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Murdoch Empire under Siege; Debt Deadline Guarantee; Obama Raises $86 Million for 2012; U.S. Soccer Team Faces France; Juror Reports Tough Treatment; Murdoch Withdraws BSkyB Bid; Dr. Phil on Debt Debate; Blistering Heat Invades South

Aired July 13, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West.

The scandal deepens for Rupert Murdoch and his media empire rocked by shame. Today, talk of new investigations from Washington to London.

We are keeping a close eye on Wall Street and what could be good news for your investments. Stocks appear ready to rebound from some nagging worries.

The space shuttle Atlantis awakens to Elton John, first singing, then delivering a personal message of thanks.

Rupert Murdoch built a media empire on the power of selling a scandal but now it's his mighty News Corporation that's under siege from London to Washington. A prominent U.S. senator, Jay Rockefeller, wants to know if U.S. citizens fell victim to sleazy or illegal news gathering, so he's calling for an investigation amid reports that victims of the 9/11 attacks are among the nearly 4,000 people who had their phones hacked.

The outrage is crushing. Over the past week, the media giant has lost nearly $7 billion in market value. And the political damage is mounting.

Today, Britain's prime minister meets with the family of a murdered little girl after a Murdoch newspaper allegedly hacked her cell phone to gain an edge on that story.

Actor Hugh Grant who is both a vocal critic of Murdoch as well as a frequent target of him explains while all of us -- or why all of us, rather, here in the U.S. should even care.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUGH GRANT, ACTOR: Rupert Murdoch does own an enormous amount of your media, you know, with FOX News and the FOX station and 20th Century FOX pictures, et cetera, and some of your newspapers.

I think people need to ask themselves, you know, who is this man who owns such a large part of our media? And I think, you know, when you hear some of new allegations about who the "News of the World" was phone hacking that may include -- and I stress it's just allegations at this stage -- some of the 9/11 victims, while I don't know, that may -- that may strike a chord with Americans.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The heartless details of the Milly Dowler case are worth repeating, Murdoch's news people are accused of hacking the cell phone of the 13-year-old after she was abducted. And it gets even more cruel.

The tabloid "News of the World" then reportedly deleted messages so her mailbox would keep providing new material to print. For six grueling months the mailbox activity gave her family false hope that she was still alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: After this statement, I'll be meeting the family of Milly Dowler. None of us can imagine what they have gone through, but I do know this. They, like everyone else in this country, want their politicians, all of us, to bring this ugly chapter to a close and ensure that nothing like it can ever happen again.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Dan Rivers is in London.

Dan, tell us of today's meeting.

DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's the last of a series of meetings that the Dowler family have had. They've already met the deputy prime minister and the leader of the political opposition here.

Today they'll meet David Cameron, the prime minister. And I'm sure they will outline the same points that the media basically, and particularly the tabloid media, specifically the "News of the World" are completely out of control, according to this family who have been subjected to the most horrendous amount of extra suffering and pain on top of the terrible times that they've already been through because of journalists hacking into the voicemail of their murdered 13-year-old daughter.

And it was this story really that caused this whole phone hacking story to explode here in the UK. There was such a massive backlash of public opinion against "The News of the World." And then since then, the allegations have just gotten worse and worse for News International, the company that owns this newspaper.

Suggestions now that victims of 9/11 may also have been targeted, something that Senator Jay Rockefeller has brought up as well. So this is a story that is growing, that is now transatlantic in nature and one that is changing the kind of political landscape here massively as well because in the past all politicians here were clamoring to be as close to Rupert Murdoch as possible. Now the very opposite seems to be the case.

PHILLIPS: We're watching it closely, Dan.

And back here at home, millions of Americans may have new reason to worry about the national debt and the looming deadline. President Obama says if the debt ceiling is not raised in time, your Social Security check may be put on hold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue, because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: But this morning we are getting word there's a new possible compromise that would assure the deadline is met. Reassuring or a jaded ploy driven by politics?

CNN's Dan Lothian is at the White House.

So, Dan, what's the news?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a proposal that been -- being put out there by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. It's unclear whether or not this is even a viable option but nonetheless what it would do is give President Obama the power to go ahead and raise the debt ceiling in three increments all the way through the 2012 elections.

Now already Senator McConnell receiving some heat from his own party. Conservatives saying that this is essentially caving to pressure from Democrats. The White House, in response to this proposal, put out a statement from -- by Jay Carney saying, in part, quote, "Senator McConnell's proposal reaffirmed what leaders of both parties have stated clearly that defaulting on America's past due bills is not an option. It is time for our leaders to find common ground and reduce our deficit in a way that will strengthen our economy."

So this is something that no doubt will get more scrutiny as lawmakers come here for their fourth meeting in a row this week here at the White House. Still both sides far apart.

And there's growing pressure from the business community, business organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sending a letter to not only the president but lawmakers urging them to find some kind of bipartisan agreement to put aside their differences and do what's best for the country -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Dan Lothian, at the White House. Dan, thanks.

And while the government may not be able to pay its bills, President Obama has sure raised a lot of 2012 campaign cash.

Our senior political editor Mark Preston joins us.

So, Mark, it looks like the numbers actually exceeded expectations. MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, they exceeded expectations by about $26 million, Kyra.

Look at these mind-blowing numbers right now. President Obama in 90 days was able to raise $86 million for more than 550,000 contributors. The average donation, Kyra, was $69. And why that's important is because it is well below the legal limit and these contributors continue to give to Obama over the next year and a half as he is running for reelection.

Now by comparison, if you were to take all the presidential candidates, looped them together, come up with a number, right now, it's about $35 million. So $86 million to $35 million clearly President Obama has a huge cash advantage for 2012 -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, meanwhile, the Republican National Committee targeting President Obama in four states today, right?

PRESTON: Yes, they are. And this just goes to show you that the Republican National Committee is trying to make President Obama own the economy. They are going to be running a 30-second ad in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Wisconsin and in New Hampshire.

Now this ad is very critical of President Obama on the issue of the economy, specifically on jobs, on foreclosures, on anything to do with the economy right now. They're saying that these numbers have increased.

Now again, not a lot of money that has been put behind this 30-second TV ad but it just goes to show you that the Republican National Committee right now and Republicans in general are really trying to tie the economy around Barack Obama's ankle as we head into 2012 -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Mark Preston, thanks so much.

We'll have your next political update in an hour. And also go to our Web site, 24/7, CNNPolitics.com.

Remembering former First Lady Betty Ford. The second part of a two- day memorial will take place this afternoon. Yesterday, first ladies past and present honored her at a funeral in California.

Now Mrs. Ford's body will be flown to Grand Rapids, Michigan where she'll lie in repose at the Gerald Ford Museum. She'll be buried right next to her husband.

Not since Brandi Chastain's jersey-ripping performance back in 1999 has America's interest in women's soccer been so high. The U.S. women's team faces France later today in semifinal play and of course CNN International anchor Zain Verjee, an athlete herself, joins us from London to talk about how incredibly cool this is.

(LAUGHTER)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It is tray cool, Kyra. It is a huge moment for U.S. women's soccer. Can they beat back France today? That's the big question.

And you know what? So many people around the world, as well as people watching them in Germany, are actually rooting and cheering for the U.S. They are the favorites to win the World Cup. I mean, they just had an incredible performance. You know?

Here you see them practicing. But they had this incredible match against Brazil and in the last minute, they scored a goal and then ended up winning on penalty shoot-outs. Everyone is still buzzing about just how I credible it was.

So the question is, can they pull it off today? And what many people are saying is that they've got the fitness, they've got the never-say- die attitude, and they hope that they can manage it today.

You know, they are very fit and the French are really going to have to work their derrieres off, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Do they?

VERJEE: To physically keep up.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: I think they'll be working their derrieres off.

Well, what do -- I mean what do you think? What are sports critics saying? Who do you think has the edge? I mean you've been watching this closely. What do you think?

VERJEE: Well, I mean, you know, you've got Germany out. That was a huge team and the favorites to win the competition in Germany. They got booted out. The Brazilians, a good team, they are out. And so now you've got Japan and Sweden is who the U.S. would face were they to win.

So I think they have a pretty good chance. A lot of people are saying that the U.S. women's soccer team is really up their game and this team has the magic. They have something special and they can make it happen and it could be 1999 again. You may be partying like it's 1999 again -- Kyra.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: We'll see more than just one soccer playing ripping off all their jerseys, yes. That was a moment, for sure.

VERJEE: Yes. Right. I remember.

PHILLIPS: Zain, thanks.

Well, he may have been on the run but agents say he was not traveling light. Guns, cash, we've got the photos that Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger probably doesn't want anyone to see.

Also just ahead, we'll hear from one of the jurors who sat on the Casey Anthony murder trial. If you thought the verdict was tough, imagine the hate mail and the nasty looks she's getting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking stories "Cross Country."

Take a look at the stash recovered in Whitey Bulger's Santa Monica, California apartment. The feds say they found 30 weapons including handguns and automatic rifle, even a grenade. Some of them were even hidden in the walls. And then there's the cash. More than $800,000, mostly in hundreds.

In California -- also in California, police arrest Rodney King for suspicion of driving under the influence. Remember Rodney King? Brutally beaten by officers during a traffic stop in 1991? As you may that case sparked the infamous L.A. riots a year later.

Woonsocket, Rhode Island, police say a college cheerleader may have saved his life -- his own life, rather, by using a tumbling move after falling four stories off a building. Dylan Smith did a backflip and landed on his feet. He suffered a broken pelvis.

When Casey Anthony gets out of prison, now actually the jurors who found -- OK. Where are we going? OK. We're going to the tease.

If you like Netflix you're not going to like this because there's big changes ahead and it's going to cost you a lot of money.

And a Hollywood actress says yes to an online invite from a Marine in Afghanistan to go on a blind date. We got all of the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: When Casey Anthony gets out of prison on Sunday, she'll walk right into a lawsuit. Texas search group is suing her for the money it spent looking for her missing daughter Caylee. It wants $115,000, plus interest. The group says Anthony allowed the search to continue for months even though she knew that Caylee was dead.

The jurors who found Casey Anthony not guilty have run into their own problems. Nasty looks on the street, hate mail, you name it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER FORD, CASEY ANTHONY JUROR: I've seen things on Facebook probably from the same person. You know, you're ignorant, you should be ashamed of yourself, you let a murderer go free, et cetera, et cetera. You know? Things like that. And I just -- I don't want to read it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Our Gary Tuchman actually had a chance to talk with juror number 3 and he joins us live from Orlando.

And she told you she agonized over this verdict, right, Gary? GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No question about it, Kyra. And I thought one of the most fascinating things that Jennifer Ford told me was, we all remember defense attorneys after the verdict was reached celebrating in the bar, having champagne, you know? One of the defense attorneys giving the media the finger for taking camera shots inside.

What's really interesting is she tells us they believe that much of what they heard from those defense attorneys in opening statements were a bunch of lies. The main things they said. The defense attorneys say that Caylee Anthony drowned and that Casey Anthony was molested by her father and, therefore, this family kept all kinds of secrets. They didn't believe a word of that.

Nevertheless, what Jennifer Ford told me was because the prosecution didn't present enough evidence, therefore, there was reasonable doubt and they could not find her guilty. But they were deeply suspicious of Casey Anthony.

This juror told me the vote was 6-6 to convict for manslaughter and she was, at one time, one of the six who wanted to find her guilty of manslaughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORD: I wanted to investigate it further to see if it fit based on the evidence that we were given.

TUCHMAN: So, what convince you and the five others to switch your votes and vote for not guilty?

FORD: I think everyone will tell you the same thing -- it's just lack of hard evidence. It's, like I said the duct tape and the chloroform and things like that, you could -- if you took a hard -- a good, hard look at it, you could find of -- there was so -- there was a lot of doubt surrounding all of those certain things. So, there's not enough to make anything stick.

TUCHMAN: So you don't necessarily think she's innocent but you feel you didn't have enough proof to find her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?

FORD: Right. I don't know either way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: A couple of things we didn't know about until after I talked to this juror number one in the jury room, a lot of heating arguing. They respected each other, these jurors, but there was a lot of arguing about these counts.

And, secondly, we heard a lot about how they came very dressed up to their last day of the trial. The assumption was they knew a verdict would be coming. But Jennifer Ford said that was not the truth.

They had no idea a verdict would come that day. It was a coincidence they were dressed up that day. It took them hours into that day to realize that they were unanimous and they would have a verdict -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So, how has this changed her life, Gary? I mean, is she living in hiding? Has she changed her ways with regard to feeling more secure?

TUCHMAN: She's in a lot of pain, a lot of emotional pain. We spent hours talking before we went on camera because she was afraid that this would make things worse for her, and I couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't.

But I also told her we would tell the human side of the story, because no matter how we feel about the verdict and I suspect that most of our viewers, as most Americans, don't feel it was the right verdict, nevertheless, we can't attack the jurors, because if we attack the jurors, who will serve on a jury? That's something we have to keep in mind.

One other thing I want to mention, I usually don't talk like this but I want to tell you I haven't had a chance to talk to you since you've been back so I want to welcome you back and ask you how the babies are doing.

PHILLIPS: Because you were always on assignment. And they're doing great. I can't wait for you to meet them. Gary Tuchman, great to see you, even though it's only on TV -- my good friend Gary.

Well, we've got some showbiz headlines for you now.

Who is afraid of Kelly Osbourne? Well, apparently, some would-be thieves. Check this out. The 26-year-old tweeted that she singlehandedly stopped two boys from stealing a car in the streets of London. All she said was "Oy" and they ran off. An hour later, Osbourne tweeted that she stopped two boys from lacrosse sticks from turning over a car.

And look who's coming to "CIA." Ted Danson replacing Laurence Fishburne as a new leader of the team. According to the "Hollywood Reporter," the show's executive producer made the casting announcement. Danson debuts on "CSI," Wednesday, September 21st, on CBS.

And Arnold Schwarzenegger returning to the big screen with "The Last Stand." The former governor who created quite a scandal by fathering a child with his housekeeper is going to play a small town sheriff.

So, how about the actress who's decided to serve her country? After a friendly pressure, shall we say, she said yes to an online invitation from a U.S. Marine in Afghanistan.

CNN international anchor Zain Verjee is live with all of the scoop.

So, tell us about this video that's gone viral.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, Mila Kunis, the Hollywood star, has decided to serve her country and she decided to do that by going on a date. Well, what happened, Kyra, was that a U.S. Marine in Afghanistan uploaded a video on YouTube and he basically said, "Please come with me to a Marine Corps ball in Greenville, North Carolina."

Just listen to what he said and how he put his proposal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. SCOTT MOORE, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Hi, Mila. It's Sergeant Moore. But you can call me Scott. I just wanted to take a moment out of my day to invite you to the Marine Corps Ball on November 18th in Greenville, North Carolina, with yours truly. So, take a second and think about it, and get back to me. All right. Bye now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

VERJEE: Kyra, how cute is that? Sergeant Scott Moore there in Afghanistan.

And you know what? I bet you, he is really surprised to know the answer was actually yes. She was doing an interview with Justin Timberlake for their movie "Friends with Benefits," and he was like, come on, just do it, do it. And she said, all right, all right, I'll do it.

That piece of video has got 800,000 hits. He was really cute in it. I would have said yes. Kyra, you?

PHILLIPS: Of course, yes. Well, I guess, I can't say yes. You know, I'm not single.

But if I were single, heck, yes! I'd give the guy a date! He was very charming and very creative. That takes a lot of confidence to do that, Zain.

VERJEE: Yes. Tougher than fighting the enemy sometimes, you know?

PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly. Dating life, my God.

All right. We'll see how it goes, we'll follow up. Zain, thanks.

VERJEE: OK.

PHILLIPS: We got some big changes at Netflix, the company known for renting DVDs by mail is raising prices and the price hike is pretty significant.

Alison Kosik, are we still going to be able to buy these movies for a semi-good price?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It depends on your situation. Get ready, Kyra, to pay up to 60 percent more. But this is only for some of the members who use Netflix. So, I'm going to give you the break down there. Take a look. Before this price change, it was $9.99 for one DVD a month by mail and Internet streaming.

Well, now, both services are going to cost $15.98. That equals a 60 percent increase. Why is this happening? Because you have to buy everything ala carte now. It's like walking into a nice fancy restaurant and paying for everything separately.

So, if you want streaming, you have to pay $7.99. And if you want a DVD by mail, you have on pay another $7.99 for that plan.

Now, of course, you do have the option, you can downgrade. You can get one service and cut your costs.

And get ready, this new pricing starts now, if you're a current customer. If you're a current customer, all of these price changes, they kick in on September 1st -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So, why the increase? But, you know, Netflix -- it risks losing a lot of customers over this, right?

KOSIK: Oh, sure. You know what? Netflix is blaming higher costs. You know what? The fact is streaming is growing more and more popular.

Think about it. Internet connections are getting faster and faster, you can watch videos on any number of mobile devices right now, but it's expensive for Netflix to do this because it has to pay to get streaming rights to the movies and I winds up costing hundreds of millions of dollars. You know, Netflix has to make up the money somewhere -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, Alison, while I have you here, business news. I'm just getting word in my ear, Sky News reporting now. You know, we have been talking so much about Rupert Murdoch and the hits financially that his company is taking since this scandal has come forward.

Sky News now is reporting that News Corporation has dropped its bid for BSkyB. We'll have more details on that coming up. Letting Alison Kosik know, too. She can check the details that have for us.

This is one more hit, Alison, right, for the media mogul?

KOSIK: It really is. You think about what the past, just the past week has been for us News Corp, you know, watching its stock prices class A and class B shares, they have really just plunged over the past week and now, this could be just yet another blow to the stock today.

The markets open in about four minutes. We'll see how News Corp shares do -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Alison, thanks so much for playing.

Once again, Sky News reporting News Corp dropping its bid for BSkyB. We will follow that, of course, throughout the hour.

All right. It could be another instance of the cover-up being worse than the alleged crime. Former pitching great Roger Clemens, instead of baseball's Hall of Fame, he could end up in the federal prison. Live analysis as Clemens' perjury trial gets under way today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now:

Major repercussions for the Murdoch empire phone-hacking scandal. British Prime Minister David Cameron announced a broad public inquiry into media ethics.

Debt talks at the White House scheduled to resume this afternoon. Negotiations still stalled over whether there will be any tax increases to reduce the deficit.

And Wall Street just about to open for the day. Stocks expected to rise. Actually it just opened. Thank you, Scotty. Concerns, of course, over a global slowdown are easing for now. That's the good news.

OK. Also happening right now, drilling down on America's airport insecurity. Live images from Capitol Hill as a House subcommittee takes up a homeland security report that says more than 25,000 security breaches have occurred at U.S. airports since November 2001.

I want to talk about this in detail with a former inspector general of the Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo, she's live in Charleston, South Carolina.

So, you know, Mary, the TSA is saying, come on, cut us a break here. We're talking about one percent, possibly even less of the billions of people that fly every day.

MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Well, they're right about that. There are about 1.5 million people every day at 500 airports so that's about seven incidents a day. And they're right in that that is much better than it was before when the airlines were doing security, we had hundreds per day, if not thousands. No one was even really keeping track and they probably missed anywhere from 30 to 100 percent of the test items that the FAA even took through the airport.

So, it's better than it was but it's still troubling because we're spending a lot more on security. And in that number, there's an alarming number of 2,600 incidents in 10 years where people got through into security without being properly screened. That's the bad number.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's also fair to say we haven't seen another 9/11, so we're doing something right.

SCHIAVO: Absolutely. We're doing a far better job of deterrence and actually capturing people and we are doing a better job at finding things at the checkpoints. The TSA is able to find weapons, bombs, knives, et cetera.

And the encouraging news in this is that they have told Congress and they've told the General Accounting Office that they're going to try to improve their explosives detection equipment. Now that was virtually nonexistent. We had very little of it on September 11, 2001 and we have a lot more now. But the terrorists haven't forgot about that tactic either.

PHILLIPS: Mary, thanks. We'll follow the hearing throughout the morning. Appreciate it.

Another sports hero accused of gaining greatness from juicing. Seven- time Cy Young award-winning pitcher Roger Clemens on trial today. Opening arguments set to get underway this morning. Clemens is accused of lying to members of Congress about alleged use of steroids.

Legal analyst Sunny Hostin from "In Session" our sister network TruTV, joining me live from New York.

So Sunny, The interesting thing here we're talking about this morning. Ten women, two men on the jury and none of them are big baseball fans.

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION" ON TRUTV: That's right. And that's a plus says the defense team here because I think many people feel that Roger Clemens is just such a star in their eyes that it's not possible that a jury in D.C. would convict him of anything so beloved.

Well, this jury, as you mentioned, female dominated, is not -- they don't know much about baseball. And, in fact, one of the jurors, a female juror said, I don't know much about sports at all. And in response, the defense attorney said well, that's a plus in this case.

PHILLIPS: Now his trainer says that he juiced him. Clemens still says no way. So where can this really go when it's just a he said/he said?

HOSTIN: Well, basically, this is a perjury trial and so they need to determine whether or not Roger Clemens lied to Congress in 2008 when he denied ever using steroids, ever using human growth hormone.

And so this is basically, as you mentioned, a he said/he said, but it's about credibility. It's a credibility call by this jury. And we know there are going to be many witnesses put forth by this prosecution, including Brian McNamee, who was his personal, who says, yes, I did it. But that testimony is also going to be buttressed by Andy Petit, the former Yankee, who says that Roger Clemens admitted to him he certainly was taking steroids and human growth hormones.

So while a credibility call by this jury, there will be people that will testify for this prosecution that do say and maintain that he did, in fact, take these drugs.

PHILLIPS: And, Sunny, quickly, if convicted, what next?

HOSTIN: Well, he's looking at about 30 years in prison, a $1.5 million fine. That's not going to happen if he gets convicted. It's a six-count indictment. Under the federal guidelines it's about 15 to 20 months in prison if convicted of all six counts.

PHILLIPS: Sunny Hostin, thanks for weighing in.

HOSTIN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Building anything in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a challenge to say the least. Building 11 orphanages, some would call that miraculous. The hero in this story, this woman. Her name is Endisha Fareed and she's giving hundreds of orphans a home and hope.

And CNN's Asieh Namdar had a chance to interview Endisha and just describe her life growing up in a refugee camp, and how did she get out?

ASIEH NAMDAR, HLN SENIOR WRITER: It's a remarkable story, Kyra. She's only 28 years old and she's accomplished more in her 28 years than most of us have.

She went to extreme poverty and sought terrible things in refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan. And she had that a-ha moment at a very young age, that I want to make sure the children of Afghanistan, the future of this country, will never have to endure what I went through.

And I just want to read one thing she told me which is also on her web site. She says, "For me is there a practical remedy for the ignorance oppression, hatred and poverty so deeply embedded in society. Raise a new generation of new boys and girls."

PHILLIPS: And a new generation, I mean, with this philosophy, these kids in poverty, they turn to extremism. They end up being the people that want to kill us and she knows that. She saw firsthand how that happens so that's why she wants to do this even more.

NAMDAR: It's an interesting question because I asked her that. I said how do you make sure when children have experienced so much tragedy, so much poverty, how do you make sure they don't turn into fundamentalism and extremism?

And she said my number one answer, education and equality so all of these kids believe they are equal. No one is better, no one is richer, no one is poorer. They're all equal, they're all treated with the same respect. And education. Once you're educated, when you school, you knows the difference between right and wrong.

PHILLIPS: We have seen it work all across the world.

Asieh, it's a great piece.

NAMDAR: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: She's an amazing woman.

NAMDAR: She truly is.

PHILLIPS: And you can nominate her for the CNN hero, as well.

If you want to read the whole article about this incredible woman's story, just check out CNN World page on CNN.com. And once again, you can see it at the top, you can nominate her for a CNN hero.

Well, Dr. Phil, the TV star, he heads to Capitol Hill. He's begging senators to help many of his female viewers in trouble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PHIL MCGRAW, PSYCHOLOGIST: Look, this is America. You should be able to enjoy a peaceful existence in your life. You shouldn't be in a situation where somebody is beaten on you and intimidating you and terrorizing you. And we've got to education women as to where the --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

And the Metrodome roof collapse video made headlines months ago. We're going to tell you what's being done to make it rise again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Dr. Phil testifying before Congress today about domestic violence, a subject near and dear to his heart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCGRAW: Well Kyra, our show is really driven by our viewers. We deal with the subject matter that they ask us to deal with and we get so many letters about this.

Look, two million women a year are impacted by domestic violence and 10 million children watch this, they observe it. Those kids don't do well. The women don't do well. So we are very passionate about this.

Look, this is America. You should be able to enjoy a peaceful existence in your life. You shouldn't be in a situation where somebody is beating on you and intimidating you and terrorizing you and we've got to educate women as to where the resources are, what they can do, what the options are in the court system.

I've been asked to come here as a content expert to talk about what the needs are and what needs to happen from a psychological perspective with this very important legislation, the Violence Against Women Act.

PHILLIPS: Dr. Phil, you know you'll have your critics and they will say to you, OK, doc, with the economy so tight, the president even says that Social Security checks now may be in jeopardy.

How do you make the argument that, hey, this has to be funded? We have got to support this?

MCGRAW: Well, I make the argument because I'm so much a proponent of family. And when you've got families that are being disintegrated, and the very fact that we do have economic strife right now, does nothing but increase the stress on these families. And when the stress goes up, financially, there is a trickledown effect into the family and you see spikes in domestic violence that affects these women and affects these children.

I think if we start putting things ahead of taking care of those that maybe can't take care of themselves, particularly the children caught in these situations, then you've got a real messed up priority system. I think this is something that has to stay on the short list of what we focus on.

PHILLIPS: Where do you think we fail victims of domestic abuse the most?

MCGRAW: Well, I think we fail them by not being able to have an open dialogue about this. Look, this is probably the most underreported crime in America. And the reason for that is often shame and guilt. The victims feel like they've done something wrong or that they're going to be criticized if they come forward and talk about this.

And I think we have to let these folks know, look, it's OK. We're not going to judge you. We're not going to turn a deaf ear to you. We are going to hear you and we are going to help you. That's why this legislation is so important that it gets reauthorized because it provides counseling, it provides transitional housing, it provides so many of the resources that women need if they're caught in this kind of situation.

PHILLIPS: All right. Since you're in the Capitol's rotunda, let's go ahead and talk the debt ceiling. Let's put a clinician's eye on this if you will. You bring people together all the time to get real on your show, working with dysfunctional families. Well, there's no more dysfunctional family than Congress. We're stalled right now on these debt talks.

So how would you get in the middle of this and negotiate or convince them to negotiate a deal?

MCGRAW: Well, look. Here's the thing. This is not a time for partisan politics at all. This is a time that we need to understand these people are working for us. These are the people that we hired and we brought here to do this job and they need to do it. And if they can't come together about this because of party politics, then I've got a real problem with that. I do.

I think we need to put the party politics aside and we need to say what is best for the American people? What can we do to serve the most people the best. And I hope that's what's going to happen in the final analysis, that both sides will step up and say we need to remember who we're working for here.

PHILLIPS: You know, you sound like a politician right now.

Are you thinking about running for office?

MCGRAW: Now, that's the rudest thing I've had said to me all morning. Take that back, Kyra! PHILLIPS: Is that an insult?

(LAUGHTER)

MCGRAW: That's an insult, are you kidding me? No. I'm just joking. Sort of. I don't want to sound like a politician, but I do want to sound like an employer. And I really do think that Congress works for the American people. They need to do their job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, coming up next hour, the rest of my interview with Dr. Phil. See what he thinks about Michele Bachmann's husband and their Christian counseling center that's under fire for allegations of persuading gay and lesbian clients that God can make them straight.

Remember this? The Metrodome roof collapse caught on camera? We're going to show you what's being done now to get that roof back to normal.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Much, much cooler day when that happened. Do you remember that winter? And how long and cold it was? Well, now we're in the heat of summer And I'm Rob Marciano in mid-town Atlanta. We'll be reporting about the scorching heat after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: New development now in the scandal over the Murdoch media empire. Just minutes ago, we learned that his company, News Corporation, is withdrawing its bid to take over British satellite broadcaster BSKYB. The decision comes amid a huge outcry over allegations that his newspapers bribed police officials and hacked the cell phones of as many as 4,000 people.

We'll have the latest from London just near the top of the hour.

Checking stories across country now.

Who can forget this? The Metrodome roof in Minneapolis collapsing under weight of a huge amount of snow last December. Well, take a look at it now. After a $22 million repair project the roof was inflated today.

The budget crisis in California raising college tuition again; students in the UC system will pay nearly 10 percent in the fall. As for the Cal State system, 12 percent more.

And the girls gone wild are literally sizzling. Tour bus, its tour bus had its air-conditioner ripped off by a low overpass in Delaware, Ohio. The bridge in fact is called, "the can opener". Hello, the driver said he couldn't see the low clearance sign in the heavy rain.

Well, the weather seems to have gone wild. Stifling heat is settling in over the south of Texas to Virginia today. A dozen states under heat advisories. Meteorologist Rob Marciano, live in Atlanta. Hey, Rob. MARCIANO: Hey, Kyra. You know Atlanta is in that mix as well. It's been a long -- going to last a couple of weeks. It seems like everybody across the south and southeast has been enduring some heat of record proportions. Places like Oklahoma City haven't -- have seen temperatures rise above the 100-degree mark for 18 of the past 20 days.

And in cities like Atlanta, here in mid-town, you know, you get a lot of pollution and you get that ozone cooking because of the sun and the heat and the pollutants and that causes bad air quality as well.

And it's been the humidity of course, we haven't seen a ton of record highs but we've seen a handful. Here are some and they stretch from the northeast all the way back towards the southern plains, Newark, New Jersey, almost touched 100 degrees yesterday. Fort Smith has been seeing century-mark plus for a few days now, 108 in Fort Smith and Vicksburg, Mississippi seeing 99 degrees as well.

The northeast seeing a little of bit of relief cycle today with the some drier and somewhat cooler air; so we only have about 11 or 12 states that are in excessive heat watches advisories or warnings. And those paint areas obviously are the hot spots including Memphis and parts of the Carolinas where heat indices will -- will range anywhere from 105 to 115 and that's dangerous heat no doubt about that.

Actual high temperatures today, these temperatures don't include humidity and they're measured in the shade, could reach 101, 102 in places like Dallas, Texas.

So here at Piedmont Park, you know this is an area, you know, Kyra where typically come out -- people come out here for their morning run. Now granted, a lot of folks are at work now, but there's maybe two or three people here brave enough to take that jog earlier this morning. You know, they had boot camps out here, but that was before the sun came up.

So like we like to say stay hydrated. If you do have to work outside, you know, try to do it in the early morning or afternoon into your driving past up.

PHILLIPS: Is that where you were, attending that 4:00 a.m. boot camp?

MARCIANO: Yes, absolutely. I was right there with the whistle and the stopwatch, man cracking that whip, baby. I've got to get it done before the sun comes up.

PHILLIPS: That's why you look so good, Rob Marciano.

All right, well, there was a lot of swinging on the ball field, no bats, but a lot of punches. The bench is clear in the Minor League brawl and now dozens of players getting punished. Sports is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And stories making news later today at the bottom of the next hour. Katherine Greg, the long-time girlfriend of Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger has another hearing for a possible bail.

And at 12:20 Eastern a funeral procession for former First Lady, Betty Ford to Parks Palm Desert, California and there's a welcoming ceremony at 5:15 Eastern in Grand Rapids, Michigan and a prayer service that follows at 6:00 Eastern.

We're following lots of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with CNN's Brian Todd, he's live in Washington -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, we've all been going all out to cover the end of the "News of the World" and the hacking scandal, but what about Rupert Murdoch's media entity? And how they've been covering it? We'll tell you at the top of the hour.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. Big mistake or good business move? Some grocery stores are doing away with those self-checkout lanes saying they're too impersonal. I'll have details coming up.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Zain Verjee covering the U.S. women's soccer match against France; that's happening a little bit later today. Do they have a chance of winning and making it through to the Women's World Cup final in Germany? I'll tell you what the pundits are saying.

PHILLIPS: All right, thanks guys.

Also coming up in the next hour, more of my chat with Dr. Phil; to see what he thinks about Michele Bachmann's husband and their Christian Counseling Center that's under fire for allegations of persuading gay and lesbian clients, that God can make them straight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Baseball, all-star game? Well, one big swing. It's coming down to one big swing.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS ANCHOR: Sometimes that's all it takes especially when the game's dominated by pitcher. Kyra that always happens in the all-star games; the pitchers dominate, runs are hard to come by. But the big blast was fit for a king or at least the prince.

The Brewers Prince Fielder takes to the plate and just rips one. A three-run bomb off Rangers CJ Wilson. That helped the National League build a 5-1 lead. And from there as usual the arms dominated, and watch Padre's reliever. He's welcome in the game. Great pitcher, great guy and sometimes a goofball, running on the field and he does this to get to those pitcher's mound. I don't know why; just because he can. The National League won.

You know team Nuggets, home field advantage in the World Series.

Let's go to the minors. The Spokane Indians playing the Vancouver Canadians -- ok. Everything looks normal, just a routine for south. Watch what happens next. The runner gets a little clipped right there -- I don't like that. And then things go crazy. Some pushes, some punches, both benches clear. It's a huge brawl. The Northwest League didn't like that teams were showing such bad behavior. Four players suspended, including one pitcher who sucker punched the guy at the end of the fight.

Of the 62 players in the game, 51 have been fined. That is a brawl.

The U.S. Women's soccer team hopes to have some magic left. They take on France in the semis after that dramatic come from behind win over Brazil. The match starts in about an hour and a half. You know who is watching? Ellen DeGeneres. The talk show host tweeted, "I can't wait for U.S. versus France. I'll be cheering."

A lot of American's will be when the match starts. U.S. women catching All sources of (INAUDIBLE) after that amazing come from behind win over the weekend against Brazil. And of course, with a win, they head to the Championship Game. They could end up at Sweden again. They lost to Sweden earlier in the women's world cup -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jeff.

FISCHEL: Ok.

PHILLIPS: See, we're watching that the women, by the way.

FISCHEL: it is great --

PHILLIPS: This is awesome. There should be more jerseys flying off. It's like Betty Chastain.

FISCHEL: That is the mash that everyone thinks about. These are two huge moments in women's world soccer. Hopefully they can build on it with another championship.

PHILLIPS: It's pretty awesome.

FISCHEL: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Jeff.