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Debt Ceiling Talks Stalled; Julia Roberts Ad Banned in UK; Racing the Clock to Avoid Default
Aired July 30, 2011 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Wolf, thanks very much.
It is the top of the hour. And we begin with breaking news. I'm Don Lemon, everyone.
If you need one more sign that the debate over raising the nation's debt ceiling is far from over, it happened just last hour on Capitol Hill. Not only do the two sides have big differences over how to raise the ceiling and avoid default, they can't even agree on whether they're making progress. Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid and Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor moments ago. Look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: Today, the speaker and Republican leader held a press conference to announce they're in talks with the president and that a bargain to raise the debt ceiling is in the works and is close. Mr. President, members of the Senate, that's not true. I just spent two hours with the president, vice president, and Leader Pelosi, and it's fair for me to say that the engagement there is not in any meaningful way.
The speaker and Republican leader should know that merely saying we have agreement in front of a few television cameras doesn't make it so.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: The fact of the matter is that the only way we're going to get an agreement before Tuesday is to have an agreement with the president of the United States, and the only person in America of the 307 million of us who can sign something into law. And I'm more optimistic than my friend, the majority leader. We've both talked to the president today, talked to the vice president several times. I think we've got a chance of getting there.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
LEMON: OK. So let's start on Capitol Hill, with our congressional correspondent, Kate Bolduan.
Kate, the Senate leader from both parties can't even agree that there is even a deal near. Are we back to square one?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think we should warn viewers into saying that this is -- that this story has and continues to just change minute by minute. I don't think it's clear yet if we're back to square one. But I can tell you, I think what we're seeing here is quite a lot of frustration on all sides on how long this has dragged on, and how near the deadline I think we're getting.
Of course, a lot of she said/he said is what we're saying. I mean, you see, Mitch McConnell saying that he has been talking to the White House all afternoon, indicating that the stalled talks that really were going nowhere in the past week are kind of started -- starting up again, Senate Republican leadership aide saying that he was laying out for the White House what they, Republicans, could accept and making the point to say that they are working.
But at almost the exact thing as quickly, you hear from Senator Harry Reid that they're not making progress. As he said, he didn't think the engagement was meaningful, and a top Democratic aide saying that the Senate majority leader's frustration or his pessimism if you will was that the top Republicans, they haven't moved off of their like opening bargaining position.
So, there is a lot at play here. Of course, these negotiations needs to move forward it f they're going to reach some form of compromise, Don. But, right now, at least publicly, you're seeing that the two of the top negotiators very much in different positions.
LEMON: Yes. I've said this two weeks ago. It's beginning to feel like Groundhog Day, and it is again, two weeks later.
Thank you, Kate. Stand by. Appreciate it.
BOLDUAN: Of course.
LEMON: Democratic leaders met with the president this afternoon. Republican leaders say they're in contact with the president by phone. But so far, there appears to be little to show for their efforts.
So, let's get the latest from our chief White House correspondent now, Jessica Yellin.
Jessica, what is the latest from the White House? Again, there seems like the same conversation we've been having for weeks now.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: But the change, Don, now is that after days of virtual silence as they waited for -- all sides waited for the Boehner bill to move through the House, now, there's engagement and talking and negotiating, as you say. The Republican position is that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of the Senate is negotiating with the White House. That is a change.
So, the action here is that Vice President Biden and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Republican in the Senate, are in active conversations. It's noteworthy that sources here tell me it was Mitch McConnell who picked up the phone and first initiated contact with the vice president. And that they've spoken multiple times today, as you've heard McConnell say on the floor there.
I had to get off the phone to come and have this discussion on the floor with you, Majority Leader Reid.
LEMON: Yes.
YELLIN: So, the point is we're moving -- they're moving, they're talking. They're moving toward something. And sources, you know, here say that there is awareness on all sides that no party line bill is going to raise the debt ceiling.
LEMON: OK.
YELLIN: So, that would be a shift.
LEMON: All right. So -- what you're saying, though, I would gather -- I'm not hearing it from the floor, but this is a moving story, there is some optimism that we are closer to a deal now, is that correct?
YELLIN: You know, Don, it really does depend on who you speak to. So as Kate just reported, you heard Harry Reid saying no, we're nowhere. There were glimmers of hope from -- on this end of Pennsylvania Avenue, especially before that meeting with Reid and Pelosi. A deal has to happen this weekend.
LEMON: Right.
YELLIN: We are getting close, maybe by tomorrow morning, we'll have more to report for you, Don.
LEMON: OK. Thank you, chief White House correspondent, Jessica Yellin. Don't go far, we'll be covering this through the weekend -- a rolling coverage. Thank you very much.
And to help make sense of all this, I want to bring in our very own Wolf Blitzer. Wolf has been covering this story the whole time.
So, Wolf, here's a question -- deal or no deal? Are they -- are they close? And are they just really talking at each other now?
BLITZER: My sense is that Mitch McConnell is probably closer to what's going on right now than Harry Reid, the majority leader in the Senate, in the sense -- in the sense that Mitch McConnell's been speaking with Joe Biden. Remember, Joe Biden e used to be a United States senator, there's a longstanding relationship there. And he's also speaking with the president.
I don't think Mitch McConnell would be going out publicly saying, you know what? They're close it a deal. He's optimistic. There won't be a default.
I don't think he would be saying that unless he had something to base on.
And my sense is that he really, you know, used to talk all the time to Harry Reid. He thought he had some sort of a deal a week ago with Harry Reid but felt the White House sort of undermined that deal and he doesn't trust Harry Reid as much as he used to in the sense that Harry Reid can deliver. He sees that the president of the United States can deliver if he wants to, and -- and look, at this stage, we've now heard from Harry Reid saying they're no closer to a deal. We've hear from Mitch McConnell saying we are closer to a deal.
Who haven't we heard from?
We haven't heard from the White House. We haven't heard from the president or the vice president or any of their top aides -- at least on this day except for the president's radio and Internet address which he taped earlier, and that was basically a reiteration of what he said the day before.
We'll hear tomorrow, some of the president's aides are going out on some of the Sunday morning shows. I know Gene Sperling is going to be on "STATE OF THE UNION" tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. with Gloria Borger. So, we'll hear what they have to say.
But, so far, it's weird in the sense that the White House is being at this critical moment in these negotiations thunderously silent, and we don't really understand, you know, what's going on. My own sense is they're moving in the right direction, though, because they simply can't afford default.
LEMON: Yes. And Mitch McConnell certainly calling on the president saying the president, the buck stops with him. If he agrees to something, then the Democrats, he says, will most likely fall in line. That was his -- that's what he said on the floor not long ago.
Wolf Blitzer, thank you very much. Enjoyed your coverage just last hour.
And make sure you stay with us because we're going to be all over the story throughout the show. Democratic Senator Ben Cardin is going to join me at the half-hour for more perspective on these very fluid debt talks. And I want you to listen to this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL HARLESS, CANTON POLICE OFFICER: As soon as I saw your gun, I should have taken two steps back, pulled my Glock 40 and just put 10 bullet in your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and let you drop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. That is an Ohio police officer caught on tape threatening a motorist. And apparently it's not his first incident caught on camera. We're going to show you the video. It's gone viral. And we're going to talk about the case with our legal contributor, Holly Hughes. And you'll hear it, as well.
You know what? Many of you are asking questions through social media. You can reach out to us on Twitter, on Facebook, at CNN.com/Don and on Foursquare. And the book is called, "Transparent." Make sure you check it out. Available anywhere books are sold.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VERNON HILL, MOREHEAD CITY, NORTH CAROLINA: Why are they so stupid and refuse to realize that they cannot keep spending money when the bank is broke and they have no more money in the bank? Who are they fooling?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It's Americans like you speaking out on CNN's iReport. And throughout the hours, through our broadcast here on CNN, we're going to hear your voices, your voices, not just the people in Washington.
In the meantime, some other news to tell you about:
In Canton, Ohio, some residents are demanding a suspended police officer be fired. Dash cam video that you're about to see allegedly shows the officer threatening to shoot people during traffic stops.
Here's Eric Mansfield of our affiliate WKYC.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANIEL HARLESS, CANTON POLICE OFFICER: As soon as I saw your gun, I should have taken two steps back, pulled my Glock 40 and just put 10 bullet in your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and let you drop.
ERIC MANSFIELD, WKYC (voice-over): It was posted one week ago. Already, it's an online must-see. Canton police officer Daniel Harless berating a driver who appears to be showing Harless his concealed carry license so that Harless would know he was armed.
HARLESS: I'm so close to caving in your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) head.
MANSFIELD: Now a second video.
HARLESS: I'll kill every one of you (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
MANSFIELD: This from a year ago.
HARLESS: I'll tell you what (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I will shoot you in the face and go to sleep tonight.
MANSFIELD: As Harless' temper again flares while instructing two people on the backseat of a car during a traffic stop for suspected drunk driving.
PHILIP MULIVOR, OHIOANS FOR CONCEALED CARRY: Well, it looks we're seeing repeat behavior. It's a disturbing pattern.
MANSFIELD: Phillip Mulivor is for Ohioans for Concealed Carry, a group that is calling for Harless' job.
MULIVOR: In both cases, this officer's behavior is entirely egregious. He needs to be removed at once. MANSFIELD: In both cases, Officer Harless is encountering a gun during a traffic stop, which is always a perceived threat for police. Now, it's up to police brass to determine what's acceptable.
HARLESS: You (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) before I shoot you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. That was Eric Mansfield of our affiliate WKYC.
Holly -- I want to bring in Holly. She is a criminal defense attorney and a former prosecutor.
Let's start with that particular question. When does a police officer cross the line from aggressively doing his job to threatening and abusive behavior? We weren't there.
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right.
LEMON: But that looks pretty damning.
HUGHES: Well, it's pretty bad. Here's what happens: he stops these people. He says is there anything I need to be concerned about. And they say no. Come to find out when he talks to the back seat passenger, he pulls the seat forward a little bit and sees a gun. That's when he really loses it.
Now, I don't mind an officer using profanity, Don. I don't mind that his temper's flaring and he's jacked up. But when he starts threatening to kill citizens, to shoot them in the face, to put them in their grave, calling them morons and idiots and liars, he's going over the edge because now what we see an officer who cannot control his temper. That's a crime, Don.
If a citizen said to another citizen, "I will shoot you in the face," and is holding a weapon, has access to a weapon, that's a terroristic threat. That is a felony charge.
So, this officer has gone beyond the pale when he starts threatening.
LEMON: OK. If you were defending this officer --
HUGHES: Yes.
LEMON: -- what would you tell? What would you do?
HUGHES: OK, if I were defending him, the first thing I would say is they lied to him right up-front. There was a gun in the back of that car. The driver admits, hey, I just got out of jail or prison three weeks ago. And the officer says, what for, guns and drugs. So, naturally, the officer is on high alert. His adrenaline is pumping. It's a rush.
They say to him, no weapons in the vehicle, and suddenly, there is one -- I would defend him by saying this man was in fear for his life, he felt like something terrible was going happen to him. And this is duress. He did not actually intend to levy a threat against these people. His temper got away from him, but he didn't un-harness his gun, he didn't pull it or brandish it.
LEMON: If you were prosecuting him, you would say?
HUGHES: Oh, I would say he has gone too far. He can't handle his temper, he can't control it. What is next, Don? After you call these people stupid, threatening to put a bullet in their heads, what is going to stop that anger? What is going to rein that anger back in and keep him from pulling the gun and from pulling the trigger?
If I was prosecuting him, I would absolutely say this is an officer out of control. He does not need to be on the street with a weapon in his hand.
LEMON: OK. Holly Hughes, thank you very much.
I have to get this in, Holly. This just came in from the Canton Police Department. Here's what they say. The statement from the Canton Police Department says, "The officer was relieved of duty and has not worked since the incident. It is being fully investigated."
Again, that's the response.
HUGHES: He's being paid. He's on paid administrative leave.
When you have two videos like this, Don, what more evidence do you need? Seriously, this is a big problem, and it's going to come back to bite them if they don't dismiss him altogether.
LEMON: Thank you, Holly.
You know, this is some of the tornado devastation from Joplin, Missouri, just two months ago. Next, we'll talk with one of the first people on the scene who reported for us, a local resident. Her name is Bethany Scutti -- there she is -- that is right after the break.
But, first, choosing a college -- it is a big decision, and to help make it many families turn to "U.S. News and World Report," their annual rankings of the best schools.
Our education contributor, Steve Perry, looks at how the rankings are created and whether they're actually hurting higher education.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rankings doesn't really matter as much to me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I find them generally to be pretty accurate.
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: What is your issue with the rankings?
LLOYD THACKER, DIRECTOR, THE EDUCATION CONSERVANCY: The process of college admissions has been commercialized to the nth degree and that's been led by "U.S. News and the World Report."
PERRY (voice-over): Lloyd Thacker leads The Education Conservancy. They say the rankings have become a beauty pageant where some students feel pressured to choose their college based off numbers instead of their own values.
(on camera): There's a group called Education Conservancy.
ROBERT MORSE, DIRECTOR, DATA RESEARCH, U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT: They don't like the rankings.
PERRY: They think it's a crock.
MORSE: It's true that the rankings have become a big brand for "U.S. News." But they've become a brand because there is a void of information.
PERRY (voice-over): According to Robert Morse, the rankings are fair because they're based on a combination of reputation, graduation rates, faculty resources and endowments among other things.
When we hit the streets to find out what students thought, the results were mixed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's always that, I don't know, strive to get into the school that's ranked one higher than the next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think in my opinion it's kind of stupid, yes. It is. You know, it shouldn't be that way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The college ranking might easily sway a college student to choose one school over another.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bias. Yes, a little bit bias tainted, kind of stereotypical but important.
MORSE: We believe that we're producing something for consumers -- and that's our main mission. I don't think it's this pivotal force in admissions even though it's a factor.
THACKER: What it does is it turns students into customers, education into products, and gaining admission to the most selective college a prize that must be won.
PERRY: Steve Perry, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETHANY SCUTTI, JOPLIN, MO., RESIDENT (via telephone): The hospital as I'm standing in front of it has about seven stories on one building and it's on its right has another building attached to it that has a couple more stories to it. Every window looks to be blown out. There's debris hanging out of the windows. The main entrance sign is a mess. The glass is blown out.
There are just cars stacked all over the parking lot. There are still cars parked in front as if they were going into the hospital. But they are destroyed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Two months ago, a massive F5 tornado destroyed much of Joplin, Missouri, including the St. John's Medical Center. It was the single deadliest tornado in U.S. history, 159 people were killed.
Joplin resident Bethany Carlisle Scutti, whom you just heard, provided some of the first on-the-scene descriptions of the devastation for us. And a lot has happened in Joplin since that unforgettable day.
Bethany Scutti joins me now with new video of how the land scale really has dramatically changed.
So, Bethany, talk us through these videos. I want to begin with the hospital which really has been the epicenter of this disaster.
SCUTTI: Absolutely. The hospital itself looks much the same as it did that night. Except the parking slots lot -- parking lot is cleaned up, the cars have been moved away. But the structure itself is pretty much the same. So, they've really taken to putting up tents. They have temporary tents that they've been doing all of their work in dealing with patients. And they're soon going to put up a new little more permanent structure to get them through until the new hospital is ready in about two to three years.
LEMON: I remember that clearly as you were walking to this hospital, the hospital that we were looking at, and you got to the scene and said, oh my gosh, Don, look, the windows are blown out, there were patients that you saw on gurneys, and they were trying to treat them in a tent there. That experience for you was like what?
SCUTTI: It was crazy. I've been through tornadoes before, but I've never seen anything like this. It was just mass devastation.
LEMON: I would imagine you have the same reaction, because let's look at this video of the high school. Someone has turned the downed trees into carved statues of eagles.
What are they going to do about classes this year, Bethany?
SCUTTI: Well, the juniors and seniors are going to be in the mall. They have taken a store that was not being used and they are working on it and getting it all set up. They're actually going to have a really nice facility for them there. They are going to have a coffee house in there, a workouts facility, a broadcast station right there inside, as well as classes and offices.
LEMON: Oh, very interesting. And what about what's going on in Washington right now? Does this -- are people just so focused on getting their lives back together? Are they paying attention? Because -- I mean, this is an impact on them, especially people trying to rebuild their lives.
SCUTTI: Absolutely. Well, it takes a little bit, I think. When you go through such a tragedy to figure out what's going on in the world. You're really inside your own little bubble and working through things there. And so, I think people are starting to pay attention now because absolutely, it affects them.
LEMON: Yes. And what about volunteers? It's been crucial, I'm sure, having volunteers --
SCUTTI: Absolutely. There have been so many people come to help. There's been almost 70,000 registered volunteers, which has been just so helpful. And, of course, we're still going to needs them for a while to come.
LEMON: OK. So, let's have the talk. How's everybody doing really? How are folks doing there in Joplin?
SCUTTI: People are getting a lot better. There's hurts people, but it's getting a lot better. And it's been a tough time, but we're going to be all right.
LEMON: Yes. And you have your whole family here. I do. I do. And you guys fared OK.
Some people died, and I'm sure that the -- just the community is dealing with that.
Any advice that you can offer Americans or something that you can tell the people who are watching about what you guys are dealing with there, and what happened, and how quickly this happened, and what they can do to help, as well?
SCUTTI: Well, you know, we're going to need help for a long time to come. And there is nothing like the sense of community that comes together when there's a tragedy like that. So, you know, we're still going to need the financial help, the support, the prayers, and just the help of the people around the world.
LEMON: And don't forget about you, right?
SCUTTI: Absolutely.
LEMON: Not far away from the headlines.
SCUTTI: Yes, definitely. Yes.
LEMON: Thank you, Bethany Scutti. You were great that night, one of our iReporters providing reports for us -- first on the scene there. Really appreciate. And not just us -- but bringing it to the American people.
Thank you and best of luck. Appreciate you joining us.
SCUTTI: Thanks.
LEMON: Coming up, the latest on the debt talks, are we any closer to a deal? We'll ask Democratic Senator Ben Cardin what he is hearing.
And later on this hour, listen to this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Stephen, are you jealous that I'm here?
STEPHEN COLBERT, COLBERT REPORT: What? Of course, I'm jealous.
LEMON: Why are you telling me to get out of here?
COLBERT: This guy's only two years younger than I am. He looks like a baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. That was a little weird.
My visit to "The Stephen Colbert Show." You'll see what he found so funny in the green room before the show, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD LAND, FOREST KNOLLS, CALIFORNIA: Congress, would you guys please remember the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"? It's not "do unto others before they do unto you." Please go back to Sunday school.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Tonight on CNN, during our broadcast, you're hearing from you, the American people. That was one of our CNN iReporters. If you want to submit one, go to iReports.com -- iReport.com, and we'll get it on. And we appreciate you guys.
It is a working weekend in the nation's capital. As you see from that live shot, it could make for a late night. The House has adjourned. But senators are still on the job right now. Live pictures there from the Senate and now a live picture from the White House.
President Obama met with Democratic leaders a little while ago. Republican leaders say they are talking with the president by phone.
But then, just a short time ago, the two party leaders in the Senate couldn't agree on whether the two sides were even making progress.
Republicans, however, insist that they will not allow the United States to default on its obligations, OK. So, earlier, I discussed the debt ceiling impasse with Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. He, of course, won his seat on the strength of strong Tea Party support.
Now, I asked him why the debate has reached this perilous stage and why we are now at risk of default. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: I think all along, the president should have taken default off the table. In fact, we have legislation that would require him to pay the interest on the debt, require him to pay Social Security checks, and require him to pay the soldiers' salaries.
So, we've never been for default or reneging on any checks.
The president has put that on the table in a grand, elaborate game of chicken. We've always been opposed to that. We think he should reassure the markets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. So, that was Republican Rand Paul. Let's bring in, let's hear from a Democratic senator, Ben Cardin of Maryland. He joins me now.
Senator, good to see you. Thank you, and I have been asking everyone who comes on. Because this is crucial to the American people, let's not do talking points because if people are watching and they want some answers. So can we agree to that?
SEN. BEN CARDIN (D), MARYLAND: Absolutely.
LEMON: What's your reaction to Senator Paul's comments there?
CARDIN: Well, look, if we are unable to pay all of our obligations, we're in default. If we go to April 2nd and we haven't raised the debt ceiling, they're their are going to be people that we owe money to that we're not going to be able it pay whether they're federal employees, whether they're recipients of benefits or whether they're contractors. And that's a default. And we don't want to see that happen. It will hurt the credit of the United States. It will hurt the reputation of the United States and will cost every American family more money in taxes or interest payments.
LEMON: Unless I heard wrong, I heard Rand Paul saying that the debt ceiling should be taken off the table. And in a speech that you delivered on the Senate floor earlier this month, I think you two are agreeing because here's what you said. You said "I urge my colleagues to put the national interest first, take off the debt table idea that the U.S. might default on our debt, and work together to bring about a credible plan to manage our national debt. We are getting dangerously close to the August 2nd deadline for America to increase our debt limit." OK. So it appears that you two have some agreement. They why can't you all just get it together?
CARDIN: Because I'm prepared to raise the debt ceiling with a clean vote because I don't think it's really related to the other issues here. Most of my Senate colleagues and the members of the House won't do that. We've tried that. So they're insisting that we also have what we call a plan to deal with our deficit. I think that's a good idea. But they have taken so much off the table we can't talk about revenues. We can't do this, we can't do that. Everything's on the spending side, on the domestic spending --
LEMON: OK.
CARDIN: That's not going to work.
LEMON: Let me ask you this then. Don't you understand, though, if they take the debt ceiling off the table, that's the bargaining chip. They would lose their bargaining tool, probably the strongest one they have, so why would anyone take that off the table? I don't think that that's going happen, do you?
CARDIN: No, we understand that. So what are they trying to achieve? They want to reduce the amount of government spending. Well, we already have an agreement on all sides that we're going to reduce government spending by over a trillion dollars. That's a pretty good deal. So I think we've already accomplished what they set out they wanted to do. If you look at the Reid proposal, it's dollar for dollar increase on the debt ceiling with decreasing the debt. No revenues are on the table. Something the Democrats feel pretty strongly about.
LEMON: OK.
CARDIN: And yet -
LEMON: I don't want to get too in the weeds and I don't want to be disrespectful. Again, because a lot of this - quite honestly, quite frankly, we've heard a lot of about what's on the table, what's not on the table. Again, let's talk here as we're talking to each other -
CARDIN: Absolutely. Exactly. We want to get this resolved.
LEMON: Yes, OK. So then, here's the issue - you have to even if you disagree with the tea parties and maybe the extremes in the Republican party, you have to agree that what they've done is pretty unprecedented. You have to respect what they've done. They've basically backed the Democrats and the president to a corner, and they are getting their way.
CARDIN: But they're also bringing us dangerously close to a national default. They've already hurt our country as far as our reputation is concerned. Look, I - I think what they're asking for is unrealistic. A constitutional amendment that won't work the way that they would like to see it done. Additional cuts in spending programs that affect our most vulnerable.
Look, we need a compromise. And what we're seeing so far come out of the House of Representatives from the Republicans is that they're not interested in a compromise. We've - let's sit down, let's work this out. Quite frankly, I think that's going to happen in the Senate. I talked to enough of my Republican colleagues to know that we are talking about a true compromise so that we can move forward and not threaten the debt of this nation.
LEMON: All right. Are we close to a deal? Do you think we are close to working it out as Mitch McConnell said? You know, Harry Reid said he didn't think so.
CARDIN: I think this is dangerously close. It's not just working out a bill that can pass the Senate, it's got to go back to the House, pass the House, and be signed by the president. We've already seen how difficult the House of Representatives can be. I think we - I really do believe we'll get it done. But I tell you, we're at great risk.
LEMON: We certainly hope so, and the American people. Thank you for coming on. Again, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but you know, talking points - we get so used to them, and I think people just want answers to straight talk. Thank you very much, senator. We appreciate it.
CARDIN: Good talking to you.
LEMON: All right.
When we come back, some photo shopping causing problems in the U.K.. We'll tell you what actress Julia Roberts has to do with it. Shanon Cook joins us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORD SHANKLE, I-REPORTER: What is the basis of a democracy? Compromise. That has become a dirty word today. Nobody want to compromise, especially the right wing Republicans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: We're hearing from you, the American people, about how you feel about these debt talks in Washington. Go to ireport.com, and you can submit one. We're going to hear from you throughout our broadcast here this evening on CNN.
In other news now, we want to show you this Youtube video. It shows the before and after shots that you may not have known existed. What a celeb looks like before a photo's touched up, and then after airbrushing. It is common practice here in the United States, but in the U.K., the advertising standards agency is taking a stand, banning ads of actress Julia Roberts and model Kristi Turlington.
OK. CNN entertainment reporter Shanon Cook is here with the story and other headlines from Hollywood. So this group regulates advertisers, Shanon, why is it acting now?
SHANON COOK, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, a British politician took issue with these two ads. The two ads with the company L'Oreal. They're for skin products. And the argument is that these photographs that are used are really misleading. I mean here you have two women in their 40s, yet they have the luminous skin of somebody much younger, someone maybe even a teenager. So this politician and this group, this advocacy group wants to see advertisers get back to realty. But the realty is that when it comes to photoshopping, you can't put the genie back in the bottle. I think people are so accustomed to airbrushing and photoshopping these days, they come to expect it when they see these kinds of ads. It's almost not a big deal anymore. I mean let's face it, everybody knows how to Photoshop these days. People take photographs of themselves with their cell phones, they touch them up at home, and then they post them on their Facebook pages.
It's part of the glossy, glam, vain, sad world that we're all a part of. Even I airbrushed. I'm airbrushed tonight. You know that I'm actually 120 years old.
I thought it was just like 115. You don't look a day over 100. So that's great. You look great.
COOK: Thank you.
LEMON: Listen, there's a he said/she said going on. It's playing out with Hugh Hefner and his ex-fiancee Crystal Harris. And we have a warning for you. We are about to hear some R-rated details. So Shanon, we're going to talk about - she talked with the Hef about the Hef on "Howard Stern." Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You only had intercourse once?
CRYSTAL HARRIS, EX-FIANCEE OF HUGH HEFNER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long did this horror situation last? The awful sex?
HARRIS: Like two seconds. Not turned on by Hef, sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. This is drawing controversy. Why marry him then?
COOK: Don't you just - don't you - she's not marrying him. Don't you just love the way celebrities -
LEMON: She was considering marrying him.
COOK: Yes, she almost went down the aisle but obviously she canceled. But yes, it's become a little bit of a he said-she said. She didn't really give up too many details about what Hef's like in the bedroom. And let's be honest, do we really want to know what Hefner is like in the bedroom? I personally do not.
But a lot of "Playboy" playmates, a couple, came to Hef's defense and said, "Hey, he's actually, you know, he's a really loving guy." And then Harris kind of back pedaled and she apologized on Twitter. She actually said the Stern interview kind of scared her and that she wasn't prepared and she just blurted things out and that she's sorry. And then later on Twitter, Hefner tweeted that that apology was perfectly fine. So it seems that everything's OK in the world. The upshot is we still don't really know what Hef is like in the sack. And you know what, I'm perfectly OK with that, Don.
LEMON: Yes. Yes. And we'll end on that. Enough said on those subjects. Shanon Cook, always a pleasure. Thank you.
COOK: Thank you.
LEMON: Coming up, my encounters with Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart. I'll explain next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god. He's not a difference-maker. He's a vampire. This story just got good. Go get them, Don.
LEMON: Well, I have to say that you're a hero to a lot of people, and thank you for coming on. Let us know what happens -
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST "THE COLBERT REPORT": No - Don, ask him about being a vampire! You see the little teeth right there? Those are vampire teeth. He's got the - I see them! I see them!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: It's bound to happen sooner or later when you're in the news business. You watch "The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report" with your covers over your eyes. And then when you suddenly realized that the "Daily Show" and "The Colber Report" they're going to show a clip of you, you kind of cringe, you hold your breath. And you hope they won't mock you too much. It's all in good fun. So imagine my surprise when I saw this on Tuesday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, HOST "THE DAILY SHOW": As we explore our new segment, CNN anchor Don Lemon, appears not to care for CNN. CNN, I'm concerned, it appears your anchor Don Lemon may not care very much for the antics of your network, CNN. Behold.
LEMON: Even parts of Canada are sinfully hot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Warmer than where I'm used to, but hell -
LEMON: It is nothing do to joke about this, it is dangerous, and as I said, nothing to joke.
He is the Cato to my Green Hornet, the Robin to my Batman, the Dino Girl to my Eletrowoman - I have no idea who these people are except for Batman.
STEWART: That may be the nicest way I've ever heard anyone say "who writes this (bleep). The hostage situation it appears to be Don Lemon's (INAUDIBLE) tenure at CNN brings to Zenith or (INAUDIBLE) here. I'm going to say both.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Oh! I got to tell you, I like Don Lemon a lot. But he's going to have to work hard to top that. CNN "Newsroom" begins right now with Don Lemon. Good morning, Don.
LEMON: Good morning, I don't think I'm going to have to work that hard. What the heck was that?
STEWART: What do you mean what the heck was that? That was Ali Velshi's doppleganger, the common egg - being knocked into a glass of water from a toilet paper tube. What is it? Is it your first day in news, Lemon?
It turns out reporter Don Lemon prefers reporting such stories as the uprisings in Syria, breach of trust in British journalism, or even some simple local interest stories.
LEMON: Emily Good says she recorded that video in her front yard because she was concerned about racial profiling and police harassment. Do you believe that this is a systematic problem with Rochester police?
STEWART: See that's why in this country, comfort zone? But don't worry I hear CNN producers are hard at work trying to fit Don Lemon into their format. Something catchy like "Don Lemon's Zesty News Bowl." I got one, how about Lemon Harangue. You drive a hard bargain, sir.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, you can see, we decided to go with "Don Lemon's Zesty News Bowl." Thank you, Jon. You know, I didn't know that that was coming. But I did know about the segment on the "Colbert Report" the very next night. Here's the rest of Stephen going after me for not asking a guest about his most noticeable trait.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLBERT: No, Don. Ask him about being a vampire. You see the little teeth right there? Those are vampire teeth! He's got the - ha, ha, I see them. I see them. Forget it. I know what to do. Come here, come. On let's go. Taxi! Go!
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thousands of people milling around, shops open. That's happening now.
LEMON: All right, Sanjay. Thank you very much. Make sure you stay safe out there. We're going to have much more on the flooding coming up on CNN -
COLBERT: Excuse me. Excuse me.
LEMON: Stephen? Stephen Colbert, what the -
COLBERT: Don, I have a question to ask you -
LEMON: I am in the middle of a broadcast.
COLBERT: Yes, who isn't? Hold on, Sanjay. Don, did you or did you not interview a man who had foreclosed on a bank?
LEMON: The guy in Philadelphia, yes, I did. Yes.
COLBERT: Did you not notice that he was a vampire?
LEMON: Stephen, I didn't notice when he started talking that he had sharp teeth.
COLBERT: Yes, and that - at no point did your journalistic instincts click in and say, "Hey, maybe that's the more interesting story?"
LEMON: It's not about his lifestyle, it's about a bank. That's not what the story is about.
COLBERT: Oh, excuse me. I didn't realize it was a lifestyle choice. I didn't realize we had to be so sensitive and accepting of vampires -
LEMON: What have you -
COLBERT: Because you have turned that man into the Jackie Robinson of vampires.
LEMON: Do you believe yourself? Stephen -
COLBERT: That's all I hear.
LEMON: That is offensive on a whole lot of levels.
COLBERT: Yes, it is, and I don't forgive you.
LEMON: You need to get out of here.
COLBERT: Well, I will get out of here, Don Lemon. Before I go, I want to say this -- I truly enjoyed your book, "Transparent." A candid memoir that "The New York Times" calls 2495.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: It is OK to be a newsman and have a sense of humor. I want to thank everyone over at Comedy Central. Thanks for watching, as well. Hopefully it won't turn up too often.
All right. Let's move on now to some serious news. Could the answer to the debt crisis in Washington be found in how tech companies handle their businesses? After all, many of them are getting their hands on more cash than the U.S. government. We're going to explain, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST "THE TONIGHT SHOW": This is hard to believe, but according to reports, Apple, you know, Apple, the iPhone, all that stuff, they have more cash on hand than the U.S. government. It sounds oppressive, you realize, Radio Shack has more cash on hand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: You know what? What Jay Leno was saying there is true. According to a report from the BBC, the latest figures show that Apple has cash reserves of $76.4 billion. But the U.S. only has $73.7 billion in cash on hand. That's nearly $3 billion less. So I want to bring in our tech expert Daniel Sieberg to talk about this. He is the author of "The Digital Diet, the four-step plan to break your tech addiction and regain balance in your life." Daniel, is this what we have come to?
DANIEL SIEBERG, TECH EXPERT: Well, kind of. And by the way, if Apple spent money the way the U.S. government does, about $10 billion a day, they wouldn't last two weeks. But you know, Apple has clearly made a lot of smart decisions. The iPad and the iPhone very popular, as we know. Also they've got the latest operating system lion that's just released out. The new Macbook Air. All is not necessarily great in Apple's world.
You know, the iPod which came out back in 2001. The sales with that has started to drop off a little bit these days. Of course, everybody is concerned about the future of Steve Jobs with his health. But obviously Apple doing very well with a lot of their business decisions.
LEMON: Everybody has got their opinion on what the government is doing wrong. So maybe we should talk about what Apple is doing right.
SIEBERG: Well, they're making technology cool, is basically the bottom line. You know, if you look around these days it's rare to find somebody in your experience who doesn't have an iPhone, doesn't have a Macbook, doesn't have an iPad, some sort of Apple product. They're ubiquitous. Now, this didn't always used to be the case. You know, it's hard to think back to the day when Apple products really not that cool and were certainly not everywhere. You know, more than 10 years ago these days Apple stock covers about $400 a share. Only 10 years ago it was about $10 a share. So it's been a huge turnaround for Apple. They're just making a lot of smart decisions that are making technology a seamless part of our lives.
Now I have no vested interest in Apple, by the way. I don't own any Apple stock. I don't own any technology stuff whatsoever. But I can certainly tell you that they're doing some cool things and some clever things.
LEMON: Hey, listen, can we talk about these debates a little bit more. The debt talks? And Twitter's role, because it seems that tweets don't like getting spammed, even by the president, do they? What's going on here? SIEBERG: Exactly. This is a lesson for, you know, a president who has embraced social media over the years. And in this case we're talking about the Barack Obama , the official Barack Obama Twitter feed. It was putting out a lot of tweets and basically asking the followers to go to their local congressmen or their local politicians and ask them to use the hash tag compromise as part of the debt ceiling debate.
But the tweets were coming in so quickly you can see the list of them there that people really felt like, hey, this is too much for me. So he lost about 40,000 followers. Keep in mind that he has about nine million followers. He's one of the biggest Twitter users out there. We have to keep this in context. It is a lesson that you just can't spew this stuff out there. You got to think a little bit. They have since stopped, by the way. They're really slowed down.
LEMON: Yes, and I'm always cautious when people say can you tweet this. Because really social media, especially Twitter, they don't like press releases. Every once in a while they let you get away with it. But it's really -
SIEBERG: Exactly.
LEMON: It's the personal connection that they want. You have to respect that, Daniel. Thank you very much, sir.
SIEBERG: Absolutely. Exactly.
LEMON: We appreciate it.
The latest on the debt talks right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CYNTHIA EPPS, I-REPORTER: I implore John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell to sit down together as true statesmen to create one unified plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: America, we hear you. You can send us an I-report at ireport.com. Your voices are being heard on CNN broadcast tonight as we follow this story and have a quick update for you on the Washington debate over the debt ceiling. High-level talks are under way with a source telling CNN that Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell is negotiating with the White House.
Democratic leaders met with the president earlier today as well. But Senator Harry Reid said on the Senate floor tonight that there is no real progress to report. So I want you to make sure that you stay with CNN throughout the night. We'll bring in the very latest information and developments from Washington.
Join me tonight here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern for the very latest. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World headquarters in Atlanta. See you then.
