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American Morning: Wake Up Call

Murdoch Faces Public Questioning; "Cut, Cap, And Balance" Vote Today; Japan Bans Some Beef Shipments; Feds "Look At" Atlanta Cheating

Aired July 19, 2011 - 05:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Read the Wall Street, if you go see FOX movies, if you read Harper Collins books, if you watch "American Idol," you are a Rupert Murdoch customer.

Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, said on "A.C. 360," the Murdochs, both father and son, have their work cut out for them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: They've got two almost contradictory things in their testimony tomorrow. One is they've got to acknowledge responsibility. They have to say that what is completely obvious is that this was not some aberration. This was how the "News of the World," the way it worked.

It was not one person. It was not 10 people. It was apparently thousands of people who were hacked and the idea that they didn't know is preposterous.

But at the sometime, they can't go in there and confess to crimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Another twist, a former "News of the World" reporter, a man who blew the whistle, has been found dead in his home. Sean Hoare was one of the first to go on the record saying that his colleagues were encouraged to hack. British police say the death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.

And the accused hackers are now hackees. The LulSec hacker group hit "The Sun," a Murdoch paper. It posted fake articles, tweeted out employee phone numbers. And now, some hackers say they're sitting on "News of the World" e-mails.

Just about two weeks to go until America runs out of money to pay its bill and President Obama is not exactly Mr. Popular when it comes to handling the debt ceiling debate. Just under half of the Americans have confidence that he'll do the right thing. But congressional leaders are faring far worse, according to a new poll. This is by Pew.

Right, left, House, Senate, it doesn't matter. They're lingering between 25 percent and 35 percent. You can see President Obama at less than half, 48 percent, is higher than all of them. The clock is ticking. That's the debt clock. And it seems like Democrats and Republicans are still deeply divided. But the White House some reassuring words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think Americans should not be concerned. We believe that the debt ceiling will be raised. The United States will not default. We obviously, are in a relatively short period of time here.

So, the fact that we remain confident that will happen is, I think, important. But it does not mean that we can let up. We have to continue and press forward with our work to ensure that it does happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Today, the House votes on a separate bill. This one is to balance the budget. It's called "cut, cap and balance." Now, the GOP sees it as a long-term solution to the debt crisis. It is however not expected to get out of the Senate.

A New Jersey rabbi and his wife are accused of luring an Israeli man into their home and threatening to bury him alive. Prosecutors say it was all part of a divorce-kidnapping plot. The victim had reportedly refuse to give his wife a get, which is a Jewish divorce document allowing his wife to remarry.

So, federal authorities say Rabbi David Wax and his wife Judy kidnapped the man, tied him up and showed him a body bag to force him into consenting. The couple surrendered to FBI agents yesterday.

Teachers and principals caught up in the Atlanta cheating scandal have until tomorrow to answer an ultimatum: either quit or get fired. So far, only two have stepped down. The other 176 still have a decision to make for their alleged role in a scheme to fudge answers on standardized tests.

One teacher who says -- she was a whistleblower -- says her superiors gave her a cheating how-to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were advised by our principal on what to do and how to provide students with the answers and how to cheat. We were told to stand over the students' shoulders and to point and give them the answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: That scandal is now caught the eye of federal officials. Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he believes the inspector general is looking into it. So far, though, no official federal investigation has been launched. Well, shuttle Atlantis undocks from the International Space Station one last time, separating at 2:28 this morning, 250 miles above the earth. The two vehicles were locked. They were linked for about a week. But now, it's time for Atlantis astronauts to start heading home.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

VELSHI: Before undocking, the crew woke up to "Don't Panic." But why a wake-up call from Coldplay when they can get one from me? The Atlantis astronauts will be live on WAKE-UP CALL tomorrow morning right around 5:00 a.m.

Set your DVRs. Set your alarm clock. Tell your friends. They'll be here talking to me.

The price of gold catapulting to over $1,600 an ounce for the first time. Prices reached record highs Monday, driven by worries over mounting debt in the U.S. and Europe. Gold is considered a safe investment when investors are afraid to put their money elsewhere.

Now, for a check on world markets at this hour. Looking at the Nikkei, it closed down today. The Hang Seng closed higher. The DAX and the FTSE are both up at this hour.

Nina Dos Santos joins us live from London with a closer look.

Good morning, Nina.

U.S. markets yesterday dropped. But analysts said it's not about the fight over the debt ceiling here. It's where you are, it's about Europe. It's fears that a default by a major European country could, once again, trigger an international credit crisis.

And, Nina, there have been some questions about the tests that are done -- the stress tests that have been done on European banks. It seems they didn't take into account whether those banks might survive a default by a major European nation.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Let's tackle those issues separately, Ali. Investors here on this side of the Atlantic are being increasingly frustrated about these ongoing concerns about sovereign debt for the Euro Zone.

And it's somewhat ironic, isn't it, Ali, that where you were, on the one hand, lawmakers are desperately trying to get approval to spend more money. Where I am, they're desperately trying to get approval to spend less money and cut that enormous debt burden for some of these countries.

Things are going to be coming to a head on Thursday because E.U. leaders will be meeting to try and hammer out a second bailout for Greece. I must point out, these kinds of bailouts are extremely unpopular and increasingly unpopular among economists because it's not just Greece that needs money, we already have Portugal and Ireland going cap in hand to the E.U., the IMF, and also the ECB. And there's concerns about health of other sovereigns of must larger Euro Zone nations, like for instance, Spain (INAUDIBLE) Italy.

You mentioned the stress tests. Now, these tests, Ali, involve about 90 banks that already is their second year and there are, to be quite blunt, some concerns that they're perhaps not robust enough, a look at what they did and check for. They did test for bank's resilience to a double dip recession for the Euro Zone.

They did also take a look into how some of these banks will respond to a sovereign debt crisis for one nation. But plainly speaking, it's not just Greece. We've got other nations had to be bailed out. And there's profound concerns about the ability of countries like Italy and Spain to keep being able to go to the bond market and refinance themselves freely.

VELSHI: And I know you were spending some time in Italy following this very closely. It remains to be seen how concerned American investors are going to be remain about this. It's not actually about our debt issues here that roiling markets these days.

Nina, stick around for this. A South Carolina couple claims they have made an inspiring discover, in all places on a receipt from Wal-Mart. The couple claims the receipt has an image of Jesus Christ on it. They say they discovered it after coming home from church one day.

I have to say, looking at that receipt, Nina, I think they may be on to something.

DOS SANTOS: Well, look, all I can say, Ali, is that perhaps it's not just politicians that are praying for an economic miracle here. I heard plenty of those kinds of stories when I was reporting in Italy.

VELSHI: Yes, no kidding.

Nina, good to see you. We'll check in with you later on -- Nina Dos Santos in London.

Let's go to Rob Marciano live in Atlanta.

Rob, tropical storm Bret churning in the Atlantic, moving away from land. What's the affect it's going to have on us?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Just some waves across the Carolina coastline. That's really about it. Actually, it's weakened a little bit overnight, winds of 50 miles an hour right now.

At one point, it was close to becoming a hurricane. Now, it's moving into a slightly more hostile environment. There you see it on the satellite pictures. It looked terribly impressive, hasn't moved a ton. It's about four miles south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. And the forecast track continues to bring it to out to see, likely remaining as a tropical storm with north-northeasterly, moving at six miles per hour.

So, we'll see bye-bye to Bret, of course. We've been saying that we will take some of that rainfall across the Southeast. It's just not going to happen.

Some travel delays today. San Francisco, some low clouds and winds. Chicago and Minneapolis, afternoon thunderstorms. We saw some rough thunderstorms across parts of the Midwest and western Great Lakes yesterday, and parts of Pennsylvania seen winds gusting. And in some spots, that cooled you off.

So, the heat indices are going to be up over 100 degrees again today. It's going to be a steamy one, as far north again as the Canadian border.

I want to talk about a random thunderstorm moving through Fargo right now. There's a tornado warning out for that, Ali. You see one blip on the radar map and it's heading through a fairly populated area and a radar-indicated tornado there. So, take cover if you live in that area.

Everywhere else, another steamy, steamy day.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: We have a haboob?

MARCIANO: Yes. Have you seen this video of the haboob?

VELSHI: I haven't seen anything. I just heard somebody say there was a haboob. And, you know, I'm going to say that word as many times as I can on TV.

MARCIANO: Well, it's a technical term. You're accurate in saying exactly what it is. It's a dust storm basically that gets kicked up especially this time of year across Arizona.

This one moved through Phoenix, a dust wall about as high as 3,000 feet. It was a monster one. It moved -- driving visibilities, of course. It brings traffic to a standstill. They get them quite often but usually this intensity.

The haboob is a meteorological term. And, of course, the origin of which is from the Middle East where they get a fair share of this throughout the year.

VELSHI: I don't know how I made it four decades without saying that word. You heard it before we first talked about this few weeks ago?

MARCIANO: I have. And, you know, you can use it throughout the morning as much as you like.

VELSHI: Excellent, Rob. We'll be chatting a little bit later -- Rob Marciano in the weather center in Atlanta.

Hey, actress Betty White says she is deeply flattered and loves a man in uniform. So, will she accept a date to be a Marine -- will she accept a Marine's invitation to be his date to yet another military ball? We'll tell you on the other side. But, first, here's the quote of the day, quote, "He's the luckiest man in politics." Find out who said this and about whom, coming up after this quick break.

It is 11 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Fourteen minutes after the hour.

Back to our quote of the day -- we asked who you thought was called the luckiest man in politics. Mimi Swartz, the executive editor of "Texas Monthly" said that about the Texas Governor Rick Perry on "A.C. 360." John King asked Mimi how formidable she thought Governor Perry would be as a presidential candidate. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIMI SWARTZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TEXAS MONTHLY: I think it would be very formidable. He is the luckiest man in politics. And he's never lost a race. He's a really formidable campaigner. And I think people on the East Coast, in particular, underestimate him at their peril.

JOHN KING, "JOHN KING, USA" HOST: Underestimate at our peril.

SWARTZ: He's relentless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: "News of the World" phone hacking scandal has rocked Britain and apparently late-night comedy, too.

Here's your morning punchline:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

JAY LENO, THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO: Former News Corporation chief executive Rebekah Brooks was arrested over the weekend on suspension of illegal wiretapping and bribing police officers for information. And, you know, I don't think she gets. She said to the arresting officer, how much is it going to take to make this away?

Ironically, while she was in jail, she was surrounded by less criminals than when she was working for News Corp. That's amazing.

DAVID LETTERMAN, LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN: "News of the World," the newspaper in London, has been accused now of allegedly hacking in to phones, cell phones of other people, even the royal family. So, tonight, we have a little segment called scandalous phone call of the night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, is Geoffrey there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you have the wrong number. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, sorry.

STEPHEN COLBERT, THE COLBERT REPORT: Big deal. Who cares if the head of Scotland Yard resigns? Why is Scotland Yard policing England anyway? Call me when the head of England yard resigns. That's news.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

VELSHI: Time now for your Political Ticker with Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius XM POTUS, live from Washington.

Good morning, Tim.

Hey, listen, I want to show you a poll. As the clock ticks -- whatever -- as we get closer to that deadline for the debt ceiling, a new CBS poll shows that 46 percent say that the debt ceiling should be raised, compared to 24 percent in June. Forty-nine percent say it shouldn't compared to 69 percent in June.

The president has asked for a deal to get done by Friday. What's your sense of it?

TIM FARLEY, HOST, MORNING BRIEFING, SIRIUS XM POTUS: Sense right now is that we are -- we have a divided nation. It's pretty clear by this poll.

VELSHI: Yes.

FARLEY: This movement toward more people saying that we should have some sort of a solution. There would likely be something and I think it's closer to the Mitch McConnell solution, which would involve a rather convoluted series of events, which we have the president requesting the Congress passing resolution of disapproval. The president vetoing, the House and Senate would not be able to override the veto.

I think that's the direction we're heading. There are some things in there about cuts. But we'll have to wait and see. I think we'll know, though, by Friday where we are going on this, finally.

VELSHI: A couple of distractions. One is News Corporation, obviously. People are paying attention to that.

But a couple of other things are going on on Capitol Hill today. I understand both Martin Sheen and Michael Vick are going to be on Capitol Hill and it's got nothing to do with the debt.

No. President Jed Bartlet will be once again appearing, and this time, it's a Senate hearing. Essentially, he's arguing for drug courts, which do a better job of trying to keep people out prison once they've had problems with drugs. He's made no secrets of the problems he has had a young man. And, of course, Charlie Sheen, we've heard about that.

And Michael Vick is here to appear with the Humane Society. Wayne Pacelle is the president and CEO. And they're going to be talking about H.R. 2492 which will criminalize bringing children to dog fights and cock fights and financing them. One finds hard to believe that there's actually not a law yet that means that you can't do this. But that's something that they're pushing.

He's still trying to make friends with people after he, of course, spent time in prison for taking part in the dog fights that he had run in his home.

VELSHI: All right, Tim, have a good day. Good show. Tim Farley is the host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius XM POTUS radio, joining me here every morning.

Hey, now, for a woman who likes to tell a few jokes of her own -- Betty White is turning down an invitation to a Marine Corps ball. Now, Sergeant Ray Lewis, the man pictured here, called the 89-year-old actress as an all-around perfect woman. He was hoping she would accept his YouTube invite after two other Marines land a date with Justin Timberlake and his "Friends with Benefits" co-star Mila Kunis. White says while deeply flattered, she'll be busy taping an episode of "Hot in Cleveland."

All right. First, today is National Day of Flitch. Look this one up. Flitch basically means a side of bacon. It originated in England centuries ago when a flitch of bacon was given to given to married couples who are able to make through a year and a day of marriage without regrets.

It is 20 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Twenty-two minutes after the hour.

Here are three things that you need to put on your radar today:

At 9:30 a.m. Eastern, Rupert Murdoch, his son James and former "News of the World" editor Rebekah Brooks will answer questions from parliament on the phone-hacking scandal that's rocked the Murdoch's empire.

At 10:30 Eastern on Capitol Hill, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick is set to announce his support for a bill that will penalize criminals who financed and bring children to dog fights and cockfights.

And later today, House lawmakers will consider the "cut, cap, and balance" act. It's expected to pass but faces an uphill battle in the Senate.

Let's go around the world with Zain Verjee live from London.

Zain, good morning.

Murdoch facing parliamentary question this morning. Will his testimony get to the truth of whether Rupert Murdoch and his henchman knew about the hacking? Are we going to find out whether it was endemic or whether it's what News Corporation claims rogue reporters?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: That's the bottom line, Ali. That is what they want to get the heart of -- who knew what when, and how, whether they were misleading at all about the extent of the phone hacking that was going on. They're also going to be questioned about police payments by "News of the World' journalists, too.

Now, this session is going to last about an hour. There are members of three political parties that are going to do a rapid-fire question session that we're going to see in just a few hours. The goal is essentially to get Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks on the record to make comments that they will stand by.

That's not all of the drama we're going to see today, Ali, because this is bigger than Rupert Murdoch now. This has spilled over into the police, questions about police corruption and complicity -- as well as questions about British politicians, too. There are going to be top officials, too formerly that resigned recently from Scotland Yard that are going to be grilled also about the phone hacking crisis.

So, it's going to be a day of reckoning -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. Zain, just for our U.S. audience, explain to us -- are they compelled to testify under a threat of being charged with the crime to tell the truth? Or can they lie to parliament?

VERJEE: Well, if they feel what they say will be incriminating, they don't have to reply. So, yes, in the U.S. sense, it's like taking the Fifth.

The thing is, when they appear before this committee, they are not under oath. They are doing it on their honor is basically the approach here. So, if they do lie, it's not really clear whether there would be a punishment. But they would be held in serious contempt of parliament.

VELSHI: All right, Zain, we'll stay on top of it with you all morning. We'll start with all of the coverage this morning on CNN of the testimony before parliament.

Zain Verjee in London, I'll chat with you a little later.

Hey, hitting the book. That's kind of 2010. College kids can now rent digital textbooks right to their Kindle, thanks to a new service from Amazon. Students will pay based on how long they need the book from a month to a year.

Hard copies of textbooks can cost hundreds of dollars a semester. And Amazon is touting savings as high as 80 percent.

Well, this busted iPhone had one hard crash landing. Our iReporter Jerrod McKinney (ph) said he's absolutely shocked it still works after it fell out of his pocket while he was sky diving. McKinney says he found the phone using a GPS application. But the shattered touch screen needs to be fixed. McKinney says the same phone once cracked when his 2-year-old knocked it off a bathroom shelf. In today's "Businessman Special" is coffee. We'll show you how it may help protect a super-bug.

Twenty-six minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Good morning. It's Tuesday, July the 19th. This is your A.M.: WAKE-UP CALL.

I'm Ali Velshi, joining you live this morning from New York. It is 29 minutes after the hour.

Four Israeli navy ships have reportedly surrounded a ship that's trying to break Israeli's blockade of the Gaza Strip. The military says it warned activists onboard that they're close to the off-limits zone. And you may remember this video from last year when Israeli commandoes clashed with activists in a flotilla that was also trying to break through the blockade.

Israel has imposed an embargo since 2007 when Hamas militants took control of Gaza.

It's 5:30 on the East Coast, 10:30 in London. That means we're just four hours from when Rupert Murdoch, his son, and his protege will be grilled by lawmakers about the News Corp eavesdropping scandal. You can watch that live right here on CNN.

This comes on the heels of c conflicting reports about Murdoch's own future with the company. "Bloomberg" reports News Corp is thinking about replacing Murdoch as CEO. Other outlets are knocking that report down.

But here's what "New York Times'" reporter Brian Stelter had to say on "A.C. 360."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN STELTER, NEW YORK TIMES: Clearly, it's going to be a tough day for Rupert Murdoch and his son, James testifying. But the reality is Rupert Murdoch is a pretty elderly man, whether he leaves this year or next year or five years, there's already been talk about succession plans for him. And the report from Bloomberg is that Chase Kerry who's right now the CEO could step up to be CEO. It's not out of the question. Analysts have been thinking for days it might happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: That report from Bloomberg says Murdoch would stay on as the chairman of News Corporation.

All right. We got about two weeks to go until America runs out of money to pay all of its bill. Still, no deal on the debt ceiling, but President Obama insists that progress is being made. Meanwhile, some Republican lawmakers are pushing forward with what they call the cut, cap, and balance plan. It set for a House vote today. The White House rejects it, and it's not likely to pass the Senate.

In Africa, an exodus is under way. Four to 5,000 refugees are leaving Somalia each week for Kenya. That's nearly doubled what it was last year. They're trying to escape drought, low food supplies, and violence. They're looking for food, water, shelter and some hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED MAHMOUD, SOMALI REFUGEE (through translator): We could have died if we stayed. If we died or lived, some (INAUDIBLE), but the drought destroyed everything I have. I have come here to live.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Many of the refugees especially children are so malnourished they wind up hospitalize or dead.

In Detroit, they're looking at how immigrants can help get the city back on its feet. Cason Point (ph), Southwest Detroit, which has some hold up as a success story. The Global Detroit Organization says immigrants have created a third of high-tech startups in the state. The group wants to attract more immigrants to Detroit, but of course, it is not without its controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HANSEN CLARKE, (D) MICHIGAN: Immigrants already have the initiative and the motivation, because they want to be here and live here.

KEN COCKREL, DETROIT CITY COUNCIL: Before we can become a city that has an agenda that has aimed at attracting people from other parts of the world, we need to be about to business of taking care of the people that we already have here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: A Texas man insists he's got $300,000 house for $16. The house was in foreclosure and it was empty. The mortgage company went out of business, so Kenneth Robinson (ph) moved in his belongings, filled out an online legal form, paid $16 and using a Texas law called adverse possession took possession of the house. How does he own it?

Well, it's not sure he does. And after three years, unless, the original owner pays off the mortgage or whoever controls the mortgage, company's assets jumps through a bunch of hoops. He can ask the court for title. We'll stay on top of that for you.

Let's go to Carter Evans live here in New York. He's at the NASDAQ market site. Good morning, Carter. How are futures looking this morning?

CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, futures are looking pretty good. That's an interesting story there. the commonly known as squatters.

VELSHI: Right.

EVANS: Futures are looking a little bit better this morning. Dow future is up 88 points right now. The NASDAQ futures up 20 points. Here's what we're looking ahead to this morning before the market opens. We're going to get new numbers on housing permits. It's going to be coming out at 8:30 eastern this morning. And basically, economists are expected to see building permits increase to 570,000 in the month of June. That's compared to May's 560,000.

It's summertime. So, we expect to see more building permits. We have not seen a lot of building action lately, and the reason is, there are a ton of foreclosures on the market. No one building new homes.

VELSHI: Let's talk about gold prices. This is one of these concerns about what's going on with debt here and in Europe causing people to worry about having their money in volatile investments that continues to push gold prices higher.

EVANS: Yes. People turn to the perceived safety of gold. And gold yesterday closed in a new record of $1,602.40 per ounce. So, it's the first time we've closed over 1,600. It actually hit 1,607 during the day. There are a lot of things encouraging this right now. You know, investors hate uncertainty, and pretty much, you can pick what you want to be uncertain about these days. There is a plethora of choices out there.

But really, gold has been on a roll since July 12th. That's when we got the fed minutes (ph). And basically, the fed kind of let it open that there's a possibility that there could be more stimulus efforts. Well, if that happens, it's perceived that that could weaken the dollar and that could make gold stronger. And for that reason, many analysts, many investment advisers are saying, even at $1,600, gold right now is still a pretty good buy.

VELSHI: All right. Carter, we'll check in with you later. Carter Evans at the NASDAQ market site for us this morning.

Now, back to our businessman special coffee today. According to published reports in the annals of family medicine, if you drink hot coffee and/or hot tea, you're half as likely to have the super bug, MRSA, in your nose. Let me explain this. According to the study, MRSA is present in small percentages of our noses all the time. Drinking hot coffee or tea cut in half the number of people with MRSA in their nasal passages.

Reminder, we're talking about hot coffee and tea. Not the iced kind. I don't know enough about medicine to understand what it has to do with your nose.

Before we go, here's something I know, something about -- here's your get smart question. How many people have either resigned or been arrested in the "News of the World" phone hacking scandal? Six, 12, or 25? The answer after this quick break. It is 35 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: Thirty-eight minutes after the hour. Now back to our get smart question, how many people have resigned or been arrested in the "News of the World" phone hacking scandal? Six, 12, or 25?

The answer is 12 people have resigned or been arrested in the "News of the World" phone hacking scandal, including not limited to the editor of publication, executive editor, chief reporter, two other reporters, the royal editor, and the chief executive of News International, Rebekah Brooks who is testifying today.

They were all arrested. The CEO of Dow Jones, the UK's police commission, and assistant police commissioner in London, Scotland Yard's police commission, and assistant police commissioner have also resigned over the scandal.

Time now for our "Political Ticker." Let's bring in our senior political editor, Mark Preston, on the phone from Washington. Good morning to you, Mark. Mark, the debt ceiling, we got a new CBS poll that shows Americans continue to be split on what to do about the debt ceiling.

VOICE OF MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, Ali. You know what's amazing about this is that, right now, we showed that the country is split 46 percent now -- support the idea of increasing the debt ceiling. A 49 percent don't want to see it increased. What we've seen, Ali, is that the number has increased by 22 percent by people in favor of doing so. So, literally see that this is split now.

Among the American people, we've seen that more people are moving towards it as we get toward the deadline that, in fact, we could default on our loans.

VELSHI: That's definitely concerning people more and causing people to think differently about whether or not they're prepared to accept tax cuts. You got some new numbers on that. The number of people saying that they're allowed tax increases along with spending cuts as opposed to just spending increases -- just spending cuts, I mean.

PRESTON: You know, what's interesting about that, too, is that it shows that, in fact, even though the Democrats are, you know, demanding that there would have be to tax increases along with spending cuts and Republicans only want to see the spending cuts, 66 percent of Americans say they want to see both put into action.

And in fact, Republicans, independents, and Democrats all across the board (INAUDIBLE), Ali. So, you know, we talked about how we're heading toward this whole default crisis. It looks like there probably will be a deal. But as we earlier on the, on your program, we probably won't know if there's a deal until the end of the week.

VELSHI: All right. We'll be watching it closely along with you and your team. Mark Preston, senior political editor for CNN. Good to talk to you this morning.

Forty-one minutes after the hour. Here are three things that you need to put on your radar today.

9:30 a.m. eastern, Rupert Murdoch, his son, James and former "News of the World" editor, Rebekah Brooks, will answer questions from parliament on the phone hacking scandal that's rocked Murdoch's empire.

At 10:30 eastern, actor, Martin Sheen, will appear before a Senate Judiciary Committee to testify on drugs and veteran treatments.

And later today, House lawmakers will consider the cut, cap, and balance act. It's expected to pass, but it faces an uphill battle and is unlikely to pass in the Senate.

In sports, Phillie's pitcher, Roy Halladay, was so overheated at a game last night, he had to leave. The Phillies were playing the Cubs in Chicago where temperatures were above 90 degrees with a lot of humidity. You can see it on his face. He was treated for heat exhaustion, but he's OK. Phillies lost to the Cubs, 61.

U.S. women's soccer team is letting the dust settle since Sunday's loss against Japan. But get this, goalie superstar, Hope Solo, thinks their loss was fate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOPE SOLO, U.S. WORLD CUP TEAM: I'm trying to just say, Japan -- it was their destiny. You know, there was something special about that Japanese team. They played with so much heart and so much passion. They're playing for reasons bigger than the game itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: They were playing for reasons bigger than the game itself. She's referring to a fact that that country has gone through so much turmoil since the tsunami and the earthquake.

Michael Vick is backing an anti-dog fighting bill. The Philadelphia Eagle's quarter back is set to announce support for the legislation today. The NFL star was convicted on dog fighting charges four years ago.

For more on that, let's go to Pablo Torre, sports reporter -- reporter for "Sports Illustrated" joining us as he always does live from New York. Good morning Pablo. Good to see you.

PABLO TORRE, REPORTER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Good morning, Ali.

VELSHI: Let's talk about football. We're hearing that both sides in the NFL lockout might be close to a deal, true?

TORRE: Yes. I mean, any skepticism is forgiven, Ali, because, at this point, reading the NFL lockout has been a lot like reading tea leaves. And so, we don't have an official answer yet. But after four months, over four months, we have reason to be optimistic. Lawyers for both sides have met yesterday for almost nine hours in a Manhattan law firm, trying to get a final deal down. And now, media reports are saying that we finally are closer than we've ever been before. We have, basically, a decision on most of the key ingredients to a new labor agreement, including a revenue (ph), a couple of details about how the players' lawsuits are going to be settled, but fingers crossed, we'll have a deal in the next couple of days.

VELSHI: And you think that's going to happen -- the deal which means the lockout ends?

TORRE: Yes, exactly. Finally, right? I mean, it's hard to believe that in the next couple of the days, it's going to be pretty busy. The players are preparing to vote on a new labor deal on Wednesday. The NFL has summoned all 32 owners to Atlanta with the idea of having been vote on a deal and then sit around and be educated on the finer points of it.

And it's crazy to hear now, but players can begin ratifying this thing and then be back at facilities by Friday, which means that fans can sort of start put down, basically, put down their legal textbooks and actually begin to think about football, if you remember what that's like.

VELSHI: All right. Yes, exactly. Pablo, good to see you, my friend. Thanks so much for that. We'll see you again tomorrow morning.

Before we go, by the way, this day in history, July 19th, 1993, President Clinton announced the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy about gays in the military. It's 44 minutes after the hour.

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VELSHI: Forty-seven minutes after the hour. Good morning. It's Tuesday, July 19th. This is your A.M. WALK-UP CALL. I'm Ali Velshi joining you live from New York this morning.