIELD: Really?

BURTON: If they're able to pay them less and still have that impact. So if you're able to downsize a bit or if you're able to still pay your bills and you want to work less, you might be able to work something out with your employer to do that.

WHITFIELD: So that sounds like there has to be some real strategy on how you're going to talk to your boss. BURTON: Yes, there has to be some strategy. So you want to think about it ahead. One of the questions you have to ask is "Can I afford to work less?" And you may make that a goal. Know your number. How much do you need to have saved? How much is it that you would need to be bringing in every single month in order to work less.

WHITFIELD: And does it also mean asking yourself a question or two about whether this is the job for me or does it mean that it's time to switch careers because I want to be able to have more of a life outside of work?

BURTON: Yes. That's the big question a lot of people find themselves at a crossroads. If you've had a layoff or things are happening at your job, sometimes that's a perfect time to re-evaluate your options. Another great thing is to say, "Do I want to prepare myself for a career that's going to pay me more even if I work less?" So that might be a long-term solution that takes you a couple of years to get to because it requires training. But sometimes switching careers is that best option to have more work life balance.

WHITFIELD: So bottom line, this is not going to be easy. This is going to be a big challenge.

BURTON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Because just last week we were talking about companies piling on more work for employees. Because there are cutbacks it means you're doing the job of three people.

BURTON: That's right.

WHITFIELD: And now you're going to go to your boss and say I want fewer hours.

BURTON: Well, some people are doing it. I know in my very first job when I launched my first business as a consultant I went from having to work 40 hours a week to 40 hours a month for the same company.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. All right. Take it from her. Valorie Burton knows. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

All right. The final issue of the "News of the World" rolled off the presses just as Rupert Murdoch arrives in London for damage control. We'll have a live report from London, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Checking your top stories right now.

In less than two hours Republican and Democratic leaders head to the White House to hold deficit talks with President Obama. Republicans broke off the talks last night saying they will not consider tax hikes as part of any plan. The deficit deal is tied to a proposal to raise the federal debt cap.

Americans will have two opportunities to say good-bye to Betty Ford. The service for the former first lady will be held Tuesday in Palm Desert, California. A second is in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Thursday. She will be laid to rest next to her husband there at the Ford Presidential Library.

U.S. defense secretary Leon Panetta is in Iraq today. It's his first trip there as head of the Pentagon. Panetta is meeting with Iraqi leaders and U.S. troops who are scheduled to leave the country at the end of the year. The trip comes as Iraqi leaders debate whether to ask the U.S. to stay beyond 2011.

And it's been a whirlwind three days for the duke and duchess of Cambridge. They are wrapping up their first official visit to California as we speak. This hour the royal newlyweds attend a job fair for veterans in Culver City. Earlier they stopped by an art center on skid row. This evening they will make their farewells and head back to the UK.

After 168 years, "News of the World" is no more. The British tabloid which published its last issue today was a victim of outrage over reports that it hacked the phone of a missing teenage girl. CNN's Atika Shubert reports that the final edition was an immediate collector's item.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Reporter: readers snapped up the final edition of "News of the World." Here it is. The headline is "Thank you & good-bye." Five million copies were printed today and at many newsstands across London they sold out before noon. Inside the paper is both proud of its 168-year history and also apologetic for its, quote, appalling wrong doings. Here's what some readers had to say about the final edition of the newspaper.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we all feel there's a lot of journalists there that really took the brunt of what's going on. Murdoch seems to have escaped somehow. I think it's a lot more to be discovered. I think as British people we like things to be fair across the world. In this world everyone will see what's going on, won't they?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel sorry for people that work there. It ain't their fault. Not the ordinary people. It's not their fault.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a great constitution in England. It's quite sad, really. For me it's not a particularly serious newspaper. It's just sport on what's going on, isn't it?

SHUBERT: This is the headquarters for News International, the parent company for "News of the World." Now, the newspaper's officers are shut. But Rupert Murdoch himself arrived here earlier this afternoon reading a copy of the "News of the World's" final edition. And the question is why exactly is he here? Is he here to handle the spiraling crisis and the ongoing police investigation?

Three people have already been arrested including Andy Cluson (ph) a former editor of "News of the World" and a former spin doctor for Prime Minister David Cameron. More arrests are expected. Now Murdoch may also be here to try and salvage his takeover bid for British broadcaster B Sky B. What is reported to be the more valuable prize in his media empire? That takeover needs to be approved by the government. But that takeover decision has been delayed specifically because of these phone hacking allegations.

It now appears that the takeover bid is in serious jeopardy. There are now concerns that the "News of the World" scandal may start to be affecting other parts of Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

Atika Shubert, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Syrian government says an American diplomat is deliberately causing trouble. It's causing tension between Washington and Damascus. I'll explain next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A major rescue operation is going on right now on Russia's biggest river about 500 miles east of Moscow. A cruise ship sank in the Vulka with more than 180 people on board. One person is confirmed dead and only a few dozen have been rescued so far.

In China two coal miners trapped below ground for more than a week were pulled to the surface today. They are alive and reportedly well. At least a dozen others are still missing. The mine collapsed July 2nd.

In India 13 cars of a packed train jumped the tracks today. Rescue officials confirm 27 deaths already and say that number will likely rise as they search the wreckage.

To Syria now where the anti-government movement raging for months is blamed for the deaths of hundreds of people both protesters and security forces. So far the United States has not firmly supported either side in the conflict. But take a look at what happened a couple of days ago when the U.S. ambassador to Syria visited the Syrian city of Hama.

In that motorcade is American ambassador Robert Ford. The people there are not hiding the fact that they are very happy that he is there. This visit has caused some diplomatic tensions between the Syrian and U.S. governments. That's what I want to talk to Elise Labott about; she is our senior Slate Department producer. So Elise exactly what is the American position on the conflict in Syria and why did that moment upset so many?

ELISE LABOTT, SR. SLATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Well, Fred, basically the U.S. wants to side with the protesters in terms of their right to protest. Obviously has been calling on the Syrian government to end the violence, imposing sanctions against the government. I don't think that necessarily the U.S. is ready to kind of use those magic words President Assad should go because they just don't have the international support that they had in Libya for instance with Moammar Gadhafi.

But Ambassador Ford kind of started slow in terms he's only been on the ground several months. Getting his feet wet, meeting people, being kind of quiet, this was really a very provocative move, what he did last week later in the week, going to Hama, meeting with protesters. You saw that when he went, the second he was there on Thursday, then on Friday when we went he saw what was going on, he saw that he was becoming the story and he left.

But really the Syrian government has been retaliating. They organized, we understand from senior state department officials, a very angry mob we understand organized by the Syrian government in front of the U.S. Embassy on Friday and Saturday. Throwing tomatoes, throwing glass, and throwing food. It was really a horrible scene. And the U.S. government is protesting now.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. So if it was considered provocative that the U.S. ambassador's vehicle, I guess, would stir some sentiment there, was it an issue of perhaps he should have been in a different vehicle so nobody knew who he was or is that just unavoidable?

LABOTT: I think it's unavoidable. I think what he wanted to do was show support for the protesters, meet with people. You know, the U.S. really doesn't know who the protesters are, who the opposition is. So during the week Ambassador Ford went to Hama. He was meeting with people. The Syrian government said he didn't seek permission or didn't let them know. But, in fact, officials tell us he did call the Ministry of Defense.

At security checkpoints they did let his car through. But he was on the ground. I mean obviously the Syrian people knew he was there. He must have known that his presence there would be well known to the Syrian government. So now it's a little bit of a tit for tat and it's really raised a big diplomatic incident between the two sides.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks Slate Department producer, Elise Labott thanks so much from Washington, appreciate that.

All right. The June unemployment numbers may have many people wondering if any companies out there are hiring. The steps you need to take to survive, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New jobs almost at a standstill. Just 18,000 jobs were added in June. The unemployment rate edged up to 9.2 percent. So what will it take to get our economy back on track and avoid a possible double dip recession? I asked Georgia Tech economics professor Danny Boston.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY BOSTON, PROFESSOR, GEORGIA TECH ECONOMICS: There are three important sectors that we have to look at. The corporate sector and that sector right now is having record earnings and they're sitting on record piles of cash. We have to get them to spend that cash. They're not doing that. They're uncertain about the future.

Small businesses have to be a part of the mix because that's where the jobs come from. Businesses from zero to 50 employees and new start-up. Then we have to do something about the housing sector. Trying to recover jobs without a healthy housing sector is like running a train down the track with a caboose with its brakes on. You just can't do it.

WHITFIELD (voice over): You have to feel for a lot of those people in construction right now in the housing market. They're getting hit very hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Danny Boston there from Georgia Tech.

In our "Financial Fix" today, surviving joblessness and debt. Today I talked to financial planner Karen Lee. She's the author of "It's just Money, so why does it cause so many problems?" She gave us a short- term survival plan starting with how to use credit cards responsibly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN LEE, FINANCIAL PLANNER: The first thing we want to do if you must put things on your credit card, I assume you might have more than one or two; you certainly want to use the lowest interest rate one first. No matter what make sure you make that minimum payment on time.

Because the late fees are only going to add insult to injury. We want you to only charge the bare necessities. On our next tip we're going to talk about exactly what that is. The last point, though, is ignore your credit limit on that card.

WHITFIELD: So it says $2,500 is your limit. You're not trying to max it out.

LEE: No. What you're trying to do is make that last as long as possible. You don't know how long this situation is going to last. Ignore that number. And we are going to focus on as little monthly as possible you're adding to that card.

WHITFIELD: How do you come up with that personal limit? Not the credit card limit but the personal limit.

LEE: All right. I'm going to say the evil word Americans hate to hear. Budget. We're going to start with a budget. Three columns. Column number one is fixed, column number two is fixed but --

WHITFIELD: Fixed is going to be like your rent or mortgage.

LEE: Yes. Or car payment. The second column is fixed but wiggle room. So that is going to be your utilities like your water bill, your electric bill, and your groceries. Your last one is discretionary. You can live without these things. Every time you go --

WHITFIELD: You've got to make a decision with those are, like cable. LEE: Right. Every time you go to make a purchase you've got to ask yourself is this a luxury or a necessity? Only buy necessities. And I can tell you, been there, done it. Like two years once with my husband not working. We cut our expenses by 40 percent during that time by doing this luxury or necessity.

WHITFIELD: That's incredible. So then you need to almost build -- you've got that formula down. You're embracing it. Now you have a short term and then some long term.

LEE: And you've got a monthly number you're trying to get at or below every month. OK. Short term survival plan. How are you going to make it? First of all, make it a family affair.

WHITFIELD: Everyone needs to know.

LEE: Everyone needs to know. Kids need to be and I've heard people say I don't want the kids to worry. Kids are resilient. We're worrying way more about the money than they are. Make it a family affair. You can create some games or some contests to actually make it fun like timing showers. I know I have teenagers.

WHITFIELD: Two-minute showers.

LEE: And you still have to clean everything. Who can win that race? How about who can cook a dinner for the family on the least amount of money? And help your kids get involved with it. Then the other thing, as you know, I'm all about the emotion in our brain behind our money decisions. Know that it's not forever. Remind yourself, this isn't forever. You can do this for a period of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Karen Lee, you can catch our "Financial Fix" every Saturday, 2:00 p.m. Eastern and again Sundays 4:00 p.m. Right here on CNN.

All right. The nation's space shuttle program is ending. But America's favorite space movies will play on. Here are the top five. Coming in at number five is 2001 "Space Odyssey." Number four, "Flash Gordon." number three, "Aliens." after the break we'll have the top two.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Before the break, we told you the top five space movies. We gave you number thee through five. Here are the top two. Number two is "Star Wars" you knew that had to be on the list. Number one, drum roll, please. "The Right Stuff."

Its final rendezvous in space. The shuttle "Atlantis" docked with the International Space Station. Our John Zarrella has more on the crew's big welcome aboard.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sunday was another historic day in space. The space shuttle "Atlantis" docking with the International Space Station early Sunday afternoon. And the astronauts were so far ahead of the time line in this docking maneuver that they were actually able to open the hatch about 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

Of course, another historic moment there, the last time that the space shuttle visiting the space station, the hatch opening, and the six members of the International Space Station greeting the four astronauts as they got on board the space station. So ten in all now on board the space station and for the next several days, a lot of work to do. They will be transferring more than 7,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to stock up literally the pantry and refrigerator on the space station so there will be enough supplies to last the crews up there for a good year.

Now, what also happened earlier on Sunday as the space shuttle "Atlantis" was approaching and rendezvousing with the International Space Station, commander Ferguson pitched over, literally pitched his space shuttle "Atlantis" over, flipped it over on its back so the crew members on board the station could use their cameras and image the belly of the space shuttle. The reason they wanted to do this is to make sure that there was no damage to any of the sensitive thermal tiles on the belly of the space shuttle as it was lifting off a couple of days ago from the Kennedy Center.

So again, the space shuttle "Atlantis" now firmly docked to the space station. The last time a shuttle will ever dock at the space station.

John Zarrella, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

WHITFIELD: In time for a CNN equals politics update right now. Keeping an eye on all the latest headlines on the CNNpolitics.com desk. And here is what is crossing right now. The debate over a deficit reduction plan is intensifying in Washington after Republicans broke off talks over the issue of tax hikes.

President Obama will meet with Republican and Democratic leaders at the White House in about an hour from now to get negotiations back on track. This all tied to a proposal to raise the federal debt limit before the government starts defaulting on its loans. The issue fueled heated debate on the Sunday morning talk shows.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Where would you compromise with Democrats?

RICK SANTORUM, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, my sense is, I would be willing to do less spending cuts now in exchange for a balanced budget amendment in the future. I think that's really what we need as a backstop. That's what I hope Republicans will stand firm on. You know, Candy, you've been around long enough to know that nothing gets done in Washington unless there is a crisis, unless their backs are to the wall.

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, (D) BUDGET COMMITTEE: At the end of the day, what we're seeing is the priority of our Republican colleagues is not to get a deficit reduction deal. It's to protect special interest tax breaks for big corporations. We had the corporate jet loophole. We have big oil and gas companies. Then we have folks at the very top of the income ladder. Now I listened to my friend Kevin say these are all small businesses. As you pointed out, just isn't true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Clipping coupons out of a newspaper. Many of us do it. When and why would it be against the law? Stay right here to hear what our legal guys have to say.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Take a look at this. The high flying antics of the Blue Angels are bringing thousands of spectators to Pensacola Beach this weekend. The huge crowds are bringing a much needed boost to the Gulf coast economy after last year's oil spill kept so many tourists away.

To Oregon to the first annual Super Hero Pub Crawl in Portland. All kinds of super heroes, super heroines. Even the broccoli man. Prizes were given for the best costume.

And then now to New Orleans where we find a twist on the whole running with the bowls concept. Who needs to run the risk of getting gored by a real bull in Pamplona, Spain, when you can do this? In New Orleans they call this a bull session. OK. They've been doing this for five years now.

A couple of legal cases that you may not have heard about, not until now. One involves extreme couponing and the other attacked by peanut butter. A woman in Battle Creek, Michigan, has accused her husband's ex of sending a letter coated in peanut butter and she is highly allergic to nuts. I talked to our legal guys about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: You have to wonder if this is a case that, I don't know, I guess the judge or any courtroom would really want to put its hands on.

RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Fred, these nut allergies have come to the forefront in the last ten years or so. People's awareness of them, I should say. I mean, they cause shock. They cause people to be rushed to the hospital and their throats to close up. It's so serious.

WHITFIELD: So an issue here, who would want to mail peanut better on an envelope or anything? What's your intent?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yes. I mean not only was it in the envelope, Fredricka, it was leaked through. There was oil on it. And the new wife actually picked the envelope up. She's been charged with an assault that is reckless intentional placing someone in eminent fear. She actually touched it. I actually think that the individual that send it, that statutory slathering, I don't know, it's serious. Very serious.

WHITFIELD: Another what turns out to be a very serious case. This is Texas. You go to a machine to get your newspaper. Don't go messing with the other stuff. The other newspaper that you're not going to purchase. If you take those coupons, those coupons that everyone covets from a newspaper that you didn't buy, you could face four years in jail and you could face a fine. It's happening to a single mom in Denton, Texas, Richard. Don't mess with Texas going a little too far here or is it apropos?

HERMAN: Don't mess with Texas. You can't open up these newspapers, take out all the advertisements and run away with those advertisements and those coupons. She's going to get more prison time than Casey Anthony or Lindsay Lohan for stealing that necklace.

(CROSSTALK)

FRIEDMAN: She's involved with extreme couponing and she may actually be convicted of a crime. All right.

WHITFIELD: And actually inverted the numbers so it's actually a fine of up to $4,000 and up to one year in jail, Avery.

(CROSSTALK)

FRIEDMAN: And have to spend a year in jail.

HERMAN: Unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And you can catch our legal guys every Saturday noon Eastern, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.