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NFL Owners Approve Labor Deal; White House Says No Deal Yet; Rick Perry's Rising Stock; Murdoch Paper's Famine Cartoon; FAA Faces Partial Shutdown; Pentagon to End Gay Military Ban; James Murdoch Testimony Challenged; Capitalizing on Casey Anthony

Aired July 22, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It is 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. I'm Don Lemon, sitting in today for Kyra Phillips.

Here are some of the stories that have us talking this morning. In Washington, lots of talk but no action on a deal to avoid a debt crisis with only about a week and a half before the deadline. The White House is shooting down reports that negotiations are getting close to an agreement.

For millions of Americans in the eastern United States, the ferocious heat wave hits its peak today. In some areas it will feel like 115 degrees.

And it's a landmark day for the military. Today the Pentagon is expected to start the process of lifting the ban on gays serving openly.

But up first here on CNN this hour, will the NFL players vote for a new labor contract and save the coming 2011 football season?

HLN Sports' Joe Carter is in the middle of the action outside the owners meeting right now.

Joe, is today the day this ends?

JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Don, I think football fans across the world are hoping we can say yes. I mean, football fans just want to get the simple answer, are we going to have football come September? And the short answer to that is -- maybe.

Because in this deal, it takes two to tango. Last night you got 31 of the 32 NFL owners saying yes to the new collective bargaining agreement. Now the ball shifts into the players' hands.

From the owners' perspective, this is a megadeal, a 10-year deal with no opt-out. A lucrative deal, the most lucrative deal the NFL has ever seen, and especially, most importantly, this deal is one that will start the football season on time.

Here's Commissioner Roger Goodell moments after they agreed to this new deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: I think we've crafted a long- term agreement that can be good for the game of football. Be good for the players, be good for the clubs, and mostly and importantly, good for our game and for our fans. We really are anxious to get back to football.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: All right. So with this new agreement to the CBA, the NFL has laid out a very specific timeline. The players have until Tuesday to say yes to the new agreement. They also have until Tuesday to re-organized or recertify as a union.

If they do that, then training camp would open up on Wednesday. Regular season would start September 8th as planned. But, remember, this is not a simple deal. This is a very complicated issue. This is a very large document. The CBA is said to be some 500 pages long, so you expect them to take a lot of time to look through this deal.

It's a 10-year deal so they're not in a hurry to get this deal pushed through. Of course they don't want to have any games in jeopardy as we all hope the NFL season starts on time.

But Don, simple terms. Are we going to have football? Maybe. The ball is now in the hands of the players.

LEMON: All right.

CARTER: So we'll see if they vote on it today. If they do say yes, it could open things up as early as tomorrow.

LEMON: So we shall see. Joe Carter, appreciate it.

In Washington it's time to speed up the negotiations in Washington on the deepening debt crisis. The government now has just over 10 1/2 days to raise the debt ceiling or risk running out of money to pay its bills.

The White House is now pushing an ambitious plan that would cut $3 trillion in spending over the next decade but negotiations are stuck over the Bush era tax cuts and whether to extend them.

Today the Senate is due to vote on the cut, cap, and balance plan which has already passed the House but it's unlikely to pass the Senate and it's doomed should it reach the president's desk.

Let's get the latest now from the White House and CNN's Brianna Keilar.

Good morning, Brianna. The White House is shooting down reports that the president and Republicans are getting close to a deal. What are you hearing?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, they sure are shooting down those reports very much publicly. President Obama, he met last night with Vice President Joe Biden who, as you know, was engaged in these debt talks for months. And they also met with top Democrats in Congress for about two hours.

As we speak at this hour, House Speaker John Boehner is meeting with his Republican conference, as he normally does during the week. And we'll hear from him at about 10:00 a.m.

But this meeting last night came after word of a potential deal and a pretty big deal, Don, after word of a potential deal really stole the headlines yesterday afternoon and overnight. This would be, as I said, a pretty big deal. $3 trillion in deficit savings over 10 years. We only have kind of a rough sketch of it.

And what's interesting is, Don, as you said, the White House is shooting this down. No deal. They say there is no deal. We heard Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, shoot this down yesterday. The speaker's office is saying there is no deal but we have from congressional sources who are speaking on condition of anonymity that there is a framework.

And coming up at 10:00 a.m., Don, we'll detail exactly what some of these sources are telling us is in this potential agreement.

LEMON: Yes. Only 10 1/2 days. Thank you very much, Brianna Keilar. We will be coming back to you throughout the day.

Among an already crowded field of GOP presidential candidates, a new CNN/ORC poll suggests Texas Governor Rick Perry may want to throw his hat into the ring, too.

CNN's deputy political director Mr. Paul Steinhauser has been analyzing the data for us and he joins us now live from Washington.

What do you have, Paul?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You're absolutely right about Rick Perry, the longtime governor of Texas. He's making calls. He's really seriously thinking about jumping into the White House.

Could do it, Don, maybe within the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned on that.

But take a look at this, our brand-new numbers, as you said. CNN/ORC national survey out just a couple of hours ago. And look at that. Pretty crowded field, wouldn't you say? Pretty much of a traffic jam, bumper to bumper right there at the top.

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who's making a second bid for the White House, at 16 percent. And look at that. Just two points behind, it was in the sampling error, is Perry. Followed by two people who aren't even in the race either. Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, and Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor.

Both of them, Don, flirting with running for the White House but not really taking any concrete steps towards forming a campaign.

And also Sarah -- I mean, Michele Bachmann, the congressman from Minnesota, who's very much a presidential candidate, at 12 percent .

Don, everybody else in single digits in our poll numbers.

One other thing about Perry, and this is interesting, last month, early in June, we asked Republicans, do you think Perry should run for president? Fifty percent said no, only a minority said yes. That's turned around in our new poll. Fifty percent of them say yes. We would like to see Perry run for our party's nomination with only a minority saying they would not.

So I guess things have changed when it comes to Rick Perry -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much. We're going to have our next political update in just one hour here on CNN. And here's a reminder for you, all the latest political news, go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com

We know it's hot. You know it's hot. Fifty-five different record highs recorded yesterday. The heat now causing the power authority in Detroit to start rolling blackouts in parts of that city. The Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and northeast may see triple-digit temperatures as the day goes on. A pretty rare occurrence.

CNN's Rob Marciano live in the CNN -- we can call it severe heat center today.

This is serious stuff -- Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And now we're starting to break record. You know throughout the week, Don, we've been talking about how this heat wave has really been more about the humidity and we haven't set a whole lot of records, but we've set a lot of records the past couple of days, especially yesterday. And today we're going to do it again.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: And it's so important, Don, to point this out. Heat is the number one weather-related killer. More than hurricanes, more than tornadoes and more than flooding. So this needs to be taken seriously. Stay out of the heat, if you can, and certainly look after your neighbors and the elderly and those that are ill.

LEMON: Interesting, every year, heat kills more than any other natural disaster. We don't even think about that, too.

MARCIANO: No, not in this day and times but it does happen.

LEMON: Stay cool and hydrate. Stay in the air-conditioning as well.

Thank you very much, Rob Marciano. Another Rupert Murdoch newspaper is stirring controversy. Outrage really over an editorial cartoon that's being called shameless and offensive.

Monita Rajpal is following the story from London for us -- Monita.

MONITA RAJPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, shameless, offensive, disgusting, those are some of the words that are being used to describe this cartoon which we're going to show you. It's basically depicting starving people in Somalia with the caption, "We've had a belly full of phone hacking." This is in the "Times of London" newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Now they could be depicting the irony of how much attention has been paid on this phone-hacking scandal when there are millions of people that are starving in Somalia and parts of the Horn of Africa. Some four million people are starving in a famine situation yet all this attention -- headlines have been on Rupert Murdoch and his family with the phone-hacking scandal.

But again, there's been so much criticism and reaction to this cartoon which had the title "Priorities" on it.

Some of the tweets that have been coming in, Emma Keller who is married to "The New York Times" executive editor Brian Keller tweeted, "Anyone else wondering if this cartoon from today's 'London Times' is part of the Edelman strategy."

Edelman, as you know, is the PR firm that was hired by the Murdochs to help clean up their image, if you will, after this scandal that has engulfed their family.

Another tweet, Jeff Jarvis, a media critic, also the founder of Buzz Machine blog, said, "Good god, Murdoch troops, no bounds. Another one, "Cartoon in Murdoch's 'London Times' may be the most offensive thing they've done just yet."

I mean, it could very well be, Don, just to raise the awareness or move the attention away from the Murdochs and focus attention on some more pressing issues but the way they've done it I think a lot of people are just -- they're up in arms and really offended by this -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. Started watching the story trend on Twitter all day yesterday and it still is a lot of folks are outraged by this, to say the very least.

Monita Rajpal, thank you very much.

So all that information the DMV has on you, it's private, right? Always. Well, in Florida, it might be for sale.

And could the FAA shut its doors tonight? A funding fight in Washington could mean just that. What does it mean to you?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Want to take you "Cross Country" now to check some stories in Florida. If you thought your personal information with the DMV was just that private, well, it isn't. The DMV is selling personal information to companies that are willing to pay the price. It made more than $63 million last year doing it.

To Upstate New York now. A crash between a bus and a tractor- trailer overnight has left one person dead and 30 others injured. This what authorities say -- they say the tractor trailer hit the bus as it tried to move from the side of the road back into the highway.

In San Jose, California, a woman caught up in an Internet hacking raid says she's not part of any hacker group, including the infamous Anonymous group. Tracy Venezuela is one of 14 people arrested this week charged with conspiracy and damage to a protected computer.

The group allegedly launched cyber attacks in sympathy with whistleblower Web site WikiLeaks.

The fight over the debt ceiling isn't the only showdown going on in Washington right now. A bill that gives funding to the Federal Aviation Administration, we call it the FAA, could be held up by the Senate, and that could lead to a partial shutdown of the agency midnight tonight. Can you imagine?

The cause of the fight is a late edition to the bill. The funding by a House Republican that cuts about $8 million in subsidies to rural airports. What it means for the rest of us that air traffic controllers would still be on the job. All right. We hope.

But thousands of mostly administrative workers could be furloughed and they collect the $200 million in taxes that we all pay when we buy airline tickets.

Plus, if the bill isn't approved, all airport construction projects will stop.

Joining me now is Ray LaHood. He's the secretary for transportation. He is in Washington right now. Thank you so much for joining me, Mr. Secretary.

How do get --

RAY LAHOOD, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: -- into this situation?

LAHOOD: A dispute between the House and Senate over what you have characterized very well and summarized very well, whether small airports should get money and whether this labor provision should be included.

The point, though, Don, is that Congress has passed 20 extensions of this bill without these provisions in there. They could very well pass a bill today, what we call a clean extension of the FAA, so 4,000 federal FAA employees wouldn't have to be furloughed, and all these construction workers that are working on projects at airports today would be suspended tomorrow.

The highest unemployment -- one of the highest unemployment is in the construction trades. And why do we want to layoff and suspend more construction workers and our 4,000 employees who do a lot of good work are also going to be suspended and, look, they live on a paycheck and they have budgets to meet.

And Congress could quickly, today -- and this is what they should do -- come to work today, pass an FAA extension without all this -- these other provisions and then get to a final bill.\

LEMON: Secretary, will that happen?

LAHOOD: Well, that's what I'm asking Congress to do today. I asked them to do it yesterday. I've talked to members of Congress about this. And I'm asking them to do this so that these projects won't be suspended, so these employees won't be suspended, and so these taxes can continue to be collected on airline tickets.

LEMON: Well, here's -- people are frustrated. And they want to know why you guys, or our lawmakers can't work this out. Does this, to you, appear to be the atmosphere in Washington right now? It's my way or the highway, we got to cut, cut, cut, slash, slash, slash, draw a line in the sand?

LAHOOD: Congress has passed 20 extensions. They need to pass this extension. They could do it today.

I'm urging them to do it today for the benefit of construction workers, for the benefit of the jobs that they hold, for the benefit of the 4,000 employees. And this is easily done. They could do it very quickly, and I hope they will do it for the benefit of these hard working people who need these paychecks.

LEMON: What's your contingency plan?

LAHOOD: The contingency plan is throughout today, today, to continue to talk to Congress to get this done.

But at midnight tonight, 4,000 FAA employees will be suspended and all these construction projects around the country will be suspended, and these construction workers who very hard in very hot temperatures are not going to be able to go to work on Monday.

This is -- this is not the way to run -- we have the best aviation system in the world. This is not the way to run it.

LEMON: Secretary, thank you very much.

LAHOOD: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: In the next hour, I'm going to talk with Mary Schiavo about what's going on at the FAA. She used to be the inspector general at the Department of Transportation.

Coming up, Clint Eastwood has picked Beyonce to star in his remake of "A Star is Born." She calls it the biggest opportunity of her life.

And with the box office haul of the latest "Harry Potter" movie, that franchise is now the top grossing in U.S. history. What sci-fi classic got bumped out of that number one slot for "Harry Potter"? I'll tell you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Time now for your showbiz headlines.

Beyonce Knowles says it's the biggest opportunity of her life. Clint Eastwood picks a pop star for his remake of "A Star the Born." After singing the Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland version, she tells "Reuters" she never imagined getting the iconic role.

There are reports that he wants Leo DiCaprio to play her costar. That will be interesting.

And after 14 years, "Beavis and Butt Head" return to MTV. Creator Mike Judd tells comic-con fans that it was time for the show to return because, quote, I thought like TV is getting too smart.

With a box office take of the latest "Harry Potter" movie, "Entertainment Weekly" says that franchise is now the top grossing in U.S. history. A lot of money there. Now, "Star Wars" has sold twice as many tickets as Potter. But we are talking cash here. Potter just slid past that sci-fi franchise, raking in over $2.2 billion so far.

"Star Wars" sold more tickets, that one made more money.

You know, with eye-popping numbers like that, we got to thinking, what would it be like to follow in the boy wizard's foot steps? Well, it turns out, we're not the only one wondering. One group calculated how much it would cost to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.

And our Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with the details.

OK. How much would it cost?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Don, first of all, I just have to say this. I can't imagine spending my time actually trying to figure this out. I don't know. I can think of at least one or two other things I'd rather be doing, but that's just me.

So, a bunch of economists at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, they sat around with their thinking caps just to figure it out. You know what this really shows, Don, you know, just how popular the "Harry Potter" franchise is. And we see it, you know, kids dress like Harry and they are lined up in advance to get books and all sort of other things. You know, there's big cult following.

OK. So, let me answer your question. How much would a Hogwarts education cost if there was such a thing? Well, drum roll -- more than $43,000 and that's only one year. Tuition is actually the biggest chunk.

But, remember, Harry, he needs a unique list of school supplies. The usual textbooks and seven go for about 500 bucks, three robes, another $500, he needs a wand, protective gloves, and a pointed hat, all sorts of things, a cloak. And what the group wound up doing is looking up these items on Amazon to actually price them.

Now, to compare, $42,000 is what it costs to go to Columbia University right here in New York and it's more than a year at Harvard. So, just to send your kid off to become a wizard, it's going to price you out of the ballpark, I'd say.

LEMON: I say it costs zero because it doesn't exist.

KOSIK: There you go!

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: I could have done the calculations for you right at the top. It is interesting, though.

KOSIK: I know. I didn't do them. It is, if you're into it.

LEMON: That movie has made so much money. The franchise, really, I should say the series, the books or whatever. It's just unbelievable. I mean, it's a whole economy by itself.

KOSIK: It is. And I have watched it go by and haven't watched one clip of it. Can you imagine?

LEMON: Yes. Well, you're not alone. I'll just say that.

KOSKI: Oh, good.

LEMON: Here it is! Now you can say you have seen a clip.

KOSIK: OK.

LEMON: Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange -- thank you very much.

KOSIK: I saw a clip now.

LEMON: You are a wizardess? Is that a word? Indeed.

KOSIK: It can be.

LEMON: Coming up, after more than two decades in the ground, the remains of a Nazi leader are dug up and burned.

Also ahead here on CNN, they thought it was a wonder drug and our Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks back at the long strange history of cocaine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's check your headlines right now on CNN.

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner are set to meet again today, pushing for some kind of progress on the debt ceiling. Just over 10 days now until the government runs out of money.

Today's forecast: triple digit temperatures for parts of the Northeast. This dangerously hot weather is blamed for as many as 24 deaths. The heat index, how hot it feels, could hit 115 in some places.

And it's looking better for the football season. NFL owners have approved a 10-year labor and money sharing deal with players. The players still have to vote on it, though.

It was a covert op targeting a war criminal in the dark of night. After they got him, they sent him to a watery grave.

Guess what guys? I'm not talking about Osama bin Laden here.

CNN's Monita Rajpal joins me now from London with more on the exhumation of a top Nazi official.

What is this about, Monita Rajpal?

MONITA RAJPAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. We are talking, Don, about Rudolf Hess. He was Hitler's deputy and confidant. And his marked grave in the small Bavarian town of Wunsiedel was dug, his bones were exhumed, cremated and scattered over a lake, because what the town officials were saying, his marked grave site was being used as a shrine for o some 7,000 neo-Nazis who would visit that town, that grave site, every year to pay homage to this Nazi war criminal.

He was, as I was saying, he was a confidant of Hitler and had been dictated to by Hitler in his book, "Mein Kampf."

The town officials were saying this has been in the talks for quite a while now. And it's quite unusual for a Nazi war criminal or anyone who was found guilty during the Nuremberg trials to have a marked grave site. Many of those who were executed during -- for being found guilty during the Nuremberg trials, they were executed, their bones cremated and then scattered over -- into the sea or into a lake.

So, it's very unusual that he, himself would have a marked grave. Apparently, what we understand is that when he was given his life sentence and when he served his life sentence in prison in the Spandau prison in West Berlin, he told officials he wanted to be buried in Wunsiedel, next to his parents, who were also buried there.

So, it's a really interesting story. Something out of the history book, but possibly, it could be made into a movie at some point -- Don.

LEMON: Ye, sounds like it. Monita Rajpal, thank you very much.

Today is likely the beginning of the end for the U.S. military's ban on gays and lesbians serving openly. Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon.

Barbara, today would likely to start the clock on the process of certification to lift the ban once and for all. What does today's certification mean?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Don.

What it looks like is the Obama administration, later today, will certify. You're going to that word certification a lot to Capitol Hill, to Congress, that once and for all, they are ready to lift the ban on gays openly serving in the U.S. military.

What this means is the president, the secretary of defense, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top military officer, will notify Congress they are ready for the ban to be lifted, that recruiting and retention of the force will be just fine. That there will be nothing, obviously, that will harm readiness of the force. That they have trained the force to be able to deal with this, they have educated people and they've rewritten any of the regulations they need to re-write.

A major advocacy group has come out and applauded this. I want to read to you what they said. Servicemembers United group says, quote, "We are glad to see three weeks into his tenure as secretary of defense, he -- obviously, Leon Panetta -- is already confident that this policy change can take place with little or no disruption to military readiness."

All of this, of course, begun under the last defense secretary, Bob Gates. But now, moving forward rapidly, there still will be a 60- day waiting period and then it will be gone once and for all -- Don.

LEMON: OK. So, Barbara, does it mean the controversy is over, though? Probably not.

STARR: It's Washington. The controversy is never over on anything, is it?

On this one, it is not. Still, the military is struggling with some of the issues out there. Will they allow wedding ceremonies, if you will, to take place on military chapels, on bases, in states where civil union or same-sex marriage is allowed? What about some of those spousal benefits for people who are in those types of living arrangements.

The key controversy, of course, is the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, appears to supersede all of this at this point. So, still, there will be some restrictions. But once this is lifted, people, gays, lesbians, whatever, you know -- no longer this discrimination. Everyone will be allowed, once and for all, after so many years, to serve openly in the United States military -- Don.

LEMON: And, you know, until you said it, I never thought about same-sex marriages performed on military installations. That is a new twist and something that they're going to have to figure out.

STARR: It's a new twist. A lot of things a lot of people have to get used to. But what the Pentagon is making clear, they feel very strongly this some 17, 20-year-old ban is just completely outdated, out of touch, and they want to move forward and get this discrimination off the books once and for all -- Don.

LEMON: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Barbara, thank you.

Next, a group of Hindus say they need to be flown to India to be cleansed after a restaurant mistakenly serves them meat and they want the restaurant to pay for it.

And young people -- singers, actors, entrepreneurs -- becoming part of million dollar empires. It's almost hard to remember exactly what made some of them famous. Is this the age of the millennial mogul?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. If you want to learn something, listen to this next story.

Sixteen Hindus in New Jersey want to be flown to an India town at the source of the Ganges River and they want a restaurant in Edison, New Jersey, to pay for it.

Here's why. They are strict vegetarians and say they need to be cleansed after the restaurant mistakenly served them a meat dish like this one. OK?

Moni Basu is from CNN Wires and she joins us now.

A lower court said they didn't have a case. Another court has now reversed that. But even some leaders in the Hindu community are angry with the plaintiffs here because of this. And what we are talking about is called samosas, right?

MONI BASU, CNN WIRES REPORTER: That's right.

LEMON: Yes.

BASU: Samosas, they very popular traditional Indian snack. These Indians went to an Edison restaurant and mistakenly were served meat samosas instead of the vegetable samosas that they ordered. They realized what had happened, went back to the restaurant and then sued them.

They say now they have eaten consumed meat, which is forbidden for certain Hindus. They have to go to India to cleanse their souls.

LEMON: That's what they feel they have to go to India. They don't -- they can't go to a temple here?

BASU: Well, that's what the debate is about. A lot of Hindus here are angry for them for what they say -- they say these people are taking advantage of American law. In fact, one of the Indian leaders I spoke to yesterday in Edison called it a hypocrisy of the law. They said they could very well go to a temple here. They are taking extreme measures.

LEMON: Well, it's interesting because this sin was committed in mistake. They didn't knowingly --

BASU: They unknowingly committed a sin.

LEMON: Yes.

BASU: But they feel that they have to still purify their souls. And they want to go to the where the Ganges River, the holiest river for the Hindus.

LEMON: And there are some precedents with this. McDonald's had a big payout to vegetarians because of its veggie fries?

BASU: That's right. They claimed that French fries being fried in vegetable oil, but he French fries themselves contained beef products and they had to pay -- there was a $10 million settlement in 2002.

LEMON: Can you tell me why this is so important to devout Hindus?

BASU: Well, devout Hindus believe that all animals are God's creature and you must not inflict pain or death upon them. And so, by consuming meat, you've done exactly that and committed a sin.

LEMON: Do we know where this is, Muni, where this is going to go?

BASU: We don't. It's a very interesting case because had it been an American restaurant, the restaurant owners might have been able to come back and say, look, we just didn't know it was so important to you.

But it's a compelling case because the restaurant is owned by an Indian Hindu.

LEMON: Yes. There you go. Thank you, Moni.

BASU: Thank you.

LEMON: I really appreciate it. If you want to read more of Moni's story, along with other great stories like this one, head to our "Belief" blog at CNN.com/belief. Always great stories on the "Belief" blog.

Millennials making millions. This is a story you're going to want to watch. If you're a baby boomer with millennial kids, those born between 1977 and 1998, get them to the TV now so they can learn how to be the newest kind of moguls, too, and you should watch as well, because you need a 401(k), don't you?

Kareen Wynter reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are some of the most successful entertainers in the world. They are not just leading their industry, they're redefining it. And they're all under 30.

They are Hollywood's millennial moguls. Young superstars with crossover talent carefully, crafted images and incredible social media savvy.

ANTHONY SALEH, V.P. & GENERAL MANAGER, ATOM FACTORY: My generation understands how to embrace this new form of accessibility that the consumer is getting from the artist.

WYNTER: Anthony Saleh would know. At just 25, he, too, is a millennial and the G.M. of Adam Factory, best known for managing Lady Gaga. He says today's young superstars owe a huge thanks to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

SALEH: Gaga interacts with her fans in such a loving way more than anyone. Your fan won't connect to you unless they know that you're real like that they can reach out and touch you.

MELISSA VICTOR, VICE PRESIDENT OF PUBLICITY/ISLAND DEF JAM: Exactly. It's a whole different generation.

WYNTER: Melissa Victor believes. She is part of Justin Bieber's publicity team at Island Def Jam. She says the biggest millennial success stories all have a strong personal identity.

VICTOR: I think it's talent and hard work and also knowing who you are and knowing what you stand for. That's really important.

SALEH: At the end of the day, the fan -- the fan will respect, honor, and love that you stayed true to your crowd.

WYNTER: Likewise, both executives agree a strong network is also key.

SALEH: Make sure to surround yourself with very -- very down to earth, grounded people who understand you still want to embrace and hold on to your morals and values.

WYNTER: And ultimately, these young moguls call their own shots.

VICTOR: I don't think it's one person being a puppet. I don't think you could be really truly successful and be a puppet in this time and age, because the consumer is so savvy.

TAYLOR SWIFT, MUSICIAN/ACTRESS: I feel very lucky that I don't have to live my life based on anybody telling me what image to portray or what to do.

WYNTER: So, whether it's music or movies or fashion or fragrance, the winning streak of these millennial fuelled by their fierce fans shows no sign of slowing.

Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Kareen.

New developments on the scandal that engulfed the Murdoch media empire. One is in the U.S. where Feds are reportedly expanding their investigation into conduct here. That story when we come back.

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LEMON: All right. This morning, there are a couple of new developments on the scandal that has engulfed the Murdoch media empire. One is in the U.S. where feds are reportedly expanding their investigations into conduct here. The other in Great Britain, Rupert Murdoch's son is being challenged for claims he made to members of Parliament.

Let's start there with Atika Shubert in London.

So Atika, James Murdoch said that as far as he knew, the phone hacking was a single rogue reporter. But two former executives are denying that.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. This all hinges on one particular e-mail. Basically, "News of the World" and James Murdoch had said that this was only limited to one private investigator and one reporter but then there was an e-mail that surfaced from this investigator that clearly named another reporter. So this showed that it was more than just an isolated case.

Now, at that time, James Murdoch had also authorized a payment to a phone-hacking victim for a massive amount, more than a $1 million, which is very unusual. And what he said in Parliament was that he had authorized this payment thinking that it was the only isolated case.

Now, what the former lawyer for "News of the World" and the former editor are saying that's not true. In fact, they showed him that e-mail before he authorized that payment and it's important because it may show an attempt to try and cover up just how widespread this problem was with the News International -- Don.

LEMON: Now, tell us about the investigation in the U.S. and allegations that Murdoch supporters targeted families of 9/11 victims.

SHUBERT: Well, this is one of the things that the FBI is looking into. That perhaps there is an allegation that News International may have been trying to tap -- to hack into the phone mail messages of British citizens who may have been affected by 9/11 as they were in the United States.

Now also, interestingly, Jude Law, the actor, has also claimed that his phones were hacked by "News of the World" when he was at JFK Airport. So there is a number of different scenarios that appeared -- that are now appearing with that. The FBI is investigating and that could be significant because obviously it'll broaden out the investigation to the United States.

LEMON: Atika Shubert, we appreciate your reporting. Thank you very much.

Let's check your stories now cross country. In Chicago cooling centers are open as the temperatures soar. The government is staffing them throughout the day especially so the elderly can get out of the heat.

In Syracuse, New York the beaches are wide open too. No charge for the day. Meantime utilities across the country are begging you to conserve energy. How can you cut that air-condition off or lower it to at least -- wow. A warning of rolling blackouts as people crank up the AC's.

And in Detroit, trying to stay cool when you're a polar bear -- oh it's really tough. Animals at the zoo were treated to probably your favorite popsicle, some frozen fish head and some fruit as well.

Coming up, capitalizing on Casey Anthony from dunking booths to deli, folks are trying to grab your attention and you money and don't forget -- hey, where's my iPad, I don't have it with me. Yes, if you're walking away from the TV it doesn't mean you have to stop watching. Pretend this is an iPad and you can just go on try the new little app.

You can see it streaming live on your phone, in your computer or your iPad. Check out CNN.com/video or just download the app and go.

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LEMON: We want to look ahead now at some of the stories that will be making headlines later today.

At 3:00 Eastern dozens of mayors meeting in Los Angeles will urge Congress and the administration to reach a deal on the debt ceiling to prevent default. They are concerned about the potential impact on local budgets.

At 5:00 Eastern the NAACP and community leaders will hold an open opening press conference to kick off the Civil Rights Group's 102nd Annual Convention. That convention is taking place in Los Angeles. I'll see you there on Monday.

Also at 5:00 Eastern, Houston welcomes home the final space shuttle crew. All right, we're following lots of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with CNN's Brianna Keilar -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey there Don.

Deal or no deal, it really depend who you ask. The White House says no. (INAUDIBLE) say there is a potential deal on deficit reduction. And we'll bring you details live from the North Lawn of the White House in just a few minutes.

MONITA RAJPAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Monita Rajpal in London. Making a point or making enemies: the cartoon in the Murdoch-owned paper ruffled feathers around the world. We'll bring you the reactions.

JOE CARTER, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Joe Carter in Atlanta, where NFL team owners have agreed to a new labor deal. Now it's the players turn, will we have NFL football come this fall? We'll answer that at the top of the hour.

LEMON: All right thanks guys.

Also coming up in the next hour. The FAA could be facing a partial shutdown at midnight tonight. We'll ask a transportation industry insider if our air safety is at risk.

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LEMON: We're going to do sports right now.

Time now for "The Big Play".

As we wait the NFL players' vote on a new labor agreement, the 131-day lockout has claimed its first victim. Yesterday at the owners meeting the league decided to punt on the ceremonial Hall of Fame preseason exhibition game between the Chicago Bears and St. Louis rams. It was scheduled for August 7th, but due to the lockout and the delay of team training camps, well, it was canceled.

The NBA's three-week old labor lockout has some marquee stars looking for employment elsewhere even across the pond. And in Turkey there are multiple reports that LA Laker, Kobe Bryant, a 13-time all- star in discussions with a Turkish team. Have you ever heard of such a thing? China has also been mentioned as another place for him to play while the lockout is negotiated.

And one more NBA note for you. Several reports say Boston Celtics assistant coach, Lawrence Frank will be the new head coach of the Detroit Pistons. Frank's previous head coaching experience was with the New Jersey Nets. He was there for five years.

You know, it seemed like a good idea to organizers, channeling all that anger over Casey Anthony's acquittal into a dunking booth at their fair. But to a few folks, that didn't seem fair at all.

CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Step right up, folks, and dunk Casey Anthony. Actually don't bother. The dunking booth has already been shut down, but don't blame it on the Casey Anthony look-alike.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you hear the good news? I'm innocent.

MOOS: She knew how to taunt her tormentors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are tougher girls in prison than you.

MOOS: Oh, yes?

The Lions' Club in Lexington, Kentucky decided to give the Casey Anthony dunking booth a try for their Bluegrass Fair.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's going too far, because she's already suffering. And God is the one who's going to give her the punishment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's funny, and I think it attracts a lot of people. It doesn't offend me at all.

MOOS: But within a day the Lions' Club decided to ditch the dunking booth saying it was distracting from their mission of making money for charity.

(on camera): Whether you think it's funny or tacky, the dunking booth wasn't the only example of black humor at Casey Anthony's expense.

(voice-over): A deli in Seattle has attracted attention with this sign, "Casey Anthony says, City Market Deli deals are so good I feel like I'm getting away with murder."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People love t. They take pictures of it and they laugh at it.

MOOS: Deli manager Saim Morehead (ph) has been making signs linked to news and scandals for seven years. Fans have compiled them on sites like Flickr from Charlie Sheen to Prince William to Rupert Murdoch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only thing he wants to hack into is one of our corn dogs and maybe he can choke on it.

MOOS: Morehead says the only complaints of bad taste he's gotten about his Casey Anthony sign came from two Florida tourists.

(on camera): You don't feel at all like tacky about it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I walk the line of taste on these signs.

MOOS: But where in the world is the real Casey Anthony? We know one place she's not.

(voice-over): There were rumors she was hiding on Geraldo Rivera's sailing vessel.

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS HOST: She's not on my boat. She's not on my island. She's not in my home.

MOOS: But his wife came home telling him plans for their daughter's birthday party were in jeopardy.

RIVERA: Three of the moms at camp said they're going to have difficulty coming over if she's here. I said, "Honey, are you buying into this ridiculous rumor?" It is preposterous.

MOOS: Preposterous but not likely to be the last ridiculous rumor of Casey Anthony resurfacing.

Jeanne Moos, CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the best you can do? You're a Florida prosecutor --

MOOS: New York.

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