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House Votes Today on GOP Debt Plan; Obama Won't Go It Alone; Commission to Investigate Norway Massacre; Bachmann a "No" Vote on Debt Plan; Govt. Can Fund Stem Cell Embryo Research; Warren Jeffs Trial
Aired July 28, 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: We're coming down to the wire when it comes to the debt ceiling. I'm Kiran Chetry. Good morning.
House Speaker John Boehner cracking the whip against his own members saying they've been blocking a debt deal and it's time to get in line. But will the speaker's tough talk work?
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Ali Velshi.
Exclusive new video shot seconds after last week's deadly terror bombing in Oslo. Eight people were killed in the blast. The man who captured the scenes says he thought he was going to die, too. He'll be sharing his story live from Oslo on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. Great to see you this morning. It's Thursday, July 28th. This is AMERICAN MORNING. Christine out -- because we know yesterday a little stuffy.
VELSHI: She sounded it.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Yes. She's getting better hopefully at home today. We have a lot going on this morning, though, so let's get right to it.
VELSHI: Imagine what our lead story is right now? It's the debt. The Republicans are scrambling to line up House votes to stave off a potential first ever default of U.S. debt. The deadline, you know this, August 2nd now less than five days away. The House is expected to vote on Speaker Boehner's plan sometime today and it comes after the House speaker laid into the Republican rank-and-file yesterday ordering them to get in line.
Now many of these people he's talking about are Tea Partiers who insist that his plan is too soft.
CHETRY: Even if the bill does pass Senate Democrats are now saying they'll oppose it and they're working right now on their own proposal which has been spearheaded by Senate majority leader Harry Reid.
So if both sides fail to reach an agreement, what happens? Could there be a constitutional escape hatch? There is a provision in the 14th amendment with which some say could be translated to allow the president to go it alone, to actually raise the debt ceiling himself, without an act of Congress. Will he, though?
We're going to break that down in a moment.
First, though, we want to dig deep into House Speaker John Boehner's actual plan. You'll remember it was sent back to the drawing board and after some changes the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that the plan would reduce the deficit by $915 billion over 10 years.
Joining us this morning is Jonathan Allen, a senior congressional reporter for Politico. He joins us live from Washington.
So it was $850 filling in cuts. Now it's up to $917 billion. Tea Partiers and other -- fiscal conservatives said, wait a minute, it needs to be more $1 trillion in cuts before we were talking about anything here.
JONATHAN ALLEN, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, POLITICO: Well, it really depends on who you talk to. A lot of people were satisfied with this new number. It's a bit of an accounting trick. They forced CBO to count the savings in a -- slightly different way, Kiran. But it seems to be satisfying a lot of folks.
There is a group of freshmen, Tea Party folks, who are going to have a press conference this morning in support of it. It's going to be a close vote today. There's no question about that. Speaker Boehner and his allies, his lieutenants, are going to be whipping votes right up until the very end.
CHETRY: Specifically, though, you have these Tea Party freshmen, many of them have said my mandate to come here was to make sure we cut spending. And as you said, the -- you know, accounting tricks are a different way of counting up the -- crunching the numbers is what brought us to more savings. Not necessarily because they're cutting spending.
ALLEN: That's right. I mean, the bill overall has a huge number in terms of cutting spending. Not just up front, not just this $900 billion now but also provides for a lot more spending cuts later on.
They're certainly running out of room to cut. You'll remember the big spending bill earlier this year, cut tens of billions of dollars. And so if you take a step back and you look at the entire forest there's a lot of spending cuts going on. A lot of real spending cuts Democrats are arguing that they're going to hurt a lot of people.
So those certainly are accounting tricks. But in terms of that last little margin to get to the point where they are cutting more than they're raising the debt ceiling which is what Republican leaders wanted to do, they needed to rely on some creative use of CBO accounting methods.
CHETRY: Right. This is also interesting, though, because even if he does get -- John Boehner, that is -- in the House, even if he does get the conservatives to fall in line and go ahead and vote for this, there seems to be some questions about whether it's going to get out of the Senate.
You have 53 senators, two independents included who have said they're not going to support Boehner's proposal. And now we're looking at another proposal, perhaps Harry Reid's proposal, which the CBO also downgraded.
Let's take a look at the numbers. Instead of $2.7 trillion in deficit cuts, it's $2.2 trillion. Does the Reid plan have the support to get anywhere?
ALLEN: It's not clear whether the Reid plan can pass the Senate. And even if it could it appears to be a nonstarter on the House. So you've got a House Bill that may or may pass, that's a nonstarter in the Senate. A Senate bill that may or may not pass that's a nonstarter on the House.
I think what's most likely to happen is if the House passes its bill, the Senate will go with another plan and amend it on to that House bill and they'll play ping pong a little bit.
I talked to former Senate majority leader Trent Lott yesterday. He said in his view procedurally the earliest this could get done is Wednesday or Thursday of next week which pushes it past that original August 2nd deadline.
CHETRY: Right. So what happens? I mean that appears to be an impasse. As you said one bill won't get out of one House and one may not get approved by the other. So what happens come August 2nd?
ALLEN: I think your guess is as good as mine, Kiran. There's a lot of warning obviously about a possible downgrading of debt about a possible default. I think most folks think that the Treasury Department has got a little bit of wiggle room built into that August 2nd deadline.
We've seen some reports from outside groups that say that tax receipts have led to a little bit more revenue. There's a little bit more money on hand than has been advertised. So maybe a couple of days isn't a big -- as big of a deal. But certainly the Treasury Department is making plans at this point to figure out which bills are going to get paid and which ones are going to get pushed off.
CHETRY: It sounds like we're right back where we were yesterday. But we'll have to wait and see.
Jonathan Allen, senior congressional reporter with Politico, thanks so much.
ALLEN: Take care. Always good to talk to a fellow Terrapin.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: That's right. Go Terps. VELSHI: Terrapin is a turtle, is it not?
CHETRY: It's a tortoise actually. A tortoise.
VELSHI: Tortoise. Excellent.
CHETRY: Much larger and lives longer.
VELSHI: An excellent diversion from the conversation about the debt deal because all we keep asking is what happen it is there's no deal? I mean if I had a nickel for every time we had to ask this question I'd be able to pay the national debt.
The White House insists that President Obama will not raise the debt ceiling by himself by invoking the 14th amendment. But still a lot of folks out there are talking about this escape clause. That's because former President Bill Clinton and some House Democrats say the president should use it if no deal is reached.
Now what are we talking about here? This was provision that was penned after the Civil War to make sure that confederate states repaid the war debts.
Section 4 of the 14th amendment says, quote, "The validity of the public debt of the United States authorized by law including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion shall not be questioned."
It is that last part, "shall not be questioned," that legal scholars say is open to interpretation and will allow the president to declare the debt ceiling unconstitutional clearing the way for the White House to pay the country's bill without a deal being reached.
Now, President Obama has said that he has talked to his lawyers and they are unconvinced that invoking this constitutional option would be a winning argument.
Now, Kiran, I understand that you had a chance to talk to Michele Bachmann about this.
CHETRY: That's right, I did. I sat down with the congresswoman yesterday. Republican presidential candidate as well. We had an exclusive interview with her and we were asking her a lot about the debt ceiling and about our credit rating.
And also about this 14th amendment possibility. She called any move to invoke the 14th amendment to hike the debt ceiling without congressional approval unconstitutional. Here is a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN.), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Congress has the power to lay and collect taxes. It's Congress that does the spending. The president is prohibited to do that.
If he had the power to do that he would effectively be a dictator. There would be no reason for Congress to even come into Washington, D.C. He would be making the spending decisions. He would be making the taxing decisions. Clearly that's unconstitutional.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: We're going to have more of our talk with her ahead, including why she thinks that we don't have to raise the debt ceiling. And why she will be a no vote today on the House speaker's plan.
Also Senator John McCain taking on some Tea Party conservatives in the debt stand-off accusing them of abandoning reason. And as you'll hear that's not sitting well with congressman -- Republican Congressman Joe Walsh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: That is not fair. That is not fair to the American people 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.
REP. JOE WALSH (R), ILLINOIS: It's bizarre and insulting for a guy like John McCain who's been here for so long. It's politicians like him that have gotten us to this point where we have a government we can't afford.
I mean shame on him for saying that, for going after those of us who were elected six months ago to change the way guys like him have operated in this town forever.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: We're going to dig deeper into all of this next hour when we talk to Republican Congressman Phil Gingrey of Georgia. He's one of the conservatives who right now is not onboard with House Speaker Boehner's plan.
And dramatic, exclusive new amateur video of the aftermath of Friday's bomb attack in Norway just obtained by CNN. It was shot by Johan Christian Tenberg. He works in real estate in Oslo. He was driving through a tunnel beneath the City Government Plaza when the bomb went off.
He says he thought the tunnel was going to collapse on to the roof of his car. Tenberg says he got out of his vehicle, as you see here, and quickly began recording dazed survivors of victims covered in blood, hoping his video might provide evidence for police. He said he was struck by how many people lost their hearing in the blast.
Tenberg was also able to get rare footage inside of the badly damaged main government building.
Captured this image. A huge hole in the floor of the government building from the sheer force of the blast. It's not clear whether this might be the location where the bomb detonated. Eight people were killed in the blast, 68 others were massacred later in the day at a summer youth camp. The prime minister announced today an independent commission will be set up to examine the attacks.
CHETRY: And perhaps some of that video he shot will be used, as he said.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: To determine evidence.
The worst downpours in more than a century triggering a deadly flooding in South Korea. Triggering deadly flooding there. If you look at the pictures you can see just how treacherous it is. More than 20 inches of rain falling on Seoul in the last 48 hours.
You see -- you hear people screaming in fear. Highway roads are impassable. Flooding is now being blamed for at least 35 deaths there and most of them are from landslides. Hundreds of homes have been lost and it is still raining today at a rate of two inches per hour in some parts of Seoul.
VELSHI: Wow.
All right. Where it's not raining is Texas. People in south Texas are preparing for the worst as a tropical storm barrels in from the Gulf.
Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center.
This is one of those weird things, Rob, where I think a bunch of people in Texas are saying, I hope --
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
VELSHI: -- some part of this tropical storm gets to us so we get rain but they don't want a tropical storm.
MARCIANO: Right. Well, it's a tropical cyclone with a positive spin. At this point we're hoping that we can get it into Texas and if we can keep it at a -- you know, most category 1 hurricane, that would be ideal. The uncertainty of the intensity forecast, though, is really -- paramount here. We're not really sure how strong it is going to get. Pretty sure about the track, though.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: We'll be tracking Don, of course, throughout the morning and the next couple of days. Guys?
VELSHI: All right. Rob, thanks very much for that.
CHETRY: History-making baseball in Cleveland. Did you watch this? I know --
VELSHI: I was at a Yankee game yesterday and this happened while I was there. The news came out.
CHETRY: Well, at least this game didn't go 6.5 hours. But LA Angels pitcher Irvin Santana threw the first no-hitter of his career, even though he gave up one run. First hitter of the game for the Indians reached base and then an error in that came around to score. But Santana cruised after that. And it's the third no-hitter in the majors this season.
VELSHI: Now we have a whole bunch of baseball stories this week. We have this one, we had the long game you just talked about. The long game was 19 innings on Tuesday night. Baseball now admitting that the ump blew the call.
Joe Torre, the legendary Yankees manager, now an MLB executive, weighed in on that call that ended Tuesday night's 19-inning game in Atlanta. Watch it. Everybody else thought he was out. The ump calls him safe. Looked like he was out by a mile. The Braves beat the Pirates 4-3.
Twitter began blowing up with calls for instant replay after that which always happens in baseball. They always call for it. Torre says he's been on both sides of these calls and he feels they'll always be part of the game.
The ump, by the way, has also admitted. Everybody has said this call was wrong.
CHETRY: That's right. So what would have happened? The game would have continued on?
VELSHI: It was a long game.
CHETRY: For what, another --
VELSHI: I don't know.
CHETRY: Maybe they should redo the game.
VELSHI: I think they should --
CHETRY: It was only 19 innings.
VELSHI: I think they should just wrap it and do that game tomorrow again.
CHETRY: Yes, and start again.
All right. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, they were the heroes of 9/11. Now some of them have learned that they're not going to be eligible for federal assistance to help that fight cancer that they say was caused by the toxins at Ground Zero. Last night they confronted some of the people behind that decision.
We're going to get more from the meeting that took place last night. Just ahead. VELSHI: And Newt Gingrich says we should all buy American. But somebody forgot to tell his staff that. The candidate's hash-tag awkward moment when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: 9/11 first responders and others who became ill from working at or around ground zero expressing their anger and frustration at a town hall meeting in New York City.
CHETRY: They are reacting to the news that those who have been diagnosed with cancer will not be covered by the new 9/11 victims' compensation fund. Our Deb Feyerick has details of last night's meeting, and she joins us now. We talked yesterday to a 9/11 advocate who has been saying how can you say our cancers were not caused by the toxic air we breathed in the days after 9/11?
DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. You can imagine the passion that this issue is stirring up because so many people feel in their gut they would not be sick were it not for their response.
This is one of three town hall meetings by the Justice Department to explain how the new victims compensation fund is going to work. That's the fund that was established by the Zadroga Act. The big issue which came up again and again, why is cancer not being covered? Especially because of the fires that burned for so long down at ground zero.
Now, one man who spoke last night -- he spent three months working at ground zero and also fresh-kill landfill where the debris was taken. Five years later, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MARSHALL, REITRED NYPD DETECTIVE: I just think that this is an injustice to people who have cancer. I'm a retired police detective. I was down there for three months.
I want to show you something. Sometimes -- sometimes I have to eat through this tube. Because the muscles in my neck don't work to swallow. I wave and talk through this tube.
And I'm the lucky one. Because I have health insurance. All these other people have cancer that don't have medical insurance. You are pushing them aside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: So many healthy people didn't get sick because of ground zero. And this is so controversial because people believe that it is linked to ground zero. The decision not to include cancer was made by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. It reviewed all available data and found no scientific evidence proving a direct link between exposure and cancer. And essentially there is simply no fingerprint. The woman in charge of the money, Shelia Burnbaum, had nothing to do with excluding cancer. She told the audience that they need to be patient. She said if and when scientists can prove a link between 9/11 and the cancers, then they will be covered by the fund.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHELIA BIRNBAM, SPECIAL MASTER, 9/11 VICTIM COMPENSATION FUND: And it is an emotional thing. You know, our hearts go out to people who have suffered cancer.
But people suffered from cancer, all kinds of cancers, who are not exposed to 9/11. I think we have to wait to see what the medicine is going to tell us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: So, why no link? Well, the medical problem: doctors say cancer takes at least ten years to develop. So, the rate of cancer is no higher in this particular age group than it would be otherwise.
Of course, many first responders who were sick say they don't have time to wait. Even an extra year. They are hoping other studies will come out, proving what they believe, and that is that their cancer is because of the exposure.
VELSHI: What's -- what do they think will change with the new reviews? When you say there is no fingerprint, what happens to change that?
FEYERICK: There's only one study that actually found what is even a remote link between cancer and ground zero, and that is blood cancers. Things like leukemia, something called multiple myloma. Because those tend to develop much faster than other cancers. So, they believe that maybe if they can make this connection -
VELSHI: Right.
FEYERICK: -- that it will open the door to other types of cancer.
VELSHI: That's tough, because you are saying ask people to wait. The problem is some of these people are dying.
FEYERICK: Exactly right.
CHETRY: And you hear the emotion. And there's nobody that doesn't agree that this is heartbreaking. I think that, unfortunately, the science hasn't caught up.
I want to tell you guys that we will be interviewing coming up in about an hour the doctor that you referred to in that study, Dr. Jacqueline Moline. Her study is the one that does suggest at least some link between cancers and the 9/11 responders. She also believes that more research needs to be done, which is happening now. But as you said and as you heard in some of these heartbreaking testimonies, a lot of people said I might not be around and meantime, my family has been bankrupt. Our lives have been changed forever. And how can we be pushed aside?
FEYERICK: The emotional trauma. The emotional trauma. Yes.
CHETRY: All right. Deb, thanks so much.
VELSHI: We are taking a quick break, and will be right back with more, including Kiran's exclusive conversation with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. It's 22 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: "Minding Your Business" this morning, 25 minutes after the hour. The Dow had its worst session since June 1 yesterday, dropping nearly 200 points to end the day. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 also closed lower as debt ceiling fears continue to plague these markets.
But right now, U.S. stock futures are trading mixed. They were all up in overnight trading overseas. That's after House speaker Boehner's new debt ceiling plan got the nod from the Congressional Budget Office after the close of markets yesterday. Still no deal, though, and investors are looking for any signs of progress on the debt ceiling.
Now, just a few minutes ago, science technology company DuPont reported its second-quarter earnings. They were better than expected. Overnight, Sony reported a 60 percent drop in profits last quarter, citing production slowdowns from the earthquake in Japan. And Europe's biggest oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, says its second-quarter earnings almost doubled. U.S. competitor ExxonMobil expected to post its earnings later today.
Wall Street also looking to new economic data out today for a fresh read on the health of the U.S. economy. Weekly jobless claims report comes out at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the number of pending home sales for June releases at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. Economists are expecting weak reports for both indicators.
And a new report released this morning says the government will foot the bill for half of all health care costs in the U.S. by 2020. They are expected to double by then to $4.6 trillion, due to rising health care costs and other factors.
Also new this morning, Swiss bank Credit Suisse says it is cutting 2,000 jobs or four percent of its global workforce. That's after the company announced its second quarter profits dropped 52 percent on lower earnings from trading.
AMERICAN MORNING right back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thirty minutes past the hour. Time for your top stories this morning.
Today is the day that the House votes on Speaker John Boehner's new and improved debt plan. According to the Congressional Budget Office, that bill would cut $915 billion in spending over the next decade. The vote comes just a day after the speaker ordered his Tea Party colleagues to get behind his revised plan.
VELSHI: In fact, he said get your assets behind this plan, specifically.
And even if House Speaker John Boehner's bill passes the House, Democrats say it has no chance of passing the Senate. Democratic Senator Harry Reid has plan of his own. But after the congressional number crunchers took a look at it, they said it would reduce deficits by $2.2 trillion over 10 years. That's $500 billion short of what Reid promised.
CHETRY: And the White House continues to insist that President Obama will not go it alone should there not be a deal to raise the debt ceiling voted on by August 2nd. A group of House Democrats has been urging the president to raise the debt limit himself by invoking the 14th Amendment. There is a line in there that talks about debts not being questioned.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: And there are some interpretations that say it means that the president can go it alone and issue -- a raising of the debt ceiling by executive order.
VELSHI: Of course, he says he doesn't think that's entirely true. President Clinton did. He said he should do it but he said he can't do it.
All right. What's going on with the markets? The Dow is down nearly 200 points yesterday. It's fourth straight day of decline.
Joining me now from London is Nina Dos Santos with how the work markets are faring.
Nina, hard to tell. It is not a decisive move one way to another. It's the sort of slow trickle.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Ali, because, of course, a lot of people have gone on holiday for the month of July and August. And one of the reasons why we are not seeing huge amounts of reaction at the moment is because on the one hand, investors are biding their time nervously and also because volumes are thin.
I can say, though, that the European markets and the Asian markets are broadly speaking marching up a fourth day of declines as everybody, of course, gets even more worried about this U.S. debt debacle. And even if the U.S. does manage to come to an 11th our agreement, there is also a significant amount of concern in the markets that the United States covers AAA credit rating could at some point suffer and be downgraded.
Let's take a look at some of the ramifications for other markets around the world if that was to happen. You know, out of the $14.3 trillion of debt outstanding that the U.S. has, Ali, we should mention that over a third of it is held in foreign hands, most notably, about $1.3 trillion in China, the Japanese also in about $900 billion worth of U.S. treasuries. So -- as, of course, the treasuries get just a little bit riskier, the dollar falls, everybody suffers here for the moment.
VELSHI: That's exactly how we need to look at it.
Nina, good to see you. Thanks very much for that -- Nina Dos Santos in London.
CHETRY: Nina, thanks.
All right. We are five days now until the deadline. The House is expected to vote on Speaker Boehner's plan to cut government spending and to raise the nation's debt ceiling. But there is a fight going on within the Republican Party itself that Speaker Boehner may not win.
Tea Party conservatives like Congressman Michele Bachmann say the plan doesn't go far enough to rein in spending. She told me that she is voting no on it. I had a chance to sit down with the Republican presidential candidate exclusively yesterday. We talked about her decision to run and also her decision to hold her ground on the debt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Is it scary to think -- I mean, that you can technically be the first member of Congress probably in 100 years, to get elected president and first woman? I mean, those are huge milestones. What's it like, this can be me?
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is not frightening at all because it isn't about me. That's -- it's all about the people of this country and the people that I care about, because I'm very concerned that we do turn the country around and that the economy gets back on track.
I understand the economy. I understand what needs to be done to turn the economy around. And I not only --
CHETRY: Sometimes, though -- I have to ask you -- isn't it's easier said than done? There are a lot of campaign promises that the president made, and this president, and he bumped up against the reality of having, you know, a lot of problems in Congress dealing with the opposite party. And a lot of the promises he made he ended up not being able to deliver on because of the nature of the office and reality.
Do you worry that sometimes if you were to be elected, you couldn't follow through on some of the promises you've made just because of the reality in Washington?
BACHMANN: Certainly, divided government presents challenge. I don't underestimate that at all. In my opinion, the president's problem wasn't his lack of experience or divided Congress. President Reagan had a divided Congress. And yet, he was very successful enacting his agenda.
What President Obama, in my estimation, has failed to do is properly understand the issues. On every measure, this president has failed. He has a big "F" on his economic report card.
He has to take responsibility for the economy because he's the one that's made these decisions. That's not to say that President Bush didn't overspend.
CHETRY: How do you feel about the debate that's gone on when it comes to spending cuts and linking it to the debt ceiling?
BACHMANN: Well, first of all, I think that all of the plans that are out there start with the wrong premise. And their premise is this -- raise the debt ceiling.
This is one thing I will assure you, I have been all over South Carolina, and Iowa and New Hampshire. I have been to Texas and Florida and other states as well. I haven't had one person come up to me yet and say, Michele, we need a balanced approach. We have to increase taxes, because we have to keep this level of spending going.
Sixty-nine percent of the American people are saying don't raise the debt ceiling.
CHETRY: Late in April -- and now, that's changed. Now, it's about 39 percent because I think people are scared.
BACHMANN: Well, that's not what I'm hearing. Out on the trail, people are saying, government, get your act together and cut spending. And Washington has their fingers in their ears right now. They are not listening to the American people.
That's why I am adamant. I will vote no on increasing the debt ceiling.
We need sanity back in Washington.
CHETRY: So, you are voting no but think it will go through.
BACHMANN: I think that President Obama and the leaders in Washington will come up with a deal.
What they need to do under no uncertain circumstances is do at least what my bill does. And that's pay the interest on the debt. Then I say from there, after paying the military salaries, prioritize. Get your act together. Get your house in order.
You can't have it all. Your children can't have it all. Mine can't. Your teenager can't have it all. Nobody can. Neither can government.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: All right. A bit little later, we are going to bring you more with Congressman Bachmann. A little bit more about her personal story, how she managed to raise five kids, why she and her husband decided to open their home to so many foster children, and why she can make history being the first female U.S. president.
And she is standing firm on this debt ceiling. I know that we talked about it before. She believes -- as she said -- it's a false premise that we don't -- that we won't necessarily default, that we can pay the interest on our debt and from there, prioritize.
VELSHI: Yes. And, look, that's a big discussion right now about whether if you don't pay some things, whether or not that's a default, S&P, Ben Bernanke have said, don't matter what -- if you don't pay something, you're in default.
Moody's actually takes a different view. They say you are only in default if you don't pay a bondholder.
So, we are probably getting caught up on nuances at this point in the game. But it is still unexpected what effect it will have in the end if we don't raise the debt ceiling.
Well, there's an awkward moment for Newt Gingrich and his presidential campaign staff. The former House leader was meeting with media in Atlanta yesterday. Now, he has been sounding the made in America battle cry quite a bit, insisting that we've got to beef up manufacturing in this country by buying more American-made products. Which made this exchange with a reporter who asked him to hold up his campaign T-shirt a little more uncomfortable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: A lot of what you are talking about is about taking America back to America. We asked for T-shirt that you sent to us and they were made of America. Just picked up that one and it's made in El Salvador. It is printed here in Atlanta.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: OK.
REPORTER: And it was a big thing when we talked to your campaign -- about how you wanted things to be made in America. Do you have plans to change things?
GINGRICH: I have no -- I will have to ask the folks that ordered this. I didn't order it. I didn't do it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was a rush order, with a sort of volunteer --
GINGRICH: Yes. One of the challenges with the volunteer campaign is lots volunteers do lots of different things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Wow. The fact that he got caught, he sort of stayed there looking at it --
CHETRY: The volunteers' fault.
You know, it is tough. I mean, this is the nature --
VELSHI: It's a very tricky thing to talk about made in America because if you're not -- it's not just the T-shirt. It's the Blackberry or the iPad or the Apple.
CHETRY: Component.
VELSHI: Everything you use. If you are going to scrub yourself of things not made in America, he's going to be campaigning mostly nude with no electronics.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: And that is going to hurt his campaign.
CHETRY: Or maybe not.
VELSHI: Who knows? Exactly.
CHETRY: You know.
He's unsinkable. 42-year-old Michael Trapp, pilot from New York, miraculously saved after his small plane crashed. He actually crashed in Lake Huron. He was treading water without a life jacket for 17 hours. But he survived.
He was flying a small plane alone on his way to a family reunion in Wisconsin. The engine stalled over the lake and he said it went down fast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It did flip over on its top, breaking the windshield out. And he had to get himself unbuckled and out of the door. And it was just seconds later the airplane was totally gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Well, people on a boat finally spotted him, waving a sock.
CHETRY: That's amazing.
VELSHI: They asked him if he wanted water. He replied, thanks, I've had enough.
He was hospitalized but in a statement he said, he's feeling. Just sore from all of that swimming.
CHETRY: Seventeen hours of treading water.
VELSHI: That would do it.
CHETRY: Wow. Well, amazing that he survived it.
VELSHI: A watchdog group is out with annual list of what bugs consumers the most. Topping the list, compiled by the Consumer Federation of America: shady car dealers, credit and debt services; and tied for third complaints about home improvement or construction jobs and retail sales practices.
CHETRY: Brings us to our question of the day. Bad service: which industry is at the top of your complaint list? Send us an e- mail, a tweet, or tell us on Facebook. And we'll be reading some of your comments a bit later.
VELSHI: OK. Coming up ahead on AMERICAN MORNING: Alex Trebek in jeopardy, literally. We'll tell you how the 71-year-old host suddenly turned into a crime fighter and how it all turned out.
CHETRY: And pay or not to pay. Find out why folks in one city are not paying up when they are caught by those red light cameras.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: And the answer is chasing a burglar down a hotel hallway. The question is: why was "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek on crutches at a "National Geographic" event in California?
CHETRY: Don't you have to ask that in a form of a -- isn't the answer a question?
VELSHI: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Who was running --
VELSHI: I get the answers but I can never do it in the form of a question.
It turns out the night before Trebek, 71-year-old, awoke to find a burglar in his San Francisco hotel room and ran after her and he ruptured his Achilles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX TREBEK, HOST OF "JEOPARDY": The snap and the sound, I played sports all my life. I called security immediately and gave them a good description of the woman and they got her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Police arrested, the suspect, 56-year-old Lucinda Moyers, on suspicion of felony burglary and receiving stolen property. Trebek says most of the stolen items were recovered except a family heirloom that his mother gave him which is still missing.
CHETRY: That's unbelievable.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, I hope he recovers quickly. That's painful. He is said to be undergoing surgery today, right?
The United States government can continue funding stem cell research on human embryos. It was a ruling yesterday after a federal judge threw out a lawsuit that was attempting to block federal funding. It's a victory for the White House. The lawsuit was filed by two scientists who objected to the destruction of embryos for research.
VELSHI: In Texas, opening statements in the sexual assault trial of polygamous sect leader, Warren Jeffs, could begin today. Also this morning, Jeffs' lawyers are expected to ask evidence to be suppressed from his arrest in 2006 in Las Vegas. Now, Jeffs has pleaded not guilty to charges of bigamy and sexual assault on a child.
CHETRY: All right. How many packs of hot dog do you have in a day?
VELSHI: What?
CHETRY: Check out this billboard up here. It's posted right outside of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. You see that hot dog sticking out of what's meant to look like a cigarette package. Warning, race fans of a link between processed foods and cancer.
VELSHI: That's just mean.
CHETRY: Yes. The space was -- they wouldn't have liked our national hot dog last week. The space was purchased by a doctor's group pushing a plant based diet. Why here? They say that last year, 1.1 million hot dogs were sold during the Indy 500.
VELSHI: But don't like half a million people go to the Indy 500?
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: I was at the Yankees game yesterday.
CHETRY: How many hot dogs did you have?
VELSHI: I had just one. One, but you know, it's part of the experience.
CHETRY: Yes. I have to tell you --
VELSHI: I would buy the idea that there's a lot of sodium and you should eat pure hot dogs, but I'm not sure I'm going to make the leap all the way from hot dogs to a plant-based diet. Just saying.
CHETRY: That's a tough leap.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Very tough leap.
VELSHI: Although, I've had those fakey hot dogs, you know --
CHETRY: I call them the why bothers. You may as well just eat a salad at that point. I mean, why bother if you have to mold vegetables into the shape of meat and add smoke flavoring. I mean, at that point, just have some kale.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: All right. Speaking of why bother. Why bother paying for going through a red light? There's a lot of questions surrounding red light cameras in California. Do they make roads safer, by the way? Do they cause more rear end collisions as some people stop, and others are trying to get through? And most importantly, do you have to pay the tickets if you get one?
If you live in Los Angeles, the answer to that last question is, apparently, it's up to you. Apparently, because the way the law is written there, authorities cannot force violators to pay the $476 fine for running a red light. The news comes as the city considers shutting the program down.
CHETRY: So, you know why this is?
VELSHI: Why?
CHETRY: They said because it would -- they can't technically prove you were the one behind the wheel of the car, even though, they have the license plate. But, if you show up in court to fight it and they rule against you, and then you don't pay it, then they will come after you.
VELSHI: So, you just ignore it.
CHETRY: Yes. So, there are people irate who said, yes, I paid $476 for the fines. I want my money back. So, it's --
VELSHI: I think -- so, the idea is once you -- they've established it's you, you can't get your money back.
CHETRY: Right, but people are getting mad now saying I want my money back. If all these other people can't pay it, then I want my money back because I paid it.
VELSHI: Very interesting. Very interesting. All right. We'll check your morning headlines straight ahead. It's 58 minutes -- no, it's not really. How many minutes is it?
CHETRY: It's 48 minutes after the hour.
VELSHI: Forty-eight minutes after the hour. Little early.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Fifty minutes past the hour. A look at your headlines this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): A vote on House Speaker John Boehner's debt plan is set for today, and it comes after Boehner ordered his tea party colleagues to get in line behind his revised bill that would cut $915 billion in spending over ten years.
White House press secretary, Jay Carney, is saying now that a provision in the 14th Amendment that some Democrats say allows the president to raise the debt ceiling on his own is, quote, "just not an option." Carney says only Congress has the authority to extend the borrowing limit.
We have exclusive new video of teen (ph) by CNN that was shot just seconds after Friday's terror bombing in Oslo, Norway. It was taken by a man who was driving in a tunnel beneath the government plaza when that bomb went off.
The worst downpour more than a century triggering massive flooding in South Korea. Thirty-five people are dead, mostly victims of landslides. More than 20 inches of rain falling on Seoul in the last 48 hours.
Texas is gearing up for tropical storm, Don. It's now forming in the Gulf of Mexico. And if it continues on its projected path, the storm could make landfall along the Texas coast early Saturday.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (on-camera): You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: American consumers are sounding off about what bugs them the most. They say when it comes to industries --
VELSHI: Yes. Yes.
CHETRY: They don't like shady car dealerships. That topped the list of complaints according to the Consumer Federation of America's Annual Survey.
VELSHI: It surprised me, because I didn't think people buy cars as much as they do other things. But, car, auto problems top the list. That brings us to our question of the day for you. Bad service. Which industry is at the top of your complaint list?
Facebook, Laurie says, "The airline companies, enough said."
CHETRY: All right. Elvin Lewis says, "Fast food. These people can't even get the simplest order correct. It's like a joke." I guess, he was hungry. VELSHI: It seems consistent that Elvin has issues with fast food. Ruthie says on Facebook, "Bad service complaint? Congress."
CHETRY: Brett Nelson says, "Overseas computer tech support call centers."
All right. Keep your comments coming. Send us an e-mail or a tweet. Tell us on feedback, and we'll read a little bit more of your thoughts later in the morning.
VELSHI: OK. With negotiations moving at a Congressional snail's pace, the imbedding debt crisis has provided inspiration for some from the creative to the bizarre.
CHETRY: That's right. Jeanne Moos takes a look at the debt limit follies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rap video, a cops and robbers movie, and Amy Winehouse? What do they have to do with the debt ceiling fiasco?
(RAPPING) Raise the debt ceiling
MOOS: Remy Munasifi is a comedian from Virginia who likes doing political videos.
REMY MUNASIFI, COMEDIAN: All the spending kind of fits in well with like a bad rap. I just happened to be a bad rapper.
(RAPPING)
MOOS: Speaking of bombs, was that really the A-bomb dropped by House Speaker John Boehner as he tried to get his fellow republicans to get in line.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it true you told some of the Republican members this morning that you need to get your "A" word in line behind this debt ceiling bill?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I sure did. This is time to do what is doable.
MOOS: "The Washington Post" reported that the House majority whip played a movie clip to motivate Republicans to pull together. The clip featured Ben Affleck as a bank robber planning revenge in the town.
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.
MOOS: But Democrats turned the car against the Republicans.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: They chose to inspire their house freshmen. One of the crooks gives a pep talk to the other right before they both put on hockey masks, bludgeon two men with sticks, and shoot a man in the leg. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your House Republican majority.
MOOS: Asked about Republicans playing this clip, Ben Affleck said, I don't know if this is a compliment or the ultimate repudiation, but if they're going to be watching movies, I think the "The Company Man" is more appropriate, a film about corporate layoffs.
AFFLECK You're firing me?
MOOS (on-camera): Now, here's a head scratcher. What possible connection could there be between the debt and the death of singer, Amy Winehouse?
(SINGING) talking about me going the rehab
MOOS (voice-over): Republican congressman, Billy Long, from Missouri tweeted, "no one can reach Amy Winehouse before it was too late. Can anyone reach Washington before it's too late? Both addicted? Same fate?" Long later apologized saying he meant no disrespect to Winehouse with his analogy about Congress' addiction to spending. If this keeps up, we will have to raise the limit on debt related doozies.
(RAPPING)
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Creative. I like the rap.
CHETRY: Yes. A long, hot summer.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Ahead. Four minute until the top of the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
