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American Morning
House Puts Off Vote on Boehner Debt Bill; Fort Hood Targeted; Donut Burger; Plan B if No Debt Deal; No Debt Ceiling Vote; Ft. Hood Terror Plot Foiled; Tylenol's Lower Dosage
Aired July 29, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Ali, no vote on the debt plan again. I'm Christine Romans. As the U.S. economy lurches closer to a financial crisis, the political crisis continues.
House Speaker John Boehner calls off a vote, unable to convince hardline conservatives in his party to sign on to his plan.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. More than 90 percent of Texas is now in extreme drought. The state could sure use a lot of rain and now tropical storm Don is expected to make landfall along the southern coast today.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And it's happened again, a Muslim- American soldier in police custody for allegedly plotting to kill fellow soldiers at Fort Hood. A live report from Texas on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: And good morning. It is Friday, July 29th. This is AMERICAN MORNING.
Gosh, a lot going on to get -- to get you caught up today. You know it's so interesting there's a report from Credit Suisse that says if the U.S. were to default, U.S. stocks would fall 30 percent over six months to a year showing you just how serious this is for your investments.
We're already seeing signs of strain in the financial markets in terms of companies pulling money out of some instruments that could -- it's showing, you know, trouble in the lending market.
CHETRY: The big question is, will Washington let that happen, and right now that answer is not any clearer than it was yesterday morning.
We begin with breaking news, though. This titanic struggle that's continued to go on right now to end the debt crisis before next Tuesday's deadline.
Here's a live look at the Capitol where overnight, infighting among Republicans forced House Speaker John Boehner to yank his debt bill. They thought there was going to be a vote last night. There is hope that he will try to pass it again today. In just four hours the speaker will again sit down with fellow Republicans and again try to entice just a handful of hardline conservatives to fall in line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: The bill's not perfect. I never said it was perfect. Nobody in my caucus believes it's perfect. But what this bill reflects is a sincere, honest effort to end this crisis in a bipartisan way to send it to the Senate where it can receive action.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Now the speaker's bill would cut $900 billion from the budget over 10 years in exchange for a short six-month extension of the debt ceiling. The conservatives are angry that the cuts don't go deeper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOE WALSH (R), ILLINOIS: We want to make sure we never get here again. We -- I want to support something that makes sure we never get here again.
REP. CONNIE MACH (R), FLORIDA: The deal that is on the table makes the hole deeper and so don't -- you shouldn't expect people who believe that we should balance the budget to vote for a deal that makes the hole deeper.
REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I can't support this plan. I would love to be able to support Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor. I have to have something that transcends election cycles. I can't support it.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Senate majority leader Harry Reid is blaming the Tea Party for the gridlock, which is quickly bringing the government to the edge of a disastrous default in which treasury bills -- that Treasury may not be able to pay all of its bills.
ROMANS: And the White House is warning even if the speaker's bill does make it through the House it's expected to die in the Senate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN PFEIFFER, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Spending hour after hour here waiting for the Republicans to twist arms for a vote that is essentially irrelevant because, as soon as they pass it, if they are able to, the Senate will vote it down and we'll have to get right back to the table and get something done.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: All right. Also this morning, as the debt -- the nation's debt continues to mount amid all of this, right up there, very, very close to $14.294 trillion debt limit. As that mounts so does the anger across the nation. You're paying the price for what has become an ugly partisan battle.
Over the past five consecutive days the Dow has dropped a total of 484 points. And I'm telling you this morning, you have futures lower again. That's a problem for the market today. We're going to have a GDP report later on today that's likely to show the economy is slowing and quite frankly -- at least not growing as robustly as we would have liked.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: It's probably growing less than 2 percent and you have grave concerns about what this is going to mean for companies who are just sitting there on their cash.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Not making any decisions because they don't like this uncertainty. That means jobs. That means jobs.
CHETRY: And there are also large concerns as well. Just for everyday folks sitting at home, does this mean that my Social Security check or my benefits check, my disability check, is not coming come August 3rd, and that's quite a reality here.
The U.S. is racing toward that debt deadline. A lot of Americans want to know what's going to happen. What about the 401(k)s, the car loans, the mortgage rates and there are a lot of seniors who are worried about cuts to the programs that they depend on every day. We're talking about Medicare, Medicaid, as well as Social Security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I worked years and years to save money to live off when I become a senior. What do I have to look forward to now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I would like to see all of them have to trade places with us. And let them try and live on what we don't have and what they're trying to even cut more of.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Now the Social Security administration's response to the questions about what will happen to the debt ceiling, if it's not -- I mean what will happen if the debt ceiling is not raised is short and not very comforting.
This is the quote. "We're sorry, but we don't know."
Right now it's still unclear if the debt ceiling will be raised by August 2nd, so the administration is preparing for plan B. One of those options, a pair of trillion-dollar coins.
Our Mary Snow explains in less than 20 minutes right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: All right. The uprising in Syria appears to be gaining steam. Opposition leaders say they're planning massive protests with the holy month of Ramadan starting in three days.
There's a demonstration in the city of Hama and we're told more will follow every night with the hope that opposition forces will be able to wear down, finally, the Syrian government.
In Cairo, Tahrir Square is heating up again. Today has been declared a Friday of unity in Egypt. Protesters marching in the heart of Cairo demanding the military speed up reforms now that President Mubarak has been ousted from office.
Mubarak in a sense go on trial Wednesday for plotting to kill hundreds of anti-government protesters.
CHETRY: In less than an hour Norway's prime minister will be joining hundreds of grieving relatives at a memorial service in central Oslo. He'll be honoring the victims of last week's bombing and massacre that left 76 people dead. The service was organized by the youth movement of the Norwegian Labor Party. Sixty-eight of their friends were slaughtered a week ago at the group's summer camp outside of Oslo.
And the suspect in those attacks, Anders Breivik, will face a second round of questioning today by police. He'll also be evaluated by psychologists. Breivik has been in solitary confinement since Monday. Police say they've uncovered a lot of new leads in the last few days and they want to make sure there is no further threat.
VELSHI: Well, it's happened again. Another plot to kill soldiers at Fort Hood uncovered by Texas police and it looks like this one was foiled just in time.
ROMANS: This is an amazing story. An AWOL Muslim-American army private is in police custody this morning. By all accounts he was close to pulling off a massacre at a military base that's still reeling from the 2009 attack that took 13 lives.
Ed Lavandera is live in Killeen, Texas, this morning.
Ed, the similarities between the 2009 tragedy and this plot are pretty striking and scary.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely frightening. You can imagine the Fort Hood community, many of these people live here in the town of Killeen just off the army post. And this is a soldier, Naser Abdo, he's a private 1st class, well known to the military community.
For the last year he'd been going through this process of getting conscientious objector status. He's a Muslim soldier who said he couldn't fight against Muslims anymore. And then back on July 4th he started facing child pornography charges. That's when he went AWOL and then he turned up here in the middle of what the authorities say had to be a frightening plot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GREG EBERT, GUNS GALORE SALESMAN: It's a Springfield XD.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): From the moment Greg Ebert set eyes on Naser Abdo, he says something didn't seem right.
EBERT: He shows up here in a taxicab. How many people go shopping at gun stores in a taxicab?
LAVANDERA: The army private spent about 20 minutes inside the Guns Galore gun shop in Killeen, Texas. Ebert says Private Abdo acted very guarded and asked odd questions.
EBERT: He selects the six canisters, brings them to the counter, sets them down, and that's when he asked Kathy what is smoke (INAUDIBLE). Well, hello? Why are you buying this if you don't know what it is?
LAVANDERA: Ebert says Abdo then spent almost $250 on a handgun magazine, three boxes of shotgun shells, and six pounds of smokeless gun powder.
EBERT: Rang it up, he paid cash, took his bag and left without the receipt or his change.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Left without his change?
EBERT: Yes. It wasn't much, like 18 cents, 20 cents.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Ebert is a retired 20-year law enforcement veteran. It was that old cop's hunch that convinced him to report the suspicious customer to local police. Within 24 hours, officers hunted him down and say they unraveled Abdo's horrifying and deadly plan.
DENNIS BALDWIN, KILLEEN POLICE CHIEF: We have interviewed him and have the information as a result of that interview as well as other leads that we're following up on.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: During the interview --
BALDWIN: Let me finish -- let me finish my statement. That leads us to believe that military target -- personnel was targeted.
LAVANDERA: But police say this attack wouldn't have occurred inside Fort Hood like the deadly massacre in 2009 where Major Nidal Hassan allegedly gunned down 13 soldiers. Instead, authorities say Abdo planned on attacking soldiers in popular gathering spots around Killeen just outside Fort Hood.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How close was he to pulling this off? BALDWIN: That's a good question, and I can tell you that we would probably be here today giving a different briefing had he not been stopped.
LAVANDERA: Law enforcement sources tell CNN bomb-making materials were found in Abdo's room inside this Killeen, Texas, hotel. Another source says Islamic extremist literature was found in his backpack.
Fort Hood is still hurting from that deadly massacre two years ago and Greg Ebert can't help but think about what might have happened this time had he not called police.
EBERT: I would be devastated, especially considering that I might have played some role in someone being injured, seriously injured or killed. That would be very unsettling.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: For now, Private 1st Class Abdo is being held here at the jail at the Killeen Police Department. But we're told to expect federal charges that will be filed against him, perhaps at some point today.
Back to you guys.
CHETRY: Was he on the radar at all in terms of military authorities? You know, as we know in the wake of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting a lot of people said there were missed warning signs and perhaps even people turning a blind eye out of fear of not being politically correct.
LAVANDERA: I mean, obviously him going through that process of conscientious objector status, that, you know, put them -- put him highly on the radar of military authorities. And, obviously, when the other criminal charges came forth against him near Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he had been stationed and he went AWOL on July 4th, clearly over the course of the last several weeks, a lot of military officials had been wondering where he might be. Of course unsuspecting that he would turn up here in Killeen.
CHETRY: Wow. Ed Lavandera for us this morning. Thanks so much.
Here's some big medical news out this morning from the maker of Tylenol. They're reducing the maximum daily dosage of the pain reliever to lower the risk of any accidental overdose from acetaminophen.
Beginning in the fall, labels on Extra Strength Tylenol packages will list the maximum dose as six pills. And that's down from eight. Johnson & Johnson also plans to lower the daily dose on Regular Tylenol and other adult products containing acetaminophen starting in 2012.
CHETRY: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will be back at work this morning after a health scare. Christie was taken to a hospital emergency room yesterday. He suffered apparently an asthma attack while on his way to a bill signing ceremony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I took the rescue inhaler that I have, didn't have the effect it normally has, and I started to feel lightheaded and spoke to the troopers and said that I wasn't feeling well, apparently didn't look all that well, and they -- we both decided that we should get me some place quickly.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The governor was discharged after a battery of tests all came back normal.
You know, Christie has been working hard to lose weight and he says, the lighter I am, the healthier I will be. He said he's still exercising and trying to eat right. But clearly a scare on the asthma front for him yesterday. He's back to work today.
VELSHI: Well, it is a marriage of two of America's favorite foods. Or is it a collision?
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Either way, Homer Simpson is smiling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forbidden doughnut.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Homer, stop picking at it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I'm so sweet and tasty.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Here's what we're talking about. The Big Kahuna doughnut burger unveiled at the New York State Fair in Syracuse. A quarter pounder burger in between two slices of glazed doughnuts and --
CHETRY: Are you kidding me?
VELSHI: No. You're like from Iowa. You know state fair food. This isn't shock to you.
CHETRY: I know. But this is shocking.
VELSHI: Two piece of doughnut with burger in between, add the cheese, lettuce, tomato and onions, and it's 1500 calories of sweet, salty, meaty, doughy happiness.
CHETRY: Now you know that looks good, Ali. It looks disgusting.
VELSHI: I got to tell you I --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: As you know I don't have any particular or refined palate but that even worries me a little bit.
CHETRY: All right. It's the same thing as a bun. It just happens to be sweet. It's almost like -- I mean --
ROMANS: Sweet and deep fat fried.
CHETRY: It's one step up from --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Well, I don't know that it has the structural integrity that a bun needs when you're eating a hamburger.
ROMANS: I don't know. I need sesame seeds on my bun.
All right. Let's (INAUDIBLE) mind. Here's our question of the day.
VELSHI: This is a good one. This is --
ROMANS: OK. It's Friday, so don't give us any grief about this question. OK?
VELSHI: Otherwise we're going to ask you a question about the debt ceiling.
ROMANS: Right, which, of course, I wanted to do --
VELSHI: Right, exactly.
ROMANS: We had a fight about it.
Anyway, what is your craziest food combination? Send us an e- mail, a tweet, tell us on Facebook. We're going to be reading some of your comments a little bit later in the program.
CHETRY: And I will try all of these. Keep them - keep them coming.
VELSHI: You two can because of your fabulous metabolisms.
CHETRY: You can try them, too.
VELSHI: Me I gained half a pound looking at that.
CHETRY: Reading the story you gained half a pound.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: All right. Still to come this morning, Tropical Storm Don making its way towards the Texas Coast. For many farmers and ranchers in the Lone Star State it can't get there fast enough. They've been dealing with a bad, bad drought. ROMANS: And he's back. Tiger Woods announcing the return - his return to the pro golf tour after nearly three months away. We'll tell you when and where Tiger will be teeing up.
VELSHI: And you might want to think twice before taking the soft fluffy hotel towels home with you. I'll tell you why.
ROMANS: They're watching you.
VELSHI: They're watching you and you're watching us.
It's AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in just a couple of minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Happening right now here at home, Tropical Storm Don gaining strength as it moves across the Gulf of Mexico with an eye on the South Texas Coast, folks. Preparations under way along the shore for Don, which could make landfall in Texas tonight, bringing with it some pretty heavy rain.
CHETRY: Man, that last part is welcome news in the drought- stricken Lone Star State.
Rob Marciano is live from Padre Island in Texas. So this is kind of a delicate thing. I mean, they need the rain clearly. They don't want - they don't want a hurricane. So what is it looking like, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, at this point, yes, there's a lot of cheerleading going on in Texas. We are - we're wanting Don to get here. But, as you said, it's a double-edge sword. We want it to come as a strong enough storm where it brings us beneficial rain, but not so strong to where it does damage here along the coastal communities and certainly the ones that are - are very dependent on tourism and these beach communities are certainly packed.
The surf behind me has picked up in the last 12 hours, but no rain, no wind, and we don't really expect that for a good six, maybe even 10 hours from now.
Here's the latest on Don. It is still a tropical storm. Take a look at the satellite picture. We've got a couple issues working against us. One, some dry air between here and Don will limit its intensification and the atmosphere just not set up as well as we would like for it to blow up. But there's a lot of warm water out there, temperatures in the Gulf, 86, 87, in some cases 88 degree water temperature, so that's certainly fuel for the fire. So we'll see what Don does here in the next 12 hours.
It is heading this way, 275 miles away, so it should be here making landfall somewhere around midnight tonight. Here's the forecast track for the National Hurricane Center. The track itself has shifted somewhat to the south, so it's expected to make landfall somewhere between here and Brownsville, again, later on tonight through the early part of Saturday morning most likely as a moderate to strong tropical storm.
So there's the good news there. We don't expect it to become a monster hurricane at this point. But we do need the rain.
Here's the drought situation. Across the entire Lone Star State, some staggering numbers and many of these cases, they are 60 to 70 percent down from where they should be. San Antonio is a foot below normal as far as the rainfall is concerned. Houston, over 16 inches the rainfall deficit this year. And Austin, seeing almost a foot to below average.
So let's see what the computer models are saying as far as how much rainfall we'll get from this system. And, well, not as much as we would like, unfortunately, at this point. Two to three, maybe four inches, anywhere from Houston to Brownsville as this thing comes onshore. We need much more than that.
So at this point, guys, there's a lot of cheerleading going on. There are some preps, some of the local communities have - have evacuated. Some businesses have closed and they're doing things like clearing drain pipes because drain pipes in this area haven't been used in so long because it hasn't rained in so long. So they're actually preparing in a good way for this rain to get here which is expected to arrive later on this afternoon and tonight, guys?
ROMANS: Thanks, Rob. Rob Marciano in Padres Island in Texas. Thanks, Rob.
VELSHI: Big news from the sporting world this morning.
CHETRY: Is it big news? Sorry. Is it?
VELSHI: Deja vu big news from the sporting world this morning is what I meant to say.
Tiger Woods announcing his return to the PGA Tour. Yes, it does feel like we've reported this news before, doesn't it? Woods says he's feeling fit. He's ready to tee it up next week at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
He's won seven times at Firestone, but it's also where he had his worst tournament as a pro finishing 18 over par last year. Woods hasn't played competitive golf since May when he withdrew from the Player's Championship because of injuries.
CHETRY: All right. Well, good luck to him. My friends in Akron call it Akron.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Do they?
CHETRY: Still to come, officials are trying to scramble to come up with Plan B. Is there a Plan B about the debt ceiling debate? One of the ideas involves trillion dollar coins. You want to stick around and hear about that. It's 22 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Right now, stock futures are trading lower ahead of the opening bell. A big day on Wall Street today. Investors are sorting through a whole lot of economic data. Earnings reports are also waiting for news on the debt ceiling debate in Washington. Stocks have been down for five days now on concerns that the deal wouldn't get done.
Treasury Department officials telling CNN that executives from 20 major banks are meeting with Treasury officials today at the Federal Reserve Building in Manhattan. Topping the agenda, the debt ceiling and potential fallout if a deal is not reached in time.
And Wall Street executives very nervous about the debt deal debate up in Washington. A report from Credit Suisse says U.S. stocks could tumble 30 percent over the next six months to a year if the debt ceiling is not raised in time and the U.S. were to default. Now, Credit Suisse is saying they think that's unlikely, but that's how much it would fall if nothing happens here.
Several of Wall Street's top CEOs sent a letter to President Obama and Congress yesterday urging swift action this week or face grave results in the nation's debt ceiling talks.
One of the world's most profitable companies, oil giant Chevron expected to report its second quarter earnings this morning before the opening bell. Healthcare company Merck also expected to report its profit in about the next three hours.
And the big biz story today, a major economic indicator, second quarter GDP that releases in about two hours from now, 8:30 A.M. Eastern Time. Economists surveyed by CNNMoney.com, they say the economy grew at a rate of about 1.8 percent. One point eight percent that's slowing slightly from the previous quarter and, of course, 1.8 percent is not enough to improve the unemployment rate.
Also later today, the Obama administration expected to announce a new round of tougher fuel economy standards for cars and trucks. Those new rules will require that vehicles sold in 2025 average about 55 miles per gallon. That's double the current levels.
Don't forget for the very latest news about your money, check out the all new CNNMoney.com.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thirty minutes past the hour right now.
No vote, at least not yet. House Speaker John Boehner working through the night, not able to get enough of his fellow Republicans to vote for a debt ceiling deal.
So, what happens next? We'll talk about it on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
VELSHI: Good morning. It is Friday, July the 29th.
You're looking live pictures of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., inside, House Speaker John Boehner is going to try to rally support for his debt plan again today. It was supposed to happen last night, didn't.
Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Lot going on. Let's get right to it.
ROMANS: All right. Time running out, House Speaker John Boehner hoped to bring his debt ceiling plan to a vote last night. It didn't happen. The vote was called off after it appeared Speaker Boehner was having some trouble rounding up GOP votes. But the House speaker is pressing ahead this morning.
CHETRY: Yes. In just a few hours, he will again meet with some of the conservatives who have been unhappy with the plan so far, some last-minute arm twisting taking place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The bill's not perfect. I never said it was perfect, nobody in my caucus believes it's perfect. But what this bill reflects is a sincere, honest effort to end this crisis in a bipartisan way, to send it to the Senate where it can receive action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. Well, now, a vote on Boehner's plan could take place again today. But even if it does, the speaker's plan makes it out of the House.
However, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has promised the bill will not make it into the Senate. He wants to replace it with his own plan to raise the debt limit.
VELSHI: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may have a plan waiting in the wings. But the truth is, right now, he doesn't have the votes he needs to pass it either. And last night on CNN's "JOHN KING, USA," Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia explained why he's not only against the Republican plan, but he's also against the Democratic plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRGINIA: We have two plans short and shorter and we have to fix it for the long term. I think it's been pretty well mapped out. We need a $4 trillion swing to get us a downward glide to get this financial house of ours in order.
And I want to see a guaranteed vote. If we're going to do and raise the debt let's make sure we have a guaranteed vote to fix the debt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Yes. We're all sitting here going, are you kidding me? I'm for it.
I mean, the whole thing --
CHETRY: Even if -- all of the time, effort and energy going into John Boehner trying to get this passed in the House, they know even if that happens, they hand it off to the Senate but it's not going to get through the Senate.
ROMANS: I know.
All right. So, behind the scenes, Washington's preparing for a post-August 2nd world where the Treasury will not have enough money to pay all of its bills.
Mary Snow joins us live now.
Mary, what are the government's options if the debt ceiling is not raised?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sadly not a lot. People outside of Washington are scouring for potential solutions. Former President Clinton raised the process of invoking the 14th Amendment.
There are also been questions about whether the government could just print more money. One constitutional expert examined that. He found that the only way that could be done would be through minting trillion dollar coins, which just underscores the limit the president has.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): And just days until the government can no longer borrow money, If Congress doesn't reach an agreement in time, could there be a plan B for President Obama to act on his own and raise money.
Fitting under the category of desperate times calling for desperate measures, there's actually some talk of issuing two $1 trillion coins.
Why coins? Constitutional law expert Jack Balkin says there's a statutory limit on the amount of paper currency that can be in circulation, but not on coins. It's an idea he calls science fiction.
JACK BALKIN, YALE LAW SCHOOL: I think what it underscores is that people are now trying to investigate different ways of resolving an artificially created financial crisis, fiscal crisis. And I think the problem is, that these solutions have been offered precisely because the situation we've been put in is so absurd.
SNOW: A potential option for the president that's been taken more seriously is the idea of him invoking a clause in the 14th Amendment where he would raise the debt ceiling without congressional authorization. But the president himself has indicated that's not on the table.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have talked to my lawyers. They don't -- they do not -- they are not persuaded that that is a winning argument.\
SNOW: One way for the government to raise money is to sell assets. Gold, now at record highs, is one of those assets. But --
JAY POWELL, BIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER: There's no likelihood of that at all. If the United States government were to announce that it was going to sell some gold to pay its bills, one can only imagine what would happen to the price of gold. You wouldn't want to be out of the way of that collapsing price.
SNOW: Jay Powell was undersecretary of the Treasury Department under President George H.W. Bush. He's been briefing members of Congress saying he's been separating fact from fiction, even getting asked if the government can issue IOUs.
POWELL: If the debt ceiling is not increased, if no deal is made, then people need to understand there's no secret bag of tricks. There's no magic bullet that will allow us to avoid defaulting on our non-debt-related payments.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNIOW: Bottom line, Jay Powell says is there's nothing the executive branch can practically do in the absence of a deal.
ROMANS: So, in the absence of a deal we know there will be a pretty immediate and stark cutback in government spending, 38 percent to 40 percent of everything that we spend is borrowed money. So, that means you're going to see immediate results in the economy.
VELSHI: It's going to be like a 30 percent to 40 percent shutdown of government because that's -- something has to stop being spent. It will be very interesting.
Jay Powell, who's not been alarmist about this by the way is saying very clearly -- still not being an alarmist -- but there isn't a solution if they don't raise the debt ceiling.
CHETRY: I find it fascinating of the trillion dollar coin.
SNOW: It just kind of underscores how absurd this debate has become. And you know, also there's been talk about the president having to prioritize payments. But, you know, Jay Powell said, legally, it's not so clear that the president has that power without congressional approval. So that's even questionable.
ROMANS: We know how easy it is to get congressional approval for anything, even the FAA these days, you know?
VELSHI: The trillion dollar coin is kind of neat, though. I don't know that we anybody a trillion dollar. So, you got to go and ask for change.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: The guy on the other side of the counter, like, you know, a wise acre in New York, says you have anything smaller?
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: No, we got a trillion dollar coin, buddy.
CHETRY: Two half trillion dollar coins. You can split, you have a better shot.
ROMANS: You wouldn't be using it in New York. You'd be using it in Hong Kong or Shanghai, you know?
VELSHI: That's true, where they always carry change.
CHETRY: See you in the next hour as well.
VELSHI: Mary, thank you.
World markets are reacting in a big way this morning to all the debt indecision. Let's go live to our Nina Dos Santos in London.
Nina, what's it looking like?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a sea of red. I've chosen the right color today, haven't I? Because we've had European markets falling for the last couple of hours. In fact, they opened in the red and they hit lows over the last half hour or so.
Asian markets also fell on the day -- all of this is on the back of concerns about the U.S. debt impasse as it continues, and we head towards that August 2nd deadline.
We've also had a bit of a reminder about the state of Euro Zone's sovereign debt as well today because Moody's investment services decided to earmark some six Spanish regions for a potential downgrade and that again has exacerbated those fears about contagion to some of the Euro Zone's larger economy after we saw the wrangling about debating, whether to award Greece a second bailout, that has now been resolved, but the eye of the storm now focuses on Spain. That's got the Euro down and everybody heading towards the Swiss franc.
VELSHI: All right. Nina, so, the bottom line is, on Monday morning, we're talking and I see you wearing green, we should be a little happier about the whole operation?
DOS SANTOS: I'm going to be dusting out my wardrobe now, Ali. Ever the optimist. What can I say?
VELSHI: Very good. All right. Nina Dos Santos, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Well, a Texas judge has granted polygamous leader Warren Jeffs request to defend himself in Supreme Court. But when it was time to present opening statements yesterday, Jeffs objected to the trial proceedings and then he sat silently. Jeffs is charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child and one count of bigamy.
ROMANS: A former Yankee pitcher Hideki Irabu has been found dead in a suburban Los Angeles home. The 42-year-old Japanese star committed suicide. Expectations were high for Irabu when he left Japan and burst on the scene in the Bronx in 1997. But his career flamed out just a few years later.
VELSHI: Amy Winehouse's family believes the singer died Saturday from sudden alcohol withdrawal. According to a story in "People" magazine, the troubled 27-year-old star ignored doctors' orders to stop drinking gradually and instead went cold turkey in the last month of her life. The family believes that was too much of a shock to her system.
You can read the entire article in "People" magazine on newsstands on Tuesday.
CHETRY: Well, any network that wants to land the first interview with Casey Anthony will have to fork over $1.5 million to get it. CNN confirming that's her asking price. Meanwhile, publisher Larry Flynt telling HLN's Nancy Grace he's offering Anthony $500,000 to pose nude in "Hustler" magazine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY FLYNT, PUBLISHER, HUSTLER MAGAZINE: The offer that we made to Casey through her attorney, $500,000 payment is only part of it. We're willing to pay 10 percent of the profit. So, if this thing goes viral and it could be as big as everybody thinks it was because of how big the trial was, she could make millions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, it seems the Anthonys are in high demand. TMZ is also reporting George and Cindy have been offered $250,000 to appear on a syndicated talk show.
ROMANS: All right. Former shuttle astronaut Lisa Nowak has been forced to retire from the Navy. She made headlines in 2007 when she drove 900 miles from Houston to Orlando, attempting to kidnap a female Air Force captain. Police say she considered the woman a rival for the affections of a shuttle pilot.
VELSHI: And Sergeant Dustin Williams will have to find another date for the Marine Corps ball in November. Scarlett Johansson said no. Williams invited her on YouTube. The actress said she had prior commitments but as a way of saying thank you, she's sending along a case of champagne.
CHETRY: So nice.
Still ahead on AMERICAN MORNING: They are dead-set against raising the nation's debt ceiling. But are Tea Party lawmakers practicing what they preach? Are they when it comes to their own personal finances? We have the fascinating look.
ROMANS: Balance the budget. Balance the budget. Oh wait, mine's not.
And big oil companies getting bigger. So, how much do they make in a day? We're going to tell you right after this break.
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VELSHI: We've had a big week of corporate earnings reports on Wall Street, but every week is a big week for big oil. And there's never a shortage of outrage with high gas prices and struggling U.S. economy. This is how much each of these oil giants earned on average per day in profits in this last quarter.
America's largest oil corporation, the largest, exploration and production company, Exxon Mobil, earned more than $117 million per day. In 2010 alone, it made $30.5 billion and it is the most profitable company in the world, according to rankings from "Fortune."
Royal Dutch Shell, the largest oil company in Europe, raked in more than $95 million each and every day in the quarter and profits were -- the total profits as we'll see right now, were a lot bigger than that.
And BP bouncing back after the oil spill in the Gulf last year. The company made about $58 million a day after posting a $5.3 billion profit for the quarter. Later this morning, Chevron will report its second-quarter profits. The company made $19 billion in 2010, making it the third most profitable company in the world -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Yes, that's right. BP, that BP. These oil companies are cash machines, because we need what they -- we are customers every day for what they produce.
CHETRY: Absolutely.
ROMANS: All right. House Speaker John Boehner's bill to raise the debt ceiling may be a dead end, thanks to defections by tea party Republicans.
CHETRY: Yes. While their political position is clear, it appears that some of the most outspoken anti-debt lawmakers actually have plenty of their own personal debt. CNN Brian Todd takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Save our country.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're the fire brand class, deficit hawks in Congress taking a hard line on the debt ceiling talks. Some are tea party favorites who rail at Congress for past spending like Republican senator, Mike Lee, of Utah.
SEN. MIKE LEE, (R) UTAH: From a Congress that for decades has been bearing our children and our grandchildren both born and unborn under a mountain of debt.
TODD: But according to recent disclosure forms, Senator Lee has racked up significant personal debt of his own, at least $65,000 worth from a credit card and a line of credit. The forms released last month show there are a few Republicans who are demanding a hard line on cutting the nation's debt but have plenty of debt on their own. Non-partisan spending watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense.
RYAN ALEXANDER, TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE: I think this raises questions about are you walking the walk while you're talking the talk about getting the debt down.
TODD: Senator Lee's argument, you have to put this in context.
TODD (on-camera): An aide to Senator Lee said the senator couldn't do an interview with us on this, but the aide did push back hard saying the scrutiny is, quote, "crack pot." The aide says the senator has his finances in order, is managing his debt responsibly, and that if he's doing that, who are the critics to question his role in the budget debate.
TODD (voice-over): Tea party supported Republican congressman, Joe Walsh, has played a prominent role in that debate.
REP. JOE WALSH, (R) ILLINOIS: Thank God congressmen like me were here. Imagine, step back and imagine, if the Republicans hadn't taken over Congress. This city would have raised the debt limit who knows how much.
TODD: But Walsh's ex-wife says he needs to pay up on a big debt, more than $117,000 in child support according to a lawsuit. We couldn't reach Walsh's attorney for comment, but he told the "Chicago Sun Times" Walsh doesn't owe that amount. Walsh says the attacks against him in this case are false, but also, says this.
WALSH: I'm the most openly vetted candidate in the world. I have had financial troubles, and I talked about them throughout the campaign. This is where real America is.
TODD: There's no evidence that there's any financial impropriety. What's wrong with them incurring debt millions of others do?
ALEXANDER: They're allowed to incur debt just like millions of other Americans do, but we're also allowed to push back and ask questions about if you choose to incur personal debt, that's how you choose to manage your finances, how can you tell the country that we can't manage our own debt.
TODD: The documents say two other Republican congressmen, Tim Griffin of Arkansas who recently said America has got a spending addiction, and Kevin Yoder of Kansas who said Washington needs to cut up the credit cards, each had credit card debt of at least $15,000 as of late last year. We contacted the offices of both congressmen. They didn't respond.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Managing your debt is the key word here. Managing your debt is the U.S. to a point where we're not managing our debt.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: The fact that you have debt is not actually the issue. And by the way, that's become lost in this issue, isn't it, that somehow it's terrible that we've got debt. Everybody's got debt. Every country has got debt.
CHETRY: And if you have a mortgage, I mean, you have debt.
VELSHI: You couldn't buy a house, otherwise, you'd be 80 before you bought a house.
ROMANS: The question is the debt gets to be such a big size of your economy and it actually starting to crowd out other things, and that's a problem and that's what we're facing here.
CHETRY: All right. Forty-nine minutes past the hour right now. Still to come, major health news from the maker of extra strength Tylenol. We'll tell you why they are lowering the maximum daily dosage of the pain reliever. They just simply don't want you taking as much. We'll explain why.
ROBERTS: And our question of the day Friday style, this is based on, you know, a hamburger that has two doughnuts for the buns. What's your craziest food combination? Ali loves this story.
VELSHI: Totally. Hamburger with doughnuts, I couldn't even contain myself.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Send us an e-mail, a tweet, or tell us on Facebook. We'll read some of your comments a bit later.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-one minutes past the hour. A look at your morning headlines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): House Speaker John Boehner may try again today for a vote on the bill to raise the debt ceiling. Republican infighting has forced him to cancel a House vote last night because there was not enough support to pass it.
Tropical storm, Don, expected to reach the south Texas Coast by tonight. It is packing 50-mile-an-hour winds right now and bringing lots of rain, which is a blessing for the state. Ninety percent of Texas is suffering through a drought.
An AWOL soldier under arrest in Texas for allegedly plotting to attack fellow soldiers at Ft. Hood. Officials say that Army Private Naser Abdo, a Muslim-American, had weapons and a makeshift bomb factory in his hotel room.
The maker of Extra Strength Tylenol reducing the recommended maximum dose from eight pills a day to six. It is designed to lower the risk of accidental overdose from the key ingredient, acetaminophen, which could lead to liver failure.
Today, some hotel guests helping themselves to fluffy towels and bath robes may be over. Hotel linens have gone high tech, and one company has come up with a way to electronically tag the towels with traceable microchips. So, think about that next time you try to stuff one in your suitcase.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (on-camera): You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: OK. Talk about a heart attack on a plane. The Big Kahuna Donut Burger making its debut at the New York State Fair in Syracuse.
ROMANS: A quarter pound of meat between a glazed doughnut. I don't know if it's two doughnuts --
VELSHI: Hard to tell.
ROMANS: Put some cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, and it comes out to a whopping 1,500 calories.
CHETRY: You know what my problem with it is, it's not that it's a doughnut, it's the way that they made the burger so, you know, thick. How can you bite that?
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Is 1,500 calories a lot for a burger?
CHETRY: For a burger?
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: Let me see. ROMANS: That's a lot.
CHETRY: How much is a Big Mac? The Big Mac is what, like, 850?
ROMANS: That's a lot. 1,500 calories is -- yes.
CHETRY: Maybe a Big Mac is --
VELSHI: We're less concerned with the calories than the crazy combination of a doughnut and a burger. So, it's our question of the day for you.
CHETRY: Yes. What's your craziest food combinations. We got some crazy ones (ph) I'll tell you this.
Tiffany writes in, "Doritos and cream cheese."
VELSHI: That doesn't trouble me that much.
CHETRY: It's not that bad.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Kate.
VELSHI: Kate says, "OK, it's messy, but you got to try it. Cheez Wiz on marshmallows." It's getting a little weird.
ROMANS: OK.
VELSHI: Getting a little weird.
ROMANS: 6:55 in the east. Cheez whiz on marshmallows making me gross.
OK. Michael says "Pizza with tuna fish on it. Only had it in Germany, but loved it." That might have been anchovies. They do that --
VELSHI: Anchovies, --
CHETRY: No, he said straight up tuna fish. I don't know how good that would be, but Angie writes, "Everyone laughs at me for this, but try it. It's amazing. A salad made of tomato, lettuce, tuna," OK, that's normal. "And a banana. It's so good. I promise."
VELSHI: Banana and that tuna.
ROMANS: Oh!
VELSHI: And finally, Joseph on Facebook said, "Nothing like a cold hot dog with an Oreo cookie. It does something for me. Try it."
ROMANS: A cold hot dog with an Oreo cookie.
CHETRY: That sounds like one of the day after rooting through the fringe desperately, looking for --
VELSHI: Totally right. That's from morning after food.
ROMANS: Cat Mac on Facebook also says, "Peanut butter and dill pickle sandwich. Try it. it's great."
CHETRY: And Kat, congratulations on your upcoming bundle of joy. All right.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: WE'RE going to take a quick break. Four minutes to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
