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American Morning: Wake Up Call
Debt Deadline is Days Away; No Deal In Debt Talks; Jeffs Trial Begins; Biggest Store In the Busiest Place
Aired July 25, 2011 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Monday, July 25th. This is your A.M.: WAKE-UP CALL.
I'm Ali Velshi, joining you live this morning from New York.
Stalemate, it's such a hideous word. But there's no way around it. There's a brand new stalemate over the debt ceiling talks. So, happy Monday.
President Obama and Republicans are working on separate plans. The president has canceled a couple of fundraisers today to deal with the issue.
Listen to what House Speaker John Boehner had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I don't know. It may be pretty hard to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. But my last offer is still out there. I've never taken my last offer off the table. And they've never agreed to my last offer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Boehner says House legislation needs to be posted online today and voted on on Wednesday if they want to raise the debt ceiling by the August 2nd deadline.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is the guy who might not have the money to pay the country's bills on time. Here's what he told CNN's Candy Crowley on "STATE OF THE UNION."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: What we cannot do -- and this is very important -- what we cannot do because it would be irresponsible, is to leave the threat of default hanging over the American economy for a longer period of time. Look, you know, back in January, more than seven months ago, we started this process of working with the Congress to get them to raise the debt limit so we could avoid a default crisis. It's taken us seven months we are now and we are at almost out the runway.
CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION": Get you nowhere.
GEITHNER: We're not nowhere, but almost out of the runway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Geithner says it's OK to do this in stages, maybe raise the debt ceiling with some spending cuts now and work out some broader tax reform next year. But you heard him say that getting rid of the threat of default is most important right now.
The stalemate has already rubbed off on U.S. stock futures and Asian markets. We're going to talk more about that in 90 seconds from now.
You'll hear a lot of news about the suspect in the Norway massacre. He's expected to plead not guilty in court. Lawyers say their client wants to explain himself and why he thought all the carnage was necessary, at least in his mind.
Norwegian media have identified the suspect as the man you're looking at, Anders Behring Breivik. At least 93 people were killed, nearly 100 hurt in the mass shooting and separate explosion. Authorities are still looking for more victims.
Take a look at the flowers and candles. This is from a vigil in Oslo. The prime minister has been leading the nation in mourning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENS STOLTENBERG, NORWEGIAN PRIME MINISTER: Tell families across the country who have lost one of their loved ones, you have mine and the whole of the country's sympathy and compassion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: All right. Are you ready to hear the maid's side of the story? The woman whose famously accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her is now talking to the media. Nafissatou Diallo gave this interview to "Newsweek," and this is verbatim. She is a native of Guinea.
Quote, "Because of him, they call me a prostitute. I want him to know there are some places you cannot use your power, you cannot use your money. We are poor, but we are good. I don't think about money. I tell them about what this man do to me, it never changed. I know what this man do to me."
All right. Lawyers for the former IMF chief, Dominique Strauss- Kahn, say Diallo is the first accuser in history to conduct a media campaign to persuade a prosecutor to pursue charges against a person from whom she wants money, that's their quote. Strauss-Kahn was freed from house arrest after some of Diallo's story doesn't add up. His next court date is a week from today.
Well, if you've never heard of Congressman David Wu before today, get ready. Nancy Pelosi wants the ethics committee to investigate him. Wu is a Democrat from Oregon. He allegedly made unwanted and aggressive sexual advances toward the daughter of a campaign donor. That's what a Portland newspaper is reporting. It says the scoop came from inside Wu's office.
Now, Wu admitted earlier this year that he got medical help to address his behavior after a tough re-election campaign. He says he won't resign, but he will finish his term and then retire next year.
A trial of Warren Jeffs is set to begin in Texas. He is the polygamist leader charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child. Now, Jeffs will face another trial on a bigamy charge later this year. The charges came out of the raid on the Yearning for Zion compound three years ago -- you may remember that.
OK. Back to the debt stalemate, the debt ceiling impasse, if you will. Brick wall, whatever you call it. Asian markets are starting to feel it.
Listen to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She sounded pretty confident when she talked to business leaders in Hong Kong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: But this is how an open and Democratic society ultimately comes together to reach the right solutions. So, I am confident that Congress will do the right thing and secure a deal on the debt ceiling and work with President Obama to take the steps necessary to improve our long-term fiscal outlook.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Everybody's talking like something's about to happen, but we only have a few days to go. The debt clock is ticking. And it's getting to be quite a ride for worldwide investors.
A short time ago, both the Hang Seng and the Nikkei closed down. The DAX and FTSE down this hour -- U.S. futures as well.
Nina Dos Santos is live in London. She's watching European markets and bond trading.
But, first, let's go to Kristie Lu Stout. She's live in Hong Kong.
Kristie, markets in Asia have closed right now. What's the talk?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, there are as you mentioned red arrows across the region, but linked to a variety of news lines, not just U.S. debt ceiling story.
Now, investors in Japan, now, they are spooked by the U.S. debt crisis. The Nikkei closed down about eight-tenths of a percent and it's partly because investors are buying into the Japanese yen, which is considered a safe haven. But as we all know a strong yen means weaker earnings for Japanese exporters. So, shares of Toyota and Sony saw losses today.
But the biggest loser in Asia was the Shanghai composite. It slid 3 percent. And here in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell two-thirds of a percent, shares of China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock fell nearly 13 percent, that after a bullet collision in mainland China killed dozens of people and that is something that has shuttered markets throughout China, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Back to you in New York -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Kristie, thank you for that.
And we're just getting word now that Moody's is downgrading Greece's credit rating again.
Nina, you're following this and based on how you've seen European bond buyers react to sort of this ongoing Euro Zone debt problem, what's the reaction likely to be when buyers of U.S. bonds begin to think that there's a likelihood that these talks in the U.S. will fail to increase the debt ceiling and that there might be a default on at least some of the U.S.'s debt obligations?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's almost surreal, isn't it, Ali, talking about a default when talking about the United States -- the world's largest economy and talking about a default when you talk about Greece, because, obviously, this is where the problem sort of started on the bond markets with Greece about two years ago.
We had seen the bond markets sort of settle down a little bit on Friday after the E.U.'s decision to award Greece a second bailout after months of deadlock. As you were saying, Moody's downgrading this to the last penultimate level above the lowest credit rating, CA1. It was previously CAA1.
It's difficult to see, Ali, exactly why they've done this. They've done it in response to last week's decision to award this country more money.
The question is: will it be enough to solve all the ills for a country like Greece and, indeed, other Euro Zone countries that are having very difficult time raising money on the bond markets. So, that brings me to the U.S. debt impasse.
The markets here broadly speaking, Ali, on this side of the Atlantic, very much reacting negatively to the situation going on where you are, vis-a-vis the debt debacle and impasse over there. This is because the U.S. is not only the world's largest economy, an enormous trading partner for the European countries, but it also has the world's major trading currency and world's major reserve currency.
VELSHI: Which means this becomes a problem for the entire world.
For those Americans thinking this is still a domestic problem, it absolutely isn't.
Nina, thanks very much. We'll check in with you a little later in the show -- Nina Dos Santos in London for us.
Let's bring you back to the United States. Rob Marciano is live in Atlanta right now.
Rob, feels like it's cooled down at least here a little bit. First of all, let's talk about flight delays for our travelers.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Where we're seeing the cooler weather is where we're going to see the flight delays because we got some clouds and some storms that are forecast, namely Atlanta and Raleigh, are one of the spots. In New York and D.C. in the afternoon, to a lesser extent, you'll see some thunderstorms that will probably cause some delays, New Orleans as well. And out west, if you're traveling through San Francisco, some fog and low clouds will delay things in the morning, breaking apart later in the afternoon.
All right. Here's how the map breaks out to break down some of these hot temperatures and cool fronts coming through the Northeast. That will bring some thunderstorms there and then across the southeast as well.
But in the middle, we continue to see the heat work on the Southern Plains. Dallas to Oklahoma City, they have a streak of 100- plus days, that are well up and over 20 now, and they could be on their way to a record. Dallas not expected to get below 100 for at least the next seven, maybe 10 days -- 106 is expected high temperature in the big D. It will be 92 in Kansas City and 80 in New York. So, that's cooler. And 86 with storms in Atlanta.
Some researchers out of the U.K., Ali -- I want to share this story with you because I know you're a big movie buff and a science guy at the same time. Some researchers out of the U.K. are calling for regulations to curb the integration of human genes basically with animal genes. They don't want to create a human animal, hybrid. I mean, really, who wants that?
And I can't help but think this has something to do with the release of the "Planet of the Apes" movie coming up in the beginning of August. And I think it's called something else, like "Rise of the Apes" or something. But, anyway, it was a popular show when I was a kid and I might see the movie in a couple weeks.
VELSHI: Do you know if we're anywhere down the road close to cloning human/animal cloning?
MARCIANO: Well, they definitely want to put the brakes on that because we don't need a, you know, half man/half horse running around the office. So, we do use the genes for beneficial scientific uses to try to discover some cures of the diseases.
VELSHI: All right. It's always the fear that someone will use it for the wrong thing.
Rob, good to see you. I'll check in with you a little later on -- Rob Marciano in our weather center, watching closely for you.
Hey, before I take a break, here is the quote of the day. Quote, "If you are the leader of the free world, would you please come to the microphone and quit hiding in the basement about your proposals and come on up and address the American people. Is he chicken?" end quote.
Can you guess who said this about President Obama? I'll tell you after this quick break.
It's 11 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It is 14 minutes after the hour.
Now, back to the quote of the day where the question is asked, is the president chicken? Republican President Tim Pawlenty made this comment on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley about the president and debt crisis. He went on to say this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM PAWLENTY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you're the leader of the free world, would you please come to the microphone and quit hiding in the basement about your proposals and come on up and address the American people? Is he chicken?
CROWLEY: Can I see if I -- is he?
PAWLENTY: Well, you would think.
CROWLEY: Let me have your answer to that question.
PAWLENTY: We shouldn't have to have with -- I love Paul Ryan, but we shouldn't have to have a congressman from Wisconsin leading the debate on the nation's financial challenge in one of the most historically important moments in the country's history. The president should be standing out courageously and leading on these issues, specifically.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: All right. Time now for your Political Ticker with Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius XM POTUS, live this morning, as he always is, from steamy, sultry hot Washington.
Tim, eight days to go, no deal. Everybody is saying we got to get it done fast. Come on. Come on. Help me, tell me, what's going on?
TIM FARLEY, HOST, "MORNING BRIEFING," SIRIUS XM POTUS: Frustration here. That was fighting words from Tim Pawlenty. In contrast somewhat with Speaker Boehner saying --
VELSHI: Yes. Is he chicken?
FARLEY: Yes. Speaker Boehner saying this weekend, Congress will decide what to do. And, Mr. President, you decide whether or not to sign it. So, I'm not sure exactly where that goes.
Look, I get the sense, Ali, that there will be something. And, frankly -- although this is just me saying this -- that the president has to increase the debt ceiling regardless of what is presented to him because if the building is on fire, afterwards, to use an analogy the president used during the campaign, it doesn't matter who set the fire because you're still going to have to clean it up. And if he's going to be the president of this country, then there's going to have to be a country that lives up to its obligations. And so, that's where we're going to be a week from now.
That said, big battle last night on the tweets between Dan Pfeiffer, who's the communications director for the president, and the spokesperson for Eric Cantor, who are fighting back and forth on position.
This is going to be waged behind the scenes and I think there will be some sort of agreement. The question is: how short term a deal this is going to be and what it's going to mean moving forward because it's clearly a pretty poisonous atmosphere right now here in Washington.
To the point that President Obama had a fund-raiser that he's canceled, I guess we're going to see a lot of that kind of thing this week, events that have been canceled that have nothing to do with the debt ceiling because I think that the general public is going to be very frustrated if legislators are doing nothing, anything other than working on a solution no this.
FARLEY: I think you are right on target with that, Ali, because the president did have two fund-raisers scheduled and he has canceled. They were on the schedule for the weekend or on Friday, guidance, and then they were canceled as of yesterday. And I know CNN confirmed they are not taking place tonight.
The president will be in front of a Council of La Raza today. This is not a campaign appearance, but rather an outreach to one of the largest right groups for Hispanic voters in this country. And if you look at the numbers in 2000 and 2004, Republicans were doing well on the presidential side.
In 2008, the president picked up about 67 percent of the Latino vote in this country, and he'd like to continue that, although his stance on immigration has been frustrating to some Latino voters, he's doing a little outreach today. And that is not exactly a campaign appearance but does have a tinge of 2012 in it.
VELSHI: Tim, good show this morning. Enjoy yourself. We will keep checking in with you every morning and going to try to find some other way to describe this conversation because it's going to be similar I think for the next few days.
Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius XM POTUS.
FARLEY: Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Hundreds of same-sex couples in New York are waking up as newlyweds this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I now pronounce you married. You may seal your vows with a kiss.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Notice, he said, "I now pronounce you married." Not I now pronounce man and wife.
Hey, by the way, that was just day one of same sex "I dos" in New York state. It's the sixth and largest state to recognize the unions. Perhaps the highest profile ceremony of the day yesterday was officiated by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Two of his staffers tied the knot at the mayor's house, Gracie Mansion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: Therefore, by the powers vested in me by the state of New York, I pronounce you both married.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: But the ringing of the wedding bells matched by rally cries in some places. Thousands gathered in mid-town Manhattan to protest the new law, calling for a voter referendum.
And to all of the women watching this morning, new beer is brewing and it's supposed to be targeted at you. It's called Animee. It is pink. That's meant to appeal to women who normally shy away from beer. There are three flavors to pick from, rose, zesty lemon and clear filtered.
Molson Coors says it will launch in British bars and grocery stores this fall.
Not sure how that's going to work, but whatever. We'll try it out.
If you dreamed of hopping into a time machine and jumping to another era, a group of scientists say you're out of luck. Why they say time travel is impossible after this.
But, first, this is a good day. It's National Threading the Needle Day. Be sure to thank your mom, your wife, your husband, your tailor, yourself if you're the one who does the threading -- basically anyone who takes care of mending your clothes.
Happy National Day of Threading the Needle.
It's 20 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-two minutes after the hour.
Here are three things you need to have on your radar today:
The man who has admitted to carrying out the terror attacks in Norway is set to appear in court. His lawyer says he will explain his actions to the court. No word yet on whether the hearing is going to be open or closed to the public. We'll keep you cover on that.
We're watching for any developments out of the nation's capital related to the debt ceiling negotiations. Weekend talks went nowhere as both sides are now pursuing separate plans.
Also today, Michael Jackson's family is expected to hold a news conference announcing a concert tribute to the late king of pop. We'll keep you posted on that as well.
Let's go around the world with Zain Verjee live in London.
Zain, let's talk about this Norway attack. Still, catching people off guard, most people followed some of this over the weekend. But it continues to come as a shock as to who this man is, why he did it, he's showing up in court today.
What do we know about him?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, that's what people in Norway are asking -- one of them turned on their own people in such a horrifying way. This guy is 32 years old. His name is Anders Breivik. He has far right wing views, very anti-Muslim views as well we're learning, too, that he was a member of the Oslo pistol club and had possessed at least three of the weapons he had used, and that were registered to him and also, that he was an owner of a farm, Ali, and that meant that he could easily get fertilizer that can be used in explosives so no one would have found that suspicious if he had owned a farm.
Today is a big day, though, because there's going to be a court hearing in just a few hours.
Now, the whole argument right now is whether it's going to be a closed or an open hearing. Basically, he wants a platform to air his views and the public are saying and the prosecutors are saying, no way, it should not be an open hearing and we should not hear his views.
We'll find out in just a few hours what happens because a judge is going to rule on that -- Ali.
VELSHI: OK. And, sadly, the other piece of news we got this weekend, which was sad and, perhaps, even a little less shocking, or more expected than the other one, is Amy Winehouse, the death of this great talented artist.
We're expecting an autopsy today. What do you know about this?
VERJEE: Police are going to set a date for a postmortem and when the autopsy will happen. It's likely to happen today, is what we're hearing. They're calling her death unexplained. There is going to be a police investigation.
So, her family is saying the funeral will be held soon.
But, boy, Ali -- I mean, she was careening down this path so many people were afraid of something like this would happen. "Back to Black," is one of my favorite albums and so many millions of people around the world too. But her fans are in mourning and so is her family.
VELSHI: I was listening to a lot of her music yesterday. She's a remarkably talented performer, regardless of what you thought of her music. Even if you didn't like it, the fact that she was remarkably talented and a real creative genius. Piece of sad news.
Zain, we'll check in with you a little later on. Zain Verjee for us in London.
All right. If you think gazing out the back window is a passive activity, Toyota is challenging that. A concept project dubbed Window to the World transforms car windows into touch screens -- kind of like an iPhone. It lets passengers interact with passing scenery, you can trace objects through the window, you can zoom in on far away objects, you can figure out how far away something is from the car -- new innovation making it tougher to get bored on the way to grandma's house.
And if you ever dreamed of cheating the time space continuum, which I have many times, jumping in a time traveling DeLorean and going back to your parents' era -- I have bad news for you, "Back to the Future" fans, physicists in Hong Kong say, no way, no how. They claim they have proven that time travel is impossible, showing a single photon cannot travel faster than the speed of light. A photon is a unit of light.
Researchers say they found it, quote, "obeys the traffic laws of the universe," meaning it in effect cannot happen before its cause, which means you're stuck with science fiction if you really want to travel back in time.
That kind of makes me sad on a Monday morning.
Today's "Businessman Special' is Apple. We've got big news for you about the world's largest Apple Store coming up after this quick break.
It is 26 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Good morning. It is Monday, July 25th. This is your A.M.: WAKE-UP CALL.
I'm Ali Velshi, joining you this morning live from New York City.
It is 30 minutes after the hour.
A week from tomorrow, the federal government could run out of cash to pay its bills. It's an understatement to say this is crunch time.
President Obama called congressional Democrats to the White House last night, still no deal. Republicans and Democrats are sketching out their own plans, are split over how much to increase the debt -- how much to increase the debt ceiling enough to get all the way through the 2012 elections or not. I'd rather do or not. We can sit and talk about this for the next year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: After over six months, conversations with the president, about doing the big deal, about taking a big step in the right direction, it's pretty clear to me that they're just not willing to do it. That the next election matters more than doing what's right for the country.
SEN. DICK DURBIN, (D) ILLINOIS: A short-term extension of the debt ceiling is going to jeopardize our economy at a time when the global economy is so weak, when we are facing a downgrade of America's credit rating, they have warned us not to do it, and Speaker Boehner is ignoring that warning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Speaker Boehner is pushing a proposal to raise the debt ceiling in two stages, but Democratic senator, Harry Reid, says that's just dressing up a short-term plan, making it, quote, "a nonstarter." So, President Obama is canceling two fundraising appearances today to continue to deal with this crisis. Debt negotiations have got a lot of Americans grumbling. Some are venting that frustration -- they're venting their frustration on twitter. Four-letter words that we can't say on TV.
But you know, there's always a hash tag when you want to have something trend. So, the hash tag is "F" you Washington, and it is setting Twitter ablaze. It can't officially be a Twitter trending topic because it's got a dirty word. So, you don't see it showing up, but take a look at this trendistic website that tracks these things, shows just how quickly the hash tag "FU Washington" jumped into usage Saturday night into Sunday, and it is still going strong.
A group of teens hiking in the Alaskan wilderness mauled by a brown bear and her cub. They were taking part in a survival skills course. They had no instructors with them on Saturday, but they did activate a locater beacon to be used in case of emergency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF MEGAN PETERS, MU ALAKSA STATE TROOPERS: We got on scene, we really, for the first time, saw what we were dealing with, and they were mauled. Very severely. There were two that were seriously injured with life-threatening injuries, two seriously injured with nonlife-threatening injuries, and there are three others that either received minor injuries from the bear or had exposure related issues. So, it truly was an emergency situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: The jury selection in the trial of polygamist leader, Warren Jeffs, is expected to be today in San Angelo, Texas. He's charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a child stemming from the 2008 raid on his compound. Now, some 400 children were removed from the ranch. Most were later returned to their families. Jeffs also faces bigamy charges. That trial begins in October.
And in Los Angeles today, another pretrial hearing in the case of Dr. Conrad Murray. He's the doctor who was treating Michael Jackson and now faces involuntary manslaughter charges in the singer's death. At issue today, what part of a Michael Jackson document -- documentary will be allowed as evidence. Jury selection is set to get under way in September.
We're watching the first reaction in global markets to the debt ceiling debate. Both Asian and European markets are lower this morning. Christine Romans is back for us. She's live here in New York. Christine, we're looking very carefully at this. How are U.S. markets shaping up this morning?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you've got futures down in the U.S., watching Asian markets. It closed all lower as you reported so far, Ali. Also, we're watching how European markets continue. The Greece downgrade, but it's all about a debt stalemate in the U.S. and what that's going to mean for international investors and U.S. investors here.
I mean, this is something that has been a crisis in the making for months, if not years, and now, the markets will have to weigh in because the United States is deadlocked on this, and we still don't know how markets are going to react, but the betting is it won't be good, Ali.
VELSHI: All right. The credit worthiness of the United States is at stake. Since the United States had its credit rated in 1917, it has never been anything but the highest, the absolute highest. How big a deal is this?
ROMANS: We pay our bills on time, all the time, every time. When someone wants to invest in something that's the safest thing they can invest in in the world, they invest in U.S. debt and U.S. bonds because the U.S. always pays its bills. It is the largest economy in the world. It is, you know, even when you talk about all of the U.S.'s problems, still accounts for, I don't, quarter of all economic output for the entire world.
So, look, the U.S. is the quote/unquote "gold standard," and now, you have a political crisis where international investors and U.S. investors are going, is that always going to be the case? Is the U.S. going to be able to get its political problems in order so that it can keep that credit worthiness to the best of its ability, and that's the question the people are dealing with.
VELSHI: All right. And in addition to this, there are other things for investors to take a look at, an important report on the economy comes out later this week. What is it?
ROMANS: Well, look, we want to know is the economy slowing down? That's our big question at this point, you know? It has the economy suffered any kind of a little bit of a setback. Is it growing more slowly than we had thought or hoped? That's what we'll be looking back later this week. And it's interesting, Ali, because there's kind of a conundrum here. You got corporate profits that have been doing quite well.
We're going to be hearing more and more from big companies about how their profits are, but what you're hearing from the CEOs is while their profits are coming back, they're finding that the U.S. economy as a whole is subpar. So, that's what we'll be looking forward to see if that's how that's playing out later this week.
VELSHI: Christine, so good to have you back on the show, and I will see you in 25 minutes on "American Morning."
ROMANS: Twenty-five minutes.
VELSHI: And I hope you got a good night of sleep last night because I think you and I are going to be working real hard this week with this debt ceiling stuff.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: I think you're right.
VELSHI: Christine Romans, my good friend.
All right. Now, back to our businessman special. Apple wants to build the largest store in the world in New York City's Grand Central Station. Apple proposing a 23,000 square foot store that would take over both the north and northeast balconies, if you've been to Grand Central Station. The Metropolitan Transportation Authorities Finance Committee will vote on the proposal today. If it passes the, MTA board will vote on the proposal on Wednesday. Biggest store in the world in one of the busiest places in the world.
Texas governor, Rick Perry, is speaking out on gay marriage in light of New York becoming the latest state to legalize it, but will Perry's view isolate some conservative supporters as he considers a White House run? I'll tell you about that on the other side.
But first, your "Get Smart" question of the morning. Do more Americans have passports or Facebook accounts? The answer after this quick break. Thirty-seven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: About 40 minutes after the hour. Let's call it. It is time to get back to our "Get Smart" questions. Do more Americans have passports or Facebook accounts? The answer, is B. More Americans have Facebook accounts than they have passports. I guess, if we were asking that question, you probably knew where that was going.
I got something to show you, by the way. It's one of the best things about New York is crazy stuff happens. That is Columbus Circle and that is the biggest Smurf, actually Central Park. That is the biggest Smurf I've ever seen. That is across the road from us in Central Park on Columbus Circle. Just a great big Smurf. You know the movie comes out on July 29th. I guess, that's Friday, which is why we've got that.
He's here all week, will try to be. We'll visit with him a little later on. Time now for our "Political Ticker." Let's bring in our senior political editor, Mark Preston. He's live on the phone from Washington. Didn't mean to set you up with a Smurf, Mark, but the fact is, perhaps, the Smurf cans get a debt deal done more effectively than the folks in Washington.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR (on the phone): Yes. You know something, let's not worry too much if a deal is going to get done, because the bottom line, this is how things are done in Washington. They push things always up against the wall, and eventually, a deal is always cut. And I tell you, when they see stories about the markets crashing overseas, that's only going to heighten them to get things done.
VELSHI: What's the -- I mean, I did hear this weekend, it surprised me, when John Boehner said, oh, we got to get a deal done, because it's going to royal Asian markets. When did that start getting them worried?
PRESTON: You know, probably towards the end of last week when they realized that they weren't going to get things done by Thursday or Friday, Ali. you know, the fact is, when people like yourself knows what's going on and links what's happening overseas to the American dollar, start talking about it on TV, then, everyday, people start to get worried. So, I think that's when you heard John Boehner start talking about the overseas markets.
VELSHI: Real quick, Mark Preston, what did Rick Perry say about gay marriage?
PRESTON: He said look, if New York is going to pass it, that's fine. New York can do it. Now, there's going to be a lot of talk about this because Rick Perry, of course, is a social conservative, thinking about running for president. A lot of people are saying that it's going to hurt him for saying that, but you know what, Rick Perry is a big defender of the Tenth Amendment. I don't think this is going to hurt him, Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Mark Preston, good to talk to you as always this morning. Mark Preston joining us from Washington.
Hey, listen. Here are three things you got to put on your radar for this week.
Not just today, it's predicted to be an eventful week in markets as Mark was just saying. Investors are waiting for an agreement on the debt ceiling. At the end of this week, the first official reading on economic growth in the second quarter, the second two months of this year.
The man who was admitted to carry out the terror attacks in Norway set to appear in court at 7:00 a.m. eastern. His lawyers says he's going to explain his actions to the court. No word yet on whether the hearing is going to be open or closed to the public.
And this week, the trial gets under way against polygamist sect leader, Warren Jeffs. He's facing sexual assault charges stemming from an alleged spiritual marriage to a 12-year-old girl.
The NFL lockout is on the verge of ending possibly this week. NFL.com reports that both the league and the players have finally agreed on a labor deal after ironing out some details. The website reports that New Orleans Saints, Drew Brees, e-mailed teammates over the weekend saying the deal is almost done and that an announcement would be made some time Monday, that would be today. If that happens, training camps could open by the weekend.
There are three new faces in Cooperstown, New York, pitcher, Bert Blylevin, second baseman, Roberto Alomar, general manager, Pat Gillick are the newest members of baseball Hall of Fame. Alomar is the first Blue Jay to make it. Blylevin made history, too. This might come in handy on trivia night. He's first player born in the Netherlands to make it to the Hall of Fame.
Before we go, this day in history back in 1978, the first test tube baby was born in England. Today, children are born all over the world using this, quote, "test tube method" which is simply a nickname for in vitro fertilization. Forty-four minutes after the hour.
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VELSHI: Good morning. It's Monday, July 25th. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Ali Velshi joining you live this from New York. It is 46 minutes after the hour. Let's go around the world. Zain Verjee is live in London covering the Norway attacks from there. Zain, the suspect in the Norway attack is in court today. What do we know about him?
VERJEE: Well, we know that he is 32 years old. His name is Anders Breivik, and he has very radical right-wing views as well as having very anti-Muslim views. He feels, according to a manifesto, about 1,500 pages that's come out, that Muslims are colonizing Europe, and he doesn't want to see that happen. This is what the interesting document, his manifesto, attributed to the same person of his name, is what people are talking about, too, Ali. And if it is him, he has written how he planned these attacks. It's so meticulous from the weapons to the explosives to being in good physical shape, the mental preparation and approach, being good to the police and being good to the neighbors, wiping out his hard drive. It really goes down into details like that. What the focus is on the court hearing today is whether it's going to be closed or whether it's going to be open.
A judge is going to rule. He wants it to be open because he wants to make a statement and explain to the world why he did it and justify his right-wing ideology. Prosecutors and most people in Norway don't want to give him that platform -- Ali.
VELSHI: He's written a lot about it. He seems to have a lot to say. He's the kind of guy who actually might be happy to have his time in court to continue to say what he's going to say on a bigger platform than he's already had. Zain, good to see you. We'll check in with you on "American Morning" in just a little while. Zain Verjee in London.
It's hard to tell where the debt ceiling ends, and the brick wall begins. There is a brand new stalemate over the debt talks in Washington. President Obama and Republicans are working on separate plans now. The president has canceled a couple of fundraisers today to deal with the issue. Listen to what house Speaker John Boehner is saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOEHNER: I don't know. It may be pretty hard to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, but my last offer is still out there. I've never taken my last offer off the table, and they've never agreed to my last offer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Boehner says House legislation needs to be posted online today if they want to raise the debt ceiling by the August 2nd deadline. Treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, is the guy who may not have the money to pay the country's bills on time. He'll have to make the decisions. Here's what he told CNN's Candy Crowley on "State of the Union."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: What we cannot do, this is very important, what we cannot do, because it would be irresponsible, is to leave the threat of default hanging over the American economy for a longer period of time. Look, you know, back in January, more than seven months ago, we started this process of working with the Congress to get them to raise the debt limit so we could avoid a default crisis.
It's taken us seven months to get to the place where we are now. We're almost out of runway. We not know where. We're almost out of runway. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Geithner says it's OK to do this in stages, maybe raise the debt ceiling with some spending cuts now and work out broader tax reforms next year, but you heard him saying that getting rid of the threat of default is the most important thing do right now. He's not the first person saying it. Ben Bernanke said it. Markets are sending the same message.
The stalemate has already rubbed off on U.S. stock futures and Asian markets. We'll have more on that all through the morning.
An autopsy to find out what killed Amy Winehouse could be performed as early as today. She's a woman who sang about refusing rehab, and there are many speculating that her death on Saturday is connected to her well-chronicled substance abuse. The police say the 27-year-old's death is being treated as, quote, "unexplained."
In the meantime, tokens of affection are piling up outside Winehouse's London apartment and her "Back to Black" album from 2006 is surging in sales, back on the charts in over a dozen countries.
The woman who accuses Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her is talking to the media. Nafissatou Diallo gave this interview to "Newsweek." This is verbatim. She's a native of guinea, and we read it to you, quote, "Because of him, they call me a prostitute. I want him to know there are some places you cannot use your power, you cannot use your money. We are poor, but we are good. I don't think about money. I tell them about what this man do to me. It never changed. I know what this man do to me."
Strauss-Kahn was freed from house arrest after some of Diallo's story didn't add up. His next court date is a week from today.
And if you've never heard of Congressman David Wu before, get ready. Nancy Pelosi wants the Ethics Committee to investigate him. Wu is a Democrat from Oregon. He allegedly made unwanted sexual advances toward the daughter of a campaign donor. That's what a Portland newspaper is reporting. And it says the scoop came from inside Wu's office. Wu says he will finish his term and then retire next year.
Let's go to Rob Marciano live from Atlanta. Rob, as I mentioned this morning, when I walked in, certainly felt cooler today than it has over the last few days. What's going on with the heat story across the country?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A bit of a break and that's the good news. We've got some showers and thunderstorms that will fire along a couple of cool fronts that are trying to push through the eastern third of the country that's really been broiling for the past couple of weeks. Where it's not going to cool down is across the southern plains and central U.S. 106 is the expected high temperature in Dallas. It will be cooler with a chance of thunderstorms in New York, D.C., and also, Atlanta. Temperatures there off their 100 degree plus high temperatures of last week. Check this out. A volcano across the Aleutian Islands about 900 miles or so southwest of Anchorage (ph). It's called the Cleveland volcano, pictured here about a year ago. Experts are thinking this thing is going to erupt, Ali, so be prepared. And last time it did, it was back in 2001, and it spewed all sorts of stuff about five miles in the atmosphere. And this is important because, although, uninhabited over there, it's a huge route for planes that are going from the U.S. over to Asia. So, it's going to affect air travel if and when this thing erupts, and the experts are saying it's just a matter of when. So, we'll keep you posted on that.
VELSHI: All right, my friend. I'll talk to you a little bit on "American Morning."
MARCIANO: Sounds great.
VELSHI: Hey, take a look at the word of the day. It's biobutanol. Find out what it means why you need to know it right after the short break. It is 52 minutes after the hour.
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VELSHI: Don't know where I'm going. All right. It is 56 minutes after the hour. Let's go to the NASDAQ market site where Carter Evans is standing by. He's keeping an eye on what's going on in U.S. markets and what CNNMoney.com is covering. Good morning, Carter. What have you got for us?
CARTER EVANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, of course, the debt ceiling, everyone is still talking about that. It's on the front page this morning on CNNMoney.com, but the big question for a lot of personal investors is what do I do with my money? Should I be moving it somewhere else? Lawmakers can't come to a decision. Is that going to affect my 401(k)? Most analysts are saying don't panic, stay the course. We're also talking about earnings this week, Ali. You know, shouldn't earnings really be the focus right now?
VELSHI: All right. Carter Evans at the NASDAQ market site.
Let's get back to our word of the day. It's called biobutanol. It's a renewable fuel similar to ethanol made from corn, other crops or biomass. According to Curt Stager in "Fast Company" magazine, biobithanol could be the fuel of the planes of the future. Stager says the chemical is a close relative of the fuel in butane cigarette lighters and is better suited for planes than ethanol.
He says ethanol offers only modest energy output, isn't fully compatible with existing internal combustion engine and corrodes the pipelines it travels through. With our dependence on oil in this country, the industry is on the hunt for new fuels. All right. It is 57 minutes after the hour.
Here re three things to put on your radar today. The man who was admitted to carrying out the terror attacks in Norway is set to appear in court today. His lawyer says he will explain his actions to the court. No word yet on whether the hearing will be open or closed to the public.
We'll be watching for any developments out of the nation's capital related to the debt ceiling negotiations. Weekend talks went nowhere. Both sides are now pursuing separate plans.
Also today, Michael Jackson's family is expected to hold a news conference announcing a concert tribute to the late King of Pop.
All right. Let's continue with our coverage of the debt ceiling debate and the that effect it's going to have, not just on stock markets, but on bond markets which is actually where we might see it first and where it becomes most serious. Nina Dos Santos is covering this for us from London.
Good morning, Nina. Give us a sense, you've been following debt bond yields in Europe and their responses to the euro zone crisis. How does that relate to how bond investors are going to see the debt ceiling discussions in the United States?
DOS SANTOS: Well, if anything, we can use, for instance, some of the countries that already are running the risk of a default, like for instance, Greece as an example of the kind of ramifications that the U.S. faces if, indeed, it doesn't manage to nail down that debt ceiling issue and to try and avoid a default.
Greek yields have been in the double digits for ages really, and what we're seeing at the moment yields on U.S. treasuries that rising in response to these ongoing concerns about hammering out a plan to tackle that $14.3 trillion ceiling in the United States and, indeed, raise it. While we speaking on the stock markets, though, we do have some stock markets opening lower.
FTSE-100 edging back into positive territory finally after about an hour and a half of losses, but one bright spot I do want to bring you up to date with, Ali, is gold. The ultimate save haven has been rising yet again in today's session, which is another record of $1,624 an ounce and counting.
VELSHI: Nina, we've been watching the European crisis sort of unfold slowly over more than the last year, for a lot of the American audience, give us some sense of why you think this may unfold in the bond markets first or earlier or more seriously than it will in the stock markets?
DOS SANTOS: Yes. We should just recap for our viewers what the yields on these treasuries mean. The yield is effectively the extra interest investors demand to hold the securities, these bonds. So, effectively to lend the U.S. money, you demand interest, right? Well, of course, people are demanding a little bit more money in light of the fact that they're concerned about the U.S. perhaps defaulting on these debts. Now, we've also had the head of the world's biggest bond fund, Mohamed El-Erian, commenting about this, saying even if the U.S. does solve the situation, it could face a downgrade, Ali.
VELSHI: Even if it does raise that debt ceiling, it could face a downgrade. That means it costs Americans more to borrow money or costs the American government more, and that could trickle down to mortgages, car loans, student loans, business loans, and things like that. Nina Dos Santos, great explanation. Thanks for your great coverage. Nina is in London.
We'll be back with WAKE-UP CALL tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. Eastern. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
