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Vote on Boehner Debt Plan Delayed; U.S. Teen Guilty in Cartel Beheading; GOP Presidential Race; Al Qaeda Collapsing?; Dangers of a U.S. Downgrade; Disabled Vets Stage Virtual March; Norway Police Look for Explosives; Vote Delayed as Debt Deadline Looms

Aired July 27, 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 and 6:00 a.m. out West Coast. We are just getting started here with the house vote on Speaker Boehner's debt plan -- it's on hold. The reason? Trying to trim more spending.

And a 21-year-old man charged with threatening to kill President Obama, Uzbekistan native was busted after buying a machine from an undercover agent.

And this sounds straight from a movie. A 14-year-old assassin convicted in a Mexican court. Wait until you hear what he is charged with.

And just moments ago, new video coming in showing the moment of impact from last Friday's bomb attack in Oslo. This is a new bomb alert that closed part of the train station today.

Well, folks, it's July 27th. Welcome to Groundhog Day. In Washington, the only movement seems to be another step closer to the August 2nd deadline. In less than six days the federal government could run out of money and default on its bills.

Next hour on Capitol Hill, the doom's day scenario is laid out. Executives from credit rating agencies will warn lawmakers of the far- reaching impact of a U.S. downgrade. One debt plan, backed by House Speaker John Boehner, is yanked from a scheduled vote.

The Congressional Budget Office says that savings were overstated and the numbers need to be crunched again.

And Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell says it's time for his fellow Republicans to accept something less than perfect.

Joe Johns is in our Washington bureau, Dan Lothian at the White House.

Joe, let's go ahead and start with you. So how costly is today's delay on the Boehner plan and does he even have the support to get it passed in his own House?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you know, these are both very good questions. On the one hand, he loses a day and there are only six days to go. So that's a big deal. The other thing is that what's more important is the loss perhaps in credibility.

The speaker said his plan was going to, you know, save something like over $1 trillion. But it only saves about $850 billion. So that's a big difference, too. A question of credibility.

On the other hand, he buys some time because there are a number of people in the House of Representatives, some of whom actually spoke out last night, and said this thing is not going to pass. I'm not going to vote for it. So he gets a little bit more time to try to drum up the support he needs, because once he puts something on the floor, he's got to get a yea vote.

PHILLIPS: All right.

And, Dan, you know, there is some talk of a band-aid-slash-patch approach. You know? What would that do?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look. This is a message that you've heard from the White House over the last week or so, that the president does not embrace a short-term deal, but if in fact it does appear that there is some compromise happening, that both sides have agreed to some kind of a framework of a plan and they need time to work it through the legislative process then the president would support that, quote, "band-aid approach" of maybe a couple of days to cross all the T's and dot the I's.

That's as far as the administration will go. But beyond that saying that the president still wants a longer term deal because he believes that if you divide it up as John Boehner's plan looks to do, extending the debt ceiling through this year and then next year as well, that it only sets you up for another battle during the middle of the big election cycle and may not calm the fears of the markets.

PHILLIPS: All right. We're going to be talking about it every single minute of the next couple of hours.

Joe Johns, Dan Lothian, thanks so much.

And near the bottom of the hour, 9:25 Eastern, Ali Velshi is going to join us once again. He's going to actually look ahead to next hour's congressional hearing on downgrading the U.S. credit score. The impact as it will be told to lawmakers pretty sobering.

All right. This story is trending really high on CNN.com. Zain Verjee talking to us about a 14-year-old hit man and the killings are pretty gruesome. He's actually known on the streets as the cloak.

Tell us more about this kid, Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Kyra, he's 14 years old. That's really what's gripping people, both in the U.S. as well as around the world. And he was found guilty in a Mexican court for torturing and beheading at least four people and kidnapping at least three people.

He was asked how did you execute them? Just listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How many have you killed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How did you execute them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huh?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How did you execute them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I slit their throats.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: Kyra, what's outraging a lot of people, too, about this is that because he is only 14 years old, his maximum sentence under Mexican law is that he gets three years in a correctional facility and he also has to pay a $400,000 fine.

So it's really a gruesome story and what a lot of people are saying is that this is all part of the drug wars and you've got the drug gangs in Mexico beginning to recruit young kids like this 14- year-old boy to do their dirty work for them -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes. And you're seeing a lot of kids as young as 14 being recruited by the cartels. It's heart-wrenching.

Zain, thanks.

Well, Paul Steinhauser with our political update now. New developments I understand on the campaign trail.

Paul, what do you have?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Kyra. Let's talk with -- start with Jon Huntsman. I guess you call this as Jon Huntsman 2.0. We're talking about the former Utah governor, former U.S. ambassador to China.

Remember, he jumped into the race for the White House about a month or two ago? A lot of fan fare but you know what? He's not been rising in the polls. In fact not really doing much at all in the polls.

Well, what do you do? I guess you shake things up if that's the case. Changed his campaign manager last week. And now a newer maybe tougher Jon Huntsman on the campaign trail. We heard it yesterday at Hanover, New Hampshire.

A little more aggressive going after President Barack Obama and a little more aggressive going after Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who's considered I guess right now in the early stages of this race the frontrunner for the GOP nomination. Campaign aides to Huntsman saying expect to hear more of that.

Let's talk about George Pataki. I guess we have to. This is the former New York governor, three terms in the '90s and last decade as well. Well, guess where he is today and tomorrow? New Hampshire. Guess where he was last week? Iowa.

Of course the first two states in the presidential primary and caucus calendars. So does this mean maybe he's thinking about running for the White House? Yes, an adviser to him, a spokesman says, he is considering it. Remember, Pataki thought about it four years ago, didn't do it. Earlier this year he said not going to do it, changes his mind, now thinking about it.

We'll keep an eye on him, Kyra, just in case.

PHILLIPS: We're also keeping an eye on Congressman Gutierrez. We saw the headlines yesterday, "Congressman Arrested." All of us wondering oh boy, what does this involving when we've heard about all these scandals lately? But this actually something completely different from what we've seen in the past couple of months with other political members.

STEINHAUSER: Very different. Arrested outside the White House yesterday, the park police tells us. He's the Democrat from Illinois. He's a big proponent of immigration reform. Of course President Barack Obama, when he was campaigning for it, promised he would do something in his first term, it hasn't happened yet. The president blames Republicans for bringing it to a halt.

But Gutierrez out there and 10 others arrested saying, listen, it doesn't get the president off the hook. Gutierrez, of course, a major proponent of immigration reform. We've heard him on this before. We're going to hear him on this again -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes. And you're going to hear from him actually next hour, Paul. We are working the phones. Got in touch with them. He's going to join us live coming up in about an hour and a half. So stay tuned.

All right. We'll have your next political update in just about an hour. And a reminder for all the latest political news, just go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com.

Al Qaeda terrorists. Find out why some say they are on the brink of collapse.

And cops combing the farm that belonged to suspected Norway gunman. What they found and why it's concerning them, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Sad news topping our look at "Cross Country" this morning.

Police in Utah say that Olympic skier Jeret "Speedy" Peterson has taken his own life. You may remember last year in Vancouver, Peterson won the silver medal in the freestyle event. He was just 29.

In Memphis, Tennessee, kids will be going to school despite a money car that almost put the school year in limbo. The school board had threatened to delay classes until it got $55 million from the city. But overnight board members decided to let schools start if the city meets a few conditions including a $12 million payment by August 5th.

And in Scenic, South Dakota, a saloon, dance hall, train depot and a jail can all be yours for under 800 K. You can probably be the mayor and the sheriff, too. The 12-acre town, about 50 miles east of Rapid City, is for sale on the Buyscenicsd.com.

Al Qaeda on the brink of collapse. The headline is pretty catching, and as Americans it's something we love to hear. But how true is it? "The Washington Post" is reporting the CIA and other counterterrorism agencies are convinced that killing Osama bin Laden plus years of drone strikes are soon to make al Qaeda terrorists extinct.

This is our Reza Sayah's beat.

And Reza, you live in, work in Islamabad. You know we ran this by you this morning. And you said look, this is something that I've been talking about for much longer than today's headline.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Kyra, al Qaeda is, obviously, sensitive issue. It's been enemy number one in America for 10 years and anyone who comes out and says they're no longer a threat would be deemed foolish by some people, especially far right-wing groups in America who think radical Islam is still a threat.

But when you look at this "Washington Post" article I think it's accurate and I don't think it's anything new. I've been here for a little less than four years and based on what we've seen here, al Qaeda as we knew it no longer exists and if it still does exist, there is no evidence that it can still carry out a global strategic war against the super power like the U.S.

Ever since 9/11, for the past 10 years, we've been bombarded with messages from Washington that al Qaeda is a global network with tentacles and sleeper cells and scores of countries that are determined to attack the U.S.

I don't know about everyone else, but I really haven't seen hard evidence of a widespread army of al Qaeda throughout the country. Even so, we've heard U.S. officials, counterterrorism officials repeatedly say they are there and they're plotting and planning to attack the U.S. and another 9/11.

But there really hasn't been any evidence to substantiate that. Defense Secretary Robert Gates this year himself came out and said there is less than a hundred al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan. I'm not sure how he got that number but -- a U.S. official is saying al Qaeda's power has diminished. PHILLIPS: So --

SAYAH: But I think the most important evidence -- the most important evidence, Kyra, is to look back at the past 10 years. Al Qaeda hasn't killed a single American on U.S. soil since 9/11 and it's such an important reminder for our viewers in America who have been infused with fear about al Qaeda for the past 10 years.

PHILLIPS: And you talk about this infused of fear. And -- and every so often, many a times throughout the year, we hear about chatter. There is chatter out there. There is chatter we should be concerned.

What exactly do you think that means? Because we never seem to get a definition on what that so-called "chatter" is.

SAYAH: Yes, I'm not sure what chatter is. And I think as journalists we've been guilty of not asking the tough questions. We've never asked, what is chatter? We've never asked U.S. counterterrorism officials to show us evidence of chatter.

And I think that's because of the impact of 9/11. This was the greatest American tragedy in recent memory. It had huge impact on America. And I think it's kind of taboo for journalists to ask questions whether al Qaeda is still a fear. And oftentimes, when you do a lot of people say look at 9/11. If you have doubts that al Qaeda is not a threat, all you have to do is look at 9/11.

I don't want to downplay what happened on 9/11, but we're now 10 years removed and I think it's our responsibility for the sake of our viewers to ask the tough questions about al Qaeda and where they stand right now. And I think the evidence shows, right now, that they are on the verge of collapse and they are weaker than ever.

PHILLIPS: Reza, I've always known you to ask the tough questions, that's for sure.

Our Reza Sayah there, out of Islamabad this morning.

Coming up, a different kind of story from Afghanistan. The country, believe it or not, about to get its own version of the hit TV show "The Office."

And get ready, McDonald's, the coffee wars could be heating up as Dunkin Donuts goes public and prepares to expand.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's hit some showbiz headlines for you, shall we?

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

PHILLIPS: Musician Dan Peek has died. You may remember, he cofounded the '70s America, later leaving the group to pursue a career in Christian music. Dan Peek was 60 years old.

Singer Sheryl Crow auctioning off her 1959 Mercedes for a good cause. The proceeds are going to benefit the town of Joplin, Missouri, which was leveled by a tornado in May. The car is expected to bring in between $50,000 and $80,000.

And Beyonce sure sizzles on stage. But how about the kitchen? The singer reportedly planning a soul food cookbook based on her Mom Tina's recipes.

The hit TV show "The Office" is heading to the small screen in Afghanistan. I guess you could say with the a few small changes.

Zain Verjee has all the details for us.

I don't know if you're an "Office" fan, here in the States, Zain, but it's pretty darn funny.

VERJEE: I watch "The Office," but I -- you know, I really only watch "General Hospital" every day. The only show that I really -- that's the only one.

But, you know, Afghanistan has its version of "The Office," and it's called "The Ministry," Kyra. And you'll like this. Basically, the show will be following workers at the Afghan ministry of garbage. The characters that they have created are sleepy security guard, a butler who feels totally underappreciated, a man hating his secretary. And then, of course, the bumbling minister of garbage himself.

Now, what the producers of the show is saying that -- right, they are going to have a good time with it but they also want to address some of the serious issues in Afghanistan like corruption, for example. So, some of the episodes, Kyra, that they have got out are going to be things like just authorize this drug trafficking, please. And there's another one called the hire all of my cousins now, something like that.

So, it gives you a flavor of the local flavor of Afghanistan, but it's definitely something that's nice to see in the headlines.

I mean, today, the mayor of Kandahar was killed with an exploding turban in a suicide bombing attack and those tend to grab the headlines. So, it's great to see something like this grabbing the headlines today in Afghanistan.

Kyra, I hope you download it and watch.

PHILLIPS: I've already seen some of the clips, pretty creative. We'll see how the ratings are. That should be interesting as well.

Zain, thanks.

Alison Kosik is joining us now from the New York Stock Exchange where she is watching a pretty hot IPO, something the majority of us drink in the morning. Dunkin' Donuts coffee and it's going public now.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. It is and this is a hot one because you know what? This could wind up really heating the coffee wars. And analysts say this is actually one of the most anticipated IPOs of the year.

So, yes, Dunkin' brand listing at the NASDAQ today. We all Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins ice cream, that's the chain we're talking about. It's going to make its public debut today with its IPO at $19 a share, higher than expected. It means it's going to raise more than 400 million bucks for Dunkin' Donuts.

And, of course, the question we always ask of IPOs, what are they going to do with the money?

So, Dunkin' looks like it's going to do. It's going to reduce its big debt load and it's going to expand because right now, Dunkin' Donuts is pretty big in the Northeast.

I'll tell you what, here in New York, it seems like there's a Dunkin' Donuts every few blocks. But the thing is, it doesn't have much of a presence out west.

Now, the company makes more money from coffee than donuts actually. And analysts say these price wars could really heat up because Dunkin' is going to be expanding more into McDonald's territory. But the question is, Kyra, will established McDonald's, Starbucks or Pete's Coffee fans make the old switch a roo to Dunkin'?

I don't know about you, but I'm a loyal coffee drinker myself. I don't know about switching brands.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I agree. And you even see the coffee on the grocery stores now. You know, you I'm a loyal coffee drinker. I agree. You even se the coffee in the grocery stores now. You don't have to head over to a dunk.

All right. How are the markets looking right now?

KOSIK: You know, futures have been bouncing around a lot -- a lot of volatility this morning. We have not seen the big sell-off yet. Wall Street is betting big on a deal that a deal is going to get done in Washington.

Some kinds of caution, in other words. Gold hit another record, of course. Gold is considered a safe place to put your money in times of turmoil.

We'll keep our eye on the numbers for you today -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Alison, thanks.

Still ahead, the dangers of downgrading the U.S. credit rating. Lawmakers will learn all about it at the top of the hour and you can find out more in a couple of minutes. Ali Velshi is going to join us and tell us what we need to know.

And thousands of disabled vets protesting, furious that their benefits could be cut by the debt ceiling crisis. We're taking their protest to Washington, too, in a very modern way. We'll explain in a just minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories.

Norway is still on edge. Part of the main train station evacuated this morning after a suspicious package was found. Police say it was nothing.

This comes five days after 76 people were killed in a bombing and gun rampage.

The convicted Lockerbie bomber appeared on Libyan state TV yesterday, attending a rally of pro-Gadhafi supporters. It comes almost two years after he was release from a Scottish prison on the grounds that he had terminal cancer.

In Texas, the jury has been chosen in the sexual assault trial of sect leader Warren Jeffs. He is charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child and one count of bigamy.

The nation's debt crisis -- lots of talk and little action. In fact, even less action than expected. One debt plan backed by House Speaker John Boehner is yanked from a scheduled vote today. The Congressional Budget Office says its savings were overstated and the numbers need to be crunched again.

Then there's other sense of urgency that's growing. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says it's time for his fellow Republicans to accept something less than perfect.

Well, we are now less than six days from the default deadline when the federal government will run out of money and be unable to pay its bills.

At the top of the hour, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are going to learn just how damaging that mere threat can be. Executives from credit rating agencies will warn of the far-reaching impact of a U.S. downgrade, and that could happen even before we reach the August 2nd deadline.

CNN's Ali Velshi is here to explain -- oh, all of the concerns that we have right now and the importance of this time line.

I mean, Ali, I know many ways, we sound like a broken record. But, you know, now we have five days to go and we are still totally concerned about interest rates and how this is going to affect us.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And I have new information because I know it sounds the same. But a lot of people have asked us, Kyra, about these debt rating agencies. We are talking about a potential downgrade. A likely downgrade even if they don't raise the debt ceiling.

So, a bunch of people said who are the debt rating agencies and what do they do, who pays them, who believes them and why does it matter?

Let me tell you a little bit about the debt rating agencies. So, you got S&P, you got Moody's, and you got Fitch Ratings. Fitch has been relatively silent in here, but both S&P and Moody's have said that it is entirely likely that they will downgrade the U.S. credit rating.

Now, the U.S. has AAA credit rating. It has had one since 1917, since Moody's first started rating the U.S. Now, these credit rating agencies are important because what they assign your debt determines how much interest you pay in your money. Those countries that are the lowest risk or companies that are the lowest risk pay the lowest interest. They have the highest credit rating.

So, it's important to know what they do because if they do downgrade you, there is a chance, it's not entirely sure, but there's a chance that the U.S. will then pay more to borrow and other people will look at other places to invest their money.

Now, there are about 19 countries in the world that have AAA credit rating, the United States is one of them according to S&P. But basically, 19 countries, Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, a number of other countries that have AAA stellar credit rating.

Now, what we are likely to see in the next few days or what we may see, Kyra, is the development where one of these credit rating agencies comes out and says the U.S. is not as good a risk as it used to be and we get a downgrade. It will be for the next level down.

Here's one more thing. Who pays these credit rating agencies, Kyra? Generally speaking, the company that wants to borrow money pays for the rating. Also, people subscribe to their ratings to get a sense where they should invest.

But S&P tells us one thing for sure, the United States does not pay for its rating. The United States is rated because a lot of people want to invest in it, so they pay for the rating. The United States doesn't pay for its AAA credit rating.

I hope that's a little bit of an advance on this story. At least we know when the news comes down about Moody's or S&P, who they are.

PHILLIPS: And a lot of people wondering, you know, what can I do right now to prevent any kind of disaster, you know, in the example, your home, right? Locking in on your rate. It could be --

VELSHI: In fact, yes.

PHILLIPS: Yes?

VELSHI: Just this morning. Every week, we get interest rates, mortgage rates from the Mortgage Bankers Association. A very, very slight increase, but in 15 and 30-year fixed mortgages, the rate is a little bit higher.

When I say a little bit higher, I mean one-one hundredth of a percentage point. But it's trend that's been going down for a long time. And it started to tick up, not a trend, one week. But if you are in adjustable rate mortgage, you might have that conversation about locking in. This is not something that's going to happen overnight or next week. But you could see an increase in the interest rates if the U.S. defaults.

PHILLIPS: Good tips. Thanks, Ali.

It's being called a virtual march on Washington. The country's biggest group representing disabled vets is furious that their benefits could be cut over the debt ceiling crisis in Washington so they are taking to Facebook by the thousands.

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is joining me now.

So, Barbara, can we just start by explaining how this works exactly?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a Web site, the Disabled Veterans of America, as you point out, Kyra, DAV.org. This is their virtual march on Washington.

Let's get to the boom line here. This debt ceiling crisis, of course, is not just about politics and not about a bunch of Washington jaw-flapping. This affects real people. And military veterans say they may wind up on the short end and they are protesting online.

Dav.org is running a virtual march. They want people to post their comments, their concerns, their videos. They want to hear from veterans, family members.

So far, in the last 4 hours, some 13,000 people logging on to both the DAV.org Web site and Twitter account. We want to read you jaw couple of the comments that are appearing live on their Twitter at this point.

One of -- and their Facebook, obviously -- one from a man named Ken Griggs (ph). He says, quote, "We gave the United States a promise that we would serve and defend. They promised us we and our family would be cared for if we were killed or injured. We held up our end of the deal, it's time they finally held up theirs."

A woman, Cheryl Esposito Alexander: "It wasn't enough that my son was stop lossed and sent back to Iraq another year. He had he no issue with the government, and he served proudly in the hell they sent him into again and again. He kept his word to serve and protect. Now, they need to keep their word for once."

What the veterans groups and the families are, obviously, concerned about is that their benefits and disability checks will be cut off if the debt ceiling is not raise. A number of veterans' groups went to the White House late yesterday. They try and -- they were called there and they wanted to hear the latest about what might happen to their benefit checks.

When they came out, a number of the veteran groups told us it was nice to hear from the White House, but they got no specific information about whether their checks will and when they will be cut off and that's the number one concern for them -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, we'll follow the concerns. We love our vets. That's for sure.

Barbara, thanks so much.

STARR: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Better late than never. NFL team training camps are open and we're going to take you to one of them, live. Our Carol Costello is there.

And don't forget, if you're walking away from the TV, well, it doesn't mean you have to stop watching. You can actually get CNN streaming live on your phone, computer, iPad. This is all you have to do. I'm going to take you back. You just go, you download our app for free. You hit live TV up there on top, hit CNN NEWSROOM, and you'll start streaming live.

There you go. And take us with you wherever you go. It's on a bit of a delay. Yes, you just saw Barbara a minute ago, but that's why. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's check stories cross country now.

Storms ripping through parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts last night, winds up to 60 miles an hour, along with quarter-sized hail had residents on edge. And this is the same area, by the way, that was hit by a tornado last month.

We've seen plenty of homecomings by soldier. Well, this one in Nebraska has a bit of a twist. That's Army Specialist Robert Leonard. He's part of the 134th Cavalry that just returned home yesterday from Afghanistan.

You see him on the knee there. He convinced his girlfriend to come up on stage and he popped the question. You can probably tell she said yes!

And now that the final shuttle mission is done, NASA workers looking for their next job. Well, they held a job fair at the Kennedy Space Center. Some 60 government agencies and private companies showed up to offer jobs.

In this economy, it can be pretty tough to find a job as we all well know. Well, now, it's your chance to be heard right here on CNN. You can give us your 30-second pitch on air. Tell us why someone should hire you. Send us an e-mail 30secondpitch@CNN.com. You make a chance to make that pitch right here at 10:00 a.m. in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right. Are you ready for some NFL football? How about training camp?

After more than four months of fan worry and negotiations among the players and the owners, it is definitely time to prepare for fall pigskin. One of our football big fans, Carol Costello, live at Baltimore Ravens training camp this morning.

Yes, this is where Carol lives. She's a little biased. She's excited about this.

And my guess -- yes -- you probably talked to the players and given them a little strategy. A few ideas.

(LAUGHTER)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm trying! None of them are here yet! Did you really say are you ready for some football? Did you say that?

PIHLLIPS: I know you're ready.

COSTELLO: Because I swore not to use that line!

I am ready for some football.

You know, if you're going to have a labor dispute, Kyra, this is the way to do because let's be honest, you really didn't notice that the players and owners were arguing all that much. Every so often, they'd pop up on television and you go, oh, my God, it's millionaire versus billionaire. I'm really angry. I hope they start the season on time.

Well, they are going to start the season on time, so may be all is forgiven. Who knows?

Right now, inside that building, this is Ravens training camp -- inside that building is the administration building. There is sort of an organized chaos going on. Up to 30 players could sign contracts today and they are dealing with free agency, they are dealing with people to cut.

This is sort of a new thing for them, so they are trying to get everything done because the first preseason same game is August 11th. This scenario is playing out all over the country. Players say they are ready.

And I don't know if you played that YouTube video or not -- did you play it, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: We did not. I'm sorry. The producers are apologizing profusely right now. I know. I'm sorry.

OK, sell it!

COSTELLO: OK. So, if you saw that YouTube video, as you were supposed to, you would see a group of players thanking the fans for putting up with the labor dispute and saying how happy they are to be playing football again -- or at least soon. I think tomorrow, at least the Ravens players will start practicing.

As I said, August 11th is the first preseason game. And, really, honestly, aren't we happy we don't have to go through the minicamps? Because who cares, really?

PHILLIPS: Get down to business.

All right. I'm going to YouTube right now. I'm going to have to bring this up at some point for our viewers.

What do I plug in to bring it up? Tell us now. Everyone is going to their computers.

COSTELLO: I don't know. If you just go to YouTube and you put in NFL players, it will come up.

PHILLIPS: All right. I'm on it.

COSTELLO: And you'll see a group of players saying thank you, thank you, thank you!

PHILLIPS: OK. Carol, thanks. We'll be checking in with you again, of course. We've got much more coming up in the big play. Thanks, Carol.

Well, the nation's debt crisis is on the verge of making history for all of the wrong reasons. But all hope is not lost according to a man who has seen a number of crises in the White House. David Gergen, an adviser to four U.S. presidents, joins us with some perspective straight ahead.

That's the Norwegian cops blowing up the stash of explosives on Norway shooting suspect's farm. Disturbing new details on the investigation in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, in Norway today, the country's prime minister is insisting the country hasn't lost its innocence after Friday's terror attacks where at least 76 people died.

And new video of the bomb blast in Oslo now. This is from closed circuit television. It actually shows the inside of a nearby storm as the bomb goes off and the showing of the aftermath down the street from the explosion.

Take a look at this. Store windows blown out.

CNN's Nic Robertson has been following the police investigation at the farm of the alleged shooter. The concern now is that all of the explosives he purchased actually can't be accounted for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): First, an explosion. Then, smoke rises over the farm where Anders Breivik is believed to have prepared his attacks.

Investigators at the remote hide-away that Breivik used as a cover to buy fertilizer for his deadly bomb using a controlled explosion to detonate a device they found at the farm.

Breivik said he had 6,000 kilograms of fertilizer delivered here, more than six tons and half of it for bomb making.

(on camera): For over four days now, forensic officials and investigators combing through the property to determine how much fertilizer they can account for. What this they learn will be critical in understanding if there is another bomb on the loose.

JON FITJE, PST ANALYSIS DIRECTOR: We measure the fertilizer that we think that he has bought and the amount that we think was used in the explosion and what is left on the farm. So this is -- this is also something that the investigation must answer.

ROBERTSON: And, right now, Norway's intelligence officials admit the numbers don't add up. Only one bomb set off by Breivik so far. The forensic cleanup in the central of Oslo still under way.

FITJE: He has mentioned 900 kilos. The experts say that it could vary plus/minus, and this is something that is -- still some uncertainty connected to this.

ROBERTSON (on camera): An uncertainty measured in hundreds of kilograms or more?

FITJE: The uncertainty is big enough that -- that we think that this -- this must -- we think we have to try to get clarity in this.

ROBERTSON: Enough to be another bomb potentially?

FITJE: Potentially, yes.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Breivik's lawyer says his client won't help.

(on camera): What is he saying to the police when they ask about the missing fertilizer?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He don't say anything about that.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): He also says Breivik won't tell the police about the two cells in Norway and the others in the west whom he claims will continue his fight.

FITJE: We're not sure whether this actually represents a possible threat or not, and this is the priority in the investigation now, to -- to get this cleared.

ROBERTSON: The question everyone wants answered: is Norway safe from another outrage? So far, no clear answer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Nic Robertson is joining me now from outside of that farm. So Nic, where does the investigation go from here?

ROBERTSON: Well, it's going to be continuing in one part the search for some of the missing bodies. People believe to have been shot or died somewhere away from that island. And the investigation continues on this site.

Just in the last few minutes there was another controlled explosion. What happened the fertilizer bomb that it appears that Breivik made here, there was leftover material. That was the explosion we saw yesterday. This one a few minutes ago, the police are using or the Army bomb disposal are using about two and a half kilograms of TNT to set off those explosions.

They'll have another blast here in about half an hour. After that, they say they will have taken care of all the fertilizer that bomb that they discovered so then it really is a matter of adding up. What they need to know, what's critical to know now is how much fertilizer was used in that bomb in the center of Oslo.

So that's -- there are a lot of scrutiny on that. Those are the key issues right now -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll follow them. Right there along with you, Nic thanks.

And staying with this story, this is absolutely chilling. A mom whose daughter was actually on the island in Norway received text messages as the mad man went on his killing spree. The 16-year-old girl who was able to find a safe hiding place actually began sending the text shortly after he began his rampage asking her mother to call police.

This is what they said, "Mommy, tell the police that they must be quick. People are dying here. Tell the police that there is a mad man running around and shooting people. They must hurry."

But then as you can imagine, some of the texts get emotional telling her mom at one point, quote, "I love you even if I misbehave from time to time" and assuring her mom that she isn't panicking even though she's scared. That girl survived by the way but some of her best friends died on the island.

All hopes not lost in the debt crisis. Up next we're going to tell you why compromise is still possible, according to David Gergen.

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PHILLIPS: The nation's debt crisis, the doomsday scenario laid out. Next hour on Capitol Hill, an outraged public overwhelming congressional Web sites and phone banks, even the Twitter universe ablaze with the hash tag of well, how do we put this delicately, "FU, Washington".

And then there's David Gergen. No cuss words, no plague of locusts. He actually believes there is a ray of hope piercing the dark clouds.

David, we read what you wrote. You know, tell us how you think it's becoming easier actually to find common ground.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well Kyra, we are perilously close to the edge, but I think if cooler heads prevail, if we can keep a sense of calm, we can get past this. We have two plans, competing plans, Democratic and Republican obviously that are duelling on Capitol Hill. Neither one is -- has any real chance of getting through.

So there's a search for what's the alternative, what's Plan B, or maybe it's C, D, E or F. And as you look at this -- some good things are going on. One is, there are quiet, urgent conversations behind the scenes among the top leaders on both sides in the Congress.

The two duelling plans actually have some similarities. They are closer together than people think and it might be possible to put together some sort of marriage of those two.

And finally, it may -- we may well have a little more time than we think. A couple of things are going on. There are -- more money has come into the federal till than people expected, than the U.S. government expected and so they've got a -- they may have a little more time, a little more wiggle room than they have anticipated. They might have several days.

And there are hints that if there -- in the search for plan B, if they're making progress, if they're really serious, that the President might be willing to drop his objection to a short term extension of the debt ceiling and maybe give them a couple weeks to finish up.

That could -- that could let time for, as I say, cooler heads to prevail. It's the -- there's no certainties here. There are other dangers that we face. We haven't faced -- we're not facing the underlying problem of deficits that could well lead to a downgrade of our credit rating.

But on this immediate crisis, I think this is not time to panic. I really think it's time to be calm and let's try to make a determined effort and let's get there.

PHILLIPS: You know it's interesting, you say -- you say, don't panic, yet David as you know, if you read all the papers, watch all the newscasts, we were talking about how this could be a major, major catastrophe. I mean, you've been through tough times with four presidents.

How would you compare this moment, what people are saying could be disastrous, to other disastrous moments in other presidencies? I mean how does it rank to you?

GERGEN: Oh it's right up there on the Richter scale. I would say in the 7 range, 6 or 7 range, maybe even higher. But what really strikes me is the difference Kyra, is this, that in the past, the emergencies we faced when presidents have gone on national television in prime time to talk about emergencies, almost invariably it's about somebody outside this country doing something to us. Or something, the nature is doing something to us --

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Interesting. This is self-inflicted.

GERGEN: This is self-inflicted. And that's what's so distressing about it. And it is -- you know frankly we have -- there is no question we've already been very badly damaged in the eyes of the world.

Coming on top of the financial crisis, which the world blames on us to a considerable agree, coming on top of the last ten years of wars especially in Iraq, this is one more blow against the prestige of the United States. It's not healthy but we still have to get through it, we can't -- we don't want to make it worse.

PHILLIPS: Yes knocking our credibility.

David, thanks so much for weighing in. You can read David's --

(CROSSTALK)

GERGEN: Thank you Kyra.

PHILLIPS: -- you bet. You can read David's full article and his other musings, of course, at CNN.com/opinion.

Ok, stories making news later today. In just a few minutes the formal ceremony marking the closure of the Walter Reed Army Hospital gets under way.

And at noon Eastern on Capitol Hill, the Tea Party and presidential candidate Herman Cain rally on behalf of the "cut, cap and balance" deficit reduction plan.

And that same hour, a trio of Watch Dog groups release their top ten consumer complaints of the past year.

All right, we're following a lot of developments for you in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with our Dan Lothian -- Dan.

LOTHIAN: Well, compromise remains the word of the day here at the White House, but so far Republicans and Democrats have not been able to find common ground. Nonetheless, White House officials remain optimistic that a debt ceiling deal will be reached. I'll have more on that at the top of the hour. SAYAH: Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda, the world's most notorious terror group and for many in America, enemy number one. But is al Qaeda on the verge of collapse? That story at the top of the hour.

VERJEE: Hi, I'm Zain Verjee in London. A 14-year-old American boy beheading people in Mexico? I'll bring you the details.

PHILLIPS: All right, thanks guys.

And Congressman Luis Gutierrez busted outside the White House yesterday. He was protesting immigration reform. He'll talk to me live next hour.

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PHILLIPS: All right. Today's "Big Play" or this morning's big mistake, you decide. The Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates on an epic 19- inning game and it came down to this. That's right, the grounder to third. The throw home to get Julio Lugo, called safe. You saw the slow-mo right there. The umpire's blown call. Braves win 4-3 at the final.

To the Bronx now, the Yanks CC Sabathia on the verge of becoming the first 15-game winner this season. The Mariners the franchise's worst 17th consecutive loss. Give it to CC though making the M's look bad in a one-hit, one-run, 14-strikeout performance. Seattle's slide continues (INAUDIBLE).

And if you're glad that the NFL labor lockout is done, so are the players. This is the video that we were talking to Carol Costello about just a little earlier. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to say to all the fans thank you so much for all your support.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to thank you the fans for sticking by us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you to fans for being with us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to thank all of our fans for being patient.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just thank you so much for your --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The players union released this "thank you" video to the fans for their support during the four-month long work stoppage. Now to business at hand, signing draft picks. Possibly some wheeling and dealing, Friday free agency, today training camps open. And our Carol Costello joining us live, once again, from the Ravens training camp coming up this hour.