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American Morning: Wake Up Call
Pres. Obama, Congress Reach Deal; HSBC to Cut 10,000 Jobs; Bloody Crackdown in Syria; Suspected Cartel Kingpin Arrested; FBI: "Credible" Lead in DB Cooper Case
Aired August 01, 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 is Monday, August 1st. This is your A.M.: WAKE-UP CALL.
I'm Ali Velshi, joining you live from New York this morning.
We're going to begin by reading the new debt deal line for line because I know you can't get enough fiscal Congress speak at 5:00 a.m. on Monday. Put the remote down, I'm kidding. Get back on the elliptical.
I'm going to get you up to speed on the meat of the breakthrough bill that might stress -- well, might bring this dragged out debt ceiling doomsday drama to a close and give us some other stuff to talk about.
The deal includes about $1 trillion in cuts over 10 years, raises the debt ceiling by about the same amount. It sets up a bipartisan committee to find ways to trim other money out of the deficit, another trillion and change from the deficit later this year. Think about it as a deficit posse.
It calls for both chambers of Congress eventually to pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. They don't actually have to pass it. They just have to vote on it.
And the president and House speaker admit that the plan is not perfect, but, hey, there's a deadline tomorrow.
Here's what the president said, then you'll hear from a freshman Republican who, by the way, is dressed casually. Give him a break. It was late on Sunday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, is this the deal I would have preferred? No. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year.
REP. MICHAEL GRIMM (R), NEW YORK: And to have bold changes to something so systematically broken is going to take time. So, I understand their frustration. This certainly is not perfect. I would have liked to have more cuts. But this is definitely a step in the right direction. (END VIDEO CLIPS)
VELSHI: Now, CNN found what may be a discrepancy between the Republican and Democratic interpretations of the plan. And it's about Medicare. Speaker John Boehner's fact sheet says that it would get cut across the board. The White House says Medicare beneficiaries are protected. We're going to try and get clarification. More details should come out after more members actually read the measure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
SEN. MIKE LEE (R), UTAH: You know, I haven't seen the legislation yet. I haven't had an opportunity to read it.
REP. BARBARA LEE (D), CALIFORNIA: Too often we're asked to vote on legislation where we haven't even had an opportunity to read it. And so, I definitely want to read exactly what is in this deal.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY: I haven't seen it in writing the final product. And as you know with these things, the details are important.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
VELSHI: Details are important. You can almost hear the world markets sigh with relief that the U.S. might avoid default.
Asian stocks rallied after President Obama announced that a deal had been reached. Kristie Lu Stout joins us in a moment from Hong Kong with details on that.
U.S. stock futures, by the way, are way up this morning. Remember last week -- you probably would rather forget how the market did last week -- it was the worst week in more than a year, thanks in no small part to all this dithering in D.C.
But that's what we're looking at this morning. Look at the Nikkei, the Hang Seng and FTSE -- all of them up right now. There are concerns about what cutting government spending will do to the economy, however, with unemployment in the United States at 9.2 percent, the housing market lousy, people aren't buying stuff. This is really not a great time for the U.S. government to go al scrooge on us.
CNN Money talked with a couple of economists about this. One said the cuts are relatively small and shouldn't have a huge impact. Another said the cuts could be the straw that breaks the camel's back, economically speaking.
So, is the U.S. OK with Moody's now? Remember, the ratings agency said it would put the nation's bond rating on a review for a possible downgrade because of the chance that August 2nd would come and go without movement on the debt ceiling. Here's what Moody's chief economist told CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARK ZANDI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MOODY'S ANALYTICS: Listening to what they have to say, I think this would be sufficient, yes. You know, now all the rating agencies have different opinions. Some may go down a different path. But I think, broadly speaking, this is -- if it comes close to what they're discussing now, this is substantive and I think it should avoid a downgrade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: There is, however, another school of thought on this. I talked with investment guru Bill Gross. He runs PIMCO's multibillion dollar total return fund. And he predicts there will be a downgrade.
Now, Democratic leaders in the Senate hope to get the debate going early this afternoon and vote later in the afternoon.
A Republican who was on a conference call with Speaker Boehner says the House will try to vote as well. Congress has to approve the bill, and the president has to sign it by Tuesday. And after all of this, the U.S. officially will put the nation in procrastination.
Time now for a check on world markets. What a rally in the Asian markets today. The Hang Seng and Nikkei both closed up.
Let's go right to Kristie Lu Stout from Hong Kong.
Boy, Kristie, what a difference a major hard-won debt deal makes. World markets have been reacting very positively to this.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, and there seems to be a lot of confidence here in Asia. Investors have been cheering the prospects of an end to the U.S. debt deadlock. Tokyo's Nikkei opened more than 1 percent higher. It really gained momentum after the U.S. president, Barack Obama, announced a deal to raise the debt ceiling.
But it's interesting to note, there is more muted reaction in Europe. Now, stocks are climbing there, but less than 1 percent for the DAX and CAC 40. So, there's some caution out there since the deal still has to pass in both houses of Congress.
Ali, back over to you.
VELSHI: All right. So, news coming out of HSBC, they've got their earnings statement, and they are announcing job cuts even though the company's profitable.
STOUT: That's right. HSBC has announced it's going to lay off at least 10,000 employees worldwide. That's about 3 percent of its global workforce. It's all part of the company's plan to cut costs over the next three years.
HSBC has also announced its latest earnings figures. It came out in the last hour. Its pretax profits came in at $11.5 billion for the first half of the year. That is up 45 percent from the second half of 2010. So, that is very good news that HSBC really needs. Since early January, Ali, the company's share price has fallen by more than 7 percent.
VELSHI: All right. Kristie, we'll stay with us for the morning to see how things are developing -- Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.
Let's go right to Rob Marciano, live in Atlanta right now.
Rob, any flight delays out there this morning.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Nothing to speak of yet. And we have fairly quiet weather right now. In the afternoon, we'll get some pop-up thunderstorm.
We might have a tropical depression or tropical storm pot up before the day is done. This could be our next storm, which would be Emily. It's just east of the Windward Islands and heading towards the Caribbean, the northern part of at least.
And (INAUDIBLE) for a couple of days now, and the National Hurricane Center is pretty confident that it should become at least a depression if not a storm. This is -- this is a look at some of the computer models which certainly shows it potentially threatening the U.S. and will bang around the Caribbean islands as well. So, this bears very watching closely especially if you live in Florida or the East Coast.
All right. The heat is the other big story. It's continued to crank Dallas, Oklahoma City. Their streak of 100-plus days continues at 30 and growing now. And some of the heat will continue to grow up towards the north.
One hundred eight is the expected high temperature in Dallas, 100 in Kansas City. And this will stay with us, I think, through the day today.
New York, you'll see some evening thunderstorms. Same deal with D.C. and Philly. We might see some delays there, and San Francisco some fog.
If you're traveling by car, and a lot of folks are this summer holiday season, Ali, check this out. Imagine if you're on a family vacation and you're driving down the interstate in Memphis and a snake --
VELSHI: Wow. I was wondering what that was. Wow.
MARCIANO: -- pops out of the hood of your car and on to the windshield.
VELSHI: What are you supposed to do about that?
MARCIANO: Well, scream, especially the little girls in the back. I know I would be screaming like a little girl probably. And then maybe pull over and I don't know -- maybe through the windshield wipers on.
VELSHI: I know the pullover part. I don't know what you do after that.\
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: There's a snake on the car, I want to grab, that's crazy.
MARCIANO: Poor snake. You know, hopefully, they eventually pulled over and got him to where -- my goodness!
VELSHI: Where he needs to be.
MARCIANO: Yes.
VELSHI: Rob, that's a good one. I didn't see that coming.
Rob Marciano, we'll check in with you a little later this morning.
MARCIANO: All right.
VELSHI: President Obama and congressional leaders have agreed to a debt deal, but the bigger question: will they have the support to get it passed before tomorrow's deadline? We'll talk about that on the other side.
But, first, here's our quote of the day. Which newsmaker said he would run for president if, quote, "The Republicans pick the wrong candidate"? Find out after this quick break.
It is eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It is 12 minutes after the hour. This is your A.M.: WAKE-UP CALL.
Now, back to your quote of the day. Who said they would run for president if, quote, "the Republicans picked the wrong candidate"?
Not hard to guess. Donald Trump. The real estate mogul and realty star said this to CNBC when asked if he would consider running for the top office in the country.
Even though a debt deal is on the table, it's not over yet. Comedian Jay Leno is proposing a closeout sale on Washington. Here's the punch line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": There's one thing politicians in Congress hate, it's being told what to do by the people who put them there. You know? Hey, corporations pay good money for these congressmen, they shouldn't have to listen to a bunch of idiotic voters! Exactly. Exactly.
As they say in Washington, if it ain't broke, it will be by Tuesday.
You know, if this debt limit thing isn't lifted, President Obama's going to switch to plan B -- a nationwide going out of business sale, everything 50 percent off. All government buildings, all parts, everything must go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Time for your Political Ticker with Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius XM POTUS live from Washington.
Good morning, Tim.
You know, a lot of fanfare about this deal that they reached last night and probably eight minutes passed before you were hearing from fiscal conservatives that some of them won't support it. And then from liberals that, well, maybe they won't support it either.
This debt deal, is it going to get through?
TIM FARLEY, "MORNING BRIEFING," SIRIUS XM POTUS: I don't know, but doesn't it sound -- if people are angry on both sides of the aisle, doesn't that usually mean it's the right thing to do at this point? I mean, that's kind of the way it turns out.
VELSHI: Right.
FARLEY: It's going to have to go through the Senate and House. It looks like it will probably happen, I guess, at some point today.
But you've hit the question right this, how much are they going to coalesce behind their leadership, Ali.
VELSHI: And that's going to be a priority for, particularly John Boehner. The House is probably more a problem than the Senate. But it's going to be a priority for John Boehner --
FARLEY: Sure.
VELSHI: -- and for Nancy Pelosi to sit around and hold their noses if they have to, but figure out whether they have the votes for this.
FARLEY: Yes, exactly. The pushback from the left is that, hey, where are the tax increases? The pushback from the right is that, look, this isn't really doing that much altogether.
What it really does, and I think you made this point, is that it pushes off a lot of the hard decisions to the committee who will have to make calls six months down the road. And that will mean that the House and Senate will not really have to make any tough decisions.
Oh, and, by the way, we do have this little thing called the fiscal year which ends September 30th. And there are yet 11 spending bills to be passed. They haven't even been touched yet.
VELSHI: Oh, they'll get it done. Talk to me --
FARLEY: September 29th!
VELSHI: -- talk to me about the straw poll in Iowa. It's two weeks away. What is it, and why is it important?
FARLEY: This is the first vote really of voters in Iowa. And this is not like -- the typical ballot. It is a blank sheet of paper. People actually sponsor this voting. But it does not include on the ballot Sarah Palin or Rick Perry. But as I said, a blank sheet of paper goes out so people get the chance to vote on whomever they'd like it vote for.
Now, Herman Cain, of all people, picked up a win in the Western Conservative Summit. This was a straw poll that took place over the weekend in Denver -- 48 percent of the vote, kind of a surprise. And Rick Perry was second. He is scheduled to make a decision at some time in the next couple of weeks about running for president. Be interesting to see how it turns out with this Ames, Iowa, poll, again, on the 13th, which is just a couple of weeks away.
VELSHI: Herman Cain's support is not wishy-washy. It's fairly solid. It's not big but it's solid.
Tim, good to see you. Have a great show this morning. Tim Farley of "Morning Briefing" --
FARLEY: We love the pepperoni.
VELSHI: -- host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius XM POTUS.
All right. Time now for a check on some other top stories.
The suspect in Norway's terror attacks reportedly used eBay to stock up on bomb making chemicals and other tools. Britain's "Sunday Telegraph" reports that Anders Breivik's online shopping included sulfur powder, a full face respirator and a hazmat suit.
Not a huge surprise. A manifesto thought to be authored by Breivik mentions the site over and over saying, quote, "eBay is your friend." He might change his tune. EBay's people say they're helping police investigate the bombing and shooting spree that killed 77 people.
Amy Winehouse was reportedly in the middle of adopting a 10-year-old Caribbean girl when she died. I'm serious. You heard this right. Britain's newspaper -- Britain's "Mirror" newspaper reports that Winehouse wanted to be an adoptive mom to a girl named Danica from St. Lucia. The girl told the paper, quote, "Amy was already my mother. I would call her mom, and she would call me her daughter." The article says Winehouse's had already lawyered up and consulted the girl's biological parents.
Missouri teacher, it is time to purge any student from your Facebook friends list. A new law makes it illegal for professors and pupils to have private relationships on any social networking sites. That means exclusive relationships on MySpace, Google-plus, and other sites are off limits, too. The point is to curb sexual misconduct between teachers and students.
But the wording of the law leaves room for teachers to keep public pages for class use.
One way for drivers to sidestep high gas prices is to go hybrid or get an electric vehicle. But minorities apparently are not biting. That's according to a new report by from the Green Living Institute. Out of every 10 hybrid owners in California, it says seven are white, two are Latino, and even fewer are African-American. The report blames high prices and a lack of consumer education.
And from out of the blue, "The Smurfs" tied for number one at the box office. The little blue dudes grossed more than 36 million bucks, which is exactly how much "Cowboys and Aliens" took in. The western science fiction mash-up underperformed despite the A-list cast. Maybe folks were busy watching debt ceiling, the realty drama that's playing out on Capitol Hill this weekend.
We better believe traders around the world have been keeping a very close eye on America's debt ceiling drama. We're going to check in on global markets now that President Obama says there is a deal.
But, first, grab a slice of pie on your way to work this morning. August 1st is National Raspberry Cream Pie Day. I think we're scraping the bottom of the barrel on this one.
Eighteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-one minutes after the hour. This is your A.M.: WAKE- UP CALL.
Here are three things to put on your radar today:
Are you spending more money or making more of it? At 8:30 a.m. this morning, personal income and spending figures will be released. Economists are hoping for a slight increase. These are numbers for July.
Lawmakers head back to Capitol Hill this morning for votes on the debt deal. We'll bring you the latest developments through the day as that happens.
And we're closely watching a storm brewing in the tropics, as Rob mentioned. We could be watching a newly named tropical storm, Emily, later today.
Let's go around the world with Zain Verjee live in London.
Zain, while we've been obsessing over the debt debate, there's some bad stuff happening in Syria. Forces are rolling in with tanks through Hama. They're clashing with protesters. At least 71 people, I understand, are reported dead?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, even more now, at least 100 people is what human rights groups are saying, Ali.
Just take a look at this video. I mean, it is some of the most brutal, violent video that we have seen since the protests started in March of this year where protesters were basically calling for a change in government. They want Bashar al-Assad out.
CNN cannot independently, Ali, confirm the authenticity of this video. But this is the scene over the weekend in Hama. Tanks stormed in, protesters were fired on. Smoke was seen rising in different parts of the city. And you can hear the exchange frequently of gunfire in the piece of video that we're showing you now.
Now, the government itself, Ali, is saying that they had to go in there because they said there were armed terrorist groups, gangs, storming the city, and they had to just go in there and take control.
The U.S. president, Barack Obama, upon hearing these report and looking at the video of Hamas said that this was absolutely horrifying. It was brutal, and the U.S. needs to put more pressure on Syria to stop this from happening -- Ali.
VELSHI: Wow. I mean, just -- that is remarkable looking at that video. It is truly remarkable what is going on in Syria.
VERJEE: I know.
VELSHI: Hey, Zain, you have heard -- have you heard about this Amy Winehouse thing where she was apparently trying to adopt a child in the Caribbean? I know you follow these stories very well.
VERJEE: In St. Lucia. Yes, there were suggestions that that was the case and that she had taken some kind of legal action to adopt a 10- year-old girl. And, obviously, this girl is totally devastated.
It's unclear how far along they were in the process. But she was looking, according to reports, to adopt a child from St. Lucia.
VELSHI: Wow. All right, Zain, we'll check in with you later -- Zain Verjee for us in London this morning.
Hey, Serena Williams is back in the win column. She won something, but I don't know what it is exactly. I'm going to tell you about that in a minute.
Football superstar Peyton Manning, however, just signed a new deal with the Indianapolis Colts. And the numbers are staggering: $90 million over five years. But get this -- the Colts actually offered him more money and he said no. Huh? He's taking less so the team can sign other players. Wow.
It looks like Plaxico Burress is heading to the New York Jets. They've agreed to a one-year, $3 million deal. Burress was released from prison in June after serving time on a gun charge after accidently shooting himself in the leg.
And here's my Serena story, I knew I'd get to it. Serena Williams is back in the win column. She won her first title in over a year at the Stanford Classic in California, beating Marion Bartoli, winning 7-5, 6-1. She's been beset by medical problems lately. There's no doubt, though, a positive -- this is no doubt positive for her, because the U.S. Open is coming up.
And before we go, today's "Businessman Special" is not about Unicorn. It's about making money. We'll have the top five entrepreneur myths coming up after this quick break.
Twenty-four minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Good morning. It's Monday, August the 1st. This is your A.M.: WAKE-UP CALL.
I'm Ali Velshi, joining you-from New York this morning.
It is 28 minutes after the hour.
For morning money news this morning, let's go to Christine Romans. She's here in New York with me.
Christine, wow, six days of bad markets leading into this, this debt debate. And those bad GDP numbers -- I think we're going to get a break this morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I'll take your six days and I raise you to a whole week. You know, the Dow was -- whole month rather.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: The Dow was down 2 percent for the month. It was 4 percent for the week last week. Three months in a row, the Dow fell. So, you're right. There's been a steady drumbeat of economic reports that haven't been great. And Friday, we're going to get a jobs report.
So, political risk, Ali, today, for the rest of the week. But Friday, jobs report futures right now looking better. Dow futures up 133 points.
But I guarantee you, every little peep out of Washington will probably move futures this morning and throughout the day, the stock prices.
VELSHI: Yes. Things are softening up in Europe, in Europe trading now.
ROMANS: Are they?
VELSHI: So, we'll have to see what happens. We started -- U.S. futures already a little lower than they were earlier.
What about the U.S.' reputation? I know you've got thoughts this.
ROMANS: I do. You know -- I mean, there's a lot of people who have been saying, Ali, does the U.S. deserve AAA credit rating. Even with a debt deal, potential debt deal, even with uncertainty -- the political uncertainty resolved for now, does the U.S. deserve AAA with huge unsustainable deficit and the kind of acrimony you've seen in just trying to get the debt ceiling issue with some spending cut resolved.
And a lot of folks -- Morgan Stanley, you've got Jim Rogers, you know, he's a famous investor, and others are saying, no, the U.S. simply doesn't.
So, we have a reputational problem around the world that I think is something that investors and, you know, and U.S. investors are going to be -- international investors and the U.S. investors are going to be talking about for some time.
But, remember, we're the most liquid -- nobody issues debt like we do. So, it still means that it is the biggest game in town.
VELSHI: Right. Yes. You can -- I mean, we've talked about Australia and Canada. But they don't issue enough debt to make up for the U.S. is.
All right. While we have been hoodwinked into thinking that this debt issue was the most serious issue facing the economy, it's not.
ROMANS: It isn't.
VELSHI: The most -- the biggest issue facing the economy is going to be something we're going to be talking about this week.
ROMANS: It's about jobs. I mean, this is still about jobs. And there are a lot of those -- and I think you would include yourself in this group, Ali -- who say that this whole debt discussion has taken the focus off of how do you create jobs in the near term, and maybe, that's because both parties can't figure out how to do it. The things they've tried haven't worked.
You've got years and years of tax cuts. It has still got lost jobs. You got awful lot of stimulus, and you still have anemic jobs growth in this recovery. So, that is a near-term issue. And, I think when you're talking about big cuts to government spending --
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Do that fix the job situation, probably not. So, Friday, we're going to have a jobs report, again, and it's not expected to be very good, probably less than 100,000 jobs. That's what the early --
VELSHI: I've already heard talking points that say that this was a great deal for jobs. And I can't get -- maybe I'm just too tired, worked too many hours.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: I can't get my head around it. I will see you on AMERICAN MORNING in half an hour. Christine, thank you. Good to see you back again.
ROMANS: All right. See you soon.
VELSHI: All right. Back to our businessman's special. It's about entrepreneur myths. The "Washington Post" posted their top five myths on their web site. Myth number one, the typical tech entrepreneur is in their 20s. Get this. The average age of people who start their own companies is actually 40. Myth number two, entrepreneurs are born and not made. Again, not true according to the "Post." More than half of entrepreneurs are actually the first in their family to start a business.
Myth number three is college dropouts make better entrepreneurs. This one is so not true. Entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed if they have a college degree. The fourth myth is women can't cut it in the tech world. According to the "Washington Post," there's almost no difference in companies founded by men and women.
And the final myth for entrepreneurs is that venture capital is required for innovation. Apparently, that's not true either. Venture capitalists want to invest in innovation that they think looks like a big bet.
Mexico has captured a suspected cartel kingpin. He's a former police officer who reportedly admits to ordering 1,500 killings. This is Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez, a.k.a. El Diego. He's thought to be the head of a drug gang known as La Linea, the enforcement arm of the Juarez cartel.
Authorities believe he's the mastermind behind the March 2010 killing of three people connected with the U.S. consulate. Mexican president, Felipe Calderon, tweeted that the rest is, quote, "the biggest blow," unquote, to the cartel.
One way to cement a place in criminal history is to jump out of a hijacked plane with $200,000 in cash never to be seen again. Now, almost, 40 years after it happened, the FBI says it has a credible lead in the DB Cooper case, but they're being stingy with the details telling the "Seattle Times" that they've tracked down a credible person with helpful information and an item that has fingerprints on it.
That item, whatever it is, is headed to the FBI lab in Virginia. This is the only skyjacking that the FBI has never solved.
British engineers undertaking a heaving-duty print job. They printed out an entire airplane, snapped it together, and flew it around. When I say printed, you have to understand, it was printed on a machine. I guess, printed, I should say, in air quotes that builds objects layer by layer. It's got a wing span of about 6 1/2 feet. It hits top speeds of about 100 miles per hour. Now, besides the cool factor, you might be asking what's the point? Engineers say this could make aircraft design much more affordable.
OK. Take a look at these two BMW concept cars. On the left of your screen, which is underneath that graphic thing we have, is the I-3. There we go. It's an I-3. It's an electric vehicle, can go about 100 miles on a charge. The other one, this one here is the I-8. It's a speedy gas hybrid that gets about 87 miles per gallon. Looks like you could transport back to 1955 in them. They could be coming to a dealer near you in two or three years if BMW decides these concepts are keepers.
Here's our "Get Smart" question today. Beside the U.S., what is the only other country in the world that has a debt ceiling? Denmark, Germany, or Australia? The answer coming up after this quick break. It's 37 minutes -- 34 minutes -- I'm sorry -- after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Thirty-seven minutes after the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE- UP CALL. Now, back to our "Get Smart" question. Beside the United States, what is the only other country in the world that has a debt ceiling? Denmark, Germany, or Australia? Answer is Denmark, but their debt ceiling is set so high they'll likely never hit it. So, let me say that again. Beyond Denmark and the United States, no other country in the world has a debt ceiling. Sometimes, being unique is not the best thing in the world.
Here are three things that you need to know that need to be on your radar for this week.
We could get a verdict for those two American hikers accused of spying in Iran. Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were nabbed near the Iran-Iraq border two years ago and held as prisoners ever since. Their lawyer hopes they will be released regardless of the verdict.
Fast forward to Friday, when NASA aims for Jupiter. The Juno spacecraft is supposed to travel 400 million miles to Jupiter. By the way, it's going to take until 2016 to get there. Scientists hope it will fill in some of the blanks about how the solar system was formed.
Also, Friday, we'll get the jobless report for the month of July. Analysts expected to say that the U.S. didn't create enough jobs last month to drive the unemployment rate down.
Time now for our "Political Ticker." Let's bring in our White House correspondent, Brianna Keilar on the phone from Washington. Good morning, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Good morning, Ali.
VELSHI: What have you got? Congressional leaders have made this debt deal, but there are -- there are questions about whether or not it will have the support in both Houses to pass. The Senate's taking it up first, but over at the White House, the president -- does he think this is going to pass?
KEILAR: I think, obviously, the hope is very much that the issue, though, is that, of course, there appears to be agreement between White House officials and leaders on Capitol Hill, but there's a whole other phase that has to go on here. That's really the buy-in phase. You're going to be seeing that playing out today on Capitol Hill when leaders in the Senate and in the House try to sell this to their members.
We know that House Speaker John Boehner prepared a Power Point to try to explain to his members, but when you look at the deal here, it's a little bit of potpourri (ph), a little bit of what everyone really kind of wanted. And so, you're going to be having both Democrats and Republicans arguing that this is the best they could get, and they couldn't get, obviously, perfectly what they wanted, but it does turn this agreement into two parts really dealing with increasing the debt ceiling and some spending cuts up front, really, going into the end of this year.
And then, there's going to be a lot of focus, assuming this passes, Ali, on the more important deficit reduction measures of tax reform, perhaps, entitlement reform, of course, Democrats will be fighting for some tax increases, but no guarantees that they'll get this. So, the story isn't over. We're going to be following it.
And at least, in terms of what is the U.S. going do to really tackle its deficit reduction problem, that is something that we're going to be focused on here for the next month -- for the next several months, Ali. And of course, right now, you know, nothing is guaranteed for sure, but so the focus very much on the hill as these leaders try to wrangle all of those votes and twist all of those arms.
VELSHI: Right. It is definitely not a done deal yet. Looks like it'll pass, but not a done deal. Brianna, we'll be speaking to you through the course of the day. Brianna Keilar in Washington.
Let's go around the world with Zain Verjee. She's is live in London right now. Zain, Britain's "Sunday Telegraph" says the suspect in the Norway attacks used eBay to buy bomb-making chemicals and other tools.
VERJEE: How scary is that, Ali? The "Sunday Telegraph" did say that. They gave more specifics about what exactly Anders Behring Breivik was up to. Here's a list of what they say he got. Sulfur powder from eBay, and that's what was used in making the bomb in Oslo. A drill press, a hazmat suit, and also, some kind of a face respirator, as well.
There's an investigation now going on into this. The eBay hasn't commented on this, but they say that they are cooperating with it, but it's pretty scary to think it's easy to get the stuff out there like that and to use the name Andrew Brei as his name on eBay to be able to get this stuff.
VELSHI: And eBay says it's cooperating now with authorities on this.
VERJEE: Yes.
VELSHI: Listen. Insurgent attacks in war zones, you know, when we report them, they seem random. This is very interesting. A University of Miami physicist says he and his team have developed a formula to predict what seemed to be random insurgent attacks. What do you know about this?
VERJEE: Yes. They're saying it isn't random like all of us think attacks tend to be, and they can actually calculate the time of another attack. They looked specifically, Ali, at data from Afghanistan and Iraq. And, basically, they came up with this equation. And what they found was -- it works like this, take two attacks, one and two, and then, you have to look at the interval, they say, between those two attacks.
They take that time, and then, they plug it into the equation that they've come up with, and they say that it can predict with not necessarily a specific accuracy, but at least give a sense of when the next attack will be. So, I don't know if the Pentagon or anyone's taking them seriously or they're actually going to adopt this, but they say, hey, it's better than nothing. They have this equation, and it seems to work based on how they've calculated things in these specific war zones.
VELSHI: Yes. I guess, it has to do with whether or not these things actually are random or not.
VERJEE: Right.
VELSHI: I mean, it -- it speaks to the idea that they may be less random than we actually think they are. Very interesting discussions. Zain, always a pleasure to see you. We'll check in with you later in the morning. Zain Verjee for us in London.
Hey, do you guys remember this video? That was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles. That video launched MTV this day in history back in 1981. Wow. Wow. I'm feeling old. 43 -- 1981. Forty-three minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Forty-seven minutes after the hour. Good morning. It's Monday, August 1st. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Ali Velshi joining you live this morning from New York.
Let me get you up to speed on the meat of this breakthrough debt ceiling deal that might bring this dragged out debt ceiling drama to a close and let us all get on with our lives. The deal includes about a trillion dollars in spending cuts over ten years to start and raises the debt ceiling by about the same amount. It sets up a bipartisan committee to find ways to trim another trillion and change from the deficit later this year.
Think about it as a deficit posse, and it calls for both chambers of Congress eventually to vote on a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. Remember, that has zero chance of passing a Democratic- controlled Senate and getting approved by a Democratic president. The president and House Speaker admit that the plan is not perfect, but, hey, there's a deadline tomorrow. So, they've got to do something.
Here's what the president said. Then, you'll hear from a freshman Republican who, by the way, ditched his tie because it was Sunday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, is this the deal I would have preferred? No. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year.
REP. MICHAEL GRIMM, (R) NEW YORK: Have bold changes to something so systematically broken is going to take time. So, I understand their frustration. This certainly is not perfect. I would have liked to have had more cuts, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: We've been looking at this all night, and CNN found what may be a discrepancy between the Republican and Democratic interpretations of the plan, and it's about Medicare. Speaker John Boehner's fact sheet says that if that deficit posse doesn't come to a deal, Medicare would get cut across the board.
The White House says Medicare beneficiaries are protected. Providers may get cut. We're going to try and get clarification on that today. More details should come out after more members actually read the measure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MIKE LEE, (R) UTAH: You know, I haven't seen the legislation yet. I haven't had an opportunity to read it.
REP, BARBARA LEE, (D) CALIFORNIA: Too often we're asked to vote on legislation where we haven't even had an opportunity to read it. And so, I definitely want to read exactly what is in this deal.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) MINORITY LEADER: I haven't seen the writing -- in writing the final product. And, as you know with these thing, the details are important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And what a difference a deal makes. You can almost hear world markets sigh with relief that the U.S. might avoid default. Asian stocks rallied after President Obama made the announcement. U.S. stock futures are up two. Last week was the worst market week in more than a year. Thanks in no small part to all the dithering in D.C. There are some concerns about what cutting government spending will do when unemployment is at 9.2 percent here in the United States.
The housing market is soft and when people aren't really buying stuff, is this really a good time for the U.S. government to go all Ebenezer Scrooge? CNNMoney talked with a couple of economists about this one and said the cuts are relatively small and shouldn't have a huge impact. Another said the cuts could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
So, is the U.S. okay with Moody's now? Remember, the agency said it would put the nation's bond rating on review for a possible downgrade because of the chance that August 2nd would come and go without any movement on the debt ceiling. Here's what Moody's chief economist told CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZANDI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MOODY'S ANALYST: Listening to what they have to say, I think this would be sufficient, yes. You know, now, all the rating agencies have different opinion. Some may go down a different path, but I think broadly speaking, this is a substance -- if it comes close to what they're talking about now, this is substantive, and I think it should avoid a downgrade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: There is, however, another school of thought on this. I talked with investment author, Bill Gross. He also runs PIMCO's multi-billion dollar total return fund. He's the biggest bond trader in the world, and he predicts there will be a downgrade. So, what's next? Democratic leaders in the Senate hope to get the debate going early this afternoon and vote later in the afternoon.
A Republican who was on a conference call with Speaker Boehner says the House will try to vote today as well. Congress has to approve the bill, and the president has to sign it by Tuesday.
Let's got to Rob Marciano live in Atlanta. What's going on in the tropics this morning, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We've got some action. You remember Don, Don, by the way, died Friday night with very little fanfare, very little rainfall for Texas. So, that didn't help the drought situation there. And this system which we think will become a tropical depression or storm here in the next day or two, aircraft en route to check it out, is just to the east of the -- of the windward and Leeward Islands there and heading towards the Northern Caribbean.
So, this will be a threat to places like Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and potentially, the U.S., as well. And, if it becomes a tropical system, here's what our computer models are initially saying the track could be here over the next handful of days, and that means that folks in the U.S., along the Florida and Carolina coastlines certainly want to keep an eye right here, and we'll keep you updated as this thing continues to develop. Its name, by the way, would be Emily.
The other big story is the heat continues to sizzle and bake the southern plains. Temperatures will be roll up in over 100. And with the humidities, it will feel like 115 in some spots. And in places like Dallas and Oklahoma City continue to be the record setters here. They're both en route to potentially seeing their longest streak of 100 degree-plus days. Today could be one of the warmest of the week.
108 expected in Oklahoma City and Dallas. That doesn't include humidity, and those temps are measured in the shade, and as we go through the next couple of days, temperatures only get even warmer.
All right. Ali, got some scientific news for you from "Scientific American." Apparently, there is a route -- a ginger root in Africa that is going extinct because it's being overharvested. It's called white's ginger, not to be confused with white ginger. And, apparently, it's an herb that helps men in the bedroom.
To quote one Kenyan who told a Netherlands radio station, "It never disappoints. My wife is one happy woman." It's called mukombero. That's the name of the root. And again, a quote, Ali. This isn't coming from me, "Mukombero allows me to go the extra mile and be naughty with other women, as well. It has guaranteed results."
VELSHI: Why?
MARCIANO: So, apparently, there's a lot going on in Kenya that we don't know about.
VELSHI: What's the issue here? It's going extinct? I lost focus on the discussion as you started reading those quotes.
MARCIANO: Yes. You know, it's hard to grow and it's hard to find. They have to go deeper and deeper into the jungle to find this stuff. Apparently, they're not replenishing it or, you know, growing it back. So, the guys that are going after the stuff for obviously some money and other things are finding it much more difficult to find.
VELSHI: And it's called what?
MARCIANO: It's called mukombero in Kenya.
VELSHI: Excellent. Rob, I always learn something from you.
MARCIANO: Yes.
VELSHI: Rob Marciano in Atlanta.
All right. Before we go, let's take look at the word of the day -- that's not it, by the way. The word of the day is engrossed. Find out what it means in connection with the debt plan and why you need to know it right after the short break. Engrossed. Fifty-three minutes after the hour.
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VELSHI: Fifty-six minutes after the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. Now, back to the word of the day, engrossed. It is the official copy of a bill passed by one Chamber of Congress, the engrossed bill. You need to know this word today because the debt plan will first need to be engrossed, and then, once both chambers, the House and the Senate, approve the bill, it will become enrolled. An engrossed bill becomes an enrolled bill. At that point, it is sent to the president for signature. And as you know from the song, that's when it becomes law.
Here are three things to put on your radar today.
Are you spending more money or are you making more of it? At 8:30 a.m. eastern this morning, personal income and spending figures will be released for July. Economist are hoping for a slight increase. Lawmakers head back to Capitol Hill this morning for votes on the debt deal. We're going to bring you the latest as it develops all day on CNN.
And we are closely watching a storm that might be brewing in the tropics. As Rob mentioned, we could be watching a newly named tropical storm, Emily, later today.
Lawmakers are down to the wire to get a debt deal passed by tomorrow's deadline. Why has it taken so long, you ask? Comedian, Jay Leno, has an idea. Here's your punch line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO: How did we get to this point? Weren't they supposed to be working on this all last week? Remember that? You know, I have an idea of what went wrong. We have exclusive footage of the first meeting. This is the first meeting with the president and Boehner. Here they are. Look what they're doing. Look -- look at that.
(LAUGHTER)
LENO: OK. All right. You know -- OK.
(APPLAUSE)
LENO: I give them that one meeting to break the ice, you know, OK. But look at the second meeting. Look at that. They're playing air hockey. They're not doing anything.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Let's go to Carter Evans for a look at your money this morning. He joins us live from the NASDAQ market site here in New York City. Carter, I've been watching those futures. I haven't slept much. I've been watching those futures since last night. They have been trending downward, U.S. futures. Markets still look like a strong open but not as strong as it looked earlier.
CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not going to be a huge jump, at least, that's what a lot of analysts are expecting at the opening bell, at least. Let's talk about what's on the front page of CNNMoney.com. We have a deal. Yes. The president has a deal, but Congress does not necessarily have a deal yet, and we got to keep that in mind, and it's not necessarily the best deal according to a lot of analysts. Congress still has to vote.
We're going to be tracking that closely today. And there is, Ali, as you mentioned before, the possibility, a big possibility, in fact, of a debt downgrade anyway. That could be one thing that holds back the markets a little bit. I also wanted to mention, hey, remember, the T.A.R.P. program? It did not pass the first time when everybody thought it was going to pass. Remember what happened after that -- VELSHI: I will never forget that day. That's when the Dow dropped 777 points. Let's hope we don't go through that again today. For now, we're looking at an open that's higher. Hey, Carter, once this is gone, we've got something bigger to worry about. More important, I think, to the economy. On Friday, we've got the jobs report for the month of July.
EVANS: Right. And this would be the focus normally if it weren't for this debt crisis right now. Yes. Asian markets surging. That's the other page that I wanted to show you, but beyond debt and on to jobs, that's what we're focusing on Friday. Expectations are low. 78,000 jobs added in July. Our unemployment rate will probably stay the same.
The jobs picture is pretty stagnant right now. A lot of people say the debt ceiling has a bit to do with that because companies are looking ahead and going, "I'm not going to hire anyone until I know what the government is doing." Well, hopefully, today, we'll have some answers finally.
VELSHI: Carter Evans at the NASDAQ market site. Good to see you, my friend. I'll see you again bright and early, 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, 5:00 a.m. eastern here on WAKE-UP CALL.
That's it for us. AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
