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Obama Wants Debt Blueprint by Saturday; FBI Investigating Murdoch Empire; Planes Collide on Boston Runway; Cops Shut Down Lemonade Stand; NASA Will Survive End of Shuttle; Ice Wars; Rihanna, New Facebook Queen; Stewart Mocks "Storming Out" Reports

Aired July 15, 2011 - 09:59   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And it's 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 7:00 a.m. in the West. I'm Kyra Phillips. Thanks for joining us.

The drawdown of troops in Afghanistan now under way. More than 1,200 are either out or on their way home. 10,000 U.S. troops are being pulled out by the end of the year.

A top Murdoch executive resigns; Rebekah Brooks, former head of the disgraced tabloid "News of the World" is gone.

And in Southern California, drivers buckling up for Carmageddon. A bridge demolition is going to close down the 405, one of L.A.'s busiest highways.

Now the nation's debt crisis and a new deadline. Forget August 2nd the President says, it's decision time now. And here's what he told Congress. You've got 24 hours or less to move forward on a deal.

And then there's this dire message from the big three global credit ratings agencies. If a deal isn't reached soon, they're going to downgrade the nation's credit standing.

The president speaks to the American public today, a news conference less than two hours away. We will carry it live.

CNN's Dan Lothian's at the White House. He's waiting for that news conference to begin and then our Washington -- in our Washington Bureau Wolf Blitzer, he is going to join us for special coverage at just before the end of the hour.

Wolf, let's go ahead and start with you. You know, you've covered Washington for a long time. You've had this beat. Has it ever been this bad?

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": Yes. There have been moments that have been very, very tense, and a lot of us remember 1995, when Bill Clinton was president of the United States, Newt Gingrich was speaker, they had a showdown that actually resulted in the shutting down of the U.S. government.

They went eyeball to eyeball on that issue. And remember, as a result of that the Republicans and Newt Gingrich, they suffered in the polls. Bill Clinton the following year was re-elected president in '96, beating Bob Dole, and a lot of the Republicans, especially Mitch McConnell right now, the senate minority leader, they lived through that period.

They remember what happened when there was that eyeball to eyeball government shutdown, and the Republicans paid a significant price in the sense that Bill Clinton was re-elected. They don't want barack Obama to be re-elected next year so for many of them who lived through the government shutdown in '95. It still hovers very much on their minds right now.

And I think that helps explain why the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has come up with this desperate last-minute effort to avoid what would effectively be default and a lot of people would presumably blame the Republicans for that.

Many would blame the Democrats and the president for that. But Mitch McConnell doesn't want to take any chances, not only politically, but even more importantly economically because the economic fallout, higher interest rates, devaluation of the dollar, greater unemployment, stock markets plummeting, all of those scenarios could potentially unfold.

And that's why I think he and Harry Reid, they are working desperately right now to come up with some sort of back channel resolution.

PHILLIPS: Now, you interviewed GOP rising star Paul Ryan yesterday. Let's listen to a little bit of that for a minute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: And look, we just don't think it's a good idea to be raising taxes in this very, very soft economy. And yes, the president says he wants the tax increases to kick in, in about a year and a half time.

But the problem is when you're raising taxes on businesses they're forward-looking and if they see taxes going up even higher than they are already scheduled to occur in current law, it puts a chilling effect on hiring.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, do you get the feeling that any of these politicians realize how angry and scared Americans are right now, Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes. I think they do. I think Paul Ryan especially. He is a very smart guy. He understands what's going on. He has a different attitude than obviously liberal Democrats, including the president of the United States.

But he's not one of these Republicans in the House that's going to vote against an increase in the debt ceiling under any circumstances. Michele Bachmann, for example, says she'll vote against any increase in the debt ceiling and the debt limit.

He says he'll vote for it if, if it's accompanied by significant spending cuts. And he's also open to no increase in taxes, but he's open to tax reform, eliminating some of those outrageous loopholes in the subsidies.

But he wants to make sure it's balanced with a reduction in tax rates, if you will, so it does spur the economy. So he's a smart guy. He's very serious when it comes to this kind of stuff. He's got his ideas about Medicare.

I think he was surprised like a lot of us when the president was willing to put Medicare, even Social Security, on the negotiating table as part of a broad $4.5 trillion grand scheme, which seems to be going down the tubes right now, not going to happen. But I think he was at least happy that the president was willing to talk about Medicare cuts.

PHILLIPS: All right. Wolf Blitzer, we look forward to the live coverage coming up in less than an hour. Thanks so much. We will go live to the White House, and Dan Lothian as well. Stay with CNN for live coverage of that news conference like I said, less than an hour from hour, 11:00 Eastern Time.

A key figure in the Rupert Murdoch media scandal has resigned. Rebekah Brooks was editor of the tabloid "News of the World" when some of the most disgraceful abuses allegedly took place. She was later promoted to a top executive post, and many people were outraged that she even kept her job after the newspaper was shut down.

However, there is praise coming from Rupert Murdoch's son and company chairman. James Murdoch says in a statement, quote, "She has been one of the outstanding editors of her generation and she can be proud of many accomplishments as an executive."

All right. Looks like we're going to move on to New York now and CNN's Susan Candiotti. Susan, you've been following the other part of this investigation, and that is the one that's taking place here in the U.S. The FBI now being brought in after U.S. lawmakers asking for its own -- or asking for their own probe of this scandal.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The question of course is where, where will this investigation lead. We know that the FBI is in day two of its investigation after just launching one into whether phone records and possibly voicemails of 9/11 victims were hacked here in the United States, of 9/11 victims.

And so the FBI, here's how it all started, is looking specifically at an article that was published in Great Britain talking about a private eye who may have been approached by "News of the World" and/or News Corporation to be hired to hack into these phone records.

So that appears to be the starting point here. Of course, this news comes with -- is a tremendous relief to a lot of 9/11 victims who have been calling on the Justice Department to look into this allegation. And I spoke with Jim Riches who lost his son, a firefighter on 9/11.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If somebody went in and took our information and took our last messages from our sons or our -- what we were talking about, it's not -- none of their business unless they can ask us and if we're willing to tell them we'll tell them. But to invade privacy like that, America has rights, we have rights, and they can't just trample on the law. They should be held accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: And so in fact, Mr. Riches and other 9/11 families are telling us that if there is evidence that they can find that this did happen then certainly they want the FBI to prosecute whoever is responsible to the fullest extent of the law. Kyra --

PHILLIPS: All right. Susan Candiotti out of New York. Thank you so much.

Let's head overseas. Zain Verjee out of London. Guess what she's talking about, folks, of course, soccer. The U.S. women's team just so close to touching that World Cup and yes, Zain is going to be there covering it for us as well.

Should be out there on the field showing Abby Wambach a few moves or two. She's got some skill, right, Zain?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. I'm going to be showing her how to play as they get ready for that final showdown against Japan. Dare to dream, Kyra. They are just one match away from history.

Now, there are not going to be vuvuzelas like in the World Cup in South Africa that will be trumpeting, but the Germans are a little bit more muted. But there is so much excitement building up that the people, the fans in Germany are actually, the majority of them, rooting for the U.S. they've been the underdogs, and they have really shone in this tournament.

They are tough. They're talented. They're resilient. They have amazing stamina, and they really are a great team. Now, for Japan, this is also a big deal because they are highly motivated because of the tsunami. They want a win because they get to lift up their whole country.

Japan's kind of a chauvinistic country, Kyra. For many people they say it's the women's football team, the soccer team here, that is really giving them a source of inspiration. The Japanese are also a really skilled team.

So the U.S. is really going to have to be on top of its game. And this is a team that could clinch history and clinch the world cup. I'll be there watching. And it's going to be great. The whole world is gripped by this, Kyra. As is the U.S. and it's been such a big boost for soccer in the U.S. have you ever played? PHILLIPS: Yes, I did, but a very, very long time ago. I played back in the day when the only hero was Pele. OK? So it shows how far this sport has come. And we love seeing those women out there, you know, doing such a great job. They're going to bring home that cup for us. It will be awesome.

VERJEE: We'll keep our fingers, toes, and eyes crossed.

PHILLIPS: There we go. All right, we'll be talking to you over the weekend and of course, Monday. Zain, thanks.

All right, coming up next right after the break, we're taking you live to the International Space Station. Guess who these guys got a call from? You're going to find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And a quick reminder. President Barack Obama scheduled to hold a news conference 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time today. He is expected to discuss his efforts to raise the federal debt limit. We will bring it to you live in its entirety, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, just about 45 or so minutes away.

All right, checking stories cross country now. Pretty scary few moments at Boston's Logan Airport last night. Two planes colliding on the runway right before takeoff. A Delta 767's left wing crushed the tail section of a smaller Delta commuter plane. Luckily, both planes -- well, actually, everything ended up being OK. Everybody had to evacuate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kind of crazy that we couldn't sell lemonade. So -- but it was fun, but we had to listen to the cops and shut it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Crazy indeed. Can you believe these girls got busted? That's right. A lemonade stand, police in Midway, Georgia shut it down because the girls didn't have a business license or a vendor's permit. According to the chief, the law is the law, girls. So now they say they were just trying to earn money to go to the Water Park.

And get this. An Indianapolis man learns about a love letter written by his high school sweetheart 53 years later. It was signed, "love forever, Vonnie." Of course, by the woman who would later become his wife. They eventually divorced, but he says he's still anxious to read it and share it with his kids.

As if the shuttle mission isn't exciting enough, John Zarrella, the astronauts now waiting for a call from the president.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Kyra. At about 12:30 Eastern Time President Obama is expected to place a phone call to the 10 crew members up there, the six International Space Station astronauts, cosmonauts, and the four shuttle astronauts.

And as we are speaking, Kyra, the 10 of them are actually holding a news conference in space. And you know, as you can imagine, they have been asked repeatedly about life after the space shuttle and questions about what memorabilia they might be leaving behind.

Commander Chris Ferguson, the shuttle commander of this very last shuttle flight talked about what life will be like after space shuttle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMMANDER CHRISTOPHER FERGUSON, "ATLANTIS" ASTRONAUT: No doubt that this is a -- it's a very dynamic time in human space flight as the space shuttle draws to a close without a real clear picture of how the next U.S. astronauts will get there.

But rest assured that there are plans under way. We'll be slowly transitioning to commercial companies and I -- while it's a little personally disheartening to see the shuttle come.

We understand that sometimes you need to stop working on what you're working on so you can afford to pay for the next generation of whatever it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: You know, it's funny. I talked to Chris Ferguson, interviewed him a month or so ago, and one of the things I asked him about was Mars and going to Mars and he said he's disappointed about where we are as far as that goes now.

He said, you know, Mars has been 20 years away for the last 30 years, which I thought was, you know, a classic response. And Kyra, there's going to be a closing ceremony and they are not saying, the astronauts, exactly what will take place during that closing ceremony.

You know, next week when they close the hatch out and they separate for the last time from the International Space Station, but that's likely to be a dramatic moment. And I think NASA missed the boat, or I should say space ship, because you and I should be up there right now. They should have flown us.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I totally agree. I'm already working my Navy buddies now in the astronaut program.

ZARRELLA: There you go.

PHILLIPS: Yes, looking for the next place to -- don't worry, John, I'll take you with me, I promise. I'll work it for both of us. I know it's a big dream for both of us.

ZARRELLA: All right.

PHILLIPS: Speaking of the Navy, our Kaj Larson used to be a Navy SEAL, actually once a SEAL always a SEAL, but he's journeyed many unique places in his life and career, but nothing quite like this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAJ LARSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 2007, a scientific exploration planted a Russian flag at the bottom of the arctic sea bed. What some publicly dismissed as a political stunt was privately considered in some circles a Sputnik-like moment.

According to secret leaked cables published by Wikileaks the rest of the world began scrambling to make sure they got a piece of the arctic pie. That's how I came to be at a U.S. Navy facility in the Arctic Circle to observe the escalating tension and activity in the region.

At daybreak, we headed out to rendezvous with one of the two U.S. nuclear submarines patrolling in the arctic.

(on camera): You know planes, trains and automobiles, the CNN version, ice planes, helicopters, and submarines.

(voice-over): The helicopter dropped us and our equipment at the rendezvous site, a three-foot-thick sheet of ice several miles away from the base camp. With no ocean in sight, hundreds of miles from the nearest cell phone tower, it was hard to imagine how on earth a submarine would find me.

(on camera): Are we a go for ice man surfacing over.

(voice-over): An X in the ice indicated where the submarine was to surface. Then the ground started to rumble.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right, Kaj, you've been to war, but never an ice war. This was pretty unbelievable.

LARSON: It was actually a pretty extraordinary experience. Well, you know, I follow in the footsteps of greatness because you set the trend for us by going up there.

PHILLIPS: A long time ago. It was pretty awesome.

LARSON: But you know, a lot has actually changed in that time. There had been some tectonic shifts happening at the top of the world. One of them is that the ice is melting at a pretty rapid rate, opening up access to all kinds of new resources, and because of that you're seeing a resurgence of interest in the arctic, hence U.S. military submarines and other nations' military assets as well.

PHILLIPS: Describe to me what it was like to be on board that sub.

LARSON: Well, just watching it come through the ice, break through a three-foot-thick sheet of ice, was awesome.

PHILLIPS: A new kind of ice cutter. It wasn't a coast guard ship that I've seen. It was actually a submarine, which is pretty surreal.

LARSON: Straight up from 350 feet below. It was pretty impressive. But being on the submarine is an awesome experience, and it really highlighted the challenges of operating underneath the ice and in the arctic environment.

PHILLIPS: And let's talk about why this is happening, I mean, exactly what countries are doing, the purpose behind this mission.

LARSON: Well, there's eight countries that are part of the arctic council, but you know, big picture of what's happening is because of all the new resources, potentially a third of the world's natural gas, 90 billion barrels of oil up there.

There's just renewed interest in exploiting those resources. And where you see competition for resources you also see potential for conflict. So you see the U.S., the Soviets taking a serious look at their nations' military capabilities up there. I don't want to overstate it, but it's somewhat reminiscent of a neo- Cold War.

PHILLIPS: All right. We definitely look forward to seeing the whole piece. I haven't had a chance to see the whole thing. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks, Kaj.

LARSON: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: You can all catch, it actually. "Ice Wars" Sunday night, 8:00 Eastern plus "Stone Cold Killer" and "Extreme Cheerleading." Three amazing stories, one hour of razor-sharp journalism. That's this Sunday right here on CNN.

Single people, take note. There's a price tag to your freedom. A new study says you'll be paying it in your retirement years. Just ahead, a warning for the unattached.

And move over, Lady Gaga, there's a new Facebook queen. It ain't you. We've got the scoop in showbiz.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk showbiz, shall we? Here's the headlines. Move over, Lady Gaga. Rihanna now the most popular woman on Facebook according to famecount.com, Rihanna surpassed Gaga around noon yesterday with more than 25,000 fans.

And let me tell you, Lady Gaga fans are not taking the news lightly. They of course took to Twitter telling fans unlike Rihanna. But to Cher Lady Gaga is the greatest thing. She's back in the studio after nine years and recorded a song that Lady Gaga gave her. Cher shared the news on Twitter, saying "she gave me a great song. I'm beyond grateful."

And Eva Longoria's character may be popular on "Desperate Housewives," but her Vegas nightclub not so much. According to Radar Online that club is closing its doors temporarily due to financial troubles. But a restaurant attached to the club, well, it's still making money and it's going to stay open.

Speaking of money, singles, better start stocking away the cash if you want to retire. Alison Kosik has the results of a new survey taken, not looking so good.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No. You know what the study finds, Kyra, that more married people are ready for retirement than singles. And when you look at this study you really see the savings gap for women who don't have a high school degree.

Just a quarter of unmarried women are prepared for retirement while almost 70 percent of married women without a high school degree, they are prepared. And then when you look at another group of people, people who are already into that retirement phase, 66 to 69-year-olds, couples do better than singles.

Half of all singles, both men and women, are at risk of running into serious financial trouble, meaning they could outlive their savings, but just 23 percent of couples are in that situation. And you think it's an obvious reason why, when you have two people you can save more money.

But researchers say you know what, the difference here is that at least one person in the couple could live into their 90s and need a bigger nest egg to keep spending. Kyra --

PHILLIPS: OK. Alison Kosik, thanks so much.

So what do you think? Should president Obama focus all his time on the debt talks, or should he break away and head to cheer on the U.S. women's soccer team as they fight for that World Cup championship? As you can imagine, our political buzz panel will weigh in on this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the president has a news conference in just about half an hour talking about the debt ceiling negotiations. And yes, we've been covering that story every day. You've been watching. You see how we do it, but it's nothing like Jon Stewart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART: The president continued, "I have shown enormous willingness to compromise."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Obama then left, saying, "I'll see you tomorrow."

STEWART: He didn't. The president all stormed out and was like, okay, tomorrow then. What? That's not storming out. That's ending a meeting by scheduling the next meeting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: "Political Buzz" is your rapid-fire look at the hottest political topics of the day. Three questions, 20 seconds on the clock.

And playing today, Democratic National Committee member Robert Zimmerman. CNN contributor and independent John Avlon and Republican strategist and columnist for the "Hill" newspaper, Cheri Jacobus.

First question, guys, while Republicans in Washington look like they're moving closer to a deal, Sarah Palin is digging in, advising now is not the time to retreat, it's the time to reload and reload with reality. OK. Who's right? Cheri?

CHERI JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, I'm with her on this one. This isn't supposed to be easy. I think it should be as difficult as possible to raise the debt ceiling.

The voters spoke loud and clear last fall about what they wanted their elected officials to do with the economy and they need to listen. It's not about getting them home on vacation so they can spend time with their families. Keep them in town working. I think they need to fight this. She's right.

PHILLIPS: Robert?

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE MEMBER: Cheri, it's also not about cliches. It's a critical time in our country's history. We're engaging in bumper sticker slogans. Our Congress has got to take action.

The McConnell plan walks away from spending cuts, walks away from revenue enhancements, walks away from economic stability. Cheri, what are the studies that show, that justify Sarah Palin's sense of reality? I'll give you the balance of my time to answer that.

JACOBUS: What you're calling bumper sticker slogans has happens to be reality --

PHILLIPS: Wait a minute. It's not a debate. John, jump in. Mediate.

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: This is the problem. Right? Hyper partisanship is hijacking the debate. No, listen. Reloading the reality - that's the problem. There's a problem with debt ceiling deniers. By definition they're not dealing with reality. And Sarah Palin is offering a slogan that has nothing to do with finding a solution. It's the last thing people should be doing. Deal with the debt. Deal with the deficit. Raise the debt ceiling, folks. This isn't that tough.

PHILLIPS: All right. In an interview with Candy Crowley, Rudy Giuliani now urging that we give his old friend Rupert Murdoch, quote, "the presumption of innocence." Knowing what we already know about this scandal, does he deserve that? Robert?

ZIMMERMAN: Of course he does. The presumption of innocence, it's one of the foundations of our system of justice, and it should be respected and applied here.

Let's also remember, as immoral and egregious as the conduct was by these tabloids, do we think they were the only tabloids in Great Britain that behaved that way? And shouldn't we be suspicious of how the competitors are covering this scandal?

PHILLIPS: Okay. Cheri?

JACOBUS: I agree with him!

PHILLIPS: No debate here. OK. Very good.

JACOBUS: In the court of public opinion things can change, but yes, you know, you're innocent until proven guilty. And this is probably something I think most of us do suspect it goes on at other places and people are probably shaking in their boots thinking oh, my gosh, I'm going to get caught next. So, we haven't heard the end of this, have we? I think it's going to get very, very interesting.

PHILLIPS: John.

AVLON: Yes, but I wouldn't minimize this. Of course everyone's entitled to a presumption of innocence. But this is bad, and it looks like it's going to get a lot worse. And if the accusations are true, for example, about the 9/11 phone tapping, that would be unforgivable. The question is whether this is a cautionary tale or a tale of corporate conduct.

But this is unprecedented, and it's likely to get worse. So let's not minimize it.

PHILLIPS: All right, guys, your Buzzer Beater. Ten seconds each. The U.S. women's soccer team inviting President Obama to their World Cup championship game on Sunday. OK, as we know, we've got a huge budget battle heating up here. Can he take in the game? John?

AVLON: No. You can't call -- with the nation facing the crisis call for 24-hour round-the-clock debt negotiations and then jet off to Europe to catch a soccer game. Ain't going to happen. Bad move. This is what vice presidents are for.

(BUZZER BEATER)

PHILLIPS: Cheri?

JACOBUS: The president's enerroneously claiming seniors aren't going to get their Social Security checks. I think he needs to stick around town. It would be nice to a soccer game, but tough. You've got a job to do.

PHILLIPS: Robert?

ZIMMERMAN: Kyra, he should go and bring all his negotiating Republican and Democratic team with him. They should see an example of great teamwork, and they should also see an example of also a great victory for our country. PHILLIPS: Happy weekend, you guys.

AVLON: You too.

JACOBUS: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: President Obama has sent a message to lawmakers on the debt crisis. Now he's going straight to the American people. At the top of the hour, he's going to hold a live news conference. We'll take it of course.

Dan Lothian at the White House. So, what do you expect the president to say, Dan?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president will be pushing these lawmakers to go for the biggest deal possible. This is another public forum. The second time now this week that he's had a press conference.

But I'm told by a senior administration official that the president will also use this opportunity to again lay out what would happen if the debt ceiling were not raised. And also explain to the American people who are quite frankly confused about what Washington is doing, what the process is all about. An update on the situation.

But there is still a big divide between Democrats and Republicans and even within their own parties as well. We just heard from House speaker John Boehner, who was saying that Republicans still want -- are not supporting any higher taxes. They want deeper cuts, they want entitlement reforms.

And so with this wide divide, it's difficult to see how they'll be able to reach any agreement here in the next few hours or the coming days.

PHILLIPS: All right. Dan Lothian. We are watching it minute by minute.

And don't forget, stay with CNN for President Obama's news conference. Our coverage begins just before his event, which is at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. We will be taking it live.

For our wounded warriors the road to recovery can be pretty tough. And coming up, you're going to see, it just all depends on what road you're taking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, we're more than halfway through this year's Tour de France. And while much of the focus is on who's ahead and which stage that it's actually in, I'd rather talk with you about some other remarkable competitors: these guys. You're not going to se them on TV except for right here on CNN.

More than 100 of our Wounded Warriors joined the Tour de France for their Ride 2 Recovery. And you're going to meet two of them right now.

Ride 2 Recovery organizer Andrew Pagani, he's joining us live from Denver, Colorado. And Sergeant First Class Mike McNaughton, live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Great to see you guys! I know you're just back from France, and you got up early to be a part of this segment today. I appreciate it.

Mike, I want to start with you. You lost your right leg in a landmine in Afghanistan and since then it has definitely been a tough recovery for you. But you got involved with this program. How has it helped you heal, particularly going to France and riding the last 20 miles of the Stage 6?

MIKE MCNAUGHTON, RIDE 2 RECOVERY: Well, I got injured in 2003. And I always loved sports. And I started running. I ran with President Bush around the White House in 2004, and I did marathons. And it was just a great experience, but it was really hard on my back and on my leg.

So I talked to John Warden, who's the founder and president of Ride 2 Recovery. He was just starting it up at the time. And he said why don't you try cycling? And I did the first ride with him, and it was such a great experience, and being with people like me who understood me. I was in.

And about seven months ago, he hired me to work full-time for Ride 2 Recovery as VP of veterans assistance.

PHILLIPS: And Andrew, we're actually looking at some of the video that you've shot because you're turning this into a documentary, becomefilms.com. You know, since you left the Army, you've still been battling the lingering effects of a brain injury. You know, and now you devote so much time to vets' issues, particularly mental health. How has -- how have these rides, and for you in particular, helped you and other wounded warriors with regard to, you know, the psychological effects of war?

SFC ANDREW POGANY, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, Kyra, good morning. First, just to correct real quick, I'm not the organizer of this. The organizer's John Warden, the founder and president of Ride 2 Recovery. Myself and our film crew were just participants.

And as you said, I myself struggled when I came back with the invisible injuries. And I got involved in Ride 2 Recovery about a year-and-a-half ago as part of the work that I was doing with the injured veterans, specifically for those with the invisible injuries. So, what myself and a couple others have been doing, we've been sponsoring through Ride 2 Recovery, veterans who represent the invisible injury, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, to help them with their reintegration, help them be able to participate in an event that breaks the cycle of isolation, gives them a sense of accomplishment, and allows them to be -- you know, to be part of an activity that is so well established and so well received within the community. Which helps really with the communalization of combat trauma because that's really how we can break the cycle of -- you know, of some of the catastrophic outcomes that we see.

The invisible injury is the one injury that continues to produce casualties on a daily basis. And cycling is just an amazing sport. All the credit really goes to John Warden, who's the president and founder. And all we're doing is we're just documenting it. And we're shooting this documentary through becomefilms.org --

PHILLIPS: And it's pretty awesome too because you guys got to --

POGANY: -- Dot com.

PHILLIPS: -- actually ride through the historical sites as well. You know, the battlegrounds of Normandy and visiting the graves. And I know that was inspiring, too.

Andrew and Mike, thanks so much. And check it out. Ride2recovery.com. Also becomefilms.com. You can see how Ride 2 Recovery is changing the lives of these wounded warriors. And then also the upcoming documentary. Guys, thanks so much.

The debt crisis is a hot topic on the campaign trail. We're going to tell what you presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty is saying next in the "Political Ticker."

And we want to remind you that President Barack Obama is scheduled to hold a news conference just moments from now at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. He's going to be talking about the debt limit. We'll bring it to you live in its entirety.

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PHILLIPS: We're just about to join live coverage now of President Obama's news conference on the debt talks. Before we do that, which we're talking probably about 15 minutes away from that, let's bring in senior political editor Mark Preston.

So Mark, Tim Pawlenty actually talked about the debt crisis this morning. What did he have to say?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know, Kyra, it has been a very hot topic on the campaign trail, and Tim Pawlenty on "AMERICAN MORNING" just a short time ago had these comments on the debt negotiations.

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TIM PAWLENTY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is a mess. But it has got to be fixed. The problem is if they just put a Band- Aid over a broken bone it's not going to solve the problem. So I really hope that they'll use this moment. I wish they wouldn't raise the debt ceiling but, obviously, they're moving in that direction. And so they should fix the problem really and not just kick the can down the road.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PRESTON: And there you have Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination. Now, Pawlenty is really echoing what we're hearing from his rivals for the GOP nomination today and in past days and certainly will be in the coming days about the debt negotiations.

Now, Kyra, what's interesting is that the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney today unveiled a new political attack against President Obama. He's starting to compare him now to President Jimmy Carter. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right. Mark Preston live out of Washington there. Thanks so much.

I'm just getting more information. We're learning more about that raid on behalf of the Navy SEALs that captured Osama bin Laden back on May 2nd. You'll remember that a lot of documents were taken from Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.

Well, apparently, we're learning what those documents showed. And the information that we're getting now is that U.S. president Barack Obama and General David Petraeus were actually specifically mentioned as targets for al Qaeda in these documents, and that the mode of attack was even talked about. It involved destroying their aircraft when they were in the region.

Now, this is a source that's familiar with these materials that were recovered from the compound. They are telling us now what these documents said. Once again, when the Navy SEALs stormed that compound that you're looking at right now back on May 2nd with the hopes of taking out Osama bin Laden, the most wanted terrorist on the FBI's Most Wanted List -- when they took those documents, retrieved those documents and those computers, documents now saying that General David Petraeus and President Barack Obama were both targets of al Qaeda. Going into detail about when they were going to be in the region, how they were going to target their aircraft.

All right. When we come back, The Best Political Team on Television assembled. They're going to bring you the president's live news conference. He's about to talk about the contentious battle with Congress over raising the nation's debt ceiling. It's set to begin at the top of the hour. We will have some special coverage in just about a couple -- or in less than a minute. We'll take that live soon as we come back.

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