payton ava kaine was born. that's going to wrap things up for us this morning, but the conversation continue jos onlin. send christine your questions on facebook and twitter. i'll be back today at 1:00 p.m. eastern and tomorrow at 3:00 for "your $$$$$." now back to "cnn saturday" for the latest stories making news. have a great weekend. good morning! congress is in session on this saturday. working on the weekend to try to beat the clock. that clock is aticking. we are now less than three days away from a possible u.s. default. i'm t.j. holmes. glad you could spend part of our weekend here with us. we've been talking about that clock. we didn't think it would get down to this, but it keeps on a-ticking on congress. both houses in session today. here's a rundown on what they plan on doing today.

and there's that clock that we speak of. just under two days away from a time when we're told by the treasury, this country will not be able to pay all of its bills. so let me give you the rundown of what's happening today. the house gets to work around noontime today. that's just about two hours from now. after some debate, they'll vote on a proposal from senate majority leader, harry reid. that proposal is expected to fail. then on the senate side, they open debate on that same reid bill at 1:00 eastern time this afternoon. the debate there could go on for some 12 hours. now, it may not be until a lot of us are asleep that the senate gets to vote on that reid bill. the senate has moved on to the reid bill after deciding not to vote on the bill from house speaker john boehner. >> the nays are 210, the bill is passed. without objection to motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. >> what you're seeing there is that speaker boehner's bill actually passed.

it finally passed the house after the speaker changed it up a bit to try to pull in more republican votes. so he got the votes he needed. at the same time, with all of the democrats in the house and some republicans still voted against it. >> a lot of people in this town can never say yes. a lot of people can never say yes. this house has acted. and it is time for the administration and time for our colleagues across the aisle, put something on the table! tell us where you are! >> all right. still, that boehner bill that passed the house never got any traction in the senate. they told him, you send it over here, it's dead on arrival, and sure enough, it was. so now the senate is focusing on harry reid's proposal. now, he has floated, harry reid, floated a possible change to his original idea, to try to include some elements from republican plans. but republican leaders still could block any vote. >> so it's obviously to the world, to the united states

senate, that there is now another filibuster. that's what this is. it's a filibuster to stop us from moving forward on legislation. this is a filibuster in any name that you want, it's a filibuster. so i'm disappointed. >> let me bring in our joe johns, who is on capitol hill for us today. a couple of hours, debate is supposed to get started up there, but you starting to see some activity, joe? >> reporter: really, it's mostly media people right now, quite frankly. this is -- democracy can be ugly sometimes, but it is our democracy, and you know the focus right now is, of course, on the united states senate. the question is whether harry reid can pass a bill out of the senate the way boehner passed a bill out of the house. now, reid has a different hurdle. he's got 100 folks there, he's got to 60 votes. in all probability, that is in case somebody does actually talk about a filibuster. so how does he do that? clearly, what he's got to do is

what senate majority leaders have done for years and years, when they don't have the votes, they go to the other side, they get some independent-thinking senators from the other side, see if those folks can add their voices, add in some language, and get some type of a bill that he can call a compromise. it's a real challenge, of course, not just here in the united states senate, but on the other side, in the house, because it's not clear at all what all of them, you know, includie ining those tea party republicans we've talked so much about will stand for. at the end of the day, you can be sure that here on capitol hill, the watch word will be standing up for the country and trying to do the right thing for the country as we approach that august 2nd deadline. t.j.? >> and we keep talking about time and there's this clock that's ticking down. but, joe, even if they try to start working out compromises between reid's plan and boehner's plan, aren't we -- even if they can come to an

agreement, is 2 days and 13 hours enough time to just get all of the legislative wrangling and writing that needs to be done done? >> reporter: you're right. that's one tough job to try to get all of this done. it can take the senate a long time to act and the house of representatives too, for that matter. one of the things people have talked about, and even the administration has said they think this would work, is that if they get very close, then they'll get a couple extra days, perhaps. you know, or a day if they need it. so it sounds like that august 2nd deadline could slip just a bit. but i think the markets, more importantly, would really like to see some action here on capitol hill, because there's been a lot of volatility, if you will, and jitteriness there. >> all right. joe johns, we appreciate you this morning, keeping an eye on things on capitol hill. thank you. we'll check in again. and to our viewers, sunday night, 9:00, a cnn special report. just what will it take to find a

solution to this debt crisis? our wolf blitzer and don lemon breaking down the options. meanwhile, the president has just lost more than 30,000 followers on twitter, i'm talking about here. the president sent out pleas for his twitter followers to tweet their members of congress about the debt ceiling debate. but apparently not everybody liked being flooded with those messages, and according to the website, twittercounter, 33,000 people jumped ship. they jumped from the president's re-election twitter feed after he sent out those tweets. we just heard joe johns mention the markets on monday, they are really hoping to get some kind of a deal done before the markets open on monday. well, it seems like they may be having an impact, this whole crisis, already. because stocks ended their worst weekly showing in more than a year yesterday. argument to the financial data company wilshire, an estimated

$700 billion worth of market value was lost. the dow fell 4.2% for the week while the nasdaq dropped nearly 3.6%. and take a look at this. the federal government is looking to solve some of its money problems, maybe they should just start selling ipads. that's because apple just announced their earnings and the number is $76 billion. the federal government has only $74 billion on hand. so you heard that right, folks, take it for what it's worth, but apple has more money right now than your government has on hand. let's turn now to a few hundred miles south of washington, d.c. another government is struggling to deal with its own debt issues. jefferson county, alabama. officials there were ready to file for chapter 9 bankruptcy. that would allow them to restructure more than $4 billion in debt. much of that debt from court-ordered improvements to the county's sewer system. but the bankruptcy deal is on hold for a week, as the county tries to work out a settlement

with creditors. >> we will take a look at whatever they propose, if they propose something. they may not propose anything. fine. then it's our move. >> it'd have to be close and it cannot involve a double-digit rate increase. so we're open for a -- bankruptcies have always been my last option, and we're down to the end of our rope. we have to have a settlement. >> now, if jefferson county files chapter 9, it's believed it would be the largest municipal bankruptcy case in u.s. history. well, at eight minutes past the hour now, the "new york post" has ordered -- has been ordered to preserve any documents related to possible phone hacking and bribery of public officials. as many of you know, this paper is owned by rupert murdoch. murdoch's news corp. is at the center of the scandal related to alleged phone hacking in britain. "the post's" editor says the documents are being preserved, quote, in light of what has gone on in london at "news of the world." well, also, we are having

open tryouts right here on cnn for a new meteorologist. take a look. how do you think this guy's going to do? fabio's fabulous weather report is coming your way. it's eight past the hour. stay with me. i remember the days before copd.

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today i'm back with my favorite team. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. okay, i have a question on something. because people always ask me, they say, what's it like working with t.j.? is t.j. -- >> just pleasant, it's a dream. >> well, it is a dream come true, but he's such a regular guy. >> no. >> can we show them what you're doing. some people like wheaties, some people eat oatmeal, some people like various things. bear with me just a second. look what this guy eats for

breakfast. take a look at this. >> it's a long story. >> look at this. >> popcorn, really? >> i had some issues in the diner downstairs and i had a bit of food poisoning, so i'm scared to actually eat anything else. and our dear betty used to bring me breakfast in the morning, so i'm stuck with whatever's in the machines. >> all right, good times. we'll save that for later. we have some weather to talk about. we have a tropical storm that turned into a tropical depression and ended up in south texas and didn't do much of anything. >> that would normally be good news. >> would normally be good news, but as we've been saying ad nauseam, texas's been desperate for rain. let me hop over here and show you what we've got. we're talking about this system. this is don, what was don, deflating like a balloon, and then fizzles out altogether. it unfortunately happened in this situation, in this place, we're never hoping for a big, destructive system, but when there's the possibility of it bringing some heavy rainfall to places that desperately need it,

you want it to happen. in this case, it did not. however, there is the possibility that we may see some development of a different system out in the atlantic. we're going to watch it. it's still days away from affecting anyone at all, and it may not happen at all, but we're still going to watch it for you very carefully. another thing we're watching that is dangerous potentially is the heat. the heat is still relentless across parts of the central plains and back in the midwest. also the northern half of the map, western great lakes, upper midwest, there is going to be a chance that we have some severe storms developing later in the day. severe thunderstorms, deadly lightning a possibility, large hail, maybe even some tornadoes late in the afternoon hours, perhaps even into the early evening. but heat is going to be the major thing that's going to be dangerous for people today. dallas, 101. it seems like it has been forever since dallas has dropped below the century mark in terms of the daytime highs. 87 in chicago, 90 in minneapolis. but if you get some of that rain-cooled area, temperatures may drop off some 15 degrees by late afternoon. 87 in memphis, 96 in washington. some of the record highs we had

yesterday, care lolina, take a k at that. richmond, virginia, back into the triple digits. georgetown, delaware, 99 was the high for the day. that is a quick snapshot on your forecast. t.j., i'm going to enjoy some of that breakfast of the champions, your popcorn. let's toss it back to you. >> appreciate that. and i might have a new colleague on the weekends here, coming up, a new weather guy. oh, yeah, we didn't tell you? there have been open tryouts for reynold's job and one of our first applicants, check him out. >> from the satellite picture, it looks like this. very romantic fabio hair blowing, a lot and lots of wind, and pushing the storm front right up into canada. i'm so sorry, canada. >> that's pretty good. >> when he says that hem's so sorry for canada, he's going to push this storm coast back up along the coast and blow his hair in different places, he's doing fine.

he's 52 years old and looks incredible. >> is he? i didn't realize that. >> he's got great guns, a smith and wesson, great pastel colors. any guy that can pull pastel colors like that and still look good, got to have it. >> fabio's been out there promoting some old spice, body wash, but he was having some fun with one of the stations out on the west coast. >> good stuff. >> thanks, reynolds. we'll see reynolds throughout the morning. we're keeping an eye on what's happening in washington, d.c. keeping an eye on the white house, but a lot of people keeping a close eye on capitol hill, where most of the action may be happening today. congress is in session, trying to come up with a deal before the deadline, and the deadline is just over two days away. also this morning, as tough as it has been to get this debt ceiling issue resolved, you would think this must be the first time they've ever tried to raise the debt ceiling. nope! it has been raised a lot of time since 1962. do you know how many?

110 times? 74 times? or 34 times? i'll tell you in just a second. stay wesw me. [ jon ] we don't just come up here for the view up in alaska. it's the cleanest, clearest water. we find the best, sweetest crab for red lobster we can find. yeah! [ male announcer ] hurry in to crabfest at red lobster. the only time you can savor three sweet alaskan crab entrees all under $20, like our hearty crab and roasted garlic seafood bake or snow crab and crab butter shrimp. [ jon ] i wouldn't put it on my table at home, i wouldn't bring it in. my name's jon forsythe, and i sea food differently.

so 17 minutes past the hour now. before the break, we were asking you, do you realize how many times a debt ceiling has actually been raised since 1962? 110 times, 74, or 34? according to the congressional research service, the answer is 74 times. and ten of those increases has occurred since 2001. getting to the 75th time is proving to be a doozy. that deadline for the debt ceiling deal just a few days away now. it's coming up on tuesday. if there is no agreement, then the government could start defaulting on loans, interest rates could shoot up. both houses of congress are in

session today, working on a solution. so what's the president actually up to today? cnn's athena jones joins me now from the white house. and you answer that question for me. what is the white house -- what is the president up to today? >> reporter: well, we haven't seen him today, we don't expect to see him. there are no meetings on the president's public schedule, no meetings on the vice president's schedule either. but they are paying close attention to what's going on on the hill, where all the real action is right now. and they're also having a lot of behind-the-scenes conversations. one democratic official told cnn that both the president and the vice president have been in touch with members of congress over these last several days and discussions are taking place on every level here at the white house, with members of congress and their staff. we've been told that vice president biden has been in touch, in particular, with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, who has with said that the white house has to be present in any negotiations about a compromise deal. and so they expect these conversations to continue. let's listen to what the president said as he tried to lay out the stakes this morning in his weekly address.

>> we need to reach a compromise by tuesday so that our country will have the ability to pay its bills on time. bills like social security checks, veterans benefits, and contracts we've signed with thousands of american businesses. if we don't, for the first time ever, we could lose our country's aaa credit rating. not because we didn't have the capacity to pay our bills, we do. but because we didn't have a aaa political system to match it. >> reporter: so there you heard the president laying out what could happen. now, this is not something the white house expects to happen, but if that aaa credit rating were to go away, you'd see higher interest rates on things like mortgages, car loans, credit cards, and that would be acting like a tax increase on everyone. so to republicans who are against tax increases, the president's saying, well, we can't let this happen, because that's what would happen in the end. t.j.? >> what's the backup plan if we get to august 2nd? >> reporter: the white house maintains they're not going to get to that point. everyone understands the stakes

on both sides, so there's a lot of brinksmanship going on, but that ultimately they're going to reach a deal. the president has said repeatedly that he doesn't think the two sides are all that far apart. now, at the same time, the treasury department has been working alongside with the federal reserve and the office of management and budget, the budget office. they've been having discussions about what they'd do if a deal isn't reached by tuesday. prioritizing what bills would get paid and who would get their checks. but i have to remind everyone that the u.s. wouldn't be in default until it misses its first payment to debt holders. so the thinking here is still that that's going to be avoided, t.j.. >> all right. athena jones at the white house for us. good to see you, as always. one of our newest members of cnn. good to have you with us. >> thanks. >> and on sunday night, 9:00, a special cnn report, what will it take to find a solution on this debt crisis. it's "get it done: countdown to debt crisis," sunday night, 9:00 eastern right here. well, at 20 minutes past the hour, he is the dear abby for

those in need. how one newspaper columnist is turning stories of desperation into opportunity. stay with me.

22 minutes past the hour now. $100 here, $100 there -- it doesn't take a whole lot to help people in these tough times. that's the mission of this week's cnn hero, a real estate broker and a columnist for a newspaper in lake geneva, wisconsin. >> when i go through suburbia, america, or the small towns, everybody's trying to hold their head up with pride. you've been looking for work? >> yeah. >> okay. i know it's tough in a recession. >> i can't find anything. >> i went and sold all my

jewelry yesterday. >> these people behind closed doors, they tell their neighbors are fine. they'd sooner go in the house and starve. >> how much do you owe right now? >> the gas bill, i owe about $800. >> i find this situation is getting worse. they need food. they need help with their utilities. i mean, this is 2011 in america. we should be helping each other. i am sal dimiceli and my mission is to help americans who are fallen on hard times. in a week, i'll receive 20 to 30 letters. me and my family are in desperate need of help. we do not want to become homeless. i want to verify it's genuine and get to them as quickly as possible. i know right now it's tough for everybody, but we'll be here for you and we'll help you out. i tell them how i grew up in poverty and how i understand. here's $100 for a gas. i help people with necessities of daily life, and at the same time i get them together to do a budget so they can continue to

survive. i brought this for you so you can go get your wedding band back. >> oh, my lord. >> i want them to feel free of that pain. >> i'm so happy. >> i want them to feel the compassion we're trying to share with them, to wrap our arms around them and say, come on, i have a little extra strength i want to share with you and let's get you back on your feet. >> every one of this iyear's cn heroes chosen from people you tell us about. and you still have time to nominate somebody you know who's making a difference in your community. go to cnnheroes.com. it's the question that everybody is asking. can a deal on the debt ceiling get done before the clock runs out in just over two days? everybody's asking that question. i'm asking that question as well with a couple of our friends, maria cardona and lenny mcka mcallister. their answers coming up next. what is that? it's you!

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this is visibly smart. well, we're getting close to the bottom of the hour on this cnn saturday morning. welcome back, everybody. i'm t.j. holmes. glad you can spatter just part of your weekend here with us. give you a look at some of the stories making headlines. we'll start in italy, where

american student amanda knox is appealing her murder conviction there. forensic experts in her defense are ripping the evidence used in her previous trial and the way it was gathered by investigators. knox, her italian boyfriend, and another man were convicted of the 2007 murder of knox's british roommate, meredith kercher. also in texas, the muslim army deserter accused of planning to bomb a restaurant near ft. hood is being held without bond at an undisclosed location. police believe naser abdo was planning a second ft. hood massacre. also in washington, d.c., lawmakers wrangle over triggers as the stalemate over the debt ceiling intensifies. mitch mcconnell wants a greater white house presence in the negotiations. all right. the world of politics right now is all about the debt ceiling and whether leaders in washington can find a solution. in remarks yesterday, president obama tried to point out areas

of agreement. >> keep in mind, this is not a situation where the two parties are miles apart. we're in rough agreement about how much spending can be cut responsibly as a first step toward reducing our deficit. we agree on a process where the next step is a debate in the coming months on tax reform and entitlement reform. and i'm ready and willing to have that debate. >> well, not everybody agrees there's enough common ground to get a deal done. democratic strategist maria cardona is in washington for us. republican strategist lenny mcallister in chicago. friends of our show here on cnn saturday morning. in this regular segment, we always ask you guys, what do you think your political headline of the week was. so i will bring that back now. maria, what do you think the political headline of the week was? >> i think you know what mine's going to be, t.j. mine's going to be that we are the victims of the tyranny of '87. >> and i'll let you explain that in a moment. lenny, you tell me what your

headline of the week was. >> failure to get it, failure to lead. >> all right. we'll get into that as well. let me start with what the president's saying and what several have said, that their actually close, certainly on some of the numbers, they're not that far apart. but, maria, is the case that the differences may be small, but at the same time, they are significant? >> i think that's exactly right, t.j. and here is where you're going to see the problem that the gop is facing. and i'll go to my headline, which is that we're all victims of the tyranny of '87, meaning that the '87 tea partyers within the gop caucus are the once that are being completely inflexible, intransigent, recalcitrant, whatever word you want to use, because they absolutely have no clue both how to govern and no interest in compromising. that is what they were elected to do. and that's what they don't understand. the american people, majorities of americans, including republicans, want our leaders to work together. this president has actually tried to work together several times, boehner has walked away

from the negotiating table several times. it is time now to get it done. >> well, lenny, you top her big words, okay? recalcitrant, intransigence on the side of some on the republican side, she said. but is she right? can we really point to a handful of people, maybe 87 or whatever number you want to point to, that are really the issue here and are holding up compromise, because they refuse to do anything other than some of the promises they made to some of the tea party contingent back in their districts? >> i think we need to hold off for just a second. because that's the story this week. the story last week was we were close to a deal and $400 billion in additional revenues came on the table at the last minute and that's what prompted speaker boehner to walk away from president obama's proposal. listen, we now have seen a lot of people be inflexible and get us to this point in time, and now everybody's trying to rush to the table. these 87 folks that came to washington came there because nobody was working together. remember, we had the health care

debate, but we had inflexible democrats that refused to work with republicans. this is a washington problem. and these folks that came to washington as freshman legislators are trying to really do the will of the people. now, do they need to negotiate a little better? yes, i do think, generally speaking, they do. but this is systmptomatic of th washington politics that president obama was supposed to change when he came into this culture in 2009. well, guess what, we still have them in 2011, that's why we have failure to get it. because everyone's been a little bit inflexible, but we've had a failure to lead up until this point. >> maria, does he make a point, maybe this 87, or however many you want to name, these tea party congress -- members of congress, they are bringing a point to the forefront. it might be ugly, but this is a debate, and albeit, a fight that needs to be had. and maybe we shouldn't just be raising the debt ceiling without having a conversation first? >> well, you know what, that's actually true.

but here, again, underscores just how inflexible they are. if this were at any other time in political history, the gop would take the deal on the table and call it a huge win. they have gotten every single thing that they have talked about coming here to washington to do. they have changed the debate. but you know what the president and the democrats are not going to let them do? they're not going to let them balance the budget or hold the debt ceiling hostage on a deal that will do all of that on the backs of the elderly, of students, of middle class, of the workers, of small businesses, because that's exactly what they're trying to do, while protecting hedge fund managers who are billionaires, corporate jet setters, the biggest oil and gas corporations, and all the people who could actually pay a little bit more to make sure that everything that we're talking about is shared sacrifice. that's what the american people want and that's what the gop does not understand.

>> lenny, i will let you go ahead and respond to that. >> well, i mean, the bottom line is this -- we need to be able to create jobs. yes, we need a balanced approach. we need people working together. and i will say that there are some tea party members that i think need to be a little bit more flexible. but let's not forget, the bottom line is that the democrats hadn't raised any of these issues for a year. so now you have the tea party driving a conversation that we weren't talking about this time last year. in 2009, we were talking about spending, spending, spending. spend our way out of this recession. 2010, it was spend more money on health care reform. now we're talking about cutting spending and getting our fiscal house back in order, which is exactly what we need to do. now, of course, you're going to be dragging these folks to the water. we can't make everybody drink, if you will, but at least the tea party is doing their job and making us focus on what we need to do to get american sovereignty back and get us back to a point in time where we can responsibly get out of this recession. >> maria, was speaker boehner fair in his criticism of the

president, and of democrats, but specifically, the president, in that, okay, you're saying i don't want that and you're saying, okay, that needs to go in, but you're not putting a plan on the table and he continues to call it a failure of leadership. has that been part of the problem? and is that fair criticism that the president didn't walk in and say, here you go, this is my idea versus saying, no to this, no to that. >> the president has put many plans on speaker boehner's table. and he has seen them. and that's, in fact, why we have been talking about how close we have been to the negotiation of a grand bargain, several times. lenny talked about $400 billion that the president put on the table. yes, that's true, but you know what the president didn't do? he didn't say, this is my way or the highway. he said to speaker boehner, i'd like to consider this, this is part of -- this is less revenue than what the gang of six proposed. this is what the majority of americans think is fair. let's talk about this. instead of speaker boehner

saying, well, no, i don't think we can do this, let's look at something else -- he walks away. that's not how you negotiate, that's not how you lead, that's not how you govern. that's the problem. >> lenny, is she right? has the president been presenting plans all along? >> it's called moving the goalpost. and that's exactly what happened last week. and it was irresponsible for the president to put that into the mix when we're at such a point in time where we're close to getting it done, where speaker boehner did pull in his caucus. we looked as though we were going to have some type of bipartisan workmanship together. and at the last minute, here we go, $400 billion more in revenues on the table, which we knew would only come about by raising taxes. yes, the president raised the goalpost, and here we sit, fourth and goal, once again. >> all right. lenny, maria, next weekend we might be talking about a new topic not related to the debt. and i've been sending out tweets and facebook, asking the question, next weekend are we going to be talking about a new economic crisis? we certainly hope not, but we

are just two plus days away from -- >> it's up to the gop! >> all right. maria -- >> yeah, i knew lenny was going to get a laugh in. lenny, maria, good to see you guys. always a pleasure. >> god bless you both. god bless you all. >> sunday night, 9:00, cnn has a special report has a special report for you from our wolf blitzer and don lemon, it's "get it done: countdown to debt crisis." and we have some news from the golf word, tiger woods has announced he's coming back. but can he still be that tiger woods, that great tiger woods that a lot of people would like to still see? also, just when you thought the heat was going away, we have some bad news for a lot of cities. we'll tell you which ones are about to heat up once again. 37 past the hour. just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! [ nurse ] i'm a nurse.

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all right. 20 minutes to the top of the hour. reynolds has got something going on over there. good morning to you, kind sir. >> i do my happy dance. here's the time of the morning where the caffeine kicking in, sometimes it doesn't, so you jump-start it with doing something stupid. >> you got happy weather?

>> sort of. it's kind of weird about this, because normally when you're talking about a tropical system that's moving to a coastline, a populated area, you want it to fall apart. well, in this situation, people in parts of the lone star state of texas were hoping that this storm system, talking about don, would be a big rainmaker. the problem is, it wasn't. as it made its way closer to the coastline, it interacted with dry air, and unfortunately, just killed it. so not the rain they needed in texas. however, look out towards the atlantic and there is the potential for some development in a few spots, namely in the itcc, which we weather people refer to as the intertropical convergence zone, because that's where we have converging air, rising area, and that's often where we see the development of storms. this may be, this area that you see, west of the leeward and windward islands, may become a named storm within days, if it does get a name, its name will be emily. we'll watch it very carefully. no idea where it may be headed after that, but it's an active time of year and these storms do tend to develop.

another thing that tends to develop this time of year, strong thunderstorms, might see those in the great plains and western great lakes. hazy conditions might spawn a storm across the central ohio valley, perhaps into the carolinas. and meanwhile out to the west, some rain possible in the four corners, but most of the west coast relatively dry. and at the same time, relatively cool there too. 70 degrees in san francisco, 71 in los angeles. the exception, portland going up to 84 degrees. 94 in billings. 90 in minneapolis. wrapping it up, 101 in dallas. 91 in atlanta. and 90 in new york. you're up to speed. that's a quick update on the forecast. let's pitch it back to you. >> all right, reynolds, let me explain that. >> that did sound like a loaded statement. >> joe carter, our friend from hln sports. good to see you, as always. big news in the golf world. and usually has to do with tiger woods. >> absolutely. always does. he says he's coming back, is going to play next week at the

bridgestone, a tournament he's won seven times before. he's been out for the last 11 weeks with the knee and the achilles injury. also says he's going to play in the pga championship, the last major of the year. this is big, because this gives him one more opportunity this year to win that major, would be his 15th. trying to chase jack, who's won 18. we will see some -- a new face, a new person carrying his bag this year, or i should say, this tournament, which is going to be a childhood friend of his, brian bell is his name. bell has caddied for him in the past. he does have ties, we've got to put it out there, with rachel uchitel, jocelyn james, because some people may be familiar with that name because of those other names. he apparently allegedly covered up some things, some traveling, some hotels during the time that he was married to elin. but, yeah, next week, we'll see tiger. we'll see if his short game's working, his long game's working. we'll see if he can get back in the saddle and challenging some of those younger guys.

>> these two are very close. i believe they were the best man in each other's wedding. these guys are really close. and this is one guy he trusts, but, man, to see somebody else besides steve williams on that bag is going to be -- >> it's weird. yeah, it's really, really strange. so, soccer fans i know are very, very excited -- >> oh, soccer, you're going to turn to soccer? is the world cup going on? >> nope. >> why are we talking about soccer? >> because finally the united states soccer team has got this guy. they've been trying to get him for years. juergen klinsmann, he's a stud soccer coach and player. coached germany to the '06 semifinals in the world cup, which is huge. it's like taking a basketball team to the final four. you've got all year to brag about it. was a legendary player in his day, tied for sixth in world cup scoring, just behind pele. he gives this team instant credibility, street cred. he's got to work with what he's got to work, so he's not a miracle worker -- >> what are you saying there?

the players aren't as good? >> he's got a challenge, got to motivate these guys, got to put the right people on the field at the right time. the united states soccer team finally got him, and they got a big one. this is a big, big get for them. >> and for folks who don't follow soccer that closely, i am absolutely one of them, but you think about an american team, this is the pride of our country, but you've got a non-american leading it. this is how it goes in big-time world soccer. >> and if this can help calm anybody's concerns out there, this is somebody who's been consulting with major league soccer for the past few years. he's very familiar with the soccer system here in the united states, he's very familiar with the soccer players coming up and the ones currently in the system. >> joe carter, with a soccer story. >> i have to thank my friends at cnn international for prepping me on these soccer stories. >> thanks so much. about a quarter from the top of the hour. americans certainly worried and watching the debt debate in washington, d.c. but the rest of the world is watching what we're doing right now as well. we get some global reaction next. stay with me.

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phillips' caplets use magnesium, an ingredient that works more naturally with your colon than stimulant laxatives, for effective relief of constipation without cramps. thanks. [ professor ] good morning students. today, we're gonna... my old contacts would sometimes move and blur my vision. then my eye doctor told me about acuvue® oasys for astigmatism. he said it's the only lens of its kind designed to realign naturally with every blink so now, i'm seeing more clearly. [ male announcer ] learn more at acuvue.com. that's how it is with alzheimer's disease. she needs help from me. and her medication. the exelon patch -- it releases medication continuously for twenty-four hours. she uses one exelon patch daily for the treatment of mild to moderate alzheimer's symptoms. [ female announcer ] it cannot change the course of the disease. hospitalization and rarely death have been reported in patients who wore more than one patch at a time. the most common side effects of exelon patch are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. the likelihood and severity of these side effects may increase as the dose increases.

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defaulting on its loans if the debt ceiling isn't raised. a lot of americans, you may be one of them, losing patience with washington and their failure to agree on a deficit reduction plan. and some of you are saying that lawmakers aren't listening to what most americans want. >> you should know that what you're doing in washington is affecting everyone on the streets. so many people italk to every day, including myself, you know, are really wrestling with the economy. >> 98% of the american people out there do not hold the same financial weight as the top 2%. they pay for these people's campaigns, they pay for lobbies to push their agenda. and because of that, our voices aren't heard. >> a couple of our ireporters there. and if you want to share your

opinion, you can go to cnn.com/ireport. jonathan mann now reports, there's a big concern about what is and what is not happening in washington. >> reporter: while the debt ceiling debate drags on in washington, much of the rest of the world watches with growing concern. >> i am worried. because this debt ceiling issue has not been cracked. >> reporter: and it's not just the head of the international monetary fund. people on the streets of beijing are aware the u.s. debt affects china's economy too. >> translator: the crisis is not only limited in the u.s., but also in europe. we cannot say the u.s. is not powerful now. as a big u.s. debt holder, china will for sure be affected. >> reporter: and in australia, too. >> it makes it much more expensive for tourists to visit australia. so those parts of our economy exposed to the tourist sector, and we've done a lot and spent a lot of money promoting australia overseas are not going to benefit so greatly from that. >> reporter: in tokyo, some

economic experts see history repeating itself. they compare the current u.s. debt crisis to japan's crippling recession of the 1990s. >> it's the exact replay of what we went through in japan 10, 15 years ago. >> reporter: however the debate plays out in washington, experts say the financial ripples will be felt around the world. >> it's an issue that really is lurking in the background of each and every economy of the world. >> reporter: jonathan mann reporting. all right. we've got a story we want you to stick around for coming up next. could you believe that a soldier actually served ten tours in a war zone. i want to tell you about the braver of master sergeant benjamin stevenson. i don't want you to miss his story. also, as prices continue to rise around us, i'll tell you about some things that are actually getting cheaper. we're nine minutes to the top of the hour. stay with me. [ diane lane ] is your anti-wrinkle cream gone...

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well, about five minutes to the top of the hour now. a soldier's death in afghanistan is shrouded in mystery. few details are known, except he was part of the army's secret

force. cnn's pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, though with the details. >> reporter: it was here in the mountains of eastern afghanistan that army master sergeant benjamin stevenson was killed on his tenth combat tour of duty. this is the only photo the army will release of the soldier from ft. bragg's army special operations command. the military will say little about his extraordinary record. but cnn has been told by military sources stevenson was a veteran of the army's deeply classified world of special operations forces, highly trained in counterterrorist assault missions, the army equivalent of the navy s.e.a.l.s who killed osama bin laden. on july 21st, stevenson and others helicoptered at night into the mountains. the target, a camp of foreign fighters. the americans quickly came under fire and returned fire, killing

nearly 50 insurgents. but at dawn, two more waves of insurgent s attacked. the u.s. repeatedly brought in reinforcements. precision bombs were dropped, helicopters fired, drones flew overhead. 30 more insurgents were killed. the u.s. troops found weapon stockpiles and these caves and bunkers where insurgents had been hiding. the fighting lasted more than 24 hours over a two-day period. almost all the insurgents were arabs and czechens brought in by pakistan by the hakani insurgent network, an al qaeda affiliate. master sergeant benjamin stevenson was hit toward the end to have the firefight. he was quickly medevaced out of the combat area, but died shortly thereafter of his injuries. after ten tours of duty, he is survived by his wife and two sons. he was the only u.s. service member who was killed in that fight. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon.

we are expecting a flurry of activity in washington, d.c., today, and it is expected to get underway in about an hour or so. they are in session this weekend, trying to beat the clock. stay with us. maybe, it's something you haven't seen yet. the 2nd generation of intel core processors. this is visibly smart. discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. from the teachers to the students. i had a student the other day that said... "miss stacy, this class is changing the way that i look at things." sparking that interest and showing them that math and science are exciting...

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