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Debt Ceiling Talks End for Tonight; U.S. Withholding Millions in Pakistan Aid; "Slavery" Language in Marriage Pledge; Baseball Fan Falls to His Death; Prince William and Catherine Head Home; Remembering Betty Ford; Gay Student Killed in Class

Aired July 10, 2011 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Right now on CNN, high powered talks tonight at the White House. President Obama making the case for a big deal on the debt ceiling, meeting with congressional leaders and calling for more talks on Monday with a presidential news conference ahead of it.

Meanwhile, as you can see from live pictures from New York, that debt clock just keeps on ticking.

Also, inflammatory words put on paper in the form of a pledge about slavery, black children, and President Obama has two presidential contenders backtracking tonight. What exactly did they mean?

And the British invasion. William and Kate's whirlwind trip through California. CNN traveled with the royals. One stop included L.A.'s Skid Row.

And --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As far as I'm concerned, Betty Ford did save my life. I went to Betty Ford in the end of 1985 for cocaine addiction, and I was one of the lucky ones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The first lady who helped save the lives of some of the most famous people in the world by simply turning her struggles into triumph. Tonight, we remember Betty Ford, the outspoken first lady who changed the way we all view addiction and recovery.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

That debt clock in New York City tonight, as you can see, it just keeps ticking upwards from the live picture, a stark reminder of just what a dire situation we are in when it comes to ongoing deficit negotiations. Unless Congress raises the amount of money that the government can borrow, the U.S. and the world could face an unprecedented financial crisis about three weeks from now.

The president and congressional leaders met tonight at the White House to work on the problem of raising the federal debt ceiling, which now stands at $14.3 trillion. They even took off their ties. But just 75 minutes later, they left without saying a word.

I want to bring in now CNN's White House correspondent Dan Lothian.

Dan, this is serious business. The president says it is important to have a deal in 10 days. He scheduled a news conference for tomorrow morning. Was there any progress tonight?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, in the words of one Democratic aide, no breakthrough yet. But the president has called on these congressional leaders to return to the White House tomorrow to continue their discussions with a view on what potentially could pass both houses. And as you pointed out, the president also expected to hold a news conference.

Now one Democratic official who is quite aware of what's going on in those discussions said that the president continued to push for that so-called big deal, up to $4 trillion in spending cuts and also tax hikes because he believes that this is what's best long-term for the U.S. economy. The president also making the case that it's unclear that it would be any easier to do anything less than a big deal -- Don.

LEMON: If we get this done, there is going to have to be bipartisan support for it. Is there much real bipartisan effort, an effort there to resolve the crisis?

LOTHIAN: Well, look, right now everyone is talking about how they realize that there is a big crisis here, that something has to be done. But still, both sides far apart. Nonetheless, both Republicans and Democrats were putting out press releases tonight, post meeting.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying that he's, quote, "firmly committed to getting the most robust deal possible." He's committing to staying at these negotiations until something gets done no matter how long it takes.

Also a spokesman for House Minority -- Majority Leader, rather, Speaker John Boehner said that he told the group that he believes that the Biden group work is the most, quote, "viable option" at this time in terms of moving forward. But Republicans still want to see deeper cuts and don't want to see any tax hikes.

LEMON: Our White House correspondent tonight, Dan Lothian.

Dan, thank you very much.

And as we mentioned, President Obama will update the country on the status of these important negotiations Monday morning, 11:00 a.m. Eastern. CNN will bring that to you live, of course.

I want to bring in CNN contributor Errol Louis. He's also a political anchor for New York 1 and CNN's senior political analyst David Gergen.

Errol, we're going to start with you. The treasury department has set a deadline of August 2nd to get this done. Is there any possibility that they won't? ERROL LOUIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, no. I can't imagine it. We have a better sense of what could happen if there is indeed a default. And, you know, the abstract notion of some foreign bond holder maybe not getting their payments on time is one thing. But now it turns out that they may have to lay off up to 800,000 federal workers, not fund the Department of Education for that month. I mean, they would have to be furloughed at a minimum, not paid on time.

This is serious, serious stuff that a lot of people can relate to. And so, the White House has, I think, to its credit, tried not to sugarcoat this thing. And as the details become more and more clear, as we get closer to the brink, I think people are going to realize this deal has got to get done, some kind of deal.

LEMON: So, David, President Obama seems to be in a no-win situation here. No matter who he appeases, he's going to anger somebody. So, what does he do in this situation?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He is -- he is in a box of sorts and so are the Republicans. The good news is that leaders in both parties now agree that we cannot go into default. That was in question a few weeks ago. Both sides are now committed to some sort of deal.

What appears tonight is that they didn't have much of negotiation, 75 minutes after all is not considered serious time frame for real negotiations. So, I don't think they got anywhere tonight.

What is fairly clear now is the idea of a mega deal that the president wanted and John Boehner really wanted, I think, has gone by the boards. The question is can they get a moderate-sized deal, about half the size on $2 trillion that would carry through the elections of next year so they wouldn't have to revisit this issue before the elections.

Both sides want to avoid coming back to this next year. Jessica Yellin reports that there is some feeling in the White House they will get it. There is some optimism about that. But when you come down to actually what the deal looks like, it's hard to see how they agree. It's very hard to see how they'll reach an agreement.

LEMON: Errol, I want to ask you, I mean, is it -- what happens on August 2nd if there is no deal to raise the debt ceiling? But really, does it matter if it's August 2nd or days or weeks before, because won't they spook investors the longer they wait to come up with a deal?

LOUIS: Well, here again, I don't know if the worry is the investor so much. To be honest with you, Don, I mean, much of the rhetoric around it, sounding as if, you know, Chinese bond holders are going to come in here and, you know, sort of padlock the White House or something. That's not realistic.

You know, a lot of these debts, a lot of these obligations are held by people who have no intention of cashing in these bonds at any point. The United States is in a very peculiar position as the world superpower and as the guarantor of what is in effect the reserve currency of the entire world.

You know, that's why raising the debt ceiling has never been a big deal. You know, other than the politics of it, nobody really expects that there's going to be a run on the currency or anything like that.

LEMON: Yes.

LOUIS: You know, what the rest of the world is expecting is that we will resolve these kind of questions and not engage in this kind of political brinksmanship.

LEMON: And David, we saw that debt clock. We saw live pictures there of the debt clock that just keeps on ticking upwards. As we said, a stark reminder of really how dire these negotiations are. But this has been growing worse and worse over many administrations. And both Democrats and Republicans are responsible for this debt, even though they seem to be locked on their own sides now.

GERGEN: Yes. But what we see here, Don, is by all indications we are going to have another example of politicians in Washington kicking the can down the road before this is over. In normal times, that wouldn't be so dangerous. The problem is we are not in normal times. The rating agency Standard & Poor's first put out of the box (ph) but Moody's and Fitch's as well, have all warned. But S&P put it very clearly, if the United States does not come up with a credible plan before 2013, before the elections of next year, for the long-term solution to its debt problems, there is a one in three chance that S&P will downgrade our triple A credit rating.

We haven't seen that before since the First World War. That is very expensive and shows an eroding confidence in the United States. I don't think we're going to go into default, but if we don't come up with a credible long-term plan soon, we run this real risk of a credit rating being downgraded.

LEMON: All right, David and Errol, don't go anywhere, thank you very much. We are going to bring you back in just a bit and we're going to talk about this marriage pledge that a conservative group is pushing which originally included some incendiary language about slavery, of all things. Don't miss that.

And remember just a few weeks ago when Osama bin Laden was found and killed in Pakistan? The United States government and lots of Americans suspicious that the Pakistani government knew he was there the entire time. Today, payback. The checkbook is closed.

Also, a fan falls to his death while trying to catch a baseball and his young son watches it happen. Tonight, new information about the steps being taken at the stadium where he died to prevent another tragedy. And a pro sports Hall of Famer weighs in on stadium dangers.

And if you want any information about the stories that we are covering, you want to offer us some to cover, you can reach out to us through social media -- Twitter, Facebook, cnn.com/don, and on Foursquare.com as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Incredible scenes coming out of northern India where a passenger train jumped the tracks. The impact was so severe one car ended up on top of another. At least 28 people were killed and 100 others injured. Nearby residents rushed to the crash site and smashed the train's windows open to help get trapped passengers out.

The U.S. is withholding $800 million in military aid to Pakistan, a major indication that the rift between the two countries is only growing. The U.S. and Pakistan are allies but there are major trust issues between the two, especially after U.S. Special Forces found Osama bin Laden hiding snuggly inside Pakistan. CNN's Reza Sayah is standing by live for us in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Reza, how does this impact the U.S.-Pakistani relations?

REZA SAYAH. CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, I think it's hurt cheating. Keep in mind this is a relationship that's already hurting and very much on shaky grounds . For years, we have heard a lot of rhetoric from both sides, finger pointing, accusations, but this is more than rhetoric.

And I think things changed after that raid on the bin Laden compound here in Pakistan in May. This was viewed by many here in Pakistan as an embarrassment for the country and the military. It was viewed as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty by people here. And I think ever since then, both sides have made moves that have substantially changed the complexion of this relationship.

Withholding $800 million in U.S. aid is significant. This is cash and military equipment. And I think it's a message from Washington, and the message is we are not happy with the effort that you are making, and if you want to continue to get our funding, our money and resources, there are going to have to be some changes.

It signals a different approach from Washington. It's a more aggressive approach. But that's something that hasn't always been effective. It hasn't always worked, that approach here in Pakistan.

And Don, Pakistan has always said, we don't like the carrot and stick approach, it's disrespectful. And I think it's going to be viewed as disrespectful by people here again.

LEMON: And again, that's the response from Pakistan to withholding the funding. They think it is disrespectful, right?

SAYAH: The response is, you can keep your money, we don't want it. It's been a defiant response. The military claims that they have been doing a lot of these operations without external help, without U.S. funding and they are going to continue to do it. But again, $800 million is significant. The U.S. training, the equipment. I don't think there is any question that it's going to impact the operations here.

LEMON: Well, that's my question. Can Pakistan's military take on the Taliban and militancy without U.S. money and resources, Reza? SAYAH: Well, they have a big army. 600,000 soldiers, Don. It's one of the biggest armies of the world. But they are not the best trained army. They're not the most proficient when it comes to fighting an insurgency, fighting the Taliban. They've needed the help from the U.S. in the past. But again, they are saying they don't need the help anymore. They're going to continue to do the fighting without U.S. help. But that doesn't square with previous statements that have made in the past, Don. Previous demands. Demands for the U.S. to give them more money, give them resources, claims that they need help. Now they are saying they don't need help.

I think there's a lot of gamesmanship here. And I think all of this really underscores a troubled relationship. But I think what's important to point out is even though this relationship is hurting, there is no indication that it's going to end. I think both countries realize that they need one another. So I think indications are that it's going to stagger forward despite these troubles -- Don.

LEMON: Reza Sayah in Islamabad. Thank you very much, Reza.

Imagine being told a child born into slavery back in 1860 was more likely to be raised in a two-parent household than an African-American baby born today. I'll tell you which conservative group made the reference and discuss why it is also being connected to GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum. That's after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Atlantis arriving. Welcome to the International Space Station for the last time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: High overhead, an historic moment we'll never see again. Space shuttle Atlantis is now docked with the International Space Station for the final time. The flight represents the end of the longtime U.S. shuttle program. The shuttle missions go. This one is fairly routine. Atlantis delivered supplies and spare parts. When it returns, it will bring back a broken pump and lots of emotional memories.

Let's talk some politics now. This is one of the strangest arguments that you will ever hear about the sanctity of marriage. A socially conservative group called the Family Leader sent out a pledge to politicians asking them to sign it in support of traditional marriage. But listen to what the people originally -- the pledge originally had in the preamble. It read like this.

"Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the U.S.A.'s first African-American president." Two Republican candidates, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum signed that pledge. Bachmann's camp said she only signed the candidate vow part of it which didn't reference slavery at all. Here's a statement from her spokeswoman.

"In no uncertain terms, Congresswoman Bachmann believes that slavery was horrible and economic enslavement is also horrible."

The Family Leader has since retracted that slavery passage. Now I want to bring back in now CNN contributor Errol Louis, political anchor for New York 1, and CNN's senior political analyst David Gergen.

David, why was that slavery passage ever in the pledge to begin with?

GERGEN: It's a total mystery. You got to be a real idiot to write something like that. That would be so obnoxious because the implication of that statement is it was better for children to be born into slavery than it was to be born today. I think everyone, especially Errol can speak to this much more eloquently than I can, would find that obnoxious, especially coming from a group that pledges itself to freedom.

LEMON: Errol, I will let you speak to that.

LOUIS: Well, I mean, look, let's start with the fact that in 1860 marriage between people who were enslaved was illegal. So they actually picked the wrong year. If they wanted to make their point, it needs to be a year after 1865. But the level of ignorance and as David says sort of obnoxious tone to the whole thing is typical of what you get. I mean, frankly, if nothing else it makes it clear that candidates who aren't ready for prime time are going to be found out through this process. So, if there is anything good that comes of this, at least you get to see which candidates and which campaigns have their heads on straight and have their basic knowledge of history intact and which ones don't.

LEMON: David, did you notice in the signing of that -- and Michele Bachmann's, when she responded she said that economic enslavement was also bad. Was that a dig?

GERGEN: I'm not sure. I want to part company with Errol on one point. I think the obnoxious part comes out of the group that wrote the pledge. As to the two candidates, you know, I think it's unfair to ascribe to them all this declaration. What this represents is incompetence on the part of their staff. They should have read this and understood it. But I think it goes a little step too far to say that that's actually what the candidates believe.

What I think the larger pernicious quality that this points to is that pledges are proliferating in these political campaigns and people are being asked to sign up to things that -- in this case -- you know, are way out of bounds. But in other cases lock their hands so that they can't act.

To go back to our earlier conversation, 230 members of the House have signed a no new taxes pledge. That means that they have promised while they're in Washington that they will never raise taxes. That makes it very, very difficult to try to reach and foster some sort of compromise to get us out of this debt problem.

LEMON: David Gergen has going to have to be the last word. Errol, thank you. Thanks to both of you, as a matter of fact.

Coming up on CNN --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Stone lost his life as a result of a tragic accident at Rangers Ballpark last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The baseball community mourns the loss of a fan who fell over a stadium railing and died trying to catch a ball thrown into the stands. Is it time to improve security at baseball stadiums? That conversation is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Made me in tears instantly because I completely picture my husband doing the same thing for my son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: With so many people going to the ballparks this weekend, it is a tragedy that is resonating with people from all across the country. A father and son out for a day at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. But after this game, nothing would ever be the same. 39-year- old Shannon Stone reached for a ball and fell headfirst over the railing, dropping 20 feet to his death. His 6-year-old son right next to him, he saw the entire thing. Black tarps are now covering the gap Stone fell into and flags are flying at half-staff at the ballpark. A man beside Stone, his name is Ronnie Hargis, moved fast and tried to pull him back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONNIE HARGIS, TRIED TO SAVE FALLING RANGERS FAN: The first instinct is reach out and grab him. I tried to grab him. I couldn't catch him. He went down. As he went by me, I tried to grab him again and I missed. It looked like in slow motion as he was going to the ground. I mean, there was nothing I could do but simply watch him fall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I was talking about this with football Hall-of-Famer Fran Tarkenton. Fran has spent much of his life in stadiums and like many people he sympathizes with the Stone family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FRAN TARKENTON, NFL HALL OF FAME QUARTERBACK: The whole tragedy, we all saw it, and we feel because we have been to games with our fathers, we've been to games with our sons. And this was a fireman, a working guy, who does, you know, physical work and he's comfortable and all of a sudden it's gone. It's life is so fragile.

LEMON: Yes.

TARKENTON: And here we see this wasn't supposed to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Funeral services will be held for Shannon Stone on Monday. And our affiliate WFAA reports the Rangers met with city leaders, architects and contractors about possible changes to the stadium, but there are no immediate decisions on that.

Let's go overseas now. Gunfire ringing out in parts of Syria. Demonstrators say the government's violent crackdown is continuing, even as the Syrian regime is vowing to carry out reforms. It began what it calls national dialogue talks today, but a lot of the opposition didn't show up. CNN's Arwa Damon is in Damascus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Syrian government is promoting this national dialogue conference as being the initial step to create the framework to implement the president's long promised reforms, which include a multi-party system to set the country on a new path of democracy, the government said.

The conference was opened by the Syrian vice president who, interestingly, acknowledged that the conference was taking place in an atmosphere that (INAUDIBLE). He also admitted that without the sacrifices, the bloodshed both on the civilian and the military side, this type of a dialogue would not be taking place. Still, there was harsh criticism from the few opposition voices inside, especially criticizing what they are calling the government's excessive use of force.

QADRI JAMEEL, SYRIAN OPPOSITION MEMBER (through translator): The bloodshed needs to stop. Yes, there are unauthorized protests. But is it a reason to use unjustified and excessive violence against these protests? The use of all types of excessive force is unjustified.

DAMON: Others said that for this type of dialogue to even begin to succeed, the violence against the demonstrators had to stop. It is, in fact, because of this violence that the significant and prominent opposition figures boycotted the conference, saying that if the government wants to truly prove that it is genuine when it speaks about reform, the violence must end, saying that dialogue cannot even be spoken about while people continue to die on the streets.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Damascus.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: Up next, your headlines and also Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine pay a visit to a place in Los Angeles that most Americans don't want to see.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's check your headlines right now. President Obama will hold a news conference at 11:00 a.m. Monday to update the country on the status of debt ceiling negotiations. He and congressional leaders met tonight at the White House. But the meeting lasted only a little over an hour. The government has maxed out its borrowing at $14.3 trillion. The treasury department says if it can't borrow more money by August 2nd, the U.S. could start defaulting on its obligations.

There is further proof tonight of the deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan. The U.S. is withholding $800 million in military aid to that country. White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley confirmed the move on ABC's "This Week." The U.S. and Pakistan are allies but there are major trust issues between the two, especially after U.S. Special Forces found Osama bin Laden hiding inside Pakistan.

A scene of grief after a Russian cruise ship sinks in the Volga River. At least two people are dead, 100 more are missing and 80 others were rescued. That's according to the state-run news agency. The scene is in a village near the city of Kazan. The state-run agency also reports a criminal investigation is under way over accusations of safety violations on the ship. There were nearly 200 people on board.

A NASA space shuttle is now docked with the International Space Station for the final time. The Atlantis is delivering supplies and spare parts. It will return to earth in two weeks, marking the end of NASA's shuttle program.

All right, listen up, everyone. A heat wave covers the Southeast and the Midwest. In Milwaukee, runners collapsed at a half marathon event in the 85-degree weather. Rescuers had to transport 10 people to the hospital. Many of the water stations ran dry. And then we go to Arkansas. Eight people died have there from the heat.

As the temperatures go up, so do the heat advisories and warnings. And our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras joins me now from the CNN severe weather center with more on these dangerous conditions.

Heat kills more people than any other disaster, anything else really, in the country.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. In the last 10 years, more people died from heat-related illnesses than they did from hurricanes, from flooding, lightning, all of those things combined, believe it or not. So, it is kind of a silent killer and we are concerned about that in the upcoming days.

There are 16 states that are under a heat advisory or excessive heat warnings. This is a heat wave that's going to be lasting at least until the middle of the week. It should wane across parts of the Central Plain states, but it's likely going to linger in places like Oklahoma, in Texas. So be aware that this is in here for the long haul, and it's going to be feeling between 100 to 115 degrees. That's the temperature your body is going to feel from the combined heat and humidity. And so that is dangerous. And you really need to take a lot of precautions here. A lot of record temperatures broken today. For example, Wichita, Kansas, Don, hit 111.

LEMON: Here's a question. What about tomorrow morning's commute and air travel? Will the heat affect that?

JERAS: Heat probably not affecting that too much. You got to be careful in mountain areas that you don't have too much of a heavy load on airplanes. But we will see a lot of thunderstorms. You know, we don't have too much severe activity today, but a lot of pop-up showers and thunderstorms.

So that will be the concern in Atlanta and Miami tomorrow afternoon. We're expecting some delays in Denver, much like we did today because of thunderstorms. City number three, San Francisco, expecting delays in the morning due to some low clouds and fog. Detroit and Cleveland, we'll see afternoon showers and thunderstorms. A few of those could be strong. And more delays in Chicago, we think, than any other city because of thunderstorms. They could see that in the morning as well as into the afternoon hours. Don't take too much of a hiccup to cause problems unfortunately at O'Hare.

LEMON: And so, now you know. Jacqui Jeras. Thank you, Jacqui. Appreciate it.

Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine are heading home after a whirlwind tour of Canada and California. From the glitz of Hollywood to L.A.'s Skid Row, the royal newlyweds captivated everyone and capped their final day in the U.S. with a tribute to the troops. CNN's royal correspondent Max Foster followed their every step.

Max?

MAX FOSTER, ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, the couple are now heading back to the U.K. after their whirlwind tour of North America. They are no doubt looking forward to hiding away in their cottage in North Wales.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER (voice over): After taking Canada by storm, it was time to visit California. The duke and duchess invited some friends around to the consul general's house where they were staying.

The next morning, it was off to Santa Barbara for a game of polo. The duke was, in his own words, looking forward to letting loose after a busy few days. His team won and a proud duchess presented her husband with a trophy and a kiss.

On Saturday night, they hit the red carpet.

(on camera): Well, the duchess has arrived and she hasn't disappointed. (voice over): The dress by Alexander McQueen wowed the Hollywood A- listers inside.

From the red carpet to Skid Row. On Sunday, the couple threw themselves into an art class with kids from this very deprived neighborhood. The artistic duchess showing her skills.

And their last engagement was a war veterans job fair.

(on camera): So, this is the final stop on this very successful North American royal tour. But in many ways, this is the most important stop, particularly for the duke.

PRINCE WILLIAM: I would just say on behalf of us both how grateful we are to have been welcomed so warmly in the "Golden State" and "City of Angels." Thank you so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Don, perhaps a sense amongst the public here in California that they would have liked to have got closer to the couple. But it's been deemed a success, I think, Don.

LEMON: All right. Max Foster, thank you, sir.

Next we're taking a look tonight at the top stories that you will be following tomorrow and then the week ahead.

Also, we're remembering one of the most influential first ladies in our nation's history. Betty Ford who died at the age of 93. My conversation with Larry King right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Now to the big stories in the week ahead. From Washington to Hollywood, our correspondents tell you what you need to know. We begin tonight with the state department.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN SR. STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: I'm Elise Labott in Washington. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will try to jump start peace between Israelis and Palestinians Monday when she meets with the Middle East Quartet. Later in the week, she'll travel to Istanbul where she will attend a meeting on Libya with members of the NATO coalition. Then it's on to Athens and the New Delhi for two days of strategic talks with Indian leaders.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I'm Paul Steinhauser at the CNN political desk. A bunch of the presidential candidates will campaign this week in some of those crucial early voting states. Among them Herman Cain, who tomorrow opens his headquarters in Iowa, the state that kicks off the clock in primary calendar. Tuesday, there is a special election in the Los Angeles area to fill the seat of former Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harman, who stepped down earlier this year.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. We're following the abysmal jobs report on Friday. General Electric's CEO Jeff Immelt will speak at a jobs summit in D.C. on Monday. And second quarter earnings season kicks off next week with JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Google all reporting their numbers. As far as economic news, we'll get the minutes from the Fed's last meeting. Those are critical to see how the economy is doing. And we'll track it all for you on CNNMoney.

A.J. HAMMER, HOST, HLN'S "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": I'm "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer. Here's what we are watching this week. Brand new developments in the "Showbiz Tonight Casey Anthony Watch." The incredible, explosive ways Casey may cash in on her fame and the dramatic and disturbing connections between Casey and O.J. Simpson. Be sure to catch "Showbiz Tonight" exclusively weeknights at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on HLN.

The nation is mourning the death of former first lady, one who conquered her own addiction and went on to help others. Betty Ford, the name behind the well-known Betty Ford Center died Friday at the age of 93 from natural causes. Two funerals are planned, one in California on Tuesday, the other is Thursday in Michigan. The public is invited to pay respects.

The wife of former President Gerald Ford was honest and forthcoming about her addiction to alcohol and painkillers. CNN's Larry King interviewed Betty Ford several times and found that out firsthand. He spoke with me by phone about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY KING, FORMER HOST, CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE": She lived a glorious life. She had a great family. In fact, one of the best moments in all the years I have been on CNN was when Gerald Ford described what her intervention scene was like when the whole family gathered around to tell their mother and wife that she's an alcoholic. And she had to accept that and come forward with it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING: You were helped by an intervention which your husband brilliantly described on this show one night.

BETTY FORD, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes.

KING: What happened?

FORD: It was a terrible shock to me. I knew I didn't feel well. And all of the sudden the family walked in --

KING: The whole family?

FORD: Surprising, yes. Everybody had come from all around the country and ...

KING: You were in bed?

FORD: No, no. I was up, but I wasn't dressed. It was in the morning. And they walked in and I thought, isn't this dear, they have come because I don't feel well, how sweet of them. And then I saw these strangers with them. And I knew immediately that something was wrong. And it was a doctor and another doctor and a nurse who were helping them with the intervention.

KING: Were you shocked?

FORD: I didn't know quite what it was at that point, because I knew nothing about an intervention.

KING: When they spoke, were you shocked?

FORD: Oh, yes. I was totally destroyed when my family said what they felt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I think she'll be remembered a long time, has a special place -- America has a special place for people like this. And Betty Ford owns a little piece of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Betty Ford was married to her husband for 58 years. Gerald Ford died in 2006.

Coming up next, a heinous hate crime. This student was fatally shot at pointblank range in the head by another student during class. That's bad enough. But the apparent motive -- sexuality. The victim was gay. We'll go in depth on the hate crime after the break.

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LEMON: Now to California and a story that will challenge your thinking about exactly what constitutes a hate crime. It involves two middle school students -- one gay, the other straight. In February of 2008, the straight kid allegedly pulled out a gun in class and killed the gay student. Now 17, he's on trial as an adult for murder. His life now in the balance. Reporter Vince Gonzales reports on the crime and its consequences.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALES AND UNIDENTIFIED MALES: Kids first! Stop the violence! Peace in the streets!

VINCE GONZALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Students marched in Oxnard, California in memory of Lawrence "Larry" King, the 15-year-old student police say was gunned down by a classmate because he was openly gay. King's murder shocked the southern California community.

MICKEY GOLDSTYN, FAMILY FRIEND: It's inconceivable that anybody could be that angry at a kid that was that nice.

GONZALES: He's remembered as friendly and outgoing but fellow students say he became the subject of taunts and bullying in school after speaking out about his sexual orientation and reportedly wearing makeup, lipstick and jewelry to school.

PHIL COHEN, FAMILY FRIEND: That was a very small part of Larry. And just one facet of his life.

GONZALES: But the situation apparently escalated. And on February 12, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney allegedly shot King in the head in the school's computer lab.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was Larry?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Larry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was? Oh, my God.

GONZALES: McInerney was arrested a few blocks away from campus a short time later. King was pronounced brain dead at a local hospital. His body was kept alive so his organs could be donated.

At the school where McInerney allegedly shot King, some parents say it's time to teach more tolerance in California classrooms.

LUCY RODRIGUEZ, PARENT: It's sad but it's not just this district. It's every district. Something really has to be implemented.

GONZALES: For CNN, Vince Gonzales in Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: At first, it looked like a simple hate crime but as students and teachers testified at the trial last week, a much more complicated picture has begun to emerge. We talked about this tragic case with clinical psychologist Jeff Gardere and reporter Zeke Barlow with the "Ventura County Star".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZEKE BARLOW, REPORTER, "VENTURA COUNTY STAR": The biggest thing so far is the day before is when things sort of came to a head. I mean, other students had said that Larry would cast these sort of gazes, and make up at what you will, but he cast these gazes at Brandon and Brandon was obviously gone uncomfortable with it.

And many students would say that Larry would push his sexuality on people who were uncomfortable with it. It was his way of giving back to the boys who were taunting him. He'd give a little back to them.

But in the rumors flying around school the day before the shooting was that Larry said in a crowded classroom to Brandon, he said I love you baby. There was another rumor that he asked him to be his Valentine. The shooting happened two days before Valentine's Day.

And another shooting that he -- excuse me, another rumor that he was blowing kisses to Brandon as well.

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: It's very sad that we look at Larry's behavior and say that he was the one who's being antagonistic. Of course, I wasn't there. But I can only imagine that being gay, he described himself as gay, that he was probably harassed so many times and this was his way of fighting back the best way he can.

What we know about Brandon, who is the alleged killer, is that he came from a very difficult background. There was alcohol. There was domestic violence as he was growing up. So, this was already a young man who was at risk.

There are some rumors, and these may come out in court, that there may have been some sort of influence by white supremacy person or group in some of the things that this young man read. So, he was a very angry, angry young man. This should not have happened. More attention should have been given to him and what his psychological issues were.

LEMON: OK. Do you know -- do you know, Zeke, where he might have gotten a gun? And also we are hearing that he may have told other students that he was going to do this. If so, is that premeditated?

BARLOW: He got the gun from either his home or his grandfather's home. The defense has said all along that Brandon did this. And he came from a home where drugs and violence and guns were common place.

A student testified earlier in the week that -- the student testified that he had said to them, I could shoot anybody at any time I want to because it's easy for me to get guns. And the day before he told a different person, his friend, he told him that he was going to bring a gun to school the next day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Brandon McInerney, who is now 17, could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.

A rare Sunday meeting at the White House to try and avoid a financial crisis for our country. That's among our top stories tonight, next.

Also this, MTV, President Ronald Reagan, Rubik's Cubes, Pacman, they all defined the 1980's. How about the fashion, the hair and the music, of course? Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: What happened to my hair? Find out. Coming up. I'm going back to the '80s.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's check your headlines right now. President Obama will hold a news conference at 11:00 a.m. Monday to update the country on the status of debt ceiling negotiations. He and congressional leaders met tonight at the White House. But the meeting lasted only a little over an hour. The government has maxed out its borrowing at $14.3 trillion. The treasury department says if it can't borrow more money by August 2nd, the U.S. could start defaulting on its obligations.

More proof of the deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan. The U.S. is withholding $800 million in military aid to that country. White House Chief of Staff William Daley confirmed the move on ABC's "This Week." The two countries are allies but there are major trust issues especially after U.S. Special Forces found Osama bin Laden hiding inside Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE and UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CRYING)

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LEMON: A scene of grief after a Russian cruise ship sinks in the Volga River. At least two people are dead, 100 missing and 80 others rescued, according to the state-run news agency. The accident happened near the city of Kazan. The state-run agency reports a criminal investigation is under way over possible safety violations on the ship. Nearly 200 people were on board.

Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine are heading home after a whirlwind tour of California and Canada. The royal newlyweds left quite an impression, literally. They made hand imprints when they visited an art program for inner city kids on L.A.'s Skid Row. The duke and duchess of Cambridge also attended a job fair for U.S. military veterans and their families. Prince William hailed the troops whom he called the front lines of a remarkable relationship between the U.S. and Britain.

A NASA space shuttle has now docked with the International Space Station for the final time. The Atlantis is delivering supplies and spare parts. It will return to earth in two weeks, marking the end of NASA's shuttle program.

All right. What do you remember about the '80s? The hair, the clothes? Well, for many it was the music, specifically hair bands -- hair rock bands. That music is being remembered and celebrated in America's ultimate recycling bin, the Broadway stage, in the jukebox musical "Rock of Ages."

I had the chance to go backstage for an up close look at the show, the cast and, of course, all that hair. Are you ready? Let's go back to the '80s.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: On this show, it's all about the hair, you can see that. The '80s. And what's more '80s than a mullet?

CONSTANTINE MAROULIS, "DREW", OF "ROCK OF AGES": Live theater right there. We're getting ready for a crazy night of rock and roll and of "Rock of Ages."

LEMON: What should people know about this production? Like why is it so popular?

ELICIA MACKENZIE, "SHERRIE", OF "ROCK OF AGES": Well, like the '80s, it's got to be that time where crazy rock, hair, makeup and clothing, it's just -- it's something ...

MAROULIS: Nostalgia. People have sort of this fondness for this era. And as soon as they hear the songs, they're brought back and transfixed into this like great time of their lives.

It is the type of show people kind of were longing for in this kind of down climate that we have had, you know.

LEMON: I love the cowbell. So '80s. The cowbell.

MAROULIS: So many great songs in the show. There's a lot of mash- ups, like that, so.

LEMON: Can you sing some?

MAROULIS AND MACKENZIE (SINGING): We don't need to talk about it anymore. Yesterday is just a memory. Can we close the door?

MAROULIS: It's 1987 on the Sunset Strip. This set, it looks like a simple sort of one-dimensional set, but it transforms into many different things depending on the lighting. And we have this great LED screen back here that, you know, we do actually a live action shot during the show.

LEMON: You got some Jack Daniels. You got the Ramones. You got a couple of bras on stage.

MACKENZIE: It's really detailed stage. I mean, the audience doesn't see half of what we see on stage. It really brings us into character.

LEMON: I feel like I should have a mullet.

MAROULIS: There are plenty in the show.

MACKENZIE: Oh, yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: I lost my mind. You're young. Do you know what they say about a mullet? You know what it is? Business in the front, party in the back.

I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Have a great week. I'll see you back here next weekend.