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Debt Crisis Blame Game; A Look at Dueling Plans for Debt Ceiling; Breivik's Father Speaks Out; Strauss-Kahn Accuser to File Lawsuit; Debt Ceiling Deadline: 7 Days Away; Obama Makes Debt Ceiling Plea; Breivik Claims Help From Two Cells
Aired July 26, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And time is running out. Good morning. I'm Kiran Chetry.
With just seven days until the deadline, President Obama makes his case for a debt ceiling deal while acknowledging that the nation is fed up with how divided Washington has become.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. House Speaker John Boehner says no way to the president's plan. He has another solution and it's simply says, spend less.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi. Congressional Web sites crash. Find out what President Obama said that had a number of Web sites going off-line. Details coming up on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: Thanks for being with us. It's Tuesday, July 26th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. We all stayed up later than usual last night to get a chance to hear from the president about this debt ceiling showdown as well as from the House speaker.
ROMANS: And still divided this morning. They are still divided with different plans --
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: Different ideas on how to get us out of this mess.
VELSHI: Didn't you both think that when there was announcement that the president was going to speak that maybe they got something.
ROMANS: No.
VELSHI: Maybe something happened.
ROMANS: I didn't think there was a deal.
VELSHI: I'm always the optimist.
ROMANS: They've got lots of ideas, lots of plans, just no agreement. OK. Let's start there with the debt crisis looming.
President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner took their cases for getting a deal done directly to the nation. Last night's prime time speeches come as the nation is now just one week, seven days, from the August 2nd deadline. A deadline that has been months in the making but Congress still cannot get this fixed. Congress now putting America's financial standing with the international community on the line and America's role in world markets on the line as well.
The president arguing Republicans just won't compromise, that their plan is to cut services for everyone, for the middle class, for lower income and save tax rates for wealthy Americans while at the same time, protecting those wealthy Americans. The president also said Americans are just sick of the bitterness and divisiveness that is now dominating Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're fed up with the town where compromise has become a dirty word. They work all day long, many of them scraping by, just to put food on the table. And when these Americans come home at night, bone tired, and turn on the news, all they see is the same partisan three-ring circus here in Washington. They see leaders who can't seem to come together and do what it takes to make life just a little bit better for ordinary Americans. They're offended by that and they should be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And House Speaker John Boehner spoke after the president spoke. He said the solution is not complicated. The nation just needs to spend less. Get most if not all economists agree that debt reduction cannot occur without at least some revenue increases and that means closing loopholes or eliminating credits or raising taxes.
ROMANS: Raising taxes.
VELSHI: Last night, Speaker Boehner stuck to the party line, no new taxes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The president has often said we need a balanced approach, which in Washington means we spend more and you pay more. Having run a small business, I know those tax increases will destroy jobs. The president is adamant that we cannot make fundamental changes to our entitlement programs. As the father of two daughters, I know these programs won't be there for them and their kids unless significant action is taken now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So a lot of influx this morning. We want to go straight to the White House with more on this. It's where Dan Lothian is standing by.
So, Dan, again, it sounds like both sides are just as divided as ever. What's the latest this morning? DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, you saw there quite a high level of frustration, not only from the president, but also from Speaker Boehner. And you know, the president with the strong language talking about how, you know, Americans did elect a divided government, but not a dysfunctional one. And one of the things that I found quite interesting is that they can't even agree on whether or not this is a stalemate. The president saying that there's a stalemate here. Speaker Boehner saying there's no stalemate because Republicans have been able to pass legislation. So at the end of the day, what you have are two sides with two different plans and neither side happy with what the other is offering.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know what we have to do to reduce our deficits. There's no point in putting the economy at risk by kicking the can further down the road.
BOEHNER: The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago and he wants a blank check today. This is just not going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: So even though it appears that they are at this impasse or there's a stalemate, sources telling us that Democratic leaders and Republican leaders are working quietly behind the scenes hoping to figure something out. We don't know exactly what it is that they are pushing forward, but the hope is that they can achieve something that's more moderate and certainly that can be done in quick order.
CHETRY: How much of this hinges on the hundred plus House Republicans who are saying no way, that they're not -- they're not happy with what Speaker Boehner put forward for them?
LOTHIAN: Well, look, that is a big part of whatever takes place here, because they're really digging in. There's some House members who say no new taxes whatsoever, even on the wealthy Americans, and the president saying that you need to get some kind of revenue here in order to make the system work for the long term health of the economy. So that's very important. What can they come up with that can woo over those Republicans who are being very clear about not wanting those taxes to go up.
CHETRY: Dan Lothian, thank you.
ROMANS: All right, guys. So the two plans on the table right? The Democratic-backed Senator Reid plan and the Republican-led plan from senator -- from Speaker Boehner.
Let's begin with Senator Reid's blueprint. It cuts $2.7 trillion over the next decade. Now a big piece of that is what Senator Reid calls the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That will save $1 trillion. Now Republicans have called that a gimmick, savings from wars that are winding down, even though, by the way, that the same savings were counted in some Republican budgets.
Now Reid's plan would not reform or cut Medicare, Medicaid, social security. There would also be no changes to taxes. It would raise the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion. That would be enough to fund the government through next year's election.
Now the Boehner plan is considered more short term. It would raise the debt ceiling in two different steps. The first step would happen immediately. Raising that ceiling by about a trillion dollars, that would be accompanied by spending cuts of $1.2 trillion over 10 years. Now that would get us to next year. Right? When we would need a second vote to raise the debt ceiling again by another $1.6 trillion. Now that second increase would be contingent on more cuts, another $1.8 trillion in spending cuts that would have to be agreed to by a bipartisan committee.
Now the second vote, you guys, is the sticking point for the president and Democrats. They say they don't want to go through this debate again. That the markets wouldn't want that. That it would be too politically complicated and, of course, Ali and Kiran, Republicans say, oh, that's just politically inconvenient for a president who is trying to run for re-election. Either way you look at it, still divided. But those are the two major plans on the table this morning.
VELSHI: All right. That gives us some clarity on that. Christine, thank you.
And as we've seen over the past month, the president has taken to the bully pulpit again and again to make his case that a debt ceiling should include a mix of spending cuts and revenue or tax increases. Last night, he asked the nation to contact their members of Congress and demand a fair compromise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your member of Congress know. If you believe we can solve this problem through compromise, send that message. America, after all, has always been a grand experiment in compromise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Call to action, the Web sites of several lawmakers including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker John Boehner, crashed because of the high volume of people trying to contact their members of Congress. Apparently most of them are back up and running now.
CHETRY: All right. We'll look at that debt ceiling deadline approaching. All morning we'll be breaking down last night's prime time pitches and moving forward how a compromise happens in any way, shape, or form. In about 20 minutes, we'll be taking a look at how the markets also may react when we talk to Ben White. He's a Wall Street reporter for "Politico." Also, coming up in the next hour, we'll get the White House's take on House Speaker John Boehner's debt reduction plan when we talk with Gene Sperling. He's the director of the National Economic Council and also the assistant to the president for economic policy.
VELSHI: And all this brings us to our question of the day. If you had the budget ax, I don't know if there is a budget ax, but if you had one, what would you cut first and what would you keep? Send us an e-mail, a tweet, or tell us on Facebook. We'll read your comments throughout the morning.
You guys are really good at giving us great, interesting suggestions. So we're looking really for your priorities.
ROMANS: If you would rather use a scalpel, that's OK too.
VELSHI: Sure.
CHETRY: You can use the power of the purse. The power of the purse, right? If you could cut it --
VELSHI: If you cut it, what would you do?
CHETRY: What would you fund?
ROMANS: Yes. What do you think is unnecessary or too big? You know, I'm sure we're going to get a lot of different responses.
All right. We're hearing for the first time from the father of the Norway terror suspect Anders Breivik. He said he's ashamed, he's disgusted by his son's killing spree and he wishes his son had killed himself instead of killing so many people.
Breivik appeared in court for a bail hearing yesterday. He's now claiming he had help from two terror cells to pull off Friday's attacks. Meanwhile, officials in Oslo have lowered the death toll from the massacre to 76. Breivik's father, a retired diplomat living in the south of France, says his son must be mentally ill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENS BREIVIK, SUSPECT'S FATHER (through translator): No, I'll never have more contact with him. In my darkest moments, I think that rather than killing all those people, he should have taken his own life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those are strong words from a father.
BREIVIK: They are. But thinking about what has happened, I get so upset and I still don't understand that something like this could happen. No normal human being would do something like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Nearly 200,000 mourners filled the streets of Oslo yesterday for a memorial service honoring the victims. VELSHI: Singer Amy Winehouse being laid to rest today in Britain. A family spokesman says a small, private funeral is planned. Meantime, early autopsy results on Winehouse's body were inconclusive. Police are hoping toxicology tests will help determine the cause of death. They're expected, though, to take two or three weeks to process.
The 27-year-old singer was found dead in her London apartment on Saturday. Winehouse shot to stardom several years ago but her enormous talent was often overshadowed by her drug problems and her erratic behavior. You know, her record has soared on-sites.
CHETRY: Her sophomore album "Back to Black" where the famous songs like "Rehab" --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- I prefer now, sales are skyrocketing of them.
Well, starting today, locker rooms will be open, the season is saved and the teams can start making moves. Today the NFL players and owners finally agreed to a new 10-year labor deal. Someone agreed to a deal --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- on ending the four and a half month lockout. The players association head says the changes make football better and safer. The teams will now cram a month's worth of work into the next week.
So here's what happens now. As I said, the locker rooms will be opened. This is voluntary training. Teams can also make trades and sign draft picks. They're also cutting people right and left. On Friday, teams can begin signing the 545 free agents out there now. The league year will officially begin by August 4th and teams must be under the salary cap by them.
VELSHI: Are negotiators free to go to Washington and help out in the budget deficit?
CHETRY: They can all spend.
ROMANS: All right.
All right. Up next, the dramatic developments in the DSK rape case. You're going to here more of the interview with the maid who claims she was raped. Plus new information about a lawsuit now against the former IMF boss.
VELSHI: And thousands of small town post offices are on the chopping block. Could yours be one of them? And where you could be dropping off your mail in the future? We'll have that when we come back.
It's 12 minutes after the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Fifteen minutes past the hour.
Lawyers for Dominique Strauss-Kahn are firing back at the hotel maid who came - who came out publicly about her claims that the former IMF chief sexually assaulted her.
ROMANS: Her name is Nafi Diallo and she broke her silence this week, granting interviews to "Newsweek" and ABC News. And now, CNN has learned she's planning on taking new legal action against DSK.
Alina Cho just spoke with Diallo's attorney. Good morning, Alina. We'll hear so much more from Alina (ph).
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And what a difference a couple of days makes. I mean, remember the public didn't even know her name 48 hours ago. This case certainly has changed dramatically over the past 48 hours.
This week, the alleged victim, Nafissatou or Nafi Diallo, broke her silence and now CNN has learned that lawyers for Diallo will file a civil suit against Dominique Strauss-Kahn this week. Now a source close to the investigation tells me that the lawsuit does not set a specific dollar amount, at least not yet. Now Diallo's attorney, Kenneth Thompson, tells me the suit will focus on a key piece of evidence, namely, where the alleged sexual assault ended.
Listen carefully now. Thompson says that it ended in a dark, narrow corridor near the back of Strauss-Kahn's suite at the Sofitel. Not in a bedroom, not on a bed, not even on a couch, proving Thompson believes that the encounter could not have been consensual, as Strauss-Kahn's lawyers contend because that would have been where a consensual sexual encounter would have occurred, namely a bedroom or bed.
Now, Strauss-Kahn's lawyers will clearly argue against that. But, remember, in a civil suit, the legal bar is far lower, with a criminal case it's proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil matter, it's preponderance of evidence, meaning, was it more likely than not to have happened. Again, a much lower legal bar. And, of course, there are lots of questions flying about whether the criminal charges will be dropped.
VELSHI: Right. And I think he's in court next week?
CHO: August 1st.
VELSHI: On the criminal case.
CHO: That's right. And, you know, the D.A.'s office, as you might imagine, not saying a lot about it, remaining tight lipped. But this is what we know. Officially, the criminal case is still pending. It has not been dropped. As for what is next, a source close to the investigation tells me that Diallo, her attorney, and prosecutors, will meet tomorrow. As Ali mentioned, Dominique Strauss-Kahn's next court appearance is August 1st. In the meantime, as you all know, he is a free man, released from house arrest earlier this month.
CHETRY: So Diallo spoke out last night about the incident with DSK. What was she saying?
CHO: Well, it's interesting. She granted just two interviews, one print, one television to ABC News and "Newsweek," hitting back, pretty hard, against detractors who say that the 32-year-old immigrant from Guinea is lying about the accusations that 62-year-old Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAFISSATOU DIALLO, DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN'S ACCUSER: He come to me and cup my breast. "No, you don't have to be sorry." I said - I said, "Stop, sir. I don't want to lose my job."
He pushed me like this to the floor. I cannot move. I cannot move. I try.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Diallo, of course, speaking to ABC's Robin Roberts. She also said she did not know who Strauss-Kahn was at the time of the alleged assault, but once she found out she said she feared for her life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIALLO: I was watching in the news and then they say he's going to be the next president of France. And I say, oh, my God. And I was crying. I said, they're going to kill me. I said they're going to kill me. I'm going to die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: It's interesting, but certainly brings a different dimension to the story, of course, now that we've seen her, heard from her. You know, the question is, will the court of public opinion work, right?
ROMANS: And his lawyers are saying this is just another staged event.
CHO: That's right.
And, you know, the back and forth on this is pretty interesting. You know, they say that she is the first accuser in history to wage media campaign like this in the middle of a criminal case and that she's out for money.
Diallo's lawyer counters saying this is the first time he's heard of a rape victim being called a prostitute, a hooker and a con artist by the mainstream media. He calls it damaging, false information, that he says he strongly believes was leaked by the Manhattan D.A.'s office.
And so the back and forth continues. We certainly will keep you posted on all of the developments.
ROMANS: We spoke with the "Newsweek" editor, who wrote - who did an interview with her and wrote the piece and he told us yesterday that he found her story believable -
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- and consistent.
CHO: It was a - and it was a thorough, thorough piece, so -
ROMANS: Alina Cho, thank you.
CHO: You bet.
VELSHI: All right. Thousands of small town post offices may not be around much longer. Today, the U.S. Postal Service will release a list of over 3,600 post offices that could be shut down. A spokesman says most are in smaller communities that aren't as busy and aren't making a lot of money.
Some people say they'll have to make a 20-mile round trip just to mail a letter. In some areas, the Postal Service plans to partner with local businesses, sort of mom and pop shops, where you can drop off your mail in their absence.
CHETRY: Jacqui Jeras in the Extreme Weather Center for us. Jacqui, what a turn around just one day makes. We were in triple digits and then yesterday I needed a sweatshirt.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know, right?
But it's kind of dreary out there in New York and all across the northeast. Take a look, you know, not a lot of rain, but the clouds going to help keep it a little cooler throughout the day today as well. We will see some more showers and thunderstorms develop this afternoon. Some of those could be severe. Mostly across parts of New England, as well as the Upper Midwest. Not anticipating severe across the southeast, but we're going to see a lot of heavy downpours associated with this, especially along the Gulf Coast.
All right. Temperature-wise, yes, you're in it once again. Here we go. Same, old, sad song across the Plains States. Kansas City, back in the excessive heat warnings and Dallas looking at so many days now, 106 yesterday, going to get close to that once again for today. But feeling good in Minneapolis at 84; Chicago not bad either, and there you see the cooler temperatures across the northeast. So enjoy it, guys, while it lasts.
CHETRY: We will. All right. Thanks so much, Jacqui. ROMANS: All right. Up next, thousands of scientists, engineers and computer specialists at the FAA, furloughed. Dozens of major aviation projects stalled. Why? Congress couldn't get its act together. That's why. We'll tell you about it.
VELSHI: And it's having an impact on your air fares as well.
And Hollywood is calling the story of 33 Chilean miners rescued after more than two months trapped underground is headed to the big screen. We'll tell you about that when we come back.
Twenty-two minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: "Minding Your Business" this morning.
A big report out from Pew Research says the recession widened the racial wealth gap and Hispanic-Americans were hit hardest. Medium household income for that group dropped 66 percent between 2005 and 2009. Black households lost 53 percent in net worth, both much worse than white households which lost 16 percent.
A check in on the markets right now, U.S. stock futures are trading pretty flat, only slightly higher, investors waiting on several economic reports on housing and consumer confidence coming out later this morning. Wall Street also watching Capitol Hill closely today, for any updates on the debt ceiling debate.
Shares of oil giant BP and Swiss Bank UBS slid more than two percent in overseas trading following quarterly earning reports that's missed estimates. That's part of what's pushing European markets lower this morning. But BP still reported a huge profit of more than $5.5 billion for the quarter.
Many more earnings reports coming out, 41 S&P 500 companies are expected to report quarterly earnings today. Ford, Eastman Kodak and Radio Shack will report before the opening bell. Amazon, Glaxo Smith Kline and others report their quarterly earnings later in the day.
And today, Dunkin' Donuts leads the long list of companies expected to file for an initial public offering. Eleven companies are expected to file for IPOs this week, that is the most in one week since 2007.
A healthy Happy Meal, that's what McDonald's is going for. The fast food giant reportedly will announce later today that it's adding some vegetables and fruits to its Happy Meals. It's also cutting back on the amount of fries in the kids meals.
AMERICAN MORNING back right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thirty minutes past the hour. Time for our top stories this morning.
President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner both laying out their cases for getting a deal done on trying to raise the debt ceiling. Last night, the president called on the nation in a primetime address to pressure their Congress members to work out a deal. Then later, Speaker Boehner accused the president of being uncompromising.
Norway massacre suspect Anders Breivik claims he worked with two terror cells to pull off Friday's deadly attacks. The number of dead has now been lowered to 76. Breivik's father is also speaking out for the first time saying he wishes his son had just killed himself instead of taking the lives of so many others.
Football is back. The lockout is over and the free agency frenzy begins. NFL players and owners finally agreed to a new 10-year labor deal yesterday. That ends the 4 1/2-month lockout. Locker rooms will be open today.
VELSHI: Congress strikes again. The Federal Aviation Administration forced to furlough thousands of employees, but dozens of projects on hold all because of bickering lawmakers. Air traffic controllers will remain on the job but nearly 4,000 FAA workers, mostly engineers, computer specialists and scientists have been told to stop reporting to work.
Now, the reason for this is that efforts to renew funding for the FAA hit a stumbling block on Friday when House Republicans tried to make it harder for airline and rail workers to unionize. Now, we're going to talk about the impact this is going to have on you when you fly in our 8:00 hour.
And there's dramatic rescue captured the world's attention. Now, the story of 33 trapped Chilean miners is headed to the big screen. "Hollywood Reporter" says Mike Medavoy, who produced last year's Oscar-nominated "Black Swan" bought the movie rights. The miners, you will recall, were trapped underground for 69 days before being rescued. Production is set to begin next year.
I remember watching "Black Swan," making me feel like I had been trapped somewhere for a long time.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Poke my eyes out.
CHETRY: Whereas others really enjoyed that film.
VELSHI: Others really like it. I don't know that I've hated a movie more in my entire life.
ROMANS: All right. Speaking of poking your eyes out --
VELSHI: Sorry. Was that editorializing?
CHETRY: Not at all.
VELSHI: All right.
ROMANS: Speaking of poking your eyes out -- back to our top story, the federal government a week away from being unable to pay its bill. Last night, the blame game is going into primetime. President Obama slamming a new debt ceiling plan by House Speaker John Boehner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But the new approach that Speaker Boehner unveiled today, which would temporarily extend the debt ceiling, in exchange for spending cuts, would force us to once again face the threat of default just six months from now. In other words, it doesn't solve the problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Joining me live from Arlington, Virginia, is Ben White, the Wall Street correspondent for "Politico."
Ben, what plan is better for Wall Street? Is it really true that they have to clear this up so it's not hanging over the markets and an election, or is the Boehner plan better for Wall Street?
BEN WHITE, POLITICO: It's not really true. We've dealt with plenty of short-term debt ceiling hikes in the past. It's true for Obama politically he absolutely doesn't want to deal with this again next year. But I think he has one advantage in his argument and that's that the rating agencies, particularly Standard & Poor's, have said they would like to see a plan more like Senator Reid's that gets into next year, into 2013 and has immediate spending cuts.
Boehner has a problem there, if the rating agencies are behind the Reid plan or something similar to it, it's harder to sell this two-step process, which I think would not please a lot of people on Wall Street and Americans frankly who just don't want to deal with this anymore.
So, I think what Obama was trying to do last night was play to that broader American electorate that says let's move beyond this.
What he didn't do is say, how I'm going to get that done. I think people probably would have been a little bit disappointed in his talk about shared sacrifice and corporate tax increases, maybe they agree with those long term, everybody knows that's not going to be part of the debt ceiling deal, so tell us how are you going to fix this -- and he didn't do that.
ROMANS: Right. Playing to the broader American electorate you say. But then there's a new player in this whole game, and that's global markets. And so far, we've seen global markets nervous, cautious, but not necessarily too roiled by what's happening in Washington.
At what point does that change?
WHITE: It could change late in the week if there's still this partisan train wreck and there's no clear vehicle in the House and Senate to produce legislation the president can sign, then I think you could see, you know, securities start to sell off a little bit. You can see the yield in the 10-year treasury notes start to go up.
You've seen only limited reaction so far. You've seen some safe haven move into the Swiss franc and, you know, the dollar keeps going down. The markets are basically handling it. It still thinks a deal will get made. Even if it doesn't happen by August 2nd, nobody really on Wall Street believes that that's the absolute drop dead date.
If there's progress by then, if it looks like something is going to get done, Treasury will figure out a way to keep the lights on and bills paid a few days after that. So, it's not -- that's a political date.
ROMANS: I've heard a few pretty cynical market participants here and in Europe saying, man, if there was just a big stock market sell-off, then these yo-yos -- their words, not mine -- would maybe get their act together and find some compromise. But, so far, the markets are being relatively calm works in their favor for more stalemate.
WHITE: Yes. That's probably true. And I think you're right. We might need to see that, you know, TARP moment like we had in 2008 where the Dow sold off 700 points when Republicans voted down the Wall Street bailout and then, you know, they changed their minds and said, well, maybe we should do that. It may take that again.
It may take Thursday or Friday of this week, if it's a total crisis and no progress being made to see a big sell-off in the markets for, you know, people to get off the partisan high horse and say, all right, none of us will get what we want here, we have two different ideas of how to fix the budget problem long term, we're not going to settle that right now, maybe we'll settle it in the election, maybe we won't. But right now, let's raise the debt ceiling. Let's let everybody get about their summer and have a vacation and stop talking about this for God's sakes.
ROMANS: What kind of message, Ben, is it sending to all of the international investors who, by the way, buy up U.S. treasury bonds, it's the first thing that they go into when they're looking for a safe haven or looking for a place to park their country's assets? I mean, what kind of message is it sending?
WHITE: It's worrisome, I think, to some. I mean, obviously, you've heard China say please get your act together and deal with this. In that case, somebody as big a holder of treasury debt as China, they don't really have anywhere else to go. They kind of stuck with us.
ROMANS: They don't want to hurt their investment, too.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITE: They're not going to start selling. Yes. It's not going to happen. And I think most foreign governments, at least at this point, they're big holders of treasuries, know that we're good for the money ultimately and we have these fights periodically, some are worse than others, we always manage to resolve them, even though we do it in a way that might embarrass us before the world, but we get it fixed.
So, there's no panic, I don't think, among the big holders. Maybe a little more so at the margins than in more recent debt ceiling debates, but nothing big, nothing that's going to be a huge crisis for anyone yet.
ROMANS: Gosh, the idea of permanently raising interest rates by having a downgrade of your debt and having -- companies having to pay more to borrow money, I mean, I think that --
WHITE: It's not good.
ROMANS: It's just not good. You're right. And the fact that it's all caught up in partisan wrangling is what I think really infuriates Americans.
WHITE: Yes. I think so, too. And I think, at this point, I think people would have been disappointed by those two speeches last night, particularly because it was just such partisan rhetoric. We've heard it all before. We know Boehner doesn't want tax increases. We know Obama wants to get new some revenues. It doesn't look like that's going to happen.
You guys figure that out long term. Right now, I don't want to worry about my investments going down, my 401(k). I don't want to worry about the treasury bonds I own not getting paid. Let's fix it and then you guys want to fight about the big stuff, you should. We want you to, but not in the context of holding the full faith and credit of the United States at risk.
ROMANS: All right. Here, here. Ben White, thanks so much, the Wall Street correspondent for "Politico." Nice to see you this morning, Ben.
WHITE: Thank you for having me.
CHETRY: Coming up next: an amazing tale of survival, four teens mauled by bears in the Alaskan wilderness. You're going to hear from one of the victims who thought he was going to die. He was bitten in the head by a bear but managed to get to escape.
VELSHI: Wow. All right. Mariah Carey's return to TV, her first major appearance since giving birth to twins. Someone give her a reality show right now because you're going to see some of the highlights.
You are watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
A Colorado teenager is telling the world what it's like to be mauled by a bear. Sam Gottsegen and six other teenagers had a run-in with a bear and her cubs Saturday in the Alaskan wilderness. The young men were 24 days into a month-long survival camp, two hours north of Anchorage. That's where they encountered the bears during a hike along a river.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAM GOTTSEGEN, BEAR MAULING VICTIM (via telephone): I thought I was going to die when I was attacked. I was so scared. We saw the first person go around the corner and yelled "Bear!" and started running backwards, and I looked behind me and the bear was behind me, so I started running down the hill. It tackled me on the way down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was bitten in -- on the head and the scalp, but it didn't puncture the skull. I was able to talk to Sam. So, that was wonderful. I didn't know until then he was really OK.
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ROMANS: Gottsegen's condition has been upgraded from serious to good. He suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs, a severe head wound. Two other teens suffered life-threatening injuries. They remain hospitalized this morning. But, certainly, a survival skills camp where survival skills is what they needed.
CHETRY: Amazing.
ROMANS: Unbelievable.
CHETRY: Well, the DREAM Act is now a reality in California. Governor Jerry Brown signs the measure, he signed it. It provides undocumented immigrant students the ability to also qualify for the cheaper tuition rates that in state schools provide. Immigrants who enroll in the program will have to file an affidavit stating they've applied for legal immigration status.
VELSHI: Family feud brewing over plans for Michael Jackson tribute show. His brothers Marlon, Tito and Jackie, sister La Toya and mother Katherine there for the announcement of the show scheduled to be held in Wales in October. The acts are being kept secret for now, but Michael's brothers Jermaine and Randy weren't there. They said they were against the show because it's scheduled to happen during the criminal trial of the doctor accused in Michael Jackson's death.
CHETRY: Well, forgive her if she's rusty. Mariah Carey took up a whole two hours on the Home Shopping Network Sunday night. It was her first major appearance on TV since giving birth to her twins.
Here's a look.
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MARIAH CAREY, SINGER: I don't know where to look at you. Like 20 zillion cameras here. I'm looking at four -- there's five. It's like -- I didn't know there was math involved.
If you guys can go up and can we see. Not to dictate shots. But sorry. Giving you regets (ph). We're giving you moments.
Please, you guys, go to a close-up of the side where the gold is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you see that right there?
CAREY: Because these details were really super important to me. If you can go down.
Cut away from me so I can put this on. Can you put this on? Don't show that. My microphone just fell off my body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: She should be a director. Right. She's calling --
CHETRY: Home Shopping Network host working with her that day.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: We should actually show people. I don't know if Kelly -- is its Kelly or Phil? Are you in there? Phil, camera three over here, take a look at us on three. Everybody look at three.
Look at -- there's three. Now, let's go over to six. All right? So, that's six.
Now, we have two.
ROMANS: Ali is drunk with power.
VELSHI: That's two. And this is camera one.
And, Phil, they tell me there's another camera in here somewhere.
CHETRY: The steady cam back there. You don't have to unhook. It's kind of fun. This is what got stuck with her.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: This fell out and then we have our mikes and all this kind of stuff.
ROMANS: Anyway, your first look at Mariah Carey after giving birth and two hours on the tube. Probably sleep deprived, twins, three months old.
VELSHI: Little more complicated than made out to be.
ROMANS: There you go.
VELSHI: Thanks, Phil. Thanks guys.
And somewhere Ricky Bobby is smiling, a Baptist preacher delivers a pre-race prayer to NASCAR drivers and fans that is seriously right out of "Talladega Nights." You've got to, got to hear this. It's 45 minutes after the hour.
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JOE NELMS, BAPTIST PASTOR: Thank you for the fords. Thank you for Sunoco racing fuel.
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CHETRY: Forty-seven minutes past the hour. A look at your headlines this morning.
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CHETRY (voice-over): President Obama calling on the nation to pressure their elected officials to work out a debt ceiling compromise. The challenge came during the president's primetime speech last night. The government has just seven days to raise the debt ceiling to avoid a potentially devastating default.
Massacre suspect, Anders Breivik, now claiming that he worked with two terror cells to launch Friday's attacks in Oslo in order to prevent Muslims from colonizing Norway. The death toll from the bombing and summer camp ambush was lowered this morning now to 76.
A private funeral being held today for Amy Winehouse. An early autopsy on the 27-year-old singer was, quote, "inconclusive." Police are still awaiting the results of toxicology test to determine the cause of death.
Thousands of small town post offices now on the chopping block. The post office says they're under review and may be shut down because of budget woes.
Locker rooms open today after the NFL players and owners signed a deal ending a 4 1/2 month lockout. A frantic race to sign your favorite players is also under way.
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CHETRY (on-camera): You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after a quick break.
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ROMANS: President Obama asking Americans to demand their elected representatives reach what he likes to call a balanced compromise.
VELSHI: Different from a balanced budget.
ROMANS: Right. When it comes to raising the debt ceiling. Balanced means cuts and also revenue increases. Right now, there are a number of plans in play. The two latest include $1.2 trillion in immediate discretionary cuts. So, we want to know, if you had that budget ax or the scalpel, what would you cut first? What would you keep? What is (INAUDIBLE) and what is expendable is our question of the day?
CHETRY: All right. We want to read some of the e-mails.
Joshua from Facebook writes, "Medicare, Medicaid, defense, and debt maintenance, those are the areas I would focus on. Tighten up eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid, cut the fat out of the defense spending, and buy back some of our high interest bonds to lower future interest payments."
VELSHI: Snow on Facebook says, "Cut foreign aid, close most of the 400 military bases overseas, end the Middle East wars, bring the troops home, stop tax breaks for companies who move jobs offshore, target fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid, hands off veteran benefits." In other words, wouldn't touch veterans benefits.
ROMANS: Yes. A lot of you are saying that active duty military should be paid. Veteran benefits should continue. But let's talk about -- says RD Copeland on Twitter, "Let's talk about cutting tax loopholes first. Why do people with money like you always talk cuts --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: We talk endlessly about tax increases, spending cuts, balances, but I think, he's meaning the general view.
ROMANS: Yes. His hash tag greedy was on there, too. So, there you go.
All right. keep your comments coming, send s an e-mail, a tweet, tell us on Facebook. We'll read some more of your thoughts later in the program. We want to hear what you think.
VELSHI: All right. As a rule, invocations are fairly solemn recitals, a prayer at the beginning of something.
CHETRY: Right. Not this past weekend. NASCAR nation was treated to perhaps the best pre-race prayer ever.
ROMANS: And it's one that would make Ricky Bobby proud. Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the best of prayers, it was the worst of prayers.
NELMS: Lord, I want to thank you for my smoking hot wife tonight.
MOOS: It was a prayer unlike any other. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lord in heaven --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hail Mary full of grace --
MOOS: This prayer was full of cars. NASCAR.
NELMS: So, we want to thank you tonight for these mighty machines that you brought before us.
MOOS: Baptist pastor, Joe Nelms, was in Nashville giving the pre-race invocation.
MOOS (on-camera): Some are calling it the first sponsored prayer. Brought to you by --
NELMS: Thank you for the Dodges and the Toyotas. Thank you for the Fords. Thank you for Sunoco racing fuel, and Goodyear tires.
MOOS (voice-over): As one critic posted on YouTube, I am certainly not a religious man, but I'm pretty sure product placement in a prayer equals a straight ticket to hell. But Pastor Nelms isn't bothered.
NELMS: I can assure you there were no endorsement deals, but I am not against them. Any of them that want to send some money to our church, we'll be happy to use it.
MOOS: And wait until you hear how he ended the prayer.
NELMS: In Jesus' name, boogity boogity boogity amen.
MOOS (on-camera): But what does boogity mean?
NELMS: It means go get after it boys. It's southern for get to it.
MOOS (voice-over): It's the catch phrase used by a well-known NASCAR announcer to start a race, but the prayer started critics' engines. It's making a mockery of prayer. He's just being a clown. He is being sacrilegious. Pastor Nelms said he just wanted to get folks who don't go to church thinking.
NELMS: Maybe not all Christians are stick in the mud.
MOOS: Admirers called its best prayer ever. This is awesome. Putting the fun back in fundamentalism.
NELMS: Lord I want to thank you for my smoking hot wife tonight, Lisa.
MOOS (on-camera): That's smoking hot wife part sure rings a bell. Will Farrell playing race car driver, Ricky Bobby.
WILL FARRELL, ACTOR: Dear Lord, Baby Jesus.
MOOS (voice-over): Thanking the lord in "Talladega Nights." FARRELL: And of course my red hot, smoking wife, Carlie, who is a stone cold fox.
MOOS: Pastor Nelms confesses he recently saw "Talladega Nights" on TV and got the idea to use it. As for his wife, she said this to someone who called to complain about the prayer.
NELMS: I'm the smoking hot wife, and I don't care how many times he says it to a big crowd or small crowd, I'm enjoying it.
MOOS: This pastor has no issues with the separation between church and track.
Jeanne Moos, CNN.
NELMS: In Jesus' name, boogity boogity boogity amen.
(APPLAUSE)
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: The drivers are trying not to crack up during the invocation.
VELSHI: Boogity, boogity, boogity.
ROMANS: It's another reason to dust off "Talladega Nights" and watch that again.
VELSHI: That's right.
ROMANS: As if you need a reason.
CHETRY: Funny.
ROMANS: I would rather listen to that than listen to another minute about the debt ceiling, personally.
VELSHI: We're doing most of the talking about the debt ceiling.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Wait, I take that back.
VELSHI: Oh well. Listen, prescription drugs that millions of people use every day are about to go generic and get drastically cheaper. It could save Americans -- oh, it could save the world. People who buy these medicines a quarter of a trillion dollar globally. Elizabeth Cohen has got the details live in our next hour.
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