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Vote on Boehner Debt Plan Today; 398,000 First Time Jobless Claims; Constitutional Powers versus Default; L'Oreal Pulls Julia Roberts Ad; New Video Moments After Explosion; Search for Shooting Victims Ends; Riots Break Out at Movie Premiere; Train Derails Near Los Angeles; School Bus Fee Angers Parents; American Want Religious Presidents; Alek Trebek's Crime Fighting Injury; Joe Pesci's "Gotti" Lawsuit; Tori Spelling's Breast Remorse
Aired July 28, 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 just before 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 7:00 a.m. out West. I'm Kyra Phillips. Thanks for joining us.
A pivotal day in the debt show down, a vote in the House and a huge test of just how divided the Republican Party really is.
Al Qaeda's new leader releases his first taped message since succeeding Osama bin Laden. Ayman al-Zawahiri rips Syria's president and praises the protest trying to oust him.
And that swirling mass in the gulf of Mexico is tropical storm Don. It could hit the Texas coast as early as tomorrow night.
Well, today could be a make or break day in the dead crisis. I know. You've heard that before but here's the deal today. Lawmakers are not mincing words as we have less than five days to raise the debt ceiling or risk defaulting on government bills.
Today the House is due to vote on Speaker John Boehner's plan and as his own party holds the majority of the vote, he's really getting frustrated with the divisions that threaten its passage. So in a closed-door meeting Boehner actually told the feuding Republican, quote, "Get your ass in line."
And then there was veteran Senator John McCain, he blasted fellow Republicans quoting an article that disparaged, quote, "Tea Party hobbits".
All right, let's get the latest on where things are headed. I think maybe we can tell where thing are headed. Joe Johns in our Washington Bureau. Joe, any idea when this vote will take place today?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, expecting the vote between 5:00 and 6:00 Eastern Time. Of course, that could slip. This will be a real big moment for House Speaker John Boehner testing among other things his ability to get that somewhat unruly Republican majority in the House to go along with him.
When he first said there would be a vote a couple days ago, it looked briefly like he was just going to have an open revolt on his hands. It actually got so bad that a staffer for one conservative house member was caught openly sending e-mails to a group off the Hill asking for help in opposing the bill, almost unheard of.
And now although the outlook is much more optimistic for the Boehner bill though, there are still some conservatives who say they don't like the approach and they won't vote for it, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right and this is the first that we're actually hearing of a time between 5 and 6. Did you just get word, Joe?
JOHNS: Yes, sort of across the trend and again, you have to caution because things like this could be very fluid, but 5:15, 6:15, Eastern Time, something like that.
The other thing, you know, I mean, can it pass? When a congressional leader on the House side schedules a vote, at least know or they're supposed to know which way it's going to go and I've been asking vote counters on the Hill whether this is going to be smooth sailing or a nail biter.
The message I've gotten back on the Republican side is that the speaker is expecting, quote/unquote, "strong support from the Republican conference," but on the Democratic side, we know that many, many Democrats will not sign on. In fact there's some suggestion that the opposition will be close to unanimous.
PHILLIPS: All right, Joe. Keep working it for us. Thanks.
Encouraging news on the job front. First time unemployment claims dropped below 400,000 for the first time in more than three months. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. Good news.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, rare, right? It's an encouraging report. Can you believe it? Yes, new jobless claims dropping more than expected coming in at 398,000 last week.
Sure, that's below that 400,000 level where really need to be because it's generally seen as signifying job growth. Want a comparison? Claims topped 600,000 when we were in the thick of the recession, so yes, we're making some progress here, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: If these job numbers, you know are positive then why isn't there a bigger reaction on Wall Street? I mean, we saw a little bit of a reaction.
KOSIK: We did. Stocks are going the other way right now. They're going back towards the negative column, but the reality is that the debt ceiling deal is cause for a lot of anxiety here on Wall Street.
Also that jobs headline, it really doesn't tell the whole story. Almost eight million Americans get unemployment benefits and this count the emergency and long term benefits. That's the reality here.
Also, we really need to stay below that 400,000 level for the long term. This is just one report. It's positive, but not enough. Now Friday, we're also going to see how the broader economy is doing.
We're going to get second quarter GDP that will show economic growth. And I'll be honest with you, expectations not so great right now. We're expecting to hear what most of us already know, the recovery is growing very slowly, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK, Alison, thanks.
So leave it to Washington to find a loophole, right? Some Democrats say if time runs out, the president could save the government from default by tapping into his constitutional powers. But it's the White House, yes, the White House, that's actually knocking down that idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There is no way around this. There is no escape. You know, having an esoteric constitutional argument won't resolve the fact that our borrowing authority is due to expire on August 2nd. And Congress has the legal authority and only Congress has the legal authority to extend that borrowing authority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now Carney says the real problem is that House Republicans with wasting time on the Boehner plan because even if it should somehow pass the Senate, the president will not sign off on it.
At the bottom of the hour, we're going to hear from the freshmen Republicans who are challenging their own party and demanding bigger cuts. We'll check in on the 10:30 a.m. news conference.
Cosmetic giant L'Oreal has been forced to pull an ad campaign featuring Julia Roberts and supermodel Christy Turlington. CNN's Zain Verjee found this out of London. What's the problem? Are they just too beautiful, Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They have been overly air brushed is what the authorities are saying and that their images are totally misleading. Fancy that, Kyra, air brushing. We've never done right?
PHILLIPS: Full disclosure here, Zain. We should say, yes, that is what we do in this business, OK, and thank goodness for it. That's all I have to say.
VERJEE: Well, I wake up looking like this, Kyra, but look, these are the pictures here. Look at Julia Roberts here on the left-hand side, air brushed and lovely. On the right hand side is without air brushing. Now, in this ad, she's in for a product called "Miracle Foundation." Christy Turlington also for anti-aging cream and basically what they're saying here is that these images are not representative of the results the product would actually achieve.
So they're saying you're overly perfecting images of women in the media and it's misleading. So if consumers buy this product, you would not be going to look like Julia Roberts, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, I think that we realize that, you know? Makeup does help a little bit, but it does not change what, you know, Mother Nature has given you or what God has blessed you with.
VERJEE: That's right. You know, L'Oreal is sayings, you know what, actually the pictures of Julia Roberts are in their words inspirational.
And with Christy Turlington, they say that it accurately represents what kind of results you would get, that would be achievable if you use those products. But, you know, there is the problem of Mother Nature as we get older, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Things start to shift in directions we never really expected. Come on, these women make up or not, Zain, they're beautiful.
VERJEE: They are.
PHILLIPS: Zain, thanks. Coming up, religion in the presidential race. Some interesting and maybe contradictory findings in the new poll. We're going to talk to the CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute.
Plus new compelling video taken moments after the deadly Norway explosion. We're going to hear from the man who shot is right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: CNN has obtained dramatic new image or video taken moments after Friday's bomb attack outside government buildings in Norway.
It was shot by Johan Christian Tandberg. He works in real estate in Oslo. He was actually driving through a tunnel beneath the city's government plaza when the bomb went off.
Eight people were killed. Tandberg (inaudible) survivors hoping that the video might help police. He described the scene earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHAN CHRISTIAN TANDBERG, VIDEOTAPED AFTERMARTH OF OSLO BOMBING: First few minutes, people were in a shock. It was very quiet. Then we heard screaming as people lost their hearing because of the bomb and so they couldn't - some of them were not able to hear, some of them were not able to walk, someone were very injured and unfortunately somebody also was dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Also this morning, police say that the search for victims of the shooting rampage near Oslo has now ended.
Let's check stories cross-country now. It looked like the scene from a movie, but it was a real life riot just outside the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles last night. Thousands of people tried to crash the jam-packed movie premiere. Police arrested two people. No injuries were reported.
Rail traffic snarled near Little Rock, California after dozens of railcars jumped the track yesterday. A few had hazardous materials. People living nearby were evacuated.
And in Franklin Township, Indiana, plenty of angry parents after local school officials announced a near $50 a month bus fee to transport students to and from school this year. The superintendent says it's necessary after voters shot down a referendum to raise taxes.
According to a new poll, a majority of Americans think that it's important for a presidential candidate to have strong religious beliefs, but maybe not important enough to really educate themselves about the field.
For example, people who value faith tended to prefer Mitt Romney to President Obama. Yet 44 percent of white Evangelicals didn't even know that Romney is a Mormon. That brings to us a much broader discussion about religious identities influence on the presidential election.
Joining us now, Robert Jones, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, which actually carried out this new poll. Good to see.
You know, given your polling, do elections bear this out? Do presidential candidates who use religious language or proclaim their faith generally get elected over someone who doesn't?
ROBERT JONES, CEO, PUBLIC RELIGION RESEARCH INSTITUTE: Well, what we know is that religion is a really important lens for Americans. Americans are very religious people.
When they go to think about whether they identify with a religious candidate, we see very clearly that this is one lens that Americans use to discern whether or not they can identify with a political candidate.
And in this case, we did some study of particularly the effects on the campaigns of President Obama and Mitt Romney. We found very interesting insights in really will impact the way that the 2012 elections come out.
PHILLIPS: So then considering our times, OK, and social issues like gay marriage and how faith plays in to those types of social issue, are you seeing a shift or could we see a shift in how proclaiming your faith could actually hurt you as a candidate?
JONES: Well, I think what's important with religion is how well the constituents think they can identify with a presidential candidate. And on this count are and this is where President Obama and Mitt Romney have both have some real challenges.
On the one hand, as you mentioned, only 40 percent of the public knows that Mitt Romney is Mormon, but 72 percent of the public says that they perceive the Mormon faith to be very different from their own.
On the other hand, President Obama faces some very similar challenges that only 4 in 10 Americans despite the fact that he's the sitting president know that he's correctly identify as Christian, 18 percent continue to incorrectly identified him as Muslim and about four in 10 say they don't know what his religious beliefs are.
And the bigger than that I think the bigger challenge of both of these candidates face is that more Americans than not say that the religious beliefs of both President Obama and Mitt Romney are different from their own and that is what has implications for the ballot box.
PHILLIPS: So, OK, let me ask you this. You know, from religious politicians to religious leaders. We've seen a lot of people fall from grace shall we say.
So are you telling me that Americans still think that if you're a person of faith, if you proclaim that that you're going to be more moral, more honest as a president?
JONES: You know, I do think Americans often use this as a proxy for morality, that -- and again, what really matters I think is how similar or different that people perceive their faith to be.
What we see in this is that among those, for example, who say that Mitt Romney's religious beliefs are different from their own, President Obama's lead, which is about eight points right now jumps to nearly 30 points.
But President Obama faces the same fate. Among knows who say President Obama's faith is different from their own, his lead goes from eight points to a 16-point deficit. So Romney actually leads among Americans who say that President Obama's faith is different from their own.
PHILLIPS: Robert Jones, appreciate talking to you today.
JONES: Great, thanks for having me.
PHILLIPS: You bet, as always, you can check out more by going to the CNN Belief blog at cnn.com/belief.
So what is this? Chasing a hotel room burglar? We're going to have the latest on "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek's tendon snapping encounter with a suspected criminal.
Plus Tropical Storm Don churning in the Gulf of Mexico and bearing down on Texas. We'll tell you where it's going and when. And also don't forget, if you walk away from that TV, you can still watch us. You can live stream us on your phone, your computer, your iPad, cnn.com/video. Here you go or you can just download the app, the new app. It's free, of course.
And you can see that we're this a little bit of a delay, but basically when you get to the web site, you hit live TV and on the side it will pop up, CNN NEWSROOM. You hit it and you'll be watching us live streaming. Take us with you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: "Jeopardy's" host Alex Trebek's answer to a fleet foot the burglar? Give chase. But the long time quiz master is now on crutches after an early morning crime fighting performance.
"SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" host, A.J. Hammer has that story and more in our daily entertainment report. A.J. --
A.J. HAMMER, HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: Kyra, let's go to tough game show host for $500, shall we? Alex Trebek and his wife were asleep in a San Francisco hotel room when they woke up at 2:30 Tuesday morning to discover a woman allegedly robbing them. Well, the 71-year-old Trebek chased this woman out of his hotel room and let's hear the story right from the host himself, shall we?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX TREBEK, HOST, "JEOPARDY": Chasing a burglar down the hall at my San Francisco hotel until my Achilles tendon ruptured and I fell in an ignominious heap. I called security immediately and gave them a good description of the woman and they got her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Sorry, so sorry. The suspect in question is a 56-year- old woman with a criminal record. She was charged with burglary and receiving stolen property.
And at least some of Trebek's belongings were recovered near the ice machine down the hall, but the injury did not keep Trebek down, Kyra. He did keep his scheduled appearance to host the National Geographic world championship. He is my hero.
PHILLIPS: Of course, never miss a moment. All right, actor Joe Pesci a little heavy around the waist, a little in the wallet over the new "Gotti" film in the works. What's the deal with this?
HAMMER: This bums me out. It seems Joe Pesci was made a film offer he didn't refuse, but he claims film producers rubbed him out in the end.
Now according to multiple reports Pesci is suing producers of the film "Gotti in the Shadow of My Father." It's all about (inaudible). Pesci was supposed to play Gotti's right hand man and enforcer opposite John Travolta. The role was supposed to pay Pesci three million bucks and that actor claims he even put on 30 pounds for the part.
But according to TMZ, he says producers reneged on the contract even after he made statements promoting the role. Pesci says he was offered a lesser role in the film for about a million bucks.
And the cast for this film looks great, John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Al Pacino, even Lindsay Lohan has been cast in a small part, but Kyra, they've already had to replace the director and now this, so perhaps the little trouble going on with making of this film.
PHILLIPS: Yes, all right. We will follow it for sure. What's this about Tori Spelling? A little issue with her plastic surgery?
HAMMER: Well, she grew up in Hollywood, of course plastic surgery there is all the norm, Kyra. But Spelling who is now pregnant with her third child admitted during an interview with ABC, she regrets getting breast implants when she was younger.
Here's what she tells them, "Well, I got my boobs done in my early 20s and if I had known it would or could possibly have impacted production of milk, I would never have had them done. I love being a mom. I'm on my third baby and we want to have more." So there you have it true confessions for Thursday morning from Tori Spelling.
PHILLIPS: A.J., what's going on with you? You know, Hugh Hefner's sex life yesterday, now Tori Spelling's breasts. You're getting a little I don't know, risque in the morning. I don't know about this. Too early.
HAMMER: It's summertime and I just got back from vacation. I don't know.
PHILLIPS: OK. I'll tell you what. Well, people will be watching. A.J., thanks. If you want all the information that's breaking in the entertainment no matter what it is, A.J. has got it every night HLN 11:00 p.m. Eastern.
Congressman Joe Walsh took it on the chin from Senator John McCain yesterday. We're going to show you Walsh's full reaction in a moment, but here's a taste.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm glad that I've only been here six to seven months because I reflect where a lot of the American people are. Guys like John McCain have been here too long.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And we're just minutes away from a news conference by freshmen Republicans on Capitol Hill. Just six months on the job and they have a huge voice in the nation's debt crisis. We'll check into see what they have to say about today's scheduled vote.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking top stories. Encouraging news on U.S. jobs. Initial unemployment claims dropped below 400,000 for the first time in three months. Dropping by 24,000 from the previous week.
Al Qaeda's new leader releases his first taped message since succeeding Osama Bin Laden. Ayman al-Zawahiri rips Syria's president and praises the protest trying to oust him.
And CNN has obtained new exclusive video from moment after Friday's explosion in Norway. It was taken by a man who was driving through a tunnel beneath the city's government plaza when the blast went off. He says people were shocked, bloody and dazed.
All the bickering over the debt ceiling isn't just between the Democrats and the Republicans anymore. Senator John McCain took a shot at members of his own party who are trying to hold up a deal in Congress. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: To hold out and say we won't agree to raising the debt limit until we pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. It's unfair, it's bizarro, and maybe some people who have only been in this body for six or seven months or so really believe that, others know better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh is one of the Tea Party Republicans, who has been pushing for much deeper cuts. And I spoke with him just a short time ago to ask him what he not thought of McCain's comments.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. JOE WALSH (R), ILLINOIS: The problem, Kyra, is that folks like Senator John McCain have been in this town for too long and they're the ones who have gotten us into this mess year after year after year.
I'm glad that I've only been here six to seven months because I reflect where a lot of the American people are. Guys like John McCain have been here too long. And it's almost insulting for him to say that.
Look, enough with the insults. I wish this town would simply step back and take a breath. Your profession has us all a Twitter, the administration's has us all a Twitter, let's make sure we solve this crisis and solve it right.
PHILLIPS: At the same time, Americans would look to you and say you're holding us hostage. We're talking about the debt ceiling vote here. Republicans have voted for this in the past over and over again, so why fight it now?
WALSH: Kyra, that's actually a fascinating question. Why the big deal this year about the debt ceiling when as you say it's come and gone numerous times over the years. Here's why.
The American people have woken up, A, this administration has spent money like we've never seen the last 2-1/2 years and we are falling off a financial cliff.
And unless we finally do something about this debt, we're placing on the backs' of our kids and grandkids will never recover. And so folks like Mika to Washington to come up with a solution, some sort of solution like balancing the budget, a balance budget amendment, which will make sure we never get here again.
PHILLIPS: Economically, though, we were in horrible positions in the '70s and '80s, but it has never gotten to this point, the political bickering, the back and forth, you know, just days to go before this August 2nd deadline.
WALSHI: Kyra, I think a lot of the problem is that this president hasn't been serious for the last six months. And so here he comes to us in the 11th hour to try to fix his mess, we're perfectly willing to fix the mess, but he hasn't led.
I mean, everybody -- the administration has been trying to scare folks into this notion of default. Default is off the table. Nobody wants default. We're going to pay off our debt and we have plenty of government revenues this next month to make sure that we do.
I guess what a lot of the House Republicans are arguing is let's make sure we get this right. I'm not obsessed with August 2nd truthfully. I'm obsessed with making sure that we solve this debt crisis and if it takes us a few more days, let's do it.
PHILLIPS: Now with all due, and I have personal financial question for you, Congressman. You've become a key player in this debate that's all about spending.
Now we're seeing reports coming through, the "Chicago Sun Times," you've had your own financial problems, the claims that you lost your condo to foreclosure, that you owe back child support. With that out there now, are you concerned about your credibility in this debate?
WALSH: Look, I was probably the most openly vetted candidate on the planet. I ran as a guy who lost his home and had had financial struggles like a lot of Americans, absolutely not.
This is where a lot of Americans come from right now. It's why they sent so many of us to Washington to do something about this because we're living this experience. And again, I end where we began.
Senator McCain and folks like him would is been in this town for so long and have no clue as to the troubles Americans are going through right now, they don't understand this crisis anymore.
PHILLIPS: So congressman, you're actually saying then that you're experiencing these troubles, the fact that you can't pay child support?
WALSH: Well, again, Kyra, personal family issues that I'm going to fight, again, I know that story just broke and it's interesting that it just broke right now as I'm trying my best to fight the president and fight the Democrats and solve this debt crisis.
But, look, I'm the most openly vetted candidate in the world. I have had financial troubles, and I talked about them throughout the campaign. This is where real America is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And right now, this is where America is on Capitol Hill. We're about to hear from the freshman class on House Republicans. They just started to speak actually. Just six months on the job. They could play a huge role in today's vote on the Boehner debt plan. As you know, the vote now expected between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. Washington time. This is Republican Tim Griffin from Arkansas that just stepped away from the mike. We are monitoring this, and we'll bring you any developments as it happens.
Well, five days until the government hits that debt ceiling, and a growing number of analysts are saying that the ratings downgrade is coming. What that means for you and me and our money, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking stories "Cross Country" now.
In Tampa, Florida police believe someone was watching two exchange students by hidden video cameras in their apartment. These women say the sneaky cams were made to look like smoke detectors. Cops say they have suspects but no arrests in the case so far.
The weather is not okay in Oklahoma, but all (INAUDIBLE) of the state's 77 counties are now declared federal disaster areas due to the ongoing drought. And nine confirmed heat-related deaths this summers. Yesterday in Tulsa, a new record high temp topped out at 107.
People in Fall Mouth, Massachusetts want to know why an endangered leatherback turtle washed ashore dead yesterday. An autopsy on the six-foot, near 1,000 pound creature is set for today.
"Political Buzz," your rapid-fire look at the hottest political topics of the day. Three questions. It's not 20 seconds on the clock. It's 30 seconds on the clock now. Playing today -
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Oooh!
PHILLIPS: CNN's political Roland Martin --
MARTIN: Ten extra seconds! PHILLIPS: It's because Roland Martin needs the extra time because he has such a big mouth, right?
And John Avlon - yes.
So, you know what? Let me waste no more time since we have Roland, we had to bump up the amount here.
Let's start with the first question. Oh, boy, hold on to your hats, folks John Boehner orders the GOP to fall in line on the debt negotiations. OK, so is it a case of too little to late for Boehner to be showing leadership and putting his foot down? Roland.
MARTIN: This is what always happens. You have to crack the whip because you have all these crazies running who are off at the mouth, and they don't want to understand the crisis we're this as a country. So, he's saying, guys, you need to get off your butts and realize we have to take action now. OK? There's no getting around this.
PHILLIPS: Will?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: No, Kyra. It's not too late.
Look, much of the commentary on this whole deal has been like watching a poker hand on ESPN and hyperventilating about every single bet and every single bluff. The only thing that matters in this whole ordeal is the final outcome. All right? And that's not over until it's over. Let's see what the final deal is.
CAIN: John?
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You can't play with this kind of debt ceiling limit. Problem is it's not a game. It's our country, and we're getting awfully close to the edge of this cliff. Look, Speaker Boehner's problem is that he's trying to herd rabid cats. This is a problem with all-or-nothing absolutists. They consider even their allies their enemies if they're not with them 100 percent.
So, this is a problem all born out of hyper-partisan ship.
PHILLIPS: All right, guys. A new stumble for the Gingrich campaign. Some of the campaign T-shirts apparently made in El Salvador, not in America. It was blamed on the fact that the campaign was staffed by volunteers. So, can Gingrich possibly get back into the game? Will?
CAIN: You know, before you sent this question, Kyra, I kind of -- a little part of me forgot Newt Gingrich was running for president.
(LAUGHTER)
CAIN: I mean, he doesn't show up in any of the polls. He's totally out of the conversation. You know, we act like know-it-alls, you know, but that's what we do in this business! So, I'm going to be absolutist. No, he cannot get back in the game.
PHILLIPS: Roland?
MARTIN: Speaker Gingrich has done something that I thought was impossible. And that he has surpassed former senator Fred Thompson as the worst presidential campaign ever. No, he has no shot. I say Newt, take those shirts, go to El Salvador, have a nice vacation with your wife because you have no shot for running the most inept presidential campaign ever.
PHILLIPS: John.
AVLON: I mean, it really is a new level of amateur hour, and this is not an original campaign sin. This is the thing that's sort of obvious. Before you order the American flags, you make sure they're not made in China. It's just yet another example of a disastrous presidential campaign that a guy can go from being speaker with almost 100 percent name ID in the base to just being irrelevant in the conversation set speaks volumes. Ain't going to happen, Newt.
MARTIN: He'll get the El Salvador vote, though.
PHILLIPS: There you go. He had a few seconds, he had to throw it in there. Will's like, all right, let's move on
All right, guys, if you haven't seen the movie "The Town," let's take a little bit here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR: I need your help. I can't tell you what it is. You can never ask me about it later. And we're going to hurt some people.
JEREMY RENNER, ACTOR: Which car are we going to take?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: So, why are we showing you this? Because Ben Affleck is telling Republicans do not use scenes in his movie as a motivational tool to rally support for John Boehner. So, what's the next tool that they will be using or should be using? Roland.
MARTIN: I say they should use the clip from uberate liberal Alec Baldwin, where he's holding the steel balls in "Glengarry Glen Ross." "Always be closing. That's what these folks in Congress need to do. They need to close.
PHILLIPS: Will.
CAIN: I'm going to go with Ben's buddy who will also be appreciative that the conservatives co-opted his movie. Matt Damon in "Rounders." Despite John Avalon not liking my poker comparisons -
(LAUGHTER)
CAIN: -- I'd say, "Be cool, be cool. Make the best deal you can, but you got to make a deal eventually." "Rounders!" PHILLIPS: He's giving you that poker -
MARTIN: Oh, Will, c'mon!
AVLON: In what world is this a motivational film? "We're going to go hurt some people, don't ask any questions." Look, pretty soon they're going to go with the Bond film scene where (INAUDIBLE) feeds villian and another character to a bunch of piranhas. Or maybe it'll be inspiration like the last scene in "Saving Private Ryan."
What are these people thinking? This is insane. Next time Republicans complain about their bad rep, this is exhibit A.
PHILLIPS: I think I've got a few movies to rent this weekend. Will, John --
MARTIN: I guess we won't say "Distinguished Gentlemen" by Eddie Murphy, huh, John?
PHILLIPS: Oh! Now, that would be the movie we would play when we're introducing the three of you guys. Just perfect. Thank you, gentleman.
And thanks for being on time, Roland.
MARTIN: Always, baby, always! I got you! Did I show up?
PHILLIPS: Yes, you did!
MARTIN: Thank you very much.
PHILLIPS: OK.
(LAUGHTER)
(BELL RINGS)
PHILLIPS: Ding!
Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange with details on your money. Now Alison, you're always on time. Let's talk about a possible debt downgrade for the U.S. government. What do you think everyday Americans should know when it comes to their investments right now?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, everybody's getting pummeled with these headlines about this debt ceiling stalemate. And the advice is you know what? Try not to get to caught up in all these headlines. Try to keep your eye on the long term.
Now, with that being said, of course, many traders expect I'm talking to, they expect the market to take a short-term hit if the government debt rating is downgraded. What you'll see is more volatility in the markets, but you know what? Things will get back to normal. Listen to the advice that one trader gave me.
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KOSIK: What are you telling your clients?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now if you're in the market, stay in and keep a close eye on things. But if you're not, stay on the sidelines. Just watch. There's no rush to get into the market at the moment. Just too much uncertainty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Translation: don't make any big moves right now, as long as you're diversified, of course. Also, remember, you shouldn't really try to time the market especially if it's your retirement at stake. And remember, when it comes to investments, nothing is guaranteed. You know what? The bigger the risk, the more you stand to lose. So it's really all up to you.
PHILLIPS: And we're watching these markets, and we really don't want them tanking in coming weeks. And everybody is saying don't panic, don't panic, but it's hard.
KOSIK: It really is hard especially since we really don't know what's going to happen, but you really do have to keep your eye on the long term. And if you're worried, try to think back to what happened in September of 2008. Congress failed to pass that $700 billion stimulus plan. We watched the Dow plunge 777 points in one day. We couldn't believe our eyes. We watched the markets continue sell off after that.
But then we saw the recovery. And since then, that 777 point drop in the Dow, now the Dow is up 20 percent. So, you know what? Those who stayed in the market, they would have made back what they lost. So just sit back, relax, and I guess watch the world go on around you until something really hits the fan.
PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, Alison.
Still ahead, millions of Texans keeping an eye on the Gulf and the approach of Tropical Storm Don. Meteorologist Rob Marciano will have the latest on the expected landfall.
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PHILLIPS: It's something Angel fans haven't seen in nearly three decades. Last night in Cleveland, Urban Santana threw the first solo no-hitter for the Halos in 27 years. A first ever at the (INAUDIBLE) Progressive Field. And it's the third no-no so far this season. Afterwards, Santana said he wanted to dedicate his performance in honor of his late cousin who died last month in his native Dominican Republic.
University of North Carolina football team looking for a new head coach after Wednesday's surprise firing of Butch Davis. In four seasons, Davis turned things around, but the NCAA has been investigating alleged academic misconduct on Tobacco Road. Davis says he's shocked. Tar Heel faithful, they are, too. Just days before the team begins fall practice.
NFL - well, the NfL merry-go-round, rather -- spinning full circle with the labor deal. Lots of trades already, too. Journeymen quarterback Donovan McNabb shipped from Washington to Minnesota for draft picks while former Viking quarterback Varris Jackson goes to Seattle to replace Matt Hasselbeck who signed with Tennessee.
And here's a quick follow-up. It's rare but obvious, and the umpire actually cops to it. He says he blew the call in Tuesday's late-night Braves-Pirates game. C'mon, the tape doesn't lie, especially in slo-mo.
This morning, we're keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Don as it spins across the Gulf of Mexico and appears on track for Texas. Meteorologist Rob Marciano has the latest on the developing story. Hey, Rob!
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOSTI: Hey, good morning again. Looking now at the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. They just had a hurricane hunter aircraft fly into this thing. Let me show you where it is. It's just off the Yucatan Peninsula now into the Gulf of Mexico, and you can see just in the last couple of hours, the flare-up of thunderstorms.
So, it's starting to get organized. Temperatures here -- water temperatures in this area are 85 degrees plus. Some of them up to 88 degrees. So, certainly plenty of fuel for the fire there, and you can also see that the direction of this thing, it's heading towards Texas. So, that's what we're expecting to continue as far as the track goes.
The uncertainty lies in how strong this thing is going to be because it is such a small storm, just getting its act together now. You just never know if it's going to blow up into a Category One or higher hurricane or if it will stay a tropical storm. Right now, the official forecast tracked by the National Hurricane Center is to keep it at a tropical storm as it heads towards Corpus Christi, could go down to the Mexican border. Could go as far north as Galveston. Timing of this will be around tomorrow might sometime, maybe into early Saturday morning.
Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Rainfall with this is going to be huge. Or the benefits of it will be huge. We hope to get more rain than just this. Some of our computer models saying three, four, maybe five inches of rainfall. That will just put a dent into some of the rainfall deficits across parts of Texas.
Almost a foot below average in Austin, off a foot below average as far as rainfall tallies in San Antonio. Some are a quarter to 30 percent of what they normally would have received by January 1st. So, they desperately need the rain, Kyra, so we're certainly hoping that the rain comes without detrimental wind. And at this point, it looks like that will happen. We'll keep you posted.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: You bet. PHILLIPS: Coming up, the evolution of a hacker.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you can be a good police officer if you don't know how the criminals think?
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Computer veteran turns away from the dark side and spills some secrets, next.
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PHILLIPS: Here's stories making news later today. 11:00 a.m. Eastern, opening statements are expected in the Warren Jeffs sex assault trial in Texas.
The New York City hotel maid who claims she was assaulted by former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn holds a conference at noon Eastern.
And around 1:30 Eastern, House speaker John Boehner and majority leader Eric Cantor expected to discuss the nation's ongoing debt crisis.
A Facebook big wig says we shouldn't be able to hide behind handles. According to marketing director Randy Zuckerberg, everybody should have to use their real names online. Ending anonymity, she says would cut down on cyber bullying. But privacy and free speech advocates say there would be unintended, even dangerous consequences.
You can guess how most hackers feel about anonymity, the ones up to no good anyway. Many have flipped through, including some old- school Internet vets. Dan Simon has the details.
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DAN SIMON, CNN SILICON VALLEY CORRESPONDENT: Jeff Moss has been a self-proclaimed hacker for more than 20 years. When he was 13, he acquired a device like this and figured out how it make free long distance phone calls from any line.
JEFF MOSS, SELF-PROCLAIMED HACKER: You could you do there you could do it from home or a pay phone.
SIMON: It was called phone freaking.
MOSS: Back then, the phone network was the biggest network. It was the biggest computer network. It was the most reliable, it was the most robust, it was the most interesting. And you could issue commands to the phone network, and it would do things.
SIMON: But as he came of age in the '90s, he realized people like himself could earn a real living by helping companies protect their networks as they started storing valuable information on the Internet. (on camera): So as soon as the company started putting as you put it real assets on there, that's when --
MOSS: That's when everything changed. I think a lot of people were just so stoked, so excited that they could now do this for a living, that they went that direction.
SIMON (voice-over): In Moss' mind, that represents the vast majority of hackers. People with valuable skill sets doing work for the greater good.
MOSS: Good hackers think on both sides. How would you attack, how would you defend? And the debate is, how can you become a good defender if you don't know how to attack? How can you be a good police officer if you don't know how the criminals think?
SIMON: Moss' evolution is not unlike other well-known hackers who have taken their considerable skills to legitimate workplaces. Case in point, Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster, the network that allowed consumers to download music illegally for nothing. Parker is now better known as the first president of Facebook, helping Mark Zuckerburg launch a global phenomenon.
And then there's George Hotz.
GEORGE HOTZ, IPHONE HACKER: This here is my personal cell phone and the world's first unlocked iPhone.
SIMON: The wonderboy who drew the ire of Apple and AT&T by figuring out how to unlock an iPhone and allow it to be used with other phone carriers. The young prodigy himself is now working at Facebook.
MOSS: When I think hacker, I think hacker is an adjective. It describes a skill set.
SIMON: As for Jeff Moss, he went on to found DefCom, the largest annual hacking conference in the world that brings computer professionals from around the globe to the discuss Internet security. And he's helping the U.S. government keep its network safe as a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.
MOSS: Popular media borrows the term hacker to describe somebody who is clever their use of computers, and it takes on the negative connotation. The public has a negative connotation of hackers. That's fine, you're not going to change that. That's cemented in people's minds.
But to people who are involved in the area, hacker still means its original purpose.
SIMON: And that, he says, means doing digging to understand how the technology actually works.
Dan Simon, CNN, Seattle.
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PHILLIPS: And coming up next in the CNN NEWSROOM with Suzanne Malveaux, we've got all the angles on the debt ceiling countdown covered for you. We'll monitoring the White House briefing that's scheduled to start in just a few minutes.
Plus, we're we're talking live to a small business owner who says the bickering in Washington is affecting his bottom line.
And just days after a TV and magazine interview, the New York City hotel maid in the middle of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case holds a news conference. We're asking a legal expert how all these public statements could impact the case.
But next, Republican senator John McCain lashes out at members of his own party. We'll tell you what all the bickering is about.
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PHILLIPS: Shannon Travis has our political update for us. Shannon, we've been talking about this all morning. Senator John McCain taking a shot at members of his own party over the debt ceiling debate. I don't know if you saw it, we had Joe Walsh on and he responded just as fierce. They're really going at it.
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Yes, they're really going at it, Kyra. Who would have thought that we'd hear about hobbits from "Lord of the Rings." But John McCain reference that had yesterday.
Now, let's just step back for a moment. He was on the Senate floor yesterday, basically blasting Democrats, blasting Obama, saying the president was leading from behind -- his words, not mine. He also blasted some of his Republicans, saying that it's foolish to think that a balanced budget will be passed in the next few days before the debt ceiling deadline.
And then the senator took on the Tea Party. He read from a "Wall Street Journal" -- quoted from a "Wall Street Journal" op-ed from yesterday. Take a listen at this, Kyra.
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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: "Republican House failed to raise the debt ceiling would somehow escape all the blame. Then Democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced budget amendment and reform entitlements, and the Tea Party hobbits could return to middle earth having defeated Morador."
This is the kind of crack political thinking that turns Sharron Angel and Christine O'Donnell into GOP Senate nominees.
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TRAVIS: Now, again, Kyra, the senator was reading from a "Wall Street Journal" article. He went on Fox News last night and said that he actually has respect for the Tea Party, that they helped turn the house back into Republican hands. But some of these Tea Party favorites are not taking his words too kindly.
I'm going to read a quote from Sharron Angel. You and our viewers will remember she was a Senate nominee - Republican Senate candidate in Nevada.
She said, quote, "As in the fable, it is the hobbits who are the heroes and save the land. It is regrettable that a man seeking dialogue, action and cooperation for votes on the floor of the United States Senate has only one strategy to achieve that effort: name calling."
So, a little bit of back and forth between Senator McCain and some Tea Partiers. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right, Shannon Travis, thanks so much. You'll get your next update in just about an hour. And a reminder: for all the latest political news, you can always go to our Web site, CNNpolitics.com.
Or just watch Suzanne Malveaux, starting right now.
SUZANNE MALVEUAX, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks, Kyra. Good to see you.
